Will Hasty Livres

New essays on the first flowering of German literature, in the High Middle Ages and especially during the period 1180-1230.

New essays by outstanding European and American medievalists on major aspects of the most enduring medieval epic.

First book in English to survey the critical reception of the works of Hartmann, from the nineteenth century to the present day.Hartmann von Aue is one of the great poets of the German vernacular which blossomed in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Although all his significant narrative works are readily available in English translations, and he has attracted considerable critical attention from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, this is the first book in English to be devoted primarily to the critical reception of Hartmann. In surveying the critical appraisal of Hartmann's oeuvre, from the late Romantics to contemporary criticism, it also serves as a good introduction to the poet.

Focusing on the interplay of adventure and love in the European Middle Ages, this study examines how medieval poetry reflects a shift from a sacrifice-based society to one centered on risk and investment. Will Hasty employs a sociological lens and game theory to analyze works by notable poets, revealing how characters' identities and happiness hinge on the uncertainty of their desires. By drawing parallels with diverse texts from antiquity to the High Middle Ages, the book highlights the evolution of a European worldview shaped by the dynamics of risks and rewards.

Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival expands and transforms the Arthurian tradition into a grand depiction of the medieval cosmos around 1200. Standing between clerical and chivalric cultures and articulating the interests and values of both, Wolfram produced the most popular vernacular work in medieval Germany and one of the most vibrant of the High Middle Ages. The brilliance, boldness, and astonishing originality of Parzival, along with the allure of its elusive author and his enigmatic grail, have continued to fascinate modern audiences since the nineteenth century. And in the late 20th century, as the study of literature becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, Wolfram's masterpiece continues to hold forth a seemingly inexhaustible supply of cultural knowledge and insights. The original essays in this volume provide a definitive treatment in English of significant aspects of Parzival (Wolfram's modes of narrative presentation, his relationship to his sources, his portrayal of the grail), and of some of the broader social and cultural issues it raises (the theology of the Fall, the status of chivalric self-assertion, the characterization of women, the modern reception of Parzival). These and other essays point in new directions for the future study of Parzival, and demonstrate that the poem deservedly occupies a central position in our understanding of the High Middle Ages.