Iwein

Fresco from the Iwein-Cycle at Castle Rodenegg: Iwein fights Aschelon (Askalon).

Iwein is a Middle High German verse romance by the poet Hartmann von Aue, written around 1203. An Arthurian tale freely adapted from Chrétien de Troyes' Old French Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, it tells the story of Iwein (Ywain), a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. It was written after Hartmann's Erec, and may have been his last work.

Iwein's Position in Hartmann's Work

Hartmann von Aue, because of his novel Erec, written around 1180, is considered the founder of German Arthurian Legend.

Iwein is his second courtly novel; on the basis of stylistic evidence, it is considered to be the last of Hartmann's total of four works. Between Erec and Iwein he created his two legendary stories Gregorius and Der arme Heinrich. Iwein must have been produced by 1205, as Wolfram von Eschenbach makes mention of it in his "Parzival". The earliest possible creation date is usually taken to be the year 1190. Linguistic investigations seem to suggest that Iwein was begun shortly after Erec, but that Hartmann's work on it was interrupted after approximately 1000 verses. It is possible this is the result of the death of the patron. According to this theory, Hartmann only finished the poem at a later date. It is not known who commissioned Iwein, but the Zähringer, the Staufer and the Welfen have all been considered as possible patrons.

As in other courtly epics, all of Hartmann's works are written in four-footed rhyming couplets.

Material and Sources

In contrast to the German Iwein manuscripts, the French Yvain of Chrétien de Troyes was beautifully illustrated. Here: Iwein battling with Gawein. (Princeton University Library, Garrett MS. 125; um 1295).

Hartmann's immediate source was the Old French epic Yvain ou Le Chevalier au lion by Chrétien de Troyes, which was created either around 1177 or between 1185 and 1188. In contrast to his rather free version of Erec, Hartmann's translation of Iwein remains much closer to the French original. As the themes of the courtly epic had in the meantime become common knowledge for his German listeners, he was able to avoid lengthy explanatory digressions.

The subject matter of King Arthur belongs to the matière de bretagne, originally orally transmitted Celtic materials, which found entry to European literature through Chrétiens' reworkings.

Plot

Prologue

As was normal for medieval epics, Hartmann begins the tale with a Prologue (V. 1-85)- A reference to the literary genre of Arthurian epics, and programmatic statements about the morality of the poetry .Arthur is praised as an example of chivalry whose name is eternal. Thereto Hartmann adds a self-proclamation, which is written in much the same way as in Der arme Heinrich:

Ein rîter, der gelêret was unde ez an den buochen las, swenner sîne stunde niht baz bewenden kunde daz er ouch tihtennes pflac (daz man gerne hœren mac, dâ kêrt er sînen vlîz an: er was genant Hartman und was ein Ouwære der tihte diz mære.

A knight, he was learned and read in books, so that if he with his time could begin nothing better, he also wrote poetry. That one could gladly hear, there he set his eagerness to. He was called Hartmann and he was from Aue. He wrote this story as poetry.

(Hartmann von Aue: Iwein, V. 21-30. G.F. Benecke, K. Lachmann, L. Wolf. Übersetzt von Thomas Cramer. Berlin, New York ³1981)

First Plot Cycle

Two scenes from the Iwein frescoes at Schloss Rodenegg: The stone on the spring is watered (left), and the Woodsman (right).

The novel begins with a Whitsun celebration at the court of Arthur, the epitome of courtly festivities. While there, Iwein hears the story of the Knight Kalogrenant, which is structured by Hartmann as a sort of novel in the novel. Kalogrenant reports how he happened across a clearing full of wild beasts on his way from a hospitable castle. In the middle of these beasts had stood a giant,ugly and uncultivated Wildman, who nevertheless singled himself out not as a brute or fiend, but as a peaceful herdsman. Kalogrenant's attempt to figure out the secret of a magic well-idyll in the Woods, whereof he spoke to the wild man, failed utterly however. With the watering of a stone, he unleashed a powerful thunderstorm, which thereby aided the defence of the spring by Askalon, the territorial Lord, and protector of the magic fountain. He was defeated by him, and had to return home without horse and armour.

The misbegotten adventure of the Arthurian knight Kalogrenant gives the court of Arthur a legitimate challenge - that of avenging the dishonour. Iwein, who as a relation of Kalogrenant's is doubly hit by the scandal, rides ahead of a procession of the entire court and heads secretly into the Fountain-Kingdom. The adventure repeats itself, but with deadly consequences for Askalon. Iwein chases the mortally wounded, fleeing Askalon into his castle. The falling portcullis cuts Iwein's horse in two; though he himself remains uninjured, he is sealed in the gatehouse.

Only with the help of Lunete, the confidante of the mistress of the castle, Laudine, does Iwein succeed in escaping the castle guards. Out of thankfulness for earlier assistance at the court of Arthur he receives from Lunete a ring which makes him invisible. The dead Askalon is mourned by his beautiful wife Laudine. Iwein sees the castle-mistress through a window and becomes inflaimed with love (Minne) for her.

The wounds of the dead man begin to bleed again, due to the presence of the killer, and thus a burlesque search for the invisible man begins. Once again Lunete solves the paradoxical situation and convinces Laudine that the victor over Askalon would be a worthy successor as husband, Lord of the land and protector of the fountain. In a comedic enactment (as all the parties are already aware of the intentions of the other) Iwein and Laudine come together under the mediation of Lunete. Soon thereafter the wedding is celebrated.

Then the court of Arthur arrives at the source, and Iwein must try out his role as fountain-protector for the first time. This succeeds against Keie, the exemplarily resentful knight of the court of Arthur. The entire court now celebrate the marriage of Iwein and Laudine. Thereby the plot arrives at a temporary ending - as well as the êre of victory Iwein has, unlooked for, achieved a wife and Lordship.

The Breakdown and Madness of Iwein

On the urging of his friend Gawain, who uses the verligen (long-term idleness) of Erec as an example, Iwein leaves Laudine shortly after the wedding, and goes in search of Tournaments and âventiure. Laudine extracts from Iwein a promise to return after a year and a day. This timeframe implies a legally effective deadline after which his claims against possible usurpers would have lapsed. (This knowledge is left to the reader, and is not made explicit in the text).

The painful parting of the lovers is characterised by 'Minneharmonie'. In a dialogue between the narrator and Lady Love it is stated that Iwein and Laudine have swapped their hearts, which will lead to momentous consequences.

Iwein gives himself to the excitement of Tournaments and notices only too late that he had already missed the pre-appointed deadline by six weeks. Lunete sues him before the Table Round for betrayal and takes the ring from him. All his honour is lost in Arthur's court and Laudine breaks off all connections with him. Thus Iwein loses his identity. Gripped by madness he rips the clothes from his body and becomes a wildman in the woods. His only social attachment is a silent exchange agreement with a hermit. Only through the help of the Lady of Narison and her companion, who treat his madness with a fairy-salve, can Iwein return to proper consciousness. His earlier identity as a knight seems to him as a dream. He must recognise that he no longer belongs to courtly society

External links

• Iwein at the Hartmann von Aue Knowledgebase