Our clearest picture of him is provided by the ro-
mance itself. Its date of composition—generally put
at around 1210—is based mainly on mention in its
so-called literary excursus of the poets Heinrich von
Veldeke and Reinmar von Hagenau as being deceased,
and of Hartmann von Aue, Bligger von Steinach, and
Walther von der Vogelweide as still living. Gottfried’s
remarkable erudition—so evident throughout the
romance—in French, German, and classical Latin lit-
erature; rhetoric and poetics; theology; law; and music
as well as the elegance and artistry of his language
and style are a sure indication of a humanist cathedral
school education.
Though familiar with several versions of the Tristan
story, Gottfried claims allegiance to only one: Thomas
of Britain, of whose work only the latter part, which
Gottfried did not get to, has survived. Until recently,
only two small fragments overlapped with Gottfried’s
version, thus hampering a precise determination of
Gottfried’s reliance on Thomas. In 1995, however, a new
fragment of Thomas’s work surfaced that coincides with
key-scenes in Gottfried, namely, Tristan’s and Isolde’s
reactions to the love potion, their arrival in Cornwall, and
the wedding night. Initial assessments have led scholars
to revise the prevalent (though not unanimous) assump-
tion of Gottfried’s fairly high degree of faithfulness to
Thomas. For one thing, Gottfried innovated more than
was previously thought; for another, it is now supposed
that Gottfried drew on a greater number of sources.
Among these, Eilhart von Oberge has gained particular
signifi cance because of common elements not found in
the new Thomas fragment.
Though it shares numerous features with chivalric
Arthurian romance, Gottfried’s Tristan has more ac-
curately been termed a courtier romance, since its hero
acts more often in the capacity of courtier and artist than
of knight, and since the narrative action tends to occur
in the worldly, political arena of the court, rather than
to depict knights on marvelous quests for adventure.
Not only is Gottfried thoroughly acquainted with, he
also details and explores various facets of the decorum,
mores, and material culture of the court.
What follows is a highly condensed summary of the
romance. It begins with a prologue in which Gottfried’s
narrator persona sets a discriminating tone by describing
the audience of “noble hearts” to whom he specifi cally
addresses his work. This elite group distinguishes itself
by seeking not merely joy but by accepting both joy
and sorrow, sweetness and bitterness into their lives.
Gottfried offers them his love story as a palliative for the
pain they suffer from love, and introduces his hero and
heroine as the epitome of true lovers. The fi rst strophes
of the prologue create the acrostic GDIETÊRICHTI. Di-
etêrich is assumed to be Gottfried’s patron (an otherwise
unknown Dietrich), the G may be short for “Gottfried,”
and the TI stands for Tristan and Isolde.
The plot opens with an account of Tristan’s parents,
Riwalin and Blanchefl ur. Riwalin of Parmenie journeys
to Cornwall, where he intends to refi ne his manners and
his knightly skills at the court of the highly reputable
King Marke. He and Marke’s sister Blanchefl ur fall
in love and conceive a child. Blanschefl ur steals away
with Riwalin to Parmenie, where they marry. Riwalin’s
death in battle at the hand of his overlord Morgan causes
Blanschefl ur to die of grief on giving birth to Tristan.
To protect Tristan from Morgan, Riwalin’s loyal mar-
shal Rual has Tristan grow up as his child, though he
sees to it that Tristan receives an education befi tting a
future ruler.
At age fourteen Tristan is kidnapped by Norwegian
ship merchants but is later released on the shores of
Cornwall. He meets King Marke, who takes Tristan into
close favor on the basis of his dazzling accomplishments
in hunting, musical performance, and foreign languages.
Not until Rual arrives after a three-and-a-half-year
search are Marke and Tristan enlightened as to their
relationship as uncle and nephew.
Tristan is knighted in a ceremony whose portrayal is
extraordinary for its literary value and its contravention
of reader expectations. Initially dispensing with literal
depiction, Gottfried cloaks events in allegory instead.
From here he shifts to a metapoetic level, where his
narrator persona expresses (ironically) an inability to
prepare Tristan appropriately for the ceremony. A eulo-
gistic critique of style follows of the fi ve contemporary
German poets and minnesingers mentioned above; one
unnamed poet (in all likelihood Wolfram von Eschen-
bach) receives scathing criticism. Now thoroughly
“tongue-tied,” however, the poet requests inspiration to
complete his task in a two-part invocation: fi rst to Apollo
and the Muses, then to the supernal Christian God.
Only after distinguishing Tristan from his compatriots
by delineating his special inborn virtues does Gottfried
descend to the literal level and describe the presentation
of sword, spurs, and shield. In disdaining to tell of the
tournament that concludes the ceremony, Gottfried both
distances himself from and gets in a sly dig at contempo-
raries who go on and on about such spectacles in great
detail. The literary excursus is signifi cant for its unique
vernacular contribution to literary criticism.
The next episodes involve Tristan in trials of battle, in
politics, and at court. His journey to Parmenie includes
an attempt to legitimize his right to hold his fathers fi ef.
The encounter between Tristan and his would-be over-
lord, Morgan, goes awry, however, and Tristan ends up
killing Morgan and acquiring his lands by force.
Upon Tristan’s return to Cornwall, he learns that
Marke is not an autonomous ruler but has been obliged
since childhood to pay tribute to King Gurmun of Ire-
land. Taking up their cause, Tristan delivers Marke’sGOTTFRIED VON STRASSBURG