What is the story of Erec by Hartmann Von Aue?

Answer 1

"The "Erec", Hartmann's earliest work, composed about 1192, marks the introduction of the Arthurian romances into German literature. It was modelled on the French poem of Chrestien de Troyes, but considerably amplified and otherwise altered. Its fundamental motif is the conflict between Minne and knightly honour. Erec neglects his knightly duties in his devotion to his lovely bride Enite; when reproached by her, he makes her accompany him on an expedition which restores his tarnished prestige, but in the course of which Enite suffers the harshest treatment. In the end the lovers are reconciled. In the "Iwein", based on Chrestien's "Chevalier au Lion", the same motif is utilized, but here the hero, having neglected his wife for knightly adventures, is rejected by her and goes insane. After passing through many ordeals he regains her favour. In this poem the court epic is shown in its classic form. Less pretentious are the legendary epics. "Gregorius", based on a French poem of unknown authorship, is the story of a medieval Œdipus, who unwittingly marries his own mother, but atones for his enormities by most rigorous penance, and in the end is esteemed a saint and elected pope. "Der arme Heinrich" is a charming tale of womanly devotion. A poor maid offers herself as a sacrifice that her lord, who is smitten with leprosy, may be healed. But at the last moment the knight refuses the sacrifice; as a reward he is miraculously restored to health and the maiden becomes his wife. For this work the poet used a written source, probably a Latin chronicle, of which however nothing definite is known."



Works by Hartmann von Aue
Erec
Hartmann von Aue
(1180)

Around 1180, Hartmann von Aue, a knight in Southwestern Germany, composed the first German Arthurian romance, Erec in 10,000 rhymed couplets. The plot line is an amalgam of fairy tale, Mirror of Princes (Fürstenspiegel, i.e. rules for young princes and rulers, composed since classical antiquity and through the Middle Ages), and the hero journey familiar to myth – a rite of passage that involves crossing the threshold and emerging from the Realm of Death. Hartmann very freely adapted a French romance that had appeared a generation before, Erec et Enide (ca. 1170) by Chrétien de Troyes. Other literary sources, the Norwegian Erexsaga and the Welsh tale of Gereint and Enid from the Mabinogion, were perhaps known to him in some form. The manuscript transmission of the German Erec is incomplete and frustrating for researchers. No full version of Hartmann’s romance exists from the twelfth century; the extant text (minus the customary preface) appears for the first time in the late Middle Ages, in the manuscript collection Ambraser Heldenbuch (1504-1516). Early fragments of the manuscripts continue to be unearthed. The text was first edited by Moriz Haupt (Leipzig: Weidmann 1839).

Using a very constricted time-frame, Hartmann tells the story of Erec, a prince who is a member of King Arthur’s Round Table. The action begins in medias res with an episode of dishonor. Erec, who bears no arms, is riding at Easter with Queen Guinevere and her maiden, while King Arthur and the court are away on a hunt. An approaching dwarf strikes both the queen’s maiden and Erec with a whip, humiliating Erec and thus motivating his quest for self-avengement. He leaves the court, entering on a series of adventures of expatiation that culminate in a bridal quest. He weds Enite at the Arthurian court, next winning highest honors at a magnificent tournament staged by the courtiers. In knightly combat Erec surpasses Sir Gawain, the beau ideal of Arthurian chivalry, and the spectators glowingly compare the young champion to Solomon, Absalom, Sampson, and Alexander the Great. With full honors, Erec and Enite leave the Arthurian court for his father’s kingdom, Destrigales.

Hartmann seems ready to conclude here the story of Prince Erec and Princess Enite, sovereigns-to-be at the height of fame and glory. The fairy-tale events, framed by the Christian calendar, lack nothing but the words: “And they lived happily ever after.” But Erec and Enite do not live for long in connubial bliss, and the supposed conclusion of the story is, in fact, only the midpoint of the romance. Personal reputation, which had seemed so secure, is ironically the touchstone of Erec’s downfall, proving that worldly esteem (êre=honor) is as evanescent and difficult to maintain as it is to earn. In his homeland Erec begins a slothful life spent mainly in the nuptial bed."