Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Arthurian Ethics before the Pentecostal Oath: In Search of Ethical Origins in Culhwch and Olwen
- 2 Too Quickly or Not Quickly Enough, Too Rash and Too Harshly: The Arthurian Court’s Lack of Ethics in Hartmann von Aue’s Erec and Iwein and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival
- 3 The Ethics of Arthurian Marriage: Husband vs Wife in Hartmann von Aue’s Iwein
- 4 Arthurian Ethics and Ethical Reading in the Perlesvaus
- 5 Translation Praxis and the Ethical Value of Chivalry in the Caligula Brut
- 6 Imperial Ambitions and the Ethics of Power: Gender, Race, and the Riddarasögur
- 7 Lowland Ethics in the Arthur of the Dutch
- 8 Contesting Royal Power: The Ethics of Good Lordship, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the March of Wales
- 9 “As egir as any lyoun”: The Ethics of Knight-Horse Relationships in Lybeaus Desconus
- 10 Malory’s Ethical Dinadan: Moderate Masculinity in a Crisis of Hypermasculine Chivalry
- 11 Virtus, Vertues, and Gender: Cultivating a Chivalric Habitus in Thomas Malory’s Tale of Sir Gareth
- 12 Kingly Disguise and (Im)Perception in Three Fifteenth- Century English Romances
- 13 “Adventure? What is That?” Arthurian Ethics in/and the Games We Play
- 14 The Ethics of a New Edition of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur – and More Evidence for the Superiority of the Winchester Manuscript
- 15 The Ethics of Writing Guinevere in Modern Historical Fiction
- Afterword
- Index
2 - Too Quickly or Not Quickly Enough, Too Rash and Too Harshly: The Arthurian Court’s Lack of Ethics in Hartmann von Aue’s Erec and Iwein and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Arthurian Ethics before the Pentecostal Oath: In Search of Ethical Origins in Culhwch and Olwen
- 2 Too Quickly or Not Quickly Enough, Too Rash and Too Harshly: The Arthurian Court’s Lack of Ethics in Hartmann von Aue’s Erec and Iwein and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival
- 3 The Ethics of Arthurian Marriage: Husband vs Wife in Hartmann von Aue’s Iwein
- 4 Arthurian Ethics and Ethical Reading in the Perlesvaus
- 5 Translation Praxis and the Ethical Value of Chivalry in the Caligula Brut
- 6 Imperial Ambitions and the Ethics of Power: Gender, Race, and the Riddarasögur
- 7 Lowland Ethics in the Arthur of the Dutch
- 8 Contesting Royal Power: The Ethics of Good Lordship, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the March of Wales
- 9 “As egir as any lyoun”: The Ethics of Knight-Horse Relationships in Lybeaus Desconus
- 10 Malory’s Ethical Dinadan: Moderate Masculinity in a Crisis of Hypermasculine Chivalry
- 11 Virtus, Vertues, and Gender: Cultivating a Chivalric Habitus in Thomas Malory’s Tale of Sir Gareth
- 12 Kingly Disguise and (Im)Perception in Three Fifteenth- Century English Romances
- 13 “Adventure? What is That?” Arthurian Ethics in/and the Games We Play
- 14 The Ethics of a New Edition of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur – and More Evidence for the Superiority of the Winchester Manuscript
- 15 The Ethics of Writing Guinevere in Modern Historical Fiction
- Afterword
- Index
Summary
King Arthur is known generally as an exemplary king whose good behavior others should emulate. Throughout the German literary landscape, he is referred to by a plethora of positive descriptors such as “der tugenthafte Artûs” (Erec line 1891; “the worthy King Arthur,” p. 103), “der hövesche wise Artûs” (Parzival line 699.22; “the courtly, wise Arthur,” p. 223), and “Artûs der valsches laz” (Parzival line 310.8; “Arthur, slow to falsity,” p. 99). He speaks “ûz triuwen kraft” (Parzival line 150.26; “from the depths of his loyalty,” p. 49) and is “unlôse” (Parzival line 274.26; “unhaughty,” p. 88) in his actions. He always receives his guests “mit vil grôzer werdekeit” (Erec line 2069; “with the greatest of honour,” p. 113) and tends to them “sô er mohte beste” (Erec line 2118; “as best he could,” p. 115). Hartmann von Aue opens his Iwein with a more elaborate description of King Arthur's reputation:
des gît gewisse lêre
künec Artûs der guote,
der mit rîters muote nâch lobe kunde strîten.
er hât bî sînen zîten
gelebet also schône
daz er der êren krône
dô truoc und noch sîn name treit.
des habent die wârheit
sine lantliute:
sî jehent er lebe noch hiute:
er hât den lop erworben,
ist im der lîp erstorben,
sô lebet doch imer sîn name.
er ist lasterlîcher schame
iemer vil gar erwert,
der noch nâch sînem site vert. (lines 4–20)
(Good King Arthur, who knew how to fight laudably and chivalrously, gives clear proof of this. He lived in such a beautiful way that he wore the crown of honor in his time, and his name does so still. That is why his countrymen are right when they say that he still lives today. He has attained such fame that even though he has died, his name will live forever. Even now, whoever acts as Arthur did is completely protected from shame and dishonor).Not only was he the most honorable king during his lifetime, his reputation was and continues to be so unblemished that he lives on in the excellent name he made for himself through the ages.
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- Ethics in the Arthurian Legend , pp. 35 - 64Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2023