Book contents
7 - Merging Quests
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
Summary
THE PRINCESS COMES to hear of “Dietrich”'s extraordinary gesture of generosity from those who witnessed it:
also der eine inne was,
der ander vor den turin was,
wante die magit so vil virnam,
daz sie den tuginthaftin man
von aller slachte sinne
in iren herzen begunde minnen. (lines 1915–20)
[While the one was in her chamber, the other already stood before the door, until the maiden had heard so much, that she began to love in her heart this excellent and capable man in every regard.]
This is a doubling of the structural element (S.-C. §A.2) that had previously inspired her decision to suggest that her father hold his Pentecost banquet; again, the courtiers play the role of Knower, when they report to her of “Dietrich”'s generosity. That it is for the sake of his excellent qualities that she begins to “love” him, and not for any personal or superficial reason, is twice alluded to in the text, when the narrator emphasizes that the object of her affection is an excellent and capable (tuginthaftin, lines 1918, 1933) man. It should be remembered, however, that the word minne (love), can more generally mean to hold someone in fond or admiring regard and does not always include a carnal component — one can feel minne toward friends or even God — lest one over-interpret exactly what the narrator is implying here. In this context, too, the word is ambiguous.
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- King Rother and his BrideQuest and Counter-Quests, pp. 120 - 157Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2010