THE CENTRAL CONFLICT of the perilous bridal quest is the rivalry in status between the wooer and the father of the intended bride, with the latter's realm representing a negative narrative space associated with his negative role in the wooer-father dynamic. The wooer holds the focus of the narration, which is structured according to his progress in the quest; this leads the recipients of the text to view the quest exclusively from the wooer's perspective. The wooer achieves his goal through cunning ruses that deceive the father and lead to an elopement with the consent of the bride. The narrator of König Rother, however, not only employs the quest structure to narrate the entire wooer's quest, but recycles and varies its elements in a number of sub-structures that support the greater narrative scheme.

King Rother is a worthy wooer of sufficient status to merit the princess of Constantinople. He possesses great temporal might: his dominion extends beyond the territory of the Holy Roman emperors of contemporary history and beyond the territory ruled by the emblematic emperor of the West, Charlemagne. On an ethical level, he is a paragon of Christian virtue — like Charlemagne, a defender of the church — and a model of just kingship. The purpose of Rother's bridal quest is to remove the single blot on his public honor: he has no wife and thus no legitimate heir. The future of his realm is at stake.