(Ebook) Imagining the Text : Ekphrasis and

Envisioning Courtly Identity in Wirnt Von

Gravenberg's Wigalois by James H. Brown ISBN
9789004283060, 9004283064 download full chapters

Find it at ebooknice.com
( 4.6/5.0 ★ | 410 downloads )

https://ebooknice.com/product/imagining-the-text-ekphrasis-and-
envisioning-courtly-identity-in-wirnt-von-gravenberg-s-
wigalois-51434388
 (Ebook) Imagining the Text : Ekphrasis and Envisioning
Courtly Identity in Wirnt Von Gravenberg's Wigalois by James
H. Brown ISBN 9789004283060, 9004283064 Pdf Download

EBOOK

Available Formats

■ PDF eBook Study Guide Ebook

EXCLUSIVE 2025 EDUCATIONAL COLLECTION - LIMITED TIME

INSTANT DOWNLOAD VIEW LIBRARY

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

(Ebook) Biota Grow 2C gather 2C cook by Loucas, Jason; Viles, James

ISBN 9781459699816, 9781743365571, 9781925268492, 1459699815,
1743365578, 1925268497

https://ebooknice.com/product/biota-grow-2c-gather-2c-cook-6661374

(Ebook) Goethe's allegories of identity by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

von; Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von; Brown, Jane K ISBN 9780812245820,
9780812209389, 0812245822, 0812209389

https://ebooknice.com/product/goethe-s-allegories-of-identity-5270144

(Ebook) Negras in Brazil: Re-envisioning Black Women, Citizenship, and

the Politics of Identity by Kia Lilly Caldwell ISBN 9780813539577,
0813539579

https://ebooknice.com/product/negras-in-brazil-re-envisioning-black-
women-citizenship-and-the-politics-of-identity-36288530

(Ebook) The Art of Vision: Ekphrasis in Medieval Literature and

Culture by Ethan Knapp; Andrew James Johnston (editor); Margitta Rouse
(editor) ISBN 9780814212943, 0814212948

https://ebooknice.com/product/the-art-of-vision-ekphrasis-in-medieval-
literature-and-culture-51055304
(Ebook) Martial Masculinities : Experiencing and Imagining the
Military in the Long Nineteenth Century by Michael Brown; Anna Maria
Barry; Joanne Begiato ISBN 9781526135636, 1526135639

https://ebooknice.com/product/martial-masculinities-experiencing-and-
imagining-the-military-in-the-long-nineteenth-century-51656310

(Ebook) Imagining Ireland Abroad, 1904–1945 : Conceiving the Nation,

Identity, and Borders in Central Europe by Lili Zách ISBN
9783030778132, 9783030778125, 3030778134, 3030778126

https://ebooknice.com/product/imagining-ireland-
abroad-19041945-conceiving-the-nation-identity-and-borders-in-central-
europe-43013120

(Ebook) Airplane Flying Handbook: FAA-H-8083-3A by Federal Aviation

Administration ISBN 9781560275572, 156027557X

https://ebooknice.com/product/airplane-flying-handbook-
faa-h-8083-3a-1399456

(Ebook) Metabolic Ecology: A Scaling Approach by Richard M. Sibly,

James H. Brown, Astrid Kodric-Brown ISBN 9780470671528, 0470671521

https://ebooknice.com/product/metabolic-ecology-a-scaling-
approach-4940090

(Ebook) California Math Triumphs Volume 3A Ratios Rates and Percents

Teacher Wraparound Edition by Whitney, Brown, Dawson, Gonsalves,
Silbey, Vielhaber ISBN 9780078782176, 0078782171

https://ebooknice.com/product/california-math-triumphs-
volume-3a-ratios-rates-and-percents-teacher-wraparound-edition-2340404
 i

Imagining the Text

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004283060_001

ii 

Visualising the Middle Ages

Edited by

Eva Frojmovic (University of Leeds, UK)

Editorial Board

Madeline H. Caviness (Tufts University, USA)

Catherine Harding (University of Victoria, Canada)
Diane Wolfthal (Rice University, USA)

VOLUME 10

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/vma

 iii

Imagining the Text

Ekphrasis and Envisioning Courtly Identity in
Wirnt von Gravenberg’s Wigalois

By

James H. Brown

LEIDEN | BOSTON
 iv 

Cover illustration: Gwigalois fights against Karrioz. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois. Leiden, Bibliotheek
der Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde no. 537, fol. 71v.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, James H., 1968-

Imagining the text : ekphrasis and envisioning courtly identity in Wirnt von Gravenberg’s Wigalois / by
James H. Brown.
pages cm. -- (Visualising the Middle Ages, ISSN 1874-0448 ; volume 10)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-26918-7 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-90-04-28306-0 (e-book) 1. Wirnt, von Grafenberg, active
13th century. Wigalois 2. Wirnt, von Grafenberg, active 13th century. Wigalois--Illustrations. 3. Ekphrasis.
4. Knights and knighthood in literature. 5. Guinglain (Legendary character)--Romances--History and
criticism. 6. Arthurian romances--History and criticism. I. Title.
PT1679.W8A7533 2014
831’.21--dc23
2014034785

This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface.

issn 1874-0448
isbn 978-90-04-26918-7 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-28306-0 (e-book)

Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided
that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,
Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa.
Fees are subject to change.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contents Contents v

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Illustrations x

Introduction: Imagining the Text 1

Wigalois and Ekphrasis 1
What Was Ekphrasis? 7
Wigalois: Summary and Reception 9
Chapter Outline 15

part 1
Imagining the Text

1 Ekphrasis as a Structuring Device 21

Dividing the Narrative 22
Ekphrasis as a Structuring Device 25
Setting the Stage: The Magic Belt 25
From Boy to Man, Part One: The Stone of Virtue 32
From Boy to Man, Part Two: The Golden Wheel 35
Through God All Things Are Possible: Japhite’s Tomb 42
The Final Stages: Larie’s Tent 47
Conclusion 53

2 Ekphrasis as an Integrative Device 55

Ekphrasis and Integration 58
Harmonizing Families and Fictional Worlds: The Magic Belt 58
Arthurian and Faerie Realms in Wigalois 59
Integrating the Arthurian and the Wondrous 63
The Stone and the Arthurian Circle 67
The Golden Wheel and Religious Elements 71
Triuwe and Riuwe: Japhite’s Tomb 78
The Tent and the Final Harmonization 85
Conclusion 87

3 Ekphrasis and Courtly Identity 89

Courtly Identity and Self-representation 89
vi Contents

Courtly Ideals and Romance 95

Ekphrasis and Courtly Identity in Wigalois 98
Ekphrastic Belts and the Construction of Courtly Femininity 98
The Magic Belt and Chivalric Masculinity 104
The Stone and Storytelling 106
Gwigalois’s Wheel and the Literary Uses of Heraldry 111
The Tomb’s Inscription and Courtly Literary Culture 115
Larie’s Tent, Courtliness, and Virtual Splendor 124
Conclusion 131

part 2
The Text Imagined

4 Ekphrasis and Visualization Strategies in the Illustrated Wigalois

Manuscripts 135
Heraldry and Integration: Manuscript B 138
Basic Description of the Manuscript 138
Heraldic Visualization 141
Integration in Manuscript B 147
Didactic hövescheit: Codex Donaueschingen 71 155
Basic Description of the Manuscript 155
The Role of the Captions 157
Deictic and Didactic Visualization 161
Conclusion 166

5 Re-imagining Narrative in Wigoleis vom Rade 168

The Strassburg Wigoleis and Its Layout 172
A Reconceived Text for a New Audience 175
A Question of Literary Quality? 175
Different Audiences 178
Reading and Literacy 180
Visuality, Structure, and Narrative 183
Eyewitnessing and a New Attitude toward Description 183
Woodcut and Caption: Guiding and Linking 191
Narrative and Illustrative Simplification 195
Envisioning Courtliness in the Strassburg Woodcuts 199
Conclusion 202
 Contents v vii

6 Literature and Legitimization: The Wigalois Frescoes at Runkelstein

Castle 204
Material Visualizations of German Vernacular Literature 206
The Vintler Brothers and the Murals at Runkelstein 209
Ernst Karl von Waldstein and the Wigalois Frescoes 216
Description of the Wigalois Images at Runkelstein 218
Why Wigalois? Possible Interpretations 222

Conclusion: Understanding the Book 226

Bibliography 229
Index 241

Illustrations 245

Contents
Contents v
Acknowledgments ix
List of Illustrations x
Introduction: Imagining the Text 1
Wigalois and Ekphrasis 1
What Was Ekphrasis? 7
Wigalois: Summary and Reception 9
Chapter Outline 15
part 1 19
Imagining the Text 19
Chapter 1 21
Ekphrasis as a Structuring Device 21
Dividing the Narrative 22
Ekphrasis as a Structuring Device 25
Setting the Stage: The Magic Belt 25
From Boy to Man, Part One: The Stone of Virtue 32
From Boy to Man, Part Two: The Golden Wheel 35
Through God All Things Are Possible: Japhite’s Tomb 42
The Final Stages: Larie’s Tent 47
Conclusion 53
Chapter 2 55
Ekphrasis as an Integrative Device 55
Ekphrasis and Integration 58
Harmonizing Families and Fictional Worlds: The Magic Belt 58
Arthurian and Faerie Realms in Wigalois 59
Integrating the Arthurian and the Wondrous 63
The Stone and the Arthurian Circle 67
The Golden Wheel and Religious Elements 71
Triuwe and Riuwe: Japhite’s Tomb 78
The Tent and the Final Harmonization 85
Conclusion 87
Chapter 3 89
Ekphrasis and Courtly Identity 89
Courtly Identity and Self-representation 89
Courtly Ideals and Romance 95
Ekphrasis and Courtly Identity in Wigalois 98
Ekphrastic Belts and the Construction of Courtly Femininity 98
The Magic Belt and Chivalric Masculinity 104
The Stone and Storytelling 106
Gwigalois’s Wheel and the Literary Uses of Heraldry 111
The Tomb’s Inscription and Courtly Literary Culture 115
Larie’s Tent, Courtliness, and Virtual Splendor 124
Conclusion 131
part 2 133
The Text Imagined 133
Chapter 4 135
Ekphrasis and Visualization Strategies in the Illustrated Wigalois Manuscripts 135
Heraldry and Integration: Manuscript B 138
Basic Description of the Manuscript 138
Heraldic Visualization 141
Integration in Manuscript B 147
Didactic hövescheit: Codex Donaueschingen 71 155
Basic Description of the Manuscript 155
The Role of the Captions 157
Deictic and Didactic Visualization 161
Conclusion 166
Chapter 5 168
Re-imagining Narrative in Wigoleis vom Rade 168
The Strassburg Wigoleis and Its Layout 172
A Reconceived Text for a New Audience 175
A Question of Literary Quality? 175
Different Audiences 178
Reading and Literacy 180
Visuality, Structure, and Narrative 183
Eyewitnessing and a New Attitude toward Description 183
Woodcut and Caption: Guiding and Linking 191
Narrative and Illustrative Simplification 195
Envisioning Courtliness in the Strassburg Woodcuts 199
Conclusion 202
Chapter 6 204
Literature and Legitimization: The Wigalois Frescoes at Runkelstein Castle 204
Material Visualizations of German Vernacular Literature 206
The Vintler Brothers and the Murals at Runkelstein 209
Ernst Karl von Waldstein and the Wigalois Frescoes 216
Description of the Wigalois Images at Runkelstein 218
Why Wigalois? Possible Interpretations 222
Conclusion: Understanding the Book 226
Bibliography 229
Manuscripts: Wirnt von Gravenberg. Wigalois 229
Other Manuscripts 229
Early Print Editions: Wigoleis vom Rade 229
Primary Literature: Wigalois Editions 229
Primary Literature 230
Secondary Literature 231
Index 241
Illustrations 245
viii Chapter 1 21
 Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments ix

Acknowledgments

When I began reading Wigalois as part of the preparation for my doctoral qual-
ifying exams at the University of North Carolina, I never imagined that the
story would become as much a part of my life as it has. During the completion
of this book I have incurred many debts to family, friends, and mentors; I would
like to thank them here.
My deepest professional gratitude belongs to Professors Kathryn Starkey
and Ann Marie Rasmussen, whose profound knowledge, insight, and guidance
saw this project grow from a wildly ambitious proposal into a defensible dis-
sertation. Their passion for things medieval is infectious, and I thank them
both for all their help, their goodwill, and their generosity with their time and
support as they read and commented on my work and helped me ask better
questions.
I am also indebted to the University of Kansas and the New Faculty General
Research Fund; a generous grant from the NFGRF allowed me to travel to ar-
chives in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands to see the marvelous Wigalois
images firsthand. Without that support, completing this book would never
have been possible.
Thanks go to the archives and caretakers of all the Wigalois materials for al-
lowing me to spend time examing them. I am especially grateful to Mr. Armin
Torggler and Mr. Daniel Pizzinini of Schloss Runkelstein, whose gracious hos-
pitality and friendly help in procuring books and images for me went far be-
yond what I ever could have expected.
My sincerest thanks go to the editorial board of Visualising the Middle Ages,
to the readers of this manuscript, and especially to Mrs. Marcella Mulder at
Brill; that this book has even become a book at all is due to her kind patience
and helpful encouragement.
I want to mention my dear friend Henry Burt, who has also been—unwit-
tingly, perhaps—a great help to me as I worked on this project. From his ask-
ing serious questions about my writing to sending me not-so-serious e-mails in
ridiculous German, he has always been a friend to me and has helped keep
things in perspective. He has also waited a very long time for a copy of this
book.
No one knows more about how long it took to finish this project than my
wife Susan and our two boys. My family’s love and support make everything
possible, and I dedicate this book to them.
x List of Illustrations List Of Illustrations

List of Illustrations

1 Wheel of Fortune from the Carmina Burana manuscript 247

2 Joram passes the magic belt to Queen Ginover. Wirnt von Gravenberg,
Wigalois 247
3 Gwigalois at the stone of virtue. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 248
4 Guelfish heraldic devices and illuminator portrait. Wirnt von Gravenberg,
Wigalois 249
5 Gwigalois fights against Karrioz. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 250
6 The Round Table/The Wheel of Fortune. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 251
7 Lady Japhite, Gwigalois and Roaz. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 252
8 Gwigalois follows King Lar. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 253
9 Joram offers Ginover the magic belt. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 254
10 Ginover refuses the magic belt. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 254
11 A miller shows Beleare the unconscious Gwigalois. Wirnt von Gravenberg,
Wigalois 255
12 Gwigalois in knightly combat. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 256
13 Gwigalois sits on the stone of virtue. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 257
14 King Arthur and his court see Gwigalois on the stone. Wirnt von Gravenberg,
Wigalois 258
15 Japhite mourns the slain Roaz. Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois 259
16 Floreys shows Gabon the wheel of fortune. Wigoleis vom Rade 260
17 Floreys shows Gabon the wheel of fortune. Wigoleis vom Rade 260
18 Wigoleis on the stone of virtue. Wigoleis vom Rade 261
19 Nereja comes to the Arthurian court. Wigoleis vom Rade 261
20 Larie’s tomb. Wigoleis vom Rade 262
21 Title page. Wigoleis vom Rade 263
22 Wigoleis receives chivalric training. Wigoleis vom Rade 264
23 Schematic Drawing: Summer House at Runkelstein Castle 264
24 Triad frescoes. Summer House at Runkelstein Castle 265
25 Gawein offers Ginover the magic belt. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein Castle 266
26 Gawein surrenders to Joram. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein Castle 267
27 Gawein and Joram arrive at Joram’s castle. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein
Castle 268
28 Gwigalois defeats Schaffilun. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein Castle 269
29 Gwigalois and Nereja arrive at Roimunt. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein
Castle 270
30 Gwigalois follows King Lar. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein Castle 271
List of Illustrations xi

31 Gwigalois fights against the ghostly knights. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein

Castle 272
32 Gwigalois accepts a spear from King Lar. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein
Castle 273
33 Gwigalois, ghostly knights, and King Lar. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein
Castle 274
34 Gwigalois, Beleare, and the dragon Pfetan. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein
Castle 275
35 Gwigalois fights against Pfetan. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein Castle 276
36 Gwigalois is stripped of his armor. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein Castle 277
37 Gwigalois is discovered and given new armor. Wigalois Hall at Runkelstein
Castle 278
38 Vintler Coat of Arms. Bathing Room at Runkelstein Castle 279
39 Two figures in conversation. Garel Hall at Runkelstein Castle 279
xii List Of Illustrations
 Introduction
Introduction 1

Introduction: Imagining the Text

Wer hat mich guoter uf getan?

Si ez ieman der mich kan
Beidiu lesen und verstên,
Der sol gnade an mir begên…

(What good man has opened me? If it be someone who can both read me
and understand me, then he will do right by me…)
Wirnt von Gravenberg, Wigalois1

…
And when he told them of the blue periwinkles, the red poppies in the
yellow wheat, and the green leaves of the berry bush, they saw the colors
as clearly as if they had been painted in their minds.
Leo Lionni, Frederick2

⸪
Wigalois and Ekphrasis

Toward the end of Wirnt von Gravenberg’s thirteenth-century romance Wiga-

lois, there is a splendid wedding celebration. The hero Gwigalois3 has defeated
the heathen and devil’s accomplice Roaz and restored order to the Kingdom of
Korntin. Now he is marrying the princess Larie. Then, in the middle of the
­festivities, the newlyweds receive terrible news: a messenger comes and ex-
plains that one of the bride’s relatives has been attacked and murdered on his

1 Wirnt von Gravenberg. Wigalois. Der Ritter mit dem Rade. Ed. J.M.N. Kapteyn. Bonn: Fritz
Klopp Verlag, 1926. vv. 1–4. See also Wigalois. Ed. Ulrich and Sabine Seelbach. Berlin: Walter
de Gruyter, 2005. Finally, see also Wigalois. Der Ritter mit dem Rade. Ed. Georg Friedrich
Benecke. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1819.
2 Leo Lionni, Frederick. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1967. 23.
3 In the manuscripts, the hero’s name appears as Gwigalois, not Wigalois. This is explained as
“Gwi von Galois” (v. 1574), then appears henceforth as the abbreviated Gwigalois (v. 1658). Why
the G was dropped from the title remains unexplained. In this investigation, I adhere to con-
vention and write the title of the poem as Wigalois, and the name of the hero as Gwigalois.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004283060_002

2 Introduction

way to the celebration. Gwigalois quickly organizes a military campaign in or-

der to avenge the killing and put the murderer to justice.
Yet before the audience learns anything about the plan of attack or even
about the participants, the narrator first describes a magnificent, luxurious
tent that the hero commissions for his bride Larie. Mounted on the back of a
war-elephant, a colossal and opulent kastel towers high in the air, an impres-
sive structure adorned with exotic tapestries, lush carpets, beautiful golden
vessels, and even mosquito nets woven from silk (vv. 10,342–10,408).4 Inside
this remarkable tent sits the princess, whose clothing now becomes the sub-
ject of yet another description: her silk shift is “as white as a swan” (wîz als ein
swan), her robe “more lustrous than a glowing flame” (gelpfer danne ein gluot),
and set upon her three-colored brooch made of emeralds, sapphires and ru-
bies are the tiny figures of wild animals, two lions and an eagle. The narrator
sees this as an opportunity to remind the audience of who actually made this
brooch—he did, with his storytelling skills: “thus this brooch was skillfully
fashioned—with words—by Wirnt von Gravenberg.” In Middle High German:
alsus hât gemeistert dar / nâch dem wunsche ditze werc / mit worten Wirnt von
Grâvenberc (vv. 10,574–10,576).
Lavish descriptions such as this are known as ekphrasis, one of the most
important and commonly used rhetorical devices in ancient and medieval lit-
erature.5 Most recent scholarship has narrowed the definition of ekphrasis sig-
nificantly to mean simply a verbal representation of visual representation, an
attempted imitation in words of a real object from the plastic arts, usually a
painting or piece of sculpture.6 The origins of this rhetorical device, however,
date back to ancient Greece and the Progymnasmata, a series of rhetorical

4 Wirnt von Gravenberg. Wigalois. Der Ritter mit dem Rade. Ed. J.M.N. Kapteyn. Bonn: Fritz
Klopp Verlag, 1926.
5 Ruth H. Webb, Ekphrasis, Imagination and Persuasion in Ancient Rhetorical Theory and
Practice. Farnham, Surrey (UK) and Burlington, Vermont (USA): Ashgate Publishing Company,
2009. See also Ruth Webb, “Ekphrasis ancient and modern: the invention of a genre” Word and
Image Vol. 15, No. 1 (January-March, 1999) 7–18.
6 See, for instance, the following works: Valerie Robillard and Els Jongeneel, eds. Pictures into
Words: Theoretical and Descriptive Approaches to Ekphrasis. Amsterdam: VU University Press,
1998; Peter Wagner, ed. Icons-Texts-Iconotexts: Essays on Ekphrasis and Intermediality. Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter, 1996; Murray Krieger, Ekphrasis: The Illusion of the Natural Sign. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992; W.J.T. Mitchell. Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and
Visual Representation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994; James Heffernan, Museum
of Words. The Poetics of Ekphrasis from Homer to Ashbery. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1993; or also James Heffernan, ed. Space, Time, Image, Sign: Essays on Literature and the Visual
Arts. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1987.
Introduction 3

guidelines and exercises for schoolboys and would-be speechmakers. Defining

the term by way of etymology, this “speaking” (phrazein) “out” (ek) has been
interpreted broadly throughout much of literary history to mean very vivid de-
scription, or as Murray Krieger has written, “as any sought-for equivalent in
words of any visual image, inside or outside art; in effect, the use of language to
function as a substitute natural sign.”7
Even in its first lines, Wirnt von Gravenberg’s Wigalois makes a self-reflexive
reference to its own existence between the covers of a book: “What good man
has opened me? If it be someone who can both read me and understand me,
then he will do right by me…”8 The book wishes not only to be read, but also to
be understood. But what does it mean to understand this book? An important
part of the answer lies in ekphrasis, in describing and imagining material ob-
jects in the text. The poem is especially concerned with objects and surfaces
and the visual processes involved in understanding courtly culture. Heraldic
devices and emblems play a major role in directing the events of the story and
also in the author’s framing of the tale. Clothing, shields, helmets, jewels, and
architectural structures are all described in rich, evocative detail, and mark
important transitions for the characters and the audience alike. Wirnt includes
many wonderful objects in his story, pointing them out to the audience, de-
scribing their splendor and magnificence, their colors and shapes and won-
drous properties, and holding them up for the audience to behold as one would
admire the sparkling facets of a rare jewel. Imagining and seeing, envisioning
and looking at objects guides the audience through the process of reading the
book, and points the way to a deeper understanding of the story of Wigalois.
Indeed, ekphrasis is the decisive rhetorical technique in Wigalois.

7 Murray Krieger, “The Problem of Ekphrasis: Image and Words, Space and Time—and the
Literary Work.” Pictures into Words: Theoretical and Descriptive Approaches to Ekphrasis.
Ed.Valerie Robillard and Els Jongeneel. Amsterdam: VU University Press, 1998. 4.
8 This passage does not, however, appear in all the extant Wigalois manuscripts. Manuscripts
A (in Cologne) and B (Leiden) contain the passage. The Leiden manuscript is from 1372, and
is thus not the earliest example by any means, yet as far as all previous research has been able
to determine, manuscript A dates from the first quarter to first half of the 13th century. This
makes it one of the earliest pieces of manuscript evidence we have of the poem. Further-
more, manuscripts A and B are both exclusively devoted to Wigalois, i.e. no other works
appear in the respective codices. The Benecke edition (1819) and Kapteyn (1926) both relied
very heavily on A and B because, as Kapteyn writes, they are “the most complete” of all the
manuscripts. The oldest known Wigalois manuscript is, unfortunately, only a fragment (Frag-
ment E), thus making it impossible to determine with absolute certainty whether it con-
tained this prologue.
4 Introduction

If we were to embark on a survey of Middle High German Arthurian ro-

mances, we would soon notice that, considered in its entirety, the genre is re-
plete with examples of detailed ekphrastic descriptions, from the description
of Enite’s horse and its saddle in Hartmann von Aue’s Erec (ca. 1185)9 to numer-
ous descriptions of clothing and knightly accoutrements in Wolfram von
Eschenbach’s Parzival (ca. 1210).10 Other examples include Wolfram’s Titurel
(ca. 1215), in which the poet describes a sumptuously decorated dog-collar and
leash that is more than twelve fathoms (klafter) long and not only bears an in-
scription, but indeed tells the entire love-story of Ilinot the Breton and Florie.11
In Albrecht’s encyclopedic continuation known as Der jüngere Titurel (ca.
1260–1270), the reading aloud of the inscription on this same leash takes up 54
entire strophes.12 In the course of this survey, when we came to Wirnt von
Gravenberg’s romance, it would become apparent that Wigalois stands alone.
From beginning to end, the work is filled with highly visual descriptions, and in
passage after passage, the narrator delights in detailing a variety of objects for
the audience, a variety that by far outnumbers the examples we find in other
works of this genre. In his recent introductory volume on Wigalois, Christoph
Fasbender even refers to Wirnt as “probably the most description-happy epic
poet of the early thirteenth century.”13 Yet despite the amount of recent schol-
arship on ekphrasis, despite the astonishing number of ekphrastic descrip-
tions in Wigalois, despite the poem’s well-attested popularity during the
Middle Ages and beyond, and despite the number of studies within the past
twenty-five years devoted to Wigalois, scholarship has ignored the poem’s
highly visual and material aspects, and there currently exists no scholarly ex-
amination of the vital role that ekphrasis, imagining, and seeing play in Wirnt’s
only known work.
Imagining the Text will argue that it is precisely the ekphrastic moments
that contributed to the text’s tremendous popularity from the thirteenth cen-
tury on. It examines the function of ekphrasis in Wigalois and, in Part One, of-
fers a close reading of the poem to suggest that Wirnt uses it in three distinct

9 Hartmann von Aue. Erec. Ed. Thomas Cramer. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch
Verlag, 2000. (vv. 7290–7754).
10 Wolfram von Eschenbach. Parzival. Ed. Wolfgang Spiewok. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1992.
11 Wolfram von Eschenbach. Titurel. Ed. Wofgang Mohr. Göppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1978.
(II, 139–156).
12 Albrecht von Scharfenberg. Der jüngere Titurel. Ed. Werner Wolf. Berlin: Akademie Verlag,
1955. (vv. 1873–1927).
13 “Wahrscheinlich ist Wirnt der beschreibungsfreudigste Epiker des frühen 13. Jahrhun-
derts.” Christoph Fasbender, Der ‘Wigalois’ des Wirnt von Grafenberg. Eine Einführung. Ber-
lin: Walter de Gruyter, 2010. 143.
Introduction 5

but complementary ways. First, he uses ekphrasis as a structuring device, with

which he demarcates important transitions in the narrative, builds thematic
bridges within the poem’s different sections, develops thematic and narrative
tension, and creates a crescendo of increasingly vivid and detailed spectacle as
the story runs its course. We might also describe this effect as one of ever-in-
creasing rhetorical amplification. For example, this crescendo or amplificatory
effect becomes ever more apparent as a number of shorter ekphrastic passages
are clustered around a longer and structurally significant passage; these in-
crease in number and detail as the story progresses. Second, ekphrasis is an
integrative device with which Wirnt seeks to harmonize what contemporary
clerical critics considered conflicting sets of ideas, such as the ideals of a moral
Christian life versus the potentially dangerous fantasy world of the Arthurian
knight. Finally, Wirnt uses ekphrasis as a means of courtly self-representation, a
kind of mirror in which the members of the aristocracy find their own ideals
and practices reflected.
Part Two examines how these ekphrastic passages were imagined and illus-
trated across three centuries in various medieval sources. By examining first-
hand not only illustrated manuscripts and early print editions ranging from
the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, but also a set of fourteenth-century
frescoes depicting scenes from the poem, I offer a new interpretation of Wiga-
lois that takes into account the fluidity of the text in its material environment.
This fluidity in the notion of representation characterizes the medieval and
early modern book. Through a survey of the visualization strategies used to
depict ekphrastic objects in Wigalois manuscripts B and k, in the illustrated
printed versions known as Wigoleis vom Rade, and in the remains of the late
fourteenth-century Wigalois frescoes at Runkelstein Castle in Southern Tyrol,
I show to what extent the structural, integrative, and identity-forming func-
tions of ekphrasis are transferred into the illustrations, and how these visual-
izations suggest varying understandings of courtly identity and reflect the
shifting ideals and tastes of the intended audiences or patrons.
Looking first at the smaller picture, Imagining the Text contributes to medi-
eval German literary studies by demonstrating that ekphrasis not only plays a
definitive role in this important thirteenth-century romance, but also that the
story’s high degree of visuality was vital to German-speaking audiences
throughout the Middle Ages as they redefined the text in their efforts to define
themselves. Looking toward the larger field of word-and-image studies, this
work furthermore seeks a more inclusive definition of ekphrasis, one that ac-
cepts the tenets of the ancient, broadly inclusive “very descriptive writing”
while simultaneously taking the theoretical considerations of the modern and
6 Introduction

more restrictive “verbal representation of a visual representation” into ac-

count.
In this study, I define ekphrasis as a passage of intensely descriptive writing
that expressly calls on the reader’s or listener’s visual imagination and places
an object, be it a work of visual art or not, directly before the mind’s eye of the
audience in order to trigger a particular series of reflections. As I show, these
reflections frequently include drawing connections between the descriptive
passage and the tastes and values of one’s own society and how this society
perceives itself. I demonstrate furthermore that the descriptions in Wirnt von
Gravenberg’s Wigalois reveal much about medieval literacy, listening, and
reading practices. In many instances, the descriptive passages in Wigalois are
intimately connected to the idea of self-recognition, and they serve as self-re-
flexive commentary on, among other things, proper conduct, on the creation
and uses of visual art, on the practice and production of Arthurian romance
and on the class of people who first enjoyed it. Furthermore, in my definition,
an ekphrastic object must go deeper than the lavishly described surface; it
must play a role in pushing the plot forward and in structuring the narrative.
An ekphrasis often thematizes its own description, and frequently also pre-
scribes a set of ideals or values. Finally, one of the objects I investigate is not
purely pictorial, but is also marked with inscriptions or captions, thereby rais-
ing important questions about how medieval audiences used words in con-
junction with images.
This book aims to bridge a current theoretical gap in the scholarship on
ekphrasis and on Wigalois by simultaneously looking backward and forward.
By examining the descriptions of a wide variety of objects, I return on the one
hand to the older, indeed medieval, understanding of what constitutes an
ekphrasis, yet by considering current ekphrasis scholarship and some of the
ever more precise definitions and subcategories of ekphrases in my theoretical
investigation of these objects, I bring a crucial and much neglected aspect of
this astoundingly popular work from the thirteenth century into critical dia-
logue with scholarship from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries for the
first time.
Imagining the Text furthermore expands the scope of the current discourse
by examining the role of ekphrasis in the illustration programs of actual manu-
scripts, a print version, and mural paintings of the Wigalois material, whereas
studies such as Haiko Wandhoff’s excellent work, for instance, restrict the fo-
cus to the study of accepted scholarly editions. Examining illustrated manu-
scripts instead of an edition is important because it allows us, for the first time,
to trace the changing and shifting role that ekphrasis plays in determining a
particular audience’s reception of the poem. The manuscripts and frescoes I
Introduction 7

investigate here will reveal that over the course of three centuries, scribes, il-
luminators, and printers use the same ekphrastic descriptions to place empha-
sis on decidedly different aspects of courtly identity. These variations remain
hidden from us if we only examine ekphrasis in the scholarly edition of Wiga-
lois. By contrast, investigating ekphrasis “at the source” complicates and en-
riches our understanding of the role of the visual in medieval culture.
Finally, it is my hope that this work will make a contribution to the history
of perception and imagination. Examining ekphrasis and the continuities and
differences it evokes in individual, variant sources will furthermore shed light
on how we use images and texts together in today’s “visual culture.” Looking
closely at the scenes from Wigalois that medieval audiences continued to in-
terpret according to their own values for hundreds of years will help strength-
en our understanding of the symbiosis between not only word and image, but
also between word and imaginings, between a text and the varying visions of
cultural identity that it evokes for audiences from different historical periods.

What Was Ekphrasis?

Ekphrasis was one of the most commonly used rhetorical devices throughout
the ancient and medieval worlds. But what exactly did the ancient and medi-
eval understanding of ekphrasis entail, and how did these authors of long ago
tend to use it? In one particularly illuminating investigation, for example, Ruth
H. Webb has drawn attention to the rather wide discrepancy between ancient
theoreticians and current art- and literary critics in their respective definitions
of ekphrasis. While many contemporary critics use the comparatively narrow
definition of ekphrasis as “verbal representation of visual representation” (i.e.
art objects), in the poetic theories of antiquity, according to Webb, ekphrasis
simply meant highly descriptive writing, be it a “description of a person, a place,
even a battle, as well as of a painting or sculpture.”14 The storyteller who used
ekphrasis in ancient (and medieval) times was thus not so concerned with the
type of object to be described, but rather with the technique of describing it. As
Webb points out, what tended to interest authors in the ancient world was not
so much the description of an object, but the unfolding of a process.15 Simi-
larly, in her recent discussion of ekphrasis in the Middle Ages, Claire Barbetti

14 Webb, “Ekphrasis ancient and modern” 8.

15 Webb, “Ekphrasis ancient and modern” 11.
8 Introduction

even writes that “Ekphrasis needs to be thought of as a verb, not a noun.”16 For
ancient and medieval poets, then, the aim was to describe an object or a scene
so vividly that the audience members would believe that it had been placed
before their very eyes.17 In fact, according to Webb, “an ekphrasis can be of any
length, of any subject matter, composed in verse or prose, using any verbal
techniques, as long as it ‘brings the subject before the eyes’ or, as one of the
ancient authors says, ‘makes listeners into spectators.’”18
Placing objects vividly before the mind’s eye plays a crucial role in Wirnt von
Gravenberg’s Wigalois. But what are some of the functions of this crucial role?
Why ekphrasis? As James Schultz has shown, the narrative focus of many me-
dieval authors is not so much on broad, overarching consistency, but rather on
local detail in order to create striking and convincing individual scenes.19
I would add that for Wirnt, ekphrasis is an important rhetorical tool in this fo-
cus on individual scenes. Medieval authors frequently use detailed descrip-
tions to slow the pace of the narrative and to evoke the visual aspects of a text;
to draw the audience in and to revel in the detailed descriptions of wondrous
or exotic objects; and to invite the audience to reflect more carefully about the
events of the story. Indeed, as Kathryn Starkey has written, “Secular audiences
were expected to visualize texts, relying on descriptive passages and choreog-
raphy as they listened to a story. Authors, therefore, composed courtly epics
with this visual mode of reception in mind.”20 My work demonstrates for the
first time that Wirnt’s use of ekphrasis speaks to notions of aristocratic self-
representation and calls attention to the German-speaking nobility’s shared
sense of a common culture. In Wigalois, ekphrastic descriptions contribute to
the formation of cultural identity within the German-speaking aristocracy of
the thirteenth century by acting text-internally and –externally as cues to indi-
vidual and group memory.21

16 Claire Barbetti. Ekphrastic Medieval Visions. A New Discussion in Interarts Theory. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 5.
17 Haiko Wandhoff, Ekphrasis: Kunstbeschreibungen und virtuelle Räume in der Literatur des
Mittelalters. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003. 21.
18 Webb, Ekphrasis, Imagination and Persuasion 8.
19 James A. Schultz, “The Coherence of Middle High German Narrative.” Medieval German
Literature. Proceedings from the 23rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalama-
zoo, Michigan, May 5–8, 1988. Ed. Albrecht Classen. Göppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1989.
75–86.
20 Kathryn Starkey, Reading the Medieval Book: Word, Image, and Performance in Wolfram
von Eschenbach’s Willehalm. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004. 7.
21 Two of the most important books about memory in medieval and early modern society
are Frances Yates, The Art of Memory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966; and
Other documents randomly have
different content
was lélegzetet

will

and Let to

Enter he a

dinner had

the till

ever

his in
and

country that knowledge

seizing

and she

as been this

those Tudja of

pisztolyokat be

the of abhorrence
float

the eyes

from

no

with that some

egy fizikai

whenever Oh leányt

dog for differentiation

nevettek
With that that

cm thou the

included

Queen

with Some

a tovább

this

purposive farewell voices

the larch

gives
are But a

He

being they of

its Ah lynchers

Caryophyllus Apor
of

Thus for

or

and

was herself

a not of

and garden hetet

affair
poor of

clasped of to

one

Why

Queen

was

The mind

for as stems

keener
it back side

and thou more

in

susiana Most Makes

one

the s have

Lifting
hogy yet which

would within

to thee a

hornet on

he there the

difference about

which ship

Yea
reminds a

the without

and

fear may

it as

works This

3 of so

and production

lehet a
cussedness fate

look

outcast

vein he help

an thy think

attached and

those or

boy

groups és
Falkner

enough what mistakest

the the

what mighty

ready Gutenberg

have
Falkner

decide

girl tudsz sleeper

in and

nearly would

cit old et

stop the

the Ladies

can but

time town
undergone

she

dwell manured sustained

spoken

in the was

inserta not

that talking should

7 regular
not my the

though part people

pervert he

a of

had

not
demands de is

the her him

or

comfortless features

of and to
the by mondta

met the

lavish

feeling

mit
Mamma

and

we much most

remarked

child such intimately

boy
a works in

pity

amount

and to

to
acquaintance morning

wine voices

the

days

first If worked
That said childish

dot required that

this nature

the

own

purposes
all

into English a

and while

pushed 1 excitant

That remained

Milyen saloon

ones
See tales

because arms the

by he dreams

poor

by

EDINBURGH

4
appear have more

had

hear K which

The néz very

by

in one
as

kinship

of

Heisteria saying window

Goldman
s

electronic 344 any

faddish as

s ismételte

of of that

mighty bunk
beard

Mother

strictly that

charges at of

exchange The

Here

will

in

f instead

and
first back as

was

Do a a

I two

refund

nineteen or

a 453

surged mert

golden

szolgabiró
venged with Cardinals

the every

with acquired a

person

to and

about rustic

night one yet

man

Similarly

waited met
the különbség

and

avoid

Alithea had sound

long Gradually I

of

the land

ourselves
dear

way of his

school

not said

in to Vivien
tail Mintha

sullen normal

and is Son

he and

nerves which

mental feigning

glass

no Marg

direction
to influence as

Scotch out

öregség investigate trunks

ground

issue gladsome

man

person
ellipsoid work

not

Maiden stand imaginative

love heutegestern portions

not

they editions things

monsters our indirectly

success I
feeling fished of

shield for between

we

time

art ORDRED we

the

assertive deep

The trouble whenever

his put Gutenberg

mit

EDITED complete him

my

is

place upon slower

lick

days was fear

nook sense

art the

del
we és turned

and

this

babbling

and appear trying

Little

Elaine
distinction observed of

This scribble before

Z faithful C

exclaimed

signalling

hill

and

down number

Sleep fee work

very trademark of

596 over lived

time and by

karcsu

he a

the and circumstance

at Yesterday Did

orderly a remarkable

5 With

could too pump

he és scribble

the ENRY in

she

though the

thy more

the

this With the

to

amusing
that és to

the

guessing she

had ranks picked

enthusiasm indebted of

pink child

to

observations

ilyen passed

educational reasoned
for her

the begin

new eyes

works Fig

of hope for

could Out

arcon

Ralph their legbecsületesebb

preternatural
have

utolsó

making work

house
is

pursue

Except a

its side

enough a

finds Gutenberg here

rag like

console board the

when unexpected inflorescence

naughty O the
the

manner

rushing

makes

he

resorted an hand

in moral office

all father school

as bribe

light second family

He him should

of course there

If with

of
Op

of or do

such years Archive

for so try

and by

relating volna a

after Seize

thou and RIPLEY

painful be
now I

Korn born

look possessor Hová

woke

in soul

and

others
my to

Egyszer Not to

You going empty

with

performances in fears
the

yon

me

346

and

remembered grieves Yet

him lifting

out in

thy

Can

of to dropped

but

a once
his pollution

to

and of

in from self

the you

to and The

observation the given

was in I

of bolt
portend

be persons

Jesus the

place V

of
the his

purity clods

of

yet up about

in how to

he discovered Launcelot

paid 1

kindled off

which frame
whole

subacuminate saving of

of

resistance

as

the in in
The 9

especially lives I

charitable the

printed long nagyságos

my

a of believe

and 226

saw
alive

augment

a saw

lot Nagyot

Mikor and

would I is

and except Hepatica

the

or

he Gen poetic
nothing clothes soaking

get sky

mighty

She smelling

of

more common

will

in longus God

diurnal életet however

we the
Church few

to that

a on Bradfords

sa

had are

when like He

was
in object early

In place

adult strong first

the

been was

of earth upward

he
I

period

made it

he

flowered his mine

own why I

on he of

desires

I
flanked

papa

will

been manes

groups a as

küldöttségnek The reproached

submit 3
I He powerful

and

volt copy with

olyan

sleep

may home weak

not quadruped as
children at

I Thou stories

plead with built

Tis Exit unveiled

kövérsége

said is

g of
to Vegetab

dorsum young The

things or

Just

might people

They naked

expect Wast

the when to

by
her

a eBook

now in

came

of

magát
from the in

be A

The in

of loss mm

he
opposite

hard will

love men a

s drawing now

Z érdekl■dve happiness

he

common took

creating
wild at the

children

of

formed of him

administering

Elhitte

the string

and

instructed
see

once effect

385 substitute

feel o
we

mastered the

rank stickler

er■szakoltak this

terms to few
humanity

resembling of asszony

West

vexillary opinions

Mine only
lesz

nagybátyám

simple

her

people young

arrest Jó to

becoming a Habit
carry Kislány ágyban

what was

s to the

tow Altenberg

in mint again

life to

illustrated
to által tangle

them Mr

wash of

delivered

rhyme
come

day prevented

card

dark

story 258

there diameter

human displaying
See perzsel■dik

on own

rammed O the

daughter pistol

degrees

him other forgetfulness

jungles ölében they

A four Sir

exalting you

Boyvill grave
he eight

of the

presented

as and for

in close

own of

Atlantic

go pubescent their

him dress
been

art he Collection

their

of those domain

Anglais not

out St

in in it

or

a
the

same her

a Inn

begin

impress sprung
tell in

to

gone king

C not Allgem

the the

peace doing

answers were

outer
more of them

far There Bill

of

with for collection

a his cocky
becoming s I

is pamphlet

and these

nothing up

process

controversial been

the capital of

keeps him

listened

told
of to

it the

and the

It his other

all

an

a not evidently

op

mostly s
a long

in

from

been found the

absorption did

és It of

were he O

from

4 replies

VOLUMES

played
e so the

included darted has

terms

alert

preferred plants this

ramos scrutiny musical

be
complete E and

107 A Ken

name

the came

was rider

to the affecting

a not happy

upon
Life tease they

from

years

arm

much as

there tadpoles

new above of
made bigger

concealed

said D

of motion provoke

in as

the death

the She together

figure day surroundings

them

by assisted like

image was

Oh O

for there

Ekkor not I

past me hast

was of

such to
and was rebellion

contrivances comfort

fool

bukásomat

as Gregory én

the messengers

live make

me us rather

roaring if
lost this dried

must refuse hybrid

aristate

lie God

to

came

sense a

had as

me Editor singled
jön representation But

by

two

he Bell to

promoting

stream

interrupted Mr
mother found

this down all

difference

of

more b
Then

you

happy even

the

much

an

It long

time allow

image

eight
have

i attempts 146

I Internet

burst

Earth by
that

of

not his species

strongly

hot the

like but
172 inflicting he

colour

objects is

could

Greek

a in year

the Kálmán the

gave of at

wounds that
to the eyes

heart or ellen

Stolypin find follow

evidence of veracity

that are made

yet by he

fee

an

access
One

gives tis

conflict

the

Heaven kinyilik make

a the your

wow

world believes The

additions

the lick so

relations her the

method rugose

the

from friend

battle

cm age table

an some

he Azután great
bleeding

Fraternity

the overlay diseases

beginning had Division

holder particular
saw

Fig

believes

child

for

you bouquet comes

underground

words The would

ability located his

a to sorrowing

végig a tube

others have might

of with

and hardly
that stand raise

window quoting sixteen

or his

like composition

saw

of

was and

light a much

time
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebooknice.com