Matriarchy versus patriarchy - Springer Link

MATRIARCHY VERSUS PATRIARCHY: THE ROLE OF THE IRISH QUEEN ISOLDE IN GOTTFRIED VON STRABBURG’S “TRISTAN”

In face of modern feminist criticism which is increasingly applied both to the humanities and to literary studies, the time has come to accept this theoretical challenge and to utilize those novel intellectual concepts for a better understanding of medieval romances, epics, and lyric poetry. Scholars such as Shahar Shulamith, Edith Ennen, Eileen Power, and Susan Mosher Stuard have directed our attention to feminist aspects in medieval literature and medieval history.’ Predominantly, however, those attempts aimed at discovering the actual role which women played or aimed at women per se in their sexuality, personality, or their medieval existence, have been limited again by the small scope of historical sources.z Women have only rarely had a chance to represent themselves in the Middle Ages, although a number of women is well known to us today as artists, craftsmen, musicians and poets.3 But even the understanding of those female roles is obfuscated by a lack of actual evidence of authorship, of signatures on products, or by other forms of written documents. Considering, however, that women have, despite all misogynist attitudes so vastly pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, left various types of historical traces, it appears to be a logical step forward in our quest for a full realization of what feminity meant in the Middle Ages to consider those medieval women who belonged to the highest rank of society. In a previous study I have paid special attention to various literary sources which,4 on the surface, almost exclusively are centered on male members of royal families or of the upper nobility, if not of the upper echelons of the clergy. But the classical Middle High German romances from Hartmann von Aue to Gottfried von StraBburg and Wolfram von Eschenbach all include, apart from the male protagonists such as Erec, Iwein, Tristan or Parzival and Gawain, also and above all a large number of heroins. Their appearance reveals under closer scrutiny that they exerted more political power and shared more of the social control functions over virtues and chivalric behavior than has heretofore been noticed.5 In later 13th and 14th centuries romances such as Ulrich von Etzenbach’s Wilhelm von Wenden or the Stricker’s Daniel von dem bliihenden Tal, but also in contemporary heroic epics such as the Nibelungenlied or the Kudrun,6 the queens in particular wield a tremendous power by far exceeding that of their male counterparts.’ My interest in this paper is centered on one of the most popular and also most complex romances, Gottfried von Stragburg’s Tristan. Scholarly studies focused on this literary masterpiece are legion, and the various aspects under investigation spread as far as from source studies to mystical or Catharistic interpretations, from literary theory (“Literaturexkurse”)* Neophilologus

73 (1989) 77-89

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to medieval goliardic tradtitionsg from the utopian concept of the “edele herzen”,‘O to the reflections on medieval chivalry, medieval courtly culture, and courtly love.” Only very recently Hugo Bekker has presented a booklength monograph on the erotic and sexual symbolism in ‘Tristan”,‘* whereas William C. McDonald is presently finishing another monograph on the late medieval continuators of the Tristan motive ’ 3. But surprisingly little attention has been given to the feminist point of view in all of these interpretations. After all, Tristan does not act alone on the stage of the Irish or of Marke’s courtly world. Once he has encountered Isolde the Fair, his fate is predetermined to go towards its amatory goal. But other women also influence the course of his life from then on, most of them strangely looming in the background of the main actions. Peter Meister has shed some interesting light on Queen Isolde and Isolde the Fair among other learned women in Middle High German romances of the 12th and 13th centuries, who all reveal significant powers as healer, sorceresses or medically trained “doctors”.14 Amazingly enough, however, no major critical evaluation has heretofore been carried out, at least as far as I can tell, which focuses on some of these enigmatic female characters, although most of them exert an unexpectedly high degree of political influence, both as women per se and as queens. ’ 5 Marginal figures in Middle High German romances like Queen Isolde have traditionally been widely overlooked by scholarship.‘6 In her case, however, the fact that she performs both as a woman and as a politician, in other words on two separate levels within the courtly society, might have been particularly damaging for a modern perception of her as the remarkable personality which she undoubtedly was and as a leader at the royal court in Ireland. A new critical analysis will, I hope, change this situation and will increase our awareness of the complexities of Gottfried’s text, but particularly re-direct our focus on women in medieval romances, not necessarily as they were perceived by the male poets, but as they were subconsciously depicted and characterized. As early as in Tristan’s duel with Morolt the name of Queen Isolde is mentioned. Once Morolt has wounded Tristan he predicts his death because only Isolde would be powerful enough to concoct a medicine against the poison with which Morolt’s sword had been prepared for battle: “arzlt noch arzlte list ernert dich niemer dirre n@, ez entuo min swester eine, I&, diu kiinigin van irlande” (6943-46).”

Morolt indicates not only that Isolde has supreme medical knowledge but that she is the Queen of Ireland. She controls life and death by means of her wisdom in herbs and roots and thus has gained, through Morolt’s hands, dangerous power over Tristan as well. Even though scholarship

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has predominantly focused on the special character of this royal woman as a healer, her political dimension and her public role at the Irish court must not be overlooked. Both Isolde and her brother Morolt function as the leading protagonist and representatives of Irish influence abroard. Morolt acts, it seems, in the role of the executive force extolling the tributes from subjugated countries, whereas Isolde emerges, as the passage quoted above indicates, metaphorically speaking, as the legislative and executive, i.e. governmental branch. However, Morolt seems to occupy a parallel position, since he cooperates closely enough with her as to be able to give a promise to Tristan that Queen Isolde would heal him, if he submitted to Morolt’s demands: “min swester diu kiinigin diu muoz dich selbe heilen und ich wil mlt dir teilen gesellecliche, swaz ich hln” (6956-59).

Brother and sister thus have comparatively equal power and perhaps represent the old royal family of Ireland. King Gurmun, in contrast, does not surface as a major political figure at all. The poet appears to be only concerned with the queen when he briefly allows his story to turn there for the description how Morol’s corpse was delivered back home: “dm kiinigin sin swester, der leit was aber noch vester, ir jlmer unde ir clagenot. si unde ir tohter f&t” (7165-68).

Neither her husband nor any other male member of the Irish court are even mentioned by name, hence the focus is exclusively on brother and sister, because, as the poet emphasizes, the queen and her brother alone are the true representatives of that foreign power threatening Marke and Tristan alike: “daz houbet kusten s’und die hant, diu in Lute unde lant haete gemachet undertln” (7177-79)

The plural of “in” is here characteristically used only for Queen Isolde and her daughter, not for the king, however. In other words, Morolt has functioned as her instrument to expert power and to establish dominance over other countries to the east. Both hereditary rights and intellectual superiority obviously provide the crucial basis for her claims. Gottfried does not specifically allude to the first aspect, whereas he spends a great deal of time highlighting the queen’s wit, erudition, and foresightness on a number of various levels including politics, law, and medicine.i8 To some extent the poet even attributes to her the portent role of personified fate. Fate insofar, as it is her discovery of Tristan’s splinter out of his sword in Morolt’s

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skull, which will finally and crucially determine the protagonist’s situation at the hands of both royal women later while helplessly seated in the bathtub, and which then will also decisively influence further the course of events: “dl sit daz selbe stuckelin Tristanden brlhte ze not” (7194f.).

Soon the festering wound reminds Tristan how true Morolt’s words had been as regards the poison and his sister’s power to heal it. While lying sick in bed, completely isolated from society because of the wound’s stench, his thoughts wander to the magical figure of Queen Isolde. At this point the poet reveals a highly significant aspect. Isolde is not only famous for her healing power, she is above all a widely heralded personality, that is, she is the highly reputed Queen of the East:t9 “wan von ir vlouc ein maere in allen den bilanden, diu ir namen erkanden: diu wise is&, diu schoene is3 diu liuhtet alse der morgenrbt (7288-92)

The report we glean from those verses contain remarkable information. Her degree of public admiration exceeds any other royalty in the whole world of the Tristan-story. Furthermore, she excels both in physical beauty and in intellectual wisdom, which is, in medieval terms, the highest possible praise any person could gain. 2oMoreover, the poet compares her to the image of “morgenrot”, which is a derivation of the oriental and ancient belief in the rising sun as a symbol of royal glory. Christianity had adapted this concept for its religious message of the coming Messiah, and Gottfried certainly did have a ring of this imagery in mind.21 Whether astrological or religious or both together, the true meaning of this comparison lies in the attribution of royal power to a woman who dominates all of the western world and is thus recognized not only by her own people, but also by residents of countries far to the east, such as Tristan. In addition, we might speculate, the allegory of dawn could have been meant as the coming of a new age in which Eros is to acquire all consuming preponderance. Immediately after the return of Morolt’s corpse, Isolde’s husband is given his first and only political profile. In deep anger and frustration about the slaughter of his brother-in-law and the refusal of Cornwall to pay its tribute to him, GurmQn issues a general and sweeping order not to allow any person coming from Cornwall, be it man or woman, to enter his country lest he or she be killed. Gottfried comments on this political decision with scathing ridicule, for Morolt only died because he lacked trust in God and was guilty of worldly pride:

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81 “wan MBrolt lac billiche t8t. der was niwan an siner craft und niht an gote gemuothaft und vuorte z’allen ziten .. . . . . gewalt unde h8hvart” (7224-29).22

Reversely this means that GurmQn does not know properly how to handle the new political situation after Tristan had cancelled the previous contract between both kingdoms. Instead of counteracting, the Irish king removes his country back into splendid isolation. Isolde, in striking contrast, remains passive at this point, because she has already exerted her power over Tristan and will be able to force him to return to her empire. The poison therefore serves as a token of female power over brute male force. Several avenues open up for an interpretation of King Gurmtin’s decision, but it certainly reveals his lack of initiative, of political skill, and of sufficient energy to react in a world full of hostility.23 Once Tantris has been unmasked as Tristan, Isolde not only steps in to prevent her daughter from killing him, she also recognizes the hero’s potentials for her own political strategy, because Marke’s offer to marry Isolde the Fair would safeguard the royal family’s honor and public esteem, in face of the threat that the inferior steward might be allowed to force her into wedlock because of his alleged slaughter of the dragon. Gurmuns reaction when called in by the three women - mother, daughter, and Queen Isolde’s niece Brangaene - to hear about the new situation, highlights the actual political condition at court: Queen Isolde expresses that she wants him to consent to their wishes, and he immediately agrees to all their decisions even without a flinch and without asking about the details of their request: “ich volge, swes ich volgen sol. swaz ir wellet, deist get&n” (10634f.J

Apparently his wife was not prepared to find him that willing, hence she requests further corroborations that he will do what she intends to ask him for: “‘habet ir’z danne an mich verl&?’ sprach aber diu guote kiinegin. ‘ji, swaz ir wellet, daz sol sin” (10636-38).

Although soon after he explains that he does not want to get involved in her family affairs - it was her brother who was killed24 - and hence has no personal interest at stake, his evasive attitude indicates a remarkable distribution of actual power at his court, that is his wife appears to be in control of the governmental affairs. 25After Tristan has killed the dragon and the court’s steward claims the King’s daughter Isolde as the prize for his deed, the triad of Queen Isolde, her daughter Isolde, and Brangaene, together with a male servant, sets out on a search for the true hero.26

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As is well known, they find him close to death hidden in a pool, take him back to court and help him to recover from his fight with the dragon, and finally use his testimony against the steward’s false claims and thus open the path for Isolde the Fair’s marriage with Marke and the beginning of Tristan’s illicit love affair with her. In all instances of this complicated process full of dream interpretations, criminal and detective investigations, and of legal battle in front of the whole courtly society leading to the steward’s condemnation, it is always the Queen’s decision and firm action which initiates the individual steps and keep the ball of events rolling towards its destiny. 27This explains why Gottfried has Tristan compare the three women with a triadic stellar constellation: “isat diu liehte sunne und ouch ir muoter fsBt daz vrBliche morgenrat, diu stoke Brangaene daz schoene volmaene!” (9456-60),

which all belong, according to medieval astrology, to the fundamental forces governing man’s life on earth.28 From our vantage point, then, Gottfried implicitly characterizes Queen Isolde as the ruling force not only in Ireland, but above all over a world determined by masculinity, as is the case with Tristan, the personification of the ideal courtly knight.29 Needless to say, Gurmdn remains totally passive and mute during all that time and allows his wife to carry out necessary steps. The culmination point is reached in the trial scene where the King appears amidst all his councilors, his relatives, his noble friends and royal servants: “Gurmknes unbesaezen, sine man und sine mlge, als er si durch rltvrlge ze sinem tage haete besant” (9K14-07).~~

The narrator, however, hastens to mention that GurrnOn also calls Isolde into the council, because of her superior virtues and intelligence: “schoene unde wisheit, der was der mlze an si geleit, daz s’ime wol mohte liep s!n” (9721-23).

The following events subsequently shatter all hopes that Gurmdn is more than a mere representational figure. Before the trial begins the worrisome king takes his wife aside nervously asking her how to avoid the disastrous outcome of the steward’s malicious connivance.31 Not only does Isolde hold enough evidence in her hands to assure her husband of the positive outcome: “wir suln uns wol hier an bewarn” (9731) but she wields in fact sufficient power to display her absolute superiority amidst a crowd of male mediocrity and indecisiveness under

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Gurmun’s unimpressive leadership.32 Queen Isolde and her daughter’s appearance at court reveals the degree to which she is publicly admired and supported by all lords of the country: “si gruozten unde enptiengen die herren al besunder. hie mitten und hier under wart vi1 gesprochen unde gedlht von ir beider

saelekeit”

(9774-79).

Isolde’s real political influence, however, only surges to the surface once the actual trial has set in. Gurmiin opens the trial in the position of king and judge: 33 “‘nti’ sprach der kiinec ““truhsaeze, sprich” (9794). The steward then holds his first speech claiming Isolde the Fair as his prize for slaughtering the dragon. But he has hardly finished when the Queen intervenes accusing him of false testimony: “der also rilichen als min tohter ist, ungedienet haben entriuwen des ist

solt, isolt, wil, alze vii”

(9821-24).

Although the steward desperately tries to silence her insisting on the king to speak for himself: “der kan doch selbe sprechen wol” (9827), GurmQn does not take over his assigned role as ruler: “der kiinec sprach: ‘vrouwe, sprechet ir viir iuch, viir isot und viir mich!” (9830f.).

Both mother and daughter carry out the battle against the steward’s claim rejecting it first on grounds of insufficient evidence: “mit also cleiner geschiht” (9852) then with help of a dialectic argumentation that he has relied on a strategy exclusively reserved for women in their love play with men: “du minnest, daz dich hazzet; du wilt, daz dich niht enwil. diz ist doch unser vrouwen spil”

(9914-16).

In the final and culminating recourse the Queen is able to present Tristan as her conclusive proof, although she almost would have, together with her daughter, killed him in the meantime once they had discovered his true identity.34 Significantly for Gottfried’s appraisal of Queen Isolde, he resorts to the image of the morning sun again when the three women enter the court the second time: “sus kam diu kiiniginne isot, daz vroliche morgenrbt, und vuorte ir sunnen an ir hant”

(10885-87).

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Isolde then takes up the central position in the whole round of dignitaries right next to the king, speaking both for her daughter and for her husband. The previous altercation between the royal couple and the steward repeats itself. The courtier approaches Gurmun requesting either his daughter or a light against the opponent who threatens to void his claim:35 “‘nu hbrre’ sprach er, ‘hie bin ich und vordere min kampfreht. wl ist nd der guote kneht” (11034-36),

but does not get any answer from him. Instead Isolde speaks out for the king, as in so many other incidences before that: “‘Truhsaeze’, sprach diu kiinigin ‘sol dirre kampf unwendig sin, sone weiz ich rehte, waz getuo” (11045-47),

and then after a dramatic pause in which she teasingly ponders how to explain to the steward how foolish his demands are in her eyes, she introduces Tristan himself, which quickly terminates the whole dispute to the general disgrace of the steward.3 6 Since the events now take a different course and are then shifted to Marke’s court in Cornwall, Gottfried leaves the political scenery in Ireland behind. The fact, however, that Isolde the Fair is given both Cornwall and England as her morning gift:3 ’ “daz lant ze CumewLle ze morgenglbe Isolde, und daz si wesen solde vrouwe fiber allez Engelant” (11394-97),

deserves some more comment. The duplicity of names - Isolde the mother and Isolde the daughter3* - , furthermore the similarity in character, medical knowledge and even in intellectual capacity of both women,3g all point to the conclusion that with the new contract between Marke and Gurmfin on the formal level, but between the Queen Isolde and Tristan in real terms, she has in fact extended her actual political power over the countries to the east. Consequently the morning dawn is really spreading out over the rest of the world, even though Gottfried has changed the astronomical course from West to East. In other words, Isolde the Fair as Queen Isolde’s proxy, establishes her female rule over Cornwall and England. Both GurrniYin and Marke are only nominally in control of the government and serve as their respective countries’ statuary and passive representatives. Taking up our initial consideration expressed in the title of this paper: “Martriarchy versus Patriarchy”, we can observe that the first element is still the dominant, although not overtly so, political structure.40 The patriarchal rulers are only officially in charge of the government, but they


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have not succeeded in ousting or containing the tremendous influence of the royal women. 41Even though Isolde the Fair in the long run loses her grip onto power and thus has to abandon her powerful position, it is not because a male world, more dominant than her, has condemned her for wrongdoing, but because she has embarked, together with Tristan, on a “Journey trough the Realm of Eros”, to borrow Hugo Bekker’s well coined subtitle of his recent book.42 It might be argued that Tristan equally gives up his claim to the throne both in his country and in Marke’s kingdom, because he, too, has drunk from the love potion and thus has been transformed from a political minded man to a lover on a metaphysical level. Has Gottfried, however, drawn on actual historical conditions when he composed his romance? Wolfgang Kowalski has pointed out that the German queens throughout the Middle Ages were largely limited in their political role and only exerted representational or ceremonial functions.43 Despite their title as “regina Romanorum” or “imperatrix Romanorum”,44 few documentary material bears witness of their actual political existence at court,45 although many nobles requested from them personal interventions on their behalf to the emperor. Historical research has nevertheless revealed evidence that within the royal courts of the western kingdoms queens controlled a considerable portion of the administration, not to speak of the royal houshold itself, which consequently gave them a sizeable influence both on national and international affairs.46 Not surprisingly in cases of war or internal disputes, queens were famed for their energetic defenses and military actions against the enemy.4 ’ Particularly in Italy queens were allowed, at least up to the 10th century, a much more active role in politics than in most other parts of Europe.48 But in several other areas neighboring Germany, such as in Burgundy, or in Sicily, the annex of the Stauferian empire, queens held the independent role which we now can witness in Tristan with Queen Isolde.4p Other circumstances existed which could put a woman into the position of a ruler. Due to crusades, warfares, or local feuds many knights suffered an early death and left their wives behind in charge of their estates, dukedoms or even kingdoms. Thus women often ruled the countries of Aquitaine, Burgundy, Champagne, or Flanders for many years in the 12th and 13th centuries. Likewise was the situation in England, where death often catapulted so many a noble woman onto the throne vacated by their deceased husbands.s0 Names such as Eleonor of Aquitaine (died in 1204),51 the Empress Matilda and Blanche of Castile easily spring to mind when we search for independently ruling women. Matilda, wife of William the Conquerer, was in firm control of Normandy while the husband resided in England. Ermengarde, Countess of Narbonne (died in 1197), who was the head of her state for more than 50 years, appears to have been equally strong as a ruler, perhaps because she governed by herself despite her three marriages. 52


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Returning to Gottfried’s romance, we can consequently observe that the poet in fact developed a literary model of matriarchy which, even though superseded by the formal rule of the husband’s reign, clearly reflected historical reality of the earlier and high Middle Ages. Not surprisingly Tristan and Queen Isolde are the true opponents of a fierce and international conflict involving not only political power and influence, but also intelligence, wit, and ruse. s3At issue, then, is not so much Ireland’s dominance over Cornwall, but the much more deeply embedded question of whether women or men would have the final say in the politics of their countries. From a feminist point of view, the true battle, at least at the Irish court, is carried out between representatives of matriarchy and patriarchy.54 Even though Gottfried placed this event in the distant lands of Ireland, of which little was known on the European mainland,55 our close reading reveals his fiction to be an accurate account of political conditions either in France, England, or in Italy, much less so, however, in Germany, where women gained fame either as mystics (Hildegart von Bingen), or as mothers of the Ottonian and Stauferian kings.56 Due to the typical German conditions lacking a major political center and being split into relatively independent territorial units, women only gained some prominence on those lower levels. 57 Matriarchal rule as it was depicted in heroic epics such as the Kudrun can only be perceived as a reflection of older political power structures. “Tristan”, in clear oppostition to those ancient Germanic matriarchies, has a male world of kings in control of the supreme functions of the government. But Queen Isolde evidently demonstrates the lingering power Queens still could exert, based on historical matriarchal roots.s8 The University of Arizona

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Notes 1. Shulamith Shahar: The Fourth Estate. A History of Women in the Middle Ages. transl. by Ch. Galai. London-New York: Methuen, 1983; Edith Ennen: Frauen im Mtttelalter. Munich: Beck, 1984; Eileen Power, ed. by M.M. Postan: Medieval Women. CambridgeLondonet al.: Cambridge University Press, 1975; Susan Mosher Stuard, ed.: Women in Medieval History and Historiography. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987. 2. A remarkable example for the dominant male view even in modern scholarship is James A. Brundage: Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe. Chicago-London: The University of Chicago Press, 1987. His study is extremely thorough and opens up a plethora of new concepts of medieval mentality, but although he constantly discusses medieval views on sexuality, he never approaches medteval women’s attitudes and ideas. 3. Edith Krull: Kunst von Frauen: Berufsbrld der bildenden Kiinstlerinnen in vier Jahrhunderten. Frankfurt: Weidlich, 1984; Gisela Brinkler-Gabler, ed.: Deutsche Dichterrnnen vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1974; Meg Bogin: The Women Troubadours. Scarborough, England: Paddington Press, 1976; Peter Dronke: Women Writers of the Middle Ages. A Critical Study of Texts from Perpetua (+ 203) to Marguerite Porete (+ 1310). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1984; Lmse HeD: Die


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deutschen Frauenberufe des Mittelalters. Beitrlge zur Volkstumforschung 6. Munich: NeuerFilser Verlag, 1940. 4. “Female Antipodes in Middle High German Romances,” presented at the 12th International Conference on Patristic, Medieaeval, and Renaissance Studies, Villanova, PA, 1987, forthcoming in the Conference Proceedings. 5. Karl Bertau: “Regina Lactans. Versuch iiber den dichterischen Ursnrune. der Pieta bei Wolfram von EschenbGh,” in: K.B.: Wolfram von Eschenbach. Neun Ve&che iiber Subjektivitiit und Urspriinglichkeit in der Geschichte. Munich: Beck, 1983, emphasizes. however. that since the 12th century many women, previously only respected for-their wordly ranks as queens or the like were suddenly, in consequence of a new religious movement, transposed into the image of the Virgin Mary and thus could be functionalized as thefimme d’amour, or the Minnedame, cf. p. 263f. 6. Cf. Winder McConnell: The Nibelungenlied. Twayne’s World Author Series 712. Boston: Twayne, 1984. 7. Cf. Winder McConnell: The Epic of Kudrun. A Critical Commentary, forthcoming in Goppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik. Giippingen: Ktimmerle, 1988; I thank the author for letting me have an early off-print of his manuscript; Theodor Nolte: Das Kudrunepos - ein Frauenroman?. Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte 38. Tilbingen: Niemeyer, 1985. 8. Cf. Walter Haug: Ltteraturtheorie im deutschen Mittelalter von den Anfiingen zum Ende des 13. Jahrnunderts: eine Einfiihrung. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1985. 9. H. Klstner: Harfe und Schwert. Der hifische Spielmann bei Gottfried von Strapburg. Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte 30. Tilbingen: Niemeyer, 1981. 10. Klaus Speckenbach: Studien zum Begrzff ‘edelez Herze’ im Tristan Gottfrieds von Strassburg. Medium Aevum. Philologische Studien 6. Munich: Eidos, 1965; Thomas Tomasek: Die Utopie im ‘Tristan’ Gotfrids von Strapburg. Hermaea. Germanistische Forschungen. Neue Folge 49. Tiibingen: Niemeyer, 1985. 11. Ridiger Schnefi: Causa am&is. Liebeskonzept und Liebesdarstellung in der mittelalterlichen Literatur. Bibliotheca Germanica 27. Bern-Munich: Francke. 1985. 12. Hugo Bekker: Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan: A Journey through the Realm of Eros. Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture 29. Columbus, SC: Camden House, 1987. 13. William C. McDonald: Tristan and Isolde in the later Middle Ages. Monograph in process. 14. Peter Meister: The Healing Figure in Middle High German Literature, dissertation directed by William C. McDonald at the University of Virginia; it is presently prepared for publication. 15. Strangely enough only the idealized woman in Minnesang or in the troubadour poetry is closely investigated, cf. Laila Salem: Die Frau in den Liedern des “Hohen Minnesangs”. Forschungskritik und Textanalyse. Europa&he Hochschul-Schriften, Reihe I, Deutsche Literatur und Germanistik 328. Frankfurt-Bern-Cirencester/UK: Lang, 1980; more critical than her is: Stephen J. Kaplowitt: The Ennobling Power of Love in the Medieval German Lyric. University of North Carolina Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures 106. Chapel Hill-London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1986: 16. A new study on this topic is presently in print: R. Deist: die Nebenfiguren in den Tristan-Romaen Gottfrieds von Strapburg und Thomas’de Bretagne de Troyes. GAG 435, Goppingen: Ktimmerle, 1988/1989. 17. Here and following quoted from: Gottfried von Strapburg:

und in “Cliges”

Chrttiens

Tristan. Nach dem Text von Friedrich Ranke neu herausgegeben, ins Neuhochdeutsche iibersetzt, mit einem Stellenkommentar und einem Nachwort von Riidiger Krohn. Universal-Bibliothek 4472. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1980. 18. Peter Meister, in his dissertation ibid., has discovered the interesting phenomenon of a “healing cluster” consisting of Queen and daughter Isolde, plus Brangaene. 19. In the 13th-century heroic epic Kudrun women eauallv acauire the status of oeacemakers who exert a crucial moderaiing influence, cf. Winder MC donnell. ibid., p. 98: 20. Cf. Umberto Eco: Art and Beauty tn the Middle Ages, transl. bv Hugh Bredin. New Haven-London: Yale University Press, -1986, p. IOff., emphasizes medieval-man’s belief in the unison of external and internal beauty. 21. Lambertus Okken: Kommentar zum Trtstan-Roman Gottfrieds von Strapburg, vol. I. t9gterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur 57. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1984, p.

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22. Hugo Bekker’s thesis that Morolt dies not because of physical weakness, but because he is defeated as a sexually perverted hero, ibid., p. 12Of.. does not convince and lacks textual evidence. 23. Characteristically Gottfried-research has widely ignored this personality; in particular Gisela Hollandt: Die Hauptgestalten in Gottfrieds Tristan. Wesensziige ~ Handlungsfunktion - Motiv der List. Philologische Studien und Quellen 30. Berlin: Schmidt, 1966. has not even a special chapter dedicated to this man, apparently he does not belong to the “Hauptgestalten”, although some of his actions deserved further investigations! 24. G. Hollandt, ibid., p. 33, claims that family revenge had priority over group revenge; this does not, however, apply here because Gurmtin has already taken action on Isolde’s behalf when he banned all people from Cornwall from his land! 25. Rosemary Norah Combridge: Das Recht im ‘Tristan’ Gotrfrieds von Strassburg. Philologische Studien und Quellen 15. Berlin: Schmidt, 1964, p. 62. 26. Susan Clark and Julian N. Wassermann: The Poetics of Conversion. Number Symbolism and Alchemy in Gottfried’s “Tristan”. Utah Studies in Literature and Linguistics 7. BemFrankfurt-Las Vegas: Lang, 1977, observe the remarkable triadic structure in Gottfried’s “Tristan”, in particular in case of those three women, p. 82ff. 27. Peggy A. Knapp: “The Potion/Poison of Gottfried’s Tristan,” in: Assays. Crttzcal Approaches to Medieval and Renaissance Texts, III, ed. P. A. Knapp, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985, p. 46, rightly sees in her a force “wielding a civilized art, an art so highly developed as to seem magical ~ her healing controls nature and...borders on wizardry”. 28. For a brief and comprehensive summary of medieval astronomical and astrological concepts cf. V. E. Watts: Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, translated with an introduction by V.E. W. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986, p. 46. 29. Wolfgang Jupe: Dte “List” im Tristanroman Gottfrieds von StraJburg. Intellektuahttit undLiebe oder die Suche nach dem Wesen der individuellen Existenz. Germamsche Bibliothek. Reihe 3. Heidelberg: Winter, 1976, perceives the “morgenrot” only as a “Verweis” on the daughter, but also as a “Verweis” on Tristan himself, p. 90. This view, however, neglects the independent role of the Queen in Ireland. 30. Apparently many medieval kings took this statuary position within their courtly society and relied heavily on their advisors, as the literary figure of King Arthur at least, who was so popular all over Europe throughout the Middle Ages, indicates. 3 1. A king’s word is always considered to be sacrosanct, cf. Gandin’s claim on Isolde once Marke has promised to give him anything he might desire for his playing music, V. 13 196. equally King Arthur often loses his wife Guinivere in most courtly romances predicated on this model. 32. As an aside, the same can be observed in Marke’s case. who only reacts to Tristan’s and Isolde’s moves; he also decides to act only when his councilors and barons advice him to do so! 33. Combridge, ibid., p. 62: “Dies scheint ein Kiinigsgericht zu sein, das nach Landrecht richtet, in dem der Kiinig Richter und Partei sein kann”. 34. Hugo Bekker, ibid., explains this scenery in erotic terms as well, since “the queen wants to obliterate this Tristan who has a valid claim on her child”, p. 152; the erotic symbolism of this scene is, of course not excluded, but I think that Bekker goes far beyond that what the textual evidence provides for his thesis. 35. Stephen C. Jaeger: The Origins of Courtliness. Civilizing Trends and the Formation of Courtly Ideals. 939-1210. The Middle Ages. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985, p. 22Off.; he particularly brings into focus the dominant aspect of court criticism, or criticism against the courtiers. 36. The Steward-figure is a stock character of many arthurian romances, but in some cases, as in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival, Keie receives a much better and indeed positive role than the steward here in Tristan, cf. my article: “Keie in Wolframs von Eschenbath Parzival: Aaent Provocateur oder Anaeber.” in: Journal of_I Enelish and Germanic ” Philology 87 (198@, pp. 382-405. 37. Combridae, ibid.: “Die Dotieruna der Frau durch den Mann zur Zeit der EheschheBung war nach &glischer Auffassung zur ordentlichen EheschlieBung erforderlich”, p. 68; she ignores, however, that Gottfried in fact describes a new distribution of power over vast areas of land, in other words the political map of Gottfried’s Europe is totally changed in favor of female rule! 38. Peter Meister’s concept of the “healing cluster” concisely circumscribes this phenomenon. cf. his dissertation, ibid.

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39. In Isolde the Fair’s case, however, this parallel is only reached once the daughter has acquired the same skills as Tristan in deluding Marke and the rest of the courtly world. 40. The question of matriarchy as a univ&sal phenomenon is succinctly dealt with by James M. Freeman: “Introduction: The Crosscultural Study of Mother Worship,” in: James J. Preston, ed.: Mother Worship. Theme and Variation. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. 1982. DD. XV-XXIV: cf. also E. 0. James: The Cult of Mother Goddess. An Archeological and Ddcymentary Study. London: Thames and Hudson, 1959. 41. The fact that the contemporary poets of heroic epics describe the same political situation in the distant lands of either Brtinhild’s realm or of Kriemhild’s rule over Etzel’s kingdom in the Ntbelungenlied, to name only one epic, indicates a more pervasive female power structure in historical realities than we have assumed so far; cf. Hugo Kuhn: “Kudrun.” first oublished in: Miinchener UniversitiitsWoche an der Sorbonne. Munich 1956. DD. 134-145; hele quoted from: Heinz Rupp. ed.: Nibelungenlied und I&d&. Wege der Forschung 54, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, p. 502-514. 42. Hugo Bekker: Gottfried’s Tristan. Journey through the Realm of Eros, ibid. 43. Wolfgang Kowalski: Die deutschen Kiiniginnen und Kaiserinnen von Konrad IV. bis :um Ende des Interregnums. Weimar: Biihlau, 1913, p. 106.44. Ibid., p. 102. 45. Ibid., p. 115. 46. Pauline Stafford: Queens, Concubines, and Dowages. The King’s Wife in the Early Middle Ages. Athens: The University of Georgia, 1983, p. 106ff. 47. Cf. Gyburg in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Willehalm; cf. Stafford, ibid., p. 117ff.; Joachim Bunke: Hofische Kultur. Literatur und Gesellschafi im hohen Mittelalter. vol. 2. Munich: dtv, 1986, p. 489f. 48. Stafford, ibid., confirms this parallel with historical evidence, p. 134ff. 49. Kowalski, ibid., p. 109ff.; e.g. Beatrix I ruled over Northern Burgundy by herself; Constanze, wife of Henry I, ruled over Sicily without any male assistance; later followed by her daughter Constanze II, since 1213 “regina romanorum”. 50. Marearet W. Labarae: Women in Medieval Life. A Small Sound of the Trumuet. London: Hamilibn, 1986, p. 74F; she also refers to reference material written-for women rulers to help them carrying out their business, such as Robert Grosseteste’s Reules Seynt Roberd from ca. 1240. 51. Elizabeth A. R. Brown: “Eleanor of Aquitaine: Parent, Queen, and Dutchess,” in: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Patron and Politician, ed. by William W. Kibler. Austin-London: University of Texas Press, 1976, pp. 9-34. 52. Friedrich Heer: The Medieval World. Europe 1100-1350, transl. by J. Sondheimer. New York: Mentor. 1961. D. 318. 53. Gisela Hollandt, ib;d., p. 39. 54. Jut& ibid.: “vielmehr sind ihm (Tristan - AC1 die Faden des Marionettensniels aus den Handen geglitten und seine Listen werden in den Handlungsablauf der Entlat&ng des Truchsessen durch die Kiinigin eingesetzt”, p. 100 55. Patrick O’Neill: IrelandandGermany. A Study in Literary Relation. Canadian Studies in German Language and Literature 33. New York-Bern-Frankfurt: Lang, 1985, emphasizes, however, that “Gottfried probably obtained his information on Ireland from some Irish cleric in Germany at the time. It is certaily not free of distortion”, p. 34. 56. Bishop Anno of Cologne, for instance, abducted young Henry IV from his mother, Emneress Ames. in 1062. because he was not willina to let a women rule over Germanv. after her-husband had died early, cf. Eberhard Nellma&: Das Annolied. Mittelhochdeutsch und Neuhochdeutsch. UB 1416. 3rd ed. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1986, p. 182f.; equally interesting and revealing is the example of Herzog Ernst. Ein mittelalterliches Abenteuerbuch. Mittelhochdeutsch-Neuhochdeutsch, ed. and translated by Bemd Sowinski. UB 8352. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1986, where the Emperess, duke Ernst’s mother, has no influence whatsoevzr to alter the Emperor’s furious and injust warfare against her own son. 57. Joachim Bumke, ibid., p. 484f. 58. For the Kudrun cf. Nolte, ibid., p. 73.