''Garel von dem blühenden Tal'' ( en, Garel of the Flowering Valley) is a
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
Arthurian
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
romance composed by
Der Pleier around 1230-40. It appears to have been written in contradiction to
Der Stricker's ''
Daniel von Blumenthal''. It consists of 21,310 lines in rhyming couplets; the beginning is missing. The story is illustrated in frescoes to be found at
Runkelstein Castle in
South Tyrol
it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol
, settlement_type = Autonomous province
, image_skyline =
, image_alt ...
.
[http://www.comune.bolzano.it/roncolo/ie/galerie.htm]
After a journey,
King Arthur receives a declaration of war from King Ekunaver. Garel
von Blumenthal
The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them J ...
leaves Arthur's court in order to raise troops for the war. On the way various adventures befall him, amongst which he lays siege to the castle of Sir Eskilabon, who had taken several knights prisoner, and frees many prisoners from the power of two giants. By killing the gruesome monster Vulganus he wins the hand of the beautiful Laudamie. Garel then gains a victory over Ekunaver before Arthur even arrives with his army. His success is celebrated in a banquet at the
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying tha ...
, before which he marries Laudamie.
References
Sources
*Tax, Petrus W. (1991). "Der Pleier". In Lacy, Norris J., ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', pp. 362–363. New York: Garland. .
1230s works
Arthurian characters
Arthurian literature in German
Medieval literature
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