As the author of Diu Crône (circa 1230; translated as The Crown, 1989), Heinrich von dem Türlîn holds a towering position in the later stages of Arthurian romance in Germany. Written after--and in opposition to--Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival (circa 1200-1210), Diu Crône is one of the most unusual creations in the genre that is often referred to as "postclassical." Building on the huge corpus of French and German works that constitute the "supertext" of Arthurian romance, Heinrich produced a courtly epic that is both highly traditional and daringly innovative. In a gigantic attempt to recast the matière de Bretagne (matter of Britain; that is, the Arthurian legends), Heinrich created what his contemporary Rudolf von Ems, following the author's own reference to his work as a "crown," calls in his Alexander (circa 1230-circa 1254) "Allr Aventiure Krône" (the Crown of...