Biography Essay

One of the great poets of all time, Wolfram von Eschenbach was conscious of his stature and emphasizes it unashamedly in one of his major works: "ich bin Wolfram von Eschenbach unt kan ein teil mit sange" (114, 12-13 [all citations refer to the standard edition of Wolfram's works by Albert Leitzmann, 1963]: I am Wolfram von Eschenbach and do know a thing or two about poetry). Many of his contemporaries agreed with this self-assessment. Wirnt von Grafenberg, for example, maintained that "leien munt nie baz gesprach" (no layman's tongue has ever uttered finer poetry). His great rival, Gottfried von Straßburg, on the other hand, assigned Wolfram to the meretricious practitioners of literature, the paid hacks and obscurantists. Gottfried's crushing verdict did not gain wide currency. Wolfram was held in great reverence both by contemporary and later authors who refer to him or show themselves to...