SOURCE: "Sacrificium in Hartmann von Aue's Der arme Heinrich," in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen: Bulletin de la Société Néophilologique, Vol. LXXXIV, No. 2, 1983, pp. 261-68.

In the following excerpt, McConnell explores the proposed sacrifice of a virgin in Der arme Heinrich and posits that reference to such a pagan ritual skews interpretations that consider Heinrich to be strictly Christian in outlook.

On the surface, Hartmann von Aue's tale of the sinner, Der arme Heinrich, appears to be a fairly straightforward example of a miracle legend, a tale heavily imbued with religious didacticism, a message, perhaps, to the German nobility of 1195 concerning the efficacy of God's grace extended towards a repentant sinner. It is a tale of contrasts: Heinrich, the protagonist, is depicted as a knight endowed with all of the virtues a representative of his caste could desire. He is of high Swabian lineage, a man who enjoys the...