SOURCE: "The Mother's Guilt in Hartmann's Gregorius," in Mediaeval German Studies, The Institute of Germanic Studies, 1965, pp. 84-93.

In the following excerpt, King examines Hartmann's language in Gregorius in order to explore the extent to which Hartmann found Gregorius and his mother culpable for their incestuous relationships.

Discussions of the problem of guilt in Gregorius have usually centred on Gregorius himself; this is neither surprising nor without justification, for the mare is in fact about him, von dem guoten sundare. It is possible that an agreed solution might be achieved in this way, although there are still serious disagreements… but it should not be forgotten that there is another prominent actor in the story, who is called by the hero himself ein schuldec wîp, and a discussion of what constitutes her guilt could possibly help to throw light on Hartmann's intentions in the question of guilt in...