Tristan's Investiture and Gottfried's Literary Excursus Summary

This chapter begins by describing in close detail the rich adornments of both Rual and Tristan, the first of several such allegorical descriptions. Here, Mettle, Affluence, Discretion, and Courtesy come together to adorn them and create the foundations of their worth. In endeavoring to tell the tale of two such worth gentlemen, Gottfried moves into a description of the poets and writers who have attempted to task before him. Hartmann of Aue earns his praise for his beauty of meaning, whereas other poets will turn worthless and false tales into stories, Aue's sharpen and refine, instead of dulling, the minds of his readers. Bligger of Steinach earns praise for the elegance of his language, Heinrich of Veldeke for his love poems, and the late Nightingale of Hagenau, a rare woman he praises for...