Tracing the Trails in the Medieval World

Only a highly comparative study of medieval literature can help us to comprehend how much fundamental ideas and concepts were shared throughout the entire period. The idea of the trail as an epistemological vehicle for the protagonists proves to be critical in reaching a deep understanding of medieval values and ideals.

Dr. Albrecht Classen is a University Distinguished Professor of German Studies at the University of Arizona focusing mostly on medieval and early modern literature and culture.

Introduction Epistemological Explorations, Orientations, and Mapping. Forging Ahead - Trailing and Orientation in Medieval and Early Modern Literature 1. Beowulf's Ways to Denmark, to the Monster, Home Again, and the Path to the Dragon's Layer 2. Herzog Ernst: A Traveler Explores the Eastern World: Herzog Ernst and His Efforts to Find Himself Through Travel. Or: Trails through a Political Jungle and an Exotic World in the East 3. The Lovers in Their Quest for the Right Trail and the Trail of Love: Marie de France's Lais 4. Right Paths, Wrong Paths, Circuitous Paths, Dead Ends, and Religious Epiphany in Hartmann von Aue's Gregorius. Crossroads in a Christian Narrative 5. The Passage Toward Happiness: Trailing Through the World in Search of Love: Gottfried von Straßburg's Tristan (together with some comments on Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach). Where There is a Trail, There is Love! 6. The Walk Through the Garden of Love in Medieval Literature, with a Focus on Le Roman de la rose by Guillaume de Lorris. Dreamful Trailing and Awakening with Surprises 7. Dante and the Infinite Way Down to Hell and Beyond: Hope or Despair, Just as the Trail Takes Us 8. Petrarch's Search for His Own Self, Climbing Mont Ventoux Trails Leading Upwards, not Downwards 9. The Experience of the World in Narrative and Graphic Form Trailing through a Medieval Depiction of the Entire Earth Literary Explorations and Medieval Maps (Ebstorf) and Charts Epilogue