Publisher's Synopsis
Wolfram von Eschenbach's Willehalm and the Old French chanson de geste, La Bataille d'Aliscans, on which it was based, recount the tale of how Guillaume de'Orange eventually defeated the Saracens at the battle of Aliscans. This 1972 book examines Wolfram's use of his source material, concentrating on the episodes in which Rennewart figures. He discusses the theories about the original source of Rainouart in the French chansons de geste, and suggests that the figure sprang from traditional fairy tales, and was incorporated into the courtly cycle, in which he assorts rather oddly with the other characters, threatening to take over centre stage from the primary hero, Guillaume. He indicates the ways in which Wolfram made his poem a more consistent narrative by relegating Rennewart to his proper place, and giving him some of the courtly virtues expected of a hero by his audience. Finally, he considers whether Willehalm is a fragment.
