The German poet and romancer Gottfried von Strassburg (ca. 1165-ca. 1215) wrote "Tristan und Isolt," the best-known version of that famous love story. There is little information about the life of Gottfried von Strassburg. He was not of noble lineage but...

Gottfried von Straßburg was highly regarded by writers who came after him, and his reputation was never greater than it is today. His work, like that of most writers of the high medieval period, was lost from sight with the advent of the Renaissanc...

Gottfried von Straßburg was highly regarded by writers who came after him, and his reputation was never greater than it is today. His work, like that of most writers of the high medieval period, was lost from sight with the advent of the Renaissanc...

Images of fire, floods and even naked bodies flash on a giant video screen above the stage as the concert hall fills with the sounds of Richard Wagner's doomed lovers playing out their tragic story.If you kept your eyes shut at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher...

In 1875, Clara Schumann, the widow of the composer Robert Schumann and the most celebrated female pianist of the 19th century, attended a performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and afterward wrote in her diary: “It is the most repulsive thing I ever saw or...

In 1875, Clara Schumann, the widow of the composer Robert Schumann and the most celebrated female pianist of the 19th century, attended a performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and afterward wrote in her diary: “It is the most repulsive thing I ever saw or...

Daniel Barenboim made a triumphant debut Friday night as principal guest conductor at La Scala's gala opening-night premiere of a new staging of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," receiving 20 minutes of applause, a shower of roses and shouts of "bravi."The performance dispelled labor tensions that...

In the essay below, Ditmas outlines the evidence for Béroul's knowledge of contemporary Cornwall, citing details of Cornish history and topography interwoven into the romance.

In the following essay, Bruce maintains that most modern critics agree that a “single primitive Tristan romance” is the source of all extant versions. Bruce then surveys those versions, and discusses the plot of the Tristan legend and its similarity to the Irish Diarmaid and Grainne legend.

In the following excerpt from his Beroul's Romance of Tristran, originally published in Italian in 1963, Varvaro examines the episodic structure of Tristran, noting that individual episodes are often preceded and followed by narrative pauses that serve to emphasize Béroul's theme in that section.