SOURCE: "Amor Inordinata in Hartmann's Gregorius," in Speculum, Vol. XLI, No. 1, January, 1966, pp. 86-104.

In the following essay, Willson interprets Gregorius with regard to the doctrine of original sin and the opposition between ordinate and inordinate love.

Hartmann's Gregorius is concerned largely with the vicissitudes of a man who is the product of an incestual relationship between brother and sister. These, it is made absolutely clear, begin at the very moment of his birth and are the direct result of it. How, then, does the poet intend this highly abnormal sexual relationship to be viewed, and what inferences can be drawn from it with regard to the hero's own guilt and atonement? In recent years a number of attempts have been made to interpret the poem and in particular to assess the guilt of Gregorius himself, but no clear agreement has been reached. It is possible, however, that...