Iwein – digital

Iwein, formerly also known as The Knight with the Lion, is Hartmann von Aue’s second Arthurian romance. It was written around 1200, and research considers it to be probably his last work. It is in any case Hartmann’s most widely handed-down text, which suggests a broad reading public over a long period of time. Textual transmission reaches far into the 16th century.

On this website you will find an electronic text database for Iwein, which is still under construction. It consists of a virtual manuscript library, transcriptions of all extant documents, editions of selected textual witnesses, and a series of enclosed materials and tools. This is the first time that the complex and multi-layered transmission of one of the most important texts of the German Middle Ages is made fully accessible in a thoroughly prepared edition. Many manuscripts have so far only been available to the public to a very limited extent, and apart from the frequently examined and repeatedly edited manuscripts A and B, the individual witnesses have received little attention. It can be assumed that this comprehensive presentation of the material will place research on Iwein on a completely new foundation. It can be expected that it will lead to new perspectives on Hartmann’s romance and the history of the text. In addition, due to the wealth of textual evidence, Iwein – digital will enhance research into the manuscript tradition of courtly literature in general, which could lead to, or react to, fundamental questions of textual criticism.

First to be completed was the virtual manuscript library, with digital copies of all manuscripts and fragments. This is the easiest way to access the transcriptions, which can be viewed next to the manuscripts (by now there's only a limited number). As soon as the first editions are finished (in summer 2023), there will be two modes to visualize them, one for individual edited texts and one for a synoptic parallel view of several witnesses.

In the section Introduction you will find a general Introduction to the Edition, a still incomplete explanation of the editorial principles, and a descriptive list of manuscripts (only in German).

Under the tab Materials we collect additional working tools, such as a complete verse concordance to Iwein, a list of special characters in the manuscripts of Hartmann von Aue's works (it is the same for all edition projects on this author), a bibliography with numerous texts specially digitized or available online, as well as a collection of modern manuscript documents, such as Emil Henrici's collations made for his 1891 edition.

Technically, the transcription and editing work is carried out in XML format according to the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) guidelines. For specific aspects we follow the encoding guidelines of HeiEditions. All image and text data are made available online without restriction by an ‘open access’-license. In addition, Iwein – digital also sees itself as ‘open science’ in the sense that the data and materials can basically be expanded.

Iwein – digital is jointly operated by Victor Millet, Emilio González Miranda and Lorena Pérez Ben (Universität Santiago de Compostela), in cooperation with the Heidelberg University Library.