Magister ludens: Der Erzähler in Heinrich Wittenweilers Ring

In this closely argued and admirably lucid study of the late medieval didactic epic Der Ring, Christa Wolf Cross analyzes the dynamics of the narrator-reader relationship. Wittenweiler’s narrator presents himself at times as the omniscient and methodical teller of his tale, an authoritative teacher in command both of his material and his audience, and at other points as a playful master who feigns ignorance, appears to mock his own versifying, and challenges the reader to become vigilant to...