Konrad of Würzburg's German Version of the Trojan War: A Combination and Transformation of Sources

Abstract

In his monumental middle-high German volume Konrad of Würzburg wants to renew and not simply reproduce the story of the Trojan War. The article demonstrates that he combines and transforms the sources and sub-plots in order to present an unprecedented synthesis of everything that was known about the fall of Troy in the Middle Ages. Expanding the subject matter enormously, the German author is convinced that he has written a version of the fall of Troy which is superior to all others. In order to provide an all-encompassing explanation of the catastrophe he goes back in history, takes the origins of the conflicts into account and portrays the various triggers for the devastating battles. Thus the narrator offers a wide range of reasons and motives for the fall of Troy, but often qualifies and even contradicts them by ambiguous statements. Focusing on Konrad's literary strategies it becomes obvious that he highlights the proliferation of possibilities. Thereby the article questions the opinion, which is still widespread among scholars, that Konrad's Trojanerkrieg merely shows the tragic chain of events leading up to the war.