''Garel von dem blühenden Tal'' ( en, Garel of the Flowering Valley) is a

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest tradition ...

romance composed by

Der Pleier Der Pleier is the pen name of a 13th-century German poet whose real name is unknown. Three of his works survive, all Middle High German romances on Arthurian legend, Arthurian subjects: ''Garel'', ''Tandareis und Flordibel'', and ''Meleranz''. Littl ...

around 1230-40. It appears to have been written in contradiction to

Der Stricker Der Stricker is the pseudonym of a 13th-century Middle High German itinerant poet whose real name has been lost to history. His name, which means "The Knitter," may indicate he was a commoner; he was likely from Franconia but later worked in Austria ...

's ''

Daniel von Blumenthal Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

''. It consists of 21,310 lines in rhyming couplets; the beginning is missing. The story is illustrated in frescoes to be found at

Runkelstein Castle Runkelstein Castle (german: link=no, Schloss Runkelstein; it, Castel Roncolo) is a medieval fortification on a rocky spur in the territory of Ritten, near the city of Bolzano in South Tyrol, Italy. In 1237 Alderich Prince-Bishop of Trent gave th ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

.http://www.comune.bolzano.it/roncolo/ie/galerie.htm After a journey,

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

receives a declaration of war from King Ekunaver. Garel

von Blumenthal The von Blumenthal family are Lutheran and Roman Catholic German nobility, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families (quite a few of them Je ...

leaves Arthur's court in order to raise troops for the war. On the way various adventures befall him, amongst which he lays siege to the castle of Sir Eskilabon, who had taken several knights prisoner, and frees many prisoners from the power of two giants. By killing the gruesome monster Vulganus he wins the hand of the beautiful Laudamie. Garel then gains a victory over Ekunaver before Arthur even arrives with his army. His success is celebrated in a banquet at the

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

, before which he marries Laudamie.

References

Sources

*Tax, Petrus W. (1991). "Der Pleier". In Lacy, Norris J., ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', pp. 362–363. New York: Garland. . 1230s works Arthurian characters Arthurian literature in German Medieval literature {{poetry-stub