Verstellung und Betrug im Mittelalter und in der mittelalterlichen Literatur

Text in German. One of the well-known topoi of medieval literature is that the inside and outside of the protagonists show a high degree of congruence. This congruence is also addressed where it - apparently - does not apply, for example in the supposed merchant’s son Tristan. This already shows where and how the idea of
the congruence of inside and outside - and thus the possibilities for adjustment - reaches its (at least narrative) limits. The Tristan-Stoff and the Nibelungenlied offer much discussed and well-known examples of a successful disguise, a temporary suspension of this congruence relationship. But there are also examples of misrepresentations outside of these well-known cases: The essays collected in the volume discuss cases ranging from the Anglo-Saxon Genesis B to Duke Ernst, the Alexander romance to Friedrich von Schwaben, phenomena from Minnesang and from Aristotle and Phyllis’ Traditions are discussed as well as those from mysticism.