Love in Tristan, Gregorius, The Nibelungenlied, and Poetry

The notion of love appears to have been a virtual obsession of the poets of the Middle High German golden age. Indeed, love is both ubiquitous and displays a multifaceted nature in this literature. At times it is depicted as an ennobling experience, at times as a demonic and destructive force. Furthermore, the doublet of joy and sorrow is frequently tied to the ambiguity of the love experience.

How is love, in all its many forms, treated in Gottfried’s Tristan, in Hartmann’s Gregorius, in the Nibelungenlied, and in the lyrics of Walther von der Vogelweide?