"For around 150 years, the richly illustrated Wigalois manuscript from Amelungsborn Abbey in Germany has rested largely unnoticed in the collections of Leiden University Library. Only recently has this unique codex, known as LTK 537, begun to attract the scholarly attention it deserves. This volume offers the first full transcription of the manuscript's Middle High German text, accompanied by an accessible introduction and detailed commentary. In combining textual accuracy with contextual depth, the editors aim to open up this fascinating work to a wider international audience. Commissioned in 1372 by Count Albrecht II of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen, and produced by a Cistercian monk in Amelungsborn Abbey, the manuscript presents an exceptional interplay of text and image. With no fewer than forty-nine vividly coloured miniatures, it stands as a jewel of German Arthurian literature. The story of Wigalois, son of Gawain, unfolds as a continuous sequence of chivalric adventures, culminating in the liberation of a kingdom and a royal marriage. The manuscript’s artistic and rhetorical richness, from its opening Tree of Paradise to its expressive banderoles, reflects the creative collaboration between scribe and illuminator — and the enduring appeal of medieval romance."

"This book contains five legends from the German Middle Ages, presented in the Middle High German source language, with a modern English translation. These include the narratives of Veronica, Vespasian, Theophilus, Mary Magdalene and the miraculous history of the True Cross. This outstanding and timely translation of these Middle High German texts will make them more accessible to an English speaking academic community. The introduction provides an overview of Germanic legend research, discusses the main principal themes in medieval German legends and provides summary introductions to each of the texts. The translations are easy to read and successful at finding the balance between faithfulness to original and providing the readership with a serviceable text. Through this book, beginners as well as advanced students should be able to gain knowledge in various fields: linguistic in mastering Middle High German and translation skills, literary-historical in acquiring and broadening knowledge of a literary genre that is typical for the Middle Ages and medieval literature. The book is also aimed at students and scholars who are not proficient in Middle High German. The English translation will give them access to this important field. "