Page - 145 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

9 Water andUrbanstructures inCourtlyNovels 145 againstErnst.7Aftera failedattempt toassassinate theEmperorandsixyearsofwar,Ernst flees witha small groupof followerswith the intentionof travelling to Jerusalem.Therehehopes to gain restitution and redemption by joining the crusades – due to the historical background, a notuncommonpattern in 13th centurynovels. However, the journey does not lead Ernst and his men directly to their final destination Jerusalem. They get caught in a terrible sea stormandafter anodysseyof severalmonths they arrive at the coast of a foreign Eastern country named Grippia, where the second part of the novel takesplace.8 At the beginning of this adventurous tale of the Orient, there is a long episode that takes place ina largeandmagnificent city.9 This episodeconstitutes the largestpart of thenovel and is clearly distinguished from the spatio-temporal structure of the rest of the text. Inmore than 600 verses the city is praised in superlative terms as amasterpiece of Oriental art of building. Theapproachingmenfirstnotice thestrongexternalwallsmadeofcolouredmarble, thegolden battlementsdecoratedwithprecious stones, and theparticular glowof the city: dogesâhen si anden stunden Dort erblickten sie nun ein hêrlîcheburc stân,10 eine herrliche Stadt, diuwasal umbevân die ganzundgar von einer mit einer guotenmiure. großenund starkenMauer umgebenwar diuwasharte tiure die sehr kostbar von edelemmarmelsteine. undaus edlemMarmorwar. […] ouchwârendie zinnen auchwarendie Zinnen beideûzenund innen sowohl außenwie innen meisterlîch gezieret, kunstvoll verziert, mit goldewol gevieret mitGold geschmückt undmit edelemgesteine, undauchmit beide grôz undkleine, großenundkleinenEdelsteinen; allezmeisterlîch geworht. eswaralles kunstvoll gearbeitet. […] (corrupted) die veste, […]die Stadt, der schîn vil verre gleste. derenGlanzweithin leuchtete.11 The colossal fortification, however, seems tobewithout function since thegates are open, and themen, to their astonishment, find the city completely empty: 7 Thequestionof possible references tohistorical events is extensivelydiscussedbyNeudeck 2003. 8 In premodern literary texts, the symbolic potential of water is often used tomarkmoments of transgression. When protagonists ofmedieval novels cross rivers or seas, thesewaters aremore than geographicalmarkers for the spatial localization of the narrative. Water here functions primarily as a topical means of representing the transgression of spatial, aswell as semantic boundaries. Voyaging across a body ofwater and entrusting oneself to theunpredictabilityof thesea isalsoauniversalmetaphorsignifyingcontingencyandhumansubjection to fate or todivine control. This explainswhy theprotagonists ofmedieval epics sooftenexperience stormsat seawhich keep them from their original destinationand lead them tounknownplaces. How the traditionof associatingwaterwithdivineworkings, unfolded in ancientmyths, shapes thedisplay of aquatic landscapes in theForaofRomecanbe seen in the contributionofDylanRogers in this volume. 9 It has to bementioned that in ‘Herzog Ernst’ Grippia appears only as the name of the country, while the city itself isunnamed.Nevertheless, in researchpapersGrippia isgenerallyused to termthecityaswellas thecountry. 10 TheMiddleHighGerman term burc is used to signify a fortress aswell as a city. The term stat is established only from the 12th century onand late into the 13th centuryburc is still used inmany epics as a synonym for city. Cf. Ennen 1980, 13–19. 11 Themiddle highGerman text is quoted from the following edition: Sowinski 1979, hereV. 2212–2250 (Transla- tionsbyM.D.-K.).