J. W. Thomas – författare

Published in 1992: The Pleier’s Arthurian Romances tells of stories during the time of King Arthur.

Published in 1992: The Pleier’s Arthurian Romances tells of stories during the time of King Arthur.

This anthology presents in English verse translation a selection of the best of German poetry, together with discussions of the chief authors and literary periods and brief explications of the individual poems. Taking the reader from the Minnesingers' songs of courtly love to Goethe and Rilke, this volume gives an excellent introduction to eight centuries of German poetry.

This work originally published in 1967 was the first to treat Wizlaw in his three roles of composer, poet, and sovereign and to present his poetry in English. Thomas and Seagrave also include a bibliography, translations and music transcriptions of all his songs, and photographic reproductions of corresponding folios of the Jena manuscript.

To the medievalist, Tannhauser is the author of ironical and highly original lyrical verse; to the folklorist, the subject of one of Germany's oldest ballads; to the musicologist, the composer of the only extant music for a Tanzleich and the hero of several operas.J. W. Thomas examines the content and style of Tannhauser's verse, discusses his sources and his influence on other medieval poets, and gives a history of the ballad material in which he appears. Also included is a diplomatic edition of Tannhauser's poems, both verse translations of the poems and a version of the ballad, and an extensive bibliography.

This anthology contains representative selections from the verse of Minnesingers, nuns, priests, goliards, Spielleute, middle-class singers, and noblemen from the twelfth to the fifteenth century together with historical background, biographical sketches, and comments on individual poems. At the time of its original publication it was the largest such collection in English.

This volume presents the first English translation of one of the most original literary products of the German medieval period. It is introduced with a sketch of the poet's life, an evaluation of his work as autobiography and as fiction, and a survey of the extensive criticism that has been devoted to it. Service of Ladies has been put into English not only as a significant document of its time and place, but more especially because it is a piece of literature which is perhaps as entertaining today as it was seven centuries ago when Ulrich was reciting it to the laughter and applause of the knights and ladies of his native Styria.