Richard Wagner's Medieval Visions By Barbara Eichner

https://www.academia.edu/47759495/Richard_Wagners_Medieval_Visions?rhid=37874433227&swp=rr-rw-wc-128699710&nav_from=89a6f246-95e2-4070-9541-0037a7aeddf8 This chapter focuses on three aspects of Wagner’s medievalism: the historic medievalism of "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin", set in a recognizable historical framework but also invoking the aura of the Middle Ages through marvel and miracle; the mythical medievalism of the Ring cycle where Nordic myth displaces the more familiar sphere of the medieval "Nibelungenlied"; and finally the civic medievalism of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" where a medieval city is imagined in a way that glosses nineteenth-century issues of German patriotism, nationhood, and the relationship of the creative individual with the community of the people. Instead of focusing on Wagner’s relationship with and adaptation of his medieval sources, this essay will examine the kind of Middle Ages he created. ...