Saracens and Conversion

At the heart of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Willehalm are Saracens: instrumental figures in the driving themes of conquest, loyalty, vassalage, chivalry, love-service and redemption that run through the text. When compared with Wolfram’s French sources, La Prise d’Orange and Aliscans , Willehalm is revealed to be innovative yet true to the themes and figures of the original chansons de geste , indicating that Wolfram continued the retelling process that also played a part in the composition of his