Tristan Quotes

“We sow the seed of deadly nightshade and wish it to bear lilies and roses!”
― Gottfried Von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde (The German Library)

“There are so many today who are given to judging the good bad and the bad good. They act not to right but to cross purpose.”
― Gottfried Von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde (The German Library)

“Gottfried’s ‘noble hearts’ (an expression he is the first to use in German) have a close parallel in the ‘noble soul’ of the mystics, as has their capacity to suffer for love. ‘Noble’ in mystical contexts means raised to the divine plane – for how else could the Soul unite with God? The novelty of Gottfried’s secular usage lies in the fact that the word for ‘noble’ normally took its meaning from rank in feudal society, not from qualities of the heart.”
― Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan with the 'Tristran' of Thomas: With the Surviving Fragments of the Tristran of Thomas