Lanzelet, one of the first known versions of the Lancelot story, is a critical work in medieval literature. This Middle High German romance is a rendering of a lost French tale of Lancelot that likely predates Chretien de Troyes's famous Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart. Ulrich von Zatzikhoven obtained a copy of the original book in 1194 and translated the work from French into German. Kenneth G.T. Webster made the first English translation in the 1930s, and Columbia University Press published it in 1951. Following Webster's death, the famed Arthurian scholar Roger Sherman...

Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet, dating from the end of the twelfth century, is a verse translation into Middle High German of what was probably an Anglo-Norman romance, now lost. It presents the story of Lanzelet (Lancelot), but in quite a different version from Chretien de Troyes' Chevalier de la charrette. The first half of the tale concerns Lanzelet's knightly and romantic exploits on his way to discovering his true identity, while at the same time winning the beautiful Iblis as his wife. The second half revolves around Lanzelet's efforts to defend the honor of the Arthurian court and...