Eilhart von Oberge
Eilhart von Oberge was a German poet of the late 12th century. He is known exclusively through his Middle High German romance Tristrant, the oldest surviving complete version of the Tristan and Iseult story in any language. Tristrant is part of the "common" or "primitive" branch of the legend, best known through Béroul's fragmentary Norman language Tristan. It is German literature's first rendition of the story, though Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan, part of the "courtly" branch, is more famous and respected. It is usually considered that Eilhart adapted his work from a French source, likely the same one used by Béroul, but the differences between Tristrant and Béroul's work suggest that Eilhart was not particularly faithful to the original. Some episodes and details appearing in surviving fragments of Béroul are altered or omitted entirely, for instance Iseult's equivocal oath of fidelity to her husband Mark (in Béroul she swears she has had no man "between her legs" besides Mark and a beggar who carries her over a stream on his back; the beggar is really her lover Tristan in disguise.) Tristrant also preserves scenes that do not survive in the known French fragments, most notably the conclusion; it contains the