"Nothing More from the Love Than the Word" or About the Bread of Life (Again, But in Another Way)

Abstract

In this article, the metaphor of eating the written word and expressing the activity of reading is discussed. Using the courtly romance "Tristan" by Gottfried, it is attempted to discuss the questions of how the image of the bread of life differs when used in secular literary works from the Biblical Bread of Life, and of why the Holy Bible, as the Bread of Life, is not to be read as a secular work.

Keywords

• Eucharist
• Bible
• Medieval Literature
• Gottfried von Straßburg
• Tristan
• Courtly romance