[1][2] The earliest German romance is Heinrich von Veldeke's Eneas, based on the anonymous Old French Roman d'Enéas, part of the Matter of Rome, itself an adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid.
These MHG versions are not simple translations but involve "paraphrase, commentary, expansion, abbreviation, criticism, and re-shaping of the original.
"[6] In the classic Arthurian romance, a central issue is the relationship, and often conflict, between a knight's roles as both a warrior and a suitor or husband: knights must prove their worth through a series of unanticipated and challenging encounters (aventiure, literally "adventure"), and gain (or regain) the love of their chosen lady (minne, "love").
[7] [8] In contrast to the heroic epic, the romance depicts single combat rather than battles between armies, and women assume a more active role in relationships, no longer just the object of the knight's affections.
[2] Later 13th-century authors expanded the range of narrative settings and were tied less closely to Old French originals, though they continued to draw on them, as well as on Hartmann, Wolfram and Gottfried, for themes and motifs.