he makes no effort to improve until a moral dilemma arises, as it happened to Erec in "Erec and Enide". Erec stops caring about his knightly duties, and focuses all his attention on his romantic life. A rumour about him being a mediocre knight spreads. It is here that we see the plot's second path: the hero regains his status and is able to balance his private life with his responsibilities as a knight. The Doppelwegstruktur does not exist in Lanzelet. There is linearity in the narrative from beginning to end. Lanzelet does not lose his reputation, he is the "krisenloser Held" [ hero without hang-ups]. Volker Mertens introduced the notion of a "hero without hang-ups". Linearity is represented in the novel in many aspects, such as Lanzelet’s consecutive marriages. Each marriage happens regardless of the previous one. Lanzelet leaves Galagandreiz daughter, he marries Ade, who then leaves him in the Castle of the Dead episode. He is still married to Ade when he kills Iweret and marries Iblis. He is also still married to Iblis when he is forced to marry the Queen of Pluris. Lanzelet does not question his own actions; he simply gets on with his life. References Bibliography Lacy, Norris J. (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. . Ulrich von Zatzikhoven; Kerth, Thomas (translator), with additional notes by Kenneth G. T. Webster and Roger Sherman Loomis (2005). Lanzelet. Columbia University Press. . External links Online text , Bibliotheca Augustana 12th-century poems Arthurian literature in German Medieval German poems Middle High German literature Romance (genre)