Der Kampf mit dem Drachen

The fight with the dragon is a ballad by Friedrich von Schiller, with the subtitle "romance ". It was founded in the summer of 1798 around the same time as the guarantee and as this first released in Musenalmanach 1799.

Construction

The ballad consists of 25 stanzas, each containing 12 verses in four-footed iambic aabbccddefef with the rhyme scheme.

Content

A knight of the Knights of Rhodes has seen it as his " knight duty" to seek battle with a dragon, who lives in the mountains and there makes the roads unsafe. After he killed him, he has to answer before the Grand Master of the Order therefore. This was such a struggle that is banned after he had tasted little by five knights life. The Dragonslayer now describes in detail his reasons for his careful preparation and conduct of combat. The Grand Master recognizes the bravery of the knight, alone

Is worse than the dragon

For someone who is the " own will " not volume, but " vain glory " search, whether in the Order no place. While the people rebelled and the religious men beg for mercy, the dragon slayer accepted this award to shame and silence.

Formation

The ballad takes up the story of the dragon slayer Dieudonné de Gozon, knew the Schiller from the " Histoire des Chevaliers de l'Ordre de Malte " (1722) by Abbé René- Aubert Vertot. For the German, edited by Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer edition "History of Maltheserordens after Vertot " of 1792 Schiller had contributed a preface.

In a letter dated August 21, 98 he reported Goethe:

On September 4, 1798, he sent Goethe the fight with the dragon along with the guarantee and wrote:

Goethe replied on September 5, 1798