Der Busant, also known as Der Bussard (both German names for the common buzzard), is a Middle High German verse narrative, containing 1074 lines of rhyming couplets.[1] The story tells of a love affair between the Princess of France and the Prince of England, who elope but are separated after a buzzard steals one of the princess's rings. After more than a year of separation, with the prince having gone mad and living as a wild man, they are reunited.
Known from a single fifteenth-century manuscript and three fragments, Der Busant emerged from a thematic tradition of wild men, thieving birds, and adventures of separated lovers. It is close to several other contemporary stories, such that a common origin has been hypothesised. The work has been described as a novel-like example of the Märe style of poetry. Cultural impact of the poem is visible in several surviving tapestries, as well as a possible influence in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- ^ Meyer & Mooyer 1833, p. 37.