This publication starts from the known fact that medieval narrative
literature usually tells what has already been told, changing only more
or less minor details, according to special requirements. In analysing a
number of representative works from Arthurian and heroic tradition in
French and German the author shows that retelling a story could amount
to a fundamental change resulting in a new work of literature. This
sheds also new light on the problem of literary fiction in the middle
ages and might stimulate further discussions.