The early German romantics were highly interested in medieval literature,primarily poetry written in romance vernacularss uch as Dante's Inferno. Only later did the German romantics turn to northern medieval literature for inspiration. In the case of German romantic Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), the usual opinioni st hat he would not havec ared for northern (primarily Scandinavian) medieval literature and art before his late phase, beginning around 1802. In this phase,his literary criticism

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... ood under the sway of his conservativep olitics. Thisa rticle examines the reception of Germanic medieval literature in Schlegel'searly essays,reviews and fragments, in order to discuss the role of Germanic medieval literature in his work and the extent to which it is connectedwith his poetics and politics.