Although various studies have caused the German Arthurian romances of the 13th century to be accorded the same level of attention as the better-known earlier texts by Hartmann and Wolfram, methodological treatment of the transformations within the later works still tends to operate with superceded categorisations (›original and imitation‹; ›prototype and deviation‹). This paper proposes a new approach which, rather than identifying authoritative models on the basis of ahistorical criteria, sets out to reconstruct the conventional validity of narrative configurations via networks of intertextual reference, while at the same time perceiving narrative alternatives as equal types of Arthurian narrative. The ›Amurfina episode‹ in Heinrich von dem Türlin’s ›Crône‹ and the ›Riesenvater episode‹ in Stricker’s ›Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal‹ are used as examples to demonstrate the added value of this perspective.