  We study the approximation of functions that map a Euclidean domain
$\Omega\subset \mathbb{R}^{d}$ into an $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold
$(M,g)$ minimizing an elliptic, semilinear energy in a function set $H\subset
W^{1,2}(\Omega,M)$. The approximation is given by a restriction of the energy
minimization problem to a family of conforming finite-dimensional
approximations $S_{h}\subset H$. We provide a set of conditions on $S_{h}$ such
that we can prove a priori $W^{1,2}$- and $L^{2}$-approximation error estimates
comparable to standard Euclidean finite elements. This is done in an intrinsic
framework, independently of embeddings of the manifold or the choice of
coordinates. A special construction of approximations ---geodesic finite
elements--- is shown to fulfill the conditions, and in the process extended to
maps into the tangential bundle.
