Filologia Germanica - Germanic Philology is the first periodical entirely devoted to Germanic philology and closely related disciplines published so far in Italy. Although primarily intended for an Italian audience, the journal is open to contributions from scholars all over the world. The journal, sponsored and funded by the Italian Association of Germanic Philology (AIFG), has been active since 2009 and is published annually. Each issue is devoted to a specific Germanic linguistic, literary and cultural topic. Articles are published in Italian or one of the major international languages and include an abstract in English. Annually, the Members' Assembly decides on a topic, which is followed by a Call for Papers, in consideration of which the Author/Author formulates a relevant contribution proposal. The journal benefits from the anonymous refereeing of Italian and foreign experts according to the double blind peer review procedure and is published in Open Access (CC-BY-SA) on this platform. The journal is in the ANVUR Fascia A for the whole Area 10 - Sciences of Antiquity, Philological-Literary and Historical-Artistic Sciences. ISSN 2036-8992
The Noisy Silent Education of Women: A Commentary on the Gothic Translation of 1 Tim 2:11-12
The subject of this essay is the discussion of the Gothic translation of two terms for “silence” taken from two consecutive verses of the First Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (I Tim 2:11–12). In these verses the Greek text and the Latin version offer the same form twice (respectively ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ and in silentio), whereas in Gothic two different words occur: in the second case, at verse 12, editors agree on the reading in þahainai; the first occurrence, at verse 11, is much more debated, not least because of the lacunose manuscript transmission. The essay reviews all editorial proposals and then proceeds to examine the passages in which ἡσυχίᾳ is rendered in Gothic. Two terms are involved: *hliuþs and *þahains; *hliuþs is a hapax legomenon, attested only in the first occurrence in the Timothy passage under consideration. A close scrutiny of the meaning of *hliuþs—also in light of occurrences of the cognate in Old Icelandic—leads to the conclusion that, in the Timothy context, rendering ἡσυχίᾳ with hliuþa is acceptable both on etymological-linguistic grounds (despite an apparently contrasting sense “noise”) and for specifically cultural and theological reasons, thus testifying to Ulfila’s competence in rendering into Gothic complex passages of the Pauline epistles. Methodologically, the essay shows that readings which are lacunose in their textual transmission must be weighed and interpreted with due regard to the cultural context—both that of the Pauline age and that of the time of the Gothic translation.
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
The Education of the Maiden and the Formation of the Boy: How the Good Wife Taught Her Daughter and How the Wise Man Taught His Son
This article examines the Middle English poems How the Wise Man Taught His Son and How the Good Wife Taught Her Daughter, with particular attention to the version in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole 61. The analysis underscores how these two texts, traditionally classified in the scholarly tradition as conduct literature, were reworked by the scribe Rate within a coherent project that articulated direct instruction to the younger generation, thereby constructing complementary educational roles for son and daughter within the framework of the traditional family. While the teachings addressed to the young man are articulated through exhortative directives accompanied by discursive justifications – thus reinforcing male authority and the ideal of household governance – those directed to the daughter take on a proscriptive character, designed to internalize modesty and self-control as both bodily and social habitus, with constant emphasis on economic management and bourgeois respectability. In comparison with the other texts in the manuscript’s first booklet – Sir Isumbras, Saint Eustace, and Right as a Ram’s Horn – it becomes clear that Rate pursued a process of redactional and ideological balancing that presents the nuclear family as the paradigm of late-medieval Christian and urban society.
The Rota Ventorum of Froumund of Tegernsee between Education, Tradition and Political-cultural Debate
This article analyses the rota ventorum preserved on f. 2r of the manuscript Krakau, Biblioteka Jagiellonska, Lat. Qu. 939, attributed to Froumund of Tegernsee, and shows how the latter transformed the wind diagram from an eminently scientific-didactic tool into a political-cultural manifesto through an ingenious use of trilingualism and bigraphism featuring in his version of the rota. Building on the authority of the Latin and above all Greek tradition, reinforced by the presence at court of the Empress Theophano and by the renewed interest of the Holy Roman Empire in the Byzantine world, Froumund uses colours, space and scripts not only to highlight the connection between classical tradition and German culture, but also to underline the importance and supremacy of German culture and language in the contemporary world, as well as in the divine order of the cosmos.
From Court to Classroom: Einarr Skúlason and the Study of the Skaldic Tradition
The Icelandic cleric Einarr Skúlason (c. 1090-1160) was a key figure in the transition from the pre-literary to the learned phase of skaldic composition. In the section of the Edda dedicated to poetic language (Skáldskaparmál), his kinsman Snorri Sturluson granted this skald the highest exemplary status, citing him way more than any other poet. In fact, long before Snorri, Einarr Skúlason appears to have been among the first learned Icelanders to engage in a systematic study of the vernacular poetic canon and of its rhetorical figures. Evidence of this activity is found chiefly in the fragments attributed to him in poetic treatises. By means of a systematic imitation of the early skalds, Einarr reinstated the kenning style typical of late-pagan poetry, giving impetus to the medieval reception of the mythological matter of the North. An analysis of these fragments is thus able to shed light on the earliest and least documented phase in the development of the vernacular rhetorical reflection in Iceland, accounting for the strand of studies which, roughly a century later, would culminate in the composition of Snorri’s Edda.
Tristan's Education. Tristan as Pupil and Teacher in the Norse and Medieval English Traditions
Thomas d’Angleterre incorporated educational ideals of the 12th century Renaissance in his Tristan, stressing the importance of courtly and intellectual enculturation, so that his Tristan is a knight trained in the art of combat but also a highly educated individual. The essay explores the theme of education in the derivatives of Thomas, and how educational values were reassessed. Drawing on the Norwegian Tristrams saga, the Middle English romance Sir Tristrem, and the Icelandic Saga af Tristram, a comparative lens highlights the radical break that occurs when – under new conditions – writers reconfigure models of education and conduct to meet the demands of a new era, and shows how these texts register the values of their changing social and cultural milieux. Tristrams Saga, written for a courtly audience, shows greater appreciation for a higher education, while Sir Tristrem lays stress on Tristan’s hunting skills and Saga af Tristram shows a closer similarity with Eilhart’s version. Thomas had combined the heroic and martial elements of the legend with the courtly culture of the medieval Renaissance. Over the centuries, however, social developments led to cultural shifts which also affected the theme of education. In this process of modernization some aspects were abandoned, and each retelling changed the representation, still promoting the idea that the boy should be civilized through education but laying greater stress on archetypical aspects of Tristan as hunter and warrior.
This study offers a re-assessment of the circulation of Greek in early medieval England by taking into account texts as diverse as bilingual glossaries, prayers, charms, treatises, and poems. Liturgical works stand among the longest Greek texts circulating in early medieval England, with the influence of Byzantine liturgy extending to incantations. Amongst bilingual glossaries, Épinal-Erfurt adopts different strategies to interpret rare and specialistic Greek words, whereas the later Antwerp-London class glossary includes batches of trilingual entries (Greek-Latin-English) belonging to several word fields, which together would make up an elementary lexicon of Greek. The tenth-century Old English poem Aldhelm features a unique usage of Greek words presumably drawn from both the Septuagint and the works of Aldhelm of Malmesbury. Collectively, the surviving evidence indicates that, while the presence of Greek material in early medieval England fits the broader pattern of the circulation of Greek in the medieval West, different kinds of Old English texts demonstrate a reuse of Greek vocabulary and the adoption of different strategies for the interpretation of Greek lexicon.
An Example of a 16th-century German Didactic Text: Ortolf Fuchsberger's Leeßkonst
During the first half of the sixteenth century, Ortolf Fuchsberger (ca. 1490-after 1541/1542) wrote a short didactic text titled Leeßkonst. Das Bůchel zům Leser. In 1542, it was published in Ingolstadt by the printer Alexander Weissenhorn. This small book fits within the tradition of didactic writings and educational works produced by reading teachers during the sixteenth century, featuring the typical structure and content of the syllabaries of that period, while also serving as a concise compendium of the elementary instruction imparted in German schools at the time. The text includes brief sections devoted to spelling, handwriting, numbers (both Roman and Arabic), and basic arithmetic methods, with a particular focus on addition. The present study aims to provide an introductory analysis of the text, highlighting its most interesting and/or innovative aspects in the teaching of both reading and writing in German. Notably, Ortolf Fuchsberger, along with Valentin Ickelsamer, stands out as one of the first advocates of the so-called Lautiermethode (phonics method), which emphasized teaching reading through the sounds rather than through the memorization of letters and/or syllables.
Only a few German didactic texts composed around the middle of the twelfth century have come down to us, mostly in fragments. These texts – Rittersitte, Der heimliche Bote, and Tugendlehre – are regarded as key stepping stones in the development of educational literature. They address, more or less explicitly, the young elite of their time, equipping them with the values of a morally exemplary life or offering guidance on how to act in specific situations. This paper examines these little-known works and identifies the fundamental teachings they convey, arguing that an Arthurian romance such as Hartmann von Aue’s Erec is profoundly shaped by the same educational purpose. Erec thus emerges as both a handbook for aristocratic youth and an engaging narrative, serving as an exquisite exemplum of literature inspired by the Latin motto prodesse et delectare (“to instruct and to delight”). Despite the uncertainties surrounding Hartmann’s sources, the innovations he introduced to the hypotext – namely Chrétien de Troyes’ Erec et Enide – and his emphasis on key themes, such as the importance of reputation and Christian piety, place Erec among the seminal works that reflect the spirit and ideological background of its time with notable delicacy and elegance.
Introduction: Some Observations on Education and Training in the Germanic Middle Ages
The topic of education and training in the Germanic Middle Ages represents a field of investigation of considerable interest, as it allows us to observe the ways in which medieval societies transmitted knowledge, values ​​and behavioural models.
Round Table Discussion: The First 50 Years of AIFG
Roma, 31 maggio - 1 giugno 1974: primo incontro dei filologi italiani (A. Zironi) Filologia germanica? Quale filologia germanica? (F. Ferrari) La filologia germanica: una disciplina tutta italiana (P. Lendinara) Storia dell’AIFG in breve. Tappe evolutive e momenti salienti (F. D. Raschellà) 50 anni AIFG (V. Santoro)
The Reception of Myth in the Old English Boethius: The Pleasure of Telling the ‘False’ to Assert the ‘True’
In the Old English Boethius, references to myth are often introduced or accompanied by the clarification that they are untrue stories, but necessary to explain important truths. This attitude, common to medieval Christendom, is made explicit on several occasions in the Old English Boethius. Respecting the function proposed in the original, the mythological material is then reworked through omissions and additions to suit the specific reception the work would have had in Anglo-Saxon England in the Alfredian period. The comparison with the possible sources studied by the critics offers interesting conjectures, while the analysis of individual passages seems to reveal peculiar translation strategies in the repositioning of episodes involving figures such as Orpheus, Hercules or the giants. The aim of this article is to investigate which translation strategies are adopted for the representation of the myth in the vernacular reworking: beyond didactic requirements, it seems to be guided by the fascination of these ancient tales, which are set in worlds that are geographically and chronologically unknown, tales whose reality is not to be believed, but which the author presents in detail, sharing with the audience the pleasure of extraordinary and astonishing stories.
The Odysses of Ulixes Through Medieval and Early Modern Literature
This essay focuses on the Medieval and Early Modern reception of Ulysses and his myth, with a strong focus on the literature in the German vernacular, the concepts established and communicated by this reception, its continuity but also its unique shifts and ‘peaks’ within specific texts. It begins with Ulysses’ role in the medieval Trojan romance, outlines the long tradition of the allegoric interpretation, especially in regard to the myth of the Sirens, reaching back to Antiquity. Both separated tracks of reception show a significant continuity and ambivalence, culminating in the representation of Ulysses in Dante’s Commedia and its famous and crucial report of Ulysses’ last journey, where Ulysses functions as an example of human curiosity and human desire for knowledge and experience, both fatal and fascinating. In relation to medieval allegoric concepts Sebastian Brant wants to conceive Ulysses as a counterexample to foolishness and fools in his Narrenschiff, the intended clear didactic meaning nevertheless is thwarted by the complexity of the myth’s narrative. Finally, Simon Schaidenreisser’s alias, Minervius’, first German translation of the Odyssey brings back the original story. Still accompanied by allegoric and moral interpretation provided by commentaries in the margins, the myth now claims its own right and Ulysses’ interest in mundane experience and knowledge becomes an undisputed positive quality indicating the anthropological turn performed by writing and learning of the Early Modern period.
Copyright (c) 2025 Manfred Kern https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
The Virgin and the Philosophers: Plato in the English Lives of Saint Katherine
In the Life of Catherine of Alexandria, the saint refers to Plato during her debate with fifty pagan wise men. The Platonic argument in support of the Incarnation, as presented by Catherine, employs a particularly obscure formulation in one recension of the South English Legendary. A comparison with parallel passages in the Middle English hagiographic tradition shows that most compilers chose to omit this Platonic reference altogether. However, the Gilte Legende and the Scottish Legendary display valuable variants for further investigation. The present article aims to reconstruct the origin of this crux and investigate the ways in which Christian Platonism was received in Middle English hagiography, taking the Lives of St Catherine as a case study. It also explores, through the example of the Scottish Legendary, how a hagiographer might have linked the apologetic passage to Plato’s Timaeus or its commentaries, which appear to be the ultimate sources of the argument. Finally, it offers conclusions regarding the treatment of doctrinal content by Middle English hagiographers, identifying three recurring approaches and a possible hierarchy among them.
Copyright (c) 2025 Pierandrea Gottardi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Translating Antiquity. The Ideological Reading of Virgil’s Aeneid in its first German translation
The paper focuses on Virgil’s Aeneid in the first German translation by Thomas Murner (Strasbourg, 1515). It addresses the historical reach of the Latin classic and the Roman imperial ideology conveyed through it. The discussion therefore centres on the ideological and political meaning of the Aeneid and explores the mechanisms by which this model, with its emphasis on peace (Pax Augusta), developed a dynamic relevance in the context of German Humanism. Indeed, with regard to the respective contemporary engagements with Virgil’s Aeneid, one can observe an effort not only to render the ancient classic accessible to vernacular readers but also to establish its function as a cultural key text. In doing so, it serves as a medium for self-affirmation within existing power structures through a distinctly ideological reading. The historical recontextualisation of the Roman epic, as outlined in this article, is closely tied to a contemporary figure of rulership who serves as a focal point for the ‘new’ imperial meaning attributed to the ‘German’ Aeneid: Maximilian I, King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor (1508-1519), who constitutes the decisive point of reference shaping the intermedial transformation of Virgilian reception in the translation of Thomas Murner. Indeed, with regard to the respective contemporary engagements with Virgil's Aeneid, one can observe an effort not only to render the ancient classic accessible to vernacular readers but also to establish its function as a cultural key text. In doing so, it serves as a medium for self-affirmation within existing power structures through a distinctly ideological reading. The historical recontextualisation of the Roman epic, as outlined in this article, is closely tied to a contemporary figure of rulership who serves as a focal point for the ‘new’ imperial meaning attributed to the ‘German’ Aeneid: Maximilian I, King of the Holy Roman Empire (1508–1519), who constitutes the decisive point of reference shaping the intermedial transformation of Virgilian reception in the translation of Thomas Murner.
Copyright (c) 2025 Julia Frick https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
The Myth of Orpheus in the Work of Notker III of St Gall (with a Look Back at the Translation by Alfred the Great)
The paper will examine the reworking of the myth of Orpheus by Notker III of St. Gallen in his annotated translation of Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae. As is well known, the myth of Orpheus has spanned all ages from antiquity to the present day and represents one of the greatest and most important cycles of European culture. The myth of Orpheus is not static or immutable; on the contrary, its strength lies in its adaptability over time. A vast repertoire of elements is therefore available that form a whole that can be summarized under the label “Myth of Orpheus”. In 1997 S. Sonderegger published an essay on Orpheus in Notker, mainly focused on the problem of sentence structure, alliteration and stylization of the final rhyme – all aspects of style, completely neglecting the interesting content aspects of Notker’s reworking. In fact, if Boethius was the first Latin author to develop an ethical allegory of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the doctissimus magister of St. Gall fits in an original way into the multi-faceted Christian reinterpretation of the myth, which in the Germanic linguistic area had begun with the translation into Old English, commonly attributed to King Alfred the Great. The proposed analysis will deal with the reworking of the myth of Orpheus in Notker: the interpretations of ancient mythology (Tantalus, Titius, the Danaids, Sysyphus); the figure of Eurydice, the role of quotations from classical literature (Virgil’s Eclogues) and from the Gospel of Luke, the hitherto unnoticed points of contact between the poem of Orpheus and the central poem III, IX of the Consolatio, the (possible) use of commentaries (“Anonymous of St. Gall” and Remigius).
Copyright (c) 2025 Verio Santoro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
“And þerfore seythe Seneca”: The Reception of the Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium in Middle English Sermons
A practice shared by late medieval Christian preachers in their sermons was to resort to some auctoritates in order to support their arguments and provide tropological readings of the Bible. Such auctoritates were not confined to Scriptures or patristic literature but include texts from classical antiquity. Among the classical authors, Seneca was widely appreciated for his positions on ethical issues, which are exemplified in his Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, and which often align with Christian beliefs. The present paper aims to investigate how Seneca’s thought was received by late medieval English preachers and adapted to the principles of Christian doctrine through the analysis of a selection of Middle English sermons preserved in two fifteenth-century manuscripts: London, British Library, Royal 18.B.xxiii and Oxford, Bodleian Library, e Musaeo 180. The authors of these collections reserve a space for Seneca’s voice in their sermons, either by quoting passages from the EM or by recounting the exempla reported by the philosopher himself in his letters to Lucilius. The analysis focuses on the modalities of reception of the principles of the Stoic philosophy by Christian preachers as well as on the stylistic strategies used to introduce passages from Seneca’s work.
Copyright (c) 2025 Laura Poggesi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Comedy for schools: The German-language translations of Plautus and Terence from the 16th century in the context of their reception
The comedies of the Roman poets Plautus and Terence were part of the 16th century canon of the reception of antiquity and were translated into German in large numbers. The translators usually came from a scholastic background and produced their translations explicitly for use in schools. Despite overarching continuities with Early Modern translations of antiquity, however, there are major differences between the individual comedy translations, both in the translators’ paratextual statements and in the translation practice, which has been little studied to date. This article aims to examine the effects of the school-specific reception context on the translations on the basis of cultural translation research: The question to be asked is how the intended reception space of school translations is reflected in the texts, distinguishing between translations for the school stage and language didactic learning aids, and what position the Palliata translations occupy in the reception of antiquity in the 16th century.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jennifer Hagedorn https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Reinterpreting Alexander in the German Middle Ages: The case of the Basler Alexander
This article explores the multifaceted reception of Alexander the Great in medieval German literature. Alexander’s historical image as both an exemplary leader and a figure prone to excess and hubris has been continuously reinterpreted, shaped by diverse cultural, religious, and political contexts. Central to this study is the differentiation of three primary interpretative trends: Alexander as an instrument of divine providence within a biblically framed universal history; as a negative exemplum used to warn against vices like pride and greed; and as an idealized model of perfect kingship, embodying chivalric virtues and noble leadership. The Basler Alexander, one of the three redactions of the Alexanderlied, resists alignment with these dominant interpretative frameworks. Unlike other texts, it avoids explicit moral judgments or allegorical readings. Instead, it presents a concise and secularized narrative, emphasizing Alexander’s conquests and marvels without extensive extradiegetical commentary or idealization. Through codicological analysis and comparison with other versions, the article highlights how this redaction offers a factual and less idealized portrait of Alexander suitable for its integration within a manuscript conceived as a secular universal chronicle.
Copyright (c) 2025 Lorenzo Ferroni https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Code-switching in Middle English healing charms
Medieval discursive healing charms share a lot of features with medical recipes, in that both charms and recipes generally have the same organizational structure, entail “rituals”, have an oral and a written component, use foreign words, prayers and formulas, and both aim to cure diseases or to prevent perils. However, intuitively, charms do not coincide with recipes. The present paper intends to analyse the use of foreign words in Middle English healing charms, in particular, whether language shift involves simple nouns or verbs, or verbal or noun phrases or whether they coincide with clause units, in which external structural component of the charm it occurs and what functional role(s) language shift plays. The study will mainly concentrate on Latin shift and show that some generalisations about code-switching in Middle English healing charms are possible, and significant for their categorization as a separate text-type from medical remedies. In fact, unlike medical remedies, code switching in healing charms occurs as formulaic language and in ritual formulas, which are those two features that place them closer to prayers.
Magie in den älteren und jüngeren Runeninschriften? – Zum Status magischer Konzepte in der Runologie
To what extent can individual runic inscriptions or inscription groups of the older and younger period be classified as ‚magical‘ or ‚profane‘? The present article scrutinizes Elmer Antonsen’s anti-magical approach to the older runic inscriptions and offers a more nuanced view, which rejects the basic assumption that inscriptions are solely profane, devoid of sacred and/or magical functions. Magical inscriptions are defined in this paper as those runic artefacts which deliberately exert influence on higher or lower powers, such as gods, helping spirits or evil spirits. Methodologically, three examples of the older and younger runic inscriptions are selected, which combine several functional elements that can be interpreted as magical: the Kylver stone (KJ 1), the Vedslet sandstone amulet (DR 57), and the gravestone of Gørlev (DR 239). This last has at least three such functional elements: a fuþark inscription, a grave formula, and the so-called thistle- mistle formula. This article addresses not only the allegedly magical functions of the fuþark as a whole, but also the magical use of individual runes and runic names; compare the ideographic use of positively charged runes such as 2 j (= *jāra n. ‚year, good harvest‘) and F f (= *fehu n. ‚cattle, wealth‘). On the basis of these case studies, the question of rune magic in the North will be further pursued.
There is no magic in the Old Saxon Heliand
Although the Old Saxon poem has been thoroughly investigated for two centuries now, the issue of the possible traces of pre-Christian Germanic magical traditions within it has not been sufficiently investigated. The only study specifically devoted to the (alleged) magical elements in Heliand belongs to G.R. Murphy (1991), whose opinions are in line with the studies already undertaken by the Lutheran theologian A.F.C. Vilmar in 1845, a few years after the publication of J.A. Schmeller’s editio princeps (1830). According to Vilmar, the Old Saxon poem was “das Christentum im deutschen gewande, eingekleidet in die poesie und die sitte eines edlen deutschen stammes”. The purpose of this work is to subject to a careful textual analysis the six passages of the Heliand in which, according to the American scholar – who emphasizes the characteristics of what has now long been a misunderstood, stereotyped and obsolete idea of “Germanism” – Christ’s acting as a sorcerer would be obvious; it will be shown, on the contrary, that the image of Christ resulting from the poem is far removed from that of a sorcerer.
Elye ha-novi and the vampire in Old Yiddish (and Judeo-Italian). A historiola and its history
There are a number of Yiddish manuscripts – some also with Hebrew or Judeo-Italian – and printed books that evince the existence of magical practices among Ashkenazi Jews in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. In this paper, I wish to present the development of a particular historiola attested in Yiddish from the 15th-16th centuries. The narrative, in which Elijah the Prophet adjures a vampire not to harm a human being, has parallels both in ancient traditions of magic, attested notably in Aramaic and Greek, and in Medieval European culture, and has a broad tradition in the Jewish world, in collections of recipes, in prayer books and in material culture. In this paper, I wish to present some extant examples of this historiola in Yiddish and Judeo-Italian in their different contexts, such as collections of charms and medicaments, and books of prayers.
Circe’s magic: from Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae to the Old English and Old High German versions
In the Old English and Old High German versions of De Consolatione Philosophiae, Circe’s character (co- protagonist with Ulysses in Book IV, Metre 3) substantially reflects the description Boethius gave of her. According to Boethius, the sorceress was not particularly powerful as she had no influence over the minds of her victims. Analysing the translation strategies adopted, we can see how, in both cases, despite a declared unfamiliarity with magic, the representation modalities reveal an otherwise obvious familiarity with its procedures. And yet, the different cultural-historical contexts in which the two translations were carried out, and the different demands and purposes under the impulse of which they were promoted and brought to life, define a different approach to the re-writing of the myth. On the one hand, if devaluing the power of magic was a manifest political need at King Alfred’s court, on the other, in the conventual school of Saint Gall, the stigmatisation of magic made way for the educational necessity of translating Boethius’ work in order to explain its complexity with precise and perspicuous lexical choices.
Magic in Old Norse-Icelandic literature: a typology of modes
Magic often plays a significant role in medieval European narratives, where it can be used in a variety of ways, including as a literary tool. In this essay, I briefly consider magic as a narrative device and propose a typology of modes of presentation (general, detailed, and explicit), and argue that Old Norse-Icelandic literature appears to engage in an especially wide array of narrative presentations of magic, particularly when contrasted with comparable materials from elsewhere in northern Europe.
Magic and precious stones in the Old Swedish Eufemiavisa Hertig Fredrik av Normandie
This paper focuses on Hertig Fredrik av Normandie – one of the so-called Eufemiavisorna, three anonymous Old Swedish poems (Herr Ivan, Flores och Blanzeflor and Hertig Fredrik av Normandie) – and concentrates on a number of episodes where magic plays a significant role in the development of the narrative, in the aim of analyzing the kind of magic and why it is used in the text as well as to what extent it contributes to shape and spread the new idea of an aristocracy. Translated into Swedish from three continental European romances for Queen Eufemia of Norway at the beginning of the 14th century, Eufemiavisorna were designed to establish a common solid ideological background between Norway and Sweden by transmitting the new continental courtly ideas and norms to the Swedish court. Later, further translated into Old Danish, under the Kalmar Union, they seem to have served the same purpose extended to Denmark, contributing to reinforce the political relationships among the three kingdoms. In particular, their influence on the idea of natural magic expressed in some passages of Hertig Fredrik av Normandie – spread with encyclopedic writings, specifically lapidaries, which had reached Scandinavia between the 11th and 13th century – will be highlighted. I also intend to investigate whether magic could be regarded as an instrument for justifying the royal authority and defending the social order proceeding from it. Finally, correspondences and differences with similar magic-related circumstances, objects and performers occurring in Old Norse texts, will be discussed in order to show how elements of the ancient Scandinavian heritage (familiar to aristocratic audiences) changed, acquiring new aspects, values and meanings aimed at making nobles avoid conflicts and comply with royal demands of political stability.
Encyclopaedic preservation or performative act? The translation of Latin charms in the Old English Medicina de quadrupedibus
The Old English translation of the Medicina de quadrupedibus belongs to the corpus of early medieval English materia medica. This small treatise brings together remedies for various diseases taken from parts of animals, often to be applied along with uttering a series of charms. Traditionally deemed as devoid of the originality that characterizes genuinely insular works of the same type as the Lacnunga and Bald’s Læceboc, Medicina de quadrupedibus has not aroused particular interest among critics of early English medical lore, nor have the charms contained in it been object of close investigations. Nevertheless, the translation of these charms from Latin raises important linguistic and stylistic questions with regard to their reception and potential use. In this article I argue that the linguistic and rhythmic elements introduced in the Old English versions are recognizable as typically oral-formulaic and, consequently, suggest a rewriting based on their possible oral performance.
La magia nelle leges. Questioni strutturali
Beginning in the sixth century the Germanic peoples who established kingdoms in the western parts of the old Roman Empire enacted several law codes. The codes, composed in Latin, were partly influenced by Roman law. The early medieval decrees tell us what was prohibited and what was designated as magic, disclosing some magic practices like divination, storm rising, the use of ligatures and veneficium. However, the decrees do not always indicate the context of the forbidden acts. The article does not focus on the practice of magic but rather on the concerns of the authorities as to the provisions on magic contained in the laws. It will be shown that in the leges that were basically designed to assure both the wholeness or physical integrity of the person, and the safety of property, the use of magic is not punished as a religious offence, but rather for its destabilizing aspect regarding the social, political and economic order. The lawgiver’s priority is not simply the material damage caused by magic practices, but also the damage caused by false witchcraft accusations, which can ruin the reputation of a woman and of her family group. Finally, the Romano-Germanic laws show that, beyond the damage caused to its subjects, the king feels offended by magic as an antagonistic instrument of power and social control. Thus, from early medieval laws, it is possible to observe the formal expression of areas through which public concerns over the practice of magic operated.
Emittente, destinatario ed esecutore nei testi di carattere magico in inglese antico
Old English magical texts are an integral part of speech acts aimed at healing people or repairing any kind of damage. They involve a sender (the sorcerer/expert healer), an addressee (a disease or a patient) and a performer. Sometimes the sender is the performer of the magical acts, but, on other occasions, sender and performer are two different participants in the same magical act. Indeed, imperative verb forms, such as Old English wrīt, cweð, sing, gang swīgende, imply the presence of a sorcerer/magician addressing a performer with directives and instructions in order to provide patients with some help and face a disease or a negative situation. Moreover, the performer can sometimes become a new sender with his own addressee(s). The present paper aims to highlight the relationships among the participants in magical speech acts in Old English magical texts and to show how this can contribute to identify the various magical text genres.
Problemi di edizione dei più antichi incantesimi tedeschi
The oldest German charms: issues on textual criticism. Medieval German charms show two sets of problems when dealing with textual criticism: on the one hand, the issue of the charm as a genre and, on the other hand, the complexity of the manuscript transmission. Each critical edition should indeed fit a proper method, which may vary according to the textual genre, the historical period, and the transmission features to get as closer as possible to the original text, even when very little is known about its existence. This paper investigates all the known German charms of the 9th and 10th century: they happen to share important features, such as a manuscript transmission based on codex unicus, the marginal position of the text on the page and in the manuscript itself, the rare paratextual elements and the relationship between Latin and German language within the text. In this period, all charms are deeply rooted in a monastic environment and were not perceived as “magic” since they were written in the same books containing other Christian texts. Indeed, all these features change again if we consider the charms of the following centuries, and then the author of a critical edition must pay attention to other problems, such as, for example, a manuscript tradition based on many variant versions of the same text and also based on increasing contamination of different motifs merging in similar texts.
The verse forms of the Old English “metrical” charms
This essay takes into account the metre of the so-called metrical charms, arguing that these charms are characterised by a number of prosodic elements such as free alliterative verses, recurring repetition and some occasional rhyme. These features mark a difference between the “metrical” charms and standard Old English verse. On the other hand, this prosodic mixture anticipates that which is to be found in post-Conquest early Middle English poetry, where alliterative verse, rhythmical prose and rhyme are employed. The prosody of early Middle English poetry was described as “rhythmical alliteration” by Norman F. Blake in 1969. In my view, the “metrical” charms might therefore be re-labelled as rhythmical charms. Interestingly, Middle English verse charms, for their part, will generally adopt the rhyming couplet as their verse form.