Textual Criticism and Tradition of Ancient and Medieval Germanic Literatures

• Consolidation of the linguistic and philological tools required for the analysis and interpretation of Medieval Germanic texts.
• Achievement of a comparatist viewpoint in the investigation of Medieval Germanic texts, with particular reference to the topic “verbal dueling”.

Lectures, drills

“Verbal dueling in Medieval Germanic poetry”.

• Interpretation and analysis of poetic texts from Old Norse (the Eddic poems Lokasenna, Hárbarðsljóð), Old English (Beowulf) and Middle High German (Nibelungenlied); the texts under investigation will be translated and analyzed both from a stylistic and historicocultural point of view.

• Deep investigation of literary genres (Eddic and heroic poetry) particularly relevant to Medieval Germanic literatures.

• The manuscript transmission of Medieval Germanic texts.

a) Original texts and translations

• Beowulf. A cura di Giuseppe Brunetti, Roma [Carocci] 2008, pp. 124-127 (Fitt VIII, vv. 499-558).
• Edda. Die Lieder des Codex regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern, hg. von Gustav Neckel. 5. verbesserte Auflage von Hans Kuhn, Heidelberg [Winter] 1983, I, pp. 75-84 [Hbl], 93-106 [Ls].
• Il canzoniere eddico, a cura di Piergiuseppe Scardigli. Traduzione italiana di P. Scardigli e Marcello Meli, Milano [Garzanti] 2012, pp. 83-91 [Hbl], 105-117 [Ls]
• Das Nibelungenlied. Mittelhochdeutscher Text und Übertragung, hg. von Helmut Brackert, Frankfurt/M [Fischer] 1992, I, pp. 181-195 (XIV. Âventiure).
• I Nibelunghi, a cura di Laura Mancinelli. Traduzione italiana, Torino [Einaudi] 1995, pp. 114-122.

• Text of Lokasenna on heimskringla.no: http://heimskringla.no/wiki/Lokasenna
• Translation of Lokasenna on sacred texts.com: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe10.htm
• Text of Hárbarðsljóð on heimskringla.no: http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/H%C3%A1rbar%C3%B0slj%C3%B3%C3%B0
• Translation of Hárbarðsljóð on sacred texts.com: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe08.htm

b) Handbooks, encyclopedic articles

• Anderson, Philip N., voce “Lokasenna”, in Phillip Pulsiano (ed.), Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York /London [Garland] 1993, p. 394.
• Bax, Marcel/Padmos, Tineke, voce “Hárbarðsljóð”, Phillip Pulsiano (ed.), Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York /London [Garland] 1993, pp. 268-269.
• Bjork, Robert E./ Niles, John D. (eds.), A Beowulf Handbook, Lincoln [University of Nebraska Press] 1997, pp. 13-34.
• Fulk, Robert D./ Cain, Christopher M., A History of Old English Literature, Malden [MA] et al. [Blackwell] 2013, pp. 279-310.
• Gibbs, Marion E./ Johnson, Sidney M., Medieval German Literature, London [Routledge] 2000, pp. 205-217 [Nl].
• Gunnell, Terry, “Eddic Poetry”, in Rory McTurk (ed.), A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, Malden [MA] et al. [Blackwell] 2007, pp. 82-100.
• Harris, Joseph, “Eddic Poetry”, in C, Clover/ J. Lindow (eds.), Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. A critical Guide, Ithaca/London [Cornell University Press] 1985, pp. 68-126.
• Luiselli Fadda, Anna Maria, Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel Medioevo germanico, Bari/Roma [Laterza] 2010, pp. 113-179.
• Müller, Jan-Dirk, “Das Nibelungenlied”, in Horst Brunner (Hg.) Interpretationen. Mittelhochdeutsche Romane und Heldenepen, Stuttgart [Reclam] 1993, pp. 146-172.
• Schulze, Ursula, Das Nibelungenlied, Stuttgart [Reclam] 1997, pp. 84-103.

c) Critical essays (a choice, according to the topics of the written report and oral exam)

• Anderson, Philip N., “Form and Content in Lokasenna: A Re-evaluation”, in Paul Acker /Carolyne Larrington, (eds.), The Poetic Edda, Essays on Old Norse Mythology, New York [Routledge] 2002, pp. 139-157. [Ls]
• Bax Marcel/Padmos Tineke, “Two Types of Verbal Dueling in Old Icelandic: The Interactional Structure of the senna and the mannjafnaðr in Hárbarðsljóð”, Scandinavian Studies LV, 2 (1983), pp. 149-174. [Hbl]
• Bischoff, Karl: Die 14. Aventiure des Nibelungenliedes. Zur Frage des Dichters und der dichterischen Gestaltung, Mainz 1970 (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftliche, Klasse 8), pp. 1-23. [Nl]
• Caprini, Rita, “Tipologia stratigrafica degli insulti: testimonianze romanze e germaniche”, in Sonia M. Barillari (a cura di), Motti, arguzie, facezie e altre forme semplici della cultura popolare, Roma [Meltemi] 2000, pp. 53-70. [Ls]
• Clover, Carol, “Hárbarðsljóð as Generic Farce”, in Paul Acker /Carolyne Larrington, (eds.), The Poetic Edda, Essays on Old Norse Mythology, New York [Routledge] 2002, pp. 95-118. [Hbl]
• Clover, Carol, “The Germanic Context of the Unferþ Episode”, Speculum LV, 3 (1980), pp. 444-468. [G, B]
• Eliason, Norman E., “The Þyle and Scop in Beowulf”, Speculum XXXVIII, 2 (1963), pp. 267-284. [B]
• Enright, Michael, “The Warband Context of the Unferth Episode”, Speculum LXXIII, 2 (1998), pp. 297-337. [B]
• Frakes, Jerold C., “Loki’s Mythological Function in the Tripartite System”, in Paul Acker /Carolyne Larrington, (eds.),The Poetic Edda, Essays on Old Norse Mythology, New York [Routledge] 2002, pp. 158-175. [Ls]
• Francovich Onesti, Nicoletta, “La disputa delle regine e Procopio di Cesarea”, in M. Giovanna Arcamone/Marco Battaglia, La tradizione nibelungico-volsungica. Atti del XXXVI Convegno dell’Associazione Italiana di Filologia Germanica, (Pisa, 4-6 giugno 2009), Pisa [ETS] 2011. [Nl]
• Harris, Joseph, “The senna: From Description to Literary Theory”, Michigan Germanic Studies, V, 1 (1979); pp. 65-74. [G, B]
• Hollowell, Ida Masters, “Unferð the þyle in Beowulf”, Studies in Philology LXXIII (1976), pp. 239-265. [B]
• McKinnell, John, “Motivation in Lokasenna”, Saga-Book of the Viking Society XXII, 3-4 (1987-188), pp. 234-262. [Ls]
• Neidorf, Leonard, “Unferth’s Ambiguity and the Trivialization of Germanic Legend, Neophilologus CI, 3 (2017), pp. 439-454. [B]
• Parks Ward, “The Flyting Speech in Traditional Heroic Narrative”, Neophilologus LXXI, 2 (1987), pp. 285-295. [G]
• von See, Klaus, “Freierprobe und Königinnenzank in der Sigfridsage”, Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur LXXXIX, 3 (1959), pp. 163-172. [Nl]
• Sipione, Concetta, “L’incontro con l’altro nel Beowulf”, in Eliana Creazzo/ Gaetano Lalomia/ Andrea Manganaro (a cura di), Letteratura, alterità, dialogicità. Studi in onore di Antonio Pioletti, Soveria Mannelli [Rubettino] 2016, pp. 957-972. [B]
• Sipione, Concetta, “Lo scurrile Loki: duelli verbali e oscenità al divino convivio”, in Stefania Arcara/ Luca Capponcelli/ Anita Fabiani (a cura di), Ne uccide più la parola. Lessici dell’odio e pratiche di reclusione, Pisa [ETS] 2018, pp. 101-120. [Ls]

(legenda: G= general topic, B= Beowulf, Hbl= Hárbarðsljóð, Ls=Lokasenna, Nl= Nibelungenlied)

Texts, handbooks and critical essays available on STUDIUM.

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All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.