MEDIEVAL GERMANIC LITERATURES

Traditional / Lectures.
Translation exercise from Medieval texts.

“Flyting in Medieval Germanic texts”: Interpretation and analysis of poetic texts from Old Norse (the Eddic poems Lokasenna, Hárbarðsljóð), Old English (Beowulf), Middle High German (Nibelungenlied) and Old Norse prose texts (Vǫlsunga saga). The texts under investigation will be translated and analyzed both from a stylistic and historic cultural point of view.

Deep investigation of literary genres (Eddic and heroic poetry, Old Norse sagas) particularly relevant to Medieval Germanic literatures.

The manuscript transmission of Medieval Germanic texts.

a) Letteratura primaria e traduzioni

1. Beowulf. A cura di Giuseppe Brunetti, Roma [Carocci] 2008, pp. 124-127 (Fitt VIII, vv. 499-558).
2. 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, 93-106.
3. Il canzoniere eddico, a cura di Piergiuseppe Scardigli. Traduzione italiana di P. Scardigli e Marcello Meli, Milano [Garzanti] 2012, pp. 83-91, 105-117
4. Ruggerini, Maria Elena, Le invettive di Loki, Roma [Istituto di Glottologia - Università di Roma] 1979, pp. 18-45.
5. Das Nibelungenlied. Mittelhochdeutscher Text und Übertragung, hg. von Helmut Brackert, Frankfurt/M [Fischer] 1992, I, pp. 181-195 (XIV. Âventiure).
6. I Nibelunghi, a cura di Laura Mancinelli. Traduzione italiana, Torino [Einaudi] 1995, pp. 114-122.
7. La saga dei Volsunghi, a cura di Marcello Meli, Alessandria [Edizioni dell’Orso] 1993, pp. 246-49.

b) Manuali e voci enciclopediche

1. Anderson, Philip N., “Lokasenna”, in Phillip Pulsiano (ed.), Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York /London [Garland] 1993, p. 394.
2. Bax, Marcel/Padmos, Tineke, “Hárbarðsljóð”, Phillip Pulsiano (ed.), Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York /London [Garland] 1993, pp. 268-269.
3. Bjork, Robert E./ Niles, John D. (eds.), A Beowulf Handbook, Lincoln [University of Nebraska Press] 1997, pp. 13-34.
4. Finch, R. G., “Vǫlsung-Niflung Cycle”, “Vǫlsunga Saga”, in Phillip Pulsiano (ed.), Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, New York /London [Garland] 1993, p. 707-711.
5. Fulk, Robert D./ Cain, Christopher M., A History of Old English Literature, Malden [MA] et al. [Blackwell] 2013, pp. 279-310.
6. Gibbs, Marion E./ Johnson, Sidney M., Medieval German Literature, London [Routledge] 2000, pp. 205-217 [Nl].
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Luiselli Fadda, Anna Maria, Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel Medioevo germanico, Bari/Roma [Laterza] 2010, pp. 44-51, 98-109, 172.
10. Müller, Jan-Dirk, “Das Nibelungenlied”, in Horst Brunner (Hg.) Interpretationen. Mittelhochdeutsche Romane und Heldenepen, Stuttgart [Reclam] 1993, pp. 146-172.
11. Schulze, Ursula, Das Nibelungenlied, Stuttgart [Reclam] 1997, pp. 84-103.
12. Tulinius, Torfi H., “Sagas of Icelandic Prehistory”, in Rory McTurk (ed.), A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, Malden [MA] et al. [Blackwell] 2007, pp. 447-61.

c) Saggi critici (a scelta, in base agli argomenti della relazione scritta e dell’esame orale; legenda: G= generale, B= Beowulf, Hbl= Hárbarðsljóð, Ls = Lokasenna, Nl= Nibelungenlied, Vs = Vǫlsunga saga)

1. 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]
2. 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]
3. Bryan, Eric Shane, “Indirect aggression: a pragmatic analysis of the Quarrel of the Queens in Völsungasaga, Þiðreks Saga and Das Nibelungenlied”, Neophilologus XCVII (2013), pp. 349-365. [Nl¸Vs]
4. 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]
5. 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]
6. Clover, Carol, “The Germanic Context of the Unferþ Episode”, Speculum LV, 3 (1980), pp. 444-468. [G, B]
7. Dogaru, Janna Danetta, “Der Streit der Königinnen im Nibelungenlied”, Germanistische Beiträge XXIV (2008), pp. 67-90. [Nl]
8. Eliason, Norman E., “The Þyle and Scop in Beowulf”, Speculum XXXVIII, 2 (1963), pp. 267-284. [B]
9. Enright, Michael, “The Warband Context of the Unferth Episode”, Speculum LXXIII, 2 (1998), pp. 297-337. [B]
10. 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]
11. 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]
12. Harris, Joseph, “The senna: From Description to Literary Theory”, Michigan Germanic Studies, V, 1 (1979); pp. 65-74. [G, B]
13. Hollowell, Ida Masters, “Unferð the þyle in Beowulf”, Studies in Philology LXXIII (1976), pp. 239-265. [B]
14. McKinnell, John, “Motivation in Lokasenna”, Saga-Book of the Viking Society XXII, 3-4 (1987-188), pp. 234-262. [Ls]
15. Neidorf, Leonard, “Unferth’s Ambiguity and the Trivialization of Germanic Legend, Neophilologus CI, 3 (2017), pp. 439-454. [B]
16. Parks Ward, “The Flyting Speech in Traditional Heroic Narrative”, Neophilologus LXXI, 2 (1987), pp. 285-295. [G]
17. 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]
18. 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]

Original Text, handbooks and critical essays available on STUDIUM at the following link: https://studium.unict.it/dokeos/2020/main/document/document.php?cidReq=19101