Epic in the Heart of Europe: Medieval German Narrative

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The epic narrative poems produced in Middle High German around the beginning of the thirteenth century stand amongst the greatest literary monuments of the Middle Ages. These tales have served as the inspiration for countless great works across the centuries, including the great operas of Richard Wagner, the films of Fritz Lang. What is more, the rediscovery of these narratives during the 18th and 19th centuries played a crucial role in the development of modern Philology and Medieval Studies as academic disciplines. Even divorced from their later legacy, these tales have lost little of their narrative power as entertainment and continue to be read for enjoyment to the present day. In this course, we will encounter savage warriors, Amazonian queens, giants, dwarves, mysteries of faith, over-whelming passion, the tragic downfall of entire peoples, and the apotheosis of noble knights. Amidst these wonders, we will find stories and characters that feel at once familiar and profoundly alien. Our analysis of these texts will explore both their content and their form as we engage medieval epics are imaginative spaces in which the great anxieties and concerns of their creators and audience may be problematized and resolved through the trials and triumphs of larger-than-life figures battling against supernatural forces. At the same time, we will work to situate the impetus for the creation of these tales within a world undergoing profound cultural and political upheaval, standing in a liminal space between orality and literacy and witness to rapidly shifting understanding of authority, class, and gender. Each term, the course will focus upon two longer works, complemented by a great variety of shorter works and excerpts from other medieval narratives. All texts will be available in English translation and no prior knowledge of German is expected or required.