See, Klaus von. Das Phantom einer altgermanischen Elegiendichtung

• Author: See, Klaus von
• Title: Das Phantom einer altgermanischen Elegiendichtung – Kritische Bemerkungen zu Daniel Sävborg, ‘Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning’
• Published in: Skandinavistik 28/2
• Year: 1998
• Pages: 87-100
• E-text:
• Reference: See, Klaus von. "Das Phantom einer altgermanischen Elegiendichtung – Kritische Bemerkungen zu Daniel Sävborg, ‘Sorg och elegi i Eddans hjältediktning’." Skandinavistik 28/2 (1998): 87-100.

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Annotation

The dating of eddic poetry is problematic. Old scholarship interpreted Old Norse heroic poetry as a genuine elegiac genre and searched for similarities between potential coexisting texts. However, recent research rejects age stratification of eddic-heroic poetry or otherwise refrains from providing certain information. Von See states that well established forms of elegy in germanic traditions have never existed. 'Generic patterns', oral poetry and template theories are dismissed by analyzing the four sources, mentioned below, which have been used by earlier scholars to prove the existence of an Old Germanic elegiac tradition, thus negating their own argument structure: First, Gelimer's Lament can not be used as an evidence for a genuine Germanic tradition since the text is rhetorically amplified and originates from a Mediterranean milieu. Second, Old English elegies are characterized by religious topics. Third, sorrow in Sonatorrek can not be seen as its central motif, but rather feud. Moreover, Hadubrand's Lament in Old High German Hildebrandslied has no elegiac features.

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• Written by: Kathrin Lisa van der Linde
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