The «Livonian Rhymed Chronicle» as a Transitional Text: Formulaic Language in Middle High German Verse History

This essay investigates the transitional character of the <em>Livonian Rhymed Chronicle </em>(German: <em>Livländische Reimchronik</em>), a Middle High German verse history composed around 1290, which describes the conquest of the eastern Baltic lands by German crusaders and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Murray, A. (Alan)|||/items/2a8a239b-5ec6-47d0-81c7-679aa9085121
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Navarra
Repositorio:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dadun.unav.edu:10171/61597
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10171/61597
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Lingüística histórica
Poesía en alto alemán medio
Lenguaje formular
Marcadores discursivos
Descripción
Sumario:This essay investigates the transitional character of the <em>Livonian Rhymed Chronicle </em>(German: <em>Livländische Reimchronik</em>), a Middle High German verse history composed around 1290, which describes the conquest of the eastern Baltic lands by German crusaders and military-religious orders during the thirteenth century. Although it was first composed as a written text, the chronicle shows numerous features characteristic of oral-formulaic poetry: stock epithets, fixed nominal pairs, repeated discourse markers, and syntactic formulas used to introduce persons and places. The analysis is followed by an investigation of the probable audience and performance situation of the work. It is argued that the highly formulaic features of the work were designed to aid comprehension by listeners who were not necessarily familiar with the language variety in which the chronicle was composed.