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King Rother, a twelfth-century bridal-quest epic, occupies an important place in the history of German literature. The earliest surviving and structurally most sophisticated of the so-called minstrel epics, verse narratives once assumed to have been recited by itinerant minstrels before a courtly audience, it has its roots in German folklore and documents the transition from orality to the culture of the book. The text belongs to the subgenre of the perilous bridal quest, in which the disguised wooer deceives the bride's father and abducts her with her consent. This simple quest structure is doubled, if the wooer must win his bride a second time from her father, who has rescued her. The bride is almost always a passive figure in these events, the main conflict being the disparity in status between the wooer and his prospective father-in-law. King Rother is structurally complex, as the present study is the first to recognize: the quest structure is doubled not only in the wooer's second quest, but also in the bride's own actions -- including her use of deception in a parallel quest for her wooer. This underscores her equality in status, which is her essential qualification to be his wife. The study includes an important English-language summary of scholarship on King Rother, on the minstrel epics, and on the bridal quest. Thomas Kerth is Associate Professor of German at Stony Brook University.
E-Book Content
King Rother and His Bride
Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture
King Rother and His Bride Quest and Counter-Quests Thomas Kerth
Rochester, New York
Copyright © 2010 Thomas Kerth All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. First published 2010 by Camden House Camden House is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA www.camden-house.com and of Boydell & Brewer Limited PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK www.boydellandbrewer.com ISBN-13: 978-1-57113-436-3 ISBN-10: 1-57113-436-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kerth, Thomas. King Rother and his bride : quest and counter-quests / Thomas Kerth. p. cm. — (Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-57113-436-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-57113-436-0 (hardcover) 1. König Rother. 2. Courtship in literature. 3. Kings and rulers in literature. 4. Epic poetry, German — History and criticism. I. Title. PT1551.K63K47 2010 831.'21—dc22 2009048039 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. This publication is printed on acid-free paper. Printed in the United States of America.
For George C. Schoolfield Im Zeitstrome bleiben oben Die Werke, die den Meister loben. Wers umkehrt, ist Gesell; sein Werkchen trinkt Des Stroms und sinkt. —Klopstock
Contents Foreword
ix
List of Abbreviations
xi
1: Minstrels and Bridal Quests
1
2: Sources and History
21
3: Rother
45
4: Constantin and his Queen
63
5: Rother’s Quest
87
6: The Active Bride
107
7: Merging Quests
120
8: Counter-Quest
158
9: Doubled Quest
168
10: Reconciliation and Consent
182
11: Eternal Quest
192
12: Conclusion
210
Bibliography
223
Index
245
Foreword
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