Stricker’s Karl der Große: Alliterating word pairs, with special consideration of the Early Middle High German Rolandslied
John M. JeepFollowing the cataloging of the body of alliterating word pairs in the Early Middle High German Rolandslied (Song of Roland) and the appearance of a new critical edition of Stricker’s Karl der Große (Charlemagne), it is appropriate to explore the alliterating word pairs in Stricker’s Karl, to collect, analyze, and describe them in relation to other Early High German works. Existing research on Old and Early Middle High German is enhanced by use of additional data from the Classical Middle High German period. Following a chronological listing of the word pairs as they appear in Karl, the context is revealed in an alphabetical catalog of the pairs; connections to the Rolandslied and, when applicable, to the previous history of the word pairs, are revealed, thereby presenting an assessment of the nature of the catalog of the pairs in this work. Alliteration (stave rhyme) is understood here as following the Germanic tradition of only “staving” stressed syllables, while all vowels alliterate with other vowels. The initial combinations , , and stave only with themselves. The approximately 50 alliterating word pairs in Stricker’s Karl are compared with the 42 pairs documented in the Rolandslied, with special attention given to any changes. New pairs are identified, while known ones are assessed within their tradition of usage. This exploration suggests that many standard reference works have only represented the history of alliterating word pairs in the early stages of German in an incomplete fashion. This study, therefore, revises the history of the alliterating word pair in the early stages of the German language. Further studies will expand the catalog and allow for a more accurate appraisal of the role of alliterating word pairs in the history of German language and literature.
Strickers Karl der Große: Stabreimende Wortpaare, insbesondere mit Rücksicht auf das Rolandslied
John M. JeepNach Feststellung des Bestands an stabreimenden Wortpaaren im frühmittelhochdeutschen Rolandslied und dem Erscheinen der neuen kritischen Ausgabe von Strickers Karl der Große (Singer), ist es angebracht, nach den Wortpaaren in Singers Karl zu fragen, sie zu sammeln und zu analysieren und diese im Kontext und in Beziehung zu anderen frühdeutschen Werken zu beschreiben. Bislang ist das Althochdeutsche und das Frühmittelhochdeutsche erschlossen worden, mit Zusätzen aus dem Mittelhochdeutschen, vor allem in der hochklassischen Epoche. Auf eine Liste der Wortpaare chronologisch nach dem Erscheinen im Text folgt die alphabetisch geordnete Einzelanalyse, in der der Kontext erschlossen wird, Bezüge zum Rolandslied und gegebenenfalls zu der früheren Überlieferung der Wortpaare hergestellt werden, wobei der Gesamtbestand der stabreimenden Wortpaare in diesem Werk gewürdigt wird. Stabreim wird als rhetorisches Mittel nach germanischer Tradition aufgefasst; das heißt, dass nur betonte Silben miteinander staben. Vokale staben untereinander. Die Verbindungen , und staben je nur miteinander. Die knapp 50 stabreimenden Wortpaare in Strickers Karl werden mit den 42 im Rolandslied bezeugten Paaren verglichen, wobei insbesondere Änderungen Beachtung verdienen. Neue Paare warden identifiziert, während bekannte Paare in ihrer Gebrauchstradition erschlossen werden. Es stellt sich heraus, dass maßgebliche Nachschlagewerke in vielen Fällen die Wortpaare nur unvollständig dokumentiert haben. Somit wird die Geschichte der stabreimenden Wortpaare im Frühdeutschen neugestaltet. Weitere Untersuchung werden die Rolle der stabreimenden Wortpaare in der Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und ihrer Literatur klarer warden lassen.
Following the cataloging of the body of alliterating word pairs in the Early Middle High German Rolandslied (Song of Roland) and the appearance of a new critical edition of Stricker’s Karl der Große (Charlemagne), it is appropriate to conduct an inquiry into the alliterating word pairs in Stricker’s Karl, to collect and analyze those word pairs, and to describe them in relation to Karl’s major source (the Rolandslied) and to the use of word pairs in other early German works. In the context of a long-term study, Old and Early Middle High German (circa 1180) have been studied exhaustively, using additional data from the Classical Middle High German period. This study builds upon a database of some 1,500 alliterating word pairs documented in the earlier stages of German. Stricker’s Karl der Große, a reworking of the earlier Rolandslied, allows for comparison of the use of alliterating word pairs, whereby some are retained, others dropped, and still others reformulated. This offers an insight into the poetic inventory employed by Stricker. The known use of alliterating word pairs in his other works, albeit incomplete, is also included. A complete listing of all the word pairs he used should help enhance these findings. Following a chronological listing of the word pairs as they appear in the work; an alphabetical catalog of the pairs reveals their context, connections to the Rolandslied, and, when applicable, to the previous history of the word pairs. In this way, the nature of the catalog of the pairs in Stricker’s work is assessed. The history of the alliterating word pairs reveals a combination of traditional usage and innovative rhetoric. The author navigates a wealth of options in formulating his tale, from everyday expressions to new pairings, and in consideration of rhyme constraints due to the nature of his work. Alliteration (stave rhyme) here is understood as following the Germanic tradition of only alliterating (or “staving”) stressed syllables. This distinction can be critical. On the one hand, the Germanic poetic tradition used alliteration (in this strict sense) to form collocations that survived for centuries. On a more practical level, however, this matters for the history of an expression when a word evolves in relation to its initial phonemes, for example, an older “giloube” (which staves on /l/), which ends up as /gloube/, hence alliterating with /g/. While other studies have included non-staving word pairs, we have elected to concentrate on this older tradition. In a similar fashion, one could also include triads, quadriads, or even longer chains, although their number is that much smaller and, hence, their overall impact less significant. In the Germanic tradition, all initial vowels alliterate with other vowels. The initial combinations , , and stave only with themselves. Within these parameters, the nearly 50 alliterating word pairs in Stricker’s Karl are compared with the 42 pairs documented in the Rolandslied, with special attention paid to changes between the two. It should be noted that Stricker’s Karl is approximately longer by one-third than the Rolandslied. Given the extant catalogs of early German word pairs, new pairs possibly coined by Stricker are identified, while known ones are assessed within the tradition of their usage. This study suggests that many standard reference works and the known secondary literature on Stricker’s Karl der Große have only represented the history of alliterating word pairs in the early stages of German in an incomplete fashion. Therefore, this study provides a revision of the history of alliterating word pairs in the early stages of German. A complete listing of any rhetorical element is the foundation upon which an assessment of their functions can be attempted. Further studies will expand the catalog and allow a more accurate appraisal of the role of alliterating word pairs in the history of German language and literature.
