Deconstructing the Hero in Early Medieval Heroic Poetry
- Victor Millet (ed. lit.)
- Heike Sahm (ed. lit.)
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
ISBN: 9783110336139
Year of publication: 2014
Pages: 229-239
Type: Book chapter
Abstract
This paper deals with a phenomenon common to early medieval heroic poetry consisting in what is called the ‘deconstruction’ of the hero. The term refers to a technique of destroying, shifting or disassembling the image of the hero in written poetry. It may best be seen in the Latin Waltharius, but it is possible to find traces of this technique also in Anglo Saxon Beowulf and the Old High German Hildebrandslied.