10547 - Germanic Philology (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will possess the theoretical and technical instruments which allow him/her to know those languages, literatures (which must be intended as texts' corpora without any opinion on their literary value) and, in conclusion, cultures which the Germanic ethnic groups created since Prehistory. The chronological extension in which the discipline pursues its investigations is restricted to the Middle Ages. In that age, the common cultural Germanic matrix is more directly perceivable thanks to the large amount of sources and documents produced in the old Germanic languages and literatures. The knowledges, which the student will acquire, will enable him/her to translate and  to give a linguistic and philological commentary to a passage in an Old Germanic language.

Course contents

Unit A: The cultural peculiarities of the Germanic peoples will be taken into account: the oral transmission of knowledge, law, religion, social structure and the role of women inside the Germanic society. Part of the module will be devoted to the analysis of the literary genres of the Germanic literature of the Middle Ages (heroic poetry, sagas, skaldic poetry, religious poetry). During the module the main phonetic and morpho-syntactical characteristics of the old Germanic languages will be examinated. After having tackled the concepts of re-constituted language, comparative system and reconstruction of the Indo-european consonantic system, some lessons will focus the Germanic languages. In particular, the consonantic peculiarities (Grimm's and Verner's laws), the verbal system (strong, weak, and preterite-present verbs, the verb to be) and the noun declension will be examined.
Unit B: The Nibelung Cycle. The Volsung-Niflung Cycle. Old Icelandic literature. Snorri Sturluson. Snorri Sturluson's Edda. Skáldskaparmál ('The language of poetry'). Translation and detailed linguistical-philological analysis of FAULKES, Anthony, (ed.), 1998: Snorri Sturluson: Edda: Skáldskaparmál. 1. Introduction, Text and Notes. London: Viking Society for Northern Research: 48: from Line 19 (“Tha hló”) up to Line 22 (“Gnitaheidhi”).

Readings/Bibliography

BARNES, Michael, 1999: A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part I. Grammar. London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

 

CHIESA ISNARDI, Gianna, (a cura di), 2003:  Snorri Sturluson: Edda. Milano: TEA: 1-47, 125- 175.

 

FAULKES, Anthony, (ed.), 1998: Snorri Sturluson: Edda: Skáldskaparmál. 1. Introduction, Text and Notes. London: Viking Society for Northern Research: I-LXXII, 48: lettura, traduzione e commento filologico-linguistico da rigo 19 (“Tha hló”) a rigo 22 (“Gnitaheidhi”).

 

FAULKES, Anthony, (ed.), 1998: Snorri Sturluson: Edda: Snorri Sturluson: Edda: Skáldskaparmál. 2. Glossary and Index of Names. London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

 

FAULKES, Anthony, (ed.), 2001: A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part II. Reader. London: Viking Society for Northern Research: I-XLVII.

 

HAYMES, Edward R., SAMPLES, Susann T., 1996: Heroic Legends of the North. An Introduction to the Nibelung and Dietrich Cycles. New York:  Garland Publishing.

 

LUISELLI FADDA, Anna Maria, 2007: L'arte della filologia. Firenze: Franco Cesati Editore.

PARKES, Maolcolm, 1994: "Le pratiche di lettura". In: CAVALLO, Guglielmo, LEONRADI, Claudio, MENESTÒ, Enrico, (direttori), 1994: Lo spazio letterario del medioevo. 1. Il medioevo latino. Volume II. La circolazione del testo. Roma: Salerno Editrice: 465-486.

PÀROLI, Teresa, 1999: "La metrica germanica". In: BOITANI, Piero, MANCINI, Mario, VARVARO, Alberto, (direttori), 1999: Lo spazio letterario del medioevo. 2. Il medioevo volgare. Volume I. La produzione del testo. Tomo I. Roma: Salerno Editrice: 555-584.

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

The final exam is written

Office hours

See the website of Giulio Garuti Simone