Early Germanic literature and culture / edited by Brian Murdoch and Malcolm Read.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Murdoch, Brian, 1944- editor.

Read, Malcolm, editor.

Series:

Camden House history of German literature ; v. 1.

The Camden House history of German literature ; volume 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Germanic literature--History and criticism.

Germanic literature.

Literature, Medieval--History and criticism.

Literature, Medieval.

Civilization, Germanic.

Germanic peoples.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 334 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Rochester, NY : Camden House, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A collection of fresh essays examining the wide scope and significance of early Germanic culture and literature. The first volume of this set views the development of writing in German with respect to broad aspects of the early Germanic past, drawing on a range of disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, and philology in addition toliterary history. The first part considers the whole concept of Germanic antiquity and the way in which it has been approached, examines classical writings about Germanic origins and the earliest Germanic tribes, and looks at thetwo great influences on the early Germanic world: the confrontation with the Roman Empire and the displacement of Germanic religion by Christianity. A chapter on orality -- the earliest stage of all literature -- provides a bridgeto the earliest Germanic writings. The second part of the book is devoted to written Germanic -- rather than German -- materials, with a series of chapters looking first at the Runic inscriptions, then at Gothic, the first Germanic language to find its way onto parchment (in Ulfilas's Bible translation). The topic turns finally to what we now understand as literature, with general surveys of the three great areas of early Germanic literature: Old Norse, Old English, and Old High and Low German. A final chapter is devoted to the Old Saxon Heliand. Contributors: T. M. Andersson, Heinrich Beck, Graeme Dunphy, Klaus D©ơwel, G. Ronald Murphy, Adrian Murdoch, Brian Murdoch, Rudolf Simek, Herwig Wolfram. Brian Murdoch and Malcolm Read both teach in the German Department of the University of Stirling in Scotland.

Contents:

The concept of Germanic antiquity / Heinrich Beck

Origo gentis: The literature of German Origins / Herwig Wolfram

Germania Romana / Adrian Murdoch

Germanic religion and the conversion to Christianity / Rudolf Simek

Orality / R. Graeme Dunphy

Runic / Klaus Düwel

Gothic / Brian Murdoch

Old Norse-Icelandic literature / Theodor Andersson

Old English / Fred C. Robinson

Old High German and continental Old Low German / Brian Murdoch

The Old Saxon Heliand / G. Ronald Murphy.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 17 Mar 2023).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-281-77058-2

9786611770587

1-57113-637-1

OCLC:

923577121