Germanic heroic legend
Germanic heroic legend is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the Migration Period. Stories from this time period, to which others were added later, were transmitted orally, traveled widely among the Germanic speaking peoples, and were known in many variants. These legends typically reworked historical events or personages in the manner of oral poetry, forming a heroic age. Heroes in these legends often display a heroic ethos emphasizing honor, glory, and loyalty above other concerns. Like Germanic mythology, heroic legend is a genre of Germanic folklore.
Heroic legends are attested in Anglo-Saxon England, medieval Scandinavia, and medieval Germany. Many take the form of Germanic heroic poetry : shorter pieces are known as heroic lays, whereas longer pieces are called Germanic heroic epic. The early Middle Ages preserves only a small number of legends in writing, mostly from England, including the only surviving early medieval heroic epic in the vernacular, Beowulf. Probably the oldest surviving heroic poem is the Old High German Hildebrandslied. There also survive numerous pictorial depictions from Viking Age Scandinavia and areas under Norse control in the British Isles. These often attest scenes known from later written versions of legends connected to the hero Sigurd. In the High and Late Middle Ages, heroic texts are written in great numbers in Scandinavia, particularly Iceland, and in southern Germany and Austria. Scandinavian legends are preserved both in the form of Eddic poetry and in prose sagas, particularly in the legendary sagas such as the Völsunga saga. German sources are made up of numerous heroic epics, of which the most famous is the Nibelungenlied.
The majority of the preserved legendary material seems to have originated with the Goths and Burgundians. The most widely and commonly attested legends are those concerning Dietrich von Bern, the adventures and death of the hero Siegfried/Sigurd, and the Huns' destruction of the Burgundian kingdom under king Gundahar. These were "the backbone of Germanic storytelling." The common Germanic poetic tradition was alliterative verse, although this is replaced with poetry in rhyming stanzas in high medieval Germany. In early medieval England and Germany, poems were recited by a figure called the scop, whereas in Scandinavia it is less clear who sang heroic songs. In high medieval Germany, heroic poems seem to have been sung by a class of minstrels.
The heroic tradition died out in England after the Norman Conquest, but was maintained in Germany until the 1600s, and lived on in a different form in Scandinavia until the 20th century as a variety of the medieval ballads. Romanticism resurrected interest in the tradition in the late 18th and early 19th century, with numerous translations and adaptations of heroic texts. The most famous adaptation of Germanic legend is Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, which has in many ways overshadowed the medieval legends themselves in the popular consciousness. Germanic legend was also heavily employed in nationalist propaganda and rhetoric. Finally, it has inspired much of modern fantasy through the works of William Morris and J.R.R. Tolkien, whose The Lord of the Rings incorporates many elements of Germanic heroic legend.
Heroic tradition
Definition
Germanic heroic legend is a somewhat amorphous subject, and drawing clear distinctions between it and similar legendary material can be difficult. Victor Millet refers to three criteria to define Germanic heroic legend: 1) it either originates in the Migration Period or it is the legends mythologize the heroic age, so that it no longer is concretely fixed in history, allowing persons who in reality never met to interact; 3) the characters of Germanic legend do not or seldom interact with characters from other legendary cycles, such as the Matter of Britain or the history of the settlement of Iceland. Heroic legends originate and develop as part of an oral tradition, and often involve historical personages.The heroic legends are traditionally defined according to the geographic location that scholars believe first produced the legend: there is thus continental heroic legend from Germany and the European continent, North Germanic heroic legend, and English heroic legend originating in Anglo-Saxon England. The legends are not always attested in their place of origin: thus the Old Norse material about Sigurd originates on the continent and the Old English poem Beowulf portrays a legend that originates in Scandinavia. Material of originally East Germanic Gothic and Burgundian origin is found throughout the entire Germanic-speaking world, making up the majority of the material found in Germany and much of that from England, while originally Scandinavian material is also found in England as well.
The use of the term "Germanic" is disputed in current scholarship, due to its implication of a shared cultural identity for which little evidence exists. Shami Ghosh remarks that Germanic heroic legend is unique in that it is not preserved among the peoples who originated it but among other peoples; he cautions that we cannot assume that it functioned to create any sort of "Germanic" identity among its audience, and notes that the Burgundians, for instance, became fairly romanized at an early date. Millet likewise remarks that defining these heroic legends as "Germanic" does not postulate a common Germanic legendary inheritance, but rather that the legends were easily transmitted between peoples speaking related languages. The close link between Germanic heroic legend and Germanic language and possibly poetic devices is shown by the fact that the Germanic speakers in Francia who adopted a Romance language do not preserve Germanic legends, but rather developed their own heroic legends around figures such as William of Gellone, Roland, and Charlemagne.
The hero
Of central importance to heroic legend is the figure of the hero, about whom conflicting definitions exist. According to Edward Haymes and Susan Samples, the hero is an "extraordinary individual who stands above his contemporaries in physical and moral strength." The hero is typically a man, sometimes a woman, who is admired for his or her achievements in battle and heroic virtues, capable of performing feats impossible for a normal human, and who often dies tragically. Traditionally, scholars has understood these heroic virtues to include personal glory, honor, and loyalty within the lord's retinue. These traits are then understood to form a heroic ethos that Rolf Bremmer traces to descriptions of Germanic warrior culture in the 1st-century AD Roman historian Tacitus. Other scholars have emphasized other qualities: Klaus von See rejected the notion of exemplarity and argued that the hero is defined by his egotism and excessive, often brutal behavior, Wolfgang Haubrichs argued that heroes and their ethos primarily display the traditions of ruling families, and Walter Haug argued that the brutality of the heroic ethos derived from the introduction of people to history and their confrontation with seemingly senseless violence. In some cases the hero may also display negative values, but he is nevertheless always extraordinary and excessive in his behavior. For Brian O. Murdoch, the way in which he "copes with the blows of fate" is central. Peter Fisher, expressly distinguishes between the "Germanic hero" and the tragic hero. The death of the former is heroic rather than tragic; it usually brings destruction, not restoration, as in classical tragedy; and the hero's goal is frequently revenge, which would be hamartia in a tragic hero.In the Germanic sphere, the hero is usually defined by an amazing deed or deeds that show his heroic qualities. The hero is always a warrior, concerned with reputation and fame, as well as his political responsibilities. Heroes belonged to an aristocratic class, and legends about them provided an opportunity for the aristocratic public of the legends to reflect on their own behavior and values. In the High Middle Ages, this means that heroes often also portray the elements of chivalry and courtly behavior expected of their time period.
Origins and development
The Roman historian Tacitus makes two comments that have been taken as attesting early heroic poetry among the Germanic peoples. The first is a remark in Germania:The other is a remark in the Annals that the Cheruscian leader Arminius was celebrated in song after his death. This older poetry has not survived, probably because it was heavily connected to Germanic paganism.
Most of the extant heroic legends have their origins in the Migration Period ; some may have earlier origins, such as the legends of Sigurd and Hildr, while others are likely later, such as the legend of Walter of Aquitaine. Some early Gothic heroic legends are already found in Jordanes' Getica. The most important figures around whom heroic legends were composed from the Migration Period are the Gothic king Ermanaric, the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great, the Hunnic king Attila, and the Burgundian king Gundahar. Numerous other sources throughout the Early Middle Ages make brief references to figures known in later heroic legends, as well as to other figures about whom legends have likely been lost.
Image:Peter Nicolai Arbo-Hervors død.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The shieldmaiden Hervor dying after the Battle of the Goths and Huns, by Peter Nicolai Arbo, before 1892.
The original historical material at the heart of the legends has been transformed through the long process of oral transmission: the causes of complex historical and political events are reduced to basic human motivations such as greed, hubris, jealousy, and personal revenge; events are assimilated to folkloric narrative schemes; conflicts are personalized, typically as conflicts among relatives; and persons living in different time periods are portrayed as contemporaries living in the same heroic age. Stages in the combination of the originally independent figures of heroic legend can be seen in texts from the 8th and 9th centuries. Additionally, the legends appear to have become increasingly detached from historical reality, though they still may have been understood as conveying historical knowledge. Conflicts with monsters and otherworldly beings also form an important part of heroic legend. As an example of the variability of the tradition, Edward Haymes and Susan Samples note that Sigurd/Siegfried is variously said to be killed in the woods or in his bed, but always with the fixed detail that it was by a spear in the back.
A minority position, championed by Walter Goffart and Roberta Frank, has argued that there is no oral tradition and that heroic legend was in fact developed by learned clerics in the Carolingian period who read about events in the migration period. This position is, however, "contrary to almost all literary scholarship".