Bernerton

The Bernerton (also: Berner Ton ) is a stanza form in the medieval heroic poetry around Dietrich von Bern , the so-called Dietrichepen (for example in the Eckenlied , Goldemar , Virginal and Sigenot ).

The stanza consists of 13 verses . The scheme is in metric formula notation :

4ma 4ma 3wb 4mc 4mc 3wb 4md 3we 4md 3we 4mf 3wx 3mf

That is, the first verse is a four-lifter with male cadence (4m), the third line is a three-lifter with female cadence (3w) and the rhyme scheme (the third letter in each case) is[aab ccb dede fxf].

As an example a passage from the corner song , verse 2:

There are heroes in a singular way, sî save miracles a number of ûz welten warriors, the one who gets from Vâsolt (who would be beautiful vrouwen), another something from corner, the third the wild ebony. sî save al gelîche daz no one küener waer ze nôt, the one from Berne he Dieteriche: the waer a helt over alliu lant, sôer with list küene the old Hiltebrand

4ma 4ma 3wb 4mc 4mc 3wb 4md 3we 4md 3we 4mf 3wx 3mf

(Heroes were sitting in a hall talking about innumerable miracles of excellent fighters. One was Herr Fasold (beautiful ladies were fond of him), the second was Herr Ecke, the third the wild Ebony. They said in unison that nobody in battle was bolder than Herr Dietrich von Bern: he was the best hero in all countries. But old Hildebrand was clever and bold.)

Literature / sources

• Joachim Heinzle: Introduction to Middle High German Dietrichepik . de Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-11-015094-8 .
• Dieter Burdorf, Christoph Fasbender, Burkhard Moennighoff (ed.): Metzler Lexicon Literature. Terms and definitions. 3rd edition Metzler, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-01612-6 , p. 78.