Hero age
As heroes age or heroic age (Engl. Heroic age ) refers to a period in the history of a nation or a people, tribe , from which the legends and myths of the respective collective dine. These often serve to determine the assumed origin of such a community and to establish identification.
An example of this is Homer's Iliad , in which the ancient Greek world of gods is thematized and their supposed impact on people's lives is depicted. The people acting there are often characterized by supernatural powers and abilities and are in a direct relationship to their gods. The Iliad served as an identity-creating work within the Greek city-states and referred to a period before these societies were actually founded.
For the Germanic heroic poetry of the Middle Ages , the so-called Migration Period (4th to 6th centuries) can be identified as the reference period . In this age, all the stories take place that were called heroic tales in older German literary studies. Memories of real historical events were literarily processed and mythologically reinterpreted by the authors and narrators of the Middle Ages . For example, the actions of all heroic sagas from this hero age relate to a period of at most three generations. Thus Siegfried , Etzel ( Attila ) and Dietrich von Bern in the legends and epics considered contemporaries. The legends substances were updated time accordingly and have new rules due to the transformation of historic proportions: So there are for example in the Nibelungenlied and Christian elements.
Medieval heroic poems can also be found in the Chanson de geste or the Cantar de Mio Cid , which, like the Germanic heroic poetry in Germany , were viewed as national founding narratives in modern times in France and Spain.
literature
- Victor Millet: Germanic hero poetry in the Middle Ages. An introduction. de Gruyter, Berlin 2008
Individual evidence
- ↑ Victor Millet: Germanic hero poetry in the Middle Ages. An introduction. De Gruyter, Berlin 2008, p. 4.
- ↑ Victor Millet: Germanic hero poetry in the Middle Ages. An introduction. De Gruyter, Berlin 2008, p. 5.
- ↑ Victor Millet: Germanic hero poetry in the Middle Ages. An introduction. De Gruyter, Berlin 2008, p. 6.