Strickers Karl der Große: Stabreimende Wortpaare, insbesondere mit Rücksicht auf das Rolandslied

Abstract

Following the cataloging of the body of alliterating word pairs in the Early Middle High German Rolandslied (Song of Roland) and the appearance of a new critical edition of Stricker’s Karl der Grose (Charlemagne), it is appropriate to explore the alliterating word pairs in Stricker’s Karl, to collect, analyze, and describe them in elation to other Early High German works. Existing research on Old and Early Middle High German is enhanced by use of additional data from the Classical Middle High German period. Following a chronological listing of the word pairs as they appear in Karl, the context is revealed in an alphabetical catalog of the pairs; connections to the Rolandslied and, when applicable, to the previous history of the word pairs, are revealed, thereby presenting an assessment of the nature of the catalog of the pairs in this work. Alliteration (stave rhyme) is understood here as following the Germanic tradition of only “staving” stressed syllables, while all vowels alliterate with other vowels. The initial combinations , , and stave only with themselves. The approximately 50 alliterating word pairs in Stricker’s Karl are compared with the 42 pairs documented in the Rolandslied, with special attention given to any changes. New pairs are identified, while known ones are assessed within their tradition of usage. This exploration suggests that many standard reference works have only represented the history of alliterating word pairs in the early stages of German in an incomplete fashion. This study, therefore, revises the history of the alliterating word pair in the early stages of the German language. Further studies will expand the catalog and allow for a more accurate appraisal of the role of alliterating word pairs in the history of German language and literature.