The dolor, ira and Vengeance Cycle in Paul the Deacon’s Historia Langobardorum

Abstract

This essay explores the role and meaning of the emotional term dolor in the scenarios of vengeance represented by the Lombard scholar Paul the Deacon (c.720–799) in his work Historia Langobardorum. First, after contextualising the work and analysing the concept of aristocratic honour and vengeance outlined by the author in the text, this essay examines the episodes in which dolor is associated with revenge. Second, starting from the work itself, the paper constructs the emotional script of dolor, namely the little scenario that a character plays out – as sequences of events, actions and social interactions – when he or she feels this emotion. Finally, it examines how the author evaluates dolor positively or negatively in relation to social and gender norms.