The Human Effect in Medicine by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1996-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Much discussion has focused on Virginal’s structure. The poem appears to consist of three discernible stories. The first and probably the oldest deals with Dietrich’s first adventure, where Dietrich appears as a youth. Hie second story depicts the Rentwin-dragon episode. The Muter episode harks back to an older tradition that recounts the imprisoning of Dietrich by giants and the rescuing of Dietrich by his men. One recurring and unifying motif is the separation of Dietrich from Hildebrand, which takes place in each of the three parts. The three stories are interwoven with the persistent attempts of Virginal (here represented by her messenger Bibung) to have Dietrich visit her court. The poem also contains repetitions, retellings of previous events, and discrepancies that can be attributed to various uncoordinated reworkings of the text.

The knightly influence in the poem is most apparent at the beginning and at the end of the poem. Hildebrand accompanies the young and unproven Dietrich so that his lord can experience adventure. One recurring motif present in this work is Dietrich’s reluctance to serve ladies. Virginal’s court is one, long festive scene replete with dancing, feasting, and tournaments. The poem also emphasizes the fantastic—the presence of dragons, giants, and dwarfs enables the heroes to shine all the more brightly.

There are three principal manuscripts: h, d, and w. After stanza 233 the versions differ from one another considerably. The popularity of Virginal can be attested to by its twelve manuscripts, many of which exist today only as fragments.

In some early editions Virginal appeared under the title “Dietrichs erste Ausfahrt” (“Dietrichs First Excursion”), and some of the critical literature retains this tide.

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