Volume 136, Issue 1

A question that has received little attention in the published literature is whether or not the Old High German coronal fricative reflex of Proto-Germanic */t/ was [+strident] (i. e. an ›s‹ sound) or [‒strident] (i. e. a ›th‹ sound). It will be argued that the former treatment is correct. Typological evidence will be presented against the claim that the new coronal fricative was a [‒strident] sound ( pace Voyles 1972, 1992). The present treatment offers a new explanation for why */t/ emerged as a [+strident] fricative in Old High German. It will be argued that the change from */p t k/ ([‒continuant]) to the corresponding fricatives ([+continuant]) by the spirantization component of the High German Consonant Shift created an ill-formed phonological representation in the case of */t/, which then underwent a Repair Rule to a [+strident] sound. The present analysis also accounts for languages in which the spirantization of a coronal stop resulted in a [‒strident] sound, e. g. the shift from Proto-Indo European */t/ to Proto-Germanic */θ/ via Grimm’s Law.

The article explores socio-cultural and religious aspects of the 7th-century inscriptions from Blekinge in Southern Sweden. Three research questions are central to this study: First, why do we find a concentration of large runic monuments and bautastones in this area? Second, what does the evidence of personal names, in particular dithematic names, suggest? And third, is there any supportive evidence of a ›Blekinge dynasty‹ with typical features of a social elite? The author argues that the Blekinge rune stones functioned as emblems of identity and power of the ruling warrior clan in this territory. Although other functional aspects of runic inscriptions in terms of memorials, curse formulas and sacrificial blessings are feasible as well, they seem to be subordinate to this basic aim – viz. the consolidation of power.

Discussion of titles I and LVI of PLS. The gloss reapten in I,1 (A1) and distorted in I,2 (A2) is explained as r. ehaftin ›control legal obstacles‹, and lampicii in LVI,6 (A1) as ł ambitii ›or (his) followers‹. Further discussion of germanic loans in the Latin of these titles: mannire, admallare/mallum/mallobergus, sunnis, rachineburgius, (ambascia) ; mannire is explained als loan from a celtic word.

Dating to the 15th century, the manuscript n of the ›Nibelungenlied‹ is characterized by several and somewhat contradictory tendencies in adapting the text. On the one hand, the editor omitted nearly two-thirds of the original text, and on the other hand, he added 100 stanzas. The text was also compiled from two different sources and enriched with alternative material. Undoubtedly, the revision was initiated by ›Rosengarten‹ to which the edition of n was meant to be a sequel. Just as a long time ago, during the single combats in the rose garden, so also this time it is Kriemhilt’s disloyalty that is the cause of the bloodshed.

Drawing on Ulrich Hoffmann’s study, the paper critically discusses its methodical attempt to fathom the ›mythicity‹ of Arthurian literature in all the different dimensions of the texts: the diachronic history of the subject matter and its synchronic contextualization, form and content. Consistent with current approaches of medieval cultural studies, the article suggests emphasizing how mythic traditions are used to narrativize historically relevant topics (›work with myth‹) rather than observing the ongoing process of their adaptation in a diachronic perspective (›work on myth‹).