“Laurin der kunheit vorgaz, / iz woste nicht, wo iz waz. / Ez greyf zcu den syten sin, /do iz weste eyn helkeppelin, / der vil kleyne recke, / daz her sich da myte bedecke, / daz sin der Berner nicht ensach” (Laur. 453-459). Shortly before being overcome in the one-to-one fight against Dietrich, Laurin has recourse to a stratagem which can save his life: he produces from his pocket a small invisibility cloak and covers himself with it, so that neither Dietrich nor anyone else can see him. Passages as this mentioning or describing (magic) garments and fashion accessories are quite frequent in the Middle High German Dietrich cycle. In some cases, thanks to their magic powers, clothes and accessories even play an important role in the development of the narrative by helping or strengthening the hero or his enemies. In this paper these passages are analyzed and attention is given not only to garments and accessories and their function in the narrative, but also to their descriptions and to the terms used to identify them, so as to ascertain if these reflect the fashion of the period in which the texts were composed or written.
Invisibility cloaks and magic belts: garments and fashion accessories in the Middle High German Dietrich cycle
BENATI, CHIARA
2014-01-01
Abstract
“Laurin der kunheit vorgaz, / iz woste nicht, wo iz waz. / Ez greyf zcu den syten sin, /do iz weste eyn helkeppelin, / der vil kleyne recke, / daz her sich da myte bedecke, / daz sin der Berner nicht ensach” (Laur. 453-459). Shortly before being overcome in the one-to-one fight against Dietrich, Laurin has recourse to a stratagem which can save his life: he produces from his pocket a small invisibility cloak and covers himself with it, so that neither Dietrich nor anyone else can see him. Passages as this mentioning or describing (magic) garments and fashion accessories are quite frequent in the Middle High German Dietrich cycle. In some cases, thanks to their magic powers, clothes and accessories even play an important role in the development of the narrative by helping or strengthening the hero or his enemies. In this paper these passages are analyzed and attention is given not only to garments and accessories and their function in the narrative, but also to their descriptions and to the terms used to identify them, so as to ascertain if these reflect the fashion of the period in which the texts were composed or written.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
