Il sogno di Nabucodonosor nella Sangspruchdichtung tedesca medievale

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue with feet of clay and Daniel’s interpretation of it are one of the Old Testament episodes most frequently addressed in Medieval German literature. This paper attempts to explain the interest taken in the subject by several Sangspruchdichter writing in German. It discusses the sources available to them, the form in which the theme is related, and the poetic intention implicit in the choice and mode of presentation. The paper’s central concern is the theme of the dream and its interpretation in the context of the authors’ compositions and of their other works. The aim is to identify the motive’s specific function in the various contexts.