Is there a Germanic Epic? Some notes on an elusive question

Abstract

Any attempt to identify a group of texts that, in the context of medieval Germanic literatures, could be defined as “epic poems” encounters seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Such difficulties are mainly due to the fact that the concept of epic itself was developed starting from examples belonging to classical cultures and, at a later time, also starting from Old French examples. The article, after a general discussion of the classification criteria adopted by comparative and historical-literary treatises, examines three narrative texts in verse belonging to three distinct Germanic traditions: Beowulf, Nibelungenlied and Erikskrönika. The aim of the analysis is to highlight the difficulties of placing them into a traditional system of genres. The author’s opinion is that only by adopting non-rigid definition criteria, which take into account the interactions between genres and traditions on a case-by-case basis, is it possible to speak of a “Germanic epic”.