Abstract
This study delves into the metaphorical nature of the OHG Muspilli. Employing cognitive linguistics, the research aims to explore the deeper implications of metaphors, which are believed to be deeply ingrained in our thought processes and reasoning about the world. According to Lakoff and Johnson’s theory, metaphors are more than just linguistic tools; they are integral to understanding and interacting with the world around us. Moreover, the meaning of language is not solely determined by individual words or grammar but is also shaped by the social and cultural context in which it exists.
The poet and their work are intertwined in a syncretistic world where diverse cultural expressions converge. In this context, the Muspilli becomes a center for religious syncretism, where metaphors of the older belief system intersect with those of the newer one. As a place of “polyvocality,” it seeks to be didactic, shedding light on the complex interplay between language, culture, and religion. Overall, this research offers a nuanced understanding of the OHG Muspilli, revealing its significance as a cultural artifact.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
“The inappropriate title was chosen for the poem by J. Schmeller, the first editor, from line 57” (Bostock 1976, p. 121).
From Schmeller’s 1832 publication and criticism of the text, the interest has not waned. However, the treatment of the text has varied with Steinmeyer most notably deeming it: “das verzweifelste Stück der althochdeutschen Literatur.“
For further reference, Valentine Pakis provides an excellent and detail-oriented literature review of various opinions and studies in his essay (Pakis, 2009).
Bostock states: “The Muspilli was entered by some unknown scribe who had observed that it dealt with the same subject as the Sermo. Parchment was costly. Even in the ninth century, there were practical men who sacrificed beauty to utility, and such a one scribbled the Muspilli even over Adalram’s dedication to the Duke” (1976, p. 121).
According to Bostock’s summary on authorship, it had been proposed that the duke might have written it. However, Bostock maintains that that would have been impossible due to the dialect. But he states that Wilhelm Braune did not think it “linguistically impossible” (Bostock 1976, p. 121 and fn. 1).
The study focuses on using imagery and metaphor in Old English poetry, specifically in the Exeter Book of Riddles and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It examines how these texts use physical imagery, such as descriptions of the body and its functions, to convey psychological states and mental processes. Lockett argues that Old English literature uses embodiment and metaphor to represent the mind, reflecting the culture’s holistic view of the mind-body relationship. It suggests that in Old English literature, the mind is not seen as separate from the body but intimately connected. The study also examines the use of metaphor in these texts to understand and represent the mind and its processes, such as memory, emotion, and perception.
His arguments extended to the reassessment of an embodied deity as well. Paulsen states, “This conclusion need not rest solely on inference, because Augustine acknowledges that belief in God’s corporeality was still found among contemporary Christians, whom he mocked for not being able or willing to interpret the Bible allegorically” (Paulsen, 1990, p. 116).
For an in-depth explanation, please refer to “Metaphor and Beyond” (Fludernik et al. 1999) for cognitive linguistics and metaphor theory. For an analysis of culture and metaphor from an anthropological angle, please refer to “The Cultural Basis of Metaphor” (Quinn, 1991, pp. 57–60).
All quotations for the Muspilli are from Braune, 1969. Any translations are my own.
. . . sîn tac piqueme, daz er touuan scal./uuanta sâr sô sih diu sêla in den sind arhevit,/enti si den lîhhamun likkan lâzzit,/sô quimit ein heri fona himilzungalon,/daz andar fona pehhe: dâr pâgant siu umpi./sorgên mac diu sêla, unzi diu suona argêt,/za uuederemo herie si gihalôt uuerde./uuanta ipu sia daz Satanazses kisindi kiuuinnit,/daz leitit sia sâr dâr iru leid uuirdit,/in fuir enti in finstrî: daz ist rehto virinlîh ding./upi sia avar kihalônt die die dâr fona himile quemant,/enti si dero engilo eigan uuirdit,/die pringent sia sâr ûf in himilo rîhi:/dâr ist lîp âno tôd, lioht âno finstrî,/selida âno sorgun: dâr nist neoman siuh (Braune, 1969, ll. 1–15).
denne varant engila uper dio marha,/uuechant deota, uuîssant ze dinge./denne scal manno gilîh fona deru moltu arstên./lôssan sih ar dero lêuuo vazzôn: scal imo avar sîn lîp piqueman,/daz er sîn reht allaz kirahhôn muozzi,/enti imo after sînên tâtin arteilit uuerde (Braune, 1969, ll. 79–84).
“The Muspilli comes in the dark night, /just as the thief goes secretly in his deeds, /so the day will come to men, the last of this light, /so that these people know it not before. /Just as the flood did in ancient days, which destroyed people /with wave-streams there in Noah’s times, /except that God redeemed him with his household, /the Holy Lord, against the onrush of the flood. /So was the fire also come hot from heaven, /which encircled the high mountains around Sodom-land /with black flames, grim and greedy, /so that no man there was saved except Lot alone. /The Lord’s angels led him thence, /and his two daughters, onto a mountain, /so that burning fire destroyed all the others, /both land and people, with flames. /As the fire had come before, as was the flood before the same, /so will be the last day./ Of this shall each of all people think before the assembly. /There is great need of this for each of men. /Therefore let you take care in your minds” (Dewey, 2011, ll. 4360–4380).
sô daz Eliases pluot in erda kitriufit,/sô inprinnant die perga, poum ni kistentit/ênîhc in erdu, ahâ artruknênt,/muor varsuuilhit sih, suilizôt lougiu der himil,/mâno vallit, prinnit mittilagart,/stên ni kistentit, verit denne stûatago in lant,/verit mit diu vuiru viriho uuîsôn:/dar ni mac denne mak andremo helfan uora demo muspille/denne daz preita uuasal allaz varprinnit,/enti vuir enti luft iz allaz arfurpit,/uuâr ist denne diu marha, dâr man dâr eo mit sînên mâgon piehc? (Braune, 1969, ll. 50–60).
denne der paldêt der gipuazzit hapêt,/denner ze deru suonu quimit./uuirdit denne furi kitragan daz frôno chrûci,/dâr der hêligo Christ ana arhangan uuard./denne augit er dio mâsûn, dio er in deru menniskî anfênc,
dio er duruh desse mancunnes minna fardolêta (Braune, 1969, ll. 99–101).
References
Bakhtin, M. (1986). In C. Emerson, & M. Holquist (Eds.), Speech genres and other late essays. University of Texas.
Bostock, J. K. (1976). A handbook on Old High German literature (Second edition / Revised by K. C. King and D. R. McLintock.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Braune, W. (1969). Althochdeutsches Lesebuch (15 continued by Karl Helm and edited by Ernst Ebbinghaus.). Tübingen: M. Niemeyer.
Dewey, T., & Kim (2011). An annotated English translation of the Old Saxon Heliand: A ninth-century biblical paraphrase in the Germanic epic style. Edwin Mellen.
Eggers, H. (1957). Altgermanische Seelenvorstellungen im Lichte des Heliand. Niederdeutsches Jahrbuch, 80, 1–24.
Flowers, S. (1983). Toward an archaic Germanic psychology. Journal of Indo-European Studies, 11, 117–138.
Gottzmann, C. (2002). Individual- und Universaleschatologie. Das Muspilli im theologischen Kontext seiner Zeit. In C. Gottzmann, & R. Wisniewski (Eds.), Ars et scientia: Studien zur Literatur des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. Festschrift für Hans Szklenar zum 70. Geburtstag. Weidler.
Herman, D. (2011). The emergence of mind representations of consciousness in narrative discourse in English. University of Nebraska.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1981). Metaphors we live by. University University Of Chicago.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2002). Why cognitive linguistics requires embodied realism. Cognitive Linguistics, 13(3), 245–263.
Lecouteux, C. (1986). Gespenster und Wiedergänger: Bemerkungen zu einem vernachlässigten Forschungsfeld der Altgermanistik. Euphorion: Zeitschrift fur Literaturgeschichte, 80(2), 219–231.
Lockett, L. (2011). Embodiment, metaphor, and the mind in old english literature. In D. Herman (Ed.), The emergence of mind representations of consciousness in narrative discourse in English. University of Nebraska.
Murdoch, B. (1997). The carolingian period and the early middle ages (750–1100). In H. Watanbe-O’Kelly (Ed.), The Cambridge history of German literature (pp. 1–39). Cambridge.
Noble, T. F. (2015). Carolingian Religion. Church History, 84(2), 287–307.
Pakis, V. A. (2009). The literary status of Muspilli in the history of scholarship: Two particular trends. Amsterdamer Beiträge Zur Älteren Germanistik, 65, 41–60.
Paulsen, D. L. (1990). Early Christian belief in a corporeal deity: Origen and Augustine as reluctant witnesses. The Harvard Theological Review, 83(2), 105–116.
Quinn, N. (1991). The cultural basis of metaphor. In J. W. Fernandez (Ed.), Beyond metaphor: The theory of tropes in anthropology (pp. 56–93). Stanford University Press.
Skulj, J. (2000). Comparative literature and cultural identity. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 2(4). https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1088.
Steinhoff, H. H. (1987). Muspilli. In Verfasserlexikon. Berlin.
Strömbäck, D. (1975). The concept of the soul in nordic tradition. Arv, 31, 5–22.
Taeger, B. (Ed.). (1996). Heliand und Genesis (10th ed.). Max Niemeyer.
The Vulgate, Revelations (2022, September 16). Latin Vulgate. http://www.latinvulgate.com/.
Funding
No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript, nor are there financial or non-financial interests.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author has no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Boyer, T. Metaphors in the Muspilli. Neophilologus 108, 245–259 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-024-09803-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11061-024-09803-1