Vad är knittel? : Fyrtaktig poesi kontra rimmad prosa
(2013) In Språk och Stil 23. p.205-231- Abstract
- The medieval Swedish knittelvers has traditionally been analysed as consisting of end-rhymed verses of four beats, each divided into half-lines by a cæsura. While the rhymes are obvious, the four beats and the cæsura are not. Notwithstanding this uncertainty, the traditional analysis has persisted, and has recently been reinforced by Wåhlin (1989, 1999) who stresses the regularity of the four-beat line even more than his predecessors. This article starts with a review of the research tradition focusing on the origin and legacy of the Swedish knittel, the evolution and presumed deterioration of the metre, the far from ideal state of the manuscript sources, and the assumed metrical pattern. In the literature, the first three issues centre... (More)
- The medieval Swedish knittelvers has traditionally been analysed as consisting of end-rhymed verses of four beats, each divided into half-lines by a cæsura. While the rhymes are obvious, the four beats and the cæsura are not. Notwithstanding this uncertainty, the traditional analysis has persisted, and has recently been reinforced by Wåhlin (1989, 1999) who stresses the regularity of the four-beat line even more than his predecessors. This article starts with a review of the research tradition focusing on the origin and legacy of the Swedish knittel, the evolution and presumed deterioration of the metre, the far from ideal state of the manuscript sources, and the assumed metrical pattern. In the literature, the first three issues centre around the fourth: the notion of the four-beat knittel. The second part of the article examines this notion more closely. The four-beat line is evaluated in terms of relative rhythmicity: the relative justification of a metrical pattern is that it is supposed to correspond to the proportion of semantically rich words receiving prominence. A high proportion means strong justification, a low proportion weak justification. The same procedure is performed on a piece of medieval prose and a piece of modern poetry. A comparison of the genres shows no clear difference between medieval knittel and medieval prose, while the difference to modern poetry is apparent. The conclusion is that there are no clear reasons for assuming a four-beat metrical pattern. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/75dde0b5-eecf-4a20-ab84-0f2d7ef60676
- author
- Widoff, Andreas LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Språk och Stil
- volume
- 23
- pages
- 27 pages
- publisher
- Institutionen för nordiska språk, Uppsala universitet
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84894599654
- ISSN
- 1101-1165
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 75dde0b5-eecf-4a20-ab84-0f2d7ef60676
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-04 17:10:49
- date last changed
- 2023-10-09 09:19:05
@article{75dde0b5-eecf-4a20-ab84-0f2d7ef60676,
abstract = {{The medieval Swedish knittelvers has traditionally been analysed as consisting of end-rhymed verses of four beats, each divided into half-lines by a cæsura. While the rhymes are obvious, the four beats and the cæsura are not. Notwithstanding this uncertainty, the traditional analysis has persisted, and has recently been reinforced by Wåhlin (1989, 1999) who stresses the regularity of the four-beat line even more than his predecessors. This article starts with a review of the research tradition focusing on the origin and legacy of the Swedish knittel, the evolution and presumed deterioration of the metre, the far from ideal state of the manuscript sources, and the assumed metrical pattern. In the literature, the first three issues centre around the fourth: the notion of the four-beat knittel. The second part of the article examines this notion more closely. The four-beat line is evaluated in terms of relative rhythmicity: the relative justification of a metrical pattern is that it is supposed to correspond to the proportion of semantically rich words receiving prominence. A high proportion means strong justification, a low proportion weak justification. The same procedure is performed on a piece of medieval prose and a piece of modern poetry. A comparison of the genres shows no clear difference between medieval knittel and medieval prose, while the difference to modern poetry is apparent. The conclusion is that there are no clear reasons for assuming a four-beat metrical pattern.}},
author = {{Widoff, Andreas}},
issn = {{1101-1165}},
language = {{swe}},
pages = {{205--231}},
publisher = {{Institutionen för nordiska språk, Uppsala universitet}},
series = {{Språk och Stil}},
title = {{Vad är knittel? : Fyrtaktig poesi kontra rimmad prosa}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/160274088/Vad_ar_knittel_Sartryck.pdf}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2013}},
}