XXI Seminario avanzato di Filologia germanica. Il Culto Micaelico nelle Tradizioni Germaniche Medievali

The volume collects the proceedings of the 21st Advanced Seminar of the Italian Association of Germanic Philology (AIFG), which took place between 20 and 22 September 2022 and focused on the cult of St. Michael the Archangel in the Medieval Germanic traditions. The first part of the volume (“Lezioni,” pp. 1–483) gathers the essay versions of the lectures that were given by nine academics from Italian and international universities. The second part (“Comunicazioni,” pp. 484–586) gathers shorter essays by undergraduate and graduate students; these essays are not related to the subject of the conference but provide insight into current scholarly trends in Early Medieval Germanic Studies in Italy. Thanks to Dario Bullitta's thorough and commendable editorial work, the volume is a veritable summa of the knowledge on Michael the Archangel in the medieval Germanic traditions and a valuable tool for philological, linguistic, and religious studies.The volume opens with Immacolata Aulisa (Bari)’s essay, “Il culto di San Michele dall'Oriente all'Occidente” (pp. 3–70), a comprehensive overview of the cult of St. Michael from its Eastern origins in the Scriptures and Apocrypha to its Western reception and development. Central to the study is the foundation legend of the sanctuary of St. Michael at Mount Gargano, Puglia: Apparitio Sancti Michaelis in monte Gargano (BHL 5948). The essay also examines hagiographical texts linked to Mount Saint-Michel in Normandy (Revelatio ecclesiae sancti Michaelis, BHL 5951) and the Sacra di San Michele in Val di Susa (Chronica monasterii Sancti Michaelis Clusini, BHL 5954).In the second essay, “Toponimi germanici e culti micaelici” (pp. 71–98), Alessandro Zironi (Bologna) focuses on Germanic toponyms in the Modena and Reggio Emilia areas and investigates whether their connection to cult sites dedicated to St. Michael can be dated to the Lombard period. Using an interdisciplinary approach that combines archaeology, philology, and local history, Zironi demonstrates that simplistic interpretations of place names can be misleading, emphasizing the need to account for dialectal variation and micro-toponyms.Dagmar Gottschall (Salento)’s “Il culto micaelico nella letteratura tedesca medievale” (pp. 99–140) is a preliminary survey of the presence of Michael the Archangel across the literary genres of Medieval German literature. Beginning with Latin, the vernacular religious texts, such as Notker Balbulus's Martyrology and Predigtbuch des Priester Konrad, the essay proceeds through Old and Middle High German texts, discussing romances (e.g., Wolfram von Eschenbach's Willehalm, the Franco-Alemannian Die gute frau) and religious and didactic works, such as the Himmelsbrief.In the fourth essay, “Michele Arcangelo nell'omiletica inglese antica (in Appendice: dal Gargano all'Irlanda)” (pp. 141–210), Patrizia Lendinara (Palermo) examines the transmission of the Apparitio in the following Early Medieval English homilies: Homilia XXIV, Catholic Homilies by Ælfric; Homilia XVI, Blickling Homilies; Homilia LIV and LV, in Cambridge, Pembroke College 25; three homilies in Cambridge, CCC 41; and the English Martyrology, which registers the double celebration of the Archangel (8 May, 29 September). In the appendix, Lendinara discusses two homilies about the Archangel that are found in Dublin, Royal Irish Academy 23 P 16, and the entries about the Archangel in the oldest Irish martyrologies: the Tallaght Martyrology and the Óengus Martyrology.The fifth essay, “Michele Arcangelo nelle Blickling Homilies” by Raffaele Cioffi (Torino) (pp. 211–44), centers on the depiction of St. Michael in three texts of the so-called Blickling Homilies (Princeton University Library, W. H. Scheide Collection, 712): as a warrior and soul-guardian (Homily VII), custodian of the soul of the Virgin (XIII), and protector of the temple on Mount Gargano (XVI). Section 3.4 briefly examines the similarities between the concluding section of Blickling XVI (description of Hell and its torments) and Beowulf 1357b–76a and 1408–17a, suggesting that both passages may derive from a source that is similar to the Visio Pauli, especially Redactio IV and XI.The sixth essay, “St Michael and Beowulf: the Not-So-Odd Couple” by Claudia di Sciacca (Udine) (pp. 246–300), discusses the “elusive, yet persuasive” traces of Michael in Beowulf. Based on a comparative analysis of the poem and some Old English homilies (LV in the Pembroke Homiliary, Blickling XVI), it argues that the depiction of the hero in the poem echoes the Archangel's key roles of dragon slayer, guardian, and exorcist. A brief survey of the occurrences of hyrde in Beowulf, where it is used, among others, in reference to the hero himself, suggests that Michael shares in the permeability between hero and monster that characterizes the representation of otherness in the poem.The seventh essay, “Le invocazioni a Michele Arcangelo nelle iscrizioni runiche” by Carla Cucina (Macerata) (pp. 301–396), studies the late Viking Age Scandinavian runic inscriptions featuring invocations to St. Michael. All the inscriptions analyzed in the essay are accompanied by a transcription, a transliteration in Old Norse, and an Italian translation; black-and-white pictures of the monuments, and/or details of them, are collected in an appendix at the end of the essay and referred to throughout. The first section deals with seven inscriptions on monuments from Bornholm, Denmark, and Sweden, whereas the second section deals with early medieval inscriptions on three church graffiti on stone and wood, eight amulets, two runic calendars (runstavar), and one iron decoration on church doors.Maria Elena Ruggerini (Cagliari)’s “La resa del Liber de apparitione sancti Michaelis in monte Gargano (BHL 5948) nella Michaels saga engils” (pp. 397–442) focuses on the Norse adaptation of the Apparitio in Bergr Sokkason's Michaels saga engils. Through a series of case studies, Ruggerini examines Bergr's translation policy and narrative strategies, such as expanded battle scenes and additional geographical details that were meant to make the narrative more familiar to the Nordic audience. An appendix to the essay (pp. 420–39) provides a bilingual edition (Old Norse/Italian) of chapters 14–22 of the saga. Ruggerini's translation is the first translation of these chapters in Italian and in any modern language.The ninth essay, “An edition of Mikælsflokkur by Hallur Ögmnudarson” by Margaret Cormack and Haukur Þorgeirsson (Iceland) (pp. 443–84), provides an edition of Mikælsflokkur, a poem in sixty-six stanzas, in hálfhneppt meter, composed by Hallur Ögmnudarson (1501–1554). The critical edition of the poem is based on the oldest manuscript, Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magússonar, AM 622 4to, ff. 68r–73r (1549), supplemented with variant readings from two other manuscripts, and with modernized Icelandic orthography. The introduction outlines the poet's background, the poem's structure, and its thematic links to St. Michael's legend and Icelandic devotion.