![]() 481) philosophy of response: these things and conditions have a certain ‘appellative character’.ĭuring the storm the hero is subject to the uncontrollable and contingent forces of nature. Or in the terms of Waldenfels’ ( 1994, p. They afford the behavior of an adventuring hero. As dangerous and exceptional (ecological) events weather phenomena such as tempests offer the possibility of such a trial. Both situations are dangerous and in both the hero has only limited power to act, but both were purposefully initiated by the hero, be it to reach a goal beyond the sea, be it to accumulate prestige through trials. 403 f.) establishes a direct connection between âventiure and storms by tracing the Arthurian knight’s adventure journey (“Aventüre-Fahrt”) back to the sea voyage ( navigatio) and the vagaries of the high seas caused by the weather. 71 f.) even integrates the active-passive component of adventure into his reflections on general anthropogenesis: “Desiring the event simply means feeling it as one’s own, venturing into it, that is, fully meeting its challenge, but without the need for something like a decision.” Exposing oneself to the weather could be a form of such a venture. Moreover, from the very beginning, the active search for an extraordinary event prevails in courtly romances, be it due to a concrete mission ( queste) or by setting out into an open ‘space of uncertainty’. Storms and other severe weather phenomena certainly trigger reactions but in patterns of adventure, they can also have intentional, active nuances.Ī coincidence of passive perseverance and character activity is highlighted in research on ‘adventure’ – or Middle High German ‘âventiure’: already etymologically the word refers to a passive hero who is confronted with something or has something come at him (from Latin * ad-venire cf. While I will point out transfers to other areas of interest at the end, the object of inquiry here is whether and to what extent an apparently anthropologically fundamental passivity toward the weather is undermined or transformed by the poetic rules of adventure. My paper is concerned with the significance of conspicuous weather phenomena for plot development, motivation, and structuring in adventure narratives. In all cases, the human being must remain more or less powerless and passive. 651–664), the thematization of severe weather inevitably summons up the notion of inescapable fate, chaotic chance, or an angry god. In an age when weather forecasting was generally part of astrology and divination (Mandosio, 2013, p. While the fascination with meteorological representations and metaphors in the modern era (at the latest from 1800 onwards) is related to the increasing progress in scientific knowledge (Grill, 2019), the weather in medieval texts must have other functions. Raging tempests, sudden downpours, magical hurricanes, hailstones like grenades: medieval literature contains an abundant reservoir of meteorological phenomena. The essay is concerned mainly with the Eneas Romance (Heinrich von Veldeke), the anonymous Herzog Ernst (B), and the Arthurian Romances Parzival (Wolfram von Eschenbach), Iwein (Hartmann von Aue) and DiuCr ô ne (Heinrich von dem Türlin). This (in some ways paradoxical) constellation between passivity and activity is processed through various narrative possibilities in which agency alternates between the prescient characters and meteorological ‘entities’. To return to safety, the heroes undergo adventures, but also expose themselves to perilous situations in which they lose their agency. In particular, storms, as severe meteorological perturbations, seem to excite heroic exploits as they mark the difference between the space of origin and a space of danger. This essay examines the narrative position of weather phenomena in Middle High German courtly romances and their relation to the adventures of the active characters–most of them knights. The tempest is a conventional figure in epic tradition.
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