Epithets of Gods and Heroes in Old Germanic and beyond – A Comparative Study on their Conceptualization, Memorization and Tradition

With my research project I intend to close a long-standing research gap on heroic and divine epithets in Old Germanic (OGmc.) poetic texts.

Due to its interdisciplinary orientation, the project aims at a better integration of Germanic (Gmc.) studies, Indo-European (IE) comparative poetics, classical philology and comparative literature.

The project combines two fields of research: a) the comparative study of epithets in OGmc. poetic literature and b) the investigation of the semantics and functions of epithets in a cross-lingual and cross-cultural perspective.

It comprises four research objectives: 1) Through the systematic collection of heroic and divine epithets in OGmc. poetic texts and 2) through the creation of a typology of epithets valid for the ancient Gmc. culture, I hope to gain new insights into the naming and epithetization practices and into the metonymical use of epithets.

In a further step 3), the comparison of the Gmc. data with the well-studied Vedic, Greek, and Latin epic texts and their epithets will pave the way for the overall aim of the project, which is 4) to determine whether the epithets in the Gmc. heroic poetry continue traits inherited from the Proto-IE age or even reveal more universal naming conventions.

My project will take into account historical gender, culture and religion-specific observations and address research questions such as: What are the socio-pragmatic factors and cognitive foundations in the conceptualization, memorization and transmission of heroes and gods through their epithets? Are gods and heroes addressed similarly or rather differently in their epithets?

How are their crucial characteristics and background stories conveyed by epithets and how do these relate to the cultural collective memory?

I expect this study to provide us with an insight into the nature and characteristics of the heroic or divine figures of OGmc. literature and to give us an idea of the worldview, beliefs and cultural concepts of that era.