Honour and Fortune Outside the Box: Frauenlob's Response to Walther von der Vogelweide (VII,15 and VII,16)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to offer a new reading of two ‘Sprüche’ by Frauenlob (VII,15 and VII,16) that function as a response to the first ‘Spruch’ in the ‘Reichston’ of Walther von der Vogelweide (I.2.I). The first section will provide an exposition of the contents of these ‘Sprüche’ and of the intertextual connections between Walther and Frauenlob. The discussion in the second section will consider Frauenlob's wider engagement with the concept of Fortune, whilst the third section will focus specifically on the interaction between the personifications ‘vrou Ere’ and ‘Gelücke’ in VII,16. This third section will also address the themes of linguistic ambiguity and equivocation that run through both ‘Sprüche’, culminating in ‘Gelücke's’ provocative assertion that ‘die wort sint nicht gespalden’ (VII,16,19). Finally, the fourth section will sum up the ways in which Frauenlob's approach differs from that of Walther.