A Note on MHGschulde(n)in the Nibelungenlied

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis word study traces the use ofschulde(n)through theNibelungenliedfocusing on the central episodes in âventiuren 14–19. Considerable synchronic variability exists in the lexical semantics of MHGschulde(n).This variability is explicable in terms of the etymological development ofschulde(n), a variability which is systematically exploited throughout the work. As the plot unfolds, the occurrences of this word and its closest derivational relatives shift steadily from semantically bleached uses and the neutral meaning of ‘obligation’ toward the narrow meaning ‘guilt’.