Siegfried Wenzel: Elucidations. Medieval Poetry and Its Religious Backgrounds

• Jeorg O. Fichte

The title of this collection of 27 previously published and bibliographically updated articles plus one hitherto unpublished key note address (essay 12) is well chosen. The author does not propose any theses or hypotheses that could be challenged; rather, he elucidates, i.e., makes clear, throws light upon, explains facts – in this case those that bear upon our understanding of medieval vernacular poetry. The essays explore the foundations of moral theology on which much of this poetry is grounded. These foundations can be likened to the seven eighths of the iceberg that are not visible on the surface, but may cause the swift vessel of interpretative thought (not seldom a stultifera navis, although Siegfried Wenzel would never say so) to run afoul of the realities hidden from the eye of the unsuspecting interpreter. Professor Wenzel pilots our boat by alerting us to the dangers of neglecting these foundations and relying overly on in genuity as an instrument of literary criticism.