has been reluctant to label the 12,206 verse narrative
simply a reworking of his source. Yet, attempts to ex-
plain it in its historical context as a political piece aimed
at renewing interest in crusading efforts or as confi rma-
tion of the Hohenstaufen emperors as legitimate heirs to
Charlemagne are inconclusive as well. A comprehensive
interpretation remains a desideratum.
Stricker’s shorter narratives are transmitted in fi fty-
three manuscripts and range from 10 to circa 2,500
verses. Counted among the latter are Die Frauenehre,
Stricker’s praise of women, and Pfaffe Amis, a cyclical
narrative arranged in twelve episodes that castigates
the folly of man. The thematic emphasis on prudentia
and self-knowledge, either as underlying message or
overtly stated, extends to many of the shorter works,
which range from purely religious to profane, from en-
tertaining to moralizing. Viewed as a whole, the shorter
narratives present a canon of values appropriate to men
and women and to all social classes.
See also Charlemagne; Hartmann von Aue;
(^) Wolfram von Eschenbach
Further Reading
Bartsch, Karl. Karl der Große von dem Stricker. Quedlin-burg:
Basse, 1857; rpt. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1965.
Ehrismann, Otfrid. Der Stricker: Erzählungen, Fabeln, Reden.
Mittelhochdeutsch/Neuhochdeutsch Stuttgart: Re-clam,
1992.
Fischer, Hanns. “Strickerstudien: Ein Beitrag zur Liter-aturge-
schichte des 13. Jahrhunderts.” Ph.d. diss., Lud-wig Maximil-
ian-Universität, Munich, 1953.
——. Studien zur deutschen Märendichtung. Tübingen: Nie-
meyer, 1968, 2d ed. 1983.
——. Der Stricker: Verserzählungen I. Tübingen: Niemeyer,
I960, 4th ed. Johannes Janota, ed. 1979.
——. Der Stricker. Verserzählungen II Tübingen: Niemeyer,
1967, 4th, ed. Johannes Janota, 1983.
Geith, Karl-Ernst. Carolus Magnus: Studien zur Darstellung
Karls des Großen in der deutschen Literatur des 12. und 13.
Jahrhunderts, Bibliotheca Germanica 19. Bern: Francke,
1977.
Henderson, Ingeborg, Strickers Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal:
Werkstruktur und Interpretation. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1976.
Henne, Hermann. Der Pfaffe Amis. Göppingen: Kümmerle,
1991.
Hofmann, Klaus. Strickers Frauenehre: Überlieferung, Textkri-
tik, Edition, literaturgeschichtliche Einordnung. Marburg:
Elwert, 1976.
Mettke, Heinz. Fabeln und Mären von dem Stricker. Halle:
Niemeyer, 1959.
Moelleken, Wolfgang W. Die Kleindichtung des Strickers, 5 vols.
Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1973–1978.
Räkel, Hans-Herbert. “Die Frauenehre von dem Stricker,” in
Österreichische Literatur zur Zeit der Babenberger, ed. Alfred
Ebenbauer. Vienna: Halosar, 1977.
Resler, Michael. Der Stricker: Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal.
Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1983.
——. Der Stricker: ‘Daniel of the Blossoming Valley’ (Daniel von
dem Blühenden Tal). New York: Garland, 1990.
Schwab, Ute. Die bisher unveröffentlichten geistlichen Bispelre-
den des Strickers. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht,
1959.
——. Der Stricker, Tierbispel. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1960, 3d
ed. 1983.
Thamert. Mark Lee. “The Medieval Novelistic ‘Märe’: Telling
and Teaching in Works of the Stricker.” Ph.d. diss., Princeton
University, 1986.
Wailes, Stephen L. Studien zur Kleindichtung des Stricker. Berlin:
Schmidt, 1981.
Ziegeler, Hans-Joachim. Erzählen im Spätmittelalter. Munich:
Artemis, 1985.
Ingeborg Henderson
STURLA ÞÓRÐDARSON
(July 29, 1214–July 30, 1284)
Sturla Þórðdarson attained eminence as a historian,
poet, and legal expert. His literary fame is based on his
histories: Íslendinga saga (“History of the Icelanders”),
which covers in detail the period from 1183 to 1242, and
Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, a chronicle of the reign of
the Norwegian king Hákon Hákonarson (1217–1263).
He also composed a version of Landnámabók (“Book
of Settlements”) known as Sturlubók. Although much
of his skaldic poetry has been lost, the surviving verses
are generally considered conventional rather than excep-
tional in inspiration and in expression. In the last two
decades of his life, he was an acknowledged authority
on his native law. Following Iceland’s integration into
Norway (1264), the Norwegian king Magnús Hákonar-
son (1263–1280) appointed him a member of the com-
mission charged with revising provincial law.
Sturla was born the illegitimate son of a major
chieftain, Þórðr Sturluson, in the northwest of Iceland.
Although his illegitimacy was a distinct social disad-
vantage, his upbringing was privileged. In his infancy,
he was raised by his grandmother Guðný, a woman of
remarkable intellect and energy. His father trained him
early in the duties of a chieftain, which included par-
ticipation in legal affairs and in armed ventures. At age
thirteen, he was delegated to empower his uncle Snorri
to administer his father’s chieftaincy al the Alþingi.
In his late teens, he guarded Bishop Guðmundr and
his retinue of paupers during his visitation of western
Iceland. Subsequently, Sturla joined his brothers in
protecting their father’s territory from the depredations
of Snorri’s son Órækja. These missions involved him
in open or barely concealed enmities that would test his
organizational skills and would develop his abilities as
a chieftain.
In 1235, Sturla joined his uncle Snorri, the great
writer and historian. A closeness developed between the
two. Although Sturla would ascribe demeaning foibles
to Snorri in Íslendinga saga, the fact remains that Snorri
assigned to Sturla the administrative powers that made
STURLA ÞÓRÐDARSON