Gossiping and Ageing Princesses in Odoevsky’s Societal Tales

Abstract

The early German romantics were highly interested in medieval literature, primarily poetry written in romance vernaculars such as Dante's Inferno. Only later did the German romantics turn to northern medieval literature for inspiration. In the case of German romantic Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), the usual opinion is that he would not have cared for northern (primarily Scandinavian) medieval literature and art before his late phase, beginning around 1802. In this phase, his literary criticism stood under the sway of his conservative politics. This article examines the reception of Germanic medieval literature in Schlegel's early essays, reviews and fragments, in order to discuss the role of Germanic medieval literature in his work and the extent to which it is connected with his poetics and politics.