THE ELDER AND THE YOUNGER JUDITH: TWO BIBLICAL RETELLINGS AS MEDIAEVAL HIGH GERMAN BRIDAL COURTSHIP NOVELS?
THE ELDER AND THE YOUNGER JUDITH: TWO BIBLICAL RETELLINGS AS MEDIAEVAL HIGH GERMAN BRIDAL COURTSHIP NOVELS?

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates two Middle High German verse retellings of the biblical Book of Judith, the Elder Judith and the Younger Judith, preserved in the twelfth-century Vorau manuscript. Despite their significance for vernacular biblical reception, these texts have received little sustained scholarly attention. The study argues that both poems reframe Judith’s story through motifs associated with bridal courtship literature, thereby adapting a biblical heroine to the cultural and devotional expectations of medieval German-speaking audiences. Drawing on the concept of parabiblical traditions and Michael E. Stone’s notion of the “Embroidered Bible,” the paper highlights how scriptural narratives were creatively reshaped within medieval literary and manuscript contexts.

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