Medieval literature is filled with references to criminal acts, to evil characters, and so also to murder. This paper examines the complex of killing as depicted in four medieval texts, Herzog Ernst , the Nibelungenlied , Heinrich Kaufringer’s “Die unschuldige Mörderin,” and Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken’s Königin Sibille , attempting to discriminate between manslaughter, assassination, and murder. In each case, the act of murder is rationalized and explained through a different lens, depending on the literary context. As the analysis demonstrates, already pre-modern writers were fully aware of the rich discourse on law, for which murder constituted the most egregious case. Not every murder, however, is simply condemned because at times the perpetrator seeks justified revenge, at other times the killing is condoned, if not even approved, by the king himself in order to preserve the honor of the court. Kaufringer even goes so far as to present a case where multiple murders are explained as a form of self-defense according to God’s laws, whereas Elisabeth simplifies and vilifies the killing to an extreme once again.

中文翻译：

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中世纪德国文学中的谋杀：社会的破坏与挑战——前现代世界的犯罪与自决

中世纪文学充满了对犯罪行为、邪恶人物以及谋杀的提及。本文考察了四个中世纪文本中所描绘的杀戮情结，赫尔佐格·恩斯特、尼伯龙根之歌、海因里希·考弗林格的“死亡之死”和伊丽莎白·冯·拿骚-萨尔布吕肯的 Königin Sibille，试图区分过失、暗杀和谋杀。在每种情况下，谋杀行为都被合理化并通过不同的视角进行解释，这取决于文学背景。正如分析表明的那样，前现代作家已经充分意识到关于法律的丰富话语，其中谋杀是最严重的案件。然而，并非每起谋杀案都简单地受到谴责，因为有时肇事者寻求正当的报复，有时甚至没有得到批准，杀人就会得到宽恕，为了维护朝廷的荣誉，国王亲自出马。考弗林杰甚至提出了一个案例，根据上帝的法律，将多次谋杀解释为一种自卫，而伊丽莎白又一次将杀戮简化和诋毁到了极端。