§ 41. Spread of Sievers' System. Sievers' five-type-system was at once recognized in Germany and elsewhere. See, e.g. Luick, Über den Versbau der ags. Judith, PBBeitr. 11, 470 ff.; Kauffmann, Die Rhythmik des Heliand, PBBeitr. 12, 283 ff.; Schipper, Grundriss der englischen Metrik 1895. But in spite of this various objections were soon raised and new theories put forward. These attempted a sort of compromise between the fourbeat theory and the two-beat theory. To some verses four beats were given, to others three and to others again only two. § 42. Möller's Objections to Sievers' System. H. Möller, Zur althochdeutschen Alliterationspoesie, Kiel 1888, attempted to show that the old Germanic alliterative verse was composed in bars and that the haupthebungen followed one another at equal intervals in spite of the variety in the number of syllables in the verses. The old songs of the Germani, of which Tacitus speaks, could have been sung only in bars, and the alliterative poems, which we still have, make a division into bars very possible. Möller rightly refuses to accept Sievers' view that the long hebung-syllable is to be looked on as the original and that the substitution of two short ones for it is to be looked on as a later phenomenon. Möller held that the opposite was the case, viz. that the disyllabic form xx was the original and normal form, whilst the contraction of two moren >> to form one long was a later occurrence, which does not disturb the division into bars. Möller's chief objection to Sievers' system is that Sievers makes no attempt to trace his five types back to a common original form and so to bring the alliterative verse into relation with the old verses of the related Indo-Germanic peoples. This Sievers did later, however (§ 36). § 43. Möller's Theory. Möller himself starts from an Indo-Germanic original verse, consisting of four 24-takte (bars) with either trochaic (acatalectic) or iambic (catalectic) ending. In the latter case an anacrusis preceded the verse; thus xxxxlá×lá× or xlá×1××1××lý. This verse, consisting of four 24-takte, had to receive a new bar-division, when the Germanic accent, which was originally free to move, become fixed on the root-syllable of the word. The first syllable of polysyllabic words became more prominent than the others, and this change of the accent had the result that the 24-takt of the original verse changed to a 4-takt. Thus we get two 4-takte as the foundation of the Germanic alliterative verse: xxxx1×××× or ××××××××. A further influence on the old Germanic verse had to occur, caused by the development of the language, when, owing to the laws relating to endings, the number of syllables in words was re duced. Owing to this many full takte of four moren were reduced to takte of three or of only two moren. Thus Möller distinguishes between three different kinds of takte: a) voll (full): ××××, b) klingend (sonorous, feminine): ×××, c) stumpf (blunt, masculine): xx. For two short syllables ×× one long syllable may be used. The missing moren of the 4-takte are supplied by rests (r). By a combination of two takte (according to Heusler's notation v=voll, k=klingend, s-stumpf, rrest) Möller obtains nine different types of alliterative verse: Aa (VV) ×××××××× déorc òfer | dríht-gùmum Ab (Vk) ××××××× wéox under | wólcnum Cb (Sk) 1.xxrrxxx géong in | géardùm 2.xlxxrrlxxx ofer | hrn-radè, him sẽ | ýldésta. X Ac (Vs) ×××××× médu-bènc | mónig Bc (Ks) ××××r|×× him on | béarmè | læg § 44. Criticism of Möller's System. Firstly there is no foundation for tracing the first three types, which end with a full takt, back to an acatalectic verse of the form xxxxxxxx, since only a catalectic verse with iambic rhythm can be shown to have existed among the related Indo Germanic peoples. Further it is difficult to bring the OE. verses, which we have, into Möller's nine forms. The D2-verses are the most difficult, as in the case of the two-beat theory. The word ýđa, for example, in the verse hrēo wāron | ýđa fills, according to Möller, a whole feminine (klingend) takt ×××; but in the verse atol | ÿđa geswing the words yđa geswing, according to Möller's scansion (Cb, Sk), together fill only one feminine takt, three moren. Möller's theory produces many inconsistencies, especially in type C, in which words such as yl-desta, æde-lingas in the verses him sẽ yldesta, hu pa ædelingas (Cb2: ××××гr|xx) are cut in two by a rest of half a takt, whilst in D1 such words build a 'full' takt, e.g. wine Scyldinga (Ca: xxrrxxxx). Moreover, Möller is compelled to explain the initial syllables of Sievers' types B and C as an 'anacrusis', which must be present, so that a verse composed of a 'feminine' and a 'masculine' takt, or even of two 'masculine' takte (Cb, Bc, Cc) should not be too short. Möller cannot say, however, why the verse may not be too short, nor why the anacrusis, which is not essential in the other types, is essential here. Thus his theory is not satisfactory, it depends partly on false assumptions and will not harmonize with the versematerial, which we actually have. NOTE. Möller's theory has been defended especially by A. Heusler and applied to ON. and OHG. poetry (Der Ljóþaháttr, Acta Germanica I, Berlin 1889; Zur Geschichte der altdeutschen Verskunst, Germanistische Abhandlungen VIII, Breslau 1891; Über germanischen Versbau, Schriften zur germ. Philologie, ed. Roediger, Heft 7, Berlin 1894). Lawrence, Chapters on English Alliterative Verse, London 1893 is based on Möller's theory. Connected with Möller's view is an essay by Joh. Franck, Zur Rhythmik des germanischen Alliterationsverses, ZfdA. 38, 225–250. $ 45. Hirt's Theory. Hirt developed a new theory of alliterative verse in his book Untersuchungen zur westgermanischen Verskunst, Leipzig 1889; cf. Hirt, Der altdeutsche Reimvers und sein Verhältnis zur Alliterationspoesie, ZfdA., 38, 304-333 and Zur Metrik des altsächsischen und althochdeutschen Alliterationsverses. Germania 36, 139-179. 279-307. For the second half-line of the alliterative verse Hirt assumes generally three beats, but sometimes also four; for the first half-line three beats, when the alliteration is simple, but four when the alliteration is double. For lengthened lines (schwellverse) he assumes even five beats. But Hirt does not give definite rules stating when there are three, and when four beats. His stresses, also, are often disputable, e.g. féond máncynnès. Hirt's theory does not make a clear view of the structure of alliterative verse possible; but he rendered a service in pointing out some weaknesses in Sievers' system and especially in showing the close relation of B and D2 on the one hand, and of C and D1 on the other hand. |