Drawing upon the most current methodologies, the essays in this book pursue the multifarious functions of end-times in medieval German texts.The contemporary fascination with the end of the world and of life as we know it would not have surprised our counterparts a millennium ago; only the fact that such an end has not yet occurred. Current visions of the apocalypse encompass climate change, terrorism, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and war. Popular culture expresses the fear associated with these global crises, obsessively portraying zombies, alien attacks, pandemics, and self-destructive technology. This book explores how end-times were envisioned in medieval Germany. The essays, written by well-established scholars, examine the period's fascination with the apocalypse by applying the most current methodological approaches to a wide range of literary genres. Drawing upon methodologies such as adaptation theory, gender analysis, space and place studies, reception studies, and memory studies, this book uncovers the rhetorical, didactic, narratological, mnemonic, thematic, cultural, and political functions of end-times in medieval German texts. Contributors: Tina Boyer, Albrecht Classen, Winfried Frey, Will Hasty, Ernst Ralf Hintz, Winder McConnell, Evelyn Meyer, Scott E. Pincikowski, Marian E. Polhill, Alexander Sager, Alexandra Sterling-Hellenbrand, Joseph M. Sullivan. Ernst Ralf Hintz is Professor of German and Medieval Studies at Truman State University. Scott E. Pincikowski is Professor of German at Hood College.

Introduction - Ernst Ralf Hintz and Scott E. PincikowskiThiu wirsa giburd: Cain's Legacy, Original Sin, and the End of the World in the Old Saxon Genesis - Alexander SagerThe Heliand Revisited: Spiritual Transgendering and the Defiance of Evil - Ernst Ralf HintzThe Beginning of the End: Binary Dynamics and Initiative in Hartmann von Aue's Gregorius - Will HastyPoetic Reflections in Medieval German Literature on Tragic Conflicts, Massive Death, and Armageddon - Albrecht ClassenBeyond Good and Evil: Apocalyptic Vision without Judgment in the Nibelungenlied. An Essay - Winder McConnellEnd-Times in the Hall: The Modern Reception of the Apocalyptic Ending of the Nibelungenlied - Scott E. PincikowskiPast Present, Future Present? Visualizing Arthurian Romance and the Beholder's Share in a World that Refuses to End - Alexandra Sterling-HellenbrandIch diene und wirbe / biz ich gar verdirbe: Lovesickness, Apocalypse and the End-Times in Mauritius von Craûn and Das Nibelungenlied - Marian E. PolhillThe Slippery Concept of Evil in Hartmann von Aue's Erec and Iwein - Evelyn MeyerWigamur's Lessons on the Complexity of Evil - Joseph M. SullivanThe Miracles of the Antichrist - Tina BoyerMonsters and Monstrosities in the Pamphlet Wars of the Reformation - Winfried Frey