Course topic:  "THE TREE IN MEDIEVAL NORTH EUROPEAN IMAGINATION. Symbols and metaphors around a protagonist of human history"

Trees have always played a pivotal role in human life. Since the beginning of humankind, the tree has been a protagonist of human culture, thus giving way of a wide range of symbolic and metaphoric representation of it throughout time and space. These symbolic and metaphoric representations of the tree seem to carry and express foundational issues of human identity. In this course, we will explore various testimonies of the relationship between human beings and trees. As an empirical data corpus, we will mainly refer to written and visual works from the North European Middle Ages, especially those produced within the North Germanic language family, such as Old Norse. Besides familiarizing with Old Norse representations of the tree, we will explore representations from other language areas and compare them with the North European ones. 

Course Topic: “THE TREE IN THE MEDIEVAL IMAGINARY OF NORDEUROPA. Symbolic and metaphorical value of a protagonist of human history.”

1. General introduction to the course: content, purpose, teaching approach and methods of assessment (frontal, with discussion)

2. Mindmapping on the tree (2 exercises, with discussion)

3. Theories of symbol (frontal with exercises and discussion)

4.Theories of metaphor (frontal with exercises and discussion)

5. Kenningar and heiti (tutorials with discussion)

6. The tree in its ecosystem (frontal with discussion)

7. Humans and the tree (mindmapping introduction to the following points)

8. The tree and its habitat as symbols (exercises and discussion):

8.1 The sacred forest, the fighting forest, the creatures of the woods and forests; forest versus city / 8.2 The cosmic tree and the axis mundi / 8.3 The inverted tree / 8.4. The tree of life / 8.5 The tree of knowledge of good and evil, the tree of Sephirot, the tree of science, the alchemical tree / 8.6 The mystical tree / 8.7 The trees of gods and saints; plant theophanies / 8.8 The magic tree / 8.9 The ancestor tree (the tree of origins, the phylogenetic tree) / 8.10 The tree of abundance / 8.11 The tree home

9. The forest and the tree in the Middle Ages in central and northern Europe of the Germanic area. Selected readings

9. The forest and the tree in the Middle Ages in Central and Northern Europe of the Germanic area. Selected readings

9.1. Old English linguistic area: the ash tree in Beowulf (tutorial)

9.2 Old English linguistic area: the tree in The Dream of the Rood (frontal, exercises, discussion)

9.3 Old Norse linguistics area: the ash tree in the Snorra Edda and the Poetic Edda (Yggdrasil) (frontal with exercises and discussion). Kenningar related to the tree

9.2 Old and Middle High German linguistic area: ash, linden, birch, beech in medieval German literature (Hildebrandslied, St. Trumpperter Hohelied, Nibelungenlied, Parzival, Tristan) (frontal with exercises and discussion)

9.3 Excursus: the axis mundi in the art of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint

10. Workshop (choose from two options): the tree experience/tree and medieval writing

11. Concluding tree dream drawing workshop (2 hours, for all)

None. In return, attendees are required to have a genuine interest in the world of the forest and the tree.

Upon completion of the course, the student/student will have acquired the following knowledge and skills:

Knowledge and understanding (knowledge and understanding): The student/student has acquired theoretical knowledge about the nature of metaphor and symbol and understood the differences between the two entities; has acquired the tools to recognize their role in the medieval and contemporary imaginary world of reference of the course as well as the role of this theme within Germanic Philology.

Applied knowledge and understanding (applying knowledge and understanding). The student/student has practiced the ability to apply critically and creatively on empirical material proposed by the lecturer or students the knowledge acquired and discussed in the theoretical part of the course, transforming this knowledge into personal skills of understanding the complex nature of symbol and metaphor. He also learned to transfer such a critical-philological approach of metaphorical and symbolic representations of the medieval tree to understanding the symbolic and metaphorical element of other phenomena in other cultural areas, including that of his own everyday world. He has also learned how to exploit this applied ability in professional contexts related to teaching, translation, and publishing. 

Autonomy of judgment (making judgements). Through the exercises, discussions, and laboratory activities of the course, the student / she has acquired the awareness and exercised his / her ability to trust his / her own questions, transforming them, through the logical and methodological tools provided in the course, into hypotheses that he / she corroborates through independently formulated judgments. With the same tools, he/she can make judgments about cases and issues raised by others. 

Communication skills (communication skills). Through the tutorials and group workshop activities of the course, the student/s gained confidence and communication competence especially in terms of clarity, assertiveness, empathy and design cooperation. 

Ability to learn (learning skills). Through group exercises, self-assessment tests, and the preparation of a project to be presented in the exam, the student/student has exercised and consolidated his/her ability to learn independently and expendably both within Germanic Philology and in other fields of theoretical and applied knowledge.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

The frontal lecture is supplemented by:

- plenum and subgroup discussions;

- individual or subgroup or plenum exercises;

- an educational outing;

- workshops;

- contest (between two subgroups);

- lesson simulation through role play;

- self-assessment tests administered (mostly multiple-choice) at various times during the course;

- writing a final report on learning outcomes, completed following a grid accessible in the blended area of the course.

Teaching

The pedagogical framework of the course assumes that the students enrolled in this course have chosen it on the basis of their genuine interest, and are therefore willing to actively collaborate in all aspects of it. 

Accordingly, the course consists of 24 face-to-face hours (with tutorials and discussions) and 16 laboratory hours.

Work is done in class and supportive activities are carried out at home, depending on the areas of learning and projects that students carry out during the laboratory hours.

Innovative teaching methods

Exercises, out-of-classroom experiential teaching, workshops, project-based and enquiry-based teaching.

Attendance

The coursework for this program is based on learning modes that require continuous and proactive participation. To enter the exam with the program as a FREQUENT, students must:

- be physically present in class AT LEAST 21 out of 40 hours;

- be physically present for AT LEAST 15 of the total 18 hours devoted to the three workshops;

- perform any homework necessary to properly participate in the teaching units.

Any overlaps with other courses are understood to be already included in the hours you are allowed for absences (= you may be absent for MAX 19 HOURS, REGARDLESS OF THE REASON FOR ABSENCE). 

Each class (2 hours of attendance, cum tempore) begins and ends with roll call.

The single teaching unit lasts 45 minutes (= cum tempore).

Under 21 hours of attendance, you automatically switch to non-attending status and bring the relevant syllabus to the exam. 

So at the beginning of the course make sure you can be there in the above modes.

Course books

Mandatory, for all:

Or the following full text:

1) The Dream of the Rood. Edited by Michael Swanton. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1970. Full reading of the poem.

Or two of the following texts, from those covered in class and limited to the passages analyzed in class:

2) Edda poetica e Snorra Edda, various editions, selected readings (for editions and material see the blended area of the course);

3) Nibelungenlied, Parzival, Tristan, Hildebrandslied, Das St. Trumperter Hohelied, in various editions, selected readings (for editions and material see the blended area of the course) 

3) In addition, it is mandatory one chapter of your choice from:

Grüning, Hans-Georg (Hg.) Der Baum als Symbol und Strukturelement in der Literatur und Kunst / L’albero come simbolo e come elemento strutturale nella letteratura e nell’arte. München: Judicium, 2012 (N.B. if you have difficulty finding it, please contact the lecturer).

Or always a chapter from:

Firrone, Tiziana. Dall'albero cosmico all'albero casa. Viaggio nel mondo di una straordinaria creatura. Roma: Aracne, 2011.

4) In addition, a report, written by the attending student/student, on the dream drawing workshop (or on the workshop on medieval writing) OR on the content of the exercises done in class on symbol and metaphor will constitute the examination text. Choose one of the two papers to do and download from blended the corresponding grid in which to fill in the paper. The two grids will be available from the last day of the course.