The Owl in Winter: The Final Tornada of Marcabru’s Pastourelle “L’autrier jost’una sebissa”

Authors

  • Janice Hewlett Koelb

Abstract

Marcabru’s shepherdess in “L’autrier jost’una sebissa” ends her debate with the lecherous knight by offering a cryptic tornada about manna, an owl, and a person with a painting — topics which appear to have nothing to do with the logical sequence of the debate but which in fact are crucially important to the poet and to the way in which he binds up his theme. The cryptic surface of the tornada conceals an intricately figurative sententia whose field of reference includes bird lore, Old Occitan proverbs, Augustinian rhetorical theory, and Marcabru’s own signature as a witty, learned, and often obscene satirist.

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Published

2008-01-01

How to Cite

Koelb, J. H. (2008). The Owl in Winter: The Final Tornada of Marcabru’s Pastourelle “L’autrier jost’una sebissa”. Florilegium, 25, 53–74. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/flor/article/view/14395

Issue

Volume 25 (2008)

Section

Articles