The use of proverbs in Hugo von Montfort: Looking for traces - between editorial challenge and critical gain

In this contribution the editor of the new Hugo-edition, published in 2005, highlights one aspect of his editorial activity, namely the treatment of proverbial expressions in an edition. The initial task in this context is to identify proverbs or proverbial microtexts before compiling a list of criteria which allows one to filter out and mark collective quotations. This enables one to draw conclusions with regard to the rhetorical techniques used not only by Hugo von Montfort, but by many medieval poets, who frequently liked to draw on a rich fund of folk wisdom. The article not only provides a detailed analysis of many of these proverbial expressions, but, in an appendix, also lists all proverbial microtexts in Hugo von Montfort which have been identified as such. In the future, the marking of proverbs in medieval authors could be helpful to users of such editions by signalling, through the singling out of such quotations, the horizon of meaning that potentially lies behind them, which is commentary-like in nature and must not be ignored under any circumstances.