Haselnüsse, Erotik und Epistemologie in der Literatur des Mittelalters

Based on a rather unusual mære, Der Ritter und die Nösse, this article discusses the universal and often rather enigmatic function of the hazelnut in medieval literature. We can find examples in the lais by Marie de France, in the German verse narratives, the so-called mæren, in the mystical texts by Julian of Norwich, and in the late medieval folk song poetry. From there the motif of the hazelnut experienced a wide-ranging reception far into the nineteenth, perhaps even to the twentieth century.