Der Ritter, der ein Mädchen war

The medieval Roman de Silence tells the story of a maid who is raised as a boy, far from courtly civilization, and who takes on a series of male roles: she becomes a traveling minstrel, warrior, and knight; in doing so she even elicits the desire of the queen. Above all, however, Silence represents the bone of contention between the nature and nurture allegories, each of which wishes to use Silence's gender identity to demonstrate superiority over the other. Yet her gender is only one aspect of the fascinating character Silence, who herself has allegorical characteristics. With its wide variety of themes, this text invites us to include it in discussions about personifications/allegory, voice/speech/silence, nature/culture, the theory of emotions, the theory of writing and media, and historical narratology.