Teoderico in armi nella Þiðreks saga af Bern: un’analisi strutturale

The present paper aims at analysing the character of Thidrek of Bern in the Old Norse prose narrative Þiðreks saga af Bern, written down about 1250, during the reign of the Norwegian king Hakon IV. The main focus of the study are those episodes of Thidrek’s life in which he is involved in fighting, both in duels and in larger armed conflicts. The structuralist approach applied to the interpretation of the saga over the last decades has highlighted the distinctive architecture of the long narrative, which unfolds according to the existential pattern of human life. This critical method is used in the analysis of some of the armed conflicts, as well as of several central episodes of Thidrek’s life, emphasizing correspondences between his youth and his old age. Not only is this parallel narrative arrangement functional to Thidrek’s characterization, but it also provides evidence for an intentional and well-balanced scheme devised by the author in putting together the narrative motifs which make up the plot of Þiðreks saga.