Hêre Frowe: Case, Number, and Rank in Walther von der Vogelweide's "Lindenlied": In Memory of David R. McLintock

Addressing itself to recent approaches to Walther von der Vogelweide's 'Under der linden' (L. 39, 11) by Manfred Scholz and Joachim Heinzle, this article argues for a new interpretation of the key line 'hêre frowe' as a vocative plural, adducing evidence from Walther's lyric 'Nemt, vrowe, disen kranz' (L. 74, 20), from Hartmann von Aue, and from Wolfram von Eschenbach. It proceeds to investigate the implications of this for the theory of the 'Mädchenlied', the hypothesis that a peasant girl is the addressee of a group of Walther's love-lyrics.