Captivated by a footnote while reading for my MA thesis in Berlin, I stumbled into the world of Old Yiddish literature. There, I met a Jewish knight named Viduvilt who turned out to be a lesser-known member of King Arthur's Round Table. This odd moment in the margins shaped my research, exploring how premodern German and Jewish storytelling converged in tales about dreadful dragons, singing-dwarves on horseback, and courageous princesses. The lesson I learned proved correct in much of my research: the strangest detours might lead to the most exciting discoveries.
Originally from Zwickau, Germany, I moved to the United States to pursue a Ph.D.. I have since built a career exploring the intersections of medieval and early modern German and Yiddish literature, focusing on cultural transfer within a German-Jewish context. My current book project examines monsters in Old Yiddish literature because the opposite of many heroes is a monster that gives us true insights into the hero, his world, and the audience of the stories.
