40

 

Early Middle High German Literature 41

Early Middle High German Literature =1050-1170

 

    When works in the vernacular start to appear again, they are largely religious but are more original and more enterprising than the Old High German works. They are no longer translations or even adaptations, but are new works of religious devotion. Certainly they are influenced by then current theological and mystical concepts, but they are independent of any direct model. They show the authors searching for ways to use the language to express pathos, exaltation, and fear of the consequences of sin. Such works as Williram’s reworking of the Song of Songs (c.1060), the Annolied (c.1105), which tells of the saintly life of a bishop, Anno of Köln, Ezzos Lied (c.1060), a brief account of the history of salvation, and Memento Mori (c.1070) are of promise rather than performance. Frau Ava’s Leben Jesu (c.1120) is much closer to true poetry with its genuine feeling for the Virgin Mary. Finally, there is the powerful spiritual poetry of the anonymous author of the Melker Marienlied, and Heinrich von Melk’s Von des tôdes gehugede (Remembrances of Death).

    We may pass over other minor works to reach some of major importance. The first significant influence of French literature is to be seen in the adaptations of two works, the Alexander romance (Alexanderlied; c.1150) of Alberich de Briançon by Pfaffe Lamprecht, of which we possess several versions, and the Roland epic (Rolandslied) by Pfaffe Konrad (c.1170). These works are remarkable for their use of essentially secular material for religious didactic purposes and for the somewhat pedestrian way in which the adaptation is handled. Yet they are important, since here for the first time we see those elements of conduct—display, polish, and nobility of character—that were later to be associated with the courtly epic. With them German literature may be said to join the mainstream of European literature in the Middle Ages that derived its materials and style largely from classical and French sources. The German contributions remained distinct in their treat-ment and often produced the best example of a particular type, but they are dependent on Romance impulses.

    It is unfortunate that the literature which would have been of greatest interest to students of this early Middle High German period has reached us in a fragmentary form. There were extant at this time a large number of narrative works whose main stress was on action and exotic adventure and whose central theme was very often the winning of a bride for a nobleman against the opposition of her father. Such works are known by the rather misleading term «Spielmannsepos», because it was believed that they were composed and performed by wandering professional actors who passed them on orally within their own fraternity. There is little doubt that such performers existed, and they may have recited as part of their repertoire the works we call «Spielmannsepen». If they did, the performance must have spread over several days. It is less likely that such men composed them in the

42 Early Middle High German Literature/Heinrich: Von des todes gehugede

 

rather haphazard fashion just described. The works of this class have a very clear dual structure, in which the first winning of the bride or the first «quest» goes off smoothly. Then there is a sudden reversal of fortune, and the second quest is much more difficult. The hero comes close to destruction and is saved only by some fortunate intervention. The resemblance to the situations in the Greek romances is probably not accidental, for it seems likely that much of the material was transmitted orally from the works of late classical antiquity.

    Oswald, the story of an Anglo-Saxon king’s search for a bride, and Orendel, a bride-quest that centers around the cloak of Christ, both exist only in late medieval versions, although the originals undoubtedly date from the later twelfth century. They both show a mixture of secular adventure and religious enthusiasm. Salman und Markolf is a good example of a type of literature in which formal wisdom is shown to be less important than practical common sense. The bride in this story is not truly faithful; for this she is punished. Two other works also exist only in later versions. There are fragments of Herzog Ernst, dating to about 1170. It is an adventure story about characters of the Ottonian period, but the history is extremely confused, and the interest centers rather on tales reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. Much the same can be said of Graf Rudolf (before 1173). Both owe much to the «rebellious barons» («barons révoltés») cycle of the French «chansons de geste». The best work of this type by far is König Rother. It also is a bride-quest poem and stresses adventure; it has great vigor and humor, and the author knows how to keep his story moving.

    In addition to the works mentioned, we know of the existence of several Germanic poems, which unfortunately have not come down to us: an early Nibelungenlied, a Waltharilied, and early Dietrich poems. There was also some versified history in the Kaiserchronik (c.1150), which gives a history of the Empire from Julius Caesar to Konrad III (d.1152), with special emphasis on its conversion to Christianity under Constantine the Great.

target.1.heinrich
Heinrich (von Melk?)

"Von des todes gehugede"
 

Heinrich: Von des todes gehugede 43

 

 

 

Heinrich  (von Melk?)

"Von des todes gehugede"

The second part of Heinrich von Melk’s poem Von des tôdes gehugede (ca. 1160), the Memento mori proper, begins with the ominous "Nû gedench aber, mensch, dînes tôdes"(line 455). This line sets the tone for the remaining 587 verses of the 1042 verse sermon («Reimpaarpredigt») in which the author, who refers to himself at the end as "armer chnecht," God’s poor servant, castigates the mores of knights and clergy alike, and exhorts a mostly noble audience to be mindful of their death by forgoing worldly pleasures and, instead, turning to penance. The poem is one of many such penitential sermons which characterize the final phase of early Middle High German poetry (DeBoor). In terms of its sermonizing style, the poem’s roots can be traced back to the Muspilli, the Old High German alliterative poem in which eschatology and penitential sermon appear as an interwoven entity (DeBoor), and to Noker of Zwiefalten’s Memento Mori (c.1070). Heinrich was most likely not a member of the clergy, but rather a noble lay brother at the monastery at Melk. Interestingly, it appears that the answers to the world’s evils (the "vil übele mundus") are found by a layman who leads a somewhat peripheral existence, both religiously and socially speaking. In his Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach reemphasizes this notion in the character of Trevrizent.

 
The significance of Heinrich von Melk’s poem can be seen particularly in the fact that he is the first among the authors whose names we know in portraying courtly life. Indeed, he even mentions «troutlied», (the «trûtlied» of half a century later), that is, love songs or «Minnesang» (DeBoor).

Nun geh hin, schöne Frau, und betrachte deinen lieben Mann und beachte ganz genau,
(600) welche Farbe sein Gesicht hat, wie sein Scheitel¹ gezogen, wie sein Haar gelegt ist. Sieh ganz scharf hin, ob sein Ausdruck fröhlich ist,

(605) wie zu der Zeit,

44 Heinrich: Von des todes gehugede
 

 

Heinrich: Von des todes gehugede 45

 

als er dir öffentlich und insgeheim Augen machte.² Nun sieh, wo sind die müßigen Worte, mit denen er den stolzen Sinn der Damenwelt pries und verkündete?³

(610) Nun sieh, wie ihm die Zunge im Munde liegt, mit der er diese Liebeslieder gefällig⁴ zu singen verstand: jetzt vermag sie

(615) weder Wort noch Ton hervorzubringen. Nun sieh, wo ist das Kinn mit dem frischen Barthaar? Nun sieh, wie schwächlich die Arme mit den Händen daliegen,

(620) mit denen er dich überall liebkoste und umfing! Wo sind die Füße, auf denen er gesetzt⁵ mit den Damen umherwandelte? Oft hast du ihm nachsehen müssen,

(625) ob seine Hose richtig über das Bein fiel: Die zeigt nun leider wenig Faltenwurf!⁶ Jetzt ist er dir ganz fremd, dem du früher überall die Seidenfäden ins Hemd einziehen mußtest.⁷

(630) Nun schau ihn an: Gerade in der Mitte, da ist er gebläht⁸ wie ein Segel. Übler Geruch und Dunst steigt aus dem Bahrtuch⁹ auf und sorgt dafür, daß er nicht mehr lange

(635) bei dir auf der Erde bleiben kann. O weh, dieses beklagenswerte Sterben und der allerschlimmste Tod, die mahnen dich, Mensch, an deine Hinfälligkeit.¹⁰ Nun sieh beizeiten vor, ehe dich deine letzte Stunde ereilt, die du seit jeher fürchten mußtest.

 

 

 

46 Melker Marienlied

 

 

Melker Marienlied
(anonymous)

Melker Marienlied 47

 

Melker Marienlied

(anonymous)

 

This anonymous poem originated before 1150. Nothing is known of its author. Its significance, however, can be found in the fact that the praises of the Virgin Mary are entirely non-didactic—in contrast to Otfried’s Evangelienbuch, where the Virgin Mary figures prominently in a spiritual and didactic sense—and that the poem originated independently but simultaneously with the earliest, indigenous forms of courtly poetry, prompting some scholars to view it as a precursor of the later praises of courtly ladies and their idealization by the knight-singers. Thus the popular veneration of the Virgin Mary replaced the dogmatic didacticism of a genre which had originated in conjunction with the Cluniac reform movement in the 10th century and its concentration on Christ and the Trinity (Koch, Die deutsche Literatur: Mittelalter I). Although still reminiscent of the Latin hymns because of its recurring refrain "Sancta Maria," with its strophic form of three rhymed couplets each the poem is considered to be the first truly lyrical work of German literature.

Oh, Aaron legte einen Stab in die Erde, der brachte Mandeln hervor, so edle Nüsse (Nb 17: 23-24).¹¹
(5) Diese Süße hast du hervorgebracht, Mutter ohne Mitwirkung eines Mannes, heilige Maria.

Oh, Moses, sah in dem Gesträuch ein Feuer (Ex 3: 2). Das Holz verbrannte nicht, er sah die Flamme herausschlagen, die war hoch und weit ausgebreitet; das symbolisiert deine Jungfräulichkeit,
(10) heilige Maria.

Gideon, der Führer Israels, breitete ein Lammfell auf der Erde aus (Jg 6: 36-40). Der Himmelstau betaute die Wolle ganz und gar; ebenso kam die Majestät [Gottes] über dich, so daß du schwanger wurdest, heilige Maria.

(15) Meeresstern, Morgenrot (Sg 6: 9), ungepflügter Acker, auf dem eine Blume steht, die so herrlich leuchtet. Sie ist unter den anderen wie die Lilie unter den Dornen (Sg 2:2), heilige Maria.

Eine Angelschnur ist geflochten worden, an deren Ende du geboren bist:
(20) das war deine Ahnenreihe.¹² Der Angelhaken, an dem der Tod erwürgt wurde, war die Gotteskraft [Christus], der von dir [im Mutterschoß] verborgen wurde, heilige Maria.¹³

Von dir spricht Isaias, der Prophet. Der sagte (Is 11: 1, 10), wie von Jesses Stamm die-sem ein Zweig heranwüchse,
(25) aus dem eine Blüte sprießen werde; der symbolisiert dich und dein Kind, heilige Maria.

48 Melker Marienlied

Melker Marienlied 49

 

Da vermählte sich auf so herrliche Weise der Himmel mit der Erde, wo der Esel und der Ochse das heilige Kind wohl erkannten (Is 1: 3). Da war dein Schoß eine Krippe für das Lamm,
(30) heilige Maria.

Da hast du den Sohn Gottes geboren, der uns dann alle mit seinem heiligen Blut von der ewigen Pein erlöst hat. Deshalb soll er immer gepriesen sein. So sehr werden wir durch dich beschenkt, heilige Maria!

(35) Du bist eine verschlossene Pforte (Ez 44: 2), aufgetan dem Wort Gottes, du [honig] triefende Wabe (Sg 4: 11), an Gewürzen [i.e. Tugenden] so reich (Sg 4: 13). Du bist ohne Galle wie die Turteltaube,¹⁴ heilige Maria.

Versiegelter Brunnen, verschlossener Garten (Sg 4: 12),
(40) in dem Balsam fließt, der duftet wie Zimt (Si 24: 20). Du bist wie der Zederbaum (Si 24: 17), den der Wurm meidet, heilige Maria.

Zeder im Libanon, Rose in Jericho (Si 24: 17f.), du auserwählte Myrrhe (Si 24: 20), du duftest dort so weithin.
(45) Du stehst über allen Engeln, du sühntest Evas Fall, heilige Maria.

Eva brachte uns zweifachen Tod [zeitlichen und ewigen], der eine herrscht noch immer. Du bist die zweite Frau, die uns das Leben [wieder] brachte. Der Teufel gab den Rat, der Tod bedeutete. Gabriel verkündete dir das Gotteswort,
(50) heilige Maria.

Ein Kind hast du, Adel der ganzen Welt, als Jungfrau geboren. Du bist wie die Sonne (Si 6: 9), von Nazareth aufgegangen, der Ruhm Jerusalems, die Freude Israels (Jdt 15: 10), heilige Maria.

(55) Königin des Himmels, Pforte des Paradieses, du auserwähltes Haus Gottes, Tempel des heiligen Geistes (Gn 28: 17), sei du uns allen am letzten Ende hilfreich, heilige Maria!