Ava (poet)

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Frau Ava , also Ava von Göttweig or Ava von Melk (* around 1060; † probably February 7th, 1127 near Melk or in Kleinwien near Göttweig ), is one of the first German-speaking poets known by name.

Live and act

Mrs. Ava initially led a worldly life, was married and had two sons (Hartmann and Heinrich). As a widow, she retired to a monastery at an advanced age. Her two sons, who were presumably clergymen, supported the mother in her religious poetry.

In her poem The Last Judgment she tells of her sons and at the end mentions her name:

The Last Judgment (excerpt) Transfer into New High German

Dizze buoch dihtôte of two chinde muoter.
you said ir disen sin. michel mandunge was under in.
the muoter would be diu chint liep, who is one of the worlds.
Now I ask you mean, michel unde chleine,
swer dize buoch read, that he sîner sêle graciously wessknäde.
and the one who is still alive and the one who strives at work,
the wunsket graden and the muoter, there is AVA.

The mother of two children wrote this book.
They told her this sense. There was great joy among them.
The mother loved the children, who separated one from the world.
Now I ask you all, big and small,
whoever reads this book, that he may wish his soul mercy.
And to the one who is still alive and who strives in the work,
wish him grace and (also) the mother, called AVA.

Ava Tower in Kleinwien

Ms. Ava processed the commentaries of Beda , Hrabanus Maurus and Alcuin , Adsos “ Libellus de Antichristo” or his Latin source and others in her poetry . The poems form a unit with the theme: Becoming, working and the end of the Christian church. What is special about her poetry, however, is that she inserts many motifs that were popular in her time and that have remained popular up to our times (such as ox and donkey at the manger) in her biblical poetry, which are not handed down in the Bible itself. She also inserts the contents of the Apocrypha into her presentation.

The poet is commonly identified with an "Ava inclusa" (female hermit ), whose death was recorded for February 8, 1127 in several necrologies , including that of the Melk Abbey (without a specific reason being given). From this, a special meaning of their person can be concluded. If this entry actually refers to the poet, one can assume that after the death of her husband she lived as a cloister in the Lower Austrian Benedictine Abbey of Göttweig , across from Krems , or in Melk Abbey.

In Klein-Wien near Göttweig a residential tower is still called the “Avaturm” today. The church of St. Blasien in Klein-Wien is almost certainly on the site of the small chapel that was there in the early 12th century.

Works

  • John
  • Life of Jesus with a final part about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit ( Vorauer handwriting )
  • Antichrist (Vorauer handwriting)
  • The Last Judgment (Vorauer handwriting)

Text output

  • Mrs. Ava's Seals , ed. v. Friedrich Maurer . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1966. (= Old German text library; 66)
  • Mrs. Ava's Seals , ed. v. Kurt Schacks. Academic printing and Verl.-Anst., Graz 1986. (= Wiener Neudrucke; 8) ISBN 3-201-01312-9
  • Ava: Spiritual Poems , ed. v. Maike Claußnitzer and Kassandra Sperl. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2014 (= Relectiones. Volume 3).

literature

See also

Web links

Wikisource: Ms. Ava  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Ava
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mrs. Ava; Ava von Göttweig; Ava from Melk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first German-speaking poet
DATE OF BIRTH around 1060
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1127
Place of death Kleinwien near Göttweig