Codex Sangallensis 904

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The Codex Sangallensis 904 , known as St. Galler Priscian, is an Irish manuscript from the Institutiones grammaticae of the Roman grammarian Priscian . It is located in the St. Gallen Abbey Library . The manuscript contains over 9,412 glosses, including 3,478 in the Old Irish language . Together with the Würzburg glosses on the letters of Paul and the Milan glosses on the commentaries on Psalm 14 and 40, the manuscript provides the main source of Old Irish text and is an important reference for linguistic research on the Old Irish language.

Origin of the manuscript

The original Institutiones Grammaticae was published between 526 and 527 and was then used as a teaching aid for Latin grammar in Ireland. Cod. Sang. 904 is one of four surviving manuscripts.

The manuscript appears to have been created around 845 AD, possibly in the Northern Irish city of Bangor , the original home of St. Gallus .

Based on explicit references in the second part of the manuscript, it can be said that there were two main scribes and probably three correctors. According to a note on page 89, the handwriting was copied from two originals. A song of praise to the Archbishop of Cologne Gunthar (850–863) in Carolingian script suggests that the manuscript reached Cologne after it was created. The earliest evidence in the inventory of the St. Gallen Monastery is found in 1460.

Content and description

The beginning of Cod. Sg. 904

The St. Gallen Priscian has 249 pages, but the pagination jumps from page 78 to page 88, reducing the actual number of pages in the manuscript to 240 pages. The manuscript is made of thick, gray parchment and contains several holes that have been patched out, as well as grease stains in some places. The pages are divided into two columns with 42 lines each. The ink is dark brown and black. The initials at the beginning of the books and chapters are adorned with elements from flora and fauna.

The manuscript contains the first 16 books of the Priscian as well as part of the 17th book up to GL 3, 147, 18 "naturaliter". Apart from a caesura at the end of the 15th arc, the text was written continuously. The handwriting was written in insular minuscule .

Glosses

Cod. Sang. 904 is known for the large number of glosses in Latin and Old Irish. In addition, there are eight glosses in the Ogham script, which are considered the oldest surviving source of Ogham in a manuscript.

The first three glosses on pages 50, 70, and 170 are each dated. The following four glosses on pages 193–196 are references to corrections.

The final note on page 204 offers a more personal glimpse into the writer's day-to-day life. The old Irish word latheirt is made up of the word Lait for "beer" and ort "killed". According to the context, a suitable translation is "killed by beer", or also "(I have) a hangover".

The most valuable glosses include two different old Irish poems that only exist in this manuscript. The first poem is an anonymous poem from the 9th century known as Is acher in gaíth in-nocht . The second poem on page 203 reads as follows in the English translation:

(mi) Domfarcai fidbaidae fál. fomchain lóid luin lúad nad cél. huas mo lebrán indlínech. fomchain trírech innaṅén .., Fommchain cói menn medair mass. hiṁbrot glass de dindgnaib doss. debrath nomchoimmdiu cóima. cáinscríbaimm foróida r <oss>. "A hedge of trees surrounds me: a blackbird's lay sings to me — praise which I will not hide— above my booklet the lined one the trilling of the birds sings to me. In a gray mantle the cuckoo's beautiful chant sings to me from the tops of bushes: may the Lord be kind to me! I write well under the greenwood. "

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rafael Schwemmer, Douglas Kim, Roger Klein, Torsten Schaßan: Cod. Sang. 904th Swiss Virtual Manuscript Library, accessed on June 21, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Rijcklof Hofman: The Sankt Gall Priscian Commentary . Ed .: Erich Poppe. tape 1 . Nodus publications, Münster 1996, ISBN 3-89323-611-2 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Cornel Dora, Franziska Schnoor (ed.): At the cradle of Europe. Irish book culture of the early Middle Ages . Verlag am Klosterhof, St. Gallen 2018, ISBN 978-3-905906-28-8 .
  4. ↑ a b Cornel Dora, Philipp Lenz, Franziska Schnoor, Peter Erhart, Michele C Ferrari, Klaus-Peter Schäffel: In the paradise of the alphabet The development of the Latin script in the manuscripts of the St. Gallen Abbey Library . 2nd, slightly changed edition. Verlag am Klosterhof, St. Gallen 2018, ISBN 978-3-905906-31-8 .
  5. ↑ a b c Cod. Sang. 904. In: unifr.ch. Virtual manuscript library of Switzerland, accessed on June 21, 2020 .
  6. ^ AJ Hughes: Review of A Guide to Ogham . In: Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society . tape 14 , no. 2 , 1991, ISSN  0488-0196 , pp. 257-258 , doi : 10.2307 / 29742515 .
  7. ↑ Anglandicus: Massive scribal Hangovers: One Ninth Century Confession. blogspot.com, December 7, 2014, accessed June 21, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Kenneth Jackson: A Grammar of Old Irish. R. Thurneysen, DA Binchy, Osborn Bergin . In: Speculum . tape 23 , no. 2 , April 1948, ISSN  0038-7134 , p. 335-339 , doi : 10.2307 / 2852977 .
  9. ↑ e-codices - Switzerland's Virtual Manuscript Library . In: www.e-codices.unifr.ch . Retrieved June 21, 2020.