Expositio in cantica canticorum
The Expositio in cantica canticorum (also called Williram's Hoheliedkommentar ) is a Latin- Old High German Bible commentary written in the 11th century by the Benedictine abbot Williram von Ebersberg . In it, the Old Testament Song of Songs is translated, paraphrased and commented on.
Contents and structure
The actual commentary is preceded by a prologue in which Williram justifies the selection of the text and his decision to write in vernacular , as well as commenting on the state of theology at that time and the structure of his 'Expositio'.
In addition to the Song of Songs, Williram puts on the one hand a Latin paraphrase, a Latin commentary in Leonine hexameters , and on the other hand, in prose form, a vernacular paraphrase and a commentary in German-Latin mixed language. He underlines this five-part structure with the page layout with a larger font for the middle column with the Vulgate text and side columns divided with red initials.
The Song of Songs is an Old Testament text attributed to King Solomon. It is partly explicitly erotic love poetry. It was received and commented intensively in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, so Williram's text is part of a long tradition. However, he is the first medieval commentator to use vernacular.
Williram joins the allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs, customary in the Middle Ages, as the marriage between the Church ( ecclesia ) and Christ. Williram not only designs the Bible text as a dialogue between Church and Christ, but also his commentary.
An important template for Williram is Haimos from Auxerre's Song of Songs Commentary. Presumably he also knew Angelom's from Luxeuil's Commentary.
Origin context
The creation of the commentary can be dated almost exactly to the 1060s, since Williram dedicated his work to the young King Henry IV . After the death of his patron Heinrich III. In 1056 he wanted to pay his respects to the new king .
Lore situation
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Williram's Hoheliedkommentar has survived in over 42 manuscripts and is therefore the best surviving Old High German work. This is probably due, among other things, to the fact that Williram himself drove the expansion of the work: at least two of the text witnesses, the Breslauer (UB, cod. R 347) and the Ebersberger (cgm 10; fully digitized ) manuscript, are author editors, that is, they were created during his lifetime and under his supervision. The other manuscripts were created regionally and temporally widely and are therefore interesting for Middle High German dialect research. One of the manuscripts, the Williram from Leiden , is an important source of the sparsely transmitted Old Dutch . The original structure of the work is not always preserved. In some manuscripts only the Latin part has been copied, in others the technically demanding layout has been abandoned, and in some cases the Latin elements of the mixed prose have been translated into German.
Language of the comment
The time when the commentary was written, the second half of the 11th century, falls during the transition phase between Old and Middle High German . His language has elements of both language levels. Some of the final vowels are already written with <e> , which indicates the weakening of the neighboring syllables . The sound value of this <e> was probably a Schwa . Examples of this are suôze instead of suozi or scárfe instead of sarphī. In some cases, however, the Old High German phonetic level is also present, as in Dı́cco or bézzera.
The commentary is also important from a linguistic-historical point of view because it was written and received at a time when few vernacular texts have survived.
Text sample
The text follows Schützeichel's and Meinekes edition from 2001. It is about Canticum I, 1. In the Latin and Old High German text, the abbreviations that have been resolved are marked by italics.
Latin verse commentary:
Q UEM SITIO VOTIS. NVNC oscula porrigat oris; Que m mihi uenturu m p ro mpserunt organa uatu m . Nunc etia m p he se Presens dignetur adesse. Oscula prębendo. sua dulcia uerba loquendo. U BERA nempe tui pręcellunt pocula uini. ′ Suauiter unguentis fraglantia sat preciosis; Mitificans ueterem tua lenis gr ati a legem. Free iustificat quos lex punire iubebat. ′ Hosq ue tuis donis dum spiritualiter unguis. Reddunt pręclaram post turpia crimina famam.
Bible verse:
O SCVLET UR me osculo oris sui. Q VIA meliora sunt ubera tua uino. fraglantia unguentis optimis.
Old High German prose commentary:
C V́SSER. MÍH. MÍT DÉMO cússe sînes. múndes. Dı́cco geˍ ˍhîezzer me sîne chuônft p er p ro phetas. ′ Nu cúme ér sélbo. undte cússe mih mı́t déro suôze sînes euangelii. W ÁNTA bézzer sı́nt dîne spúnne démo uvîne. You stınchente. mı́t den bézˍ ˍzesten sálbon. Dı́v suôze dînero gr ati e̜. ı́st bézzera. dánne dîv scárfe déro legis. áls ı́z quît; Lex p er moysen data e st. ′ Gr ati a et veritas p er ih esu m christu m facta e st . Dı́v sélba gnâda ı́st gemı́sˍ ˍket mı́t uariis donis sp iritus san c t i. ′ Mı́t den dú máchost ex peccatoribus iustos. exˍˍ da m nandis remunerandos.
German translation:
He, whom I ask with my prayers, now kiss me; his future was revealed to me by the organs of the prophets. Now he should also find it worthy to be there, giving his kisses and speaking his sweet words.
Because your breasts surpass wine goblets. Its fragrance is sweet with precious ointments, your gentle grace softens the old law and justifies free of charge those whom the law commanded to punish. And those whom you anoint with your spiritual gifts increase your fame according to their sins.
He kisses me with the kiss of his mouth. Because your breasts are better than wine, thanks to the scent of the best ointments.
He kisses me with the kiss of his mouth. Often he promised me his arrival through the prophets, now he should come himself and kiss me with the sweetness of his gospel.
Because your breasts are better than wine, they, fragrant because of the best ointments. The sweetness of your grace is better than the severity of the law, as it is said: the law was given by Moses, grace and truth are made by Christ. This very grace is mixed with various gifts of the Holy Spirit, with which you make the sinners righteous and the damned gifted.
Editions and editions
- Bartelmez, Erminnie H. (Eds.). (1967). The "Expositio in Cantica Canticorum" by Williram Abbot of Ebersberg 1048-1085. A Critical Edition (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.
- Sanders, Willy (Ed.). (1971). (Expositio) Willerammi Eberspergensis Abbatis in Canticis Canticorum (Small German prose monuments of the Middle Ages. Book 9). Munich: Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
- Schützeichenel, Rudolf and Meineke, Birgit (eds.) (2001). The earliest record of Williram's Commentary on the Song of Songs. Edition. Translation. Glossary. (Studies on Old High German. Volume 39). (B. Meineke, ed.). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
- Lähnemann, Henrike and Rupp, Michael (eds.) (2004). Williram von Ebersberg. Expositio in Cantica Canticorum and the 'Commentarium in Cantica Canticorum' Haimos by Auxerre , ed. and translated by HL and MR, Berlin / New York: de Gruyter 2004.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Henrike Lähnemann and Michael Rupp: From the physicality of a ›belted text body‹. The ›Expositio in Cantica Canticorum‹ Willirams von Ebersberg in its tradition . In: Eckart Conrad Lutz (Ed.): Wolfram Studies . tape 19 . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, p. 95-116 .
- ^ Henning Reventlow et al .: Song of Songs . In: Theological Real Encyclopedia . B. 15. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1986, p. 499-514 .
- ↑ Kurt Gärtner: Williram von Ebersberg: 'Hoheliedkommentar'. In: Manuscript Census. Retrieved August 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Kurt Gärtner: On the manuscripts with the German commentary part of the 'Song of Songs' commentary by Williram von Ebersberg . In: Volker Honemann and Nigel Palmer (eds.): German manuscripts. 1100-1400. Oxford Colloquium 1985 . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1988, ISBN 3-484-10578-X , p. 1-34 .
- ↑ Rudolf Schützeichel and Birgit Meineke: The oldest tradition of Williram's commentary on the high song. Edition. Translation. Glossary. (Studies on Old High German) . B. 39. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-20354-3 , pp. 45 .