Haimons children
The Haimonskinder (also: Heymonskinder ) are a knightly heroic tale from the Carolingian sagas about the four sons of Count Haimon (Aymon) of Dordogne ( Dendermonde ) and his wife Aja (sometimes also Vorsie, the sister of Charlemagne). Their names are Adelhard (Allard, Adelaert), Ritsart (Richard, Risaert), Witsard (Guichard, Writsaert) and Reinoldus (Reinhold, Renaut, Reinhout) von Montalban (de Montauban ).
The story of the saga
It is a powerful tale of the adventures of the four Haimons children from the area of the stories about Charlemagne . The story has spread internationally, with texts from France , the Netherlands , England , Scandinavia , Italy , Spain , Flanders and Portugal in many variants and languages, and depending on the respective circumstances, especially in the Renaissance to well into that 19th century, adapted. This literature of the High Middle Ages was decisively promoted by the invention of the printing press and its knightly heroes are comparable to those from the Arthurian tradition .
At the beginning of this long-handed tradition is the old French verse novel (heroic song) Renaut de Montauban (German Reinhold v. Montalban) from the late 12th century, or one of the few identified French chanson de geste ( La Chanson de Quatre Fils Aymons ; im 15th century prose versions ; first French prints: Lyon around 1480; Paris 1506). A dispute between the emperor and his vassal , the resistance of powerful noble families of the Carolingian empire - here Haimon of Dordogne and his family, who swore vassal loyalty to King Karl - against the centralization efforts of Charlemagne, who formed the Carolingian empire, is depicted with epic motifs from the Middle Ages initiated in the 8th century, and its ruling family.
But loyalty to the king clashes with family interests: Haimon took Karl's sister as his wife and swore a solemn oath to kill the children who arise from this connection. And so the birth of the four sons is kept a secret. This means that the original book belongs to the group of 'rebellious gestures' of the Karlskreis ( Isenhart , Raoul de Cambrai , Goromont, etc.), in which traitors and rebels stand against Charlemagne, but ultimately have to acknowledge their injustice. Years of fighting for honor and revenge, brutal armed violence and counter-violence as well as turmoil between Karl and Haimon, his archenemy, and other people are spreading more and more. The book is thus also implicitly shaped by the efforts to renovate and strengthen the French monarchy under the early Capetians , particularly Philip II Augustus (1180–1223), against the nobility fighting for priority.
content
The focus of this heroic poem are the four sons of the vassal, the so-called "Haimons children", and their fate. They are putting the very existence of the whole country at risk with extreme means. The spiral of violence turns faster and faster and in larger circles. They receive support from their cousin Malegys (French: Maugis), who knows how to use magic, and who can rescue them from hopeless situations.
The wonder steed of the Haimons children, Bayard, a huge, snorting horse, can also withstand supernatural exertions, has extraordinary strength and endurance, and thanks to its enormous speed it is able to compensate for the practical inferiority of the Haimon sons in battles again and again. The son Reinhold, the strongest of the four brothers, had tamed this horse after a long struggle. Bayard is then unconditionally obedient to his master until he gives himself up. In some variations of the legend it also has magical powers and can stretch to a required length as required.
When the four sons were invited to a festival at the court of Charlemagne, Reinhold cut off the head of his cousin Ludwig, the emperor's son. Powerless in the ensuing battle with the followers of Charlemagne, the four brothers ride the giant horse to their parents' seat, Montelbaen Castle (Montauban). Even with the four grown brothers on his back, Bayard cannot be caught. Bayard repeatedly saves their lives on their runs and in battles. Her father had since been captured by King Karl and was only to be released if the wonder horse Bayard died.
Although King Charles is wrong and reacts inappropriately, the right to rule rests with him. In the end he has the upper hand over the sons. Your horse will be drowned. At the confluence of the Dender and Schelde or the Meuse, a millstone is thrown into the water, but the horse can free itself from its load and swims to the bank. When it is driven into the water again and Reinhold turns away from it, it drowns out of grief over the lost attention of its master. Reinhold renounces the advantages of a nobility. He made a pilgrimage as a penitent together with his uncle to the Holy Land as miles christianus to fight the pagans and worked as an ordinary worker in the construction of Cologne Cathedral . In the end, he was killed by hostile builders there. Even after death he works a variety of miracles , including a. at the transfer of his body to Dortmund . - Later he will be canonized .
Impact history
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Heinz_Klein-Arendt-1.jpg/170px-Heinz_Klein-Arendt-1.jpg)
One of the numerous successful versions of this theme is a Middle Low German prose transmission from 1474, when there was interest in the legend of the 12th century. But the interest continued for a long time. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe teasingly called his mother "Frau Aja" and "Aja", that is how the mother of the four Haimons children, who is the sister of Charlemagne and who courageously saved her sons from their father's revenge, is also called in a popular book at the time . During this time, folk books about the four Haimons children enjoyed great popularity in Western and Central Europe .
Even today, authors / artists are still working on the subject: De vier Heemskinderen by Belgian choreographer Maurice Béjart is one of the last adaptations. In a procession in which a nearly five-meter-tall wickerwork horse is carried through the streets of Dendermonde by twelve men, the legend of the giant horse Bayard and the four Haimons children have been remembered since 1461. This privilege is only granted to Dendermond brothers whose parents are genuine Dendermond, and this is a condition for the selection of the Haimons children to take part in the Ros Beiaardommegang .
In front of the Geilenkirchener Strasse school in Cologne-Braunsfeld , the bronze sculpture The Four Haimons Children by the sculptor Heinz Klein-Arendt has been a reminder of the legend since 1969 . The sculpture shows the four Haimons children on their miraculous steed Bayard.
Pieter Jansz Saenredam , Dutch painter of the 17th century, painted an interior representation of the church in Utrecht in 1644, in which the Haimons children are drawn by a boy on a column.
List of German arrangements and new creations
- Auguste Lechner : The rider on the black stallion . Tyrolia GmbH, Innsbruck 1969.
- Ludwig Bechstein : The Haimons children: a poem from the sagas of Charlemagne in four songs. Leipzig 1830.
- German folk books: selected and a. by Peter Suchsland. Text revision by Eva Weber. 3 Vols. Berlin 1968. (Library of German Classics.) Vol. 3: Historia by Doctor Johann Fausten. Histori of the four Heymons children. Pp. 123-323.
- Helene Pagés (ed.): The German folk books: the four Heimons children. Essen 1918. (German estate, vol. 22.)
- Joseph von Eichendorff : The Heymons children . 1832 In: Joseph von Eichendorff: Complete works. Vol. 1: Table songs. No. 5. Leipzig 1864, pp. 333–334. quoted after: Joseph von Eichendorff: Works in six volumes. Edited by Wolfgang Frühwald, Brigitte Schillbach, Hartwig Schultz . Vol. 1: Poems, verses. Frankfurt a. M. 1987. (Library of German Classics, Vol. 21.) pp. 259-260.
- Ferdinand Frank: German people books. 2 vol. Vienna 1896–1898. (Jessen's Volks- und Jugendbibliothek, Vol. 109, 117.) Vol. 2: Haimonskinder. Duke Ernst.
- Ferdinand Frank: The four Haimons children. Vienna 1921. (Reading treasure for German youth, vol. 13.)
- Lise Gast [d. i. Elisabeth Richter]: The Haimons children. Stuttgart 1950.
- History of the four Heymons children: especially St. Reinold, protector of the city of Dortmund. Fairly communicated according to old, credible history books. Frankfurt around 1850.
- The story of the four Heymons children. Arranged by Gangolf G. Wienert. Ravensburg 1986. (A German people's book.)
- Joseph Alois Gleich : The four Heymons children: a funny folk story with singing in four acts. The music is from Kapellmeister Tuczek. Vienna 1809.
- Very strange story of the four Heimons children Adelhart, Richart, Wichart and Reinold with their irrepressible horse Bajart, what miraculous heroic deeds they did against the heathen in the time of the German Emperor Charlemagne. Told the people again. Altötting around 1865.
- Gotthold Oswald Marbach: People's books . Vol. 9-10: Story of the four Heymons children. Story of the horned Siegfried. Leipzig 1838.
- Wilhelm Raible: The Heimons children . Reutlingen 1870.
- Heinrich August Ottokar Reichard : History of the four sons of Duke Aymon. Berlin 1780–1781. (Library of Novels, Vol. 6-7.) Vol. 6, pp. 7-46; Vol. 7, pp. 7-36.
- Pascal Reigniez: Cubzac et le château des Quatre Fils Aymon - Ethno-histoire d'un habitat en basse vallée de la Dordogne - (en français) . Les Indes Savantes, Paris 2009.
- Arno Reißenweber: The Haimons children . In: Arno Reißenweber: Selected knight sagas. (Keyser's Sagenbände, Vol. 3.) Heidelberg 1953, pp. 116-134.
- Severin Rüttgers (ed.): A beautiful and funny story about the four Haimons children and their horse Baiart, what knightly deeds they did in the time of Charlemagne. Retold from the German folk books by Gustav Schwab. Cologne 1907. (Schaffstein's folk books for the youth, vol. 45.)
- Friedrich Schlegel : Sankt Reinold. 1807. In: Leo von Seckendorf (ed.): Musenalmanach für das Jahr 1807. Regensburg 1807, pp. 98-102.
- Gerhard Schneider, Erwin Arndt: A nice and funny story of the four Heymons children and their horse Beyart: are also included here. the histories Hug Schapler, the horned Siegfried, Fortunatus (4 German folk books). Newly brought to light and translated into the language of today. Illustrated by Gerhard Gossmann. Berlin GDR 1958, pp. 49–224.
- A beautiful story of the four Heimons children, Adelhart, Richart, Wichart and Reinold, with their horse Baiart, what heroic deeds they committed against the heathen in the time of Charlemagne, the first German emperor. To this is added: The life of St. Reinold, what miraculous signs he has done. Frankfurt a. M. 1845. (German Folk Books, Vol. 9.)
- Ottmar Schönhuth , Friedrich Heinrich: The history of the four Heymons children, very lovely and graceful to read. Decorated with beautiful figures. Newly told for young and old. Reutlingen 1848.
- Karl Simrock : The German folk books: produced according to the oldest editions [in 58 volumes]. Vol 9: A beautiful story of the four Heimons children with their horse Baiart. To which is attached: The life of Heil. Reinold. [Berlin, from vol. 6] Frankfurt a. M. 1845.
- Ludwig Tieck : Poems. New edition. Berlin 1841, p. 275: Haymons children.
- Ludwig Tieck: The story of the Haimons children in twenty old Franconian pictures. 1796.
- Heinz Kindermann (Hrsg.): People's books on dying knighthood. (German literature. Series of Volks- und Schwankbuch, Vol. 1.). Weimar / Leipzig 1928, pp. 262–283, 286: The Haimons children. (Reprint. Darmstadt 1974, ISBN 3-534-02904-6 )
- Konrad Walther, Paul Lindner, Hans Erdmann: The four Heymons children. The beautiful Magelon. Fortunat and his sons: for the youth arr. Leipzig 1892.
- Franz Wiesenberger: The four Heymons children: an old legend from the German folk books retold by Gustav Schwab. Selected for the youth. Linz 1907. (Jugendschriften, Vol. 39–40.)
- Selected after Karl Simrock and edited by Anne Geelhaar: "The Haimons children" in "The horned Siegfried and other folk books" with illustrations by Gerhard Gossmann. 1956 The children's book publisher Berlin, 1st edition, license no. 304-270 / 52 / 56- (20) DDR
- Ruth Westermann: The Haimons children. In: Wolfgang Stammler (ed.): The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author's Lexicon ... Vol. 2, Leipzig 1936, Col. 149–152.
- Robert Ruprecht: The Haimons children. In: Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon: biographical-bibliographical handbook by Wilhelm Kosch. 3. Edition. Vol. 7, Bern / Munich 1979, Col. 158-159.
- Bob Duijvestijn, W. Th .: On the source of the early New High German "Reinolt von Montelban" (cpg. 340): a statement. In: Amsterdam Contributions to Older German Studies. Amsterdam. 27 (1988) pp. 103-110.
- Anne Amend: Haimons children. In: Harenberg's Lexicon of World Literature. Vol. 2, Dortmund 1989, p. 1233.
- Bea Lundt: The “Haimons Children” in Dortmund: European storytelling tradition in a regional context. In: Forgotten Times: Middle Ages in the Ruhr Area. Vol. 2, Essen 1990, pp. 177-183.
Settings
- Michael William Balfe : The four Haimons children. Comic opera in three acts. (Libretto by Adolphe de Leuven ).
- Johann Strauss : The four Haimons children. Quadrille on popular motifs from the opera “The Four Haimons Children”. (op.69, Instrumentation: 1 + 1,1,2,1 / 2210 TIMP STR; String Count: 4.4.3.2.2)
Research literature
- Beate Weifenbach: 'Die Haimonskinder' in the version of the Aarau manuscript from 1531 and the Simmern print from 1535. A contribution to the transmission of French narrative material in medieval and early modern literature. Vol. 1: Introduction to the European Haimons Child Tradition. Vol. 2: Retelling (paraphrasing edition) with commentary and concordance on all (!) Surviving text witnesses. (Dissertation FU Berlin 1992-97). Publication of the dissertation in the science publisher Peter Lang, Ffm u. a. 1999, ISBN 3-631-35873-3 .
- Irene Spijker: Aymijns kinderen high couple: a study about Renout van Montalbaen en de franse Renaut-traditie. Lost, Hilversum 1990, ISBN 90-6550-235-1 .