Iringlied

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The Iringlied (also Iringsage ) is a hero song whose origin is believed to have originated in the early Middle Ages , possibly also in late antiquity . Of medievalists it is classified as "lost heroic legend" since the original text was not found until today. The assumption that the work must once have existed in the form of heroic-poetic verses is almost 200 years old and goes back to the literary scholar Jacob Grimm .

Lore

The most important source is the Res gestae Saxonicae , a chronology of the Saxon history of the monk Widukind von Corvey , written over 400 years after the events described . This "artfully composed text" led the historians' considerations to an even more elaborate model, which has been preserved up to that time in oral tradition or even as a written verse.

In the Quedlinburg Annals , the Irish legend finds another historical foundation. However, it is controversial whether the relevant section comes from 'independent' sources or was taken from the Res gestae Saxonicae, which was created 10 years earlier . The specific action is already strongly summarized here, and the events described in the corresponding section do not contain any information beyond the Saxon source.

The material is also mentioned in the world chronicle of the monk Frutolf von Michelsberg and the story of origin 'De Origine Gentis Swevorum', the story of the origin of the Swabians.

action

When Clovis, King of the Franks, died after many wars of conquest, he left four sons, of whom Dietrich was the eldest and held the empire together until the inheritance was divided. He sent messengers to Irmenfried , King of Thuringia, to ensure his friendship and to invite him to the hereditary meal of the new Frankish king. Amalaberga , Dietrich's sister and wife of the Thuringian, found out about this and called on the royal henchman and advisor Iring, "a man as clever and eloquent as he was bold as a lion" (translation by Gustav Neckel ). She reminded him of her relationship with the Franconian royal family - as Clovis' daughter, she was also entitled to a share in the inheritance - and sent Iring to King Irmenfried. Encouraged by the advice of his follower, Irmenfried spoke to the Frankish messengers that Dietrich should appear himself and buy the right of inheritance from his wife. The top envoy replied: "My Lord will come as you desire, King, and when his gold is not hard enough, so he puts you another mountain of Thuringia heads on the scales!" . When the Frankish king heard Irmenfried's words, he prepared for war and moved with his army to Thuringia .

Irmenfried hurried to meet the Franks with his troops, and after their meeting a battle broke out. After two days of fighting, the Saxons intervened as allies of Dietrich, and the Thuringians withdrew to the Veste Divorces on the Unstrut. Iring was sent to Dietrich as a negotiator to negotiate the terms of the surrender. However, the latter remained adamant, and it was only when Iring asked for protection from Dietrich's sister Amalaberga that the king was ready to make peace. The advisor made such a great impression on the Franconian that he asked him in a secret conversation if he wanted to be his servant. As a service for his grace, his gold and the numerous honors and goods, he demanded that Irmenfried be drawn out of his castle and beheaded as soon as he kneeled before Dietrich as a sign of defeat. Iring, who already regarded his king as a fallen man, reluctantly agreed. Using the trust of the Thuringian king, he let Irmenfried come to Dietrich's army camp in the belief that he was safe. There he cut off the head of his former master while he was on his knees to show his humility to the Frankish king. Dietrich immediately condemned the act in front of his men and said that no one would reward Iring for it. Iring defended himself with powerful words and weapons. He killed Dietrich, laid the body of Irmenfried over it and declared his king avenged. "And digging an alley with the sword, he went away."

Relation to the secured history

Coat of arms of the Thuringian kings according to the register of Saxony (1546)

The fall of the Thuringian Empire is dated to the year 531. Its immediate cause is seen in a lost war against Franks. A lost battle on the banks of the Unstrut seems to have been particularly decisive for this , although it is disputed whether the Saxons were involved in the conflict at all. Likewise, the Veste Divorces is questioned as the venue for the fighting.

Dark green: Austrasia , east of it Thuringia

According to Gregory of Tours , Iring's king did not perish at the hand of his own servant, but was lured to Zülpich three years later under a pretext to negotiate with the Franconian Merovingians under Chlothar I and there he was thrown from the fortress walls. The historian notes: A nesquio quo ( Latin for 'you don't know from whom'). The uncertainty about the murderer and by understanding's then un honorable circumstances of Herminafrieds death may have favored the legend.

Immediately after the death of Clovis, Theuderic I secured the existence of the entire Frankish Empire. After the division of the estate, he received the eastern part of the then Franconian Empire bordering on the Kingdom of Thuringia (later called ' Austrasia ') and needed the support of his half-brother Chlothar I in order to be able to lead a campaign. The cause of the war is also inspired by Theuderich I's origins: In his speech to Irmfried, Iring calls him a “maid's son” and “serf”. He is alluding to Theuderich's mother, who, unlike Chrodechild , the mother of his three half-brothers, was not a noblewoman.

Amalaberga was not the sister of Theuderic I, but the niece of Theodoric the Great . Herminafried therefore had no claims to the Frankish crown through her, but to the assistance of the Ostrogoths ruling Italy, who were ruled by her cousin Amalasuntha .

Parallels to the Nibelungenlied

Both in the High Medieval Song of the Nibelungs and in the arrangement by Friedrich Hebbel , the warriors Iring and Irnfrit or Iring and Thuringia play a role in the battle at the court of the Hun King, in the original medieval version as an ally of Etzel and thus also of Dietrich, namely King Dietrich von Bern , who in many interpretations is equated with Theodoric the Great.

Varia

Iring is one of the names of Asen Heimdall , the god of protection and light in Germanic mythology . The Iringsweg , an old name for the Milky Way, is derived from this name .

A Frankish nobleman named Iring bequeathed to the monastery of Fulda in 822 - 150 years before the appearance of the Res gestae Saxonicae - the Iringsburg . This is located in the former border area of ​​the kingdoms of Thuringia and Franconia, depending on the historical view it could have been part of the Thuringian Empire and the Franconian nobleman thus the namesake of the Iring of the legend.

The Scandinavian Felix Genzmer attempted an epic (re-) construction and, using his knowledge of Old High German, wrote a 'modern' verse form of the song.

swell

  • Widukind von Corvey : Res gestae Saxonicae . Reclam, Stuttgart 1992 (Universal Library No. 7699).

literature

Fiction

  • Ingmar Werneburg : Iring's falcon. Radegundes lawsuit over Thuringia . A tragedy in five acts. Scidinge Hall Verlag Zurich, 2013

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Title page of a lecture at the University of Göttingen in the winter semester 2008/09
  2. ↑ Jakob Grimm: German Mythology, Volume 1, Göttingen, 1854, Dieterichsche Buchhandlung, p. 332
  3. ↑ Res Gestae Saxonicae , Chapters 9 (IX.) To 13 (X.III) of the first book, Latin language
  4. ↑ Book review by Klaus Graf about "Hilkert Weddige, heroic saga and tribal saga. Iring and the fall of the Thuringian Empire in historiography and heroic poetry"
  5. ↑ a b c Germanic-Romanic monthly, 2nd edition 1910 (PDF; 59.9 MB), pp. 12-13
  6. ↑ Nibelungen Manuscript C - Donaueschingen 63, verse 2083 ff. In: Website of the Badische Landesbibliothek. Badische Landesbibliothek , accessed on February 20, 2018 .
  7. ^ Felix Genzmer: Four old German hero songs. Darmstadt, 1953, Scientific Book Association 1953