Muspilli

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Parts of the Muspilli at the lower edge on the manuscript from the possession of Ludwig the German

The Muspilli is next to the Hildebrandslied the only remaining extensive Old High German alliterative poetry , the form is however not maintained consistently, and there are also Endreime. The language of the Muspilli poem is Old Bavarian .

The work, created around 870, is recorded on some free pages and margins of a manuscript from the possession of Ludwig the German , the beginning and end have been lost. The text is in the manuscript Clm 14098, which is kept in the Bavarian State Library in Munich; it was discovered in 1817 and published for the first time by Johann Andreas Schmeller in 1832. The meaning of the word muspilli (in the text Dat. Sing. Muspille ) is unclear, the assumption that it means 'end of the world through fire' is preferred. Otherwise the word only appears in the Old Saxon Heliand and in the Old Norse Edda , see Muspell .

The first part of the poetry of the end of the world depicts the fate of man after death, in a second part it reports on the battle of the prophet Elias with the Antichrist and finally describes the Last Judgment .

The word Muspilli itself is a hapax legomenon in Old High German that has only been handed down once. It is therefore difficult to interpret, but some researchers associate it with the world fire in the Ragnarök legend of Norse mythology .

content

Angels and devils fight for the soul of the deceased (7). For a more detailed representation of where the soul then goes: description of hell and heaven (1–30).

End of the world after Elijah's battle with the Antichrist (31–72). All must appear, (36) then the ordal begins. Elias fights for God, the Antichrist for Satan. When Elias' blood drips onto the earth, the end of the world begins (50). This is followed by a kind of résumé on correct behavior, particularly with regard to bribery (64–72).

Last judgment is held and Jesus appears (73-103). The heavenly army invariably brings the living and the dead to court (84), where no one can hide anything (96). Those who are without guilt or who have atoned have nothing to fear (99). The cross of Christ is presented.

Translation:

“This is what I heard secular lawyers tell that the Antichrist would fight Elijah. The criminal is armed and a fight ensues between them. The fighters are so powerful, the point of contention is so significant. Elias fights for eternal life, he wants to fortify the kingdom of the righteous; therefore he who rules heaven will help him. The Antichrist stands next to the arch enemy, he stands with the Satanas who will submerge him. That is why he will fall wounded on the battlefield and be victorious on this (weapon) corridor. - But many clergymen believe that Elias will be killed in this fight. As soon as Elijah's blood drips onto the ground, the mountains catch fire, not a tree remains on the ground, the water dries up, the moor dries up, the sky swells in fire, the moon falls, 'Mittelgart' burns, not a stone remains. Then the day of punishment comes into the country, it comes with fire to visit people: no relative can help the other before the 'muspille'. If the broad (fire) rain sets everything on fire, and fire and air sweeps it (the universe) away completely, where is the marrow, since one always argues with one's relatives? The mark is burned, the soul is conquered, it doesn't know how to atone - that's how it goes to hell. "

- Franz Rolf Schröder, Die Germanen, Tübingen 1929

literature

Text output

Secondary literature

  • Heinz Finger : Research on "Muspilli". (= Göppingen work on German studies; Volume 244). (Zugl .: Köln, Univ., Diss., 1977), Göppingen 1977, ISBN 3-87452-400-0 .
  • Hans Jeske: On the etymology of the word "muspilli". In: Journal for German Antiquity. 135 (2006) pp. 425-434.
  • Herbert Kolb: Vora demo muspille. In: Journal for German Philology. 83/1964, pp. 3-33.
  • Wolfgang Laur: "Muspilli", a word from Christian and pre-Christian Germanic eschatology. In: Rolf Bergmann, Heinrich Tiefenbach, Lothar Voetz (eds.) In connection with Herbert Kolb, Klaus Matzel, Karl Stackmann: Old High German. Vol. 2: Words and Names. Research history . Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1987, ISBN 3-533-03877-7 . ( Germanic Library , New Volume 3. Investigations)
  • Wolfgang Mohr , Walter Haug : Twice "Muspilli". (= Studies on German Literature History; Volume 18). Tübingen 1977, ISBN 3-484-10283-7 .
  • Steinhoff, Hans-Hugo (1987). 'Muspilli', in Kurt Ruh et al. (Ed.): The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. 2nd edition. Vol. 6. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-022248-7 . cols. 821-828

Settings

  • Wilfried Hiller , Muspilli (1978) for baritone and instruments
  • Leopold Hurt , Muspilli (2002), oratorio for voices, instruments, choir, orchestra and tape. Text: based on the eponymous all-in-one rhyme poem and based on Galileo Galilei and Alfred Jarry
  • Dietmar Bonnen Muspilli (1994) for mixed choir and organ

Web links