Otfrid von Weißenburg

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Relief image of Otfrids von Weißenburg in Wissembourg

Otfrid von Weißenburg (* around 790, † 875 ), seldom also written Otfried , is the first Old High German poet known by name . The southern Franconian dialect used in his writings suggests that the author came from the south of today's Palatinate . The most important place for his training and his work was Weißenburg ; the city, which today belongs to France as Wissembourg , is located in northern Alsace directly on the border with the southern Palatinate .

Life

As a monk , theologian and scholar, Otfrid was an important figure in the East Franconian empire of the late Carolingian ruler Ludwig the German ; the grandson of Charlemagne ruled from 840 to 876. From Otfrid's youth we only know that he was given  into the care of the Weissenburg Monastery in the town of the same name in early childhood as puer oblatus -  Latin for "(God) offered boy" to embark on a religiously determined career. Around the year 830 he completed a study visit to the Fulda monastery with Rabanus Maurus , the great Franconian scholar and abbot who held office in Fulda from 822 to 841/842. In 830 Otfrid was ordained a priest.

Probably Otfrid was later active in a prominent position in the so-called court orchestra of the king; From around 847 he stayed in Weißenburg again, where he appeared as a ( document ) writer , librarian , exegete and grammar teacher .

Works

The Heidelberg manuscript from Otfrid's Gospel Book (Heidelberg, University Library, Cpl 52), f. 19 BC

From the pen of Otfrid comes an Old High German Bible epic , the Gospel Book (Latin Liber evangeliorum ). The epic, written in the South Rhine-Franconian dialect, is divided into five books and 140 chapters with a total of 7104 long lines . It is the largest complete work of the Old High German language; It is a paradigmatic testimony to Carolingian erudition, the (ongoing) biblical narrative sections are followed by detailed interpretative chapters anchored in the tradition of allegorical scriptural interpretation. The work is based on a complex number structure. At the same time the work pursues the intention of an immediate mediation of salvation for the reader; Here the Gospel Book is probably inspired by the liturgical function of reading the Gospels, Otfrid's Liber Evangeliorum is conceived in analogy to the liturgical Gospel Book.

The gospel poetry has come down to us in four manuscripts ; the most extensive is the Heidelberg manuscript (Cod. pal. lat. 52), which also contains the Georgslied added later . Due to the dedications to Liutbert (863–876 Archbishop of Mainz) and Salomon (838 / 839–871 Bishop of Constance), the Gospel Book can be dated from 863 to 871.

Otfrid also wrote a number of Latin Bible commentaries that he had compiled from earlier commentaries.

meaning

It is important that Otfrid narrated the Gospel material in a language other than one of the three holy languages ​​( Hebrew , Greek , Latin ), namely in German (Franconian), and thus also pursued a linguistic-political intention. For linguistics , he is considered the "progenitor of German literature".

In his Gospel Harmony , a text summarizing the four Gospels, Otfrid introduced the Romance end rhyme instead of the old Germanic allotted rhyme and thus established a formal tradition that continues to this day. According to Otfrid, the final rhyme he uses is also called Otfridvers .

Commemoration

In Otfrid's likely region of origin, the Otfried-von-Weißenburg-Gymnasium in Dahn and the Collège Otfried in Wissembourg are named after him.

literature

expenditure

  • Matthias Flacius: Otfridi Evangeliorvm liber: ueterum Germanorum grammaticae, poeseos, theologiae, praeclarum monimentum. = Gospel book, in old-Franconian rhymes, described by Otfriden von Weissenburg, Münch zu S.Gallen before sibenhundred years: Now, however, with the favor of the strict, honorable Mr. Adolphen Herman Riedesel / Erbmarschalk zu Hessen / the old Teutschenspraach und Gottsforcht zuerlenen / made in truck . Petri, Basel 1571 ( google.co.uk ).
  • Schilter, Johann (ed.): Thesaurus antiquitatum Teutonicarum, ecclesiasticarum, civilium, letterariarum . 1. Monumenta Ecclesiastica Christiana Veterum Francorum & Alemannorum. Daniel Bartholomæus, Ulm 1728 ( archive.org ).
  • Hoffmann von Fallersleben, H. (Ed.): Bonner fragments from Otfried together with other German language monuments . C. von Bruch, Bonn 1821 ( google.co.uk [accessed April 24, 2017]).
  • EG Graff: Krist. The oldest High German poem written by Otfrid in the ninth century, critically edited after the three simultaneous manuscripts in Vienna, Munich and Heidelberg . Bornträger brothers, Königsberg 1831.
  • Johann Kelle: Otfrieds von Weissenburg Gospel Book . tape 1 : text, introduction, grammar, metric, comment . G. Joseph Manz, Regensburg 1856 ( archive.org ).
  • Oskar Erdmann: Otfrids Gospel Book . JCB Mohr, Halle / Saale 1882 ( archive.org ).
  • Paul Piper: Otfrids Gospel Book. With an introduction, explanatory notes and a detailed glossary . Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 1882 ( archive.org ).
  • Ludwig Wolff: Otfrids Evangelienbuch (=  Old German Text Library . Volume 49 ). 6th edition. Niemeyer, Tübingen 1973.
  • Wolfgang Kleiber : Otfrid von Weißenburg Gospel Book . Part 1: Edition based on the Heidelberg manuscript P (Codex Pal. Lat. 52) and the manuscript D (Codex Discissus: Bonn, Berlin / Krakau Wolfenbüttel) . Niemeyer, Tübingen 2004, ISBN 3-11-092124-3 .
  • Wolfgang Kleiber: Otfrid von Weißenburg Gospel Book. tape 1 : Edition according to the Vienna Codex 2687 , Part 2: Introduction and apparatus . Niemeyer, Tübingen 2006, ISBN 3-484-64051-0 .

Web links

Wikiquote: Otfrid von Weißenburg  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfgang Haubrichs: Ordo as form. Structural studies on number composition with Otfrid von Weißenburg and in Carolingian literature (Hermaea NF 27). Tübingen 1969; on the other hand Ernst Hellgardt: On the problem of symbol-determined formal aesthetic number composition in medieval literature. With studies on the quadrivium and the prehistory of medieval numerical thinking (MTU 45). Munich 1973.
  2. ^ Ulrich Ernst: The Liber Evangeliorum Otfrids von Weißenburg . Literary aesthetics and comprehension techniques in the light of tradition (=  Cologne German Studies . Volume 11 ). Cologne / Vienna 1975.
  3. ^ Nikolas van Essenberg: Ecce dedi verba mea in ore tuo . Thoughts on the liturgical staging of the 'Liber Evangeliorum' Otfrid von Weißenburg, based on a biblical-patristic re-reading of the 'Invocatio'. In: Journal for German Antiquity and Literature . tape 147 , no. 1 , January 1, 2018, ISSN  0044-2518 , p. 2–20 , doi : 10.3813 / zfda-2018-0001 .
  4. ^ Book of Gospels. In: Bibliotheca Palatina. University of Heidelberg, accessed on January 14, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Georgslied. In: Bibliotheca Palatina. University of Heidelberg, accessed on January 14, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Krischke: What does German mean here? Short history of the German language . CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-59288-1 , p. 35 .
personal data
SURNAME Otfrid von Weißenburg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Otfried von Weißenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Old High German poet
DATE OF BIRTH around 790
DATE OF DEATH 875