Slâfest you, peace adorn
The poem Slâfest du, friedel ziere is probably the first song of the genre Tagelied on German-speaking soil and was written by Dietmar von Aist . The time of origin of the Middle High German song is controversial, but research is based on 1170/80. The song is about the separation of two lovers at daybreak.
Original text and translation
| original | Translation according to Schweikle | Translation to Rohrbach |
|
“Slâfest you, friedel decorate? |
“Are you sleeping, dear friend? |
“Are you sleeping, beautiful friend? |
|
"I release something soft, |
"I fell asleep so gently |
"I fell asleep very easily, |
|
Diu frouwe started crying: |
The lady began to cry. |
The lady began to cry: |
Additional translation information
Str. 1 .: v. 1: friedel : lover; adorn : magnificent, glorious, beautiful; v. 2: wan : alem. Form of man; v. 3: well done : well designed; v.4: between : branch;
Str. 2 .: v. 2: kint : used here as a tender form of address; wâfen : elliptical exclamation for 'to arms', generally as an emergency, help, defense call;
Str. 3 .: v. 2: one : alone; v. 4: sant <samet , prep. with date: together with
Song form
The poem consists of three stanzas with four verses each. The stanza form consists of short line stanzas, rhymed in pairs with four levers and one five levers each as the final weighting. Thus the form of the poem is kept simple and accordingly described in research with little contradiction:
“The form of this three-verse song […] is simple. The four-line verses show no influence of the courtly canzone, the change of cadence between the 1st and 2nd pair of rhymes formally marks the stanza as a unit. ”
This form of poetry is not typical of Middle High German poetry despite or because of its simplicity.
“The short-lined pair rhymes are occasionally found in this phase of minstrel: the pair-rhymed four-lifter meets as a basic measure in lyrical and epic ahd. And early mhd. Poetry and in the mhd. Epic; in mhd. lyric poetry, apart from exceptions such as Walther's Reichstone von der Vogelweide, it usually only occurs in combination with other verse forms. "
To text criticism
Similar to the interpretative approaches, the textual criticism focuses primarily on verse 2 of the first stanza. This verse is analyzed differently by different authors:
"From Hermann Paul, who wanted to stick to the handwritten reading of the 2nd verse, to Günther Jungbluth, who - very impressively - wanted to replace this whole problematic line of set pieces from other day songs [... ] the arc of textual criticism is enough. ”
Hermann Paul's idea of clinging to the reading wan is generally considered to be out of date by research. It is accepted that wan stands for one as a variant . Siewerts also assumes:
“The handwriting and also the edition in Des Minnesangs Frühling offer the reading wan . This word received two different interpretations. While one, based on Hermann Paul, would like to see the adversative particles (but it) in wan , the other, following Wilhelm Scherer, understand wan as an Alemannic variant for man . (…) The second interpretation, wan as a variant of one is now generally accepted […]. "
Jungbluth emphasizes most consistently that only the second interpretation or that wan can be read as a variant for one :
" It cannot be doubtful at all that the traditional wording of v. 39.19f. admits only the second interpretation; alone - and decisive "
Although the research seems to be in agreement on this point, it is also one of textual criticism difficult to justify, especially since its function is questionable. For Jungbluth it is almost impossible that one refers to a guardian or the bird, since both would represent an absolute special case. Under this condition one would be without function, which also seems impossible. Jungbluth therefore assumes that the poem, and above all the verse in question, was not passed on in its original version, and that it was not available in this original version.
“Is Dietmar's Tagelied a special case? Or should - a question to which the above observations seem to justify - the special and unusual be based solely on an error in tradition, through which we have allowed ourselves to be blocked from understanding this song correctly for almost a century? ”
For example Schweikle supports in relation to Dietmar's Tagelied has this view:
Since Dietmar's song corpus “[…] shows formal improvements which, according to the research, should come from the writers, then why were there no such improvements in this poem, completely when they are so obvious , as G. Jungbluth […] assumes. “
Jungbluth believes in a change of the original by the editor and would like v. 39:19 using a typical formula from other songs for the dawn of the day.
"[...] as I imagine the song in its original form:
'Slâfest you, peace adorn?
I wæn ez taget and sheer:
a vogellîn sô wol getân
daz is the linden at daz two. ' [...] "
In this version, it is neither the bird nor a suspicious guardian that forces the lovers to wake up and separate. The day and possibly the formula liep âne leit mac niht sîn are the main reasons for separation in this version.
"Everything seems to be right now, if I see it correctly. The song is no longer haunted by the - strangely silent - watchman, nor is it the bird on the linden branch [...] that wakes the lovers out of sleep. Rather, the bird is only a sign of the graying day, which inexorably beckons goodbye. "
Content structure
The content and theme of the poem, the lovers parting at dawn, corresponds to the Alba in Provencal minstrelsong. Thus, apart from the guards who are not clearly present, the content corresponds to the German Tagelied.
The song is mainly structured in a dialogical way:
“In the first stanza the woman speaks to her lover, in the second stanza the man answers her, and finally, in the last stanza, only the first verse is narrative. In the following three verses, the lady cries and complains directly about her being abandoned. ”
Research disagrees on the content of the song, which is why the woman wakes the man: because of a warning from a guard, the presence of the bird or because of the beginning Day. De Boor clearly assumes the absence of a guard, but emphasizes the 'green' environment through the linden tree and the bird:
“[...] it can be registered with certainty that this song is singing about a love encounter in the green, that the court guard is singing [...] plays no role and that the adulterous love affair of the courtly-aristocratic diaries by no means imposes itself, is not even probable. With bird, linden tree and love in the green you are on the comprehensive level of medieval erotic poetry [...] on which the Alba could also unfold and unite. ”
The relationship between the two lovers is therefore probably not a moral one and the poem emphasizes the roles of two lovers not as a hierarchical, but as a personal-erotic relationship.
interpretation
The interpretation of the song focuses primarily on the first verse, which should provide information about whether a guard appears in the song or not. Siewerts sums up the possibilities of the interpretations for the song according to handwriting (C):
“[…] however, the hermeneutical spirits differ in the person of the guard, whose peculiar artificiality represents a kind of generic signal. (...) Is there a guardian in Dietmar's song and if so, where can you find it? Man (verse 2) and / or vogellîn (verse 3, 1st stanza) - this is how the discussion can be reduced to the essentials. To clarify, the four interpretative approaches are briefly summarized again.
1. The guardian hides in the indefinite pronoun man - the business cycle man / wan is assumed as given and the guardian is radically reduced.
2. The vogellîn takes on the role of guardian and thus becomes the enemy of lovers. However, a precise examination of the Middle High German text shows that the bird does not even move its beak at any point, it just sits in the linden tree [...].
3. Man and vogellîn are identical, the woman that goes with her warning to wekt us assume that the bird will sing soon.
4. There is no guard, because the song was written too early to be allowed to contain a guard, or it is irrelevant with regard to a genre expectation of the audience where and whether a guard exists. The only decisive factor is the typical day song situation. ”
The second and third interpretive approaches have been discussed but are the most unlikely according to research. Jungbluth, for example, clearly distances itself from the third interpretation approach , that one and vogelîn are identical, and at least affirms the first interpretation
approach for the handwriting (C): “This again raises the old question of who is meant by one. But certainly not, as some have assumed, the Voglein on the linden branch [...]. (...) If this possibility of connection is ruled out, the verse as it stands before our eyes can absolutely only refer to the guardian [...]. ”
However, Jungbluth emphasizes that a guardian who is only introduced by one is hardly possible seems.
“Nevertheless, serious concerns have been reported, namely the fact that v. 39:19 one can only justifiably relate to the guardian who gives cause for critical considerations. (...) [...] it remains unsatisfactory that the guard is only introduced through the indefinite one ; even for this one will look in vain for parallels in the history of the courtly day song. ”
Siewerts herself, as she already indicated above, does not assume a vogellîn who takes on the role of guardian. The bird is mute and, in connection with the linden branch, embodies the symbolism of love as it was well known.
"[...] in Dietmar's text precisely the inactivity of the bird in combination with the love tree - the vogellîn does not sing, but has only settled on the linden branch - as a clearly set symbol on the one hand for the genre 'love song' and on the other hand for them Love itself can be understood. ”
The question of whether the first or fourth interpretation approach that Siewerts describes is correct cannot be answered even in the latest research. The importance of this question arises mainly because the presence of the guard influences the question of genre and origin.
To tradition
The song Slâfest du friedel ziere is handed down in the Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (C):
“In the Weingartner Liederhandschrift (B) and in the Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (C) 45 stanzas of his oeuvre are handed down, of which the minnesang research only about a quarter as undoubtedly genuinely identified. The song Slâfest du friedel ziere , only handed down in C, has a unique value, not only in relation to the poet's oeuvre, but also in the medieval discussion of daily songs. ”
Even defining the time of the poem's origin is difficult and could not be fully answered. If one assumes that the poem comes from Dietmar, then it must have been written before 1171, the presumed year of death of the poet:
“The dating of perhaps the oldest German day song, attributed to Dietmar von Aist , is controversial (perhaps 1170/80). “
Since we can classify 'Dietmars Lied' based on its content in terms of time, the time it was created can definitely shift according to research results on interpretation.
“An approximate classification of the poet in the history of minnesong is only possible on the basis of the form and content of his work.” The use of
rhymes and song manuscript are also not very informative:
“The tradition is known to be very disparate among the author, Mr Dietmar von Aist (C) Pieces that are very early and also very late have been brought together, and in any case one cannot expect sufficient information about the presumed time of song 39.18. Nor does the use of rhyme grant us a clear decision about early or late. ”
An example of the fact that the interpretation of the poem is decisive for the dating of the time of origin concerns the presence or absence of the guardian.
“[...] with due caution, which the scanty material suggests, one can say that the presence or absence of this motif (of the guard) is an important criterion for the time when the monument in question was written. If the motif (of the guard) is represented in Dietmar, this determination would therefore very likely necessitate a later dating than the traditional one. ”
According to research, the motif of the guard was introduced in Germany much later than one called 'Dietmar's song 'previously arranged in time.
"However, if Dietmar's Tagelied already knows the Guardian, after the preliminary remark one would be forced to move the time of origin up by several decades [...]."
Since part of the research assumes that Wolfram was the first to use the Guardian as the motif of the Tagelied introduced in Germany, 'Dietmars Lied' would be considered a replica of Wolfram's songs.
“The Tagelied 39:18, on the other hand, is very likely to be based on Wolfram's example, as I hope to be able to prove soon.”
Jungbluth assumes that the guardian in Dietmar's Tagelied makes you present, but only because editors are decades after it was written of the original, where there was no guardian, rewritten the relevant verses so that a guardian must be present. These corrections are the main reason why the research was never quite finished with the song:
“It just turns out that the editor used a motive to heal a corruption that we can hardly assume for Dietmar - the introduction of the ' Wächter'motivs establishes an anachronism and gives the song in its traditional form the character of a hermaphrodite. Ultimately, this finding is probably the reason why research can never really come to terms with Dietmar's Tagelied ; the absurdity that clings to the version in C does not allow any ingenious resolution. "
Classification
The genre classification of the song is highly controversial. It has long been assumed that Dietmar's Tagelied is the first representative of the German Tagelied and thus belongs to the genre of the Tagelieder. However, the assumption is more and more controversial in recent research, as some researchers do not accept the song Slâfest du friedel ziere as a complete day song . The arguments for and against the classification of the song as part of the day songs are given briefly. Before that, two essential quotes for the definition of the day song, so that the reader can get an idea for himself.
“'Tagelieder' are monological or dialogical role poems with optional narrative parts. The initial situation and the course of action are characteristic: A pair of lovers [mostly knight and lady] wakes up after spending the night together. The break of day, often announced by a watchman's wake-up call, brings about the separation that the lovers have lamented with the risk of discovery. All persons involved can act as speakers. "
“The typical day song , as it has always remained valid, is based on an epic situation, the moment when the watchman's day call tears the secret lovers out of the happiness of the night of love and forces them to say goodbye. Three people, introduced epically, enter into mutual speeches: the woman, the man and the guard. "
The advocates of the opinion that the song is a day song refer to the typical situation of the day song of two lovers separating at daybreak. De Boor sums up this point of view as follows:
“The day song developed from an epic situation, the parting of two lovers at dawn after the night of love, has its first and one of his most tender representatives at Dietmar.”
Schweikle and Siewerts, for example, share this assessment . Schweikle says in relation to Dietmar's song:
“The oldest day song of the mhd. Lyric.”
And Siewerts writes:
“It was only recently, after heated debates, that an agreement was reached to evaluate the text as a 'real' creation by Dietmar Rank of the first representative of the genre Tagelied on German-speaking soil “
It can be heard, however, that those who are against assigning the song to the Tageliedern make good and valid arguments. Thus, the missing role of the guard in Dietmar's song is pointed out, although the definitions of the day song given above do not name the guard as an absolute generic feature. Nevertheless it is an essential motif of the genre Tagelied, which in Germany probably only finds its place in Wolfram's Tagelieder. Regarding the situation of the separation of the lovers at dawn in Dietmar's song, De Boor writes:
“All this is at most a prelude or echo of the day song , not a real replica of the Alba . Now, with Wolfram, the real day song with watchman and farewell speeches suddenly appears five times. So the idea was obvious to see in him the creator of the German Tagelied. ”
De Boor also has the consideration of removing Dietmar's song from the succession of the Alba. In addition to the missing watchman, the song also lacks any indication of the love situation:
“The“ day song ”Dietmar von Aist (39.18) does not know the figure of the watchman; for the bird on the branch of the linden tree is not a poetic substitute for the waking watchman, but a sign of the dawning day. The delicate poem lacks any direct indication of the sensual situation; it is solely a matter of the mood of the separation problem , of the knowledge: liep âne leit mac niht gesîn . It seems to me conceivable to keep this song completely out of the succession of the Provencal Alba and to develop it from the preconditions of the Danubian love poem. ”
In addition, according to Rohrbach, it is not even valid that it is the break of day that forces the lovers to part. Rohrbach argues that the separation is an act of will on the part of the man, which is carried out due to personal differences with the woman:
"The most important difference is the position of the lovers towards themselves. What separates here is not [...] the day [...] - she rather weeps over the will of her lover. ”
The classification of the song in a genre is therefore still open. The essential question of whether the song corresponds to a day song has not yet been answered satisfactorily. In order to be able to answer the question of the genre, it must first be determined whether Dietmar does not actually have a guard, whether the presence of the guard is a genre requirement, whether the day separates the lovers, and whether there is no hint of the sensual situation at Dietmar is. Perhaps that is why Rohrbach only classifies the song roughly in terms of literary history.
"In terms of literary history [...] this text could be identified as evidence of the transition from early Middle High German to courtly poetry."
Relationship between man and woman
The relationship between the two lovers in Dietmar's Tagelied is not a hierarchical one, but above all a personal one. It is not two different institutions that determine the scene, but the inner constellation of the relationship. This can be seen in the man's address:
“It is not - as in the high minnesang - mistress and servant act, so no social roles, but two people. The relationship presented is therefore not an individual one, but a personal one. This continues in the salutation 'kint', which the man thinks of the woman. The 'vriundin' refers again to the intimate nature of the relationship, while the reporter draws it with the courtly 'vrouwe'. ”
The 'vrouwe' with which the narrator names the woman and the 'wafen' with which the woman assigns the man seems to awaken, but suggests that knights and possibly courtly lady associate here. The relationship between the two lovers nevertheless remains personal and does not address this. So it is only too natural, and as is typical for day songs, that love find its fulfillment. With Dietmar it is above all the woman who loves and complains:
"The woman, who Dietmar likes to portray as the speaker, is nowhere the failing mistress, everywhere still the lover."
If the relationship between the two is an erotic- is personal and is not determined by position, then this does not rule out a power relationship. The research was mainly interested in whose will in the poem determines the situation and ultimately leads to separation. It is usually not assumed that the day or a warning guard forces the separation:
“The most important difference is the position of the lovers towards themselves. What separates here is not […] the day […] - rather, she weeps over the will of her lover. ”
According to Rohrbach, it is the will of the man that determines the situation, because it is his will that brings about the separation. He also justifies this with verses 10 and 11:
“The emphasis 'you' thus expresses that, at least according to the judgment of the woman, a separation is not necessary. Rather, this arises from the fact that the man wants it that way, which is why she immediately asked the question:
if you want to come back to me? “
De Boor sees it differently, who, with reference to verse 8, emphasizes that the man is bound to the will of the woman:
“ [...] of the man's binding to the will of the woman [knows] the song of the day 39:18 (swaz you give up, I'll do it, friendin mîn) . ”
It can be assumed that De Boor gives this verse more importance than the closing verse, because he does not see the reason for separation as a personal decision of the lover or the man.
Similarly, De Boor shares the idea that the woman determines the situation. However, it is difficult to understand and even without justification:
“It should be noted that the woman's voice has much more weight than that of the man […]. The words of the man in this song are, as secondary invaders in the women suit and they also have content not the meaning of the words of the woman. "
But well founded Abstract argued Obermaier that the woman is not necessarily a higher value than the man, but alone by waking the sleeping man it is of great value. In this context, sleep had negative connotations in the Middle Ages , while being awake had positive connotations.
“In general, the idea of sleep as a time of being at risk belongs to the everyday experience of medieval people”.
The wakeful woman contrasts this with:
“It is […] the insomnia of someone who keeps watch and at the given time the partner who confides in her awakens. In this sense, the 'awake' woman is actually the 'awake' woman in whose care the 'sleeping' man - despite the great danger - has placed himself; and as a 'watchful' woman she is not only master of the situation, but also mistress and guardian of their love for both of them. ”
In this sense, it is above all the woman who determines the situation. Overall, research does not seem to be quite unanimous on the question of the couple relationship in this day song.
literature
- The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon. Volume 1. Stammler, Wolfgang (ed.) Walter de Gruyter Berlin and Leipzig 1933.
- Weimar, Klaus [u. a.]. Real Lexicon of German Literary Studies: revision of the Real Lexicon of German literary history. [3. Ed.] De Gruyter Berlin [u. a.] 1997-2003
- The German-language poetry of the Middle Ages. In: Deutsche Philologie im Aufriß, 2nd revised edition, Vol. 2, 1960. Col. 69
- German poetry of the Middle Ages, 1962. p. 240
- Rohrbach, Gerdt. Studies to research the Middle High German day song. A socio-historical contribution. Kümmerle-Verlag Göppingen 1986 Introduction pp. 1–18
- De Boor, Helmut. History of German Literature Nd. 2: Die Höfische Literatur, 1955. pp. 26-29, 246-331
- Schweikle, Günther. The early Minne lyric: texts and transcriptions, introduction and commentary. Knowledge Buchges. Darmstadt 1977. pp. 152f, 388f, 404f
- Obermaier, Sabine. Who is watching Who sleeps? : 'Gendertrouble' in the day song of the 15th and 16th centuries. In: German love poetry in the 15th and 16th centuries Rodopi Amsterdam [u. a.] 2005. pp. 119-145
- Siewerts, Ute. Rilke's translation of the Middle High German day song 'Slâfest du friedel ziere?'. In: Rilke Perspektiven Bücken & Sülzer Overath 2004. pp. 126–138
- Jungbluth, Günther. To Dietmar's day song. In: Festschrift Pretzel. Edited by V. Werner Simon [u. a.] E. Schmidt, Berlin 1963 pp. 118-127
Footnotes
- ↑ Schweikle, Günther: pp. 152–155
- ^ Rohrbach, Gerdt: p. 1
- ↑ See German poetry of the Middle Ages: p. 240 and Schweikle, Günther: p. 404
- ↑ See Schweikle, Günther: p. 389
- ↑ See Schweikle, Günther: p. 404
- ↑ a b De Boor, Helmut: p. 29
- ↑ a b Schweikle, Günther: p. 389
- ↑ De Boor, Helmut: p. 27
- ^ Siewerts, Ute: p. 130
- ↑ a b c Jungbluth, Günther: p. 120
- ↑ See "Interpretation"
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 121
- ↑ a b c Schweikle, Günther: p. 404
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 122
- ↑ I only mention the changes in the first stanza or v.19. The other changes can be found in Jungbluth p. 127
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 127
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 123
- ^ Siewerts, Ute: p. 131
- ↑ De Boor, Helmut: p. 28
- ^ Siewerts, Ute: p. 132
- ↑ Jungbluth already indicates here that he doubts the originality of the poem (C).
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 120 f.
- ↑ Jungbluth traces this dead end of the interpretation back to errors in the transmission of the text.
- ^ Siewerts, Ute: p. 133
- ↑ a b Siewerts, Ute: p. 129
- ^ Wallner, Anton: In: VL: p. 415
- ↑ Ranawaka, Silvia: In: RLW: 578
- ^ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 118
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 119
- ↑ The German-Language Poetry of the Middle Ages: Col. 69
- ↑ Jungbluth, Günther: p. 125
- ↑ Ranawaka, Silvia: In: RLW: S. 577
- ↑ De Boor, Helmut: p. 328
- ↑ De Boor acknowledges Dietmar's song that it was the first to portray the epic situation mentioned in Germany, but argues against a clear classification of the song as part of the daily songs, also because of the lack of a guard.
- ↑ a b De Boor, Helmut: p. 247
- ↑ a b De Boor, Helmut: p. 329
- ↑ a b Rohrbach, Gerdt: p. 5
- ↑ It should be mentioned that in one of the so-called Wolframs Taglieder (Ez taget) the guardian is not there, even if he is aware.
- ↑ a b Rohrbach, Gerdt: p. 2
- ^ Rohrbach, Gerdt: p. 4
- ^ De Boor, Helmut: p. 246
- ↑ Obermaier, Sabine: pp. 119–145
- ^ Obermaier, Sabine: p. 125
- ^ Obermaier, Sabine: p. 127
- ↑ Obermaier sees a parallel to the Minnekanzone in this pair constellation . The man in his sleep, completely surrendering himself in the daily song of the woman, corresponds to the servant and the awake woman who rules the situation corresponds to the maiden lady . (See Obermaier, Sabine: p. 141f)