heathen cults of the migration:

see Chapter I page 22 Chapter X page 349 and above page 399

 

the Edda (god legends):

see Chapter II page 88 Chapter VI pages 185, 187

 

gospel poetry of the monks:

a somewhat ambiguous reference; in many European vernacular literatures, Christian poetry appears among the earliest monuments of those literatures & pre-dated Bible translations by centuries.  Much Old Irish poetry was the work of Irish monks on religious themes.  One of the most famous gospel poets was Francis of Assisi, with his Canticle of the Sun (composed late 1224), written in an Umbrian dialect of Italian.

 

Siegfried:

see Chapter VI page 186 Chapter VIII page 268

 

Gudrun:

wife of Siegfried, major figure in Germanic heroic legend & literature.  In both German & Scandinavian traditions, she is the sister of the Burgundian king Gunther and marries the hero Siegfried.  She is mentioned in Gesta Danorum (written before 1208) by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus as well as in Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson (dated 1220).

 

Dietrich:

(aka Dietrich von Bern) legendary character based on the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great (454-526), ruling from Verona (Bern), forced into exile by the Huns; the legends of Dietrich are rooted in the high & late Medieval Holy Roman Empire as well as the Old Norse Thidrekssaga, (written using German sources).  Besides legends reflecting the historic Theodoric, many legends tell of Dietrich's battles against dwarfs, dragons, giants, & other mythical beings or other heroes such as Siegfried.  He also develops mythological attributes such as an ability to breathe fire, appears as a supporting character in other heroic poems (e.g. Nibelungenlied, 1200 AD) & is often referenced throughout medieval German literature as well as the Poetic Edda.

 

Wayland:

(aka Wayland the Smith), in Germanic mythology, a legendary master blacksmith, maker of weapons & armour, his story is told in the Poetic Edda and elsewhere; he is a smith who is enslaved by a king. Wayland takes revenge by killing the king's sons, he then escapes by crafting a winged cloak and flying away.

 

King Arthur…Percival:

Spengler refers to the works of Chrétien de Troyes (1135-1185), French poet & troubadour; his writing began the genre of Arthurian romance that became a significant strand of medieval literature.  He created the characters of Lancelot, Percival.  He shifts the focus from Arthur to the various Knights of the Round Table.  His wrote 5 major poems, 4 complete:  Erec & Enide (1170); Cligès (1176); Yvain, the Knight of the Lion & Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (both written 1177-81).   He was the first to mention the Holy Grail, in his final romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail (written 1181-90 but unfinished).  In the introduction to Cligès, he mentions his work about Iseult, presumably related to the legend of Tristan & Iseult, though Tristan is not named.  The sources for his romances are uncertain.  The earliest literary references to Arthur come from Welsh & Breton (Celtic) sources.  He may have read Geoffrey of Monmouth or Wace, or continental lore or possibly Welsh Romances associated with the Mabinogion.  The latter were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions.

 

Roland:

The Song of Roland was an epic poem (chanson de geste) based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass (778 AD), written in Old French, between 1040 and 1115;  t is the oldest surviving major work of French literature

 

the Passion-Story:

aka Passion Play or Easter pageant, dramatic presentation depicting the last week of the life of Christ (trial, suffering & death), part of the Latin Easter celebrations of Lent.  The earliest plays to have survived were in Tours; the Play of Adam is a late 12th-century liturgical drama with spoken text in Anglo Norman French but choral texts & stage directions in Latin; this is NOT a Passion Play but a dramatic representation of Adam & Eve, Cain and &Abel, and several prophets.  These are the origin of the Benedictbeurn & the Klosterneuburg Easter Play, dating from the 13th century.  The performances began as a reflection of faith & devotion but evolved & into displays of civic pride & pageantry; they also evolved away from Church liturgy & ritual towards drama & free translations of German hymns & verse.  In the 14th century they developed rapidly & reflect professional level polish.  From this period we have the Vienna, the St. Gall, the Maestricht, and the oldest Frankfort (1350–1381) Passions; all 4 in German.  They were now highly elaborate, lengthy (sometimes 2 days) dramatic productions.  Between 1400-1515 the Plays reach their pinnacle, many going beyond the Passion to include the whole world drama (the creation, all the way to the coming of the Holy Ghost).

 

hagiography:

a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, an adulatory and idealized biography.  The genre first came into being in the Roman Empire as legends about Christian martyrs were recorded; it was to become an important literary type in the early church.  In Western Europe in the  Middle Ages hagiography was one of the more important vehicles for the study of inspirational history.  The Golden Legend of Jacob de Voragine compiled a great deal of medieval hagiographic material, with a strong emphasis on miracle tales.

 

floraison:

livraison - a printing error, should have been included in the corrigenda

 

the Lives of the Virgin: 

narrative scenes of the life of Mary (mother of Jesus),  a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art; the number of scenes varies with space available & its mediums include:: frescoes, master prints, panels, glass, illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, sculptures & ivory carvings.  The earliest Western monumental life of the Virgin is seen in the tympanum of the N transept portals of Chartres Cathedral (13th century).  These continued to appear in prominent positions but gradually giving way to the Passion.  Illuminated Book of Hours (also 13th century) used this motif as did altarpieces for Lady Chapels.  With the arrival of the old master print the Lives were popular & often the most ambitious works of printmaking artists.  Martin Schongauer's Death of the Virgin (1470–75) was influential & adapted into painting by many German & European artists.  Israhel van Meckenem's & Francesco Rosselli's series, based on the Mysteries of the Rosary, are the most important 15th century examples; Dürer eclipsed both (early 16th century) with his cycle Death of the Virgin.

 

Saint Roch:

(1348- 1376) saint, a confessor, patron saint of dogs, invalids, of falsely accused people, bachelors &specially invoked against the plague.  Born in Montpellier on the borders of France; from birth marked with a red cross on his breast that remained all his life; as a child he began to manifest asceticism & devoutness.  Like Francis of Assisi on the death of his parents he distributed all his wealth among the poor (although he had been  ordained as governor of Montpellier) & set out as a mendicant pilgrim for Rome.  In 1347 the plague struck Italy just as the saint arrived; he proved diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente, Cesena, Rimini, Novara & Rome, and effected many miraculous cures by prayer & sign of the cross.

 

Saint Sebald:

Anglo-Saxon missionary to Germany, 9th or 10th century; he settled down as a hermit in the Reichswald near Nuremberg (of which he is the patron saint); according to legend he was a hermit and a missionary.

 

Saint Severin:

(later 4th century) aka Saint Severin of Cologne, 3rd known Bishop of Cologne; in 376 to founded a monastery in the then Colonia Agrippina in honour of the martyrs Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, from which developed the later Basilica of St. Severin.  He was a notable as a prominent opponent of Arianism.

 

Saint Francis:

aka St Francis of Assisi

see Chapter X page 347 and above page 395

 

Bernard:

aka Bernard of Clairvaux (1090- 1153), Burgundian abbot, a Church leader who revitalized Benedictine monasticism with his Cistercian Order.  He established this order in 1155 with a new abbey at Clairvaux.  He preached an immediate faith, in which the intercessor was the Virgin Mary.  At the Council of Troyes (1128) he outlined the Rule of the Knights Templar, which soon became the ideal of Christian nobility.  In 1130 schism split the church.  King Louis VI of France convened a national council & Bernard was asked to choose between the 2 popes.  He opted for Innocent II & successfully rallied Christendom to his cause.  In 1139 he assisted at the Second Council of the Lateran and in 1141 he denounced Abelard, forcing his excommunication.  In 1145 a Cistercian (Bernard’s disciple) Eugene III was elected Pope.  That same year Bernard travelled in S. France to preach against heresy.  In 1146 at the Council of Vézelay he began to preach crusade.  However the eventual failure of the Second Crusade (1147-50) owing to fragmentation of the leadership was blamed on him.

 

Odilia:

aka Odile of Alsace (662-720), born in France, patroness saint of good eyesight & of Alsace.  Born blind, abandoned by her family, she was raised by peasants; when baptized her sight returned.  She went on to raise her dead brother.  She established the Augustine monastery at Mont Ste. and a second monastery at Niedermünster.

 

The Legenda Aurea (1250) :

Latin, meaning The Golden Legend, collection of hagiographies ,compiled 1259–1266 by Jacobus de Varagine, popular in late medieval Europe; the text was added to over the centuries.  Written in simple, readable Latin, it was read for its stories, each chapter about a different saint or Christian festival; it is an encyclopaedia of medieval saint lore.  It overtook & eclipsed earlier hagiographies.

 

Icelandic skald-poetry (1250):

poetry composed at the courts of Scandinavian leaders between 793–1066 AD, continuing into the Middle Ages up to the 15th century;  1 of 2 main groupings of Old Norse poetry, the other being the anonymous Eddic poetry.  The subject is usually historical & encomiastic, detailing the deeds of the skald's patron.

 

"Fourteen Helpers”:

a group of saints venerated together as their intercession is believed particularly effective against various diseases.  These Nothelfer ("helpers in need") originated in the 14th century at first in the Rhineland, a result of the Black Death.  At the heart of the helpers were the 3 virgin martyrs.  They along with 11 other saints were often involved collectively, frequently represented together in works of art.  Popular veneration of these saints began in 1445, in the monastery that held their relics.  All 14 except Giles were accounted martyrs.

 

Ragnarok:

in Norse mythology, a series of events, including a great battle (foretold to lead to the death of many great figures including the gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr & Loki), natural disasters & a great world flood; following these, the world will resurface anew & fertile, the surviving & returning gods will meet and the world will be repopulated by 2 human survivors.

 

the Voluspa:

first poem of the Poetic Edda, an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous poems, dated from the latter half of the 10th century, written in Iceland, Scandinavia or Greenland; it tells of the creation of the world & it’s coming end, as related to Odin by a Seeress; possibly written by a pagan Icelander with knowledge of Christianity; it is found in the Codex Regius manuscript (1270) & in the Hauksbók Codex (by Haukr Erlendsson, 1334); it is quoted or paraphrased in the Prose Edda (composed 1220 by the Icelandic scholar, Snorri Sturluson)

 

Muspilli:

Old High German poem, 9th-century from a Bavarian manuscript; its subject is the fate of the soul immediately after death & the Last Judgment.  Most of the manuscript contains a Latin theological text, but untidily entered, using blank pages, lower margins & even the dedication page with numerous scribal errors was the text of the Muspilli.  Its handwriting is not that of a trained scribe; its language is a Bavarian dialect of mid or late 9th century.  The beginning & end have been lost.  Its title, Muspill, does not match the poem's principal theme: the fate of souls after death.  Its immediate context is the destruction of the world by fire, which might signify the Last Judgment.  However, others suggest it is a survival from old Germanic, pagan times, or a newly coined Christian term originating within the German-speaking area.  A Christian poem it retains vestiges of pagan culture.  It is an amalgam of Christian eschatology, with elements from the Bible (New Testament) & Book of Revelation mixed with Old Norse.  In the latter Muspellr is the leader of a band of fighters led by fiery Surtr against the gods at Ragnarök (sources: Old Saxon Christian poem Heliand & both Eddas).

 

centemplation:

contemplation- a printing error, should have been included in the corrigenda

 

Valhalla (not original Germanic):

Icelandic word meaning hall of the slain, referenced in the Poetic Edda (13th century from earlier traditional sources) & the Prose Edda (written by Snorri Sturluson, 13th century), both works identified with Iceland and not Germany

and see Chapter VI page 186

 

Homeric epos (Olympus):

the origin of the name Olumpos is unknown, but considered "pre-Greek" in origin.  In both the Iliad & Odyssey of the Homeric epos or epics, references are made of Oulumpos, the seat of the gods.  However it is not identified with any specific peak.  In Greek religion "Olympus" was the home of the 12 Olympian gods, a lofty mountaintop.  In all regions settled by Greek tribes, the highest local elevation was named Olumpos.  The Thessalian Olympus, the highest peak in Greece, was seen as the "Pan-Hellenic" seat of the gods by the 5th century BC (as identified by Herodotus)

 

Hel:

a place in Norse mythology, existing beneath one of the 3 roots of the world tree Yggdrasil.  In the Prose Edda Hel Snorri introduced Hel as a location where "evil men" go upon death.  However the term is etymologically related to Modern English “hall” and therefore also Valhalla, an afterlife 'hall of the slain'.   Snorri's description of Hel may at times be influenced by Christian teachings about the after-life.  The Norse Hel of course was a place reserved for the nobility (warriors) & kings, Spengler’s higher estates.