98-544: Waltharius is a Latin epic poem founded on German popular tradition relating the exploits of the Visigothic hero Walter of Aquitaine . While its subject matter is taken from early medieval Germanic legend, the epic stands firmly in the Latin literary tradition in terms of its form and the stylistic devices used. Thus, its 1456 verses are written in dactylic hexameter (the traditional meter of Latin epic poetry) and
196-453: A Franciscan monastery or at Vadstena Abbey in Sweden. It has been suggested that the saga may have been adapted under the patronage of Swedish King Charles VII . Interest in adapting the Þiðreks saga may have been sparked by the saga's portrayal of Swedish control of a large Baltic empire called "Vilcinaland", which included Swedish rule over its rival Denmark . The Didriks Krönika
294-493: A Danish-Saxon princess, and his chancery also included a number of clerics of German origin, who could have acted as intermediaries for material from the continent. Additionally, Bergen was an import trading center for the North German Hanseatic League , who had merchants that resided there and could have brought German stories to Norway. The composition of a saga based on German materials fits into
392-528: A courtly chivalric saga , like Haakon's other translation projects, or a legendary saga given that it contains Germanic heroic legends. In addition to the Old Norse version, an adaptation into Old Swedish known as the Didriks Krönika was created in the mid 15th century. It is not a literal translation but an adaptation that would go on to influence further Scandinavian texts about Dietrich and
490-743: A few in German , Dutch , Norwegian , Danish and Swedish . Latin is still spoken in Vatican City, a city-state situated in Rome that is the seat of the Catholic Church . The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed in philology . They are in part the subject matter of the field of classics . Their works were published in manuscript form before
588-562: A new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature , which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools , which served as a sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech. Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those of Plautus , which contain fragments of everyday speech, gives evidence of an informal register of
686-786: A new Latin text and English translation, authored by Abram Ring: Waltharius. Edition, Translation, and Introduction by Abram Ring, Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations 22 (Louvain: Peeters, 2016). Another English translation is Brian Murdoch's, Walthari: A Verse Translation of the Medieval Latin Waltharius , Scottish Papers in Germanic Studies, 9 (Glasgow, 1989). There are German translations by F. Linnig (Paderborn, 1885), H. Althof (Leipzig, 1896), and Karl Langosch (Darmstadt, 1967). See also Scheffel 's novel Ekkehard (Stuttgart, 1887); B. Symons, Deutsche Heldensage (Strassburg, 1905). With Waltharius compare
784-404: A plan to wait until the second day, when they lured Waltharius from the strong position of the day before and attacked him together. All three were incapacitated, but their wounds were bound up by Hiltgunt and they separated as friends. The essential part of this story is the series of single combats. The occasional incoherences of the tale make it probable that many changes have been introduced in
882-476: A remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. It was not until the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously. The spoken Latin that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from the other varieties, as it
980-709: A small number of Latin services held in the Anglican church. These include an annual service in Oxford, delivered with a Latin sermon; a relic from the period when Latin was the normal spoken language of the university. In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture . Canada's motto A mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross
1078-462: A translation from (Low) German to Old Norse. Given its dating to around 1250, it is roughly contemporary with the parallel German heroic epics, with only the Nibelungenlied predating it. Some scholars have argued that the Nibelungenlied itself was a source of the saga, while others have argued that a conjectured earlier Nibelungen epic was a source, and that this hypothesized epic was also
SECTION 10
#17327730773371176-411: Is Veritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue. Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name Helvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages . For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH , which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica ,
1274-442: Is Isolde , and her son is Tristram ( Tristan ), which points to courtly influence, and the influence of Arthurian literature is also found in the saga; however, Claudia Bornholdt cautions that such influence could have taken place in either Germany or Norway. The composer of the Þiðreks saga in Old Norse is unknown; scholars debate whether he was an Icelander or a Norwegian. The composer appears to have been educated, meaning he
1372-427: Is a complete life of Dietrich von Bern ( Old Norse : Þiðrekr of Bern ). It begins by telling of Þiðrekr's grandfather and father, and then tells of Þiðrekr's youth at his father's court, where Hildebrand tutors him and he accomplishes his first heroic deeds. After his father's death, Þiðrekr leads several military campaigns: then he is exiled from his kingdom by his uncle Ermenrik, fleeing to Attila's court. There
1470-420: Is a kind of written Latin used in the 3rd to 6th centuries. This began to diverge from Classical forms at a faster pace. It is characterised by greater use of prepositions, and word order that is closer to modern Romance languages, for example, while grammatically retaining more or less the same formal rules as Classical Latin. Ultimately, Latin diverged into a distinct written form, where the commonly spoken form
1568-598: Is a mostly negative figure, whereas the heroes Viðga and Þétleifr, both portrayed as Danes, are given many positive traits that put them above Thidrek's other heroes. The same scholars have also argued that the localization of the Huns in the North-German Duchy of Saxony could be related to these northern political, potentially pro- Welf leanings. The Þiðreks saga is divided into books, which are also referred to as sagas. Various proposals have been made about
1666-640: Is a reversal of the original phrase Non terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend , this phrase was inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules , the rocks on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence. In
1764-515: Is actually the devil in equine form. It rides away with him, and no one knows what happened to him after that, but the Germans believe that he received God and Mary's grace and was saved. In addition to the life of Þiðrekr, various other heroes' lives are recounted as well in various parts of the story, including Attila , Wayland the Smith (in the section called Velents þáttr smiðs ), Sigurd ,
1862-560: Is also supported by Susanne Kramarz-Bein. The Þiðreks saga also exists in a late medieval Old Swedish adaptation, known as the Didriks Krönika (also: Didrikskrönikan ) or, less frequently, Didriks saga . Most scholars agree that the Didriks Krönika used the oldest extant manuscript of the Þiðreks saga (Mb) as its main source. It is possible that German and Danish sources were used as well, as various names show forms closer to their German or Low German counterparts, and
1960-482: Is an Old Norse saga that collects almost all Germanic heroic legends known from Germany into a single narrative. At the center of this narrative is the biography of the hero Dietrich von Bern ( Old Norse : Þiðrekr af Bern ). Most scholars believe that the saga was probably composed in Bergen , Norway , at the court of king Haakon IV , sometime around 1250. Scholars are divided between those that believe that
2058-455: Is an unsuccessful attempt to return to his kingdom, during which Attila's sons and Þiðrekr's brother die. This is followed by Þiðrekr's entanglement in the downfall of the Niflings , after which Þiðrekr successfully returns to Verona and recovers his kingdom. Much later, after the death of both Hildebrand and his wife Herrad, Þiðrekr kills a dragon who had killed King Hernit of Bergara, marrying
SECTION 20
#17327730773372156-660: Is highly fusional , with classes of inflections for case , number , person , gender , tense , mood , voice , and aspect . The Latin alphabet is directly derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets . Latin remains the official language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church at the Vatican City . The church continues to adapt concepts from modern languages to Ecclesiastical Latin of
2254-531: Is little evidence outside of the text itself that would point either way. Most scholars adhering to the "translation hypothesis" have been German, while most adhering to the "compilation hypothesis" have been Norwegian. The most recent main proponent of the "translation hypothesis" is Theodore Andersson, who regards the text as more German than Norwegian. Andersson argued that the saga was originally composed in Northern Germany around 1200, arguing that
2352-689: Is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin Pro Valore . Spain's motto Plus ultra , meaning "even further", or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin. It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and
2450-420: Is not a literal translation of the Þiðreks saga but an adaptation for a contemporary Swedish public. The adapter has abbreviated the saga greatly. Episodes not connected to the main plot have been removed and others reduced to only what is essential for the main plot. The adapter has also made additions to the text in some places and sought to remove contradictions from his Norwegian source. The Þiðreks saga
2548-1011: Is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian liceo classico and liceo scientifico , the German Humanistisches Gymnasium and the Dutch gymnasium . Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it
2646-543: The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy . About 270,000 inscriptions are known. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In
2744-523: The Nibelungenlied , a kinsman of the royal house) in place of his infant son Guntharius ; the Burgundian king Herirīcus, his daughter Hiltgunt; and Alphere, his son Waltharius. Hagano and Waltharius became brothers in arms, fighting at the head of Attila's armies, while Hiltgunt was put in charge of the queen's treasure. Presently Guntharius succeeded his father and refused to pay tribute to
2842-615: The Karlamagnús saga and other chivalric sagas show that the saga must have been composed with its current structure at Haakon's court in Norway. One of the main arguments in favor of the saga's composition in Norway is that no large scale epic or prose work in Low German has survived that would show that such compilations existed in Northern Germany. On the other hand, there are many Norse examples. Arguments for an oral tradition as
2940-537: The Didriks Krönika to his home island of Ven in the Øresund ; the Hvenske Krønike was translated into Danish in 1603 by Anders Sørensen Vedel . The Didriks Krönika also had considerable influence on Swedish historiography as the saga identified the country of Vilkinaland with Sweden and so its line of kings was added to the Swedish line of kings. In spite of the fact that the early scholar Olaus Petri
3038-528: The Holy See , the primary language of its public journal , the Acta Apostolicae Sedis , and the working language of the Roman Rota . Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin. In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language. There are
Waltharius - Misplaced Pages Continue
3136-465: The Huns , whereupon Hagano fled from Attila's court. Waltharius and Hiltgunt, who had been betrothed in childhood, also made good their escape during a drunken feast of the Huns, taking with them a great treasure. They were recognized at Worms , however, where the treasure excited the cupidity of Guntharius. Taking with him twelve knights, among them the reluctant Hagano, he pursued them, and overtook them at
3234-502: The Late Latin period, language changes reflecting spoken (non-classical) norms tend to be found in greater quantities in texts. As it was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, Romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages . Late Latin
3332-607: The Middle Ages as a working and literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance , which then developed a classicizing form, called Renaissance Latin . This was the basis for Neo-Latin which evolved during the early modern period . In these periods Latin was used productively and generally taught to be written and spoken, at least until the late seventeenth century, when spoken skills began to erode. It then became increasingly taught only to be read. Latin grammar
3430-574: The Middle Ages , borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after the Norman Conquest , through the Anglo-Norman language . From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed " inkhorn terms ", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by
3528-471: The Nibelungen , and Walter of Aquitaine . The section recounting Þiðrekr's avenging of Hertnit seems to have resulted from a confusion between Þiðrekr and the similarly named Wolfdietrich . The manuscripts of the Þiðreks saga are: Of these, the manuscripts Mb, A, and B are the most important. The Swedish version (Sv) is preserved in two manuscripts: The Swedish version is useful for reconstructing
3626-468: The Nibelungs , and Wayland the smith . Some material may be original to the compiler, having been put together using various motifs found in other heroic tales. Most scholars believe that the saga was probably composed in Bergen , Norway , at the court of king Haakon IV , sometime around 1250. Haakon had important Danish-Saxon dynastic connections, as his son Magnus VI was married to Ingeborg ,
3724-713: The Völsunga saga was written in response to the Þiðreks saga as a "re-Scandinavianisation" of the material. The Þiðreks saga was also influential on Swedish literature even before the writing of the Didriks Krönika , with Dietrich being mentioned in Herr Ivan lejonriddare (1303) - one of the translated romances known as the Eufemiavisorna - and the Eric Chronicle (c. 1320-1335). Additionally, several late medieval ballads were based on material found in
3822-624: The Wasgenstein in the Vosges mountains (Vosagus). Waltharius, mentioned as being armed in fine armor made by the legendary smith Wieland , engaged the Nibelungen knights one at a time, until all were slain but Hagano. The latter held aloof from the battle due to his vows of friendship with Waltharius, and was only persuaded by Guntharius to attack his comrade due to Waltharius' killing of some of family members. So Hagano and Guntharius devised
3920-407: The common language of international communication , science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the early 19th century, by which time modern languages had supplanted it in common academic and political usage. Late Latin is the literary language from the 3rd century AD onward. No longer spoken as a native language, Medieval Latin was used across Western and Catholic Europe during
4018-479: The Þiðreks saga . The Swedish Didriks Krönika inspired at least two pictorial depictions. Around 1480, artist Albertus Pictor included the scene of Didrik's fight with Wideke and the latter's flight into the sea was included, along with the battles of several other biblical and legendary heroes, on the roof of Floda church in Södermanland , Sweden . An illumination in a law codex from Uppland from
Waltharius - Misplaced Pages Continue
4116-637: The British Crown. The motto is featured on all presently minted coinage and has been featured in most coinage throughout the nation's history. Several states of the United States have Latin mottos , such as: Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as: Some law governing bodies in the Philippines have Latin mottos, such as: Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University 's motto
4214-703: The Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies. Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, Medieval Latin was much more liberal in its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin sum and eram are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use fui and fueram instead. Furthermore,
4312-599: The Grinch Stole Christmas! , The Cat in the Hat , and a book of fairy tales, " fabulae mirabiles ", are intended to garner popular interest in the language. Additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissner's Latin Phrasebook . Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series,
4410-630: The Latin language. Contemporary Latin is more often studied to be read rather than spoken or actively used. Latin has greatly influenced the English language , along with a large number of others, and historically contributed many words to the English lexicon , particularly after the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest . Latin and Ancient Greek roots are heavily used in English vocabulary in theology ,
4508-408: The Nibelungen. The Þiðreks saga is a compilation of legends about almost all known heroes from continental Germanic heroic legend into a single text; it also includes other narratives that were closely associated with such legends. Some of the legends have no extant German counterpart. It also contains material from fairy tales, folktales, and Spielmannsdichtung . At the centre of Þiðreks saga
4606-714: The Scottish ballads of " Earl Brand " and " Erlinton " ( F.J. Child 's English and Scottish Popular Ballads , i. 88 seq.). Latin language Latin ( lingua Latina , pronounced [ˈlɪŋɡʷa ɫaˈtiːna] , or Latinum [ɫaˈtiːnʊ̃] ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages . Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio ),
4704-467: The United States the unofficial national motto until 1956 was E pluribus unum meaning "Out of many, one". The motto continues to be featured on the Great Seal . It also appears on the flags and seals of both houses of congress and the flags of the states of Michigan, North Dakota, New York, and Wisconsin. The motto's 13 letters symbolically represent the original Thirteen Colonies which revolted from
4802-563: The University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University. There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Misplaced Pages has more than 130,000 articles. Italian , French , Portuguese , Spanish , Romanian , Catalan , Romansh , Sardinian and other Romance languages are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin borrowings in English and Albanian , as well as
4900-593: The author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such as 'imbibe' and 'extrapolate'. Many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French . Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies. Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Thidreks saga Þiðreks saga af Bern ('the saga of Þiðrekr of Bern', sometimes Thidrekssaga or Thidreks saga in English)
4998-494: The author of the later ( ca 1075) life of St Wiborada of St Gall where he cites verse 51 of the Waltharius . According to Ekkehard IV, the poem was written by the earlier Ekkehard, generally distinguished as Ekkehard I, for his master Geraldus in his schooldays. This would date the poem no later than 920 , since he was probably no longer young when he became deacon (in charge of ten monks) in 957. He died in 973. Waltharius
SECTION 50
#17327730773375096-535: The beginning of the Renaissance . Petrarch for example saw Latin as a literary version of the spoken language. Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the post-classical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed, that is from around 700 to 1500 AD. The spoken language had developed into the various Romance languages; however, in the educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as
5194-425: The benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics . The libretto for the opera-oratorio Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin. Parts of Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana are written in Latin. Enya has recorded several tracks with Latin lyrics. The continued instruction of Latin is seen by some as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin
5292-430: The comic playwrights Plautus and Terence and the author Petronius . While often called a "dead language", Latin did not undergo language death . By the 6th to 9th centuries, natural language change eventually resulted in Latin as a vernacular language evolving into distinct Romance languages in the large areas where it had come to be natively spoken. However, even after the fall of Western Rome , Latin remained
5390-464: The composer translated a lost Low German original ("translation hypothesis") and those who believe that the sources were mostly oral and conveyed to Norway by merchants of the Hanseatic League , only being joined together in Norway ("compilation hypothesis"). The saga contains a number of otherwise unknown German legends. Controversy exists as to whether to consider the Þiðreks saga af Bern
5488-489: The compositional principals and his proposed sources for various episodes indicated familiarity with early courtly literature such as Spielmannsepik and the Kaiserchronik (c. 1150), as well as conjectured predecessor epics for the Nibelungenlied and Dietrich epics. The main proponent of the saga having been composed in Norway today is Susanne Kramarz-Bein. She has argued that parallels in structure and content to
5586-555: The continent; however, its manuscript transmission in Iceland is in the same contexts as the legendary sagas. Scandinavian scholars have generally been more comfortable discussing the Þiðreks saga as a chivalric saga. Susanne Kramarz-Bein and Heinrich Beck have both argued that the saga shows pro-Scandinavian leanings, exemplified in the way in which it treats the heroes Viðga , Þétleifr Danskr ( Middle High German : Dietleib von Stîre ) and Heimir : Heimir, portrayed as Swabian ,
5684-465: The country's full Latin name. Some film and television in ancient settings, such as Sebastiane , The Passion of the Christ and Barbarians (2020 TV series) , have been made with dialogue in Latin. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost (" Jughead "). Subtitles are usually shown for
5782-503: The decline in written Latin output. Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world. The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church . The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965 , which permitted the use of the vernacular . Latin remains
5880-568: The development of European culture, religion and science. The vast majority of written Latin belongs to this period, but its full extent is unknown. The Renaissance reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken and written language by the scholarship by the Renaissance humanists . Petrarch and others began to change their usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through
5978-413: The earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies of Plautus and Terence . The Latin alphabet was devised from the Etruscan alphabet . The writing later changed from what was initially either a right-to-left or a boustrophedon script to what ultimately became a strictly left-to-right script. During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, from about 75 BC to AD 200,
SECTION 60
#17327730773376076-410: The entire corpus of texts concerning the Saga of Walther of Aquitaine), and Karl Strecker (Weimar, 1951). Dennis Kratz produced an English edition and translation under the title, Waltharius, and Ruodlieb , ed. and trans. by Dennis M. Kratz, The Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Series A, 13 (New York: Garland, 1984). More recently, the Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations series has published
6174-445: The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of authors' works were published by Isaac Casaubon , Joseph Scaliger and others. Nevertheless, despite the careful work of Petrarch, Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following. Neo-Latin literature
6272-410: The forces of father and lover only ceased at sundown, to be renewed on the morrow, since each evening Hildr raised the dead by her incantations. This has been interpreted as a form of the old myth of the daily recurring struggle between light and darkness. The songs sung by Hiltgunt in Waltharius during her night watches were probably incantations, a view strengthened by the fact that in a Polish version
6370-480: The glance of Helgunda is said to have inspired the combatants with new strength. Hiltgunt has retained nothing of Hild's fierceness, but the fragment of the Anglo-Saxon Waldere shows more of the original spirit. In Waltharius Hiltgunt advises Waltharius to fly; in Waldere she urges him to the combat. One of the most extensive studies of the poem is by Dennis M. Kratz, who argues that the poem makes sophisticated use of allusions to its Classical sources to satirise
6468-524: The heroic ethics of its protagonists. There are two fragments of a 9th-century Old English version, known as Waldere , consisting of 15 lines each, discovered in 1860, edited by George Stephens . Waltharius was first edited by F. Ch. J. Fischer (Leipzig, 1780) and Fr. Molter (Karlsruhe). Later and more scholarly editions are by: Jacob Grimm Lateinische Gedichte des Mittelalters (Göttingen, 1838); R. Peiper (Berlin, 1873); V. Scheffel , A. Holder (Stuttgart, 1874), Marion Dexter Learned (Baltimore, 1892,
6566-435: The history of Latin, and the kind of informal Latin that had begun to move away from the written language significantly in the post-Imperial period, that led ultimately to the Romance languages . During the Classical period, informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors, inscriptions such as Curse tablets and those found as graffiti . In
6664-504: The invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as the Loeb Classical Library , published by Harvard University Press , or the Oxford Classical Texts , published by Oxford University Press . Latin translations of modern literature such as: The Hobbit , Treasure Island , Robinson Crusoe , Paddington Bear , Winnie the Pooh , The Adventures of Tintin , Asterix , Harry Potter , Le Petit Prince , Max and Moritz , How
6762-412: The language of the Roman Rite . The Tridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of
6860-405: The language, Vulgar Latin (termed sermo vulgi , "the speech of the masses", by Cicero ). Some linguists, particularly in the nineteenth century, believed this to be a separate language, existing more or less in parallel with the literary or educated Latin, but this is now widely dismissed. The term 'Vulgar Latin' remains difficult to define, referring both to informal speech at any time within
6958-401: The larger project of importing courtly literature under Haakon, which also resulted in the adaptation of the chivalric sagas from mostly French sources. However, there is no direct evidence that Haakon commissioned the Þiðreks saga . The saga matches the milieu of Haakon's court and adaptations in its frequent use of courtly and chivalric vocabulary. Likewise, the name of Þiðrekr's sister
7056-463: The legend. The Þiðrekssaga (chaps. 241–244) makes the story more probable by representing the pursuers as Huns. There is reason to believe that Hagano was originally the father of Hiltgunt, and that the tale was a variant of the saga of Hild as told in the Skáldskaparmál . Hildr , daughter of King Hǫgni, was carried off by Heðinn, son of Hjarrandi (A.S. Heorrenda ). The fight between
7154-617: The lower Tiber area around Rome , Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire . By the late Roman Republic , Old Latin had evolved into standardized Classical Latin . Vulgar Latin refers to the less prestigious colloquial registers , attested in inscriptions and some literary works such as those of
7252-527: The material. One of main differences between the redactions is the placement of the section called "Vilkina saga": in Mb2 “Vilkina saga” is placed early in the text, whereas Mb3 has placed it later, in a section largely concerning other marriages of heroes (as a result, "Vilkina saga" appears twice in Mb). Mb3 has inserted two sections, Sigurd's youth and a long description of the various heroes after Thidrek's feast, into
7350-431: The meanings of many words were changed and new words were introduced, often under influence from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail. Renaissance Latin, 1300 to 1500, and the classicised Latin that followed through to the present are often grouped together as Neo-Latin , or New Latin, which have in recent decades become a focus of renewed study , given their importance for
7448-473: The mid 15th century also shows a scene from the saga: it shows the knight Sistram, identified by text, half-swallowed in the jaws of a dragon. The Swedish Didriks Krönika also influenced other texts produced on Dietrich von Bern and the Nibelungen in Scandinavia. In particular, Jonas Venusinus produced the Hvenske Krønike in Latin sometime after 1550, which transports the fall of Burgundians as told in
7546-486: The one hand, it contains legendary stories; on the other, it does not take place vaguely in a legendary past but after the death of Constantine the Great , involves concrete, European geography, and includes King Arthur and Apollonius of Tyre among its characters. The dominant scholarly theory is that the Þiðreks saga was written in the same context as the chivalric sagas, namely, as a translation of courtly material from
7644-490: The original arrangement of the material. The scribes Mb2 and Mb3 of the oldest manuscript Mb follow different arrangements of the books and chapters. The manuscripts A, B, and the Swedish version likewise all have different arrangements of the sub-sagas. Germanist Thomas Klein argued for a three-part structure of the saga, in which part one shows the youth and bringing together of the heroes, part two focuses on marriage, and part three shows death and old age. This basic structure
7742-523: The poem includes copious references to (and phrases borrowed from) various Latin epics of antiquity, especially Vergil 's Aeneid . Our knowledge of the author, Ekkehard , a monk of St. Gall , is due to a later Ekkehard, known as Ekkehard IV (died 1060), who gives some account of him in the Casus Sancti Galli (cap. 80). Ekkehard IV's account is much discussed among scholars and seems to be confirmed by another monk of St. Gall, Herimannus,
7840-421: The sciences , medicine , and law . A number of phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As a result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names. In addition to the historical phases, Ecclesiastical Latin refers to
7938-399: The sequence of chapters written by Mb2. It is possible that Mb2 had forgotten this material or else chosen to omit it. The two redactions also contain differences in the names, number (3 vs. 4 brothers), and origins of the Burgundian kings. There is no doubt that the sources of the Þiðreks saga were mostly Middle High German or Middle Low German . It is thus the only extant example of
8036-552: The source for the second half of the Nibelungenlied . Because of the saga's localization of Attila's court at Soest , it is taken to indicate a local tradition that placed the fall of the Burgundians at that Hanseatic city. The prologue of the saga states that it was composed based on the tales of German men, but its language is somewhat obscure and scholars debate what precisely this means. The prologue also mentions tales told across Scandinavia and Iceland as sources on Sigurd ,
8134-458: The source of the saga are mostly based on the prologue's mention of "tales of German men" as sources. As opposed to the traditional "translation theory" on the basis of purely oral sources, Kramarz-Bein has argued for a "composition theory:" that the compiler of the saga relied on various written sources as well as oral sources. Long-standing controversy exists as to what genre the Þiðreks saga belongs to, chivalric saga or legendary saga . On
8232-578: The styles used by the writers of the Roman Catholic Church from late antiquity onward, as well as by Protestant scholars. The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, also called Archaic or Early Latin, which was spoken from the Roman Kingdom , traditionally founded in 753 BC, through the later part of the Roman Republic , up to 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin . It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of
8330-399: The text shows some Danish linguistic forms. However, there is no consensus as to whether these sources were written or oral. The vocabulary of the text shows many connections to contemporary courtly culture in Germany. Most scholars agree that the adaptation was likely composed in the mid 15th century, possibly in the 1450s or 1460s. There is a disagreement whether the saga was composed in
8428-411: The text where the other versions disagree. There are at least two redactions of the Old Norse Þiðreks saga , with the two main scribes of the oldest manuscript, Mb, each following a different redaction. Scribe Mb3 has followed a manuscript with a redaction similar to that found in the later Icelandic manuscripts A and B, whereas Mb2 has followed a manuscript source representing a different redaction of
8526-412: The widow and becoming king of Bergara. After Attila's death, Þiðrekr becomes king of the Huns as well. The final time he fights an opponent is to avenge the death of Heime (who had become a monk and then sworn loyalty to Þiðrekr once again). After this, he spends all his time hunting. One day, upon seeing a particularly magnificent deer, he jumped out of the bathtub and mounted a gigantic black horse – which
8624-422: The written form of Latin was increasingly standardized into a fixed form, the spoken forms began to diverge more greatly. Currently, the five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers are Spanish , Portuguese , French , Italian , and Romanian . Despite dialectal variation, which is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy have retained
8722-783: Was also used as a convenient medium for translations of important works first written in a vernacular, such as those of Descartes . Latin education underwent a process of reform to classicise written and spoken Latin. Schooling remained largely Latin medium until approximately 1700. Until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language ) and later native or other languages. Education methods gradually shifted towards written Latin, and eventually concentrating solely on reading skills. The decline of Latin education took several centuries and proceeded much more slowly than
8820-471: Was an important influence on the chivalric sagas written after it, including Erex saga , Mágus saga jarls , Kirialax saga , Blómstrvallasaga , and Samsons saga fagra . The author of the Völsunga saga appears to have known the Þiðreks saga as well. This includes a description of Sigurd's armor that is adopted directly from the Þiðreks saga . Old Norse scholar Klaus von See argued that
8918-494: Was critical, these kings were considered to have been historic Swedish kings until fairly recent times. The historicity of the kings of Vilkinaland was further boosted in 1634 when Johannes Bureus discovered the Norwegian parchment that had arrived in Sweden in the 15th century. The earliest edition of the Norwegian Þiðreks saga , together with a Latin translation, was published by Swedish antiquitarian Johan Peringskiöld in
9016-519: Was dedicated by Geraldus to Erchanbald, bishop of Strasbourg ( fl. 965–991), but manuscripts of it were in circulation before that time. Ekkehard IV stated that he corrected the Latin of the poem, the Germanisms of which offended his patron Aribo, archbishop of Mainz . The poem was probably based on epic songs now lost, so that if the author was still in his teens when he wrote it he must have possessed considerable and precocious powers. Waltharius
9114-491: Was extensive and prolific, but less well known or understood today. Works covered poetry, prose stories and early novels, occasional pieces and collections of letters, to name a few. Famous and well regarded writers included Petrarch, Erasmus, Salutati , Celtis , George Buchanan and Thomas More . Non fiction works were long produced in many subjects, including the sciences, law, philosophy, historiography and theology. Famous examples include Isaac Newton 's Principia . Latin
9212-503: Was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire. Spoken Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing. For many Italians using Latin, though, there was no complete separation between Italian and Latin, even into
9310-529: Was perceived as a separate language, for instance early French or Italian dialects, that could be transcribed differently. It took some time for these to be viewed as wholly different from Latin however. After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 and Germanic kingdoms took its place, the Germanic people adopted Latin as a language more suitable for legal and other, more formal uses. While
9408-494: Was probably a cleric , as was the only named author of a chivalric saga, Brother Robert . Scholars are divided between those that believe that the composer of the saga translated a lost Low German original ("translation hypothesis") and those who believe that the sources were mostly oral and conveyed to Norway by merchants of the Hanseatic League, only being joined together in Norway ("compilation hypothesis"). There
9506-482: Was shut down in June 2019), and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin. A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latin 'circuli' ('circles'), have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin. Moreover, a number of university classics departments have begun incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include
9604-414: Was the son of Alphere, ruler of Aquitaine , which in the 5th century, when the legend developed, was the centre of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse . When Attila invaded the west, the western princes are represented as making no resistance. They purchased peace by offering tribute and hostages. King Gibicho , here described as a Frankish king, gave Hagano as a hostage (of Trojan race, but not, as in
#336663