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Das Ludwigslied The Lay of Ludwig Einan kuning uueiz ih, Heizsit her Hluduig, I know a king, Ludwig is his name, Ther gerno gode thionot: Ih uueiz her imos lonot. who gladly serves God: I know that he will reward him for this. Kind uuarth her faterlos, Thes uuarth imo sar buoz: He lost his father when he was a child but soon was compensated for it: Holoda Inan truhtin, Magaczogo uuarth her sin. The Lord himself adopted him and became his guardian. Gab her imo dugidi, Fronisc githigini, He gave Ludwig virtues, a royal entourage, Stuol hier in Urankon. So bruche her es lango! the throne here in Francia. May he enjoy these gifts for a long time! Thaz gideilder thanne Sar mit karlemanne, He soon shared all this with Karlmann, Bruoder sinemo. Thia czala uuunniono. his brother, the sum of pleasures. So thaz uuarth al gendiot, Koron uuolda sin god, After this was done, God wanted to test him [to see] Ob her arbeidi So iung tholon mahti. If he, who was still so young, could endure hardship. Lietz her heidine man Ober seo lidan, He let heathens come from across the sea, Thiot Urankono Manon sundiono. To admonish the Franks for their sins. Sume sar uerlorane Uuurdun sum erkorane. Some were lost immediately, others were chosen for eternal salvation. Haranskara tholota Ther er misselebeta. Severe punishments now were endured by those who earlier on had lived sinfully. Ther ther thanne thiob uuas, Ind er thanana ginas, Who previously had been a thief and had survived, now began to fast: Nam sina uaston. Sidh uuarth her guot man. Thus he saved himself and became a good man. Sum uuas luginari, Sum skachari, One man was a liar, the other a bandit, Sum fol loses, Ind er gibuozta sih thes. The third lived without any control, and he did penance for it. Kuning uuas eruirrit, thaz richi al girrit, The king was far away, the realm was beset by troubles, Uuas erbolgan Krist: Leidhor thes ingald iz! Christ was full of wrath: woe, it [i.e. the realm] had to atone for it! Thoh erbarmedes got, Uuisser alla thia not, But God was also full of mercy. He knew of all the danger, Hiez her Hluduigan. Tharot sar ritan: And so he commanded Ludwig to ride there immediately: “Hluduig, kuning min, Hilph minan liutin! “Ludwig, my king, help my people! Heigun sa Northman Harto bi-duuungan.” The Northmen have subdued them viciously!” Thanne sprah Hluduig: “Herro, so duon ih, Ludwig then replied: “Lord, Dot ni rette mir iz, Al thaz du gibiudist.” if death does not hinder me, I will do all that you command.” Tho nam her godes urlub, Huob her gundfanon uf, He obtained permission from God, he raised the war banner, Reit her thara in Urankon Ingagan Northmannon. and rode out to Frankia against the Northmen. Gode thancodun, The sin beidodun, Those who had waited for him thanked God. Quadhun al: “fro min, So lango beidon uuir thin.” All said: “Lord, we have waited so long for you!” Thanne sprah luto Hluduig ther guoto: But in a loud voice the noble Ludwig said: “Trostet hiu, gisellion, Mine notstallon! “Compose yourself, my friends and companions in arms! Hera santa mih god Ioh mir selbo gibod, God sent me and commanded me himself to fight here if it would help you Ob hiu rat thuhti, Thaz ih hier geuuhti. and not to spare myself till I have saved you. Mih selbon ni sparoti. Un-c ih hiu gi-neriti . and not to spare myself till I have saved you. Nu uuillih, thaz mir uolgon Alle godes holdon. Now it is my wish that all of you who stand in God’s grace shall follow me. Giskerit ist thiu hieruuist So lango so uuili krist. Our earthly existence is measured according to the will of holy Christ. Uuili her unsa hinauarth, Thero habet her giuualt. If he wants our death, he has that power. So uuer so hier in ellian, Giduot godes uuillion, I will reward whoever bravely fulfills God’s will, Quimit her gisund uz, Ih gilonon imoz, Should they survive the battle. But if they fall in battle, Bilibit her thar inne, Sinemo kunnie.” I shall give the reward to their relatives.” Tho nam her skild indi sper, Ellianlicho reit her With this he took up shield and spear. Uuolder uuar errahchon Sinan uuidarsahchon. He rode bravely ahead of everyone: he wanted to get a good look at his enemies. Tho ni uuas iz burolang, Fand her thia Northman. After a short time he came across the northmen. Gode lob sageda, Her sihit thes her gereda. He praised God, now he shall see what he had desired! Ther kuning reit kuono, Sang lioth frono, The King bravely burst forth, a pious song on his lips, Ioh alle saman sungun: “Kyrrieleison.” and his men all together joined in singing “Kyrie Eleison”. Sang uuas gisungan, Uuig uuas bigunnan. The song was sung, the battle was begun. Bluot skein In uuangon, Spilodun ther urankon. The blood shone in their cheeks, the Franks chased [the enemy]. Thar uaht thegeno gelih, Nichein soso Hluduig: Every warrior fought, but non like Ludwig, snel indi kuoni, thaz uuas imo gekunni. so skillful and so bold: he was born for this. Suman thuruhskluog her, Suman thuruhstah her. He smote one, he stabbed another. Her skancta cehanton Sinan fianton Without rest he poured out bitter drink to his enemies. Bitteres lides. So uue hin hio thes libes. Woe forever to their lives! Gilobot si thiu godes kraft: Hluduig uuarth sigihaft; God Almighty be praised: Ludwig was victorious. Ioh allen heiligon thanc! Sin uuarth ther sigikamf. Thanks be also to all saints! His fight led to victory. Uuolar abur Hluduig, Kuning uuigsalig! But hail to Ludwig, our king who is full of good fortune in battle! So garo soser hio uuas, So uuar soses thurft uuas. He was always where his help was needed. Gihalde inan thruhtin Bi sinan ergrehtin. May God the Lord always keep him in his grace!

Introduction to the Text

Das Ludwigslied (or the Lay of Ludwig) is a historical narrative poem consisting of 59 rhyming couplets. It chronicles the life of Ludwig (Louis III of France), and his personal relationship with God, culminating in the victory of the Franks over the Vikings at the Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu, which took place in August of 881 CE. The poem has prominent Christian themes, and portrays God as playing an active role in human events, both sending the Vikings to punish the Franks and convincing Ludwig to lead the Frankish army against the invaders. The author of the text is unknown, but was likely a monk at the Frankish monastery of Saint-Amand, in what is now Belgium. Another text in the same manuscript was written by the same scribe in Old French, implying that he may have come from Germany and been multilingual. Ludwig died only one year after the battle chronicled in the poem, yet the poem makes no mention of his death and refers to him as though he is still alive, leading many scholars to conclude that the poem was written in the intervening year (881-882 CE).

The poem is written in Old High German, and scholars speculate that it may be the only surviving text written in West Franconian dialect that was spoken by the Carolingian Court. It was transmitted in only one manuscript, and has been of interest to scholars since its discovery in the 18th century, before it was lost and rediscovered in the 19th century, making it one of the first Old High German texts to be studied by scholars of medieval vernacular literature.

Scholars have been fascinated by the poem’s portrayal of God, as he plays a much more active role than in most medieval Christian texts. Some have argued that his personal guardianship of Ludwig is a trace of pagan polytheism in an otherwise Christian context.

Further Reading

Murdoch, Brian. Old High German Literature. Twayne Publishers, 1983.

Bostock, John K, K C. King, and D R. McLintock. A Handbook on Old High German Literature. Clarendon Press, 1976.

Schwarz, W. “The ‘Ludwigslied’, a Ninth-Century Poem,” The Modern Language Review, vol. 42, no. 4, 1947, pp. 467–473.

Credits

Transcription based on Horst Dieter Schlosser, Althochdeutsche Literatur. Mit altniederdeutschen Textbeispielen. Auswahl mit Übertragungen und Kommentar, Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag 2004, pp. 82–86., Translation by Hannah Frakes, Edited by Björn Buschbeck, Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Hannah Frakes and Danny Smith