Heinrich von Mügeln: Der meide kranz
Verses 169-184
Die ander kunst Gramatica
sprach zu dem waren keiser da:
‘ich bin ein mutter früchte rich:
welch kint uß miner brüste tich
trinket, das erkennet wol,
wie es sin latin reden sol.
buchstaben, namen unde wort
und alle teil han ich gelart:
uß den teilen wirt gesmit
der rede lip und ir gelit.
nam ist das erste teil genant:
dink ane nam ist unbekant.
nam ist mins ingesigels rink,
damit gezeichnet sint die dink.
wie man die namen brechen sal
nach iren fellen hin zutal: […]
Translation
Then the next art, Gramatica, spoke
to the true emperor:
‘I am a fertile mother;
the child that drinks from the pool of my breasts,
knows precisely
how to speak Latin.
I have taught letters, names and words
I have taught all the parts.
From these parts
the body and the limbs of speech are adorned.
The name is the first part,
for a thing without a name is unknown.
The name is the ring of my seal,
which engraves on things
how names should be declined
according to their (grammatical) cases: [...]
Audio sample
All power to grammar!?
Gramatica appears before the emperor because of a competition.
Like the other arts, she steps forward and begins her plea: First, she introduces herself as a mother who feeds her children and alludes to terms associated with the concept of motherhood: love, attentiveness and care. Children who place themselves in her care and suck milk from her breasts acquire the ability to speak the Latin language. She also describes how the letters and words she teaches form the body and limbs of a speech. The abstract concept of grammar is thus explained using the more easily understandable representational model of motherhood.
Contents
Competition of the arts before the emperor! Who gets a seat in the crown of the Mother of God (der meide kranz – the virgin’s wreath)? Gramatica speaks as a fictional character, alongside other personified arts such as Rhetorica (rhetoric) or Musica (music), before Emperor Charles IV. She wants to convince him to recognise her as the most important art and to give her a place in the crown. The other personified arts also step up to be selected, but neither the emperor nor the council are able to resolve the conflict. It is only with the help of the author figure Heinrich von Mügeln that the emperor awards victory to Theologia (theology), but the other arts also get their place in the crown.
What else?
Heinrich von Mügeln himself suddenly finds himself in the story: it is interesting that the author figure Heinrich von Mügeln appears in the text as the emperor’s advisor to help with a complicated decision.
