Anonymous: The spiritual dispute
Vers 448-466
horent zů disem diebe,
wie er mir lage het geleit,
sprach die maget so gemeit.
Din rat schaffet an mir nút.
scheide von mir boͤser diep.
dir vnde diner vnkúschekeit
si von mir iemer widerseit.
Do daz di vnkúsche vernam,
balde sú gerennet kam.
vro kúsche sprangte an der zit
gegen * froͤlich in den strit.
sú stach durch sú ein vestes sper,
dc ist geheissen reine girde.
von dem rosse viel sú dot.
gelobest sistu herre got,
schruwent die dugende alle,
vnkúschekeit ist geuallen.
Dem túfel waz der sige leit.
er reit hin an die miltekeit.
Translation
“Listen to this thief,
how he has set up this ambush for me,”
said the girl so happily.
“I don’t care about your advice,
go away from me, evil thief.
I always renounce
you and your unchastity.”
When Lust heard this,
she immediately ran towards her.
At that moment, Lady Chastity dashed
jovially into battle against her.
She stabbed a strong lance through,
which bears the name ‘Chaste Desire’.
She fell dead from her horse.
“Praise be to you, Lord God,”
cried all the virtues,
“Lust has fallen!”
The devil was disgusted with the victory.
He rode towards Generosity.
Audio sample
How Chastity lustfully stabbed Lust
Chastity (kusche) and Lust (unkuschekeit) fight a brutal and deadly duel with each other.
The devil tries to dissuade personified Chastity from her abstinence with flattery. However, she cannot be convinced. She is then attacked by personified Lust and involved in a fight. The exchange of blows is quick and clear. So Lust quickly (balde) sets off for battle, while Lady Chastity rushes (sprangte) into battle, stabs a lance called chaste desire (reine girde) into the body of Lust sitting on the horse and kills her.
Contents
Only those who have virtues in their hearts and behave in an exemplary manner will find their way to God. God’s enemy is the devil and the virtues’ opponents are vices: what could be more natural than letting virtues and vices fight against each other in order to visualise the devil’s temptations for humans? The Spiritual Struggle shows such a battle, with a multitude of virtues and vices competing against each other in a duel. In keeping with the moral message, the virtues fighting for God gain the upper hand and defeat their opponents.
What else?
The story is an instruction manual for believers on how to defend themselves against the devil’s temptations. The battle between virtue and vice refers to a central representational pattern of medieval personification poetry: the combative confrontation of personifications based on the Latin model of the Psychomachia by Prudentius.
