IN THIS ISSUE:

• TEAMS Sessions at Kalamazoo
• New Series: Medieval German Texts in Bilingual Editions
• Medieval Commentary Series
• New Publications

TEAMS is pleased to introduce a new editorial project, a series of Medieval German Texts in bilingual translations. The inaugural volume in this series is currently in production and will make its appearance within the next year: Sovereignty and Salvation in the Vernacular, 1050–1150.

Edited, with an introduction, translations and notes, by James A. Schultz, it brings together a number of texts that, unlike the various examples of Arthurian romance in Germany that have been translated into English, may not ring too many bells with medievalists in general or even the average student of German literature: it includes the two versions of the so-called Ezzolied in praise of God's plan for the salvation of mankind and the Annolied, a poem in 49 stanzas of varying length that someone once called a "world history of Cologne." The Annolied promotes the canonization of the city's 33rd Bishop, Anno, one of the most colorful ecclesiasts and politicians in the time of the Investiture Contest.

This is followed by an excerpt from the so-called Kaiserchronik (Chronicle of the Emperors), comprising those passages of this oldest vernacular verse chronicle that, two generations later, used parts of the very same Song of Anno to tell the story of Julius Caesar's relation to the tribes of Germany and related matters.

The volume concludes with two shorter narrative poems, the Lob Salomons (In Praise of Solomon) and the Historia Judith, works that each in very different ways commemorate Old Testament figures as exemplars of Christian virtue. These texts, composed in what is usually referred to as Early Middle High German, antedate the period of extensive and intensive influence of the French vernaculars on the literary taste of German-speaking courts, and they illustrate particularly well the unusual, in some ways strikingly original, quality of early poetic writing in the German vernacular as well as the basic idea behind this new series of bilingual editions.

Our goal is not to increase the number of translations of German texts that form part of the generally known and well-studied canon of vernacular writing across Europe, from romance to lyric and mystic vision to heroic poetry. Our goal is, rather, to generate interdisciplinary interest in the kind of texts that are not yet part of the general study and discussion of vernacular European literature and which at the same time are particularly likely to contribute new and special perspectives to that discussion once they have become more generally known and available. Just as the early Provençal lyric is unique to that particular region and time, the religious and increasingly secular narrative poetry of the German west and southeast is an early expression of the vernacular spirit that is unique, and uniquely German, in its own time.

In other words, the Medieval German Texts series addresses not only the needs of the student of German literature who may have problems with the earlier forms of that language. It is designed for much broader classroom use in Medieval Studies as well as for the more advanced scholar in adjacent fields: the historian, Latinist, theologian, or Romanist who wishes to extend her reading and research across those largely artificial borders that still divide medievalists, and not least because of those language barriers.

At the same time, the academic audience we envision ought to be given the incentive as well as the opportunity to consult the original along with the translation. To that end, that original is provided in the best available critical edition minus the scholarly apparatus, while the primary purpose of the translation on the facing page is to facilitate such access, allowing readers to engage the original German according to their own special needs and at their own pace.

 In line with general TEAMS policy, the price of these volumes will be kept low with an eye especially to the student. This means, among other things, that introductions (and bibliographies), though comprehensive, will be short and notes will be kept to the necessary minimum.

The second volume in the series, with a translation and introduction by James A. Rushing, Jr., will directly complement the first by making available the complete poetic oeuvre of the inclusa Frau Ava, who died in 1127 and who is the first woman, as far as we know, to have put her name to a substantial body of vernacular verse during the western Middle Ages.

However, further volumes will not follow any particular chronological, thematic or generic order. Within the general framework of Middle High German literature, from 1050 to 1500, we intend to focus on what is, from a Pan-European point of view, "different" or significant in a variety of possible ways, exemplifying something not easily found in other vernacular literatures of the same period.

That may be an unusual generic configuration; a special perspective on an international theme or a particularly interesting response to the common Latin tradition; a form of transmission or intertextuality not known from elsewhere at that time but of general significance for the development of vernacular writing; or, not least, a special kind of author or intended audience. In some cases it may be possible to re-use or adapt an already existing English translation. What comes to mind in that connection is Heinrich Wittenwiler's Ring of c. 1400, one of the great verse satires of the age. But, considering the nature of the undertaking, further plans will have to rely heavily on the availability of expert translators.

In the so-called pre-courtly period, yet another text stands out as deserving a volume of its own: the anonymous Sankt Trutperter Hohelied, the earliest complete vernacular commentary on the Canticles, composed in the early 1160s in rhythmically evocative and quite original prose.

If one thinks of the "classical" courtly period, a primary candidate for translation becomes Thomasin von Zirklaere and his didactic verse tract, Der welsche Gast, which this trilingual Friulian composed in 1215/16 for the German-speaking lay nobility, the literary public to the northwest. Quite apart from its comments on courtly literature and decorum or the responsibility of princes, it is remarkable as the oldest extant vernacular text whose author arranged to have it accompanied by illustrations in order to enhance the effectiveness of his overall message.

Thus the case of Thomasin raises a question that goes well beyond editorial policy with regard to this particular series. How can this visual component, an integral feature of the text as perused by medieval audiences, be reproduced adequately in modern editions without putting them beyond the financial reach of the individual consumer? One of the two manuscripts of Ava's poetry has received (late medieval) illustrations as well, but they are small in number and will be included in our edition. The rich and varied pictorial tradition of Thomasin's work, on the other hand, could not be harnessed in this fashion. Here the computer and the Internet would provide a new way to display such material in generally accessible form: It could be stored on the TEAMS web site where the reader would be directed through pertinent footnote references. But first we have to find a translator!

In any event, the editorial board, composed of Maria Dobozy (University of Utah), Ann Marie Rasmussen (Duke University), James A. Schultz (University of California, Los Angeles) and Michael Curschmann (Princeton University), welcomes ideas, suggestions and proposals.

The TEAMS Commentary Series is dedicated to bringing medieval interpret-ation of sacred scripture in different traditions into the college classroom. Its goal is to make available to teachers and students useful examples of a vast medieval literary tradition, especially those which are relevant to many fields of Medieval Studies, including literature, history of art, music, intellectual history, religion, and political thought.

These translations strive for clear, straightforward English prose style, with sources and explanations of difficult passages in the notes. The volumes in this series are meant as introductions to medieval interpretative strategies, not as exhaustive scholarly commentary on each treatise.

Three volumes of the Commentary Series are currently in print from TEAMS: 

• Haimo of Auxerre, Commentary on the Book of Jonah, translated by Deborah Everhart (1993).  This volume provides an English translation of one of the most prolific Carolingian exegetes, on a text of the Hebrew Bible medieval Christians saw as ripe for allegorical interpretation.
• Medieval Exegesis in Translation: Commentaries on the Book of Ruth, translated by Lesley Smith (1996). This collection includes entire commentaries on the Book of Ruth, another favorite for medieval allegory. Included are commentaries from Jerome, Isidore of Seville, The Glossa ordinaria and its additions, Peter Comestor, and postills by Hugh of St. Cher and Nicholas of Lyra.
• Nicholas of Lyra's Apocalypse Commentary, translated by Philip Krey (1997).  This translation provides students with an accessible example of late medieval biblical exegesis in the famous "double literal" sense of Nicholas of Lyra.

 Another volume is also in production: Second Thessalonians: Two Early Medieval Apocalyptic Commentaries, translated by Steven Cartwright and Kevin L. Hughes.  This volume presents Carolingian commentaries by Haimo of Auxerre and Thietland of Einsiedeln that show two different understandings of New Testament apocalyptic material.

 Other volumes in progress are:

• Rabbi Eliezar of Beaugency: Commentary on Jonah and other Prophets, translated by Robert A. Harris;
• Haimo of Auxerre: Commentary on the Song of Songs, translated by Burton Van Name Edwards;
• Selections from Wyclif's De veritate sacrae scripturae, translated by Ian  Christopher Levy;
• Nicholas of Lyra's Commentary on the Gospel of John, translated by Mark Hazard.

1. Commentary on the Qur'an or Hadith.
2. Other examples of medieval Jewish exegesis.
3. Christian exegesis from the School of St. Victor in Paris.

 Ann Matter
 Department of Religious Studies
 Logan Hall 249 S. 36th St.
 Philadelphia, PA  19104-6304

• Prose Merlin, edited by John Conlee
• Middle English Marian Lyrics, edited by Karen Saupe
• John Metham, Amoryus and Cleopes, edited by Stephen F. Page
• Four Romances of England: King Horn, Havelok the Dane, Bevis of Hampton, Athelston, edited by Ronald B. Herzman, Graham Drake, and Eve Salisbury

• Rabbi Ezra ben Solomon of Gerona, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Other Kabbalistic Commentaries, Selected, Translated, and Annotated by Seth Brody

The complete MIP catalogue is online at http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/mip/index.html.
 

News and Notes from TEAMS is published by The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages, Inc.  We welcome articles, news items, letters, and announcements related to the teaching of the Middle Ages. Please send items for publication by August 15 or February 15. Editor:  Karen Saupe  Department of English Calvin College  3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546 E-mail: ksaupe@calvin.edu

Past issues of News and Notes from TEAMS are archived on the TEAMS web site at http://www.calvin.edu/~ksaupe/teams.htm.