Prologue
Arrou
Pseudo lurker
- Location
- Øknabo hundaræ, Swerike
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
The Chronicle of Eric is one of Sweden's oldest literary works and arguably the oldest work of history produced in that language. I have a deep fascination with it. Some have billed it the National Epic of Sweden. However the 19th century historical romanticism of Sweden focused mostly on Vikings and early modern history, the middle ages weren't much in vogue. And now that the middle ages are in fashion, concepts like national epics have fallen out of it. So the chronicle is not much taught in school, neither as history nor as literature. But within its rhyming couplets lies a world of glorious battle and bountiful feasts. A tale of bravery and betrayal. All told in its distinctly medieval doggerel verse.
It is a hidden gem. Or at least, that is what I think. And I like my literature to be interesting, not necessarily "good". So, we'll see if my judgement is to be trusted.
The Chronicle is well known to medieval historians and philologists, in contrast to its relative obscurity to the general public. Thus there is a good deal of scholarship dealing with the poem and it was recently translated to both modern Swedish and English. In other words, I have quite a bit of academic literature to lean on as I guide you through this ancient tale.
In the original manuscripts, the epic blunders on ceaselessly. Couplet by couplet from beginning to end. Later editors have divided the poem into chapters. An editorial decision that is most helpful for my purposes. Each chapter is a bite sized chunk well suited to digest in a single post.
I won't be translating every line. And I'll skip and summarize various parts. I'll do what I can to make sure you get the gist of it. My commentary will provide a historical and occasionally linguistic context to the poem as we go. I try to preserve some of the poetic character of Old Swedish(OSw), but not at the expense of legibility.
So, without further ado. Let's get into the prologue.
The word 'thegn' is of some interest. The OSw word is 'tiägna', of the same origin as the Old English thegn. Another form of the word is 'thane', which any player of Skyrim ought to be familiar with. Thegn was a specific rank in earlier times, though here it just seems to mean 'fighter'.
Dietrich of Bern (OSw: Didrik van Berner) is an interesting character. He is a figure of Germanic heroic literature, clearly based on the most famed of Gothic kings, Theodoric the Great. His name in properly rendered Gothic was probably *Thiudarieks, people-ruler. A mighty name, I like to think. Pleasant to say and charged with historical significance. Later the name would mutate into different shapes: Dietrich, Didrik, Dirk and Derek, a name I mostly associate with jocks from American high school movies.
In other words, it is clear where he fits on this chart:
Anyway, he was quite well known in the medieval Germanic-speaking world and had a whole host of characters that accompanied him in his stories. Like an older version of Charlemagne.
Our chronicle makes a reference to Dietrich fighting Swedish warriors, but no surviving story describes such events. I'd say it is likely that it refers to some lost tale or song, known to people at the time, but since then lost. Another ancient poem we can add to the list of ancient lost media. Killed by the wither of time and the forgetfulness of mankind.
That is quite enough text lamenting dead lays. Let's continue:
It purports to tell the truth, but with pretty words and in an entertaining fashion. Let's see if it can keep that promise, as next time we'll meet King Eric the lisp and lame.
It is a hidden gem. Or at least, that is what I think. And I like my literature to be interesting, not necessarily "good". So, we'll see if my judgement is to be trusted.
The Chronicle is well known to medieval historians and philologists, in contrast to its relative obscurity to the general public. Thus there is a good deal of scholarship dealing with the poem and it was recently translated to both modern Swedish and English. In other words, I have quite a bit of academic literature to lean on as I guide you through this ancient tale.
In the original manuscripts, the epic blunders on ceaselessly. Couplet by couplet from beginning to end. Later editors have divided the poem into chapters. An editorial decision that is most helpful for my purposes. Each chapter is a bite sized chunk well suited to digest in a single post.
I won't be translating every line. And I'll skip and summarize various parts. I'll do what I can to make sure you get the gist of it. My commentary will provide a historical and occasionally linguistic context to the poem as we go. I try to preserve some of the poetic character of Old Swedish(OSw), but not at the expense of legibility.
So, without further ado. Let's get into the prologue.
The first lines are characteristically medieval, many are the texts that begin with a praise of God. But what is the poem actually about? Here I think it makes quite a neat transition:Chronicle said:
Ah, here we have the setting and the heroes of our tale: The northern realm of Sweden and its gallant knights. The term national epic is not wholly inaccurate, if one considers it to be the national epic of medieval Sweden in particular. Fulvio Ferrari has argued that the chronicle served a purpose of creating a unity and common identity for the Swedish nobility. A tale that puts their glory and chivalry on full display as a way of reconciling the various magnate families after their fractious feuds of the 13th and early 14th centuries. There were a number of sequels written during the tumultuous 15th century, showing that the style still commanded respect and power during the wars of the Kalmar union.
The word 'thegn' is of some interest. The OSw word is 'tiägna', of the same origin as the Old English thegn. Another form of the word is 'thane', which any player of Skyrim ought to be familiar with. Thegn was a specific rank in earlier times, though here it just seems to mean 'fighter'.
Dietrich of Bern (OSw: Didrik van Berner) is an interesting character. He is a figure of Germanic heroic literature, clearly based on the most famed of Gothic kings, Theodoric the Great. His name in properly rendered Gothic was probably *Thiudarieks, people-ruler. A mighty name, I like to think. Pleasant to say and charged with historical significance. Later the name would mutate into different shapes: Dietrich, Didrik, Dirk and Derek, a name I mostly associate with jocks from American high school movies.
In other words, it is clear where he fits on this chart:
Anyway, he was quite well known in the medieval Germanic-speaking world and had a whole host of characters that accompanied him in his stories. Like an older version of Charlemagne.
Our chronicle makes a reference to Dietrich fighting Swedish warriors, but no surviving story describes such events. I'd say it is likely that it refers to some lost tale or song, known to people at the time, but since then lost. Another ancient poem we can add to the list of ancient lost media. Killed by the wither of time and the forgetfulness of mankind.
That is quite enough text lamenting dead lays. Let's continue:
The final lines of the prologue tells us the context of the poem. It is meant to be read aloud, as entertainment at courtly feasts. Young nobles may hear the deeds of their ancestors and old nobles remember the good old days.
It purports to tell the truth, but with pretty words and in an entertaining fashion. Let's see if it can keep that promise, as next time we'll meet King Eric the lisp and lame.
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