I am not a Christian of any type but I think it's important that the British people know there history and the faiths of maybe some of their ancestors, I say better be this type of Christian than anything main stream we have today. Specifically, Celtic Christianity refers to the branch of Christianity which was unique to the peoples of the British Isles during the early middle Ages. Although there is some debate over exactly when and how Christianity got to the British Isles, there is no doubt that it was firmly established by the 2nd Century, because Ireneaus, the Bishop of Lyon, had significant interaction with them.
Celtic Christianity is a term referring broadly to the Early Medieval Christian practice that developed in Britain and Ireland before and during the sub-Roman period. During this period, the Roman withdrawal and the Anglo-Saxon invasion sharply reduced contact between the broadly Celtic peoples of the islands and other Christians in Continental Europe. In this relatively isolated environment distinctive practices began to emerge, first gaining widespread use in Ireland in the 5th century (though elements of the Celtic Rite may have been introduced to Ireland by the British St. Patrick), and spreading to Britain with the Irish mission system established by Saint Columba. Celtic Christianity may be distinguished by its organisation around monasteries rather than dioceses, and certain traditions, especially in matters of liturgy and ritual, that were different from those of the greater sub-Roman world.
The first, great Celtic son was Morien, also known as Pelagius.Pelagius was a spokesman for Celtic theology.Pelagius has been labelled as a heretic by traditional theologians because they favour a Latin version of Christianity.Pelagius' opponent, Augustine, succeeded in expelling the Pelagians out of the Roman Empire during the 5th Century.Augustine became the father of Latin Christianity.
Celtic Christianity holds to a balanced view of the Biblical doctrines of free-will and predestination.Ostensibly, these doctrines were the focus of controversy between Augustine and Pelagius.Through the centuries, Pelagian Celts have emphasized the individual's responsibility to obey God's moral law.Latin Christianity has tended to rely upon the strong arm of the state.
Celtic Christianity does not have much interest in the grand worship of state religion.Celtic Christians are fond of the small group and a liturgy which is an expression of personal faith.From ancient times, they have had great interest in spiritual gifts, manifestations of the Divine presence, religious revivals, and world evangelism.
Celtic theology does not agree with Augustine's view of Original Sin.It sees Original Sin as the result of Adam's failure to be an adequate federal head of the human race.That failure produced a wounding in the nature of man which weakened his will but did not disable it.Because of Christ, all people are able to respond to the call of God's grace to salvation and virtue.
Augustine taught that sexual desire was inherited depravity.Because of this doctrine, traditional Christian theology has had a dim view of sexual pleasure and women in general. Living on this side of the sexual revolution, most modern Christians are completely unaware of how repressive traditional Christianity has been toward human sexuality.The Celtic Christians did not believe our sexuality was tainted and enjoyed it fully within marriage.Augustine was scandalised by the Pelagian view.The Roman Catholic Church and later, misguided Puritans saw the Celtic attitude as pagan.
Celtic Christianity tends to produce a love for nature, Celts labour for the joy of what they do, not because they are driven, Celts love mysteries, story-telling, poetry, folk-music and dancing.They are not impressed by great cities and the arts which are abstract and separate from life.
Celtic Christianity does not see God as separate from His creation and finds the Incarnation of Christ as proof of that view.Celtic theology, inherited from the Druids, teaches that the universe is like a body.God is the head and the cosmos is His body.Being one with the creation does not erase the Creator/creature distinction, no more so than it is possible for the finger to do the work of the brain.What it means is that God shares in the joys and sufferings of His creation.And Jesus Christ is the symbol of that unity.
Celtic Christianity rejects cosmic dualism, whether pagan or Christian.It does not believe in two competing gods.Likewise, it views Satan as a fallen member of the angelic host and not as a rival god.It is solidly Trinitarian.
Celtic Christianity also teaches that the Godhead contains feminine attributes as well as masculine attributes.Because Augustinianism held a dim view of women, traditional Christianity sought to create an exclusively masculine God.The spiritual void left by that view of God drove the Church to Mary worship. Unfortunately, it was an incomplete and sexless Mary. Celtic theology teaches that the Holy Spirit is the representative of God's femininity and that sexuality is reflective of God's creative power.It views Mary as a woman who had other children besides Jesus. And it teaches that Jesus was truly a man which included the sexuality of a man.
Celtic Christians have always gravitated toward localism as a form of government.The tribe, clan, and kinship group, within the context of the village, are the forms of government which Celtic peoples prefer. Celtic Christianity recognises the ethnic character of the Church.According to Bible prophecy (e.g. Psalms 2), the Messianic kingdom consists of ethnic churches which form the constituent members of the Body of Christ.It disagrees with the Latin and Byzantine versions of Christianity, inherited from the Roman Imperial model, which attempt to force everyone into the same mould.Many of the doctrinal and liturgical disputes in Church history have come because of the language barrier, which, of course, is ethnic in orientation and divinely ordained (Genesis 11).These differences ought to be respected with a gracious spirit.
Through the centuries, the Celts have instinctively resisted the Imperial model for Christianity.They have tended to be exuberant worshippers, free-thinkers, and dissenters.They are intensely loyal to beloved leaders and not to systems or institutions.For that reason, mainline churches have viewed Celtic Christians with suspicion and, sometimes, outright hostility. Celtic expressions of the faith have been persecuted as cultic heresies.
Today, there is a growing sense that traditional Christianity has exhausted itself as a spiritual and moral reservoir for Western civilisation.Many modern Europeans are turning to ancestral beliefs like , Germanic Heathenism or to forms of worship like the Celtic Church for a fresh start, my choice is Germanic Heathenism but hey each to their own.
Here's a purely rhetorical questions: how can something that was wrong from the start go wrong? Political correctness was never a good idea, but the ramifications are either worse than its creators ever dreamed or (heaven forbid!) it's exactly what they had in mind from the beginning.
According to Philip Atkinson, "Political Correctness (PC) is the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behavior, which were then legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be punished."
Mr. Atkinson points out that freedom of choice and freedom of speech are the community's safeguards against tyranny and states that the rational behind political correctness was to keep people from being offended.
For example, if you accept the word of the experts' and abide by the law, you will not punish your children in any significant way, not in a way that will teach them that there are consequences to their actions. I learned right from wrong because my mother punished me the old fashioned way, long before there was any local awareness of PC. I hated it, but it did me no lasting damage. Rather, it taught me that there were definitely consequences to be paid if I was dishonest, disrespectful, or stole something that didn't belong to me. If she had been limited to making me take a time out and sit on the couch for half an hour, I would have been up to my old tricks in no time.
When I went to school, people who didn't earn good grades weren't given good grades just so that they would feel good about themselves. You got to feel good about yourself when you accomplished something of value, like studying, learning, and passing tests on what you were supposed to have learned.
How do you raise a child who will become a responsible, caring, and resilient adult if merely existing in the world is all you have to do because PC will protect you from ever being told the truth about yourself? Will the real world think you're the most special person ever? Will you reap all the rewards of hard work if you don't produce anything? If you learn when you're in your 20s that everything you've been taught was a lie, and the world is definitely not your oyster, will you explode with rage? Go on a rampage with your automatic weapons to punish those who refuse to learn that you're a superior being and entitled to have whatever you want?
I think personally it's largely a bad thing; it seems to be a substitute for good manners. At the end of the day nobody should abuse another person because of colour, religion, disability, gender or sexuality. This is something that should be instilled into everyone as good manners.
What political correctness has done however is allow all kinds of lifestyles and radical viewpoints gain confidence due it not being PC to challenge them. Things like Islamic Fundamentalism, Female Circumcision, Extreme Religious beliefs and practices are all increasing because of the PC brigade and its PC gag on any criticism, and this is why overall I feel it so detrimental.
Touching of any kind is not politically correct. If a child falls down and skins a knee on the playground, a reassuring hug from a caring teacher can help dry the tears and make it better. I know. I had some very kind and caring teachers. My little friends and I used to skip around the playground holding hands, having some actual physical contact with another human being. That's no longer allowed either and can get a child expelled from school.
We played cowboys and Indians as well as cops and robbers a lot and aimed and shot at each other, using our index fingers as guns and making silly sounds to indicate that we'd pulled the trigger. I've never killed anyone as a result of my childhood play. As an adult at work, I've been fortunate enough to have made many friends. Sometimes one or the other of us is away for a while, traveling on business or on vacation. There have always been hugs when we saw each other after an absence, with both male and female friends; friendly hugs, human contact with people we care about and who care about us. Physical contact is supremely important to us as human beings. It is an expression of caring. It's the human thing to do. It's no longer acceptable, and could get you fired.
If you doubt that Political Correctness is a problem, just think back over the last several years, when it has reached its worst level, with the official truth proclaimed in the face of contradictory evidence. Go back 10 or 20 years; it was there. Go back as far as you'd like in the 20th century and you'll find evidence of the development of the official truth that, at times, has made us doubt our own sanity or ability to interpret truth as the government and media tell us we should.
I think people should be able to say what they want, within the confines as what is considered basic manners, when they want, to whomever they want. We are supposed to have freedom of speech but now you can't say lots of things. We have to bite our tongues before we think to say anything instead of just talking freely. If I want to call someone something more power to me, whether they are white, black, Latino, male, female, etc. That is my right to my opinion and it shouldn't be held against me. Once we start banning folk from freedom of expression and speech we are on a slippery slope and it has left us with the ridiculous system we at present and its only getting worse. Can't call waitresses, waitresses. Can't call flight attendants, flight attendants. This country is turning into a bunch of Muppets who get into positions of power and will lead us all to our downfall
This should be an area of concernespeciallyfor writers for example. How would your passion to write be affected if you knew that every word would be under government scrutiny and if expressing anything other than the government's official versions of the truth might cause you to lose your job, land you in jail, or worse. I recommend reading Bill Lind's article as it provides a good, brief history of the origins of Political Correctness and its implications for all of us. Perhaps in this case, knowledge is power: you can't fight what you don't recognise or understand.
However I detest political correctness, but one thing I detest more, is people who call other people "politically correct" just because they have a different opinion.
Young girls / women are constantly being fed vulgar cultural messages. You know, "it's cool to dress and act like a slut...Hey, look, I'm really cool, I'm a HO". It's equivalent to a subtle form of thought manipulation and debasement of self image. Just more Corporate-Government Axis power and control manipulation. I have even heard of 11 year old girls performing oral sex in the back of school buses. That's how bad things are in some places.
Sweet irony when many say that we are free to choose...
Means of mass communication, especially with the added glamour of Media, will control our lives more than ever before. Many of us already are robots programmed by what we see on the video screen.
We lose our individuality; many of our interests may be superseded by those shown to be "cool:" partying, drinking and picking up boys or girls. We will become a society of followers, not leaders.
Our choices are not by chance as many might imagine...
The Media (and we know who controls the Media)! Is totally responsible for creating the hedonistic, pie in the sky, youth culture that is reflected in this perspective of D list personalities chasing a selfish I, Me, Mine, philosophy of life!
The old Roman maxim of ‘Bread and Circuses’ springs to mind!
Chasing this A moral dream of the personality cult is perfectly designed to fog the real issues of life, ….keep taking the ‘happy’ pills that the media feeds us and we will be so much more pliable and easy to control…..except for the likes of us of course, who will constantly provide the hard cold reality of the wake up call our people need!
This is a YouTube which really puts this into perspective.
Totally agree. Because of media, young girls are not interested in education. They follow common pattern and dream about becoming celebrities. I feel discussed seeing 12-13 years old girls dressed up like sluts. By the age of 17 they are already brainwashed whores, ready to give a blowjob for a drink.
This document contains basic information about mead which should answer most of the questions frequently asked by newcomers to the world of mead.
The History and Tradition of Mead
Mead is a honey-based fermented beverage that has been produced and enjoyed since before the dawn of recorded history. Because of its antiquity, mead has acquired an almost magical reputation in our mythologies. Mead making was once the province of a select, trained guild. Now, it is open to all who have the patience and skill. You are continuing this long and honoured tradition. Welcome aboard and enjoy.
The Types of Mead
Mead is classified not by the kind of honey from which it is made, but by what else may be added to it for flavouring:
"Traditional" mead is made with only honey, water, and yeast, plus perhaps a small amount of acid (to balance the sweetness).
"Metheglin" is mead made with added herbs or spices, such as cloves or cinnamon. (The word is an English transliteration of the Welsh word "meddyglyn", meaning "medicine". Historically, medicinal herbs were infused into sweet mead to make them more palatable.)
"Melomel" is mead made with the addition of fruit or fruit juice to traditional mead. Melomel may also contain spices, as metheglin does.
"Cyser" is a particular melomel made with apples or apple juice.
"Pyment" may have two interpretations: a melomel made with grapes or grape juice, or a wine sweetened with honey.
"Hippocras" is a spiced pyment.
"Sack" is a name (or an adjective) for stronger meads made with more honey than usual, and therefore more likely to be somewhat sweet.
There are various other seldom-heard terms: "rhodomel" (mead with rose petals), "omphacomel" (left as exercise to the interested student), and so on.
Depending on the initial amount of honey, and how attenuative (effective at fermenting sugars) the yeast is, the final mead may vary from quite dry and austere like some white wines, to very sweet.
Depending on the bottling process, the mead may be "sparkling" (carbonated) or "still" (no bubbles).
What Kinds of Honey?
There are many kinds of honey, based on which flowers the bees collected the nectar from. Bees aren't loyal to any particular flower, so any characteri- zation of honey as being from a particular source (for example, "blackberry honey") can vary from absolutely true to a rough generality, depending on what flowers the bees can find and how interesting they find them. Honeys range in taste and colour from the light clover through alfalfa to stronger tasting (and darker) such as buckwheat. There are many unusual honeys to be found where there are unusual local flowers. Which honey you will use depends both on which you like the taste of, and what type of mead you are trying to make. Stronger flavours go well in metheglins and heavier or sweet meads, while the milder honeys make a good base for melomels or dry traditional meads. Realize that a honey with an interesting-but-unusual taste can produce an overpowering character in mead.
You can buy honey in bulk from roadside stands or health food stores. You may be lucky enough to live near an apiary and be able to buy right from the beekeeper. Look in the phone book for honey, health food, or beekeepers. Sometimes, exterminators will remove hives, give the bees to beekeepers, and sell the honey. University agriculture departments occasionally sell honey. Be inventive. If all else fails, you may have to buy it from the grocery store.
The honey will be either raw or processed in some way. Raw honey has bits of wax, bee parts, dust, pollen, microorganisms, and the like in it. You have the most control in how you process raw honey, but you also have the most to do. Honey may be filtered, or blended, or even heat-pasteurized to make it clearer and less likely to crystallize. The more processed it is, the milder it is likely to be and the less character it will give to your mead. The processing also dissipates some of the honey's aroma. Commercial, "grocery store" honey, crystal-clear and pale, is the most processed and is usually not a good choice for mead making.
Crystallized honey is normally acceptable for mead. In fact, it has two points in its favour: First, it generally indicates less processing, since one of the reasons for processing honey is to keep it from crystallizing. Second, it may be cheaper because it's less appealing to the average consumer. (One point against crystallized honey is that if the sugar is drawn out into large crystals, the liquid surrounding them can be low enough in sugar content to allow some fermentation from wild yeast.) To re-liquefy crystallized honey so you can pour it, just heat it gently.
Adding Acid
Acid may be added to the "must" (the honey water mixture you're going to ferment) both to adjust the pH and to balance the sweet flavour of the honey. Yeast prefers an acidic environment. Many other micro-organisms don't. The acid you add protects the must until the alcohol level creates a hostile environment for the competition.
[There is a discrepancy between older practice in mead making, which tends to advise adding acid at the start, and newer practice, which suggests that it be added after fermentation to avoid problems from too-low pH. This document is in review/revision on this point.]
Acid can be added in many forms. Winemaking suppliers sell acid blends, powder or liquid. Acid is measured in "as tartaric", or how acidic the must is compared to pure tartaric acid. For example, if the must is 0.5 percent acid as tartaric, it is as acidic as if 0.5 percent of the must were pure tartaric acid. Inexpensive test kits will let you measure the acidity so that you can adjust it. Acid blends are a combination of tartaric, citric, and malic acids. You may be able to get the individual acids used in blends. Each contributes a slightly different taste in addition to acidity. The natural acid in fruits and berries will also acidify the must, for which reason melomels often need no additional acid.
How to Prepare the Must
The honey/water before fermenting is called "must". You will want to add the honey to hot water in a large pot, but make sure the pot is not on the heat while doing this because the honey will fall to the bottom and caramelize (or stir vigorously if you leave it on the heat). Stainless steel or enamelled kettles are preferred; aluminium is OK. Do not use iron, nor enamelled kettles with cracks in the enamel.
Some mead recipes recommend only heating the must enough to pasteurize it. This is because boiling honey will drive off some of the delicate flavours. Refer to the recipes from the Mead-Lovers Digest or the other references (below).
If scum rises while heating or boiling the must, skim it off. It consists of wax, bee parts, pollen, etc., which don't help the flavour of the mead.
An alternative preparation method involves the use of "Campden tablets" or "sulfiting" to sterilize the must. If you're a winemaker, you'll recognize this method. With the use of Campden tablets, it is not necessary to heat/ boil the must at all first, although some mead-makers do so anyway for the sake of clarity of the final mead. If you use Campden tablets, follow a recipe or instructions for quantity, preparation, delay times before adding yeast, etc. Heating is probably easier than sulfiting for the beginning mead-maker.
Yeasts
Mead is more a wine than beer, with a final alcohol level anywhere between 10 and 18 percent. Wine yeasts, which have a higher alcohol tolerance, may ferment slower at first (although some are remarkably fast) but will ferment more completely than ale or lager yeast. They are also less likely to produce "off" tastes which take a long time to age out after the mead is finished. A partial list of some of the popular yeasts are: Champagne (multiple strains), Epernay, Flor Sherry, Steinberg, Prise De Mousse, Tokay, and various proprietary strains which are derived from these
This list is by no means exhaustive. Each yeast will impart its own unique characteristic to the mead. Champagne ferments out very dry and has a high alcohol tolerance. Epernay has a fruity bouquet. Flor Sherry has a high alcohol tolerance and contributes a flavour that goes better with sack meads. Prise de Mousse is particularly neutral, fast-fermenting, and attenuative (leaves little residual sweetness). Some yeasts (such as Montrachet wine yeast) can produce noticeable levels of phenols (the throat-burning part of cough medicine), which age out eventually in bottle conditioning but are an unnecessary complication since there are yeasts that don't produce them.
Yeast Nutrient
Honey by itself is low in some of the nutrients that yeast need to reproduce and quickly ferment out the mead must. Fermentation times can be measured in months as the yeast slowly trickles along. This is a disadvantage because as long as the fermenting mead remains sweet and low in alcohol, it is inviting to contaminating bacteria and lacks a good layer of carbon dioxide (CO2) to protect against oxidation. Mead makers can add a nutrient to help the yeast, and normally should do so if the only fermentable ingredient is honey. Fruit, particularly grapes, will contribute needed ingredients; thus melomels have lesser or no requirement for nutrients. Nutrients are normally added when the must is prepared.
There are several kinds of nutrients. Most winemaking shops will sell various salts designed for grape musts. While this is helpful for mead, too much can leave an astringent metallic flavour that will take months or years in the bottle to age out. Yeast extract, pulverized yeast, is also available. Dead yeast are exploded ultrasonically or in a centrifuge, and sold as a powder. Yeast extract will not leave the same metallic flavours as nutrients, but may be more difficult to find. It is not possible to make your own yeast extract at home.
Fermentation
Mead will take longer than beer to ferment. Fermentation times are often measured in months, so get another carboy. Mead likes to ferment a little warmer than beer (70F - 75), but should be stored in a cool place to bottle condition. You will have to rack mead (transfer it to a separate vessel, leaving behind the sediment) while it is fermenting. If you make any kind of mead beside traditional, you will have to rack about a week after starting to remove the bits of fruit or spices that settle out. Rack periodically after that to get the mead off the dead yeast and other matter that settles out--every 3-6 weeks depending on the rate of fermentation and settling. This improves the flavour and clarifies the mead.
Initial fermentation of melomels made with fruit (not just juice) is easiest in a food-grade plastic pail so that you can strain out the fruit before racking. Except for this, glass carboys with fermentation locks are the best fermentation vessels. Mead does not tend to form the huge head that beer does when starting fermentation.
Bottling
First, you must make sure the mead has stopped fermenting. Mead is such a slow fermenter that it may appear completely done, yet continue to ferment after bottling. This can turn a still mead into a sparkling one; it can even produce enough pressure to cause the bottles to explode. Exploding bottles-- "glass grenades"--aren't funny. They're unpredictable and very dangerous.
To be sure the mead is done fermenting, take hydrometer readings spanning a week or more and be sure the readings are not still falling. Dry meads will also finish at a gravity below 1.000. As a mead finishes, it will "fall clear"--the initial cloudiness will settle out. Be careful, though, because being clear is not enough.
Choose appropriate bottles for the type of mead. Sparkling mead (carbonated, like champagne) will require a sturdy bottle, either sparkling wine (which are thick enough to take the higher carbonation) or returnable beer bottles. Beer bottles should be crown-capped. Sparkling wine bottles can be corked if you use champagne corks and wire them down. American sparkling-wine bottles can be crown-capped just as beer bottles can. European sparkling-wine bottles cannot be reliably crown-capped--they have a crown-cap lip, but it's the wrong size for standard caps.
Still meads (uncarbonated, like normal wines) may be bottled in regular wine bottles with standard corks, or in crown-capped bottles as above. Since pressure isn't an issue, almost any bottle with an airtight closure can be made to work. Bear in mind, though, that the appearance of your bottles is part of the first impression when you serve your mead.
Mead that has finished fermentation and is then bottled will be "still" (flat). Sparkling mead is "primed" by adding a small amount of sugar at bottling time to produce a short renewed fermentation so that it is carbon- ated. For predictable results (again, to avoid "glass grenades"), you should first let the mead finish fermenting in the carboy, then add just the amount of sugar needed to carbonate it. Bottling a mead before it finished ferment- ing (in hopes of capturing just the right amount of carbonation in the bottle) can lead to under- or over-carbonation, and even in the best case won't give the mead a chance to finish clearing before bottling. A normal amount of priming sugar is about 4 ounces by weight for five gallons.
If you want a still, sweet mead, you can use a lot of honey and let the mead ferment until the yeast finally gives up (because of the alcohol), then bottle. However, if you do this, it is strongly advised that you "stabilize" the mead with potassium sorbate to prevent the yeast from re- starting and slowly fermenting after bottling. Mead-makers have seen sweet meads stop fermenting and remain stable for months, but re-start slowly and produce dangerously carbonated meads in bottle. Note also that sorbate won't stop an active fermentation; it will only prevent dormant yeast from re-starting.
Store the bottles in a cool dark place. Mead is not as sensitive as beer to light (unless you have hops in it), but should not be left in bright light.
Wassail!
While reading the mead-lovers digest you will occasionally see the word "Wassail". It's a toast, an expression of good will, much as a beer drinker might offer "Prosit" or "Cheers". The word derives from Old Norse through Middle English, and means "be healthy". A modern German cognate would be "wacht heil." The dictionary lists two pronunciations (wahs'ul, wah-sale').
"A house without books is like a body without a soul."
(Marcus Tullius Cicero)
The early Germans did not write much down, most information we have about them has been written by Roman or Medieval writers.
The most famous works are the "Germania", written by the Roman historian Tacitus, the "Risala" from the Arabian explorer Ibn Fahdlan, and the Edda's (both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda).
Another important work is the Codex Argenteus ("Silver Bible"), also known as the Wulfila bible, which preserved one of the oldest Germanic languages (Gothic) and is of such importance that the Danish museum that owns it only displays a copy of it and has hidden the original book in a secret place to avoid loss.
The "Getica" of Jordanes is also an important source of history and it gives a good description about the Goths during the Great Migrations.
Sometimes new sources are even being found that give us some more interesting information, an example of this was the discovery of unknown fragments of the Nibelungenlied in 2003 which was published in the "Dagblad van het Noorden" on March 29, 2003;
"Unknown fragments Nibelungenlied discovered
VIENNA - In the Austrian monastery of Zwettl unknown fragments of the Nibelungenlied have been discovered. It concerns pieces of text of at maximally three to eight centimeters (one to three inches). They probably date from the 12th century. The Nibelungenlied is the most important heroic epic in the Middle High German language. The anonymous writer combined multiple myths from the time around the year 500 of our era. In another Austrian monastery copies of the Nibelungenlied from the 13th century surfaced in 1998.
The subjects of the Nibelungenlied inspired the composer Richard Wagner in making his four-parted opera Der Ring des Nibelungen."
Most of the texts that were written by the ancient Germans themselves are runic inscriptions and texts that have been written down during the early Middle Ages after they were handed over from generation to generation, though most of the heathen texts that existed were probably burned during the Christianization of Europe, Roman texts about the Germans were also destroyed when they were written in pre-Christian times or when they mentioned heathen gods, whole libraries were burned an it is said that in some places the fires burned for days, think about what those texts might have learned us...
The problem with most texts is that they have either been tainted by the writer's personal opinion, or that they have been written in a much later time which probably caused the writer to rely on the stories of other people and to speculate, the most credible information is written by objective writers at the same time in which the events have happened, preferably by someone who understood the things he wrote about, like Jordanes for instance who was of Gothic descent himself.
Runic inscriptions:
The earliest known written records of the Germans are the runic writings that have been found in Scandinavia, Great-Britain, and the northern part of mainland Europe, most of those texts contain ownership tags, charms, brief descriptions of historical events, and religious messages.
The Edda's
A good example of Germanic literature that has been preserved is Skaldic poetry that was written down in Scandinavia and especially Iceland during the Middle Ages.
Most of those texts were written in rime form and were divided into stanza's (a group of lines that belong together like in an alinea), another aspect was the use of kennings; this was common in Germanic texts, which often used cryptical meanings for simple words, for instance a ship could also be called "stallion of the sea", or "rider of the waves", a battle could be called "swordmeeting" or "strengthcomparison", the god Thor could also be named "Mjöllnirs wielder" or "Redbeard", and Odin was "Sleipnirs rider" or "One eyed wisdom seeker", the amount of kennings that could be used were unlimited.
If you want to get a good impression of Germanic literature I advice you to read the Edda's, they may be written in a later time but they still use many old forms of poetry; especially the Poetic Edda is interesting because it contains many different styles, some of those texts are easily readible while others are so cryptical that translators have a hard time finding out what the text exactly says; the Edda may look simple at first sight, but if you go a little deeper into it you will notice that it is a literary piece of art.
Medieval folktales:
Many Medieval folktales are based on older Germanic legends, a good example are the "master marksman" legends like Robin Hood (English), Wilhelm Tell (Swiss), and Egill (Scandinavian), which are all believed to be based on an older Germanic legend about a master marksman called Aigilaz.
Another example is the "Hamlet" figure; he was already mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum as the prince of Denmark, the Frisians and Icelanders also had legends that were very similar to the Hamlet myths which may point to an older Germanic origin; if one takes the main aspects of this various legends and compares them there are many similarities which may have probably been borrowed from this older legend that is now "forgotten", or isn't it? Shakespeare based his "Hamlet" on this old legends (which he may have heard somewhere) and his play is still shown today in many theaters across the world, I wonder if those theater visitors realize that they are watching a play that may be thousands of years old.
Medieval literature:
During the early Middle Ages many works were influenced by old Germanic poetry and legends, this later changed due to the heavy Mediterranean and Christian influences on Medieval literature but still a lot of old legends and poetry have been written down during that time which has preserved a lot of beautiful writings for future generations.
Most examples of Germanic literature are poetical interpretations of historical events that can be divided into 7 circles:
1. Nibelungen circle (mainly German)
2. Beowulf (Scandinavian)
3. Dietrich/Þidrek/Theodorik circle (Gothic)
4. Ermanarik circle (Gothic)
5. Attila (Etzel/Atli) poetry (all)
6. Hilde versus Gudrun epics (Scandinavian)
7. Offa and Finn sagas (Anglo-Saxon)
After some time most countries started to evolve their own literature styles; Icelandic literature for example was originally historically orientated like the "Islendingabók", a book about Icelandic history that was written by Ari Thorgilsson at the beginning of the 12th century, later Icelandic works also became fictitious like for instance the "Fornalda Sögur" (sagas with a mythical/heroic content), "Riddara sögur" (knight sagas), "Lygisögur" (fictitious adventure sagas), "Rímur" (rimes), and "Vikivökur" (ballads and dancing songs).
Many old Germanic legends were also Christianized by connecting them to a saint or a Christian king, a good example is the Saxon epic "Heliand" in which the original hero was probably replaced by Jesus, most of the Charlemagne poetry is also based on older legends where the original hero was replaced by Charlemagne and the heathen gods by the Christian one, though some of them have also been written in the time itself.
Scandinavian literature evolved into Kämpeviser (Danish/Norwegian) or Kämpevisor (Swedish), which were ballads and heroic poems that were based on old Germanic legends, another well-known literature style was Skaldic poetry, which was characterized by innovation, strict metrical laws, new formings, and "Kenningar" (kennings or poetrical descriptions).
A typically Germanic form of poetry was alliteration (also known as begin-rime), which was a rime that was not based on the rime of the last words like in most modern poems but on a rime of the words at the beginning of a sentence, here are two examples;
•"Wine makes wild parties" (wi-wi)
•"Remove all remaining garbage after the party" (rem-rem)
In the 9th century the Latin end-rime was taken over which eventually replaced the Germanic begin-rime.
________________________________________
List of important early Medieval literature and authors:
(This list is still incomplete and only mentions the most important works and authors)
MHG = Middle High German
MD = Middle Dutch
ON = Old Norse
•German literature:
Dietrich von Bern; this story was related to the Old Norse Þidrekssaga, "Dietrich von Bern" was the name under which the Ostrogothic king Theodorik the Great lived on in the sagas, in the story Dietrich is driven from his empire by Ermanarik and seeks help with Etzel (Attila), who is the king of the Huns; with his help he takes back his empire and besieges the city of Bern (this was not Bern in Switzerland but Verona in Italy), the story is very fictitious and deviates a lot from the historical facts.
Eckenlied; MHG poem from the 13th century that belongs to the circle of Dietrich von Bern.
Heliand; Old Saxon poem about the life of Jesus Christ, it was made in 835AD by order of Louis the Pious who wanted to use it for the Christianization of the Saxons, it depicts Jesus as a warrior and is a beautiful example of a mixture between Christian and Germanic literature.
Hildebrandslied; this story was written in the 8th century and has survived in an incomplete copy from the 9th century.
Hürnen Seyfrid; German ballad from the 15th century that tells about the adventures of Siegfried/Sigurd during his youth in a confusing way, despite the young age of this work it is an important representative of the Nibelungensage because it tells about events that are only briefly mentioned in the Nibelungenlied and the Edda's.
Jenaer songhandwriting; this work contains poems and the melodies that belong to those poems, which is very important for the knowledge of Medieval music, it was written in Germany during the 14th century and can be seen in the city of Jena since 1548.
Die Klage; ("The Mourning") MHG poem that is a continuation of the events from the Nibelungenlied, it tells about the events that took place after the events of the Nibelungenlied and the mourning about the death of so many nobles, the work also attempts to soften the guilt of Grimhild.
König Rother; ("King Rother") MHG poem from the 12th century that was written in Bavaria in a Low-Rhinian dialect; it tells about the adventures of the Langobardian king Rother that took place before his attack on the king of Constantinople with his army of Giants and his marriage with the king's daughter, king Rother has really existed; the Langobardian king Rothari (636-650).
Kudrun sage; MHG epic about the heroine Kudrun, it survived in a writing from 1230 but is much older and is of heathen origin.
Laurin / Kleiner Rosengarten; MHG epic from the 13th century that was written in Tirol (Austria) by an unknown poet, it tells about Dietrich von Bern who is going to liberate his sister and therefor has to enter the magical rosegarden of the Dwarven king Laurin who has taken her captive, the story takes place in Tirol and after a long battle Dietrich is victorious.
Merseburger charms; magical charms from the 10th century that were found on the cover of a book in the library of Merseburg.
Muspilli; OHG poem in alliteration that was written in the 9th century by one or more Bavarian monks; it tells about the fate of the human soul and the end of the world.
Nibelungenlied; MHG epic poem that was written down in its final form at the beginning of the 13th century, it is one of the sources of the Nibelungensage; a complex of stories from Germanic antiquity that are connected to eachother and have especially been poetically used in Germany and Scandinavia; they mostly tell about the life and death of Siegfried and the destruction of the Burgundian empire by the Huns.
Rabenschlacht; ("Raven-battle") MHG heroic poem, belonging to the circle of Dietrich von Bern (1275).
Rattenfängersage; ("Ratcatcher-saga") Medieval story about the disappearance of 30 children from the city of Hameln, they were told to have been lured away by the ratchatcher because the people had not payed him for his services, the story is believed to originate from 1284 and was written down in 1430.
Rolandslied; ("Song of Roland") the story of Roland, also known as Roeland or Roelant, who was a knight of Charlemagne; when he layed mortally wounded on the ground after a battle with the invading Saracenes he blew his horn to alarm the emperor and broke his sword Duranthal to keep it out of Muslim hands.
In Northern Germany there are many squares and markets that contain a stone statue of a knight that symbolizes Roland.
Rosengarten; ("Rose-garden") MHG heroic poem that was written in the 13th century, probably in Bavaria or Austria; it describes the battle between Siegfried and Dietrich von Bern, who both brought 11 followers, about the posession of Kriemhild's rosegarden in Worms, Dietrich eventually wins.
Another version of this poem can be found in the Old Norse Þidrekssaga ("Dietrich-saga").
Ruodlieb; oldest adventure- and knight novel in German and Latin from 1050, it contains a lot of fairy tales, legends, and historical facts that have been mixed together; it tells about the adventures of a young knight.
Sigenot; small MHG epic from the Dietrich circle, that describes the battle of Dietrich and Hildebrand against the Giant Sigenot, there are two versions of this story; the Älterer Sigenot ("Elder Sigenot") from 1250 and the Jüngerer Sigenot ("Younger Sigenot") from 1350.
Till Eulenspiegel; German counterpart of the Dutch Tijl Uilenspiegel. (see: Tijl Uilenspiegel)
Wartburgkrieg; ("Wartburg-war") anonymous MHG epic from the 13th century that tells about a fictitious singing-contest at the court of Herman von Thüringen at his castle Wartburg, the contest is held between Walther, Wolfram, the wizard Klingsor, and Heinrich von Ofterdingen, the first part is a contest of poems praising various kings, the 2nd part is a contest in riddles.
•German authors:
Der Marner; MHG poet who lived in Swabia during the 13th century, he is know for his sharp criticism about the church and the pope, his most important work was the "Tagelied".
Der von Kurenberg; one of the oldest German singers who lived in Austria around 1170, he wrote about the love between husband and wife and used the same strophe-form as the Nibelungenlied.
Dietmar von Aist; Austrian singer (1140-1170) who wrote one of the oldest German tagelieder ("day-songs").
Hadamar von Laber; MHG poet from the 14th century, in 1340 he wrote "Die Jagd" ("The Hunt"), in which he depicted the lover as a hunting trophey and happyness, love, will, loyalty, and other abstract qualities as hunting dogs.
Heinrich der Glîchesaere; MHG poet who probably came from the Alsace, in 1180 he wrote "Reinhart Fuchs" which was based on a French source and was the predecessor of the Dutch "Van den vos Reynaerde".
Heinrich der Vogler; Austrian poet who lived in Tirol during the 13th century, in 1282 he wrote the poem "Dietrichs flucht" that contains an important part of the Dietrichpoetry that would have otherwise been lost.
Heinrich von Melk; early MHG poet from Austria, in 1160 he wrote "Von des tôdes gehugende"; a satirical work about the insignificance of our earthly life, and the "Priesterleben", in which he complained about the immorality of priests.
Heinrich von Morungen; German singer from Thuringia who wrote many lovesongs, in 1222 he became a knight.
Herbort von Fritzlar; MHG poet from Hessen, in 1210 he wrote an epic about the Troyan war ("Liet von Troie")
Hrotswitha von Gandersheim; German poetress who wrote many Christian poems in the 10th century.
Konrad Fleck; MHG poet of Alemannic origin, in 1220 he wrote the novel "Floire und Blanscheflûr" that was based on a French original.
Konrad von Würzburg; MHG poet (1230-1287) who wrote "Schwanritter", "Heinrich von Kempten", "Herzmäre", "Der welt lohn", "Engelhard und Engeltraut", "Die goldene schmiede", "Partonopier und Meliur", and "Buoch von Troye", he also wrote the following poems about saints; "Alexius", "Papst Silvester", "Panthaleon", "Nikolaus".
Neidhart von Reuenthal; MHG poet (1190-1242) who wrote rough dancing songs and village poetry.
Spervogel; MHG wandering poet from the 12th century, his poems had a didactical content and were often told in dialogue.
Steinmar; MHG lyrical poet from the 13th century, possibly an Alemannian, in realistic songs he sang about the joys of wine and a well filled dinnertable.
Stricker; MHG poet from the 13th century, probably from Austria, he edited the old Rolandslied of Konrad and published it as "Karl der Grosse", he also wrote the knight epic "Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal"; an adventure- and wondernovel, some small tales like "Maerem" and "Bîspel", and a collection of farces like "Der pfaffe Amis"; that was a predecessor of Tijl Uilenspiegel in which he complains about the problems of his time.
Tannhäuser; German singer from the 13th century, probably from Bavaria or Salzburg in Austria, he led an adventurous life and took part in the crusade of 1228, his life has later been used for the Tannhäuser saga; in this story he searches for the Venusberg where he stays for a while with a heathen goddess, after some time he regrets his sin and prays to Maria (the mother of Jesus Christ), makes a pilgrimage to Rome, and begs the pope for forgiveness; the pope tells him that god will only forgive him if his staff will get green leafs; Tannhäuser is disappointed and returns to the Venusberg where the goddess happily receives him, in the meantime green leafs are growing on the pope's staff and messengers are sent out to find Tannhäuser, but he stays forever in the Venusberg; Wagner has created an opera about Tannhäuser but at the end of that opera Tannhäuser dies as a regretful sinner while this did not happen in the original story.
Thietmar von Merseburg; German chronicler, bisshop of Merseburg, and adviser of emperor Heinrich II; he wrote the "Chronicon", which is the main source for the history of the Slavs.
Thomasin von Zerklaere; MHG poet (1186-1235) who wrote "Welsche gast" a work that pointed knighs and clergymen to their positive and negative sides.
Walther von der Vogelweide; German poet (1170-1230), he described the struggle for the German emperor crown and the friction between the emperor and the pope, in which he shows to be a loyal follower of the German emperor and an enemy of the pope and his powerplays, he does this in a very original and funny way, his most famous works are "Ich saz ûf eime steine" (1198), "Ich hôrte ein wazzer diezen" (1198), "Her keiser, sît ir willekommen" (1212), "Ahî, wie kristenliche nu der bâbest lachet" (1212), "Ich hân mîn lêhen" (1220), "Ouwê, war sint verswunden alliu miniu jâr" (1227).
Widukind von Corvey; German clergyman en chronicler (930-1000), he wrote about the history of the Saxons in his "Rerum Gestarum Saxonicarum Libri III"
Wolfram von Eschenbach; MHG epic poet (1170-1220) of knightly decendance, he often lived at the court of count Hermann von Thüringen where he also met the famous poet Walther von der Vogelweide, Wolfram knew a lot about German and foreign literature, Medieval jurisdiction, medicines, astronomy, gemology (knowledge of gems), and snakes.
He wrote about the happyness of marriage and his most important works are the "Parzifal" and the "Willehalm", though he was not able to complete this last one, the same goes for his "Titurel", which tells about the love between Schianotulander and Sigune, noteworthy is also his plea for more tolerance towards heathens.
•Dutch literature:
Berte metten brede voeten; ("Bertha with-the broad feet") Old Dutch version of the French knight novels from around 1150, it tells about Bertha, who was the mother of Charlemagne.
De vier Heemskinderen; ("The four Homechildren") MD poem about the four sons (Adelaert, Reinout, Ritsaert, and Writsaert) of Charlemagne's sister, they are knights who all ride on one horse and are hated by Charlemagne who tries everything to doublecross them.
Het lied van heer Halewijn; ("The song of lord Halewijn") MD ballad about an evil lord who kills women; he lures them with his (symbolical) singing and then hangs them on a gallow, eventually he is decapitated by the daughter of a king.
This story is probably of a much older origin and may be related to old Germanic legends about a Wild Hunter who attacks women.
Karel ende Elegast; a MD knight poem that is often (unjustfully) considered to be a Franconian novel, since there is no Franconian original of this work it was probably a Dutch poem (most Medieval novels were copied from Franconian / French examples), it was presumably written in western Flanders and the oldest preserved version of this story dates from 1480; the story tells about Charlemagne who stays at his castle in Ingelheim where in his dreams he is visited by an angel who asks him to go out stealing at night, after he has left the castle at night he meets Elegast; a knight who he has banned from his retinue on false accusations and who now has to live from robbery, he posesses magical charms and does not recognize Charlemagne.
Charlemagne joins Elegast in a burglary but he does not reveal his identity to him, they break into the house of Eggheric, who is a vassal of Charlemagne, and when they are in his house they hear Eggheric speaking with his wife about a conspiracy to kill the emperor, Charlemagne realizes his life is under threat and that he was therefor asked to go out stealing, the next day Elegast challenges the conspirator to a duel and defeats him, after which Charlemagne restores his honour and gives him his sister as wife.
The story is probably of an older origin and may have been a later adaptation of a Germanic legend or fairy tale.
Mimir; Dutch epic that is probably related to the Mimir from Scandinavian mythology; it tells about a good smith who is named as the foster father of some heroes, according to the Þidrekssaga Völundr (Weland / Wieland) and Sigurd (Siegfried) have also been his students.
Parthenopeus van Blois; MD novel from the 13th century, tells about the love of king Clovis (Chlodowech) in 9000 verses, it is a Westflemish adaptation of a French original that was written by Denis Pyramus in 1150.
Tijl Uilenspiegel; (Till Eulenspiegel) comical character from German and Dutch folkbooks, he is a farmerboy who fools cityfolk; it was written 1500 in Low German.
Valentijn ende Nameloes; MD novel from the 14th century, 700 verses of the original text have survived in this Westflemish work.
Van den Bere Wisselau; ("About the Bear Wisselau") a 12th century MD poem of which only a few fragments have survived, it is one of the few remains of Germanic epics in Dutch literature, is was probably written in the eastern parts of the Dutch language area (the area of the Nethersaxon dialects); the story tells about the bear Wisselau and the hero Geernout who has defeated him, they decide to work together and join the retinue of king Karel (Charlemagne) with whom they take part in the battle against the Giantking Espriaen.
Van den Vos Reinaerde; ("About the Fox Reinaert") MD animal epic from the 13th century that was inspired on a German example; all animals except Grimbeert the badger come to the the "hofgeding" (lawsuit held at the court of a king) of king Nobel ("Noble") to complain about Reinaert the fox, Reinaert manages to refute all suspicions and wins the trust of the king who punishes Reinaerts enemies instead of the fox himself.
When Nobel has finally discovered the deceit he notices that Reinaert has already fled.
Walewijn; Dutch knight novel from around 12.000 verses, there is no known French original on which this work may have been based so it is therefor believed to be a purely Dutch work, it was probably written in western Flanders (1200AD).
•Dutch authors:
Bernlef; blind Frisian singer from the 8th century, according to Alfrids "Vita Liudgeri" he sang about the heroic actions of his ancestors and the wars of kings, this testimony proves the existence of songs about heroes among the old Frisians, in 780AD Bernlef met st. Liudger who cured him from his blindness and converted him to Christianity, though that was probably made up later.
•Old Norse/Icelandic literature:
Friþjofssaga; ON saga from 1300AD about the Norwegian hero Friþjof, who is the son of a farmer who falls in love with a princess named Ingibjorg, her two brothers try everything to end their relation because Ingibjorg is already betrothed to king Ring, but eventually their love will overcome.
Hamdismál; ON poem from the 9th century about the Ostrogothic king Ermanarik, according to the saga he ordered his wife to be trampled by horses after which her brothers Hamdir and Sorli took revenge, but during their revenge they were killed themselves; it is unknown whether this story is based on historical facts or that it is just fiction or anti-Ermanarik propaganda.
Landnámabók; ("Land-name-book" or "Land-taking-book") Icelandic book about the colonization of Iceland by Norwegian families, the book mentions 3000 names and is written in the 13th century.
Poetic Edda; (also known as Codex Regius) this work was written down by various Scandinavian poets in an attempt to preserve the old legends.
Prose Edda; (also known as Snorra Edda) this work was written by Snorri Sturluson as an inititaion to poetry for young skalds, it consists of 3 parts; "Gylfaginning" (Deluding of Gylfi), which is in dialogue and explains various stories from Germanic mythology, the 2nd part is "Skáldskaparmál" (poetry), which is also in dialogue and tells more about the use of kennings, this work also contains mythological stories, the 3rd and last part is "Háttatal" (list of poetry forms) that consists of 102 strophes of which every strophe is written in a different poetical form, it was written as both a learing tool for poets and as glorification of the Norwegian king Hákon the Elder and his adviser Skuli.
Þidrekssaga; ON poem about the life of Þidrek (Dietrich von Bern / Theodorik the Great), Rhinelandish and Low German songs served as sources for this work, which were probably brought to Scandinavia by merchants of the Hanseatic League in the 13th century, where they were written down in Old Norse by a Norwegian or an Icelander, possibly in the city of Bergen.
This Rhinelandish and Low German sources were much older than the High German epics and are therefor very interesting for modern research; the story tells about the journey of Þidrek (or Dietrich, Diederik, Theodorik, Theudrich, Thiudareiks, Þeudaraikaz, etc.) to England and his victory there, he is later expelled and becomes Attila's guest for a while, after that he goes back to Italy.
•Old Norse/Icelandic authors:
Egill Skallagrimsson; Icelandic skald who lived around 900AD, his most important poems are "Hofudhlausn"; which he made to bring king Erik (who had sentenced him to death) to mercy, "Arinbjarnardrapa"; in which he sings about his friendship for Arinbjorn, and "Sonartorrek"; in which he mourns the early death of his sons in a very touching way.
Eyvind Skaldaspiller; (Skaldaspiller = "Poem-spiller") Norwegian skald who died in 990AD, he was the court poet of jarl Håkon the Good, whose praise he sings in his "Hakonarmál", he also praised Jarl Håkon's ancestors in the "Haleygjatal", his works are derived from older examples, hence his name.
Gunnlaugr Ormstunga; ("Battleflame Snaketongue") Icelandic skald who lived from 983 to 1009.
Saxo Grammaticus; Danish historian who lived from 1150 to 1220, he wrote about the history of Denmark in his "Gesta Danorum", which lists the period from the earliest time to 1184, the first 9 books also contain some epic poems and an interesting story about a hero named Starkad, who can also be found in some Icelandic sources though it is not entirely sure whether he has an historical origin; the story tells that Starkad was a descendant of the Giants and that Odin has protected him after his birth and gave him special powers against the will of the other gods.
Snorri Sturluson; (Norwegian: Snorre Sturlason) Icelandic poet, historian, and statesman (1178-1241), via his mother he was a descendant from Egill Skallagrimsson and became the leader of an important political party in Iceland, the Norwegian king invited him twice to get Iceland under his control via Snorri's party, Snorri did not cooperate with this and the king ordered him to be assassinated, it was later thought that Snorri had betrayed his country but modern historians have proven that this was incorrect and that he had in fact tried to safe Iceland from the oppression of the Norwegian king, Snorri is mostly known from his two most famous works; "Prose Edda" and "Heimskringla".
•Anglo-Saxon literature:
Beowulf; biggest known Anglo-Saxon poem and also the first Germanic epic that was written down, it consists of 3183 verses and originates from the 8th century though it was saved in a handwriting from the 10th century; despite some Christian influences this poem is of great value for the study of Germanic heathenism.
Piers the Plowman; English story from 1377 about the legendary hero Robin Hood, the story symbolizes the Anglo-Saxon resistance against the oppressing Norman nobility, the story is probably related to Wilhelm Tell and other Germanic stories about a master marksman.
•Anglo-Saxon authors:
Kynewulf; Anglo-Saxon poet from the 8th century, he wrote 4 poems that he signed with his name in runic writings; "Juliana", "Crist", "Elene", and "Fata Apostolorum".
•French literature:
Chanson de Roland; ("Song of Roland") French knight-poem about Roland from the 12th century, it was based on the attempt of the Saracenes to spread the Islamic religion to Europe, for this they invaded southern France where they were attacked by Franconian knights who defeated them in a series of heroic battles, the German Rolandslied was also based on this story.
Fierabras; Old French poem belonging to the circle of Charlemagne (end 12th century), Fierabras is a Giant and the son of the Saracen king Balant, he conquers Rome and challenges Charlemagne and his knights but he is defeated by them and forced to be baptized, his sister Floripas fall in love with Gui de Bourgogne, who is one of Charlemagne's knights.
When Gui and some other knights have been taken prisoner by her father she helps them to escape, eventually Charlemagne comes to the rescue and captures king Balant, but he refuses to be baptized and is therefor murdered by Charlemagne, Floripas does accept her baptism and marries Gui.
Le pèlerinage de Charlemagne; ("The pilgrimage of Charlemagne") one of the oldest French heroic poems (12th century) about the adventures of Charlemagne during his pilgrimage.
•French authors:
Francois Villon; French poet from the 15th century who was also a criminal in his past time, he mainly robbed churches and when he was not in jail he wrote rebellious poems about famous persons, he was later sentenced to death and while he was awaiting this in his cell he wrote a beautiful poem about his own execution, fortunately for him the execution was cancelled at the last moment and he was instead banished from Paris for 10 years, he wandered off and nobody ever heard from him again.
