WalthariusPrologue

Dedicatory Preface

Omnipotens genitor, summae virtutis amator,		Genitor…amator…spiritus: the poet begins by invoking the Trinity, i.e., the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.	Vergil, Aeneid 10.668: Omnipotens genitor. . . ‘Almighty father. . .’
Iure pari natusque amborum spiritus almus,
Personis trinus, vera deitate sed unus,
Qui vita vivens cuncta et sine fine tenebis,		Vita vivens: the phrase either reinforces or contrasts with the sense of sine fine.
Pontificem summum tu salva nunc et in aevum	5
Claro Erckambaldum fulgentem nomine dignum,			Ovid, Tristia ex Ponto 5.7.45: vix sunt homines hoc nomine digni. ‘They are scarce men worthy the name.’
Crescat ut interius sancto spiramine plenus,
Multis infictum quo sit medicamen in aevum.		Infictum: “genuine”
Praesul sancte dei, nunc accipe munera servi,
Quae tibi decrevit de larga promere cura	10	De larga…cura: the use of a preposition with the ablative of means, characteristic of Medieval Latin, is a step on the way to the disappearance of the case system in most modern Romance languages.
Peccator fragilis Geraldus nomine vilis,		Geraldus: the identity of this person, and his relationship to the rest of the poem, is not known. Nomine: the author makes a very direct comparison of his own status with that of Erchambold, as praised in line 6.
Qui tibi nam certus corde estque fidelis alumnus.		Alumnus: either equivalent to servus, or perhaps signaling that the prologue’s author had himself been a student of Erchambold.
Quod precibus dominum iugiter precor omnitonantem,
Ut nanciscaris factis, quae promo loquelis,
Det pater ex summis caelum terramque gubernans.	15
Serve dei summi, ne despice verba libelli,
Non canit alma dei, resonat sed mira tyronis,
Nomine Waltharius, per proelia multa resectus.
Ludendum magis est dominum quam sit rogitandum,		The point is clearly that the poem is meant for entertainment, not religious edification, but the grammatical construction is uncertain. Althof considers libellus to be implied as the subject of both verbs and takes ludendum and rogitandum as gerunds denoting purpose, with ad twice omitted. Alternatively we have first an impersonal passive periphrastic construction with the gerundive (cf. Horace’s nunc est bibendum), with the second (transitive) verb being awkwardly attracted into this construction.
Perlectus longaevi stringit inampla diei.	20	Perlectus: sc. libellus. Longaevi stringit inampla diei: difficult to interpret. Many texts (not Strecker’s) split the first and third of these words, yielding longae vi and in ampla and thus further multiplying the possibilities. The sense seems to be “shortens the length of an old man’s day” (or simply “of the long day”). Wieland sees in stringit the image of a drawn sword: “fights against.”
Sis felix sanctus per tempora plura sacerdos,			Aeneid 1.330: sis felix nostrumque leves, quaecumque, laborem. ‘Show grace to us, whoever you may be, and lighten this our burden.’
Sit tibi mente tua Geraldus carus adelphus.

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Prologue Introduction: the Huns (1–12) The Huns (13–418) The Franks under Gibich surrender to Attila, giving Hagen as a hostage (13–33) The Burgundians under Hereric surrender to Attila, giving Hildegund as a hostage (34–74) The Aquitainians under Alphere surrender to Attila, giving Walther as a hostage (75–92) Experience of the hostages at Attila’s court (93–115) Death of Gibich, flight of Hagen (116–122) Attila’s queen Ospirin advises her husband to ensure Walther’s loyalty by arranging a marriage (123–141) Walther rejects Attila’s offer of a bride (142–169) Walther leads the army of the Huns to victory in battle (170–214) The Escape (215–418) Walther returns from battle and encounters Hildegund (215–255) Walther reveals to Hildegund his plans for escaping with Attila’s treasure (256–286) Walther hosts a luxurious banquet for Attila’s court; eventually all his intoxicated guests fall asleep (287–323) Flight of Walther and Hildegund from Attila’s court (324–357) The following day, the escape of Walther and Hildegund is discovered by Ospirin (358–379) Attila is infuriated and vows revenge on Walther, but can find no one willing to dare to pursue him, even for a large reward (380–418) The Single Combats (419–1061) Diplomacy (419–639) Flight of Walther and Hildegund to the area of Worms (419–435) Gunther, King of the Franks, learns of Walther’s presence on his territory and, despite Hagen’s warnings, decides to pursue him for his treasure (436–488) Walther makes his camp in a mountainous area and goes to sleep (489–512) Gunther and his companions approach Walther’s camp; Hagen unsuccessfully tries to dissuade the king from attacking it (513–531) Hildegund sees the Franks approaching and wakes Walther, who calms her fears and prepares for battle; he recognizes Hagen from a distance (532–571) Hagen persuades Gunther to try diplomacy before using force (571–580) Camalo is sent as a messenger to Walther, who offers to make Gunther a gift in return for allowing his passage (581–616) Hagen counsels Gunther to accept the offer, but Gunther rejects this advice, calling him a coward. Insulted, Hagen goes off to a nearby hill (617–639) Combat (640–1061) 1st single combat: Camalo is sent back to Walther, who slays him (640–685) 2nd single combat: Walther slays Kimo/Scaramund, Camalo’s nephew (686–719) Gunther encourages his men (720–724) 3rd single combat: Walther slays Werinhard, a descendant of the Trojan Pandarus (725–753) 4th single combat: Walther slays the Saxon Ekivrid, after an exchange of insults (754–780) 5th single combat: Walther slays Hadawart, after an exchange of insults (781–845) Hagen sees his nephew Patavrid going off to fight Walther and laments the evil wreaked on mankind by greed (846–877) 6th single combat: after trying to dissuade him from fighting, Walther slays Patavrid (878–913) 7th single combat: Walther slays Gerwitus (914–940) Gunther again encourages his men, giving Walther some time to rest (941–961) 8th single combat: Walther is shorn of his hair by Randolf, whom he then slays (962–981) Walther is attacked by Eleuthir/Helmnot, assisted by Trogus, Tanastus, and Gunther; he slays all but Gunther (981–1061) The Final Combat (1062–1452) Gunther tries to persuade Hagen to help him to defeat Waltharius; remembering his wounded honor, Hagen refuses (1062–1088) Hagen changes his mind and agrees to help Gunther, but advises that they must lie low wait until Walther comes down from the mountains into open ground (1089–1129) Walther decides to spend the night in the mountains. He rematches the severed heads with the bodies of his victims, prays for their souls, then sleeps (1130–1187) The following day, Walther and Hildegund set out from the mountains, taking the horses and arms of the defeated warriors (1188–1207) Hildegund perceives Gunther and Hagen approaching to attack; the king addresses Walther (1208–1236) Walther ignores Gunther and pleads with Hagen to remember the bond of their childhood friendship; Hagen counters that Walther has already broken their faith by slaying Patavrid (1237–1279) The fight begins and continues for seven hours; Gunther foolishly tries to retrieve a thrown spear from the ground near Walther and is only saved from death by Hagen’s brave intervention (1280–1345) Walther challenges Hagen; he severs Gunther’s leg, but Hagen again saves the king’s life (1346–1375) Hagen cuts off Walther’s right hand; Walther gouges out one of Hagen’s eyes and, cutting open his cheek, knocks out four teeth (1376–1395) Having wounded each other, the warriors end the battle, drink together, and engage in a friendly exchange of humorous taunt (1396–1442) The warriors return to their respective homes; Walther marries Hildegund and eventually becomes king of the Aquitainians (1443–1452) Epilogue (1453–1456)

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