TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY. - Centrostudirpinia.it

393 WISE WOMEN.
remarkable formula of chivalry occurring both in folk-songs and in
court-poems : durch alter frouwen ere! by all women s honour,
Wotfdiet. 104. Morolt 855. 888. 2834. Morolf 1542. Ecke 105.
117. 174. Eoseng. 2037. MsH. 3, 200a ; durch reiner (pure)
frouwen ere/ Ecke 112 ; durch ivillen
(for the sake) aller frouwen -,
thus one hero cries to another nu beite (stay), durch willen oiler
meide ! Eab. 922-4 ; durch willen schcener wibe, Ecke 61 ; durch
ander maget (other maids ) ere Gudr. 4863 ; durch elliu wip! in
the name of all women, Parz. 13, 16; ere an mir elliu wip! respect
in me all women, Erec 957 ; eret an mir elliu wip ! says a woman
in Parz. 88, 27, to ensure attention to her prayer ; alien meiden
tuot ez ze ercn (do it in honour of), Gudr. 1214, 3; ere und minne
elliu wip ! is the injunction on giving a sword, Trist. 5032 ; tuon
allez daz frouwen iville si, do all that may be woman s will, Bit.
7132 ; als liep iu alle frouwen sin, as all women are dear to you,
Laurin 984. Their worship was placed on a par with that of
1
God : eret Got und diu wip, Iw. 6054 ;
durch Got und durch der
wibe Ion (guerdon) Wh. 381, 21 ; wart so mit riterschaft getan, des
Got sol danken und diu wip! niav God and the ladies requite it,
Wh. 370, 5; dienen Got und alle frouwen eren! Ms. 2,99 b ; of
Parzival it is even said : er getruwete wilen baz (better) dan Gote,
Parz. 370, 18. These modes of speech, this faith, can be traced up
to a much earlier age, as in 0. i. 5, 13 : do sprah er erlicho ubaral,
so man zi frowiin skal ; and v. 8, 58: ni sit irbolgaii wile ye
shall not bully a woman, Etzels hofhalt. 92-3 ; sprich, wiben libel
mit nihte says the po.iin of the Stete ampten 286. The very word
frau is the name of a goddess, conf. p. 299 on the meanings of
frau and weib (see Suppl.).
But more than that, when the hero in stress of battle looked upon
his love (OHG. trutin.trutinna, MHG. triutinne), thought 0/her, named
her name, he increased thereby his strength, and was sure of the
victory. We might even bring under this head the declaration of
Tacitus : memoriae proditur, quasdam acies inclinatas jam et labantes
a feminis restitutas constantia precum et objectu pectorum. From the
poems of the 13th century I will quote the principal passages only :
und als er dar zuo an sach (on-saw, looked at)
die schcenen frowen Eniten,
daz half (holp) im vaste striten (fight hard). Er. 933.
swenne rnich der muot iwer ermant (the thought of you mans),