Muspilli (destruction of the world by fire), title given in 1832 by its first editor, J. A. Schmeller, to a fragment of 103 lines of an eschatological poem written in alliterative verse (see Alliteration). The extant text comprises the middle section; the beginning and end are lost. The poet first describes the struggle between angels and devils for a departed soul, and the bliss or torment that awaits it, passes on to the Day of Judgement and the end of the world, describing briefly the battle between Elias and Satan, and then portrays God's appearance at his judgement seat. The rhetorical tone is partly that of pulpit oratory.
The text is corrupt and Muspilli provides a wide field for philological dispute; even the title-word, which occurs in line 57, is the subject of inconclusive argument. The poem is believed to represent a late and degenerate development in alliterative verse and to have been written in the first half of the 9th c. It may be an adaptation of a lost Anglo-Saxon poem. The MS., which is in Munich, originated in the monastery of St Emmeram in Regensburg and was written in Bavarian dialect towards the end of the 9th c. It is thought likely that the original was written in Fulda, but proof is lacking.
Muspilli
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Muspilli is one of but two surviving pieces of Old High German epic poetry (the other being Hildebrandslied), dating to around 870. One large fragment of the text has survived in the margins and empty pages of a codex marked as the possession of Louis the German and now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (cim. 14098). The beginning and end of the poem have not survived. It was re-discovered in 1817 and first published in 1832 by Johann Andreas Schmeller, who also titled it Muspilli, after a central word in the text.
The poem has been theorized as a Christianized version of the pagan Ragnarök, with figures represented in 13th century sources swapped with Christian figures; Surtr replaced by the Antichrist whom Elias - replacing Thor - fights, Loki by the old fiend.[1] In the Norse Ragnarök, Muspelheim and Muspel play a large role, and both versions involve a wolf. Grau proposes a connection of all of the material in the poem except for two verses to the 4th century theologian Ephraim the Syrian.[2]
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Title etymology
The etymology and meaning of the term Muspilli (a hapax legomenon in Old High German, though forms of the word are attested in Old Saxon and Old Norse) is uncertain, but it is surmised to describe some sort of cataclysmic end of the world in fire (ekpyrosis). The poem is an example of early Germanic Christianity, combining pagan elements with the Biblical or Christian concepts, featuring Elijah, the Antichrist and the Last Judgement.
Text
The focus of the text is first on the fate of the soul after death. The hosts of heaven and hell do battle over the deceased individual's soul and the winning party will carry it off as booty (v. 1-37). Attention then shifts to another battle, the battle between Elijah and the Antichrist, which the text says will precede the Last Judgement. The two combatants are fighting as champions for God and the Devil, respectively. The Antichrist will fall but Elijah will be wounded and his blood dripping on the Earth will set the world on fire – announcing the muspilli (v. 38-56). The rest of the poem is concerned with the Resurrection and Judgment Day itself (v. 57-103).
Verses 44-54:
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Notes
References
- Keary, Charles Francis (1882). Outlines of Primitive Belief Among the Indo-European Races. C. Scribner's sons.
- G. Grau (1908). Quellen und Verwandtschaften der Älteren germanischen Darstellungen des Jüngsten Gerichtes. Halle.
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