"twaim ize ataugiþs warþ in anþaramma farwa, gaggandam du wehsa": Gothic Excursion to Speyer

The leaf was found in 1970 during the renovation of the St. Afra Chapel of Speyer Cathedral. It joins without a gap the last leaf of the silver Bible preserved in Uppsala, which breaks off in the middle of the Gospel of Mark 16, 12 with the words "Afaruh þan þata ...". The Speyer fragment continues the text with "twaim ize ataugiþs warþ in anþaramma farwa, gaggandam du  wehsa". (Translation: After that he revealed himself in a different form to two of them on the way, when they went to the field).

This Speyer leaf is particularly interesting from a lexicographical and linguistic-historical point of view, because the long-missed evidence of the Gothic word for "color" is found here. Jacob Grimm had written in the corresponding article of the German Dictionary 1863: "von wichtigkeit wäre das goth. wort [für Farbe] zu vernehmen, im neuen test. begegnet es nicht, aus dem alten würde man es lernen, namentlich aus Ez. 23, 14. weish. Sal. 13, 14. sir. 43, 12. 50, 8." In this passage of Mark's Gospel, however, it is unexpectedly used metaphorically when it is reported that Jesus was resurrected "in another form" (in anþaramma farwa).

After a four-hour train ride, we visited the depot of the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in the Old Cotton Mill, where the fragment is currently stored for conservation reasons. The curator, Ms. Sabine Kaufmann, and the museum's restorer were able to provide us with highly interesting context. Among other things, the leaf was originally wrapped in a sheet of paper addressed to Philipp Melanchthon. We were also able to see the worm damage to the leaf (see photo!), which exactly matches the leaves from Uppsala. The museum staff took a lot of time for us and our questions and we were allowed to look at the fragment up close and even take pictures.

Afterwards we went to Speyer Cathedral to see the place where the manuscript was walled in from 1859 to 1970 in the St. Afra Chapel. 

At 5 p.m. we had to start our return journey, and even though the four-hour drive took a little longer, we had fond memories of this excursion.

Photos (C) Stefanie Flaum