Muspilli
...sîn tac piqueme, daz er touuan scal.
uuanta sâr sô sih diu sêla in den sind arhevit,
enti si den lîhhamun likkan lâzzit,
sô quimit ein heri fona himilzungalon,
5 daz andar fona pehhe: dâr pâgant siu umpi.
sorgên mac diu sêla, unzi diu suona argêt,
za uuederemo herie si gihalôt uuerde.
uuanta ipu sia daz Satanazses kisindi kiuuinnit,
daz leitit sia sâr dâr iru leid uuirdit,
10 in fuir enti in finstrî: daz ist rehto virinlîh ding.
upi sia avar kihalônt die die dâr fona himile quemant,
enti si dero engilo eigan uuirdit,
die pringent sia sâr ûf in himilo rîhi:
dâr ist lîp âno tôd, lioht âno finstrî,
15 selida âno sorgun: dâr nist neoman siuh.
denne der man in pardîsu pû kiuuinnit,
hûs in himile, dâr quimit imo hilfa kinuok.
pidiu ist durft mihhil
allero manno uuelîhemo, daz in es sîn muot kispane,
20 daz er kotes uuillun kerno tuo
enti hella fuir harto uuîse,
pehhes pîna: dâr piutit der Satanasz altist
heizzan lauc. sô mac huckan za diu,
sorgên drâto, der sih suntîgen uueiz.
25 uuê demo in vinstrî scal sîno virinâ stûên,
prinnan in pehhe: daz ist rehto paluuîc dink,
daz der man harêt ze gote enti imo hilfa ni quimit.
uuânit sih kinâda diu uuênaga sêla:
ni ist in kihuctin himiliskin gote,
30 uuanta hiar in uuerolti after ni uuerkôta.
sô denne der mahtîgo khuninc daz mahal kipannit,
dara scal queman chunno kilîhaz:
denne ni kitar parno nohhein den pan furisizzan,
ni allero manno uuelîh ze demo mahale sculi.
35 dâr scal er vora demo rîhhe az rahhu stantan,
pî daz er in uuerolti eo kiuuerkôt hapêta.
daz hôrtih rahhôn dia uueroltrehtuuîson,
daz sculi der antichristo mit Eliase pâgan.
der uuarch ist kiuuâfanit, denne uuirdit untar in uuîc arhapan.
40 khenfun sint sô kreftîc diu kôsa ist sô mihhil.
Elias strîtit pî den êuuîgon lîp,
uuili dên rehtkernôn daz rîhhi kistarkan:
pidiu scal imo helfan der himiles kiuualtit.
der antichristo stêt pî demo altfîante,
45 stêt pî demo Satanase, der inan varsenkan scal:
pidiu scal er in deru uuîcsteti uunt pivallan
enti in demo sinde sigalôs uuerdan.
doh uuânit des vilo ... gotmanno,
daz Elias in demo uuige aruuartit uuerde.
50 sô daz Eliases pluot in erda kitriufit,
sô inprinnant die perga, poum ni kistentit
ênîhc in erdu, ahâ artruknênt,
muor varsuuilhit sih, suilizôt lougiu der himil,
mâno vallit, prinnit mittilagart,
55 stên ni kistentit, verit denne stûatago in lant,
verit mit diu vuiru viriho uuîsôn:
dâr ni mac denae mâk andremo helfan vora demo mûspille.
denne daz preita uuasal allaz varprinnit,
enti vuir enti luft iz allaz arfurpit,
60 uuâr ist denne diu marha, dâr man dâr eo mit sînên mâgon piehc?
diu marha ist farprunnan, diu sêla stêt pidungan,
ni uueiz mit uuiu puaze: sô verit si za uuîze.
pidiu ist demo manne sô guot, denner ze demo mahale quimit,
daz er rahôno uuelîha rehto arteile.
65 denne ni darf er sorgên, denne er ze deru suonu quimit.
ni uueiz der uuênago man, uuielîhan uuartil er habêt,
denner mit den miatôn marrit daz rehta,
daz der tiuval dâr pî kitarnit stentit.
der hapêt in ruovu rahôno uuelîha,
70 daz der man êr enti sîd upiles kifrumita,
daz er iz allaz kisagêt, denne er ze deru suonu quimit;
ni scolta sîd manno nohhein miatun intfâhan.
sô daz himilisca horn kilûtit uuirdit,
enti sih der suanari ana den sind arhevit
[der dâr suannan scal tôten enti lepentên],
75 denne hevit sih mit imo herio meista,
daz ist allaz sô pald, daz imo nioman kipâgan ni mak.
denne verit er ze deru mahalsteti, deru dâr kimarchôt ist:
dâr uuirdit diu suona, dia man dâr io sagêta.
denne varant engila uper dio marha,
80 uuechant deota, uuîssant ze dinge.
denne scal manno gilîh fona deru moltu arstên.
lôssan sih ar dero lêuuo vazzôn: scal imo avar sîn lîp piqueman,
daz er sîn reht allaz kirahhôn muozzi,
enti imo after sînên tâtin arteilit uuerde.
85 denne der gisizzit, der dâr suonnan scal
enti arteillan scal tôtên enti quekkhên,
denne stêt dâr umpi engilo menigî,
guotero gomôno: gart ist sô mihhil:
dara quimit ze deru rihtungu sô vilo dia dâr ar restî arstênt.
90 sô dâr manno nohhein uuiht pimîdan ni mak,
dâr scal denne hant sprehhan, houpit sagên,
allero lido uuelîhc unzi in den luzîgun vinger,
uuaz er untar desen mannun mordes kifrumita.
dâr ni ist eo sô listîc man der dâr iouuiht arliugan megi,
95 daz er kitarnan megi tâto dehheina,
niz al fora demo khuninge kichundit uuerde,
ûzzan er iz mit alamusanu furimegi
enti mit fastûn dio virinâ kipuazti.
denne der paldêt der gipuazzit hapêt,
denner ze deru suonu quimit.
100 uuirdit denne furi kitragan daz frôno chrûci,
dâr der hêligo Christ ana arhangan uuard.
denne augit er dio mâsûn, dio er in deru menniskî anfênc,
dio er duruh desse mancunnes minna fardolêta.
Muspilli
...his day comes, when he has to die.
Immediately afterwards, when the soul starts its journey
and leaves the body behind,
then a host comes from the heaven’s firmament
5 And another from hell: then they will fight for her.
The soul has to worry until the judgement is made,
As to which host she is brought.
For if Satan’s retainers win her,
They promptly lead her to a place where pain awaits her,
10 Into fire and darkness: that is a truly horrible verdict.
But if she is taken by those who come from heaven
And is claimed by the angels,
They promptly bring her up into the heavenly kingdom
Where there is life without death, light without darkness,
15 A refuge without worry: there nobody suffers sickness.
For if a person wins a place in paradise,
A house in heaven, he will find a lot of support there.
Thus the need is great
for everybody, that his [spirit/heart] is moved
20 to gladly do God’s will
And firmly avoid hellfire,
Hell’s pain: there, the ancient Satan waits
With hot fire. Therefore he, who knows himself
to be sinful, shall think about this with great worry.
25 Woe to him who has to atone for his sins in darkness
and burn in hell. It is a truly horrible judgement,
When somebody calls upon God and receives no help.
The wretched soul hopes for mercy,
But she is not remembered by the heavenly God,
30 because she has not proven herself worthy here in the world.
And when the powerful King proclaims the day of judgement
Every kin must come there.
No child of man can dare to reject this command,
[assuming] that not everybody had to attend this judgement.
35 There he shall give account to the Almighty
for what he has done in this world.
I have heard the wise men of the world tell
That the antichrist shall fight against Elijah.
The fiend is armed, and then the fight between them will start.
40 The fighters are so powerful, the cause is so crucial:
Elijah fights for eternal life,
He wants to secure the realm for the righteous
He who rules in heaven shall help him with this.
The antichrist stands with the ancient foe,
45 Stands with Satan, who wants to destroy him:
But he will fall wounded on this battlefield,
And in this way be without victory.
Yet many men of God believe
That Elijah will be wounded in the battle.
50 So when Elijah’s blood drips on the earth,
The mountains catch fire and no single tree on earth
remains standing, all waters dry up,
The moor swallows itself, the heaven perishes in flames,
The moon falls, Middle Earth burns.
55 Stones do not stand fast by their owners on earth, and then judgement day comes upon the land,
Comes with fire to afflict the people:
No kinsman can help the other in the face of the Muspilli.
And when the whole circle of the world burns,
and a storm of fire and air annihilates everything,
60 Where is then the homeland, for which one before had fought together with one’s kinsmen?
The homeland is burned, the soul stands defeated,
Not knowing how to atone: soon she will face punishment.
Therefore it is good for a man, when he comes to the tribunal,
To have always delivered rightful judgements.
65 Then he needs not to worry when he faces this trial.
A weak person does not know what sentence awaits him,
when he breaks the law with bribery,
And that the devil hides close to him,
and quietly takes into account every evil deed
70 that this person has done and will do,
In order to report it all when he faces the trial.
Therefore, nobody should ever accept bribes.
When the heavenly horn is blown
And the judge, who shall judge the dead
and the living, will start his journey,
the largest host will rise together with him.
This is so brave that no one can stand up against it.
Then he will go to the judgement place, which is staked out,
That is where the trial will take place as it has been proclaimed.
80 Angels will then travel over the land,
wake the dead, call them to the judgement.
Then everybody will resurrect from the dust,
Release himself from the burden of the grave: he shall regain his body,
So that he can fairly answer for everything
85 And be judged for his deeds.
Then he sits down, the one who shall try in court
And pass judgement over the dead and the living;
The host of angels surrounds him,
and good men: The place is large,
90 And so many who have arisen from their rest come to the trial.
Nobody can hide anything there,
Or else the hand will speak, the head will talk,
Every limb down to the smallest finger,
What murder it has committed amongst men.
95 Therefore nobody is cunning enough to be able to tell a lie there
Or to hide any deed:
It will still be revealed in front of the king
unless he can compensate for it with alms,
And has atoned for the crimes with fasting.
100 Therefore he, who has atoned, needs not to worry when he comes to this judgement.
Then the noble cross will be carried forward,
Upon which the holy Christ was crucified,
And he will show the wounds that he received as a man,
That he had obtained for his love of mankind...
Muspilli is an incomplete verse narrative (104 lines) written in Old High German. The manuscript containing the poem, which was produced in Bavaria (southern Germany) in the 9th century CE, contains neither the beginning nor the end of the poem. The reason for its incompleteness is probably due to its having been written in the margins of another text: a Latin theological work composed by Adalram (d. 836), bishop of Salzburg, for the young Louis the German (ca. 810–876). It appears Muspilli was added to the manuscript later by a different scribe, but little can be deduced about who produced the text or why. It is conjectured that the beginning and end have been lost because they would have been written on the outermost pages of the manuscript, which often incur the most damage over time. One of the most debated questions about Muspilli is its name. The original manuscript does not include a title, and the name Muspilli was assigned by the poem’s first editor, Johann Andreas Schmeller. The name comes from the Old High German word muspille, meaning the destruction of the world by fire, which occurs in line 57 of the poem. This is the only known occurrence of this word. Scholars have since tried to give it various names which better suit the purpose of the poem, but none of these has stuck.
Muspilli mainly deals with two main ideas: the fate of human souls after death and the Final Judgement. The first part of the poem describes how two groups of angels will fight over one soul to see whether it belongs in Heaven or Hell. The second part of the poem provides two narratives: Elijah and the Antichrist fight each other, the former as the champion of God and the latter as the champion of the Devil. In this duel, the Antichrist will be defeated and Elijah will be wounded and his blood will burn the whole world. Then the text describes how, in the Final Judgement, angels and demons will testify to the actions of humans on earth, and those actions will be scrutinized. At the end of the poem, the Holy Cross is brought forth and Christ reveals the wounds that he suffered for the sake of humankind.
One of the most discussed aspects of this poem are its sources. Although explicitly Christian elements are abundant, scholars have argued that Muspilli is deeply infused with pre-Christian culture and draws much of its material from Norse mythology. Although the names mentioned in the poem are all Christian figures, some scholars argue that they are essentially the Christian representation of Norse gods.
Muspilli is considered to be one of the most significant pieces of Old High German literature because of its vivid depiction of Christian themes in the vernacular language. Through this poem, modern readers can gain a better insight into the spiritual life and broader culture of ninth-century Germans.