Altniederländische Schaubühne: abele Spelen ende Sotternien - Fallersleben, Hoffmann von 1798-1874 (Breslau Aderholz, 1838)
Einleitung.Nachträge.Een beghinsel van allen spelen.I. Esmoreit Een abel spel van Esmoreit, sconincs sone van Cecilien, ende ene sotternie daer na volghende.II. Lippijn Hier beghint die sotternie.III. Gloriant Een abel spel ende een edel dinc van den hertoghe van Bruunswijc, hoe hi wert minnende des rode lioens dochter van Abelant, ende ene sotternie na volghende.IV. Die Buskenblaser Hier beghint die sotternie.V. De Hexe. Hier beghint die sotternie.VI. Drie daghe here. Ene sotte boerde ende ene goede sotternie.VII. De Truwanten.VIII. Winter ende Somer. Een abel spel van den winter ende van den somer, ende ene sotternie na volghende.IX. Rubben. Hier beghint die sotternie.Lantsloot. Een abel spel van Lanseloot van Denemerken, hoe hi wert minnende ene joncfrou, die met siere moeder diende, ende ene sotternie na volghende.Anmerkungen.Zum beghinsel van allen spelen.Spielleute.Zu Esmoreit.Zu Lippijn.Zu Gloriant.Zum Buskenblaser.Zur HexeZu Drie daghe here.Zu den Truwanten.Zu Winter ende Somer.Zu Rubben.Glossarium
The middle age 'abele spelen' are the oldest plays of a worldly, non-religious nature known in the Dutch language, and among the oldest known in West-European theatre.
An abel game takes place in high circles and the problems are important, a matter of life and death, while the sotternie takes place in a low environment, with 'small-scale', 'vulgar' problems. The sotternie was popular in nature, and therefore often on the rough side. Verbal and physical violence were not avoided. A well-known theme was that of the bossy wife and the dorky husband. The sotternie served as a counterbalance to the bare abel game and can be compared to the phenomenon of 'comic relief' as occurs in the tragedies of William Shakespeare, whereby a comic episode is slowed down somewhat after a period of tension.
Hoffmann was a German patriotic poet, philologist, and literary historian whose poem “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” was adopted as the German national anthem after World War I. His uncomplicated verses, expressing his deep love of country, were of great significance to the German student movement. Hoffmann's particular interest was the Old Dutch language. He made a total of eight trips to Holland and Flanders, where he became the founder of Dutch philology and received an honorary doctorate from Leiden University. Such a journey following his studies in Bonn is described in the introduction to his collection of Old Dutch songs, which he published thirty years later under the title Loverkens in the Horae Belgicae series and dedicated to the University of Göttingen.
Keywords: Middle Ages (500-1400); 19th Century (1801-1900); Theater history; Comedy; Play (theater); Poetry; Flanders (Belgium); Netherlands