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Crows and Ravens

15 Jan 2009

It's funny how sometimes things just fall into place...

I was explaining to a family member about the verse written by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg to Karl Baedeker in 1820 (see the Baedeker history by Alex Hinrichsen, page 6), which goes like this in the original German:
Dem Buben und dem Knecht die Acht,
ihn speisen Kräh'n und Raben!
So grüssen wir die Hermannsschlacht
Und wollen Rache haben.

This I translate as:
Respect the youth and humble German!
He is food for crow and raven.
Thus we greet the Day of Hermann
From our vengeance there's no haven.

(The whole thing refers to the battle in Teutoburger Wald in 9 AD, where the German Arminius (Hermann) beat up the Roman Varus and his three legions, which put a stop to Roman advances northwards. It's mostly referred to as Varusschlacht in German, these days.)

Now this little verse is a bit puzzling to me - why would the Germans want to have revenge, when they already won the battle, 2000 years ago? Also, an earlier translation (by Michael Wild) had the humble German eating crows and ravens, rather than the other way round. But that would be quite wrong with that grammar, as well as not making sense in the context of a battle. So why did Mr Wild get it wrong - his translation is otherwise excellent?

Well, as I was Googling away, I found the original poem - it's by Ernst Moritz Arndt, and in there is a verse that goes:
O Deutschland heil'ges Vaterland,
o deutsche Lieb' und Treue!
Du hohes Land, du schönes Land,
wir schwören dir aufs Neue:
Dem Buben und dem Knecht die Acht,
der speise Kräh'n und Raben!
So ziehen wir aus zur Hermannsschlacht
Und wollen Rache haben.

And this means, more or less:
O holy German Fatherland
o Germans dear and true!
Thou lofty land, thou lovely land,
we vow to you anew:
Respect the youth and humble German,
who has for food but crow and raven.
Thus we march to the Battle of Hermann
From our vengeance there's no haven.

Now that, while not your modern-day peace-loving sentiment, does make sense and explains quite a lot. But now the question is: did Hengstenberg misquote Arndt deliberately, or by mistake? Will we ever know?

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