Merbort was a medieval German poet whose work is almost entirely lost. Nothing is known of the poet himself. Only four lines of verse survive, printed in 1639 by

Martin Opitz Martin Opitz von Boberfeld (23 December 1597 – 20 August 1639) was a German poet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime. Biography Opitz was born in Bunzlau (Bolesławiec) in Lower Silesia, in the Principality of S ...

in his commentary on the '' Annolied''. Opitz claimed to have a manuscript of the complete work, which he called a chronicle. The language of the verse is

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

, perhaps fourteenth century. The lines have recently been identified as a hitherto unknown translation of the Czech national epic, the so-called ''

Dalimil The ''Chronicle of Dalimil'' ( cs, Dalimilova kronika; Kronika tak řečeného Dalimila) is the first chronicle written in the Old Czech language. It was composed in verse by an unknown author at the beginning of the 14th century. The Chronicle c ...

''. Two other Middle High German versions of ''Dalimil'' survive intact.

Literature

*Graeme Dunphy,
Merborts Chronicon. Eine mittelhochdeutsche Dalimil-Übersetzung bei Martin Opitz
, '' Euphorion'' 107 (2013), 259-268. Middle High German literature German poets German chroniclers Czech literature Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 14th-century German poets {{Germany-poet-stub