The Reichenau Primer (''Reichenauer Schulheft'') is an early 9th-century manuscript of 8 folia kept in the
St. Paul abbey library in Lavanttal,
Carinthia
Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
(Stift St. Paul Cod. 86a/1), (a ninth leaf is kept separately in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
), probably written in
Reichenau abbey or
St. Gallen abbey, but possibly also elsewhere in the wider region, brought to Reichenau at a later date. It came to
St. Blasien in the 18th century.
The content is in
insular script
Insular script is a Middle Ages, medieval script (styles of handwriting), script system originating in Ireland that spread to England and continental Europe under the influence of Hiberno-Scottish mission, Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries ...
, apparently scribal practice by an
Irish monk. It contains mainly Latin hymns and grammatical texts, with added glosses in
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
, but also
Greek declension tables, astronomical tables and notably
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
poems, among them ''
Pangur Bán''.
External links
Facsimile of the manuscript
Medieval literature
Early Irish literature
9th-century manuscripts
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