[In the following essay, Van D'Elden examines the differences between Sachs's and Suchenwirt's parodies of coats of arms, which Van D'Elden claims are a product of the expectations of each author's audience.]

Schields decorated with liverwurst and bratwurst! Two parodies of coats of arms—“Von her Sumolf Lappen uon Ernwicht” by Peter Suchenwirt¹ and “Das wappen der vollen brüder” by Hans Sachs²—contain such unheraldic emblems. Suchenwirt's poem of 142 lines, written between 1350 and 1395, and Sachs' poem of eighty-five lines, dated 28 December 1540—poems separated by almost two hundred years—are among the few extant heraldic parodies; while the similarities in the blazon (i.e. technical description of a coat of arms) are striking, the differences in mood subtly reflect the changing times in which the two poets lived.

Most of Suchenwirt's heraldic poetry exists in the form of Ehrenreden. These are laudatory addresses which adhere to a very strict formula: Part I, introductory lament or allegory; Part II A, general description of the hero's virtues; Part II B, description of the hero's actual deeds; Part III A, blazon of the hero's coat of arms; Part III B, the name of the hero is revealed for the first time. Thus the blazon appears at the conclusion of the poem in conjunction with the identity of the hero. Suchenwirt's parody of an Ehrenrede, “Von her Sumolf Lappen uon Ernwicht,” meticulously adheres to the Ehrenrede-formula and concludes with a parody of the coat of arms of the hero. Every part of the Ehrenrede-formula is utilized for the purpose of parody: the hero is the very opposite of a courtly knight, his coat of arms is a travesty, even his name indicates that he repudiates courtly virtues.

Hans Sachs introduces his parody by asking a herald to paint the helmet and shield of lazy fellows who loiter day and night, demand a half-day work schedule, gamble, play cards and make love, and generally have no interest in going to work. Since his treatment of the subject of heraldic parody is similar to that of Suchenwirt, it is possible that he was familiar with Suchenwirt and even borrowed from him. Sachs limits himself, however, to what in Suchenwirt's grander scheme amounts to Part III A, i.e. a parody of the coat of arms.

The history of parody is as old as the history of literature itself. Parody attempts to imitate a particular subject or convention, to exaggerate and distort the material, to ridicule. Satire and parody were beloved forms of expression in the Middle Ages for the purpose of amusement as well as edification. Consider, for example, such well known works as Meier Helmbrecht by Wernher der Gartenære, in which criticism is directed against both peasants and knights (neither class adheres to the moral values of the “good old days”), or Wittenweiler's Ring, a satirical peasant epic on the theme of folly, or the various Neidhart Fuchs anecdotes concerning the tricks the knight Neidhart played on the peasants. Paul Lehmann puts parody into perspective with the following definition:

Ich verstehe hier unter Parodien nur solche literarischen Erzeugnisse, die irgendeinen als bekannt vorausgesetzten Text oder—in zweiter Linie—Anschauungen, Sitten und Gebräuche, Vorgänge und Personen scheinbar wahrheitsgetreu, tatsächlich verzerrend, umkehrend mit bewußter, beabsichtigter und bemerkbarer Komik, sei es im ganzen, sei es im einzelnen, formal nachahmen oder anführen.³

Thus one expects to find as material for parody the most common and therefore most important elements of one's environment.

One of the most pervasive elements of medieval society was heraldry. A knight's coat of arms not only made him recognizable on the field of battle or in a tournament, but, more importantly, it also represented the continuity of his family, his position in a highly stratified society, and his own value to this society. The subject of heraldry was a natural one for parody. Surprisingly, however, considering the many parodies extant, there are very few examples of heraldic parody, more specifically of parodistic treatment of coats of arms.

In the parodies by Peter Suchenwirt and Hans Sachs the didactic intentions of the authors are perfectly clear. In the case of Sachs they are somewhat too heavy-handed for modern taste. Suchenwirt's audience was presumably familiar with the form of the Ehrenrede: the poem adheres to this form, but, in keeping with the parodistic intent of the poet, the contents lack the customary dignity, and instead the result is that of surprise or even shock.

The most obvious similarity between the two poems lies in the blazon of the shields and helmets of the two heroes. The fictitious parodied arms of Suchenwirt and Sachs correspond to real blazons in form to such an extent that they could be painted (or emblazoned) by a professional herald. In Suchenwirt's poem “red mouths,” a term frequently used for young girls, beg Suchenwirt to describe the coat of arms:

die roten mündel muezzen
mich pitten umb den namen sein
und daz ich chünd der wappen schein.

Hans Sachs asks a herald to describe the coat of arms:

Eins mals bat ich ein ehrenholdt,
Das er mir doch entwerffen solt
Helm unnd schild der losen geselln …

The erenhold is flattered and replies with a sense of his own competence. A man who likes to celebrate, drink, make love, and gamble wears on his shield three dice and a cowpie:

Der erenhold sprach: Diesen lappen
Will ich entwerffen dir das wappen.
… Schaw zu! ein sollich man
Der gern feyert, trinckt, bult und spielt,
Der fürt gar billich inn seym schild
Drey würffel und darzu ein fladen,
Weil er sein leben fürt mit schaden …

While Sachs characterizes his hero as a “lappen,” Suchenwirt actually bestowed “Lappen” as a family name upon his hero whose shield has a border decorated with liverwurst:

uon leberwursten ist der rant
ein futtersakch in rant pant,
in einem schilt ein habestro.

The gluttonous habits of the bearer, referred to earlier in the poem, are emphasized by the nosebag of straw. In Sachs' poem the border is ringed with bratwurst:

Sein schiltes rand thu ich im schmücken
Aussen herumb, gleich wie ein zaun,
Geflochten von bratwürsten braun.
Bedeudt, das sein handel all frist
Mit bratwürsten verknüpffet ist.
Und hat gleich wie ein krebs ein gang.

In Suchenwirt's the helmet is resplendent with sauerkraut:

sein helm glast aus hoher acht,
seint ich es müzz chunden doch,
ein grozzer hafen sawrkoch
glest auf dem helm wunichleich,
daz er die cziehen sein bestreich
da haymen and der sunnen.

In Sachs' poem the helmet is of straw, the mantling adorned with peacock droppings, the crest decorated with a jewel on a pillow:

Sein helm ist auch auß stro gemacht.
Bedeut, das er nit für sich tracht.
Darhindter er bleibt sicher fro.
Sein gut nembt zu wie haberstro.
Sein helm-deck die ist gespiegelt,
Mit pawren-drecken wol versigelt.
Bedeut: seyn kleyder und haußrat,
Sein werckzeug und sein federwat
Die thut generlich in bedecken …
Ein kleynat, auff eym küssen leyt.
Bedeudt, das er durch sein arbeyt
Gar lengst erobert haben solt
Barschafft, kleynat, silber unnd gold …
Die gensflügel bedewten sind,
Das er auch wirt zu einem kind
An sinnen schwach, taub als ein gans …

The term “kleynat” in technical heraldic blazon refers to the crest. Here Sachs seems to have in mind the crest on the helmet on which there is a pillow with a “kleynat” on it. It is possible that Sachs confused the technical term with its usual meaning of “jewel.”

Sachs' poem consists entirely of the heraldic parody with its concomitant didactic message. Although Suchenwirt's Ehrenrede-parody is more subtle, its lesson too is unmistakable. The first four lines begin as a normal Ehrenrede would (Part I):

O reicher sinn und gute chunst,
wo nem ich weishait und uernunft,
das ich eins heldes werde sait,
dem ich mit willen bin berait

Then Suchenwirt delivers the punch line:

sein dunnes lob begreiffen.

Thus the poet asks for wisdom to comprehend the weak reputation of the hero, by which device the tone of the poem is established. Without the fifth line the introduction compares very closely, for example, to Suchenwirt's Ehrenrede dedicated to King Ludwig of Hungary:⁴

Mit gutem willen ist berait
Mein mut tzu lieber aribait,
Mein hertz hat des willen chraft,
Mein sin der ist auch hegehaft.

In his parody Suchenwirt continues by describing the virtues of his hero in matter of fact terms, each remark more devastating than the one before (Part II A):

sein lob nimpt auf in ern chrais
als dürrez salcz in wasser warm.
der helt hat einen heizzen darm,
darinn er schanden uil uerdewt.

The hero's reputation dissolves among nobility as salt dissolves in warm water. His fame is so widely scattered that no one can find it:

sein lob so weiten is czustrewt,
daz ez der wint czu füret hat,
daz ez sein alles irre gat
und sein doch nindert uinden chan.

His relationship to ladies is most peculiar; when he is supposed to serve them, he finds he is so full of milk and rolls that he cannot move:

wo der den frawen dienen sol,
da ist er milch und semel uol,
daz er sich nicht berueren mag.

He neither serves ladies, nor does he seek their company:

er wirbt nach rainer frawen segen,
als nach der weich ein alter iud.
wart uorn für holtez rud,
daz im wart haizzer minne puez.
bei schönen frawen an den tancz
sieht man in also selden.

He seems impervious to the pangs of love; his heart melts on the fire of love as a cold stone melts on a block of ice:

sein hercz smilzt auf der mynne rost,
als auf dem eys ein chalter stain.

This somewhat excessive emphasis on relationships with women underscores the fact that love-service played a large role in the life of a true knight—a role that most knights, even cowards, would not want to neglect. But not this hero! His desires are much more easily fulfilled:

milich, schott und rubprein
ist auf erden sein hochster trost.

Thus he oversleeps many tournaments, jousts, and other opportunities for good deeds:

turnay, iust und guter tat
der hat er uil uerslaffen,
er hat so uil zu schaffen.

Again Suchenwirt's matter of factness is evident when he describes the hero's first campaign—his first foolish campaign—to Accre where he encounters nothing more fierce than a calf (Part II B):

die erste rais die was so gech,
die fur er hin gen akcher,
da uacht der degen wakcher
und slug ein ierigs chalb czu tod.
des cham er in so grozze not,
daz er des fechtens sich uerwag.
dauon der helt so ser erschrakch,
daz er wol funfthalb iar lag siech.

The shock of killing the calf makes him take to bed for five and one half years. He undertakes three more compaigns, the fourth to Prussia. Arriving in time for Vespers, he notices that his back and limbs are stuck together. Ultimately he gives up adventures entirely when his coat is burnt in a fire.

In conclusion Suchenwirt delivers two final blows. According to the Ehrenrede-formula he again praises the hero in general terms:

sein lob daz wer uerprunnen,
hiet ich es nicht gerettet,
er het im sanfft gebettet,
daz im daz lob getichtet wart.

Also, following the formula, he names the hero (Part III B):⁵

sein nam der swaymt aus hoher art
Sumolff Lapp uon Ernwicht
czu guten sachen vnbericht.

Sumolff Lapp uon Ernwicht is an admitted coward who continually foreswears the knightly virtue of êre, i.e. honor, fame, good reputation; this aspect of his character is frequently referred to throughout the poem. Therefore the audience is not surprised to learn that he comes from Ernwicht—fleeing from honor/fame/reputation. His battle cry is “roho, roho,” and the poem concludes with a final appellation of “goose clod:”

roho, roho Sumolff Lapp
hüt der ayer du genstrapp.

Sachs' poem conforms to a different model. Each element of the coat of arms is carefully explained; in no case is the author subtle or ironic. The border of the shield is decorated like a fence woven with brown bratwurst since all of the hero's actions involve bratwurst and, in addition, he has a gait like a crab. His helmet is made of straw, symbolic of the fact that his goods increase like oat straw (i.e. they fly away in the wind). Sachs continues his explanation by saying that the jewel on his helmet implies that if he had been diligent, he long since would have obtained cash, jewels, silver and gold. But because he has not saved anything he has not lost anything. The goosefeathers indicate that he will become like a child, weak in his senses and dumb as a goose. No one will pay any attention to him. All his drinking friends will leave him, for they are equally poor. Formerly he had too much time and leisure and he ate too much with the exception of turnips. Now he has to eat the cores of whatever fruits and vegetables he can find:

So er ist alt, dürfftig und kranck.
Erst ist sein zeyt unnd weyl im lang.
Erst wünscht er im ein frischen tod,
Ißt offt ein bißlein uber not.
Der vor offt nicht mocht ruben essen,
Der muß zu letzt den gröbel fressen.

Sachs admonishes his audience to let this be a lesson, to take this drunkard's coat of arms to heart, to be moderate in all actions. Then the herald declares that he has accomplished his task:

Also hab ich dir declariert,
Der wollen wappen plesemiert,
Und wo ich hab gefelet dir,
Solt du fürbaß nit glauben mir!

However, the herald's careful explanation of the coat of arms as well as his detailed description of the drunk's nature is deemed insufficient by Sachs who adds a note of warning to the already heavily didactic poem:

… so warn ich dich
Mit diesem wappen fleissigklich,
Das du weiß werst mit fremden schaden
Und nicht auch wirst zu eynem fladen,
Das du verschlemmest all dein hab.

The poem concludes with a note of optimism. If anyone in the audience has begun a life of dissipation, it is still not too late to mend his ways:

Hast angefangen, laß noch ab!
Zer messigklichen spat und fru!
Wann hast im alter nichtsen du,
So gibt dir nyemand nichts darzu.

Of the two poems Peter Suchenwirt's is the more poignant since he uses a form traditionally employed for laudatory purposes to make fun of knights who do not live up to their title (of whom there must have been many). However, unlike Hans Sachs, he does not predict any dire consequences for these individuals. Sachs employs the herald as bearer of tidings in much the same fashion as he does in his plays. His audience was accustomed to hearing pronouncements from such heralds; it was also accustomed to detailed didactic explanations. Thus he describes each element in the coat of arms to moralize on the fate of drunkards and the like. His audience was not shocked since he does not depart from standard practice; one may hope that it was properly edified.

Since heraldry is a natural subject for parody, it is surprising that there are so few parodies of coats of arms preserved from medieval literature. The two poems discussed here illustrate how effective heraldic parody can be. The differences in approach are undoubtedly predicated upon the expectations of the audiences which, in turn, are a function of the changes in society which took place in the intervening two hundred years. While knighthood was an important social and political reality in the fourteenth century, it had lost most of its significance by the time of Hans Sachs. Coats of arms were no longer required to identify knights in battles or tournaments, but the heraldic tradition was continued at a more pedestrian level. The differences between the parodies of Peter Suchenwirt and Hans Sachs reflect these changes.

Notes

1. Godfried Edmund Friess, “Fünf unedierte Ehrenreden Peter Suchenwirts,” WSB 88 (1877), 118-122.

2. Adelbert von Keller, ed., Hans Sachs, SLV 104 (Tübingen, 1870), pp. 527-529.

3. Paul Lehmann, Die Parodie im Mittelalter (Munich, 1922), p. 13.

4. Alois Primisser, ed., Peter Suchenwirt's Werke aus dem vierzehnten Jahrhunderte: ein Beytrag zur Zeit- und Sittengeschichte (Vienna, 1827; rpt. Vienna, 1961), p. 1.

5. The name Sumolf(f) appears frequently in literary histories as Gumolf. In MS B, transcribed by Friess and quoted here, it is Sumolf(f). However, in the chief Suchenwirt manuscript, MS A, seven lines of this poem are copied and there it appears as Gumolf. Apparently de Boor and others feel that Gumolf is a better name, perhaps closer to the intention of the author.