University of Colorado, Boulder Leaf 10
This mid-thirteenth century German psalter has acquired the nickname "The Laughing Carp Psalter" due to its penwork illustrations. The decorative style involves using fish (one of the leading medieval symbols for Christ) to complete lines of text that do not reach to the right margin of the page; this maintains the aesthetic of a full page within the borders of the leaf. The leaf itself measures 19.5 x 14cm, with slightly yellowed and stained vellum, and is lined in ink. The ink used for the bulk of the text is very dark, but fades into brown in places. Blue, red, coral, orange, and white are used in the decoration, and scribal corrections are included above each line where necessary. See Denison University Leaf 10 for more information about this manuscript.
Text: Psalms 112:7-113:8 (recto). A scan of the verso is not currently available.
Boulder Leaf 10 Recto
University of Colorado, Boulder Leaf 10 Recto
Boulder Leaf 10 Recto Transcription
páuperem:
Vt cóllocet eum cum princípibus, cum princípibus pópuli sui.
Qui habitáre facit stérilem in domo, matrem filiórum lætántem.
In éxitu Israël de Ægýpto, domus Jacob de pópulo bárbaro,
Facta est Judaea sanctificátio ejus; Israël potéstas ejus.
Mare vidit, et fugit; Jordánis convérsus est retrórsum.
Montes exsultavérunt ut aríetes, et colles sicut agni óvium.
Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugísti? et tu, Jordánis, quia convérsus es retrórsum?
Montes, exsultástis sicut aríetes? et colles, sicut agni óvium?
A fácie Dómini mota est terra, a fácie Dei Jacob:
Qui convértit petram in stagna aquárum,
Boulder Leaf 10 Recto Translation
[Psalms 112:7-113:8]
...the poor. 8 That he may place him with princes, with the princes of his people. 9 Who maketh a barren woman to dwell in a house, the joyful mother of children.
When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people: 2 Judea made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock. 5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou didst flee: and thou, O Jordan, that thou wast turned back? 6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye hills, like lambs of the flock? 7 At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob: 8 Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill into fountains of waters.