"Marcolf" redirects here. For the given name, see Markolf.
Solomon and Marcolf is a medieval narrative describing the adventures and conversations of Solomon and Marcolf, or Marolf. The adventures have some connection with those of Ashmedai, while the conversations consist chiefly of riddles similar to those put to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. The exact extent of its indebtedness to the Haggadah is somewhat doubtful, though it is practically certain that the various versions are derived from an Eastern original.
Text and history
In Polish, in 1521 in Krakow, a book was published, titled "The talks that the king Salomon the clever had with Marchołt [Marcolf, Markolf] fat and bawdy, however, as they say, very eloquent". [2]
The earliest known versions of the tale in Old English are the ones commonly referred to as Solomon and Saturn, first published by J. N. Kemble in 1848, for the Ælfric Society.[1] The tale was popular in Germany, where Marcolf, or Marolf, became a sort of type of the "wise fool". It was first printed under the title Dis buch seit von kunig salomon vnd siner huß frouwen Salome wie sy der künig fore nam vnd wie sy Morolff künig salomon brüder wider brocht in Strasbourg by the printer Matthias Hupfuff in 1499, with woodcut illustrations.[2][3][a]
Latin versions of it were often appended to the "Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum". Both Hans Folz and Hans Sachs made use of the legend. A French version was made by Pierre Mauclerc, Count of Brittany, in the thirteenth century.
Ziolkowski, Jan M. (tr.), ed. (2008). Solomon and Marcolf. Cambridge, MA: Department of the Classics, Harvard University. (in Latin) (w. trans.)
Menner, Robert J., ed. (1941). The poetical dialogues of Solomon and Saturn. New York: The Modern Language Association of America; London, Oxford University Press.
Hagen, Friedrich Heinrich von der; Büsching, Johann Gustav, eds. (1808), "Salomon und Morolf", Deutsche Gedichte des Mittelalters, vol. 1, Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung(in German)
Studies
MacCallum, Mungo William, Sir (1884), "Salomon und Morolf", Studies in Low German and High German Literature, London: Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co., pp. 87–130{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)