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 (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

(Stift St. Paul Cod. 86a/1), (a ninth leaf is kept separately in Karlsruhe), probably written in Reichenau abbey or

St. Gallen abbey The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot ...

, but possibly also elsewhere in the wider region, brought to Reichenau at a later date. It came to

St. Blasien St. Blasien (Sankt Blasien) is a small town located in the Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Southern Black Forest, 17 km northeast of Waldshut-Tiengen. St. Blaise's Abbey in the Black Forest is locat ...

in the 18th century. The content is in insular script, apparently scribal practice by an

Irish monk The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a series of expeditions in the 6th and 7th centuries by Gaelic missionaries originating from Ireland that spread Celtic Christianity in Scotland, Wales, England and Merovingian France. Celtic Christianity sprea ...

. It contains mainly Latin hymns and grammatical texts, with added glosses in

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

, but also Greek declension tables, astronomical tables and notably

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

poems, among them ''

Pangur Bán "" is an Old Irish poem, written in about the 9th century at or near Reichenau Abbey, in what is now Germany, by an Irish monk about his cat. , 'White Pangur', is the cat's name, possibly meaning 'a fuller'. Although the poem is anonymous, it ...

''.

External links

Facsimile of the manuscript

Medieval literature Early Irish literature 9th-century manuscripts {{manuscript-stub