Losbuch in deutschen Reimpaaren

Rhymed books in the Middle Ages often contained a curious combination of texts for both moral edification and simple entertainment. The Losbuch in deutschen Reimpaaren or “Divination Book in German Rhyming Couplets” belongs among the oldest and most extensive rhymed books to be completely written in German. It is a collection of sayings representing moral exhortations or sociable entertainment that were translated from Arabic into Latin. The starting point of the Losbuch is considered to be the collections of sayings used in ancient Greece during ceremonial rites. After the Greeks' conquest of the Middle East, the determination of an individual's fate was further developed.

Part of a Wave of Arabic Translations

The translation of many Arabic works into Latin in the 12th Century awakened an interest in further exploration of the sayings in the West. At an early stage in Germany, towards the end of the 14th century, a change in the function of the divination book began to take place as a result of the shift from a purely predictive text to one with an entertaining character. The creation of our manuscript falls into this transitional period. The formulation of its questions and answers moves in the area between serious faith and fear of life on the one hand and mocking amusement on the other.