Page:A general history for colleges and high schools (Myers, 1890).djvu/572

508 Beginning of German Literature.

Song of the Nibelungen.—It was under the patronage of the Hohenstaufen that Germany produced the first pieces of a national literature. The " Song of the Nibelungen " is the great German mediæval epic. It was reduced to writing about 1200, being a recast, by some Homeric genius, perhaps, of ancient German and Scandinavian legends and lays dating from the sixth and seventh centuries. The hero of the story is Siegfried, the Achilles of Teutonic legend and song.

The Minnesingers.—Under the same emperors, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Minnesingers, or lyric poets, flourished. They were the "Troubadours of Germany." For the most part, refined and tender and chivalrous and pure, the songs of these poets tended to soften the manners and lift the hearts of the German people.

Beginnings of Russia.—We have seen how, about the middle of the ninth century, the Swedish adventurer Ruric laid, among the Slavonian tribes dwelling eastward from the Baltic, the foundation of what was destined to become one of the leading powers of Europe (see p. 411). The state came to be known as Russia, probably from the word Ruotsi (corsairs?), the name given by the Finns to the foreigners.

The Tartar Conquest.—In the thirteenth century an overwhelming calamity befell Russia. This was the overrunning and conquest of the country by the Tartar hordes (see p. 461). The barbarian conquerors inflicted the most horrible atrocities upon the unfortunate land, and for more than two hundred years held the Russian princes in a degrading bondage, forcing them to pay homage and tribute. This misfortune delayed for centuries the nationalization of the Slavonian peoples.

Russia freed from the Mongols.—It was not until the reign of Ivan the Great (1462–1505) that Russia,—now frequently called