New Manual Online - Hugues Wittenwiller

[Webmaster]

Our own amazingly prolific Jeffrey Hull (with additional thanks to Didier de Grenier) has provided yet another manual translation for us to digest, available in the Manuals section:

The Fight-Book of Hugues Wittenwiller from Late 15th Century AD

[SzabolcsWaldmann]

Please allow me to be the first who congratulates for your work. You people keep the wheel spinnin' <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

Szabolcs

[Jeffrey Hull]

Thank you kindly Szabolcs !

[Jeffrey Hull]

Hey ARMA Fellows and Didier, Dieter, &amp; Joerg:

Since Didier of Arts d’Armes and Dieter of Freywild, who work closely with the MS and know their Swiss dialectics have smartly advised me, and are agreed, that *junk* instead of *item* exists in § 44, hence *young*; and that *schlechtekron* in §27 is congruent with striking as per §30 *windeschekron*, and thus such probably means more like *simple-crown* (and as nefarious yet respected Nieztsche agrees), then I shall submit similar changes as you fellows suggested to ARMA webmaster. Such keeps with what I stated in the Foreword: * I strove to make unity of purpose in my translation, yet also to allow for some diversity of interpretation among today’s serious students of Renaissance fencing, due to future insights and changes as our knowledge betters over time*. Thus look for those slight changes soon. Yet I shall keep the division (hence 123 stanzas total), and encourage others to do same, as I think Wittenwiller meant to emphasise and distinguish the Liechtenauer verse.

Joerg of Ochs Historische Kampfkuenste questioned *uf trichen* meaning *swipe / swat*, and I answer: The *uf trichen* hence *aufstreichen* hence *swipe / swat* is probably forsetting with the flat (that is, parrying with the blade-plane not its edge), done as you wind and you go. This is something done on the move, and I have done it, and I think it makes sense in sparring. The thing would be similar to the way that most ARMA guys seem to do Ringeck's krumphau versus ochs as one of vierversetzen. Think of Deutsch *aufstreichen* (like buttering bread), or when Nederlanders say *afstrijken* to speak of *striking/levelling* a bushel of wheat, and as per English dialect of Buckinghamshire, to *strike* a bushel of grain, by passing a flat piece of wood over the bushel. Hence invisibly interpolated *uf [s]trichen*, hence *swipe / swat*. So that shall stand.

By the way, reckoning whether the many *uf* meant *on/upon* or *up* was tricky.

*Gutter-hew* shall stand as I wrote it. It makes sense for a variety of reasons as you guys implied, and no other term seems satisfactory.

My thanks to the good European fellows for their advising.

Earnestly,

Jeffrey

[M Wallgren]

Thank you Jeffrey for the translation!

One thing that got us here a little confused though is that all is translated into English (even though we have a Guy named Adrian who is English) because we use the German frases and names of all attacs. For example;

"(§ 13) The next-raiding to head: Instead you make upheaving to the left side thusly: Next-raid and tread timely with the fore foot into the crown, and heave the head and the body behind the foe, such that foe strikes you not in the head, then next-raid by staunch step forth and hew, with lengthy arms by upheaving, to overhew the head – a strong hew from you to his head – as you beware that you have the crux to the right / rightly – then tug into the low-ward and go at him with three attacks: A strike to head, to arms, and to hands."

What is the a next-raiding? Does it mean a Nach reisen?

I´m sorry that I am such a thickhead;)But please explaine to me...

Martin

[Jeffrey Hull]

Martin:

Please utilise one or both of the two links in foreword to go to either or Didier's PDF transcription or Dieter's HTML transcription.

For a number of understandable reasons, which I shall not go into here, I was only able to present my English translation.

However, if you peruse one of those transcriptions, you can match up the Deutsch with the English.

Which you already did: Yes, *nachreisen* equals *next-raiding*. I translate into English, because, that is the purpose of translating. But use the Deutsch if you like.

The compound-word I used is the strongest most accurate translation thereof, I assert, for *nachreisen*. Incidentally, the reasoning behind *next-raiding* as proper &amp; superior translation for *nachreisen* can be found in the Siber thesis, also publicly available in the Armarium (not to be confused with the members-only Armaria).

Incidentally, we must not be afraid to utilise new compound-words or even archaic words when we deal with our fencing, if indeed such words say better what is contextually meant, than say a vocabulary which is beholden to mistaken Victorian notions or effete sport-fencing inaccuracy. It is our craft, and we should make reasonable original additions to our vocabulary when needed. And that could include more than one accepted term for a given concept. The modern Deutschspraecher has no qualms about creating new credible words, and so the modern English-speaker should have none either. It seems that all too often, such is thought acceptable only if it is done to make money. Well that is a crass restraint. We owe it to our craft and to ourselves to express our new (yet truly old) way of thinking about fencing with words that say what things mean relevant to the fight-masters and their text and how the moves are done, and not to the misgivings of modern pedants, formalists or popinjays.

So anyway, good luck and thanks for your query,

Jeffrey

[Mike Cartier]

great job Jeff.
you are quite prolific

[Jeffrey Hull]

Hey Guys:

Update: I recently made some small amendments due to advice from European colleagues -- notably in the Foreword, and to stanzas 27, 44 and 123.

Our webmaster has made the corrections I requested and so now you may notice them in the Wittenwiller translation.

Thanks,

Jeffrey Hull