THE PLAYS OF ROSWITHA[1]
By CHRISTOPHER ST. JOHN
This translation of the six plays of Roswitha (there are really seven, for the two parts of Gallicanus practically constitute two separate dramas) was begun in the year 1912 and completed in 1914. The lively interest provoked by the stage performance of one of the translations (that of the play Paphnutius) by the Pioneer Players in January 1914 led me to think that the publication of the whole theatre of Roswitha in English would be welcomed by all students of the drama. Unfortunately, the war delayed publication, and the manuscript was entirely destroyed by a fire at the publisher's premises in Dublin during the Irish insurrection of Easter 1916.
The work of collating the various Latin texts of Roswitha's plays and producing a translation which should preserve some of the naive simplicity of the original had been a difficult one, and to begin it all over again was a heart-breaking task. The consciousness that the interest in Roswitha provoked by the performance of Paphnutius
- ↑ I have adopted this form of the name in preference to "Hrotsuitha," "Hrotswitha," or "Hrosvitha," as being more easily pronounced and more pleasant to the eye. The name is said to be derived from the old Saxon word "Hrodsuind" (strong voice), a derivation accepted by Roswitha herself in her preface to her plays, when she writes "ego, clamor validus Gandeishermensis," and approved by Grimm.
