Merbort

Only four lines of verse survive, printed in 1639 by Martin Opitz in his commentary on the Annolied.

Opitz claimed to have a manuscript of the complete work, which he called a chronicle.

The language of the verse is Middle High German, perhaps fourteenth century.

The lines have recently been identified as a hitherto unknown translation of the Czech national epic, the so-called Dalimil.

Two other Middle High German versions of Dalimil survive intact.