interpolations by this second author. The date of these additions, and of the Versus, is of no importance, as their statements are incredible. That the author of the Heliand was, so to speak, another Cædmon—an unlearned man who turned into poetry what was read to him from the sacred writings—is impossible, because in many passages the text of the sources is so closely followed that it is clear that the poet wrote with the Latin books before him. On the other hand, there is no reason for rejecting the almost contemporary testimony of the first part of the Praefatio that the author of the Heliand had won renown as a poet before he undertook his great task at the emperor’s command. It is certainly not impossible that a Christian Saxon, sufficiently educated to read Latin easily, may have chosen to follow the calling of a scop or minstrel[1] instead of entering the priesthood or the cloister; and if such a person existed, it would be natural that he should be selected by the emperor to execute his design. As has been said above, the tone of many portions of the Heliand is that of a man who was no mere imitator of the ancient epic, but who had himself been accustomed to sing of heroic themes.
The commentary on the gospel of Matthew by Hrabanus Maurus was finished about 821, which is therefore the superior limit of date for the composition of the Heliand. It is usually maintained that this work was written before the Old Testament poems. The arguments for this view are that the Heliand contains no allusion to any foregoing poetical treatment of the antecedent history, and that the Genesis fragments exhibit a higher degree of poetic skill. This reasoning does not appear conclusive, and if it be set aside, the limit of date for the beginning of the work is carried back to A.D. 814, the year of the accession of Ludwig.
Bibliography.—The first complete edition of the Heliand was published by J. A. Schmeller in 1830; the second volume, containing the glossary and grammar, appeared in 1840. The standard edition is that of E. Sievers (1877), in which the texts of the Cotton and Munich MSS. are printed side by side. It is not provided with a glossary, but contains an elaborate and most valuable analysis of the diction, synonymy and syntactical features of the poem. Other useful editions are those of M. Heyne (3rd ed., 1903), O. Behaghel (1882) and P. Piper (1897, containing also the Genesis fragments). The fragments of the Heliand and the Genesis contained in the Vatican MS. were edited in 1894 by K. Zangemeister and W. Braune under the title Bruchstücke der altsächsischen Bibeldichtung. Among the works treating of the authorship, sources and place of origin of the poems, the most important are the following: E. Windisch, Der Heliand und seine Quellen (1868); E. Sievers, Der Heliand und die angelsächsische Genesis (1875); R. Kögel, Deutsche Literaturgeschichte, Bd. i. (1894) and Die altsächsische Genesis (1895); R. Kögel and W. Bruckner, “Althoch- und altniederdeutsche Literatur,” in Paul’s Grundriss der germanischen Philologie, Bd. ii. (2nd ed., 1901), which contains references to many other works; Hermann Collitz, Zum Dialekte des Heliand (1901). (H. Br.)
HELICON, a mountain range, of Boeotia in ancient Greece,
celebrated in classical literature as the favourite haunt of the
Muses, is situated between Lake Copaïs and the Gulf of Corinth.
On the fertile eastern slopes stood a temple and grove sacred to
the Muses, and adorned with beautiful statues, which, taken by
Constantine the Great to beautify his new city, were consumed
there by a fire in A.D. 404. Hard by were the famous fountains,
Aganippe and Hippocrene, the latter fabled to have gushed from
the earth at the tread of the winged horse Pegasus, whose
favourite browsing place was there. At the neighbouring Ascra
dwelt the poet Hesiod, a fact which probably enhanced the
poetic fame of the region. Pausanias, who describes Helicon in
his ninth book, asserts that it was the most fertile mountain in
Greece, and that neither poisonous plant nor serpent was to be
found on it, while many of its herbs possessed a miraculous
healing virtue. The highest summit, the present Palaeovouni
(old hill), rises to the height of about 5000 ft. Modern travellers,
aided by ancient remains and inscriptions, and guided by the
local descriptions of Pausanias, have succeeded in identifying
many of the ancient classical spots, and the French excavators
have discovered the temple of the Muses and a theatre.
See also Clarke, Travels in Various Countries (vol. vii., 1818); Dodwell, Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece (1818); W. M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece (vol. ii., 1835); J. G. Frazer’s edition of Pausanias, v. 150.
HELICON (Fr. hélicon, bombardon circulaire; Ger. Helikon),
the circular form of the B♭ contrabass tuba used in military
bands, worn round the body, with the enormous bell resting on
the left shoulder and towering above the head of the performer.
The pitch of the helicon is an octave below that of the euphonium.
The idea of winding the long tube of the contrabass tuba and of
wearing it round the shoulders was suggested by the ancient
Roman buccina and cornu, represented in mosaics and on the
sculptured reliefs surrounding Trajan’s Column. The buccina and
cornu[2] differed in the diameter of their respective bores, the
former having the narrow, almost cylindrical bore and harmonic
series of the trumpet and trombone, whereas the cornu, having
a bore in the form of a wide cone, was the prototype of the bugle
and tubas.
HELIGOLAND (Ger. Helgoland), an island of Germany, in the
North Sea, lying off the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, 28 m.
from the nearest point in the mainland. Pop. (1900) 2307.
From 1807 to 1890 a British possession, it was ceded in 1890 to
Germany, and since 1892 has formed part of the Prussian
province of Schleswig-Holstein. It consists of two islets, the
smaller, the Dünen-Insel, a quarter of a mile E. of the main, or
Rock Island, connected until 1720, when it was severed by a
violent irruption of the sea, with the other by a neck of land, and
the main, or Rock Island. The latter is nearly triangular in
shape and is surrounded by steep red cliffs, the only beach being
the sandy spit near the south-east point, where the landing-stage
is situated. The rocks composing the cliffs are worn into caves,
and around the island are many fantastic arches and columns.
The impression made by the red cliffs, fringed by a white beach
and supporting the green Oberland, is commonly believed to have
suggested the national colours, red, white and green, or, as the
old Frisian rhyme goes:—
| “Grön is dat Land, |
The lower town of Unterland, on the spit, and the upper town, or Oberland, situated on the cliff above, are connected by a wooden stair and a lift. There is a powerful lighthouse, and since its cession by Great Britain to Germany, the main island has been strongly fortified, the old English batteries being replaced by armoured turrets mounting guns of heavy calibre. Inside the Dünen-Insel the largest ships can ride safely at anchor, and take in coal and other supplies. The greatest length of the main island, which slopes somewhat from west to east, is just a mile, and the greatest breadth less than a third of a mile, its average height 198 ft., and the highest point, crowned by the church, with a conspicuous spire, 216 ft. The Dünen-Insel is a sand-bank protected by groines. It is only about 200 ft. above the sea at its highest point, but the drifting sands make the height rather variable. The sea-bathing establishment is situated here; a shelving beach of white sand presenting excellent facilities for bathing. Most of the houses are built of brick, but some are of wood. There are a theatre, a Kurhaus, and a number of hotels and restaurants. In 1892 a biological institute, with a marine museum and aquarium (1900) attached, was opened.
During the summer some 20,000 people visit the island for sea-bathing. German is the official language, though among themselves the natives speak a dialect of Frisian, barely intelligible to the other islands of the group. There is regular communication with Bremen and Hamburg.
The winters are stormy. May and the early part of June are wet and foggy, so that few visitors arrive before the middle of the latter month.
- ↑ The term Volkssänger, commonly used in German discussions of this question, is misleading; the audience for heroic poetry was not “the people” in the modern sense, but the nobles.
- ↑ For illustrations of the cornu see the altar of Julius Victor ex Collegio, reproduced in Bartoli, Pict. Ant. p. 76; Bellori, Pict. antiq. crypt. rom. p. 76, pl. viii.; in Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des antiq. grecques et romaines, under “Cornu,” the buccina and cornu have not been distinguished.
