Christmas in the Heliand (9th Century Saxon Text)

[@LettersFromAFriend]

Fun fact: "Heliand" is "Heiland" in modern German. It means "whole-maker" or "healthy-maker" and is the standard word that German uses when English uses "saviour" (in a religious context).

[@Patristix]

Very cool!

[@KaoXoni]

True. I am German, and I, too, jumbled the Heli to Heil upon first (and second);reading of the headline.

[@davidsands3785]

Redeemer, redmptor

[@shakti7457]

It is very cool, I love it!

[@juliedemarchi8767]

This is my last name.

[@hannahbaker3080]

Yes! I love epics, and please, let’s go deeper into this epic, too. It’s one I’ve never heard of!

[@Gandwarf213]

This is fascinating! I admit I'm a little reserved about "retellings" of the gospel story that change certain aspects of it, but as I'm so fond of my ancient ancestors I find this so interesting to learn about and I can see this as a healthy addition to the gospel story. It's cool to learn this is how many of our ancestors first heard the story of Christ.

[@Patristix]

Well put! Consider this the 'hollywood adaptation' of the day.

[@abrahemsamander3967]

I love epic poetry, and am fascinated by the Anglo saxons. Thanks for this

[@Sun-dy]

Wonderful to see a different cultural perspective and how the greatest story ever told can be great to any people.

[@GingerTomMom]

I am new to this channel, and would love to hear more from the Heliand. Thank you!

[@sewkzoo]

Yes! We need more of this. And course, as you mentioned, Beowulf.

[@alexandragonzalez8333]

My students and I studied the history of Early Christianity this semester. We also read Beowulf, which we enjoyed greatly, and tomorrow is our last class on Book of Acts and Beowulf before the Christmas break. I can't think of a better culminatIon than THIS VIDEO! It brings both works together. Thank you for making it!

[@JeannieLeDoux]

I love it, how exciting to expand our knowledge to see how literature was used. Thank you!!

[@righteousviking]

I am 36, I've been a huge fan of all things Saxon and Nord and the Lord of the Rings for decades... and I've never heard of this tale?!?!

[@Patristix]

Oh you're going to love it the more you read it!

[@mbberry135]

It is Good and Heartwarming to see an Orthodox consulting Western works. Especially in a glowing and a positive light. Being a Catholic, I do get frustrated when talking to Orthodox about anything Western or Occidental. They dismiss it because it is Latin or not Greek and/ or Slavic. Thank You goid Sir! And God Bless! Sincerely in Xto Mike B. B. From Philly, P.A. U.S.A.

[@Patristix]

There's a lot of beauty in Western works! You might enjoy our episode on the Book of Kells, and we're planning several more episodes on British saints in the new year!

[@stevanstevan763]

I Love how hid build his wall out of 2x4's to put his icons on it

[@JacobAnaya369]

This was AWESOME!

[@AlexanderosD]

It's always interesting to see how different nations sort of synergize the Gospels into their own cultures across the world. This one is very metal! Thanks for sharing!

[@juliedemarchi8767]

You did a beautiful job with this. PLEASE do another one! Heiland just happens to be my last name (on the German side), and I found this epic poem incredibly beautiful. Glory to Jesus Christ, our Great Chieftain.

[@adolfoeguia]

Haz los siguientes episodios del “Heliand”, es muy interesante su narrativa y cómo lo explicas. Saludos desde San Miguel de Allende, Gto. Mexico! 🇲🇽

[@has25252]

Thank you so much for this! I want a copy now. The idea of the warrior-companions really speaks to me - thanks again and a very Merry Christmas to you!

[@anarchorepublican5954]

"Peter, put away your sword"

[@augustinep6193]

@@anarchorepublican5954 Good one :) Matt. 10:34 "Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword." :)

[@augustinep6193]

Good.

[@SeiVeldtNoraCramRoines]

YeW 🌲 Ever GreinE 🍐uS ✌️ eUUeRopeAnn heRmaN🪱 tiP 🍠 yaM tunnelS🙃SlawNf aGaiN DockeR SAM Uel rDnaSkelA nnuD👈 Righteous huR and AroN beeH 🔙 doR wiSdoM👈 iNwardbrauN👁️ Vadj Brook Lynn 🐍 Quan 👃 Moses Si🪞nnerS LiveD JAMES THY JUST 📖 in huR imAge it'SStey MuddeR 🤫 TheaR TydEDecipher Lesus NameSSemaZ GoSpe7 aGaiN SeiBen💤 Sunn Cisturn💤 We77 Drawn uP SanskirT ♍ Voltaire Cann indeed looK Sei aRiAnnE=MOST HOLY 🔥 MaarS👈 YeW essay 🥨 USA LesSoN👈 FriEnd MaiSoN 📐 sideSSiben behind aDaM ♊ Y'all ImManuel Kant TobiaS ♊ Rhode 🌹 RootS👈 yaM 🍠 RoaH Qawl MariamSSmairaM 🔥 Ajax 🦅 pfund Achilles HeaL 👍 LekiS phoR=BaroN 🪵 phatSStaff 🐎 maRi= Husband 🐍 Jesus=iAM 🌈 Assurance ✌️ Bi 🍐 Gemini ♊ Twins Witnesses 🍐uS

[@marybrewer2203]

This is new to me. As a lover of Tolkien, this makes me happy and interested in knowing more.

[@nategraham6946]

Yes please, more on the Heliand would be most welcome. I look forward to hearing it and learning more. I will need to try and get it for myself one day.

[@janislohman8125]

Enjoyed it , please continue along with the JESUS narrative. Ty from Seattle washington USA Liked its charm and battle spirit they give believers.

[@boardbill5852]

I’d love to hear more parts of this narrative 😊

[@idaspidalegs]

I was fascinated by this story. Yes please give us more.

[@curiousing]

I absolutely love this episode and think that you ought to make a series out of the Heliand, releasing a new episode for each biblical event around our annual commemoration of that event. Also Beowulf: Yes, definitely. As I listened to this, I felt really excited because in Orthodoxy we get SO MUCH Russian, Arab, Greek, Romanian... But the Western Orthodox tradition is also really powerful and usually feels more "native" to us. Because we in the US-and you in Australia, I've recently learned-haven't yet really had opportunity to "nativize" our churches, I think it's super important that we revive this stuff so that Westerners see that WE TOO have this tradition. It isn't all new and foreign. It just got lost for a long, long time.

[@Winaska]

As a Catholic, it gives me great inspiration and hope to see the slow but steady rebirth of Western Orthodoxy. We need both/and not either/or

[@GratiaCordium]

Just discovered your channel, and I love how you explore parts of Christianity that many overlook! 🙌 Please keep diving into the Heliand for us-thank you! 🙏✨

[@kaybrown4010]

Thank you for a fascinating episode. More, please! Merry Christmas 🎄

[@donelladowdle]

Yes please do Beowulf! It is one of my husband's favorite! I do believe it is what started his long journey back to the church!❤

[@OzarkCelt]

I was gifted a translation along with Tolkien's Beowulf translation. Both are great stories and ones I refer to from time to time in my personal ministry.

[@cfs9828]

Beautiful! I would love to hear more from the Heliand!🙏🥰♥️

[@brittanypreston8849]

Yes! More would be great. I love finding things like this. The Anglo-Saxon poem by Cynewulf called "Christ" is absolutely beautiful. Have you read it? This story you read reminds me of the Huron Carol. It is Canada's oldest Christmas Carol (not Canadian, just a history teacher with a love for literature and poetry). It was written by a Jesuit in the 1600s and he does similar things as this piece changing the shepherds to warriors and the gifts to fox and beaver pelts. Enjoyed this! Christ is in our midst!

[@beckymonteith1293]

I was reminded of that carol too. Jean de Brebeuf essentially doing the same thing for the Hurons.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

How very interesting this work is! I just found your channel recently and love that you look into so much of Christianity that most in my own country won't even look at! Please continue to look into the Heliand for us! Thanks!

[@shakti7457]

Fascinating! I would love to hear more of the Heliand!

[@dunnmax1]

Yes, please do more videos about the Heliand. As an Orthodox Christian with degrees in German focusing on medieval literature I'd really appreciate hearing what you have to say.

[@GrandeSalvatore96]

Great video! Would love to see a series on the Heliand on this channel.

[@Patristix]

Something for us to think about...

[@deborahwilkerson8103]

Love it! I hope that someday you are able to visit the Holy Land, it’s not a big desert after all. The “wilderness “ is dry but there are beautiful forests too. Please keep up the good work, this is wonderful fun.

[@Jpietrantoni]

Loved it! Yes, more please 🙏

[@matrig6]

This was very eye-opening! Please, do more on your channel with the Heliand.

[@DFosterXP]

Loved this episode. Definitely more like this!

[@marye7798]

Would love to hear more of Heliand and yes, Beouwulf. Thank you!

[@roberthilsdon3900]

Very interesting account. Did not know about the Hagar. Please add more.

[@dumbidols]

This is awesome. The story of the prophecy of the wise men is likely referring to the prophecy in the book of Daniel, originally from Babylon in the east, The prophecy of the seventy sevens, which prophesies the coming of Christ down to the year. Daniel who is chief of the wise men in his day, it is commonly thought that the wise men in Christ's day would study the book of their former leader, and arrived from following the prophecy and their expertise in astrology.

[@nicolewight]

Loved this video!

[@WildwoodTV]

1:00 The Jelling runestones are in Jelling Denmark, I have visited the museum & mounds.

[@Patristix]

Our mistake! Sorry!

[@jennytr5056]

I would love to hear more from the Heliand!

[@whitehorseking]

Truly wonderful video

[@user-mx7nv5re9v]

Just bought the saga! Thanks for the introduction!

[@TheHangedMan]

This is awesome! Did not know about this

[@miguelalmeida3136]

Incredible video!!!

[@atmalewis1768]

This is wonderful, thank you

[@andrewguler8091]

Yes! More of this please.

[@MihajloB]

Excellent episode 👍 ☦️

[@collinromero5476]

Can yall pls make a video on St. Columba of Iona? 😎🙏

[@Patristix]

Noted!

[@augustinep6193]

Very good. Thank you.

[@WORKOUTSOLUTIONS]

❤✝ ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ ✝🕊 БОГ С НАМИ ПРОТИВ ЗЛА И ИСКУШЕНИЙ ✝🙏⛪🥰🦾

[@clarekuehn4372]

Praise the great saints who brought & flourished after hearing Gospel to all. Ora pro nobis Pagans had elements like, or actually, prophecy: led to conversions.

[@honestorchard]

I heard about this but could never find the text of it - this is great!

[@WadeOhWells]

That was great! Would love to see more

[@AJ-rz1zw]

Please revisit it! This was very entertaining and goes to show that Christ is for all!

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

The Heliand is the 9th century version of the Action Bible 🙂 EDIT: For those reading German, there is a Book-on-demand version of the Heliand available on Amazon Germany.

[@Patristix]

Or like the 9th century version of a Hollywood blockbuster adaptation! It would have had audiences spellbound

[@813infinityfilms123]

✝️❤️🙏 Jesus, Mary & Joseph, we love, you, save souls!

[@anarchorepublican5954]

📜"...in Middle Earth..."...this sounds a bit like if J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a paraphrase of the Gospels...

[@Patristix]

The Heliand reads very much how a Gospel would sound if it were read in Rohan or Gondor!

[@Guguchina]

Tolkien was a scholar in Old English. He took many Old English words and concepts for his books, including Middangeard (Middle earth).

[@anarchorepublican5954]

@@Guguchina ...indeed, in fact, Tolkien wrote a Christmas poem in the olde Saxon style of the Bard Hall...hear it sung by pious priests acapella, right here on KZbin "J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lost Christmas Poem | Noël"...needless to say "it's Epic"...(just posted 10 hour ago)...𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕸𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖊 𝐲𝖊 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖘 𝖙𝖔𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖉 𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖊

[@anarchorepublican5954]

​@@Patristix ...check out Tolkien' long abandoned Bardic style Nativity poem..sung by pious acapella presbyters, just posted promptly today, right here on KZbin, search "J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lost Christmas Poem | Noël"...(needless to say "it's Epic"...)...𝕸𝖊𝖗𝖗𝐲 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝒎𝖆𝖘!

[@flowpowcasey]

This was great!

[@edwardkornuszko4083]

Thank you. God bless you

[@curiousing]

Adding this as a separate comment cuz it's totally different: I was talking today with an Australian friend who has left the Catholic Church but might be interested in Orthodoxy. I found myself having to explain that in immigrant lands like the US and Australia, we often have to get past going to "an ethnic church" to come into Orthodoxy. Sure, there are increasingly more and more churches that do liturgies in English (mostly or entirely), and in the US we have the OCA (not sure if there's an Australian equivalent). But I would really love to hear you speak to the topic of jurisdictional unity, "ethnic churches", the misconception that the Russian, Greek, Antiochian, etc., churches are all distinct churches (which I believe I have heard you address in passing once), etc. What we're doing is against canon law, and throttling the evangelization of Anglos, but power, money, and influence in the home countries... I don't expect you to get political about it, but I do think that, since one of your obvious goals for this channel is to evangelize, it should be addressed in an honest but charitable way. Personally, I'd love to hear how you look at it, cuz you're so positive and I tend to get quite upset about this issue. I'm hoping you can show it to me from a new perspective that will give me peace. 🙂

[@randy9680]

You should do an episode on the Ascension (Christ II) by Cynewulf. Cynewulf is one of the few named Anglo-Saxon poets.

[@OliverMurrayYT]

Very well done. Thanks immensely for covering this topic. It is very exciting to see Christians engaging with Anglo-Saxon history and narrative. The Tolkien links are as plain as day, but I do think it is still so under explored. Can I ask if you’re based in the UK or Europe? There is immense treasure in the lives of the Saxon or ‘Northern’ English saints waiting to be shared. Bravo, and may God continue to bless you, (and those behind the camera!).

[@hellie_el]

thank you ❤❤❤❤❤ the heliand is available to borrow on the internet archive

[@thatcatholicsaintsguy609]

I loved this.

[@christianfreedom-seeker2025]

Looks pretty cool! 😊

[@rogermarkfreberg]

Marvelous!! Most entertaining!! Found a copy on Amazon for my “Warrior Companion!”

[@Patristix]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@mblaydoe]

Fascinating account. Hagar the not completely Horrible approves.

[@gjj655]

More please!

[@kingattila506]

Please revisit the Heliand!!!

[@Christopher_Irons]

I need a copy of this next to my old English beowulf copy

[@KeithDvorak]

also, yes to more like this ❤ very stong yes to more heiland and definitely yes to beowulf

[@bobbylewis2]

The most important part of the Heliand might be that it's the Romanity waking up the Germanic people who had fallen into for the last centuries the idea that they could not save themselves, that there would only be the end of the gods and that fate was fixed. The Heliand shows them that fate is in the hands of Christ, and through Christ can be changed. Funny enough, probably by coincidence, "faith alone" is the same idea of not being able to save oneself (cooperate with divine grace) that Catholics believe. Meaning faith alone believers unintentionally believe in the same idea the Catholic worldview (not necessarily Christian, but universal, the one of reverting the fall of man) had gotten the Saxons out of, as shown in the Heliand. Same thing with the Cathars, same idea of hopelessness.

[@kirkdickson8878]

The prophecy mentioned by the Wise Men in this retelling at about 9:25 could be a reference to Numbers 24 vs.17, “…a star shall come out of Jacob…”

[@micahpond6895]

If the Gosples were preached in Tolkien's Middle Earth, you have the Heliand! ✝️

[@Patristix]

It feels very Tolkien!

[@glennberry4829]

I'd love it if you did a collaboration about the Heliand with a specialist in the Saxon culture. An example youutuber might be Dr. Jackson Crawford, but he is a specialist in Old Norse rather than the Heland.

[@glennberry4829]

Dr. Crawford isn't the right person. 3 months ago he posted here an interview about the Heliand with Prof. Alex Sager, who might be the right person.

[@HexoPlays]

great video

[@unclejake154]

Excellent poem. Thank you so much for reading it. On a side note, at 1:04 in the presentation, you show the Jelling Stone (Christ overcoming evil). The Stone is identified as "Norway", but is actually in Denmark, and Danish Passports include the illustration because the Stone is considered Denmark's birth certificate". Too cool huh? IXOYE

[@Patristix]

Our mistake! Sorry!

[@felixwalne3494]

Possibly also a reference to Daniel, who could have left behind teachings in Babylon (the east) about the coming of Messiah.

[@SEKreiver]

I'd think Tolkien would've been familiar with this, but I don't remember it being mentioned by him or his son. Thanks!

[@jmgwkster]

Interesting!

[@artsman412]

Any idea where I can get a good copy? As a fan of medieval literature, I'd love to check it out.

[@CarlsLingoKingdom]

Fantastic! All hail the Great Chieftain! Do you know if there are any Celtic language versions of this? Meaning, have you ever heard of a Celticised Gospel story written during the medieval period?

[@alexpenalo4684]

Can you read it on your channel like audiobook?

[@thedreadtyger]

soþlice! amen!

[@Viz-Jaqtaar]

Hail the King of Glory!

[@manog6236]

there is a story when protestant missionaries tried to convert some African tribes to Christianity, they where having trouble to make them understand the gospel story, until the retold it using the tribe's culture. It is interesting that Christians where doing these kinds of things even in the early parts of our history.

[@jobengals86]

Bravo!

[@mrmdemeter1]

Gotta do Beowulf!

[@richardschafer7858]

It reads like an Indo European myth. Beautifully written.

[@KeithDvorak]

sadly, the site of mariana scott's translation is no longer available

[@sheilasophia17]

Oh I’d love if you did Beowulf! All I remember from when we went through it in high school was the very obscene sexual stuff in the movie.

[@serenasztein5065]

cool

[@KeithDvorak]

also, yes to more heiland and beowulf!

[@brentlarsen4414]

dude it took me 5 minutes to decide whether or not this video was satire.

[@MisterPaulFish]

I was hoping it was going to be just a reading. Whole audio book.

[@sstrykert]

😇👍

[@fr.timothycurren5592]

So it’s basically a Saxon Christian Targum?