A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE ON THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE: MECHTHILD VON MAGDEBURG'S "EIN VLIESSENDES LIEHT DER GOTHEIT" IN A COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION, WITH ANNOTATIONS AND INTRODUCTION

Abstract

This is a translation of the only complete manuscript of Mechthild von Magdeburg's work, which was discovered in 1861 in Einsiedeln by Carl Greith and transcribed and published by P. Gall Morel in 1869. Mechthild (1212-1298) dictated Books I to VI to her friend and confessor, Heinrich von Halle, who rearranged the sequence of the chapters and translated them into Latin, entitling the work Lux Divinitas in Corda Veritatis. The original Low German version of Books I to VII was translated into High German by Heinrich von Noerdlingen in 1344. Notwithstanding difficulties due to inconsistencies of orthography, ambiguities, illogical use of the negative and confusing diacritical marks made by the editor, this translation remains as faithful in both content and format to the text as possible. Lyrical passages, however, were translated into prose so as not to sacrifice Mechthild's meaning to the pursuit of assonance