Dedication explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Humility and Intellectual Vocation

  Roswitha repeatedly emphasizes her own ignorance and unworthiness, framing her writing as an act of obedience rather than ambition.

Characters to notice

• Gerberg

  The Illustrious Abbess to whom the work is dedicated, venerated for her uprightness, honesty, and noble lineage.

• Roswitha

  The author, who humbly describes herself as the last of the least under Gerberg's rule and expresses her struggles in writing the chronicle.

Key passages

• “I was like a person in a strange land wandering without a guide through a forest where the path is concealed by dense snow.”

  Roswitha compares her struggle to compile the chronicle to being lost in a snowy forest without a guide.

  This metaphor illustrates her difficulty in finding reliable sources for the emperor's deeds.

• “I also fear I shall be accused of temerity in presuming to describe in my humble uncultured way matters which ought to be set forth with all the ceremony of great learning.”

  She worries that critics will blame her for daring to write about important topics without sufficient education.

  Roswitha anticipates criticism due to her gender and lack of formal learning.