# Endnotes explained — The Genealogy of Morals

> Chapter companion for The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

The endnotes provide translator's clarifications on key German terms and allusions in the text, including the double meanings of 'Sittlichkeit der Sitte,' 'schuld' (debt/guilt), and 'Heiland' (healer/saviour), as well as references to Ihering, Schiller's William Tell, Luther's stand at Worms, and other cultural touchstones.

## Themes in this chapter

### Historical Method and Genealogy

The translator's notes on the double meanings of 'schuld' and 'Heiland' illustrate the genealogical method of tracing moral concepts back to their linguistic and historical roots.

## Character check-ins

### Luther

Referenced in the note about his words before the Reichstag at Worms: 'Here I stand! I cannot help myself. God help me! Amen.'

## Key lines

> The German word “ schuld ” means both debt and guilt. Cp. the English “owe” and “ought,” by which I occasionally render the double meaning.

The German term 'schuld' carries the dual sense of financial debt and moral guilt, akin to the English words 'owe' and 'ought.'

_Translator's linguistic clarification linking moral and economic concepts._

> An allusion to the celebrated monologue in William Tell.

A reference to the famous soliloquy in Schiller's play 'William Tell.'

_Cultural allusion to German literature._

> In the German text “ Heiland .” This has the double meaning of “healer” and “saviour.”

The German word 'Heiland' means both 'healer' and 'saviour.'

_Translator's note on the dual religious and therapeutic connotations._

> “Here I stand! I cannot help myself. God help me! Amen”⁠—were Luther’s words before the Reichstag at Worms.

Luther declared before the Diet of Worms: 'Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.'

_Historical reference to Luther's defiance at the Diet of Worms._

## Links

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