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Rosalia – The Evil Black Witch of the Harz
By Gary Bateman
PREFACE
Author’s Notes on “Rosalia – The Evil Black Witch of the Harz”
Introduction and Overview: This epic narrative poem on “Rosalia” is pure fiction—but it is a creative reality though in the deep poetic recesses of my mind, however; I should note to you that there is indeed a tradition of Witchcraft and Sorcery in the region of the Harz Mountains here in Germany which definitely dates back to medieval times. People who live there have some fun with Halloween and Walpurgis Nacht parties each year in Bad Harzburg and other towns within the Harz. Though the witch thing is a friendlier proposition in today’s “modern world,” it was certainly not this way centuries ago when those accused of Witchcraft and Sorcery met a rather gruesome fate when they were convicted of doing evil things and consorting with “The Devil.” Moreover, throughout the text I have sprinkled a few witchcraft-oriented terms in the German so the reader can get feel for the Germanic setting for the poem. The “Cliff Notes” I’ve cited below will ensure that these few German terms are precisely explained and defined in their English equivalent meanings. Any other terms in Latin, for example, will be defined and explained as well. The time and location setting for this epic narrative poem is the early 16th Century in the Harz Mountains in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, with the principal events occurring in and around the vicinity of the Brocken Summit which is the highest summit in the Harz mountain range and in Northern Germany.
Academic Source Attribution: The source attribution on the subject of the Black Arts for “Rosalia” came from: Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts, (New York: The Putnam Publishing Group, 1967), passim throughout book. Mr. Cavendish's scholarly book on this subject was quite helpful while I was doing my research on this epic narrative poem. I wanted to make sure that the information I was presenting was at least in line with the common terminology used and associated with this rather arcane subject area. I also conducted on-line internet research on a number of related topics within the Witchcraft genre to get a more in-depth feel for this fascinating topic.
Dramatis Personae:
Rosalia—The Evil Black Witch of the Harz
Aurelia—The Princess of the Light and The Precious Child of God
Monseigneur Wolfgang Augustus Hardenberg (Regional Catholic Church Monseigneur in the Harz at Cloister Marten)
Rosalia’s Hell-Spawned Minions
Monseigneur Hardenberg’s Priests from Cloister Marten
Jehovah —The Almighty Lord God
Jesus Christ—Son of God
Archangel Gabriel and His Force of Heavenly Angels
Lucifer—The Dark Angel and Ruler of the Underworld
Author’s Cliff Notes – Answer Key for Challenging Words and Foreign Phrases in the Text:
Title of Poem: “Rosalia—die boese Hexe aus dem Harz” (Note: This is the actual title of this epic poem, and in English, it means: “Rosalia—The Evil Black Witch of the Harz.”)
Prologue: “Brocken summit in the Harz.” Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz Mountains. It is part of the ongoing Witchcraft tradition today in the Harz.
Rosalia’s Entrée to the 16th Century: Entrée in the Section II title here means “Entrance.”
Vocabulary Terms: (in order of text presentation throughout the poem)
Scaurous: An adjective that refers to “with large ankles.”
Schnauzkrampf-like mouth: “Schnauzkrampf” is a noun that refers to “a mouth that looks more like a snout.”
Die Hexerei: German noun for “Witchcraft.”
Nefandous: Adjective for “unmentionable” or “unspeakable.”
Black Mass Satanist Prayer: The lead-in for this unholy prayer starts with the words, “Our Father, which wert in heaven . . . ,” meaning, of course, “Our Father, which was in heaven . . . ,” with wert being the Old English form of was.
Nefast: Adjective for “wicked.”
Malleus Maleficarum (1486): This term from the Latin means, “Hammer of Witches.” This medieval document was written by two Catholic inquisitors in 1486, and then they codified it and passed it down within the Church hierarchy. This particular document reflected the Church’s “then” present knowledge of witchcraft and sorcery.
Cloister Marten: The regional catholic monastery located in the Harz.
mirabile visu: a Latin term or expression for “Wonderful to behold.”
Burg Worlerede: A fortress castle very near to Cloister Marten in the Harz.
Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Schoeningen, Germany (September 20, 2014)