Lost and Found in Nuremberg: A Manuscript Fragment with an Old Frisian Oath Formula

Abstract

Abstract This article reports the rediscovery of a one-leaf fragment with a complete Old Frisian oath formula, in the library of the Germanische Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. The fragment had been out of the picture for almost 200 years, after Franz Josef Mone had published its text in a brief notification in 1834. Although the fragment was included in the museum’s library catalogue, it remained under the radar of scholars of Old Frisian until digital pictures of it were published on the internet. Here I present a detailed account of the various historical, codicological, paleographical and philological aspects of the fragment.