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This is the first page of the famous "Carmina Burana" manuscript, found in 1803 in the
monastery of Benedikt Beuren by Freiherr Christoph von Aretin, first published in 1847
by Johann Andreas Schmeller, and now Codex 4660 in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in
Munich. It is a collection of songs, in both Latin and German, dealing with both religious
and secular topics, and also contains some liturgical dramatic scenes.
Some of these songs have become very well known through their musical setting by Carl
Orff.
This picture shows the first page of the manuscript. At the top is the wheel of fortune. The
figure at the top is a king, and the writing in the margin says: "Regno," "I rule"; the word
next the figure at the right is "regnavi," "I have ruled"; the word next to the figure at the
left is "regnabo," "I will rule"; and the writing under the figure at the bottom is "sum sine
regno," "I am without rule." As the wheel revolves, each figure experiences good and bad
fortune in turn.
Under the picture is the text of a song about the fickleness of fortune. The marks between
the lines are a form of musical notation called "staffless neumes." They show, to someone
who already knows the song, where the melody goes up or down, and how many notes are
on each syllable, but they do not indicate either pitch or rhythm.
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