11. Adam's Penance in the JordanCodex Vindob. 2980, Folio 29v, 137 x 84 mm. Placed before l. 1048 and illustrates ll. 1030-1056.
Rubric
How Adam did penance for his sins in the Jordan and how the fishes helped him etc.Text
[Adam] also set off to do his penance and when he found the Jordan stood in it up to his neck. He was overcome by sorrow and called out in plaintive tones and bitter suffering: "Oh, Jordan, I say to you that you must help me in my lamentations. Together with all that moves in you and lives a natural life, fish or anything that swims, you must stand by me and mourn. They are not to mourn for themselves but for me, for they have done nothing wrong, but I have sinned. When he had spoken he straightway saw the fishes round him; they remained still and did not swim. For the full forty days they abandoned their rivers and ponds and behaved as though they were sorry for him and bewailed the hard fate of him who stood there deprived of (God's) grace. (1030-1056, Translation by Halford, 1984, p. 255)Analysis
"Adam is naked and standing up to his waist in the Tigris with hands folded in prayer. In front of him in the water are the heads of four fishes with open mouths. . . .Adam's composed posture of prayer provides a contrast with Eve's more emotional gesture of lamentation, although both are traditional orans positions." (Halford, 1980, pp. 18-19)Bibliography
Halford, M-B. Illustration and Text in Lutwin's Eva und Adam: Codex Vindob. 2980, Goppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik, 303; Stuttgart: Kummerle Verlag, 1980.Halford, M-b. Lutwin's Eva und Adam, Goppingen Arbeiten zur Germanistik, Goppingen: Kummerle Verlag, 1984.