Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas the Rhymer (Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, auch Thomas Learmont oder True Thomas), schottischer Edelmann, Dichter und Prophet (ca. 1220-1298). Sein Leben wird in einer mittelalterlichen Versromanze erzählt, die in 5 Manuskripten erhalten ist, und in der volkstümlichen Ballade "Thomas Rhymer". Es ist bis heute in der britischen Literatur, Musik und bildenden Kunst produktiv. Die Rezeption in Deutschland verlief hauptsächlich über Theodor Fontanes Nachdichtung "Tom der Reimer". Der russische Dichter Michail Lermontow stammt laut einer Familienlegende von Thomas Learmont ab.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas' gift of prophecy is linked to his poetic ability.

He is often cited as the author of the English Sir Tristrem, a version of the Tristram legend, and some lines in Robert Mannyng's Chronicle may be the source of this association. It is not clear if the name Rhymer was his actual surname or merely a sobriquet. In literature, he appears as the protagonist in the tale about Thomas the Rhymer carried off by the "Queen of Elfland" and returned having gained the gift of prophecy, as well as the inability to tell a lie. The tale survives in a medieval verse romance in five manuscripts, as well as in the popular ballad "Thomas Rhymer" (Child Ballad number 37). The romance occurs as "Thomas off Ersseldoune" in the Lincoln Thornton Manuscript. (...)

Historical figure

Sir Thomas was born in Erceldoune (also spelled Ercildoune – presently Earlston), Berwickshire, sometime in the 13th century, and has a reputation as the author of many prophetic verses. Little is known for certain of his life but two charters from 1260–80 and 1294 mention him, the latter referring to "Thomas de Ercildounson son and heir of Thome Rymour de Ercildoun".

Thomas became known as "True Thomas", supposedly because he could not tell a lie. Popular lore recounts how he prophesied many great events in Scottish history, including the death of Alexander III of Scotland.

Popular esteem of Thomas lived on for centuries after his death, and especially in Scotland, overtook the reputation of all rival prophets including Merlin, whom the 16th century pamphleteer of The Complaynt of Scotland denounced as the author of the prophecy (unity under one king) which the English used as justification for aggression against his countrymen. It became common for fabricated prophecies (or reworkings of earlier prophecies) to be attributed to Thomas to enhance their authority, as seen in collections of prophecies which were printed, the earliest surviving being a chapbook entitled "The Whole Prophecie of Scotland, England, etc." (1603).

Balladen über Tom den Reimer von

• Walter Scott veröffentlichte die Ballade (1803) und schrieb einen zweiten und dritten Teil
• Anna Gordon oder Mrs Brown of Falkland (1747–1810)
• Francis James Child, 1883

Weitere literarische Adaptationen (Auswahl)

• John Keats' Gedicht La Belle Dame sans Merci ist in Motiv und Struktur möglicherweise von der Legende beeinflusst.
• Washington Irving besuchte Walter Scott, der ihm die Legende von Thomas the Rhymer mitteilte. Es wurde eine Quelle für seine Kurzgeschichte "Rip van Winkle".
• deutsche Nachdichtung von Theodor Fontane, Tom der Reimer, vertont von Carl Loewe, op. 135.
• Rudyard Kiplings Gedicht "The Last Rhyme of True Thomas" (1894) handelt von Thomas Learmounth.
• Roman von Wilhelm Kubie (Tom der Reimer. Roman einer Ballade, 1942)
• Der englische Komponist Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) hinterließ eine fragmentarische Oper "Thomas the Rhymer"
• Der schottische Schriftsteller Nigel Tranter schrieb den Roman "True Thomas" (1981).
• Zahlreiche Nacherzählungen und Umdichtungen u.a. von Donald Alexander Mackenzie (ed.), John Duncan (illus.), "Story of Thomas the Rhymer" (1917); Donald Smith (in Cencrastus, Issue 79, Winter 2004-05)
• Weitere Romane und Kurzgeschichten u.a. von Ellen Kushner (1990), Bruce Glassco (1994), Richard Leigh (2006), Andrew James Greig ("One is One", 2018) u.v.m.