
Naming Patterns in Venetian Cyprus: The Case of Marathassa Valley
July 31, 2023
Release of the international diamond open access journal Eventum: A Journal of Medieval Arts & Rituals
September 25, 2023Rituals and the Sound of War – The Belliphonic in the Middle Ages
By Hannah Potthoff, Technische Universität Chemnitz
Sound plays a vital role in human life. Emotions and feelings connected to sound go deep, such as the sound of certain voices or songs. Therefore, sound is also central to many rituals, may they be part of religious ceremonies, everyday life, or war. The acoustic, and sensory history in general acquired more scholarly interest in the last decades, as can be seen from numerous publications. However, there are still many research gaps to fill, particularly for the Middle Ages. The DFG-funded network Lautsphären des Mittelalters (Soundscapes of the Middle Ages), led by Prof. Gesine Mierke (Bamberg) and Prof. Martin Clauss (Chemnitz), seeks to fill those research gaps. The network looks into sounds and the acoustic from different disciplinary angles, from philology to musicology and from theology to military history.
Especially the sound of war – the belliphonic – has been an overlooked field within medieval research, though it is important for the understanding of how medieval life and warfare were intertwined. The sounds of war are among the loudest in human history, they have changed and shaped the way people hear and communicate, but also how they remember wars. The term was coined by Martin Daughtry, an ethnomusicologist investigating the role of sound in the Iraq war in 2003. The term ‘belliphonic’, composed of the Latin bellum, meaning war/battle, and the Greek φωνή, meaning voice/sound, includes all sounds that are produced or influenced by war. This definition is also useful for the of study medieval war sounds.
This is done in the DFG-funded project Belliphonie im Mittelalter (The Belliphonic in the Middle Ages), led by Prof. Martin Clauss at Technische Universität Chemnitz. The project is divided into two subprojects: One looks into the sound of late medieval warfare and the use of sound, e.g. as a weapon. The other subproject investigates the narrative aspects of war sounds in high medieval literature. Here, sounds are used in war and battle scenes to highlight different aspects of war and its rituals. How war, Christian rituals, and narrative tropes are intertwined can be very well seen in the middle high German Rolandslied (Song of Roland). This is the literary adaptation of the battle of Roncesvalles, fought by the rearguard of Charles the Great in 778. The story is centered around the hero Roland, Charles’s nephew, who is leading the troops against those of the Muslim duke Marsilie. During a pause in the battle, bishop Turpin sees the re-gathered and approaching heathen troops. The Christians get ready: they praise God (“daz gotes lop si sungen.”, v. 5756); they put on their armour (“si sluffen in wîges gewæte, /also si des state hêten.”, v. 5757-58); the priests grant indulgence (“si sprâchen in den antlâz.”, v. 5777); the warriors hug and kiss (“si beswiefen ze den brüsten,/ain ander si kusten.”, v. 5781-82); and they listen to bishop Turpin announcing the kingdom of God (“er sagete in von dem gotes rîche.”, v. 5787). After praying and making the sign of the cross, they run to their banners and to the battlefield:
As the true God’s fighters, / praying and making the sign of the cross, / had done their duty, / each ran to his banner, / as they were used to. / The angels protected them. / They went to the battlefield. (v. 5799-8505; trans. H.Potthoff)
(Dô die wâren gotes degene / mit gebet unt mit segene / begiengen ir gehôrsam, / ir aller gelîch zuo sînem van / gâhete nâch ir gewonehaite. / die engel wâren ir gelaite. / si suochten aine walstat.)
The preparation of the battle is not described with specific sounds, even though many of these actions are not soundless. Several plausible sounds can be imagined: the warriors sing to praise God, and the words spoken by the priests, as well as by bishop Turpin were made by human voices, whereas putting on armour is also a sounding endeavour, as the armour is made of metal. The hugging and kissing as well as the praying may or may not have been silent, while making the sign of the cross probably was. This list of preparations before battle does not require a specific description of sounds. It is important for the audience of the story to understand that they are fighting with good intentions: for God and therefore for a just cause. The enactment of rituals and their gravity are more important than their accurate acoustic description. The absence of specific sounds also sets the mood of the silence before the storm: the warriors perform their rituals to prepare for and to start focusing on the upcoming fight which could be their last one.
On the battlefield, Roland gives a battle exhortation (v. 5806-5828). It is the last act before the fight. He encourages the fighters, reassuring their faith, scoffing at the enemy. On the other side of the battlefield, Marsilie gives a speech as well (v. 5829-5852). He encourages his warriors to be brave, to take revenge for those they have already lost, and he also talks down on the Christians. During these two speeches, the soundscape is reduced to one voice respectively – that of the commander. The warriors, who have just gone through all their rituals, both spiritual as well as earthly, and are prepared in full armour, listen in silence. The busy and routine but silent sequence of rituals has calmed down for the very last step before the battle starts. This is truly the calm before the storm. As Marsilie finishes his speech, the battle begins as loud as it possibly could, explicitly so:
The pagans raised great battle noise. / They rode onto the battlefield. / They sang they battle songs. / Their battle horns sounded, / loud was their clangor. (v. 5853-57, trans. H.Potthoff)
(Die haiden huoben michelen scal. / si draveten an daz wal. / ir wîcliet si sungen. / ir herhorn clungen, / vil michel wart ir dôz.)
The quiet and focused Christian warriors are facing the cacophony of battle, evoked by the noise, songs, and horns of the pagan army that now are incredibly loud.

Roland blowing the oliphant during the battle of Roncesvalles
St. Gallen, Kantonsbibliothek, Vadianische Sammlung, VadSlg Ms. 302: Rudolf von Ems, Weltchronik· Der Stricker, Karl der Grosse
http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/vad/0302/II_6v
A small scene from the Rolandslied such as this one is enough to show the importance of sound in the description of battles and of one’s enemies. The mention and description of Christian rituals justifies this battle and shows how extensively the warriors have been prepared for it. It shows that they were doing the right thing (from the narrator’s point of view). They do not need to be described with explicit sound words, as they appear in a fast sequence, opposing the already arriving enemy. The warriors are prepared mentally by singing, praying, and listening to the bishop; they get ready physically by putting on their armour; and they are prepared emotionally by hugging and kissing one another before a battle that might be fatal. The audience can get into the mood, follow the preparations, and therefore empathise with the warriors’ anxiety before the battle, an anxiety that is built and manifested in the sequence of rituals.
References
Kartschoke, Dieter (ed.) Der Pfaffe Konrad, Das Rolandslied: Mittelhochdeutsch/Neuhochdeutsch. Stuttgart, 1993.
Daughtry, Martin, Listening to War: Sound, Music, Trauma, and Survival in Wartime Iraq. New York, 2015.
Morat, Daniel and Hans Ziemer (eds.) Handbuch Sound: Geschichte – Begriffe – Ansätze. Stuttgart, 2018.
Smith, Mark M. (ed.) Hearing History: A Reader. Athens, GA, 2004.
Smith, Mark M., Sensing the Past: Seeing, Hearing, Tasting, and Touching History. Berkeley, 2007.
Terrahe, Tina and Daniela Wagner, Souveränes Schweigen, zorniger Schall: Zum klanglichen Potential der Rolandserzählung in Text und Bild, in: Martin Clauss and Gesine Mierke (eds.) Akustische Dimensionen des Mittelalters, Das Mittelalter 27.1. Heidelberg, 2022, 12-50.