Otfried (or Otfrid) von Weißenburg occupies a special position in the history of early German literature, in part because he is the first German writer whose name is known but also--and more significantly--because he produced one of the most important literary works of the first three centuries of vernacular literature in Germany. His Evangelienbuch (Gospel Book, between 863 and 871) is the longest work of the period, consisting of 7,104 long lines, three verse dedications totalling 312 additional long lines, and a prose letter in Latin to Liutbert, archbishop of Mainz, seeking his approval for the work. It is also the first large-scale work that is not a translation from the Latin; it is the first German work to use end rhyme; and the Vienna manuscript (V) is the first illustrated German book.

Although considerably more information is available about Otfried's life than about those of most other medieval German...