Summary

"The Rose Thorn" is a 700-year-old German poem discovered in an Austrian abbey, which humorously narrates a young virgin's argument with her runaway vagina, challenging perceptions of medieval propriety.

Abstract

The poem "Der Rosendorn" ("The Rose Thorn"), found in 2019 within the binding of an old book in a Benedictine abbey, dates back to approximately 1300 and consists of 60 partial lines of a bawdy and vulgar German poem. It features a young virgin engaged in a dispute with her anthropomorphized vagina, which has gained the ability to speak after consuming a magical root. The narrative unfolds with the vagina, referred to using the medieval German equivalent of "cunt," complaining about neglect and lack of recognition for the pleasure it provides to men, contrary to the girl's belief that her beauty is what men desire. After a series of misadventures, the girl and her vagina realize their interdependence and attempt to reunite, requiring the intervention of a young man who forcefully reattaches the vagina. The poem's authorship is unknown, and it exemplifies the prevalence of sexual vulgarity and provocative themes in medieval literature, similar to works by Geoffrey Chaucer and in French literature of the time. The tale serves as a commentary on the inseparable nature of a woman and her sexuality, as well as the perceived necessity of a man to 'complete' a woman, offering insights into medieval attitudes toward sex and gender roles.

Opinions

The poem challenges the notion that people in the medieval period were prim and proper, highlighting the existence of a robust tradition of bawdy and vulgar literature.
Medieval writers and performers were comfortable with explicit language and themes, as evidenced by the use of words like "cunt," "cock," and "fuck" in "The Rose Thorn."
The poem suggests a nuanced understanding of human sexuality and desires, with the vagina arguing that it provides true pleasure to men, not just the girl's beauty.
The narrative implies that a woman's sexuality is an integral part of her identity, as shown by the girl and her vagina's inability to function separately.
The forceful reattachment of the vagina by the male narrator may reflect societal expectations of male dominance and the idea that a woman needs a man to be 'whole.'
The poem's survival and recent discovery indicate the enduring nature of human interest in sexual themes and the importance of preserving historical artifacts that provide insight into past cultures.

The Rose Thorn: The Tale of a Virgin Whose Vagina Ran Away

Seriously? Yes, and the story also happens to be more than 700 years old

In 2019, a mysterious piece of parchment, dating to about 1300, was found by a researcher in a Benedictine abbey in Austria. The parchment had been recycled into the binding of an old book but when carefully removed, was found to contain 60 partial lines from a shockingly vulgar German poem.

The title? Der Rosendorn (“The Rose Thorn”).

Forget what your grandmother told you about how prim and proper people were during “the good old days”. Trust me, several centuries ago, writers of old would write bawdy poems while minstrels sang songs with filthy lyrics out in public that would make 21st Century dirty rap and hip hop sound like innocent babies’ lullabies!

Meet the girl with the runaway vagina

Medieval writers were not afraid to use words like “cunt”, “cock” and “fuck, especially in German-speaking areas. “The Rose Thorn” was no exception.

The poems begins with the narrator who is a young man, going about on a stroll. He finds his way to a fenced-off garden where a young virgin (this term is directly translated from the medieval German) is having an argument with her detached vagina!

By the way, the word used in the poem to describe the talking vagina was simply the old German equivalent of “cunt”.

The “cunt” had somehow separated from the virgin’s body and had apparently “eaten” a magic root that allowed it to speak. The young man listens keenly to their conversations.

Among other things, the walking, talking “cunt” complains that the girl takes care of every part of her body except for it. It also complains that she receives presents from many admirers but it never does (Readers, make out of this what you will).

The argument then revolves around what men want: the girl claims men want her for herself and her beauty. The “cunt” claims that it is all men want. It is the one that provides true pleasures to men, not the girl and her beauty.

They part ways but realise each can’t live without the other

The girl and her walking vagina decide to part ways and explore the world. After going about on one misadventure after another, the girl and her vagina realise they cannot live without each other and reunite.

But the problem is that they cannot physically reunite without a helping hand.

Guess who is on standby? The narrator, of course.

The young man grabs the vagina and brutally pushes it back into the girl while she is backed up against a fence.

The narrator then recommends it to all men in the audience!

Analysis

No one knows who the original author was, and whether the poem was written by a man or a woman. The languages used is extremely obscene and provocative — meant to shock and titillate.

Der Rosendorn is not unique in Europe. Sexual vulgarity and provocative themes were common in Geoffrey Chaucer’s works and crop up regularly in French literature too.

Talking vaginas were apparently a fairly common motif in naughty poems and stories from the period.

The story of Der Rosendorn itself is a take on how one cannot separate a woman from her genitals. The ending, with the male narrator required to help push the “cunt” back into the woman can be interpreted in a variety of ways — chief among them the theme of a woman needing a man around to make herself “whole”. That and the very obvious sexual references in the act itself. Who knew a 700-year-old dirty poem could give us such a window into sexual discourse during medieval times?