Aventinus 76

Johannes Turmayr's 1520 History of Bavaria, Chapter 76, 77 - translated and annotated by Ras Feqade, AD 2020.

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76. Of the pagan women and prophetesses, several who lived before and after these times, and are referred to as sibyls (of whom the old poets and historians, Greeks and Romans, Christians and pagans, also the common man among us still sing and say much;) how many they were.

This chapter enumerating the ten Sibyls is not translate at present.

## 77. Of king Larein, the fifteenth Emperor in Germania, and what the German knights and ladies in his time did in Asia.

After King Adalger, his son, King **Larein**, entered the regime, he was in honor and power fifty-one years, of whom we still sing and say a lot; a whole book full of his old rhymes is still available, but set in a poetic way. Cornelius Tacitus in the book that he wrote about the Germans, names him according to the style and manner of the Roman language Laërtes and goes on to say that, in his time, his grave, together with a soft holy column with Greek caption, was between the Rhine and the source of the Danube around the Black Forest. Those from Tyrol in the Etschland still show the armor of king Larein and think that one should believe it at once, that it is his.

[Larein ruled 1597-1546 BC, for 51 years as stated here and in Anderson, who adds "His brother Theodo brought the Boji first into Bavaria". After him comes the 'Manethonian gap', when the ancient records of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, etc. from then until at least 1300 BC, roughly the Mycenaean period, must have disappeared, perhaps in time of Alexander from the library at Athens if not earlier. Although he is identified with Homer's Laertes, and is said to be the father of Ylsing, the next king on record, who is misidentified with Ulysses, this seems to be an erroneous but appealing theory that had taken root by Aventinus' time, arising from the gap being unknown to later scholars, and the similarity of the names. Larein and Ylsing are clearly two German kings, separated by over 200 years, and not the same characters as Homer's Laertes and Ulysses.]

At this time, a special force set out in Germany, wanting to move through Bohemia and then on to Asia to reckon the death of the aforementioned queen Marthpeis. So as the Bavarians were then also sitting in Bohemia, they didn't want them to wander through their landscape and occupy the places, they drove the said people out of their area by force, who turned nonetheless for the country, now called Poland and Red Russia. They came to the narrow and arm of the Black Sea where the Danube flows, to the German knights and women, who half a century earlier and even before, had moved there from our lands, they met the same Germans, set out, woman and man, and they and their allies wanted to avenge the damage done by king Bellerophonte (as I indicated above). The knights and their captain, **Mader**, fell upon Asia that is now Great Turkey. They fled the land and buried all their grain in the land of Phrygia, in a very bad spot, which nobody should pay attention to nor suspect that so much goods were buried there, called Syassos. There they made big earthen barns, buried their grain and other goods and good things, the Germans thought they would find no delivery if hunger would drive them out of the country. The attack did not come to fruition, the knights found it, won a lot of good there and among other things they plundered many thousands of sheep, grain, had a lot of good grain for a long time, did nothing in the delivery. Afterwards they even moved to Armenia, fought there, settled themselves there, the Greeks call sintoon.

[The Getae at this point, led by Zentes the philosopher, departed from their Cimmerian confederates and settled in Wallachia and Moesia, according to Magnus.]

The women did likewise, like the knights, also attacked Asia. Their queen was **Aloph**. This one built two cities there, called Alophen after her: one by the sea where the Danube joins, towards the north of Asia; the other in the middle of Asia on the Greek sea to the west. So that was returned from Asia and the queen Marthpeyss was avenged.

And as I have now indicated above, I will show moreover in this book, as now the Turk falls upon our country, so in times past our old Germans invaded the country, that now belongs to the Turks. Usually a move happened at fifty years of age, shorter or longer. And generally, when a new king started, he spread virtue and honor and sent people to foreign countries, just as generally the enemy country, such as the rulership has changed, was attacked by the Germans and their allies the Winds. It was generally a motley crew: Germans, Winds, and Danes, men and women. But it has turned around right now; as we did before, the Turk is doing now. It all becomes entangled with time, it is our sin to blame, as nobody wants to notice.