414. Away in a manger
Anonymous
A beautiful Christmas carol which has long been ascribed to Martin Luther. However, many of our best hymnologists—among them Percy Dearmer, James Moffatt, and Robert McCutchan—hold that it has never been traced to any of Luther’s works, and that it does not resemble anything that Luther ever wrote. The words must, therefore, be classed “anonymous” until more information is forthcoming.
MUSIC. The music, too, is of unknown origin. The name of the composer, Carl Mueller, to whom it is attributed, is German and the tune is in the style of a German folk song. Other than this there seems to be no information regarding the composer or the tune.
EASTER
415. Joy dawned again on Easter Day
Latin
Tr. John Mason Neale, 1818-66
The Latin original of this hymn comprises stanzas 9, 10, and 11 of Aurora lucis rutilat, one of the most ancient Easter hymns in existence. It is found in the earliest monastic hymnaries of the sixth to the ninth centuries with a wide diffusion in continental as well as Anglo-Saxon and Celtic sources. Its authorship is unknown.
The Latin text may be found in Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi, v. 51, p. 89; A. S. Walpole, Early Latin Hymns, Cambridge University Press, 1922, p. 356; or Hymns Ancient and Modern, Historical Edition, London: Clowes, 1909, p. 199.