Bradley Skene
2006-03-14 01:47:53 UTC
In Anthony Burgess' *Earthly Powers*, he mentions a Neo-Latin author Wilhelm
Fahlrot von Klagenfurt (d. 1427), who wrote a 1000 poem called *Vindobona*,
under the pseudonym Frambosius. Supposedly this work consisted of a
description of Vienna being taking over by a horde of giant rats--as a
result of their depredations, ordinary citizens of Vienna begin to dress up
as rats to blend in. This is mentioned in connection with the German
annexation of Austria in 1936, as though it were a prophecy.
I can find no trace of this work either on the web or in the University of
Chicago library catalog.
Does anyone have any information about this author and work, or, as I
suspect, is it a mere satirical embellishment by Burgess?
Also, does anyone know under what title *Earthly Powers* was published in
Britain?
Cheers,
Bradley A. Skene
Fahlrot von Klagenfurt (d. 1427), who wrote a 1000 poem called *Vindobona*,
under the pseudonym Frambosius. Supposedly this work consisted of a
description of Vienna being taking over by a horde of giant rats--as a
result of their depredations, ordinary citizens of Vienna begin to dress up
as rats to blend in. This is mentioned in connection with the German
annexation of Austria in 1936, as though it were a prophecy.
I can find no trace of this work either on the web or in the University of
Chicago library catalog.
Does anyone have any information about this author and work, or, as I
suspect, is it a mere satirical embellishment by Burgess?
Also, does anyone know under what title *Earthly Powers* was published in
Britain?
Cheers,
Bradley A. Skene