The divine king behind the funny stories of Notker the Stammerer
Constance B. Bouchard
Notker the Stammerer has always had a bad press. His Life of Charlemagne 
is one most intriguing but also troubling ninth-century treatises 
on position Carolingian kings.1 Hundreds budding medievalists 
first encounter in Penguin translation by Lewis Thorpe, where his 
work is paired with Einhard’s Charlemagne. (I should know – I use 
this handy paperback every time teach early medieval history.)2 Notker, 
thus coupled Einhard, suffers comparison: he was born too 
late even to have met Charlemagne, unlike who knew emperor 
intimately, and Notker’s stories ripe cheeses painted mice easily suggest credulous monk naively repeating fabulous tales. Indeed, 
translator Thorpe openly dismissive calling work “an 
anthology monkish anecdotes,” based on “many twisted ill-digested 
borrowings” from earlier writers.3
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