Career
His mischievous exploits and his death on the gallows were first recorded in a Low German account published about 1500; the High German version of this work, published in 1515, became one of the most popular chapbooks of its time. Till's pranks, played upon nobles, clergymen, and burghers, illustrate the plain people's contempt for a decaying aristocracy, a depraved clergy, and a rising, self-righteous bourgeoisie. The obscenities in deeds and language found in it reflect the coarseness, sometimes called Grobianismus, of the popular literature of the age. Till has retained his appeal and vitality remarkably well through the centuries. The Belgian author Charles de Coster made him a symbol of the indomitable national spirit of the Flemish people inLéegendeLeegende de Thyl Ulenspiegel (1867); and Frank Wedekind, Gerhart Hauptmann, and Richard Strauss have embodied his disreputable and improvident spirit in dramatic and musical works. The first English translation of Till Eulenspiegel appeared about 1528; a modern version, Master Tyll Owlglass, in 1923.
