Jungfrauschaft actually is a noun and meant a) female virginity, b) male virginity, c) a group of virgins. (BTW, for a) and c), Jungferschaft was a more common form in High German, during the 14th through 18th centuries.)
In the verse " O haylige, onbeflecte, zart junckfrawschaffte Marie", though, the word is used as an adjective, as is indicated by the ending -e (junckfrawschaffte). That phrasing is quite unique, but it can still be understood (something like "of, or related to, virginity"). "Maiden" wouldn't be unequivocal enough, it's rather Holy immaculate tender virgin Mary. It is a row of terms that were subject to ardent theological controversies during the 5th century, leading to the Nestorian Schism. Mathias > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Im > Auftrag von Hilbert Jörg > Gesendet: Montag, 22. August 2011 10:48 > An: Steven Amazeen > Cc: Lute List > Betreff: [LUTE] Re: Translation of old German. > > > O holy, immaculate, delicate maiden Mary > > For my understanding of old German, this hits the point in a pragmatic way. > J. > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
