Hebban olla vogala

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quid expectamus nu(nc?). Abent omnes uolucres nidos inceptos nisi ego e tu. Hebban olla uogala nestas bigunnan hinase hi(c) (e)nda thu ...uug....mb ada....e nu. Rectar celi nos exuadi ut dignare nos saluare.

Hebban olla vogala are the first 3 words of an old fragment of Dutch. The fragment was discovered in 1932 in the margin of a Latin manuscript that was made in the abbey of Rochester, Kent and that is kept in Oxford. It has been dated to the 12th century, but it might be earlier.

Although it’s commonly cited as being the oldest Dutch-fragment, far older fragments have been found, for example the Wachtendonk Psalms (10th century) and fragments of the Salic Law (6th century), and an old baptismal vow from Utrecht ‘Gelobistu in Got alamehtigan fadaer?’ (Do you believe in God, the almighty father?), which dates from the 8th century.^[1]

The complete text is:

"Hebban olla vogala nestas hagunnan hinase hic andu thu. Wat unbidan we nu?"

Roughly translated: "Have all birds begun nests, except me and you. What are we waiting for?"

A common hypothesis about this text is that is an example of a "scribble" by a monk to try out his pen.

Recently professor Frits van Oostrum (Utrecht University - the Netherlands) linked it to the Moorish Kharjas genre, which includes verses sung by women to their absent lovers. He therefore concludes that the fragment probably was written by a woman or from a female perspective.