Thietmar of Merseburg mentions this humorous episode that occurred to his immediate predecessor at Merseburg, the Bishop Boso of Bavaria. Boso apparently tried to teach Christianity to the Slavs in their own tongue but also required them to be singing kyrie eleison in the original Greek. This did not go so well.
Thietmar’s Chronicle Book 2, 37
“Boso wrote his instructions for the faith in Slavic to make them more accessible to those who had been committed to him. He also demanded the singing of the kyrie eleison, after explaining what it meant. The fools mockingly changed this to ukrivolsa which, translated into our language, means ‘the alder stands in the bush’. As often as he tried to correct them, they replied, ‘so has Boso spoken.’ The emperor granted him a few villages which belonged to the previously mentioned city [Merseburg] and also a certain burg in the district of Schkeuditz, called Medeburu, which means ‘protect the honey.’ The emperor’s like-named son also gave him a church in Helfta. The church had been established in honour of Saint Radegund by his father…”
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Keřní olše, amen.