Red hair in Latin

There are many references to red hair in Latin. Some of them are proverbs (probably from the Middle Ages) and for that reason they don’t have an original source. Others come from literary works.

 

- Si ruber est fidelis, diabolus est in coelis 

If the redhead is faithful/loyal, the devil is in heaven

This proverb is only mentioned by Italian folklorist Giuseppe Pitrè in the 1st volume of his collection Proverbi siciliani. He writes it is a Medieval proverb, but doesn’t cite the source where he found it (if it is a Medieval proverb, I guess he found it in a Medieval text). 

 

- Martial (between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD), Epigram LIV, Book XII – To Zoilus

Crine ruber, niger ore, brevis pede, lumine laesus, rem magnam praestas, Zoile, si bonus es. (source) 

With red hair, a black face, a cloven foot, and blear eyes, you show the world a prodigy, Zoilus, if you are an honest man. (source) 

 

Ruodlieb  is a fragmentary romance in Latin verse written by an unknown southern German poet who flourished about 1030. He was almost certainly a monk of the Bavarian Tegernsee Abbey. The poem is one of the earliest German romances of knightly adventure, and its vivid picture of feudal manners gives it a certain value as a historical document.

At one point, the main character Ruodlieb meets a man with red hair, arrogant and violent, who ends up killing another man. In the Latin text he is called Rufus, while in the English translation he is called “the red-head”. The stanza below is one of the twelve teachings the king gives Ruodlieb before letting him go.

From Fragment V, stanza 450 (here Latin and English)

Non tibi sit rufus umquam specialis amicus.

Si fit is iratus, non est fidei memoratus;

Nam vehemens dira sibi stat durabilis ira.

Tam bonus haut fuerit, aliqua fraus quin in eo sit,

Quam vitare nequis, quin ex hac commaculeris;

Nam tangendo picem vix expurgaris ad unguem.

 

Never let a red-headed man be your special friend!

When such a one becomes angry, he is not mindful of good faith,

for his wrath is vehement and terrible, and will last.

He will not be so good that there will be no guile in him,

and you will be unable to avoid it or keep from soiling yourself by it.

For after touching pitch, you will scarcely get clean down to your nails.

 

The proverbs below come from the book The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus, that we have seen here.

-  Raro breves humiles, longos vidi sapientes.

Albos audaces, rufos sine prodicione.

Cum fusco stabis, cum nigro tela parabis.

Rarely I saw an humble short man, a wise tall man,

a brave white-haired man, a faithful red-haired man.

With the brown-haired man you can stay, with the black-haired man prepare your weapons.

 

- In rufa pelle vix est animus sine felle.

In a red skin there is hardly a soul without poison/hate.

 

- Raro breves humiles uidi, longos sapientes,

albos audaces, nigros rufosque fideles.

Rarely I saw short humble men, wise tall men,

brave white-haired men, faithful black- and red-haired men.

 

- Per rubram barbam debes cognoscere nequam,

Multi non rubram sed habent cum crimine nigram.

By the red beard you must know the wicked,

many criminals are not red-haired, but black-haired

 

- Rufus habet speciem post Sathanae faciem.

Xts plasmauit rufum Sathanamque vocauit,

Sic laus hic dixit seruus per secula sic sit.

The redhead looks like Satan.

Christ shaped the redhead and called him Satan,

Thus the servant said, let it be praised for ever.

 

- Quia rufus esset, quae species malignam naturam designaret,

iuxta hunc versum,

Raro breues humiles uidi, rufos que fideles.

Because he was red-haired, which appearance denotes a malignant nature,

according to this verse,

seldom have I seen a humble short man, or a faithful red-haired man

 

The proverbs below come from the collection in 6 volumes Proverbia sententiæque latinitatis Medii Aevi,gesammelt und herausgegeben (by Hans Walther, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963-1969)

-  In rubea pelle non est animus sine felle / si tibi dicat avevelut ab hoste cave

Under the skin of a redhead there is no soul which is not bilious; if he says hello to you, beware of him as an enemy. 

 

- Intus et exterius ruffus est felle repletus, idcirco socium numquam quaeras tibi ruffum!

The red-haired man is full of bile, inside and outside; for that reason, beware of making friends with a redhead. 

 

- Sub rossa barba latet fiducia parva / in domo rufi numquam sumas tibi pausam

Under a red beard hides a very poor reliability / never rest in the house of a redhead

 

And these are proverbs without a source. 

- Rufus homo raro bonus, sed si bonus, valde bonus

A red-haired man is rarely good, but when it is, he is very good. 

 

- Rufum et barbatam a longe saluta. 

Say hello from a distance to redheards and bearded men