Walahfrid Strabo--the second part of his name means "the squinter"--was born in Swabia in poor circumstances and educated at the monastery of the Reichenau on Lake Constance, which he remembered fondly in verses in the Sapphic meter that have the repeated refrain "insula felix" (blessed island). He studied under Hrabanus Maurus in Fulda, where he complained of feeling cold and homesick. His fellow students at the famous school included Otfried von Weißenburg; Lupus of Ferrières, who shared his interests in classical writing; and Gottschalk of Orbais, who would become involved in a bitter theological controversy with Hrabanus. In 829 Walahfrid went to the Carolingian court to serve as tutor to the future King Charles the Bald, son of the emperor Louis the Pious and his wife, Judith (to whom Walahfrid dedicated some verses). In 838 he returned to the Reichenau as abbot. On the death...