Legends about Theodoric the Great
Encyclopedia
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
was remembered in Germanic legend as Dietrich von Bern (Bern is the Middle High German
Middle High German
Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
name for Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, where Theodoric had one of his residences). Dietrich figures in a number of surviving works, and it must be assumed that these draw on long-standing oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. The majority of poems about Dietrich/Theodoric are composed in Middle High German
Middle High German
Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
, and are generally divided by modern scholars into historical (Germ.: historische Dietrichepik) and fantastical (Germ.: either märchenhafte or aventiurehafte Dietrichepik). The historical poems can loosely be connected with the life of the historical Theodoric and concern his expulsion from Verona by his uncle Ermenrich (Ermanaric
Ermanaric
Ermanaric was a Greuthungian Gothic King who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled an enormous area north of the Black Sea. Contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus recounts him as a "most warlike man" who "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions"...
) and his attempts to regain his kingdom with the help of Etzel (Attila). The fantastical poems concern his battles with dwarves, dragons, giants, and other mythical beings, as well as other hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
es such as Siegfried
Siegfried
Siegfried is a German language male given name, meaning "victory peace".Siegfried may also refer to:-People:* Sigfrid of Sweden , English missionary to Sweden and patron saint of Växjö...
. In addition to these two categories of poems, he appears as a supporting character in some poems such as the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
and Biterolf und Dietleib.
Dietrich von Bern versus Theodoric the Great
Despite the identification of Dietrich von Bern with Theodoric the Great throughout the entire Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the two figures are vastly different. As the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) states: "the legendary history of Dietrich differs so widely from the life of Theodoric that it has been suggested that the two were originally unconnected." The most noticeable differences are:
-Dietrich is portrayed as an exile from an Italian kingdom which is rightfully his. Theodoric, in contrast, was an invader.
– The historical Theodoric's capital was Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, not Verona; Ravenna does, however, feature prominently in the poems.
-Theodoric's historical opponent Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
is replaced by Dietrich's uncle Ermenrich in all poems except for the Hildebrandslied. Odoacer is also mentioned in one version of the Eckenlied.
-Dietrich is the contemporary of Etzel (Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
, died 453) and of Ermenrich (Ermanaric
Ermanaric
Ermanaric was a Greuthungian Gothic King who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled an enormous area north of the Black Sea. Contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus recounts him as a "most warlike man" who "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions"...
, died 376)). The real Theodoric was born shortly after Attila's death and well after Ermanaric's.
-Theodoric the Great was an Arian Christian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and despised by the Catholic Church for a persecution resulting in the deaths of Boethius, Symmachus
Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus
Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus was a Roman aristocrat and a historian of the 6th century. Prominent during his lifetime for as a patron of secular learning, consul for the year 485, and for his support of Pope Symmachus in the schism over his election, Memmius Symmachus was executed with his...
, and Pope John I
Pope John I
Pope Saint John I was Pope from 523 to 526. He was a native of Siena or the Castello di Serena, near Chiusdino. He is the first pope known to have visited Constantinople while in office....
. Theodoric's death shortly after these killings was seen as divine retribution and in a church tradition dating at least from Gregory the Great's Dialogues, Pope John and Symmachus's souls were said to have dropped Theodoric's soul into Mount Etna, to suffer there until the end of days
End of days
End of days may refer to:* End of Days , a religious concept* End of Days , a 1999 horror film* "End of Days" , a 2003 television episode* "End of Days" , a 2007 television episode...
. Heroic traditions make no mention of these events, and generally present Dietrich as an upstanding Christian, though hints of influence from church tradition can be found in allusions to Dietrich's father possibly being the devil, his fiery breath, and allusions to Dietrich's ride to hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
at the end of his life.
– Dietrich has many mythological features: he fights against supernatural beings and can himself breathe fire when angry.
Numerous theories have been proposed to explain these differences. The change from invader to exile is sometimes explained as an attempt to justify Theodoric's taking possession of Italy. Attila and Ermanaric as contemporaries is part of synchronization, a phenomenon frequently encountered in oral traditions. This can also be seen in the way that other heroes such as Wayland and Witige have been drawn onto stories about Dietrich.
An alternative theory was proposed by the late Heinz Ritter-Schaumburg: he reinspected the Old Swedish version of the Thidreks saga, a Norse compendium of German legends about Dietrich, for the historical information it supposedly contained, and firmly believed in its topographical accuracy. He theorized that these sources, which he regarded as being quite old, cannot refer to Theodoric the Great of the Goths, whose movements are moderately well known, mainly because of topographical contradictions. Ritter-Schaumburg proposed that their narration relates instead to a contemporary of the famous Goth, who bore the same name, rendered Didrik in Old Swedish. Moreover, he identified Berne as Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
to which was ascribed, in the medieval age, an alternative (Latinized) name Verona of unknown origin. According to Ritter-Schaumburg, Dietrich lived as a Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
petty king in Bonn. This theory has found much opposition by other scholars.
Another modern author, Rolf Badenhausen, starts from Ritter-Schaumburg's approach but ends up with a different result. He claims Berne, where Thidrek/Didrik started his rise, to be identical with Varne, south of Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, the Roman Verona cisalpina, in the district of the northern Rhine
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
/Eiffel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
lands. Thidrek/Didrik could be identified with Theuderich son of Clovis I
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
, a royal Frank mentioned with approval by Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
and in Fredegar's royal Frankish chronicle. This theory is rejected by the majority of scholars, who see both theories as based on an overestimation of the exactness of history as preserved in oral traditions.
Earliest Mentions
Þjóðríkr the bold,
chief of sea-warriors,
ruled over the shores of the Hreiðsea.
Now he sits armed
on his Goth(ic horse),
his shield strapped,
the prince of the Mærings.
The mention of Theoderic (among other heroes and gods of Norse mythology) may have been inspired by a statue of him sitting on his horse in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, which was moved in 801 A.D. to Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
by Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
. This statue was very famous and portrayed Theodoric with his shield hanging across his left shoulder, and his lance extended in his right hand: the German clerical poet Walahfrid wrote a poem (De imagine Tetrici) lampooning the statue, as Theodoric was not favorably regarded by the church. Alternatively, Otto Höfler has proposed that Theodoric on the horse may be connected in some way to traditions of Theodoric as the Wild Huntsman (see the Wunderer below); Heinzle rejects this interpretation.
Dietrich furthermore is mentioned in the Old English poems Waldere
Waldere
Waldere or Waldhere is the conventional title given to two Old English fragments from a lost epic poem, discovered in 1860 by E. C. Werlauff, Librarian, in the Danish Royal Library at Copenhagen, where it is still preserved. The parchment pages had been reused as stiffening in the binding of an...
, Deor
Deor
"Deor" is an Old English poem found in the late 10th century collection the Exeter Book. The poem consists of the lament of the scop Deor, who lends his name to the poem, which was given no formal title. Modern scholars do not actually believe Deor to be the author of this poem.In the poem, Deor's...
and Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
. Deor marks the first mention to Dietrich's "thirty years" (probably his exile) and refers to him, like the Rök stone, as a Mæring. The Waldere makes mention of Dietrich's liberation from the captivity of giants by Witige (Widia), for which Dietrich rewarded Witige with a sword. This liberation forms the plot of the later fantastical poem Virginal and is mentioned in the historical poem Alpharts Tod. Widsith mentions him among a number of other Gothic heroes, including Witige, Heime, the Harlungen and Ermanaric, and in connection with a battle with Attila's Huns. However, the exact relationship between the figures is not explained.
Dietrichs earliest mention in Germany is the Hildebrandslied, recorded around 820. In this, Hadubrand recounts the story of his father Hildebrand's flight eastwards in the company of Dietrich, to escape the enmity of Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
(this character would later become his uncle Ermanaric). Hildebrand reveals that he has lived in exile for 30 years. Hildebrand has an arm ring given to him by the (unnamed) King of the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, and is taken to be an "old Hun" by Hadubrand. The obliqueness of the references to the Dietrich legend, which is just the background to Hildebrand's story, indicates an audience thoroughly familiar with the material. In this work Dietrich's enemy is the historically correct Odoacer (though in fact Theodoric the Great was never exiled by Odoacer), indicating that the figure of Ermanaric belongs to a later development of the legend.
In Scandinavian poetry, besides the Rök Stone, Dietrich appears in the Eddic poems Guðrúnarkviða II and III, which also mention one of Atli's (Attila's)concubines having the name Herkja, a name corresponding to Etzel's wife's name in the German tradition, Helche/Herche. A parallel to the Hildebrandslied can furthermore be found in a quoted stanza of poetry in Eddic meter in the Ásmundar saga kappabana
Ásmundar saga kappabana
Ásmundar saga kappabana is the saga of Asmund the Champion-Killer, a legendary saga from Iceland, first attested in the manuscript Stockholm, Royal Library, Holm. 7, 4to, from the first half of the fourteenth century...
, which recounts a very different story. It is theorized that the poetry was reinterpreted to fit this new figure, as it contains some exact phrases found in the Hildebrandslied.
Dietrich's exile by Ermanaric is also mentioned (as history) in several medieval chronicles dating from after and around 1000, most prominently in the Annals of Quedlinburg
Annals of Quedlinburg
The Annals of Quedlinburg were written between 1008 and 1030 in the convent of Quedlinburg Abbey. In recent years a consensus has emerged that the annalist was a woman.The annals are mostly dedicated to the history of the Holy Roman Empire; they also contain the first written mention of the name...
. Dietrich's placement as Attila's and Ermanaric's contemporaries found heavy criticism in some chronicles, however, beginning with Otto von Freising and culminating in the Middle High German Kaiserchronik
Kaiserchronik
The Kaiserchronik is a 12th century chronicle of emperors, written 17,283 lines of Middle High German verse. It runs from Julius Caesar to Conrad III, and seeks to give a complete account of the history of Roman and German emperors and kings, based on a historiographical view of the continuity of...
.
Dietrich's next appearance in epic poetry is in the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
(c. 1200), where he is in exile at Etzel's court. After this point, the legends about Dietrich begin to enter writing.
Historical Dietrich poems
The historical Dietrich poems in Middle High German consist of Dietrichs Flucht, Die Rabenschlacht, and Alpharts Tod, with the fragmentary poem Dietrich und Wenzlan as a possible fourth. All involve Dietrich's stay with Etzel except Alpharts Tod, which takes place before Dietrich's expulsion, and all involve his battles against Ermanaric, except for Dietrich und Wenezlan, in which he fights against the Wenezlan of Poland. All four postdate Dietrich's appearance in the NibelungenliedNibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
. They are called historical because they concern war rather than adventure, and are seen as containing a warped version of Theodoric's life. It is not at all clear that this difference was evident to the poems' contemporaries, however.
Dietrichs Flucht/Das Buch von Bern (Dietrich's Flight/ The Book of Verona)
Dietrichs Flucht begins with a long history of Dietrich's ancestors, who all live exceptionally long and virtuous lives and leave a single heir to the kingdom. They are native to Italy (called LompartenLombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
or Rœmischlant
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
) and spend their lives acquiring brides and fighting dragons. This easy line of inheritance is broken by first by Ortnit
Ortnit
Ortnit, or Otnit, German hero of romance, was originally Hertnit or Hartnit, the elder of two brothers known as the Hartungs, who correspond in German mythology to the Dioscuri.-The story:...
, but the succession is restored by Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich is a German hero of romance. The tale of Wolfdietrich is connected with the Merovingian princes, Theodoric and Theodebert, son and grandson of Clovis; but in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in the Heldenbuch....
. Then Amelung, son of Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich is a German hero of romance. The tale of Wolfdietrich is connected with the Merovingian princes, Theodoric and Theodebert, son and grandson of Clovis; but in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in the Heldenbuch....
, has three sons: Ermenrich, Dietmar, and Diether. Emenrich is the father of Friderich, Dietmar of Dietrich and Diether (II), and Diether of the two Harlungen. Upon Dietmar and Diether's deaths, Ermenrich proves himself to be treacherous, murdering the Harlungen and coming to attack Dietrich. Dietrich is warned however, and defeats Ermenrich decisively in battle, capturing Friderich. He is left without any money to reward his soldiers, so he sends a group of vassals to fetch some. This group falls into an ambush, however, resulting in the capture of Dietrich's best warriors, among them Hildebrand and Wolfhart. Ermenrich refuses Dietrich's offer to swap Friderich for the prisoners and says he will only release Dietrich's men if he leaves the country, which, against the advice of his remaining warriors, Dietrich chooses to do.
Dietrich goes into exile, making his way to Etzel's court. There with the help of Rüdiger and Etzel's wife Helche, Dietrich receives Etzel's support to return to Italy, which he does, defeating Ermenrich once again in battle. Ermenrich ransoms his captured men, except for Witige, whom Dietrich refuses to release due to his treachery. On the advice of his vassals, however, Dietrich forgives Witige, makes him governor of Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, and gives him the horse Schemming as a gift. However, as soon as Dietrich has returned once again to Etzel's court, Witige betrays him. Meanwhile, Dietrich marries Helche's niece Herrat. Etzel once again supports Dietrich in a new campaign, and Dietrich once again defeats Ermenrich – but at the loss of his best men. Saddened, he returns to exile.
The poem is unusual in that it is written in rhyming couplets rather than in stanzas, as is the case with most German heroic epics. It may indicate that the author was trying to make his work more similar to either a rhyming chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
or to a courtly romance. The first assumption is strengthened by parts of the poem being incorporated into the world chronicle of Heinrich von München. The epic is also unusual in that it includes a named author, Heinrich der Vogler
Heinrich der Vogler (poet)
Heinrich der Vogler or Henry the Fowler was a Middle High German poet from the County of Tyrol. He was once believed to be the author of two important works of the literary cycle about Dietrich von Bern, "Dietrichs Flucht" and "Die Rabenschlacht," but is now generally only thought to have edited...
: older scholarship assumed Heinrich to be the author of both Dietrichs Flucht and Die Rabenschlacht. However, because Heinrich only refers to himself as having written one portion of the poem, an excursus about princely caprice, newer scholarship has abandoned Heinrich as the author of the text.
The text is sometimes seen as a stringing together of the same episode (Dietrich's failed returns from exile) as it had been altered in oral transmission to the point that the poet thought of them as separate events.
Die Rabenschlacht (The Battle of Ravenna)
Die Rabenschlacht begins where Dietrichs Flucht ends (both are transmitted in the same manuscripts). Dietrich is still saddened by the loss of his men, so Helche cheers him up with a large feast in honor of his marriage to Herrat. However, she is troubled by a dream that her two sons are abducted by a dragon. Meanwhile, a new army is assembled to invade Italy. Helche and Etzel's sons Orte and Scharpfe as well as Diether, Dietrich's brother, request to go with the army. With some persuading, including an oath by Dietrich that he will keep the sons safe, Helche allows them to go.The army arrives in Italy and easily conquers Verona. Dietrich then moves to face Ermenrich's enormous army at Ravenna, ordering Etzel's sons and Diether to stay in Verona under the watch of Ilsan (elsewhere identified as Hildebrand's brother). The army marches to Verona in a thick fog, led by Hildebrand. The children, under the pretext of wishing to view the city, convince Ilsan to let them go riding – they then escape their protector with the intention of joining the army, but get lost in the fog. Very soon they came upon Witige riding along the seashore. Despite his protestation, the children attack Witige and are slain. Meanwhile, Dietrich fights a grueling twelve-day battle at Ravenna, defeating Ermenrich, who escapes. Then Ilsan arrives with news that Etzel's sons are missing, and Dietrich finds their bodies on the seashore. He quickly encounters Witige and challenges him to fight. Witige, however, is afraid, and fleas Dietrich by riding his horse Schemming into the sea, where he is rescued by the sea-spirit Wachilt (identified by the Thidrekssaga as his great grandmother). She tells him that Dietrich was so hot with anger that his armor was soft, and Witige could have easily defeated him. Now, however, the armor had hardened, and thirty Witiges could not defeat Dietrich. Dietrich meanwhile mourns on the shore. With the help of Rüdiger, he affects a reconciliation with Helche and Etzel, and all vow revenge.
The general outline of the story told in Die Rabenschlacht, about the death of Etzel and Herche's sons, is often considered to be one of the oldest components of the legends around Theodoric. Alternate versions are found in the Heldenbuchprosa and the Thidrekssaga. Historically, it may be based on the death of Attila's son and successor Ellac
Ellac
Ellac was the oldest son and successor of Attila the Hun in the Hunnic Empire. His reign lasted only 2 years, from 453 to 454, when he was killed in the Battle of Nedao...
at the Battle of Nedao
Battle of Nedao
The Battle of Nedao, named after the Nedava, a tributary of the Sava, was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454. After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the Germanic subject peoples under the leadership of Ardaric, king of the Gepids, defeated the Hunnic forces of Ellac, the son of Attila,...
. Theodoric's father Theodemar
Theodemar
Theodemir or Theodemar was one of the last Suevic kings of Galicia and one of the first Catholics. He succeeded Ariamir sometime between the end of May 561 and the year 566 and ruled until his death....
is thought to have fought in this battle. Witige's character is sometimes thought to have been influenced by Witigis, a Gothic king and usurper who surrendered Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
to the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
army. Diether is similarly thought to have a connection to the historical Theodahad
Theodahad
Theodahad was the King of the Ostrogoths from 534 to 536 and a nephew of Theodoric the Great through his sister Amalafrida. He might have arrived in Italy with Theodoric and was an elderly man at the time of his succession...
, whom Witigis betrayed, usurping the Ostrogothic throne.
Alpharts Tod (The Death of Alphart)
Alphart, a young hero in Dietrich's army fighting the Battle of Ravenna, goes out to fight single-handed with Witege and Heime, who had deserted to Ermenrich, and he falls, not in fair battle, but by the treachery of Witege whose life he had spared.Alphart is said to have died twice in Dietrichs Flucht (see Homeric nod) and was especially mourned by Dietrich in both that poem and Die Rabenschlacht. Heinzle states that the tale may either be very old, or may have been extrapolated from the character in Dietrichs Flucht, creating a more elaborate version of his death combining the role of Witige in Die Rabenschlacht (the killer of a youth) with Alphart's much lamented death in Dietrichs Flucht. In the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
, Witige is also said to have slain the young Nuodung.
Dietrich und Wenezlan (Dietrich and Wenezlan)
Dietrich und Wenezlan has only survived in a single, incomplete and fragmentary version of about 499 rhyming couplets. Dietrich is at the court of Etzel, when Wolfhart, who, along with Hildebrand, has been captured by Wenezlan von Bôlân (Poland; possibly inspired by Wenceslaus I or II of Bohemia) arrives to tell him that Wenezlan wants to engage Dietrich in single combat – if Dietrich wins, then Wenezlan will release Wolfhart and Hildebrand. Initially, Dietrich seems reluctant, but when Wolfhart grows angry and accuses Dietrich of cowardice, saying that if Dietrich refuses Wenezlan will attack Etzel with an army, Dietrich says he had been joking and of course would fight to free his vassals. There is then a lacuna. The combat between Dietrich and Wenezlan begins in between their two armies and in the company of courtly ladies. When they have dehorsed each other, they fight on foot all day. The fragment ends before a conclusion is reached.The poem only loosely fits into the category of "historical Dietrich poems," with the single combat being more reminiscent of the fantastical poems. Dietrich's initial refusal to fight and the accusation of cowardice (zagheit) also has more in common with the fantastical poems, where this is a frequent occurrence. His admission that he was merely playing a joke may be a game played by the author.
Fantastical Poems
The majority of preserved narratives about Dietrich are fantastical in nature, involving battles against mythical beings and other heroes. They are generally regarded as containing newer material than the historical poems, though, as the Old English Waldere's references show, Dietrich was already associated with monsters at an early date. Many of the poems show a close connect to the Tyrol, and connections between them and Tyrolean folklore are often speculated upon, even in cases where the text itself clearly originated in a different German speaking area. Most of the poems seem to take place prior to Dietrich's exile, with Witige and Heime still members of Dietrich's entourage, though not all: the Eckenlied prominently features references to the events of Die Rabenschlacht as already having taken place.Different exemplars of the fantastical poems often show a huge degree of variation from each other (Germ. Fassungsdivergenz), a trait not found in the historical poems. Most fantastical poems have at least two versions containing substantial differences in the narrative, including inserting or removing entire episodes or altering the motivation of characters, etc. Older scholarship generally attempted to reconstruct the "original" version of the poems. Newer scholarship focuses on why such differences might arise and has generally given up on constructing an authorial version.
These texts remained popular into the 16th century, unlike the historical poems, being included in some of the first printed books in the German language (see Heldenbuch
Heldenbuch
Heldenbücher is the conventional title under which a group of manuscripts and prints of the 15th and 16th centuries has come down to us...
). Among the more famous of these was the Ambraser Heldenbuch, prepared for Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
, who also features a statue of Theodoric/Dietrich on his grave monument.
Eckenlied/Ecken Ausfahrt (The Song of Ecke/ Ecke's Quest)
The Eckenlied exists in three principal versions, of which two are complete. It is of the first poems about Dietrich to be partially written down: a single stanza is transmitted in the Codex BuranusCarmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
(c. 1220). The oldest nearly complete version is the Landsberger Eckenlied, which is missing its ending. The two additional complete versions are transmitted from the mid-15th century (but traceable to sources in the 14th century), one in the Dresdner Heldebuch, and one in a printed edition: the two offer radically different endings to the text, but scholars prefer to see the Dresdner version's ending as more original.
The poem begins with a conversion between three giants: Ecke, Fasold, and Ebenrot. Ecke proclaims that Dietrich von Bern is praised by everyone, while Ecke, despite having performed heroic deeds, is completely unknown. Ebenrot counters that Dietrich's reputation is a lie: the hero treacherously slew the giants Hilde and Grim while they were asleep to steal their armor. Fasold intervenes and says that Ebenrot is wrong: Dietrich slew Hilde and Grim because the giants would otherwise have killed him. Ecke decides to agree with Fasold. Meanwhile, three queens are on the mountain of Jochgrimm: one of them, Seburg wishes very much to see Dietrich, and hearing of Ecke's interest, asks him to bring the hero to her. To encourage Ecke not to kill Dietrich, Seburg gives Ecke a sword and armor hardened in dragon blood
Dragon blood
Dragon's blood serves a purpose in many different mythologies. Depending on the tradition, dragon’s blood had very different meanings. In the Slavic myth, the Earth refuses it as it is so vile that Mother Earth wishes not to have it within her womb, and it remains above ground for all eternity.In...
. It is the same armor that Emperor Ortnit
Ortnit
Ortnit, or Otnit, German hero of romance, was originally Hertnit or Hartnit, the elder of two brothers known as the Hartungs, who correspond in German mythology to the Dioscuri.-The story:...
wore when he rode out to fight dragons: Ortnit fell into a magic sleep, however, and was dragged away by a dragoness to her brood, which sucked his flesh out through the invincible armor. It was then recovered by Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich is a German hero of romance. The tale of Wolfdietrich is connected with the Merovingian princes, Theodoric and Theodebert, son and grandson of Clovis; but in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in the Heldenbuch....
, who killed the dragons, but himself had to go to a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
to repent for his sins, being tortured by demons. From there Seburg got the armor. She tries to convince Ecke to take a horse, but he refuses.
Ecke travels to Verona, but is directed to Tyrol. After coming upon a man mortally wounded by Dietrich, Hilferich von Lunders (possibly Londres, i.e. London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; in other versions he is described as von Lune and von Lütringen, i.e. Lotharingia
Lotharingia
Lotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855, of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...
), he finally encounters Dietrich himself, and challenges him to combat. Dietrich refuses, saying Ecke has done him no wrong, and Ecke accuses him of cowardice (zagheit). At this Dietrich agrees to fight. Ecke and Dietrich fight for a long time, and Ecke tries to force Dietrich to surrender, but Dietrich refuses. Finally, Dietrich gains the upper hand, but Ecke also refuses to surrender. Due to Ecke's invincible armor, Dietrich is forced to stab the giant dishonorably through a gap in his armor. He then mourns Ecke at some length. Ecke asks Dietrich to cut off his head and bring it to Seburg, which he does. He then puts on the giant's armor and takes his sword. In the Landsberger version, a nymph named Vrou Babehilt binds his wounds.
After recovering some from his wounds, Dietrich encounters a woman running through the forest. She is being hunted by Fasold, who rides up and demands to know why Dietrich is interfering with his hunt. Fasold is described as having two long braided locks that hang down to his waist and which are woven in with iron. The giant decides not to fight the still gravely wounded Dietrich, apparently not recognizing his brother's armor or seeing Ecke's head. Dietrich falls asleep while the maiden watches. However, Fasold changes his mind and returns in the night – the maiden is barely able to rouse Dietrich before Fasold appears with his hounds. The two fight, and Dietrich overcomes Fasold by cutting off his braided locks, and the giant surrenders. However, he then recognizes his brother's armor and Dietrich admits to having killed Ecke, and the two fight once more. Dietrich accuses Fasold of fighting with the strength of two men, saying Ecke's spirit has entered the giant, at which Fasold counters that Diether's spirit must have entered Dietrich, he is so strong. At the memory of Witige's treachery, Dietrich is enraged and finally overcomes Fasold, sparing him only at the insistence of the maiden.
At this point the three texts diverge – in all, Fasold treacherously leads Dietrich to members of his family in hopes that they will kill him, taking him to the giant Eckenot (whose name Gillespie suggests may be a corruption of Ebenrot or vice versa) and then to two or three giantesses, variously Ecke's mother, aunt, or sisters. Dietrich finally kills Fasold. In the Dresdner version, he then rides into Jochgrimm and throws the head of Ecke at the feet of Seburg, saying that she is the cause of Ecke's pointless death. In the printed edition, Seburg reveals that she sent Ecke to his death deliberately, since he and his brothers were going to force them into marriage. It also mentions that, with Ecke's sword Dietrich later slew Odoacer
Odoacer
Flavius Odoacer , also known as Flavius Odovacer, was the first King of Italy. His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos' death in 480, of the...
when called upon to do so by Emperor Zeno.
The poem is often interpreted, based on the last line of the printed edition, as an explanation of the name of Dietrich's sword, Eckesachs
Seax
Seax in Old English means knife or cutting tool. The name of the roofer's tool, the zax, is a development from this word...
. This originally meant "sword with a sharp edge", but when ecke took on the meaning it has in modern German (corner), the name was reinterpreted as meaning "the sword of Ecke". The name Eckesachs never appears in the text however, though the sword is referred to as "Hern Ecken sachs" (Sir Ecke's sword). Eckesachs was apparently famous enough to be referenced in Heinrich von Veldeke
Heinrich von Veldeke
Hendrik van Veldeke is the first writer in the Low Countries that we know by name who wrote in a European language other than Latin. He was born in Veldeke, a hamlet on the territory of Spalbeek, which has been a community of Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium, since 1977...
's Eneis, which predates the Eckenlied.
Based on folkloric evidence, 19th century scholarship believed that the three queens on Jochgrimm represented three witches who caused storms from that mountain in Tyrolian folklore, as evidenced by a 17th century prayer to the witches to cause "ffasolt" to send storms far away. Fasold would thus be a wind-demon. This interpretation is complicated by apparent similarities between the poem and the French late Arthurian romance Le Chevalier du Papagau, where Arthur fights a giant whose lack of horse is similarly emphasized to that of Ecke. Heinzle calls into question both the connection to the wind-demon prayer and the connection to the French text.
Evidence for an oral version of the tale might be provided by the Ekka episode of the Thidrekssaga, which differs in crucial details in both its treatment of Ecke and Fasold. Additionally, a fragmentary text known as "Dietrich und Fasold" exists, which appears to match neither the meter nor the content of the Eckenlied. Despite this, Heinzle doubts the existence of an earlier, oral version.
Goldemar
Only the first nine stanzas of the Goldemar have survived: they are unusual in including a named author, Albrecht von Kemenaten, who is also mentioned in praising tones by the poet Rudolf von EmsRudolf von Ems
Rudolf von Ems was a mediaeval Austrian epic poet.-Life:Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Montfort. His works were written between 1220 and 1254...
in his Alexander and Willehalm von Orlens. 19th century scholars attempted to ascribe the authorship of the Eckenlied, the Virginal, and the Sigenot to Albrecht due to the use of the same stanzaic form (the Bernerton) in all, but this theory has been given up.
The introduction to the poem is a critique of the heroic genre, accusing it of praising brutality. Albrecht instead sets out to tell how Dietrich von Bern's love was awakened for a woman, Hertlin, whom he encounters held prisoner by the dwarf king Goldemar while setting off to fight the giant Trutmunt. The text ends just after Dietrich addresses Goldemar, but from the Heldenbuchprosa we know that Dietrich defeats Goldemar and wins Hertlin as his first wife (the prose explains that Hertlin dies, allowing Dietrich to marry Herrat).
Laurin/ Der kleine Rosengarten (The Small Rose Garden)
The Laurin was one of the most popular poems about Dietrich and is attested in numerous manuscripts and printed versions. It probably originates in the 12th century in Tyrol, and has four principle versions. All of them, except the Dresdner Laurin which is written in stanzas, are written in rhyming couplets.The oldest version of the tale (the so-called elder Vulgate version (ältere Vulgatversion)) begins with a conversation between Witige and Hildebrand. Witige says that Dietrich is the greatest hero of all time; Hildebrand objects that Dietrich has never experience a twergenâventiure (dwarf-adventure). At that point Dietrich walks in and is very angered by Hildebrand's private criticism. Hildebrand tells Dietrich where he can find such an adventure: the dwarf Laurin has a rose-garden in the Tyrolian forest. He will fight any challenger who breaks the thread surrounding his rose garden
Rose garden
A Rose garden or Rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped by individual variety, colour or class in rose beds.-Origins of the rose...
. Dietrich and Witige immediately set off to challenge Laurin; Hildebrand and Dietleib follow secretly behind. Upon seeing the beautiful rose-garden, Dietrich relents and decides that he does not want to harm anything so lovely. Witige, however, says that Laurin's pride must be punished, and not only breaks the thread, but tramples the entire rose garden. Almost immediately the dwarf Laurin, armed so wonderfully that Witige mistakes him for Michael the Archangel, appears, and demands the left foot and right hand of Witige as punishment for the destruction of the garden. He fights and defeats Witige, but Dietrich then decides that he cannot allow his vassal to lose his limbs, and fights Laurin himself. Initially, Dietrich is losing, but Hildebrand arrives and tells Dietrich to steal the dwarf's cloak of invisibility and strength-granting belt, then fight him on foot (the dwarf had been riding a deer-sized horse) wrestling him to the ground. Laurin, now defeated, pleads for mercy, but Dietrich has become enraged and vows to kill the dwarf. Finally, Laurin turns to Dietleib, informing him he had kidnapped and married the hero's sister, so that he was now Dietleib's brother-in-law. Dietleib hides the dwarf and prepares to fight Dietrich, but Hildebrand makes peace between them.
Dietrich and Laurin are reconciled, and Laurin invites the heroes to his kingdom under the mountain. All are enthusiastic except Witige, who senses treachery. In the mountain they are well received, and Dietleib meets his sister. She tells him she is being well treated and that Laurin has only one fault: he is not Christian. She wants to leave. Meanwhile, Laurin, after a feast, confides to Dietleib's sister that he wishes to avenge himself on the heroes. She advises him to do so. He drugs Witige, Hildebrand, and Dietrich and throws them in a dungeon. Dietleib he tries to commit to join his side, but locks him in a chamber when the hero refuses. Dietleib's sister steals the stones that light the mountain and releases Dietleib. They then deliver weapons to the other heroes, and they begin a slaughter of all the dwarves in the mountain. In the end Laurin is taken as a jester
Court jester
A jester, joker, jokester, fool, wit-cracker, prankster, or buffoon was a person employed to tell jokes and provide general entertainment, typically for a European monarch. Jesters are stereotypically thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern...
back to Verona.
The younger vulgate version expands the backstory of Dietleib's sister's kidnapping. It also supplies the text with an author, the fictional Heinrich von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen is a famous, quasi-fictional Minnesinger who participated in the Sängerkrieg on the Wartburg. The authorship of the Laurin, a poem about Dietrich von Bern, was also sometimes ascribed to him. He is chiefly known by the novel of Novalis of the same name and the role of...
, a character in the poem Wartburgkrieg who sings about Laurin and Dietrich in relation to Dietrich's end (see the Wunderer below). In the so-called Walberan-continuation, Laurin converts to Christianity and becomes Dietrich's friend. In the Dresdner Laurin, the poem takes on a burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
tone.
A connection exists between this story and a Tyrolian folk-story in which the rose garden is the source of the morning-glow on the Alps. Heinzle, however, believes that, since this story is only attested from the 17th century onward, it is more likely to have been influenced by the text than the other way around. Others have attempted to connect the rose garden to a cult of the dead
Cult of the Dead
Cult of the Dead is a 2008 album by thrash metal/death metal band Legion of the Damned. In common with previous albums, the lyrics heavily reference the dark side of the occult. The special edition comes with an item unique in metal merchandising , being a cheese block, emblazoned with their logo....
. Similarities with Celtic inspired Arthurian romance (the rose garden as otherworld
Otherworld
Otherworld, or the Celtic Otherworld, is a concept in Celtic mythology that refers to the home of the deities or spirits, or a realm of the dead.Otherworld may also refer to:In film and television:...
) have also been proposed.
Der Rosengarten zu Worms/ Der große Rosengarten (The Rose Garden at Worms/ The Large Rose Garden)
The basic outline of the story is this: Gippich is the lord of the rosegarden in Worms, and as Kriemhild's father, Gippich dares any wooer to defeat the garden's twelve guardians. Dietrich von Bern and Etzel, king of the Huns take up the challenge together. They travel to Worms with their retinue, and face each of the guardians in single combat. Dietrich von Bern fights and defeats Siegfried. Except for one draw (Biterolf refuses to fight his kinsman Walther of Aquitaine
Walter of Aquitaine
Walter of Aquitaine is a legendary king of the Visigoths. He figures in several epic poems and narratives in medieval languages:* Waldere, an Old English fragment* Waltharius, a Latin epic written by the monk Ekkehard I of St Gall...
), all fights end with Dietrich's side victorious. Dietrich fights against Siegfried, initially doing poorly and complaining of Siegfried's hardened skin. Hildebrand tells Wolfhart to falsely tell Dietrich of the tutors death, after which point Dietrich's rage causing him to breathe fire and Hildebrand must intervene so that Dietrich does not kill Siegfried.
Finally, Gippich has to submit to Dietrich and Etzel, and the victors are honoured with garlands and kisses.
A connection between this poem and Dietrichs encounter with Siegfried in the Thidrekssaga is usually speculated: either the author of the Thidrekssaga knew of the Rosengarten and altered it for his work (meaning that the Rosengarten existed in the 13th century) or there was an even older tale of Dietrich's encounter with Siegfried which diverged into the story found in the Thidrekssaga and that of the Rosengarten. Especially noticeable is the fact that Kriemhilt and Gunther's father has the name Gibich, corresponding to the Norse tradition and the Waltharius, which in the Nibelungenlied has been replaced by another name.
Sigenot
The Sigenot was composed no later than 1300, and probably developed in the SwabianSwabian
Swabian may refer:* to the German region of Swabia ; or* to Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas See also:...
-Alemanic dialect area. The poem exists in two versions: the so-called elder Sigenot (älterer Sigenot), which is very short and probably represents shortened version of a longer text which is also the basis of the younger Sigenot (jüngerer Sigenot).
In the älterer Sigenot, Dietrich awakens the giant Sigenot in the forest by kicking him. The giant then recognizes Dietrich as the slayer of Hilde and Grim, two giant relatives of his, and forces Dietrich to fight him, despite a sudden reluctance (zagheit) on Dietrich's part. Dietrich is thrown into a dungeon. Sigenot now heads to Verona to defeat Hildebrand, and, encountering him in the forest, takes him prisoner as well. However, once Hildebrand has been dragged to Dietrich's prison, he is able to free himself, slays the giant and frees Dietrich with the help of the dwarf Eggerich. The two heroes then return to Verona.
The jüngerer Sigenot adds a beginning in which Hildebrand tells Dietrich about Sigenot and warns him not to go into the forest to fight the giant. Then, before encountering the giant, Dietrich fights a wild man
Wild man
The wild man is a mythical figure that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to Silvanus, the Roman god of the woodlands.The defining characteristic of the figure is its "wildness"; from the 12th century...
who is keeping the dwarf Baldung captive. As a reward, the dwarf gives Dietrich a protective jewel and directs him to Sigenot. Dietrich fights Sigenot and is taken prisoner. Sigenot throws Dietrich in a snake pit
Snake pit
Snake pits are places of horror, torture and even death in European legends and fairy tales. The Viking warlord Ragnar Lodbrok is said to have been thrown into a snake pit and died there, after his army had been defeated in battle by King Aelle II of Northumbria...
, but the jewel protects him. Hildebrand, now worried by Dietrich's long absence, sets out to find him: on the way he encounters Sigenot and is taken prisoner. Left alone, Hildebrand frees himself and dresses in Dietrich's armor. He then slays Sigenot and frees Dietrich with Eggerich's help.
The poem may connect to Dietrich's captivity among giants, as referenced in the Waldere: Heinzle suggests that it was created in the 13th century under the influence of this traditional story. The text also makes reference to Dietrich's battle with Hilde and Grim, which is told in the Thidrekssaga and referenced in the Eckenlied, but about which no poem survives.
Virginal/ Dietrichs erste Ausfahrt/ Dietrich und seine Gesellen (Dietrich's first Quest/ Dietrich and his Companions)
There are three versions of the Virginal, the Heidelberger, the Wiener, and the Dresdner. The poem is extremely long in the first two versions, but has been truncated to the point where the story no longer makes sense in the Dresdner version.The Virginal contains an account of the young Dietrich's first adventure – he does not even know the meaning of the world âventiure (roughly: adventure, but more precisely exciting event or tale) at the poem's beginning, and must be taught by Hildebrand. Dietrich shows great resistance to the hardships Hildebrand puts him through to learn this meaning, and frequently accuses Hildebrand of trying to have him killed to steal his inheritance.
The backdrop to this is the invasion by the heathen Orkise of the dwarf queen Virginal's realm in Tyrol. Orkise demands a maiden be fed to him in tribute, and Hildebrand and Dietrich set off from Verona to defeat the heathen. Hildebrand kills Orkise in hard combat after being separated from Dietrich, who himself then defeats a group of eighty heathens. On their way to tell Virginal of Orkise's defeat, the heroes save Rentwin, the son of Hilferich von Arone, from being swallowed by a dragon. Hilferich then entertains them as thanks, but Dietrich becomes impatient and sets off to Virginal's capital of Jeraspunt by himself. The Dresdner Virginal inserts here an episode where the heroes fight against Orkise's son. In the Heidelberger text, Dietrich becomes lost and arrives at Muter, where he is taken prisoner by Duke Nitger's giants. Hildebrand is forced to rescue the hero with the help of Witige, Heime, Wolfhart, Dietleib, and many other heroes. When Dietrich is finally freed, the heroes go to Jeraspunt where they are well received and Dietrich has learned the meaning of âventiure. In the Heidelberger text, Dietrich is suddenly called back to Verona by the threat of an invasion from an unnamed enemy. In the Wiener and Dresdner text, he marries Virginal and there is no further danger.
The text is thought to have originated no later than 1300, probably in Swabian
Swabian
Swabian may refer:* to the German region of Swabia ; or* to Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas See also:...
-Alemanic territory. However, elements seem to be much older. Dietrich's captivity among giants is referenced in Waldere, for instance. The saga of the man half-swallowed by a dragon is also thought to be older, and is probably connected with the coat of arms of the Visconti, a family which owned the castle of Arona (Arone) at the time of the tale's composition, and whose coat of arms depict a man being swallowed by a serpent. The same story is also told in the Thidrekssaga, where the knight rescued is named Sintram. This difference of names means that the two texts are not directly related, but are probably both descended from a lost oral story. Interestingly, Sintram also appears as the name of the man being swallowed by the dragon also in a 15th century Swiss chronicle, the Berner Chronicle of Konrad Justinger, which relocates the action to Bern, Switzerland, and does not include Dietrich's name. It is thus not clear if the motif was transferred onto Dietrich from an independent legend or whether the Swiss version had lost the original connection with Dietrich.
19th century scholarship attempted to connect Orkise with Ork
Ork (folklore)
The ork is a demon of Tyrol alpine folklore. He lives on mountains, Almen, rock holes, or valleys. It warns the noble game of hunters, or can be savage and bring geisser to the cattle. It was feared like the aufhocker. As a dwarf, the ork was a well-behaved kobold/house spirit in wine cellars...
, a demon of Tyrolian and North Italian folklore. Although queen Virginal's name strongly resembles the romance word "virgin", it may in fact be connected with Gothic
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
firgs, meaning mountain.
Der Wunderer (The Monster)
The Wunderer may date from as early as the 13th century, but is first attested in the fifteenth.At a feast being held by Etzel, who is described as a greater king than Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, a beautiful maiden appears asking for help from the Wunderer, who has been hunting her for three days and wants to eat her. This is because she has sworn chastity, and has thus spurned the Wunderer's love. The lady has special gifts however: at first glance she can see the true character of a person, her blessing makes one invincible in battle, and she can transport herself to any place automatically. She sees that Etzel is a coward, and he points her to his heroes. First she asks Rüdiger, but he refuses as well, so Etzel shows her to another room where Dietrich is sitting. Dietrich is ready to fight for the girl if Etzel agrees, but Etzel is worried that Dietrich's relatives would seek revenge should anything happen to Dietrich. At this point, however, the Wunderer appears in the feast hall. Dietrich then agrees to fight without Etzel's blessing, and the maiden blesses him. First he kills the Wunderer's hounds, then knocks the Wunderer down after he strikes the lady. The two fight, and Dietrich wins. The lady reveals herself to be Frau Saelde, good-luck personified, and the feast ends.
The text is interesting in its relation to Dietrich's death: according to some traditions, Dietrich become the leader of the Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...
and chased nymphs through the forests. Church tradition, coming from the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, also made the claim that Theodoric's soul had been seen dropped into Mount Etna for his sins. Instead of Dietrich as the Wild Huntsman, the Wunderer is placed in this role, and Dietrich defends the lady he is attacking. Additionally, the narrator mentions that Dietrich is still alive today: because of fault he is carried off by the devil in the form of a horse to Rumeney (Romagna
Romagna
Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...
?) to fight dragons until the end of days. The poem could thus be understood as a refutation of the idea of Dietrich as either damned or a hunter of women.
19th century scholarship attempted to connect Frau Saelde of the poem with "Saligen", female figures of Tyrolean
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
folk stories who are chased by the Wild Huntsman. Modern scholarship views this as unprovable, and would rather see Frau Saelde as a reflex of the personification Fortuna
Fortuna
Fortuna can mean:*Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck -Geographical:*19 Fortuna, asteroid*Fortuna, California, town located on the north coast of California*Fortuna, United States Virgin Islands...
, i.e. a literary rather than a folk element of the poem. This does not make it any less likely that the hunting of women was connected to Dietrich at an early date, given the attested folk stories of him as the Wild Huntsman and the appearance of Wild-Huntsman like figures in two other poems, however.
The poem is also interesting in its extreme closeness to the paradigm of Arthurian Romance: a lady comes to court asking for help, as in many romances. Etzel is completely inactive, like Arthur, with whom he is expressly compared.
The Thidrekssaga
The Scandinavian Þiðrekssaga (also Thidreksaga, Thidrekssaga, Niflungasaga or Vilkina saga) is a 13th century Old NorseOld Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
chivalric saga about Dietrich von Bern. The earliest manuscript dates from the late 13th century. It contains many narratives found in the known poems about Dietrich, but also supplements them with other narratives and provides many additional details. The text is either a translation of a lost Low German
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
prose narrative of Dietrich's life, or a compilation by a Norwegian author of German material: modern scholarship favors the latter explanation . It is not clear how much of the source material might have been orally transmitted and how much the author may have had access to written poems. The preface of the text itself says that it was written according to "tales of German men" and "old German poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
", possibly transmitted by Hanseatic
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
merchants in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
.
At the center of the Thidrekssaga is a complete life of Dietrich. It begins by telling of Dietrich's grandfather and father, and then tells of Dietrich's youth at his father's court, where Hildebrand tutors him and he accomplishes his first heroic deeds. After his father's death, Dietrich leads several military campaigns: then he is exiled from his kingdom by his uncle Ermenrik, fleeing to Attila's court. There is an unsuccessful attempt to return to his kingdom, during which Attila's sons and Dietrich's brother die. This is followed by Dietrich's entanglement in the downfall of the Niflings
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
, after which Dietrich successfully returns to Verona and recovers his kingdom. Much later, after the death of both Hildebrand and his wife Herrad, Dietrich kills a dragon who had killed King Hernit of Bergara, marrying the widow and becoming king of Bergara. After Attila's death, Dietrich becomes king of the Huns as well. The final time he fights an opponent is to avenge to death of Heime (who had become a monk and then sworn loyalty to Dietrich once again). After this, he spends all his time hunting. One day, upon seeing a particularly magnificent deer, he jumped out of the bathtub and mounts a gigantic black horse – this is the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
. It rides away with him, and no one knows what happened to him after that, but the Germans believe that he received God and Mary's grace and was saved.
In addition to the life of Dietrich, various other heroes' lives are recounted as well in various parts of the story, including Attila
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
, Wayland the Smith, Sigurd
Sigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
, the Nibelungen, and Walter of Aquitaine
Walter of Aquitaine
Walter of Aquitaine is a legendary king of the Visigoths. He figures in several epic poems and narratives in medieval languages:* Waldere, an Old English fragment* Waltharius, a Latin epic written by the monk Ekkehard I of St Gall...
. The section recounting Dietrich's avenging of Hertnit seems to have resulted from a confusion between Dietrich and the similarly named Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich
Wolfdietrich is a German hero of romance. The tale of Wolfdietrich is connected with the Merovingian princes, Theodoric and Theodebert, son and grandson of Clovis; but in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in the Heldenbuch....
.
Most of the action of the saga has been relocated to Northern Germany
Northern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
, with Attila's capital at Susat (Soest
Soest
-Places:* Soest, Netherlands* Soest, Germany** Soest , a district around the location in Germany-Organizations:*SOEST, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa...
in Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
) and the battle described in Die Rabenschlacht taking place at the mouth of the Rhine. This is part of a process operative in oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
s called "localization", connecting events transmitted orally to familiar places, and is one of the reasons that the poems collected by the saga-writer are believed to be Low German
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
in origin.
The Norwegian Thridrekssaga constituted the basis of the Swedish Didrikssagan from the mid-15th century. The Swedish reworking of the story is rather independent, many repetitions were avoided and the material is structured in a more accessible manner. The Swedish version is believed to have been composed on the orders of king Karl Knutsson who was interested in literature.
The name Vilkinasaga was first used in Johan Peringskiöld
Johan Peringskiöld
Johan Peringskiöld was born in Strängnäs and died in Stockholm .His father was Lars Fredrik Peringer, a senior master at the gymnasium and his mother Anna Maria Mulich. He began his studies at Uppsala University in 1677 and he was an ardent student of the national antiquities...
's Swedish translation of 1715. Peringskiöld named it after Vilkinaland, which the saga says was an old name for Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Götaland
Götaland
Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
.
The Þiðrekssaga had considerable influence on Swedish historiography as the saga identified the country of Vilkinaland with Sweden and so its line of kings was added to the Swedish line of kings. In spite of the fact that the early scholar Olaus Petri
Olaus Petri
Olof Persson , better known under the Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri , was a clergyman, writer, and a major contributor to the Protestant Reformation in Sweden...
was critical, these kings were considered to have been historic Swedish kings until fairly recent times. The historicity of the kings of Vilkinaland was further boosted in 1634 when Johannes Bureus
Johannes Bureus
Johannes Thomae Bureus Agrivillensis was a Swedish antiquarian, polymath and mystic. He was royal librarian, tutor, and adviser of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden....
discovered the Norwegian parchment that had arrived in Sweden in the 15th century.
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
used it as a source for his operatic tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
.
Heldenbuch-Prosa (Prose of the Book of Heroes)
