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Germanic heroic legend (german: germanische Heldensage) is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roma ...
(4th-6th centuries AD). Stories from this time period, to which others were added later, were transmitted orally, traveled widely among the Germanic speaking peoples, and were known in many variants. These legends typically reworked historical events or personages in the manner of oral poetry, forming a heroic age.
Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
es in these legends often display a heroic ethos emphasizing honor, glory, and loyalty above other concerns. Like
Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic lang ...
, heroic
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
is a genre of
Germanic folklore Proto-Germanic folklore is the folklore of the speakers of Proto-Germanic and includes topics such as the Germanic mythology, legendry, and folk beliefs of early Germanic culture. By way of the comparative method, Germanic philologists, a vari ...
. Heroic legends are attested in
Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...
, medieval
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...
, and medieval Germany. Many take the form of Germanic heroic poetry (german: germanische Heldendichtung): shorter pieces are known as
heroic lay The heroic lay (German ''Heldenlied'') is a genre of Germanic epic poetry characteristic of the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages. A lay is a short narrative poem of between 80 and 200 lines concerning a single heroic episode in the life ...
s, whereas longer pieces are called Germanic heroic epic (). The
early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
preserves only a small number of legends in writing, mostly from England, including the only surviving early medieval heroic epic in the vernacular, ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
''. Probably the oldest surviving heroic poem is the
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
''
Hildebrandslied The ''Hildebrandslied'' (; ''Lay'' or ''Song of Hildebrand'') is a heroic lay written in Old High German alliterative verse. It is the earliest poetic text in German, and it tells of the tragic encounter in battle between a father (Hildebrand) ...
'' (c. 800). There also survive numerous pictorial depictions from
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
Scandinavia and areas under Norse control in the British Isles. These often attest scenes known from later written versions of legends connected to the hero
Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...
. In the
High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...
and
Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...
, heroic texts are written in great numbers in Scandinavia, particularly Iceland, and in southern Germany and Austria. Scandinavian legends are preserved both in the form of Eddic poetry and in prose
saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to th ...
s, particularly in the legendary sagas such as the ''
Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
''. German sources are made up of numerous heroic epics, of which the most famous is the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'' (c. 1200). The majority of the preserved legendary material seems to have originated with the
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
and
Burgundians The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
. The most widely and commonly attested legends are those concerning
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
(
Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...
), the adventures and death of the hero Siegfried/Sigurd, and the Huns' destruction of the Burgundian kingdom under king Gundahar. These were "the backbone of Germanic storytelling." The common Germanic poetic tradition was
alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...
, although this is replaced with poetry in rhyming stanzas in high medieval Germany. In early medieval England and Germany, poems were recited by a figure called the '' scop'', whereas in Scandinavia it is less clear who sang heroic songs. In high medieval Germany, heroic poems seem to have been sung by a class of minstrels. The heroic tradition died out in England after the
Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
, but was maintained in Germany until the 1600s, and lived on in a different form in Scandinavia until the 20th c. as a variety of the medieval ballads.
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
resurrected interest in the tradition in the late 18th and early 19th century, with numerous translations and adaptations of heroic texts. The most famous adaptation of Germanic legend is
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's operatic cycle ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
'', which has in many ways overshadowed the medieval legends themselves in the popular consciousness. Germanic legend was also heavily employed in
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
propaganda and rhetoric. Finally, it has inspired much of modern
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
through the works of
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...
and J.R.R. Tolkien, whose ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...
'' incorporates many elements of Germanic heroic legend.


Heroic tradition


Definition

Germanic heroic legend is a somewhat amorphous subject, and drawing clear distinctions between it and similar legendary material can be difficult. Victor Millet refers to three criteria to define Germanic heroic legend: 1) it either originates in the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roma ...
or it is (vaguely) set in the Migration Period, which plays the role of a " heroic age;" 2) the legends mythologize the heroic age, so that it no longer is concretely fixed in history, allowing persons who in reality never met to interact; 3) the characters of Germanic legend do not or seldom interact with characters from other legendary cycles, such as the
Matter of Britain The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Weste ...
or the history of the settlement of Iceland. Heroic legends originate and develop as part of an
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and Culture, cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Traditio ...
, and often involve historical personages. The heroic legends are traditionally defined according to the geographic location that scholars believe first produced the legend: there is thus continental heroic legend from Germany and the European continent, North Germanic (Scandinavian) heroic legend, and English heroic legend originating in Anglo-Saxon England. The legends are not always attested in their place of origin: thus the Old Norse material about
Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...
originates on the continent and the Old English poem ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'' portrays a legend that originates in Scandinavia. Material of originally
East Germanic East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...
Gothic and Burgundian origin is found throughout the entire Germanic-speaking world, making up the majority of the material found in Germany and much of that from England, while originally Scandinavian material is also found in England as well. The use of the term "Germanic" is disputed in current scholarship, due to its implication of a shared cultural identity for which little evidence exists. Shami Ghosh remarks that Germanic heroic legend is unique in that it is not preserved among the peoples who originated it (mainly
Burgundians The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
and
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
) but among other peoples; he cautions that we cannot assume that it functioned to create any sort of "Germanic" identity among its audience, and notes that the Burgundians, for instance, became fairly
romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
at an early date. Millet likewise remarks that defining these heroic legends as "Germanic" does not postulate a common Germanic legendary inheritance, but rather that the legends were easily transmitted between peoples speaking related languages. The close link between Germanic heroic legend and Germanic language and possibly poetic devices is shown by the fact that the Germanic speakers in Frankia who adopted a Romance language do not preserve Germanic legends, but rather developed their own heroic legends around figures such as
William of Gellone William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II.
,
Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
, and
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
.


The hero

Of central importance to heroic legend is the figure of the
hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
, about whom conflicting definitions exist. According to Edward Haymes and Susan Samples, the hero is an "extraordinary individual ..who stands above his contemporaries in physical and moral strength." The hero is typically a man, sometimes a woman, who is admired for his or her achievements in battle and heroic virtues, capable of performing feats impossible for a normal human, and who often dies tragically. These heroic virtues include personal glory, honor, and loyalty within the lord's retinue, and form a heroic ethos that Rolf Bremmer traces to descriptions of Germanic warrior culture in the 1st-century AD Roman historian
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
. Other scholars have emphasized other qualities:
Klaus von See Klaus von See (10 August 1927 – 30 August 2013) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Klaus von See was born in the village of Altendorf, Brome, Germany on 10 August 1927. He studied history, German and Sca ...
rejected the notion of exemplarity, Wolfgang Haubrichs argued that heroes and their ethos primarily display the traditions of ruling families, and Walter Haug argued that the brutality of the heroic ethos derived from the introduction of people to history and their confrontation with seemingly senseless violence. In some cases the hero may also display negative values, but he is nevertheless always extraordinary and excessive in his behavior. For Brian Murdoch, the way in which he "copes with the blows of fate" is central. Peter Fisher, expressly distinguishes between the "Germanic hero" and the
tragic hero A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his ''Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ba ...
. The death of the former is heroic rather than tragic; it usually brings destruction, not restoration, as in classical tragedy; and the hero's goal is frequently revenge, which would be ''
hamartia The term ''hamartia'' derives from the Greek , from ''hamartánein'', which means "to miss the mark" or "to err". It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. The term is often said to depic ...
'' (a flaw) in a tragic hero. In the Germanic sphere, the hero is usually defined by an amazing deed or deeds that show his heroic qualities. The hero is always a warrior, concerned with reputation and fame, as well as his political responsibilities. Heroes belonged to an aristocratic class, and legends about them provided an opportunity for the aristocratic public of the legends to reflect on their own behavior and values. In the High Middle Ages, this means that heroes often also portray the elements of
chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours were governed b ...
and courtly behavior expected of their time period.


Origins and development

The Roman historian
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
(c. 56-120) makes two comments that have been taken as attesting early heroic poetry among the Germanic peoples. The first is a remark in ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...
'': The other is a remark in the ''
Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...
'' that the
Cherusci The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germany in the area of the Weser River and present-day Hanover during the first centuries BC and AD. Roman sources reported they considered themse ...
an leader
Arminius Arminius ( 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of ge ...
was celebrated in song after his death. This older poetry has not survived, probably because it was heavily connected to
Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...
. Most of the extant heroic legends have their origins in the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roma ...
(4th-6th centuries AD); some may have earlier origins, such as the legends of
Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...
and
Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr ( Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the '' Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the '' Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields ...
, while others are likely later, such as the legend of
Walter of Aquitaine Walter or Walther of Aquitaine is a king of the Visigoths in Germanic heroic legend. Epic poetry Walter figures in several epic poems and narratives dealing with Germanic heroic legend in medieval languages: * ''Waldere'', a fragment of an ...
. Some early Gothic heroic legends are already found in
Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') an ...
' ''Getica'' (c. 551). The most important figures around whom heroic legends were composed from the Migration Period are the Gothic king
Ermanaric Ermanaric; la, Ermanaricus or ''Hermanaricus''; ang, Eormanrīc ; on, Jǫrmunrekkr , gmh, Ermenrîch (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythi ...
, the
Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
ic king
Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...
(later known as
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
), the Hunnic king
Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and E ...
, and the Burgundian king Gundahar. Numerous other sources throughout the Early Middle Ages make brief references to figures known in later heroic legends, as well as to other figures about whom legends have likely been lost. The original historical material at the heart of the legends has been transformed through the long process of oral transmission: the causes of complex historical and political events are reduced to basic human motivations such as greed, hubris, jealousy, and personal revenge; events are assimilated to folkloric narrative schemes; conflicts are personalized, typically as conflicts among relatives; and persons living in different time periods are portrayed as contemporaries living in the same heroic age. Stages in the combination of the originally independent figures of heroic legend can be seen in texts from the 8th and 9th centuries. Additionally, the legends appear to have become increasingly detached from historical reality, though they still may have been understood as conveying historical knowledge. Conflicts with monsters and
otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherwor ...
ly beings also form an important part of heroic legend. As an example of the variability of the tradition, Edward Haymes and Susan Samples note that Sigurd/Siegfried is variously said to be killed in the woods or in his bed, but always with the fixed detail that it was by a spear in the back. A minority position, championed by
Walter Goffart Walter Goffart (born February 22, 1934) is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the History Department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Tor ...
and Roberta Frank, has argued that there is no oral tradition and that heroic legend was in fact developed by learned clerics in the Carolingian period who read about events in the migration period. This position is, however, "contrary to almost all literary scholarship".


Relation to myth

Heroic legends can also take on
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
ical elements, and these are common in Germanic heroic legend. Joseph C. Harris writes that "mythic motifs" or "folklore-related motifs" can become attached to the historical core of heroic legend. The liberation of society from monsters and
otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherwor ...
ly beings forms an important part of extant heroic legend. Examples of heroes taking on mythical qualities include the Old Norse hero Starkaðr, who may be portrayed with multiple arms, while
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
is able to breathe fire. The heroine
Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr ( Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the '' Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the '' Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields ...
appears to have become a
valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997: ...
in the Norse tradition, and the same thing may have happened to the heroine Brunhild. Generally, mythical elements are more common in later rather than earlier Norse material: for instance, appearances of
Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...
are more common in the ''
Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
'' than in the heroic poems of the
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
. The exact relationship between myth and legend is unclear, and it is also possible for mythological beings to be
euhemerized Euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exagge ...
as heroes. Thus some scholars argue that the immense strength Brunhild displays in the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'' may indicate that she was originally a mythical being. The historical origins of the figure of Sigurd/Siegfried are uncertain, and his slaying of the dragon represents a victory over chaos and destruction and results in the hero taking on semi-divine abilities. Germanic heroic legend contains fewer mythological elements than that of many other cultures, for instance, the heroic legend of
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
.


Relationship to Christianity

Older scholarship was of the opinion that heroic poetry was "entirely heathen", however more recent scholarship has abandoned this position. A great many of the historical figures upon whom heroic legends were based, such as
Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...
,
Gundaharius Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...
, and
Alboin Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting eff ...
, were Christians.
Klaus von See Klaus von See (10 August 1927 – 30 August 2013) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Klaus von See was born in the village of Altendorf, Brome, Germany on 10 August 1927. He studied history, German and Sca ...
goes so far as to suggest that
Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
and the creation and spread of the heroic legends "went hand in hand."
Hermann Reichert Hermann Reichert (born 7 April 1944) is an Austrian philologist at the University of Vienna who specializes in Germanic studies. Biography Hermann Reichert was born in Pernitz, Austria, on 7 April 1944. He received his PhD in Germanic philology ...
, on the other hand, describes heroic poetry as integrating originally pagan poetry into its Christian worldview, as opposed to what he calls "Old Germanic poetry," which was pagan and has not survived. Many of the surviving pictorial representations of heroic legend are in an unambiguously Christian context, and many ecclesiastics belonged to the same aristocratic class among whom heroic poetry was popular. Complaints that ecclesiastical figures preferred hearing heroic tales to the Bible, the church fathers, or saints’ lives are frequent. The creation of several heroic epics also seems to have been prompted by ecclesiastics, such as ''
Waltharius ''Waltharius'' is a Latin epic poem founded on German popular tradition relating the exploits of the Visigothic hero Walter of Aquitaine. While its subject matter is taken from early medieval Germanic legend, the epic stands firmly in the Lati ...
'', possibly ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'', and the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'', which was probably written through the patronage of bishop
Wolfger von Erla Wolfger von Erla, known in Italian as Volchero (c. 1140 – 23 January 1218), was the Bishop of Passau from 1191 until 1204 and Patriarch of Aquileia thereafter until his death. He was renowned in his own time as a diplomat and peacemaker. He part ...
of
Passau Passau (; bar, label= Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...
.


Pictorial representations


Anglo-Saxon

One of the earliest attestations of the heroic tradition is on the Anglo-Saxon
Franks Casket The Franks Casket (or the Auzon Casket) is a small Anglo-Saxon whale's bone (not "whalebone" in the sense of baleen) chest from the early 8th century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes ...
(c. 700), which depicts a scene from the legend of
Wayland the smith In Germanic mythology, Wayland the Smith ( ang, Wēland; , ; Old Frisian: Wela(n)du; german: Wieland der Schmied; goh, Wiolant; ''Galans'' (''Galant'') in Old French; gem-x-proto, Wēlandaz, italic=no from ', lit. "crafting one") is a master ...
: Wayland is portrayed after having been crippled by king
Niðhad King Niðhad, ''Níðuðr'' or ''Niðungr'' was a cruel king in Germanic legend. He appears as Níðuðr in the Old Norse ''Völundarkviða'', as ''Niðung'' in the '' Þiðrekssaga'', and as ''Niðhad'' in the Anglo-Saxon poems ''Deor'' and ''W ...
. He stands over a headless figure representing Niðhad's children whom he has killed in revenge. The first woman represents Niðhad's daughter bringing a piece of jewelry to be repaired: the figures of the second woman and the man catching birds are unexplained. The top of the Franks Casket also appears to show an archer who is generally identified with Egil, Wayland's brother, and Egil's spouse
Ölrún Alruna (Old Norse Ǫlrún, Old High German Ailrun, Modern German Alruna, Alraune) is a Germanic female personal name, from Proto Germanic ''*aliruna'' (or possibly ''*agilruna''), which is formed from '' runa'' "secret, rune" and a debated prefix th ...
, who appear in the '' Þiðrekssaga'', the '' Völundarkviða''; they are also usually identified on the
Pforzen buckle The Pforzen buckle is a silver belt buckle found in Pforzen, Ostallgäu (Schwaben) in 1992. The Alemannic grave in which it was found (no. 239) dates to the end of the 6th century and was presumably that of a warrior, as it also contained a spea ...
inscription, from c. 570–600.


Scandinavian

Some of the earliest evidence for Germanic Heroic legends comes in pictorial form on runestones and picture stones. In Sweden, there are nine runic inscriptions, and several image stones from the
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
that illustrate scenes from Germanic Heroic legends. The picture stone Smiss I from Gotland, dated around 700, appears to depict a version of the legend of
Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr ( Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the '' Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the '' Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields ...
: a woman stands between two groups of warriors, one of which is arriving on a ship, and seems to seek to mediate between the two sides. This corresponds to a version of the legend known from 12th-century Germany, in which Hildr ( gmh, Hilde) seeks - ultimately unsuccessfully - to mediate between her father, Hagene, and the man who seized her for marriage, Hetel. The later Norse versions, in which the battle is called the Hjaðningavíg, instead portray Hildr as egging on the combatants, Hǫgni and Heðinn. The Gotland Image stone Ardre VIII, which has been dated to the 8th c., shows two decapitated bodies, a smithy, a woman, and a winged creature which is interpreted as Wayland flying away from his captivity. Another one, Stora Hammars III, shows a man transformed into a bird who meets a woman, but this one may instead refer to
Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...
stealing the mead of poetry, in ''
Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...
''. Several small objects of winged people have also been found, but gods, and some giants, are known to be able to transform into birds in
Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...
, and
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
artwork with human-animal transformations is common. A number of the runic inscriptions display the deeds accomplished by the young
Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...
, namely his killing of the dragon Fafnir and acquisition of the hoard of the Nibelungs. The
Ramsund carving The Sigurd stones form a group of eight or nine Swedish runic inscriptions (five or six runestones, two natural rocks, and a baptismal font) and one picture stone that depict imagery from the Germanic heroic legend of Sigurd the dragon slayer. The ...
was probably illustrated with the Sigurd saga due to being carved in memory of a man named Sigfried (''Sigrøðr'', from *''Sigi-freðuz''). In the carving,
Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...
, Hœnir and
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...
have killed Ótr (6), and paid his wergild. Ótr's brother Fafnir has murdered his own father to have the gold for himself, but when the third brother
Regin In Norse mythology, Reginn (Old Norse: ᚱᛁᚼᛁᚾ/ᚱᛁᚽᛁᚿ ; often anglicized as Regin or Regan) is a son of Hreiðmarr and the foster father of Sigurd. His brothers are Fafnir and Ótr. Regin in the sagas When Loki mistakenly ...
wanted his share, Fafnir turned into a dragon to protect the hoard. Regin was a skilled smith who crafted the sword
Gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...
and asked his foster-son Sigurd to kill Fafnir (5). Regin then asked Sigurd to cook the dragon's heart for him. Sigurd touched the heart to see if it was done but burnt his finger on it, and put it in his mouth (1). He tasted dragon blood and learnt the language of the birds (2), who told him that Regin had no intention of sharing the treasure with him, but instead planned to kill him. They advised Sigurd to kill Regin who lies beheaded among his smithy tools (3). Sigurd then loaded his horse with the treasure (4). This inscription and others show that the story was known in early 11th c. Sweden and they match details found in the Eddic poems and later sources on the Sigurd legend. Parts of the legend of Sigurd are also depicted on several 10th-century stone crosses from the British Isles, including several on the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...
, as well as several from England dating to the time of the
Danelaw The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...
(1016-1042). Several Norwegian
stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ar ...
es built around 1200 contain carved depictions of the Sigurd legend, including the Hylestad Stave Church and the Vegusdal Stave Church. The
Kirk Andreas Andreas ( or ; gv, Skeerey Andreas) is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of Ayre. The main settlement in the parish in th ...
cross on the Isle of Man probably contains the only image of the hero Gunnarr from outside Scandinavia: the hero is shown dying in a snake pit while playing a harp. He is also found on the picture stone Södermanland 40, from
Västerljung Västerljung () is a locality situated in Trosa Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kin ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
. The scene of Gunnarr in the snake pit is also found on several church portals and baptismal fonts from Norway or areas formerly under Norwegian control, mostly from after 1200.


Continental

Elements of the legends of Theodoric the Great/Dietrich von Bern appear in some high medieval images. The church portal of San Zeno Maggiore in
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
(c. 1140) appears to depict a legend according to which Dietrich rode to Hell on an infernal horse, a story contained in the '' Þiðreks saga'' and alluded to elsewhere. The image of a man freeing another that has been half-devoured by a dragon is also found on a column in the Basel Minster (c. 1185) and on a church facade from the Alsatian abbey of
Andlau Andlau ( or ; Alsatian: ''Àndlöi'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace, Grand Est region of northeastern France. The village owes its origin to Andlau Abbey which was founded in 880 by Richardis, the empress of Charles the Fa ...
(c. 1130/40?). This may depict a scene told in one variant in the ''Þiðreks saga'' and in another in the epic ''
Virginal The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ha ...
'' in which Dietrich or Hildebrand similarly rescues a man from being swallowed by a dragon. These images may also simply illustrate an allegory of the salvation of the soul from the maw of evil. Runkelstein Castle outside
Bozen Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...
in
South Tirol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...
was decorated with
fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...
es depicting courtly and heroic figures, around 1400. The decorations include depictions of triads of figures, among them the heroes Dietrich, Siegfried, and Dietleib von Steiermark, as well as three
giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
s and three giantesses labeled with names from heroic epics. Wildenstein castle in
Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
was decorated with images from the epic ''
Sigenot ''Sigenot'' is an anonymous Middle High German poem about the legendary hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It is one of the so-called fantastical (''aventiure ...
'' in the 16th century.
Emperor Maximilian I Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself Ele ...
's decision to have Theodoric the Great, together with
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
and
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
, be one of the four bronze sculptures on his tomb in
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...
was probably influenced by Maximilian's documented interest in the heroic poems. German manuscripts of heroic epics were generally not illuminated until the 15th century, when a small number of illuminated manuscripts begin to appear. The manuscripts all vary widely in their iconography, showing that there was no tradition of depicting heroic events. The first illuminated manuscript of the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'' is manuscript ''b'', also known as the (c. 1436–1442, in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
), which contains a cycle of 14 illuminations on the events of the poem. A number of manuscripts include an illumination at the beginning of each epic, usually illustrating an important event from the poem such as Siegfried's murder or
Ortnit Ortnit is the eponymous protagonist of the Middle High German heroic epic ''Ortnit''. First written down in strophic form in around 1230 by an anonymous author, it circulated in a number of distinct versions. In the earliest version, King Ortnit ...
's fight with a dragon. Other manuscripts include cycles of illustrations, such as one of the ''
Rosengarten zu Worms Dietrich and Siegfried from a 15th-century manuscript of the ''Rosengarten zu Worms'' ''Der Rosengarten zu Worms'' (the rose garden at Worms), sometimes called ''Der große Rosengarten'' (the big rose garden) to differentiate it from ''Der klein ...
'' and another of ''
Virginal The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ha ...
''. Notable is a manuscript of the Dietrich epic ''
Sigenot ''Sigenot'' is an anonymous Middle High German poem about the legendary hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It is one of the so-called fantastical (''aventiure ...
'' which was produced c. 1470 for Margaret of Savoy, containing 20 miniatures of very high quality. Printed editions of the poems frequently contained
woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...
s.


Written attestations

Detailed attestations of heroic traditions are only found in writing. These written attestations cannot be assumed to be identical to the oral tradition, but represent adaptations of it, undertaken by a particular author at a particular time and place. No surviving text of Germanic legend appears to have been "oral," but rather all appear to have been conceived as written texts. The oral tradition also continued outside and alongside of the written medium. More recent written compositions can thus contain very old material or legendary variants; conversely, older texts do not necessarily convey an older or more authentic version of the tradition. Written versions of heroic legend are not confined to a single genre, but appear in various formats, including the
heroic lay The heroic lay (German ''Heldenlied'') is a genre of Germanic epic poetry characteristic of the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages. A lay is a short narrative poem of between 80 and 200 lines concerning a single heroic episode in the life ...
, in the form of epic, as prose
saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to th ...
s, as well as theatrical plays and
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s. Its written attestations also come from various places and time periods, including the 9th century
Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the L ...
,
Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...
in the 8th and 9th centuries, Scandinavia in the 13th century, and what is now
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
from the 12th to the 16th centuries. Heiko Uecker comments that the preserved attestations should not be considered "Germanic," but rather
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
,
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
, or
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...
.


Early medieval

The Early Middle Ages produced only a few written heroic texts, as the majority of writing was on religious subjects, including in the vernacular. The 7th-century
Pforzen buckle The Pforzen buckle is a silver belt buckle found in Pforzen, Ostallgäu (Schwaben) in 1992. The Alemannic grave in which it was found (no. 239) dates to the end of the 6th century and was presumably that of a warrior, as it also contained a spea ...
, discovered in 1992 in an
Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
c warrior's grave in southern Germany, has a short
runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
inscription that may refer to Egil and Ölrun, two figures from the legend of
Wayland the smith In Germanic mythology, Wayland the Smith ( ang, Wēland; , ; Old Frisian: Wela(n)du; german: Wieland der Schmied; goh, Wiolant; ''Galans'' (''Galant'') in Old French; gem-x-proto, Wēlandaz, italic=no from ', lit. "crafting one") is a master ...
. An early source in Latin is the ''
Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate ...
'' (c. 783–796) of
Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, ...
: it recounts legends told among the
Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
about their king
Alboin Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting eff ...
. The Frankish Emperor
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
(748-814) may have collected heroic poetry. His biographer
Einhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; la, E(g)inhardus; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita ...
wrote that: It has traditionally been supposed that this represented a written collection of heroic poetry, and interest in heroic poetry at Charlemagne's court seems likely. However it is also possible that it was royal praise poetry of the type preserved in the
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
''
Ludwigslied The ''Ludwigslied'' (in English, ''Lay'' or ''Song of Ludwig'') is an Old High German (OHG) poem of 59 rhyming couplets, celebrating the victory of the Frankish army, led by Louis III of France, over Danish (Viking) raiders at the Battle of Sau ...
''. In any case, none of the purported collection has survived, unless it included the earliest extant vernacular heroic text, the ''
Hildebrandslied The ''Hildebrandslied'' (; ''Lay'' or ''Song of Hildebrand'') is a heroic lay written in Old High German alliterative verse. It is the earliest poetic text in German, and it tells of the tragic encounter in battle between a father (Hildebrand) ...
''. The poem tells of the battle of the hero
Hildebrand Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword". ...
with his own son Hadubrand and alludes to many of the traditions that will later surround Theodoric the Great/
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
. Some potential references to written heroic poems are found in 9th-century monastic library catalogues, and the chronicler Flodoard of Reims (c.893–966) mentions a written narrative about
Ermanaric Ermanaric; la, Ermanaricus or ''Hermanaricus''; ang, Eormanrīc ; on, Jǫrmunrekkr , gmh, Ermenrîch (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythi ...
.
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
Scandinavia is traditionally believed to have produced a number of poems on heroic subjects in this period, but they were not written down until the 13th century. Although more recent scholarship has challenged the age of most of the surviving written poems, it remains likely that precursors to extant poems existed in the Viking Age. A single stanza on the 9th-century Rök runestone from
Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English ...
, Sweden, also mentions Dietrich/Theodoric. Anglo-Saxon England, which had a larger written culture than the continent, also produced several texts on heroic subjects, including the only vernacular heroic epic of the time period, ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
''. ''Beowulf'' deals with the legends of the
Scylding Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many ...
s, the ancestors of the Danish royal house, although it is debated whether Beowulf himself is a traditional or invented figure. The poem ''
Widsið "Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'' is the first person narrator of a '' scop'' who describes his travels. The lay is attested in the 10th century Exeter book; it has traditionally been dated to the 7th century but this early dating has been questioned. The lay presents a catalogue of the names of 180 rulers and tribes from heroic legend, occasionally providing some details of a narrative, such as that of the Scyldings and of Eormanric (
Ermanaric Ermanaric; la, Ermanaricus or ''Hermanaricus''; ang, Eormanrīc ; on, Jǫrmunrekkr , gmh, Ermenrîch (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythi ...
). Another poem by a fictional , '' Deor'', presents itself as the narrative of Deor, who has lost his position at court to the Heorrenda, a famous singer from the legend of
Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr ( Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the '' Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the '' Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields ...
, and contains several other allusions to heroic material, such as to the legend of
Wayland the Smith In Germanic mythology, Wayland the Smith ( ang, Wēland; , ; Old Frisian: Wela(n)du; german: Wieland der Schmied; goh, Wiolant; ''Galans'' (''Galant'') in Old French; gem-x-proto, Wēlandaz, italic=no from ', lit. "crafting one") is a master ...
. The legend of
Walter of Aquitaine Walter or Walther of Aquitaine is a king of the Visigoths in Germanic heroic legend. Epic poetry Walter figures in several epic poems and narratives dealing with Germanic heroic legend in medieval languages: * ''Waldere'', a fragment of an ...
is told in the fragmentary ''
Waldere "Waldere" or "Waldhere" is the conventional title given to two Old English fragments, of around 32 and 31 lines, from a lost epic poem, discovered in 1860 by E. C. Werlauff, Librarian, in the Danish Royal Library at Copenhagen, where it is stil ...
'', which also includes mentions of the fights of the heroes Ðeodric (Dietrich von Bern) and Widia (
Witege Witege, Witige or Wittich ( ang, Wudga, Widia; Gotho- lat, Vidigoia) or Vidrik "Vidga" Verlandsson ( + ''Viðga'' or ''Videke'' + ''Verlandsson'', ''Vallandsson'', or ''Villandsson'') is a character in several Germanic heroic legends, poems abo ...
), son of Wayland, against giants. The Finnesburg Fragment tells a story, also relayed in ''Beowulf'' of a surprise attack led by the Frisian king Finn on visiting Danes led by his brother-in-law, the Danish king Hnæf. It is not clear if Finnesburg Fragment is an old poem or a recent composition, nor how long it originally was. A number of brief mentions in Latin ecclesiastical texts indicate the popularity of heroic traditions among the early medieval clergy while simultaneously condemning it as a distraction from salvation. This popularity led to the writing of the Latin epic ''
Waltharius ''Waltharius'' is a Latin epic poem founded on German popular tradition relating the exploits of the Visigothic hero Walter of Aquitaine. While its subject matter is taken from early medieval Germanic legend, the epic stands firmly in the Lati ...
'' (9th or 10th century) in the area around
Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lak ...
, which reworked the legend of Walter of Aquitaine. A number of early medieval Latin chronicles also contain material from the heroic tradition.
Widukind of Corvey Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume '' Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty. Life In view of ...
's ''
The Deeds of the Saxons The ''Deeds of the Saxons, or Three Books of Annals'' ( la, Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres) is a three-volume chronicle of 10th century Germany written by Widukind of Corvey. Widukind, proud of his people and history, begins his chr ...
'' contains what is commonly taken to be a lost legend about the last independent king of the
Thuringians The Thuringii, Toringi or Teuriochaimai, were an early Germanic people that appeared during the late Migration Period in the Harz Mountains of central Germania, a region still known today as Thuringia. It became a kingdom, which came into confl ...
,
Hermanafrid Hermanfrid (also Hermanifrid or Hermanafrid; , died 532) was the last independent king of the Thuringii in present-day Germany. He was one of three sons of King Bisinus and the Lombard Menia. His siblings were Baderic; Raicunda, married to the L ...
, and his death at the hands of his vassal Iring at the instigation of Theuderic I, king of the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...
. The
Annals of Quedlinburg The ''Annals of Quedlinburg'' ( lat, Annales Quedlinburgenses; german: Quedlinburger Annalen) were written between 1008 and 1030 in the convent of Quedlinburg Abbey. In recent years a consensus has emerged that it is likely that the annalist was ...
(early 11th century), includes legendary material about
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
,
Ermanaric Ermanaric; la, Ermanaricus or ''Hermanaricus''; ang, Eormanrīc ; on, Jǫrmunrekkr , gmh, Ermenrîch (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythi ...
, and
Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and E ...
in the guise of history.


High and late medieval Scandinavian

Some of the oldest written Scandinavian sources relate to the same heroic matter as found in ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'', namely ''
Langfeðgatal The LangfeðgatalSometimes written Langfedgetal or Langfedgatal (Old Norse pronunciation: , ) is a 12th-century Icelandic genealogy of Scandinavian kings. The anonymous Icelandic Langfeðgatal is preserved in a manuscript that is part of the Arnam ...
'' (12th c.), the '' Lejre Chronicle'' (late 12th c.), '' Short History of the Kings of Denmark'' (c. 1188), and the ''
Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' by
Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...
(c. 1200). At this time in
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
, the now lost '' Skjöldunga saga'' was written, c. 1200, and like parts of ''Gesta Danorum'' and ''Beowulf'' it dealt with the legendary Danish
Scylding Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many ...
(Skjöldung) dynasty, and it would be the main source for future sagas on the Danish Scylding dynasty's relations with its Swedish
Scylfing The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...
(Yngling) counterpart. Sometime c. 1220–1230,
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
finished writing the ''
Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
'', a history of the Norwegian kings, having previously spent two years in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
(1218–20). In the saga, Snorri fleshes out the skaldic poem ''
Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...
'' with Scandinavian heroic legends relating to the Norse kings, such as the 6th c. Swedish king
Aðils Eadgils, ''Adils'', ''Aðils'', ''Adillus'', ''Aðísl at Uppsölum'', ''Athisl'', ''Athislus'' or ''Adhel'' was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. ''Beowulf'' and Old Norse sources present ...
, about whom it includes native legends related to some of those found in ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
''. Snorri is also the author of the ''
Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been ...
'' (c. 1220–1241). It contains a part called ''
Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...
'' that has a list of
kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...
s and heitis for young poets, and he provided it with narratives to provide background for them. The ''
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
'' is a collection of Old Norse mythological and heroic poems that was probably first compiled in the mid-13th century in Iceland and is known from two major manuscripts today, of which the
Codex Regius Codex Regius ( la, Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; is, Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it ...
(c. 1270) is the most important. The Codex Regius groups mythological poems into a first section and a series of 19 heroic poems into a second; scholars believe that the two sections of poems likely come from two originally separate written collections. Although the legends in Poetic Edda are very old, the poems themselves come from different times, and some may have been written in the 13th century: normally the poems '' Völundarkviða'' and '' Atlakviða'' are believed to be from the
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
, while the three lays concerning
Gudrun Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two qu ...
, the '' Atlamál'', and '' Helreið Brynhildar'' are thought to be very recent. Some poems, such as '' Hamðismál'', are judged to be old by some scholars and recent by others. The heroic poems open with 3 concerning Sigurd's half brother Helgi Hundingsbane, continue with a group of lays about Sigurd, followed by a group about the destruction of the Burgundians, and close with lays about Svanhildr and Jörmunrekkr (Ermanaric), all loosely connected via short prose passages and through the figures of Sigurd and Gudrun. In the mid-13th century, legendary sagas ( non, fornaldarsögur) began to be written in the Old Norse vernacular, some of which derive from Scandinavian and Germanic heroic legends. Those sagas which contain older heroic legend are given the German name ("heroic sagas") in modern scholarly usage. Much of the content of these sagas is derived from Eddic poems, and other elements likely derive from then current oral tradition. Some may be additions of the saga authors. Traditionally, six sagas are counted as : ''
Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
'', '' Norna-Gests þáttr'', '' Hervarar saga'', ''
Hrólfs saga kraka Hrólfs saga kraka, the ''Saga of King Rolf Kraki'', is a late legendary saga on the adventures Hrólfr Kraki, a semi-legendary king in what is now Denmark, and his clan, the Skjöldungs. The events can be dated to the late 5th century and the 6t ...
'', '' Sǫgubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum'', and ''
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.Ciklamini, M., ‘The Comb ...
''. The best-known today, the ''Völsunga saga'', was probably written in Norway and shows knowledge of the ''Þiðreks saga'' (see below): it narrates the story of Sigurd and his ancestors, the destruction of the Burgundians, and the death of Jörmunrekr (Ermanaric), moving their location to Scandinavia and including many mythological elements. The ''Hrólfs saga kraka'' may be the second best-known legendary saga. It was popular in the Middle Ages, and it still is, but its modern popularity among scholars is due to it being a ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'' analogue, with which it shares at least eight legendary characters. The ''Hervarar saga'' combines several different stories that are united by the handing down of the cursed sword
Tyrfing Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (the name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the '' Poetic Edda'' called '' Hervarar ...
through generations. It preserves what is considered to be one of the oldest heroic lays, the '' Battle of the Goths and Huns'', and poetry such as the '' Waking of Angantýr'', the '' Riddles of Gestumblindi'' and the '' Samsey poetry''. Another important source for heroic legend was the '' Þiðreks saga'', a compilation of heroic material mostly from northern Germany, composed in
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
, Norway in the mid 13th century. By its own account, it was composed from oral German sources, although it is possible that some written materials were used as well. The ''Þiðreks saga'' is not a purely legendary saga, but also contains material about
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
and
Apollonius of Tyre Apollonius of Tyre is the subject of an ancient short novella, popular in the Middle Ages. Existing in numerous forms in many languages, the text is thought to be translated from an ancient Greek manuscript, now lost. Plot summary In most versi ...
. It is probably part of the tradition of
chivalric sagas The ''riddarasögur'' (literally 'sagas of knights', also known in English as 'chivalric sagas', 'romance-sagas', 'knights' sagas', 'sagas of chivalry') are Norse prose Norse saga, sagas of the romance (heroic literature), romance genre. Starting ...
- translations of courtly material - initiated by king
Haakon IV of Norway Haakon IV Haakonsson ( – 16 December 1263; Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson'' ; Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson''), sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his namesake son, was King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 ...
. The core of the saga is the biography of the hero Dietrich von Bern (). The saga appears to assemble all of the heroic material from the continent and is thus a valuable attestations of which heroic legends were being told on the continent in the 13th century, including several that are otherwise lost.


High and late medieval German

From the 11th to the 12th centuries, heroic legend on the continent is mentioned only in brief allusions. This includes a tradition of criticizing the legendary life of
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
as not according with the life of the historical
Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy ...
, found in works such as the of Frutolf of Michelsberg (c. 1100), the (1134-1136) of Otto von Freising, and the vernacular '' Kaiserchronik'' (after 1146). Allusions to heroic legends are also found in a number of vernacular literary works of
courtly romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric ...
and
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
from the 12th century, including by
Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170c. 1230) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs (" Sprüche") in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundr ...
, Heinrich von Veldeke, and
Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. There ar ...
. From the 13th to 16th centuries, many heroic traditions enter writing in Germany and enjoy great popularity. Werner Hoffmann defined five subjects of heroic epics in medieval Germany: the Nibelungen (
Burgundians The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
and Siegfried), the lovers Walther and Hildegund, the maiden
Kudrun ''Kudrun'' (sometimes known as the ''Gudrunlied'' or ''Gudrun''), is an anonymous Middle High German heroic epic. The poem was likely composed in either Austria or Bavaria around 1250. It tells the story of three generations of the ruling house of ...
, kings
Ortnit Ortnit is the eponymous protagonist of the Middle High German heroic epic ''Ortnit''. First written down in strophic form in around 1230 by an anonymous author, it circulated in a number of distinct versions. In the earliest version, King Ortnit ...
and
Wolfdietrich Wolfdietrich is the eponymous protagonist of the Middle High German heroic epic ''Wolfdietrich''. First written down in strophic form in around 1230 by an anonymous author, it survives in four main versions, widely differing in scope and conte ...
, and Dietrich von Bern. He found the heroic epics to be closely related to another genre, the so-called '' Spielmannsdichtung'' ("minstrel poetry"). The anonymous authorship of the Middle High Germans heroic poems forms an important distinction from other poetic genres, such as romance, but is shared with ''Spielmannsdichtung''. Although these epics all appear to be written compositions, the amount of differences between manuscripts indicates that their texts were not fixed and that redactors could insert additional material from the oral tradition and otherwise edit the epics. Heroic poetry begins to be composed in writing in Germany with the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'' (c. 1200), which updated the heroic legends with elements of the popular literary genre of its time, courtly romance. The epics written after the ''Nibelungenlied'' maintain this hybrid nature. For this reason Middle High German heroic poetry is also called "late heroic poetry" (). The ''Nibelungenlied'' narrates the wooing of Kriemhild (
Gudrun Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two qu ...
) by the hero Siegfried, his aid to king Gunther in the latter's wooing of Brünhild ( Brunhild), Siegfried's murder at the hands of Gunther's vassal
Hagen Hagen () is the 41st-largest city in Germany. The municipality is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme (me ...
, and Kriemhild's treacherous revenge on Hagen and her brothers after inviting them to the hall of Kriemhild's new husband, Etzel (Attila). A direct reaction to the heroic nihilism of the ''Nibelungenlied'' is found in the ''Kudrun'' (1230?), in which material also found in Old English and Old Norse about the heroine
Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr ( Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the '' Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the '' Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields ...
serves as the prologue to the - likely invented - story of her daughter, Kudrun. From 1230 onward, several heroic epics, of which 14 are known to us, were written concerning the hero Dietrich von Bern, forming a literary cycle comparable to that around
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
(the
Matter of Britain The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Weste ...
) or
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
(the
Matter of France The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and his associates. The cycle springs from the Old French ''chans ...
). These texts are typically divided into "historical" and "fantastical" epics, depending on whether they concern Dietrich's battles with Ermenrich (Ermanaric) and exile at the court of Etzel (Attila) or his battles with mostly supernatural opponents such as
dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
s,
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...
s, and
giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
s. The "historical" Dietrich epic '' Rabenschlacht'' (c. 1280) narrates the death of the sons of Etzel (Attila) and of Dietrich's brother Diether at the hands of his traitorous vassal,
Witege Witege, Witige or Wittich ( ang, Wudga, Widia; Gotho- lat, Vidigoia) or Vidrik "Vidga" Verlandsson ( + ''Viðga'' or ''Videke'' + ''Verlandsson'', ''Vallandsson'', or ''Villandsson'') is a character in several Germanic heroic legends, poems abo ...
and may have origins in the
Battle of Nedao The Battle of Nedao was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454 between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. Nedao is believed to be a tributary of the Sava River. Battle After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the subject peoples u ...
(454). The "fantastical" Dietrich epics are typically thought to be later material, possibly invented on the basis of earlier motifs in the 13th century, although Dietrich's battles with giants are already mentioned in the Old English ''Waldere'' fragment. The earliest attested of the "fantastical" epics is the ''
Eckenlied ''Das Eckenlied'' or ''Ecken Ausfahrt'' (The Song of Ecke or Ecke's Quest) is an anonymous 13th-century Middle High German poem about the legendary hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in G ...
'', of which a single stanza is contained in the
Codex Buranus ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...
(c. 1230). Closely connected to the Dietrich epics, the combined epics ''Ortnit'' and ''Wolfdietrich'' (both c. 1230) have unclear connections to the Migration Period and may be inventions of the thirteenth century, although
Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...
origins are also suggested for ''Wolfdietrich''. Almost all of the texts originate in the Bavarian-speaking areas of Bavaria and Austria, with several texts about Dietrich von Bern having origins in
Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
; a few others seem to have originated in the Alemannic dialect area in modern south-west Germany and Switzerland. Evidence for the continued existence of heroic legends in what is now Northern Germany and the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
is provided by the ''Þiðreks saga'' on the one hand, and the early modern ballad ''
Ermenrichs Tod ''Ermenrichs Tod'' or ''Koninc Ermenrîkes Dôt'' (the death of king Ermenrich) is an anonymous Middle Low German heroic ballad from the middle of the sixteenth century. It is a late attestation of Germanic heroic legend. The ballad, which is p ...
'' (printed 1560 in
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
) on the other. The latter tells a garbled version of the killing of Ermenrich (Ermanaric) also found in early medieval Latin sources and the Eddic poem '' Hamðismál''. Very few new heroic poems, and no new heroic epics, were written after 1300, although the existing ones remained popular. Beginning in the 14th century, heroic poems come to be collected together in so-called Heldenbücher ("books of heroes"); the of Diebolt von Hanau (after 1475) contains a text known as the which provides a brief history of the entire heroic world. Possibly originating in the 14th century but only attested in 1530, the ''
Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid (the song of horn-skinned Siegfried), or for short, is an anonymous Early New High German heroic ballad. The poem concerns the adventures of young Siegfried, hero of the ''Nibelungenlied'' and an important figure in Germanic heroic legend. It p ...
'' recorded a number of details about the hero Siegfried absent in the ''Nibelungenlied'' but attested in Old Norse tradition. The
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
the '' Jüngeres Hildebrandslied'' (c. 1450) concerns the same material as the early medieval ''Hildebrandslied''. Finally, a number of heroic texts were adopted as carnival plays (), including by the
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
poet Hans Sachs (1494-1564).


Heroic poetry


Heroic lay and heroic epic

There is disagreement about the relationship between
heroic lay The heroic lay (German ''Heldenlied'') is a genre of Germanic epic poetry characteristic of the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages. A lay is a short narrative poem of between 80 and 200 lines concerning a single heroic episode in the life ...
and heroic epic in current scholarship. According to the influential model developed by Andreas Heusler (1905), Germanic heroic poetry mostly circulated in heroic lays (): relatively short pieces, of similar length to the Eddic poems, that had fixed wording and were memorized. These poems could then later be expanded into full-sized epics in writing. "Neo-Heuslerians" continue to follow this model with some adjustments, emphasizing in particular that the common Germanic form was short, as found in the Scandinavian examples.
Hermann Reichert Hermann Reichert (born 7 April 1944) is an Austrian philologist at the University of Vienna who specializes in Germanic studies. Biography Hermann Reichert was born in Pernitz, Austria, on 7 April 1944. He received his PhD in Germanic philology ...
argues that only the ''Hildebrandslied'' is a genuine example of an early heroic lay, discounting the age of Norse examples that are generally dated early, such as '' Atlakviða''. Other scholarship has instead argued that the poems could be of variable length and were improvised with each performance, according to the oral forumulaic theory of oral poetry, According to Edward Haymes, common Germanic heroic poetry appears to have been "oral epic poetry", which made heavy use of repetitions and formula within the metrical scheme of alliterative verse. Some signs of oral epic style in ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'' are inconsistencies from scene to scene, as details, such the presence of objects or individuals, are mentioned or omitted from performance to performance. Nevertheless, no "oral" heroic poetry has survived, as all the written attestations appear to be written compositions. Eddic poems, including the supposedly oldest, the '' Atlakviða'', show important differences from typical oral formulaic style and the style of Old English, Old Saxon, and Old High German heroic poetry. Haymes, an adherent of the oral epic, suggests that this means that the Eddic poems were not improvised, but instead memorized verbatim according to Heusler's model, something also suggested by the use of similar techniques in oral traditions such as
Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...
oral poetry. It is possible that the sort of literal memorization required of Norse
skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...
resulted in the loss of oral formulaic improvised poetry in an Old Norse context; Haymes and Samples suggest that this same fixed quality may have driven the change from heroic poetry to prose sagas in Iceland and Scandinavia.


Poetic form

Originally, the Germanic-speaking peoples shared a metrical and poetic form,
alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...
, which is attested in very similar forms in
Old Saxon Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). I ...
,
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
and
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
, and in a modified form in
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
. The common form consists of lines of four stressed beats, with a
caesura 300px, An example of a caesura in modern western music notation A caesura (, . caesuras or caesurae; Latin for " cutting"), also written cæsura and cesura, is a metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phrase begin ...
dividing the line in half. At least two beats must alliterate across the caesura, forming what in German is called a ("long line"). The final beat generally receives no alliteration. Any vowel could alliterate with any other vowel.
Klaus von See Klaus von See (10 August 1927 – 30 August 2013) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Klaus von See was born in the village of Altendorf, Brome, Germany on 10 August 1927. He studied history, German and Sca ...
gives the following examples from Old English, Old High German, and Old Norse (stressed syllable underlined, alliteration bolded, and , , representing the caesura): The poetic forms diverge among the different languages from the 9th century onward. Thus, the Old High German line shows a higher number of unstressed syllables than is typical for Old English or Old Saxon alliterative verse. Eddic poetry is written in stanzas, as opposed to the non-stanzaic form found in Old Saxon, Old High German, and most Old English poetry. The main meter used in the Eddic heroic poems is '' Fornyrðislag''; it tends to short lines, with only four syllables in each half-line. Lines with more syllables are called , following
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
, although it was probably not an independent meter. In Middle High German, alliterative verse is replaced by stanzas featuring end-
rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
. These stanzas existed in a variety of forms and tend to use a form of of undetermined origin consisting of three stresses, a caesura, and then three stresses. The epics use various stanzaic forms, including the ''Nibelungen''-stanza, the ''Kudrun''-stanza, the , and the . These stanzas often feature variant . The ''Nibelungen'' stanza can serve as an example, as its final half-line has an additional stress (, , represents the caesura, an acute accent represents a stressed syllable):
Ze Wórmez bí dem Ríne , , si wónten mít ir kráft. in díente vón ir lánden , , vil stólziu ríterscáft mit lóbelíchen éren , , unz án ir éndes zít. si stúrben sit jǽmerlíche , , von zwéier édelen fróuwen nít. (''Nibelungenlied'', stanza 6)
Many stanzas of the ''Nibelungenlied'' are constructed in a much less regular manner. The Middle High German rhyming stanzas were meant to be sung, and melodies survive for the , , and .


Style

In heroic poetry, the use of poetic
epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
s, compounds, and formulaic language is frequent. The openings of poems such as the ''
Hildebrandslied The ''Hildebrandslied'' (; ''Lay'' or ''Song of Hildebrand'') is a heroic lay written in Old High German alliterative verse. It is the earliest poetic text in German, and it tells of the tragic encounter in battle between a father (Hildebrand) ...
'', ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'', and the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'' all use a similar opening formula referring to the oral nature of the legends. The shorter poems such as the ''Hildebrandslied'' and the Eddic lays have a fast-paced style that heavily mixes dialogue with action. West Germanic style tends more to have longer lines and sentences with an emphasis on the use of poetic synonyms (), whereas Old Norse poetry tends to be narrated tersely. Eddic poetry rarely features
enjambment In poetry, enjambment ( or ; from the French ''enjamber'') is incomplete syntax at the end of a line; the meaning 'runs over' or 'steps over' from one poetic line to the next, without punctuation. Lines without enjambment are end-stopped. The ori ...
across lines. West Germanic heroic poetry tends to use what Andreas Heusler called ("bow style"): sentences are spread across various lines and often begin at the caesura. Middle High German heroic poetry follows a similar style, including occasional enjambment across stanzas.


Singers and authors

Written heroic poems are typically anonymous. There is no information as to whether a class of professional singers were responsible for composing heroic poetry in Germanic times. Sources are also vague for most of the Early Middle Ages. By the late 9th century, a figure known in Old English as a '' scop'', in
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
as a , and in Latin texts as a or is attested as a type of singer or minstrel resident at the court of a particular lord. A is depicted singing heroic material in ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
''. The could also function as a '' þyle'', a keeper of past knowledge (), and in Scandinavia this term corresponded to ''þulr'', from Old Norse ''þula'' ("lay"), which is translated as "reciter", "sage" or "wise-man", or possibly "bard". It is generally assumed that the poem was recited with musical accompaniment. In Scandinavia there was also the figure of the ''
skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...
''. However,
skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...
was considered a separate genre from heroic poetry, so that the role of skalds in transmitting or composing heroic poetry is unclear. In any case, knowledge of the heroic tradition was necessary in order to compose and understand skaldic poetry, and skaldic poetry shows a number of stylistic similarities to Norse heroic poetry.
Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...
refers to a "Saxon singer" () who sings a heroic song in Denmark. For the Middle High German period, it seems likely that heroic poems were transmitted by the same class of minstrels as Spruchdichtung. The Spruchdichter refers in one verse to constantly being asked to sing songs on heroic subjects.


End of the heroic tradition

The heroic tradition in England died out with the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
, which replaced the Germanic-speaking aristocracy who had cultivated Germanic heroic legend with a
Romance-speaking The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
one. In Germany, the heroic tradition largely disappears from writing around 1600; it is likely that the oral tradition had been dying out prior to this. The primary audience had already changed from the nobility to the urban bourgeoisie. Some texts continued to be read in the form of '' Heldenbücher'', while a prose version of the ''
Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid (the song of horn-skinned Siegfried), or for short, is an anonymous Early New High German heroic ballad. The poem concerns the adventures of young Siegfried, hero of the ''Nibelungenlied'' and an important figure in Germanic heroic legend. It p ...
'', in which the original names and most connections to heroic legend were altered, continued to be printed into the 19th century. The '' Jüngeres Hildebrandslied'' continued to be printed into the 18th century and is found in 19th and 20th century collections of
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s. Versions of the epic ''
Kudrun ''Kudrun'' (sometimes known as the ''Gudrunlied'' or ''Gudrun''), is an anonymous Middle High German heroic epic. The poem was likely composed in either Austria or Bavaria around 1250. It tells the story of three generations of the ruling house of ...
'' were preserved in the ballads (18th century) and a ballad called , recorded in 1867 from
Gottschee Gottschee (, sl, Kočevsko) refers to a former German-speaking region in Carniola, a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola, now in Slovenia. The region has been a county, duchy, distric ...
, while elements of the legend of
Wolfdietrich Wolfdietrich is the eponymous protagonist of the Middle High German heroic epic ''Wolfdietrich''. First written down in strophic form in around 1230 by an anonymous author, it survives in four main versions, widely differing in scope and conte ...
were also preserved in some popular ballads. The Gök runestone (c. 1010- c. 1050) has been said to be a case in point of how the older heroic poetry dissolved in Sweden, as it uses the same imagery as the
Ramsund carving The Sigurd stones form a group of eight or nine Swedish runic inscriptions (five or six runestones, two natural rocks, and a baptismal font) and one picture stone that depict imagery from the Germanic heroic legend of Sigurd the dragon slayer. The ...
, but a Christian cross has been added and the images are combined in a way that completely distorts the internal logic of events. The insertion of explanatory prose into some poems of the ''
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
'' is argued by Edward Haymes and Susan Samples to represent a similar loss of tradition, showing that audiences no longer understood the poems in their original forms. Victor Millet writes that the heroic tradition in Scandinavia barely survives its literary blossoming in the 13th century. However, the heroic poetry survived in a new form in the Pan-Scandinavian medieval ballads, as the heroic ballads. The medieval ballads stayed popular from their origin in the Middle Ages, until the 20th century, and from the rural illiterate to the middle and upper classes that collected and printed them.


Modern Influence


Early Modern Era

In 1514, the Danish work ''
Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'' by
Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...
was published for the first time, and in 1555,
Olaus Magnus Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic. Biography Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...
published his '' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus''. During the late 17th c. and the early 18th, there was a series of first publications of
legendary saga A legendary saga or ''fornaldarsaga'' (literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the settlement of Iceland.The article ''Fornaldarsagor'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991 ...
s by Swedish scholars, with translations in Latin and Swedish, done in support of Sweden's "noble past" and "Age of Greatness". In 1672, Olaus Verelius published '' Hervarar saga'' for the first time, and in 1697,
Johan Peringskiöld Johan Peringskiöld (6 October 1654 – 24 March 1720) was a Swedish antiquarian. Biography Johan Peringer was born at Strängnäs in Södermanland County, Sweden. His father Lars Fredrik Peringer (1613-1687) was senior master at the gymnasi ...
published the ''
Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
''. In 1719, his son Johan Fredrik Peringskiöld published '' Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum'', and in 1722 ''
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.Ciklamini, M., ‘The Comb ...
''. In 1737, Eric Julius Björner published the collection ''Nordiska kämpadater'' of legendary sagas, which consisted of sagas such as the ''
Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
'', '' Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna'', ''
Hrólfs saga kraka Hrólfs saga kraka, the ''Saga of King Rolf Kraki'', is a late legendary saga on the adventures Hrólfr Kraki, a semi-legendary king in what is now Denmark, and his clan, the Skjöldungs. The events can be dated to the late 5th century and the 6t ...
'', '' Norna-Gests þáttr'', and '' Ragnars saga loðbrókar''. The ''
Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been ...
'' would be published in Latin by Johan Göransson in 1746. In Denmark, in 1665, parts of the newly rediscovered ''
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
'' were published by Peder Resen, but these Eddic poems did not cover the heroic matter. The most influential work from this time may have been the
Thomas Bartholin Thomas Bartholin (; Latinized as ''Thomas Bartholinus''; 20 October 1616 – 4 December 1680) was a Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian. He is best known for his work in the discovery of the lymphatic system in humans and for hi ...
's ''Antiquitatum Danicarum de causis contempta a Danis adhuc gentilibus mortis'' (1689), with long scenes from sagas where heroes are followed while they smiling meet death and earn well-deserved places with
Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...
in
Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...
.


Romantic movement

The period from the late 18th century to the 1830s was characterized by an interest in folklore and folk practice (such as folk ballads), and works that had previously been ignored from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.


Translations

The manuscript of the ''
Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
'' was first rediscovered in 1755. It was quickly dubbed the "German
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
" () by Swiss scholar
Johann Jakob Bodmer Johann Jakob Bodmer (19 July 16982 January 1783) was a Swiss author, academic, critic and poet. Life Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters. In 1 ...
, who published his own partial adaptation of the second half of the epic. Although the poem had many detractors, it received support from the proto- Romantic
Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...
movement and later from important Romantic thinkers such as
August Wilhelm Schlegel August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel (; 8 September 176712 May 1845), usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator and critic, and with his brother Friedrich Schlegel the leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His trans ...
. Romantic figures such as
Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck was born in B ...
,
Christian August Vulpius Christian August Vulpius (23 January 1762 – 25 June 1827) was a German novelist and dramatist. His sister married the noted German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography He was born at Weimar, and was educated at Jena and Erlangen. In ...
, and
Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen (19 February 1780 – 11 June 1856) was a German philologist, chiefly distinguished for his researches in Old German literature. He was born at Angermünde-Schmiedeberg in the Uckermark region of the Margravia ...
worked on producing adaptations or editions of older heroic materials. The ''Nibelungenlied'' appeared in a popular modern German translation by
Karl Simrock Karl Joseph Simrock (28 August 1802 – 18 July 1876) was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of ''Das Nibelungenlied'' into modern German. Life He was born in Bonn, where his father was a music publisher. He s ...
in 1827. This translation remains influential today. Simrock also translated other heroic poems such as the ''
Kudrun ''Kudrun'' (sometimes known as the ''Gudrunlied'' or ''Gudrun''), is an anonymous Middle High German heroic epic. The poem was likely composed in either Austria or Bavaria around 1250. It tells the story of three generations of the ruling house of ...
'', ''
Alpharts Tod ''Alpharts Tod'' (The Death of Alphart) is an anonymous late medieval Middle High German poem in the poetic cycle of the hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It ...
'', and the ''
Rosengarten zu Worms Dietrich and Siegfried from a 15th-century manuscript of the ''Rosengarten zu Worms'' ''Der Rosengarten zu Worms'' (the rose garden at Worms), sometimes called ''Der große Rosengarten'' (the big rose garden) to differentiate it from ''Der klein ...
'', connecting them as . In
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
in 1768,
Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his '' Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,'' published in 1751. G ...
published ''Norse Odes'' and in 1770, Thomas Percy published ''Five Pieces of Runic Poetry'', which included '' The Incantation of Hervor'' and '' The Dying Ode of Regner Lodbrog''. Old Norse heroic matter would from then on be a part of the literary circles of Britain. The first attempt to create a modern edition and translation of the poems of the Poetic Edda was undertaken by the Danish Arnamagnæan Institute in 1787, however only a partial volume was ever produced. The first modern edition was undertaken by Friedrich von der Hagen in 1812; he followed it with a German translation in 1814.
Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...
and
Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, i ...
produced their own edition and translation in 1815. Translations of some heroic poems into English were undertaken by William Herbert. Modern study of heroic legend began in 1829 when Wilhelm Grimm published his , a compilation of various attestations to the heroic tradition that included some reconstructed legends and Grimm's theories on their origins. In 1818, Danish scholar
Peter Erasmus Müller Peter Erasmus Müller (29 May 1776 – 4 September 1834), was a Danish historian, linguist, theologian, and bishop of the Diocese of Zealand from 1830 until his death. Career Müller studied at the University of Copenhagen, where he passed his t ...
published a compendium of the legendary sagas, and in 1829–30 Carl Christian Rafn published 31 sagas in ''Fornaldarsögur Norðrlanda'', which became influential in defining the genre. The first modern English translation of ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'' appeared in 1833 ( Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin having published the first scholarly edition in 1815). It is intrinsically connected to the evolution of
romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
during the 19th century. It was used by early scholars to recover lost cultural memories, and as confirmation of their national identities.


Derivational works

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
, often considered the originator of the historical novel, often commented that he was inspired by Old Norse sources, and he mainly acquired them from
Thomas Bartholin Thomas Bartholin (; Latinized as ''Thomas Bartholinus''; 20 October 1616 – 4 December 1680) was a Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian. He is best known for his work in the discovery of the lymphatic system in humans and for hi ...
,
Olaus Magnus Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic. Biography Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...
and Torfaeus. He subscribed to the sagas that were printed from 1770 by the
Arnamagnæan Institute The Arnamagnæan Institute ( da, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, formerly ''Det Arnamagnæanske Institut'') is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, the ...
in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
, and when he died in 1832, he had an impressive library on the then available Old Norse literature. Some of the elements that he found in Scandinavian legends were dwarfs, magic swords,
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...
,
Valkyries In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
, spae wives, and
dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
. In the romantic period, several plays were written in German on the basis of the ''Nibelungenlied'', as well as many ballads, such as ("Siegfried's Sword") by
Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in ...
. The first German author to adapt Norse sources was the Romantic Friedrich de la Motte-Fouqué, who in 1808-1810 wrote a popular three-part play, ("Sigurd: The Hero of the North"), mostly on the basis of the Latin translations of the ''Völsunga saga'' and the ''Prose Edda''. In 1825,
Esaias Tegnér Esaias Tegnér (; – ) was a Swedish writer, professor of the Greek language, and bishop. He was during the 19th century regarded as the father of modern poetry in Sweden, mainly through the national romantic epic ''Frithjof's Saga''. He has b ...
published '' Frithiof's Saga'', a retelling which rose quickly to international fame. It was admired by people like Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Kaiser Wilhelm II,
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...
and
Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, '' Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she wa ...
, and it inspired undergraduate textbooks, statues, paintings, engravings, seafaring anthologies, travel literature, children's books, works of theater, operas and musicals. Only during the 19th c. it was translated 15 times into English, and into almost every major language in Europe, where it was of immense popularity. Some of its cultural influence can be found in
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...
's poetry, bridal quest romance, the Victorian view of Norway, national epics inspired by folklore, and in the history of ice skating.


1840s to World War 1

From 1843 to 1849, Karl Simrock, who had already translated the ''Nibelungenlied'' and various other poems, attempted to create a new German national epic in the same meter as the ''Nibelungenlied'', the ''Amelungenlied'', based on material about
Dietrich von Bern Dietrich von Bern is the name of a character in Germanic heroic legend who originated as a legendary version of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great. The name "Dietrich", meaning "Ruler of the People", is a form of the Germanic name "Theodo ...
. However, the epic did not become popular with the public. In 19th century Germany, the Nordic tradition with its many mythological elements came to be seen as more original than the German heroic texts, and thus many adaptations relied primarily or partially on Nordic texts.
Friedrich Hebbel Christian Friedrich Hebbel (18 March 1813 – 13 December 1863) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography Hebbel was born at Wesselburen in Dithmarschen, Holstein, the son of a bricklayer. He was educated at the '' Gelehrtenschule des Johann ...
's three-part tragedy (1861), for instance, added mythical elements from the Norse tradition to the plot of the ''Nibelungenlied''.
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...
, one of the founders of modern
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
, became heavily involved with Iceland and its old literature between 1868 and 1876. In collaboration with the Icelander Eiríkur Magnússon (1833-1913), he translated and published Old Norse sagas, some of which had not been published in English before. Some of his sonnets were based on this matter, and addressed to the hero of ''
Grettis saga ''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic out ...
''. In the 1890s he produced translations of at least five
Sagas of Icelanders The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...
, and the monumental ''Heimskringla''. One of his most famous poems is '' The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs'', which Matthias Teichert describes as the most important English-language work based in the ''Nibelungen'' legend. The most famous modern adaptation of Germanic heroic legend is
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's operatic cycle ''
The Ring of the Nibelung (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibel ...
'' (. It was first performed in 1876, although an earlier version of Wagner's libretto was first published in 1853. The cycle consists of four operas: , , , and . Wagner's opera mixed elements of the ''Poetic Edda'', the ''Völsunga saga'', and the ''Nibelungenlied'', as mediated by the theories, editions, and translations of the brothers Grimm, von der Hagen, Simrock, and other romantics.
Klaus Böldl Klaus Böldl (born 21 February 1964) is a German philologist who specializes in Old Norse studies. Böldl was born in Passau and studied Nordic philology, German philology and comparative literature at the universities of Munich and Lund Unive ...
writes that Wagner's work has made a much broader circle of people aware of heroic legend and Norse mythology while at the same time suppressing knowledge of the original mythology. Outside of Germany, most reception of the Nibelungen material has taken place via Wagner. The second most important German adaptation of the Germanic legend in late 19th century Germany was an epic poem in
alliterative verse In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...
called , written by Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Jordan. The epic was published in two parts, ("Legend of Sigfrid") in 1868, mostly based on the ''Nibelungen'' legend, and ("Hildebrand's Home-Coming") in 1874, mostly based on material about Dietrich von Bern. The epic was very popular, experiencing a dozen printings before the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, including an abbreviated edition for use in schools.


From World War 1 to World War 2

The interwar period saw heroic legend enter the world of cinema in
Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary '' Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. ...
's two part film '' Die Nibelungen'' (1924/1925). The film adapts the plot of the ''Nibelungenlied'' as a way to distance itself from Wagner's more heavy reliance on Scandinavian sources. The opening frames of the film dedicate it as inherent to the German people, implying that the film was intended as a form of national epic. Already in the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, the figure of Siegfried had become an identifying figure for German nationalism. In the First World War, the alliance between Germany and
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
came to be described as possessing '' Nibelungentreue'' (Nibelungen loyalty), referring to the loyalty to the death between Hagen and the Burgundians. In the interwar years, the ''Nibelungenlied'' was heavily employed in anti-democratic propaganda following the defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary: the epic supposedly showed that the German people were more well suited to a heroic, aristocratic form of life than democracy. The betrayal and murder of Siegfried was explicitly compared to the "stab in the back" that the German army had supposedly received. At the same time, Hagen and his willingness to sacrifice himself and fight to the death made him into a central figure in the reception of the poem. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
,
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
would explicitly use this aspect of the ''Nibelungenlied'' to celebrate the sacrifice of the German army at
Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...
and compare the
Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...
to Etzel's (Attila's) Asiatic Huns.


Post-World War 2

As a reaction to the use of heroic legends by the Nazis, engagement with the ''Nibelungenlied'' and Nordic myth was eliminated from German school curricula and even became somewhat taboo after the fall of the
Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
.
Harald Reinl Harald Reinl (8 July 1908 in Bad Ischl, Austria – 9 October 1986 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) was an Austrian film director. He is known for the films he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books (see Karl May movies and Edgar Wal ...
's two part film '' Die Nibelungen'' (1966/67) was one of the first commercially successful postwar adaptations, and takes much inspiration from the Nordic versions. Perhaps the most influential post-WW2 work inspired by Germanic heroic legends was ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...
'', by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955. In a 1941 letter to his son Michael, Tolkien had expressed his resentment at "that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler ... Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light."
Tom Shippey Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...
calls ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'' "the single work which influenced Tolkien most", but he was also inspired by other Germanic legends in many ways and he wished to imitate
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...
. Thus he wrote his own retelling of the Nibelung matter in ''
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún ''The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún'' is a book containing two narrative poems and related texts composed by English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HarperCollins on 5 May 2009. The two poems that make ...
''.
Tom Shippey Thomas Alan Shippey (born 9 September 1943) is a British medievalist, a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the ...

''Review of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún'', January 2010, Tolkien Studies 7(1):291-324
DOI: 10.1353/tks.0.0080
To name some of the influence it can be mentioned that in ''
Hrólfs saga kraka Hrólfs saga kraka, the ''Saga of King Rolf Kraki'', is a late legendary saga on the adventures Hrólfr Kraki, a semi-legendary king in what is now Denmark, and his clan, the Skjöldungs. The events can be dated to the late 5th century and the 6t ...
'', the hero Beowulf corresponds to the shapeshifting (bear-man) Bǫðvarr Bjarki, the latter of whom inspired the character Beorn, in ''
The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
''. In the Norse accounts of the Nibelung matter, such as the ''
Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
'', there is a magical but cursed golden ring and a broken sword reforged, called
Andvaranaut In Norse mythology, Andvaranaut ( 12th c. Old Norse: , "Andvari's Gift"), first owned by Andvari, is a magic ring that could help with finding sources of gold. The mischievous god Loki stole Andvari's treasure and the ring. In revenge, Andvari c ...
and
Gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...
. They correspond broadly to the
One Ring The One Ring, also called the Ruling Ring and Isildur's Bane, is a central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–55). It first appeared in the earlier story ''The Hobbit'' (1937) as a magic ring that grants the ...
and the sword
Narsil Weapons and armour of Middle-earth are those of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, such as ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Silmarillion''. Tolkien modelled his fictional warfare on the Ancient and Early Medie ...
(reforged as Andúril), in ''The Lord of the Rings''. In the '' Hervarar saga'', there is the '' Hlöðskviða'' which provided a source for the horse-riding
Rohirrim Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. Known for its horsemen, the Rohirrim, Rohan provides its ally Gondor with cavalry. Its territory is mainly grassland. The Rohirrim call their land the M ...
, in the form of the
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
, as well as the forest Mirkwood, a matter that also had inspired William Morris. Tolkien was influenced by the connection between the Goths and the
Geats The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of t ...
of ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...
'' and the ''
Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the st ...
'', who he considered to be among the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons. The ''Hervarar saga'' and Gestumblindi probably inspired the riddling contest in ''
The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
''. Adaptations of heroic legend continue to be produced. The trilogy ''Wodan's Children'' (1993-1996), by
Diana L. Paxson Diana Lucile Paxson (born February 20, 1943) is an American author, primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories. More recently she has a ...
, narrates the story of the ''Nibelungen'' from the perspectives of the female characters, and is one of the few English-language adaptations that is based directly on the medieval sources rather than Wagner's ''Ring'' cycle. Another recent adaptation is
Stephan Grundy Stephan Scott Grundy (June 28, 1967 – September 29, 2021),
''The Wild Hunt'', October 5, 20 ...
's ''Rhinegold'' (1994), which takes Wagner's ring as its basis but introduces many additional - mostly religious and mythical - elements from medieval sources. There have also been films, such as Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King (2004) based on the Nibelungen matter, a 2007 film adaptation of Beowulf, and TV-series, such as
Vikings (2013 TV series) ''Vikings'' is a historical drama television series created and written by Michael Hirst for the History channel, a Canadian network. Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on March 3, 2013, in Canada. The series concluded on December 30, 2020, when ...
which is based on the heroic matter about Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons.


Events

* Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern * Hjaðningavíg


See also

* Lists of figures in Germanic heroic legend * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, A * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, B–C * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, D–E * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, F–G * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, H–He * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, Hi–Hy * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, I–O * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, P–S * List of figures in Germanic heroic legend, T–Y * List of named animals and plants in Germanic heroic legend *
List of named weapons, armour and treasures in Germanic heroic legend } , The name means "object formerly belonging to Andvari". , A cursed magic ring in the Norse Nibelung legends. , , - , Brinnig (Freise) , gmh, Brinnic, , Compare "Brinnig" to MHG ''brennec'' ("burning"). Freise comes from MHG ''vreise'', ...


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Dietrich von Bern cycle Eddic poetry Epic poetry Middle High German literature German literature of the Late Middle Ages Medieval literature Old Norse literature Sources of Norse mythology Nibelung tradition Amali dynasty Theoderic the Great