Title page of the 1590 edition of the Heldenbuch.

Das Heldenbuch (Der Helden Buoch) is the title under which a large body of German epic poetry of the 13th century has come down to us. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation

The subjects of the individual poems are taken from national German sagas which originated in the epoch of the Migrations (Völkerwanderung), although doubtless here, as in all purely popular sagas, motives borrowed from the forces and phenomena of nature were, in course of time, woven into events originally historical. The Migration Period, also called Barbarian Invasions, or sometimes Völkerwanderung ( German for "wandering of peoples" is the English name While the saga of the Nibelungs crystallized in the 13th century into the Nibelungenlied, and the Low German Hilde-saga into the epic of Kudrun the poems of the Heldenbuch, in the more restricted use of that term, belong almost exclusively to two cycles, (1) the Ostrogothic saga of Ermanrich, Dietrich von Bern (i. The German Nibelungen and the corresponding Old Norse form Niflung ( Niflungr) is the name in Germanic and Norse mythology The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. Kudrun (sometimes known as Gudrun Lied) is a Middle High German epic, written probably in the early years of the 13th century not long after The Ostrogoths (Ostrogothi or Austrogothi were a branch of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe that played a major role in the political events of the late Ermanaric (died 376 was a king of the Gothic Greuthungi at the eve of the Migration Period. Theodoric the Great (454 – August 30, 526) known to the Romans as Flavius Theodoricus, was king of the Ostrogoths (471-526 ruler of e. Dietrich of Verona, Theodoric the Great) and Etzel (Attila), and (2) the cycle of Hugdietrich, Wolfdietrich and Ortnit, which like the Nibelungen saga, was probably of Franconian origin. Theodoric the Great (454 – August 30, 526) known to the Romans as Flavius Theodoricus, was king of the Ostrogoths (471-526 ruler of Main article Haddingjar. Ortnit, or Otnit, German hero of romance, was originally Hertnit or Hartnit Franconia (Franken is a historic region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and the area to its immediate west

The romances of the Heldenbuch are of varying poetic value; only occasionally do they rise to the height of the two chief epics, the Nibelungenlied and Gudrun. In Norse mythology, Gudrun, who is called Kriemhild in the Nibelungenlied, was the sister of Gunnar. Dietrich von Bern, the central figure of the first and more important group, was the ideal type of German medieval hero, and, under more favourable literary conditions, he might have become the centre of an epic more nationally German than even the Nibelungenlied itself.

Of the romances of this group, the chief are Biterolf and Dietlieb, evidently the work of an Austrian poet, who introduced many elements from the court epic of chivalry into a milieu and amongst characters familiar to us from the Nibelungenlied. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Chivalric order Chivalry is a term related to the Medieval institution of Knighthood. Der Rosengarten tells of the conflicts which took place round Kriemhild's "rose garden" in Worms—conflicts from which Dietrich always emerges victor, even when he is confronted by Siegfried himself. In Norse mythology, Gudrun, who is called Kriemhild in the Nibelungenlied, was the sister of Gunnar. Worms (voɐms is a City in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River In Laurin and der kleine Rosengarten, the Heldensage is mingled with elements of popular fairy-lore; it deals with the adventures of Dietrich and his henchman Witege with the wily dwarf Laurin, who watches over another rose garden, that of the Tyrol. Wudga, Widia, Witege, Viðga, Videke or Vidrik Villandsson/Vallandsson/Verlandsson is a hero in several early Germanic legends Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East

Similar in character are the adventures of Dietrich with the giants Ecke (Eckenlied) and Sigenot, with the dwarf Goldemar, and the deeds of chivalry he performs for queen Virginal (Dietrichs erste Ausfahrt)—all of these romances being written in the fresh and popular tone characteristic of the wandering singers or Spielleute. King Goldemar (also spelled Goldmar, Vollmar, and Volmar) is a Dwarf or Kobold from Germanic mythology and folklore Other elements of the Dietrich saga are represented by the poems Alpharts Tod, Dietrichs Flucht and Die Rabenschlacht (Battle of Ravenna). Of these, the first is much the finest poem of the entire cycle and worthy of a place beside the best popular poetry of the Middle High German epoch. Middle High German (MHG German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350 Alphart, a young hero in Dietrich's army, goes out to fight single-handed with Witege and Heime, who had deserted to Ermanrich, and he falls, not in fair battle, but by the treachery of Witege whose life he had spared. Alphart is the hero of Alpharts Tod much the finest poem of the entire cycle of the Heldenbuch and worthy of a place beside the best popular poetry of the Middle Hama, Háma, Heimir, Heime was a legendary Germanic Hero who often appears together with his friend Wudga.

The other two Dietrich epics belong to a later period, the end of the 13th century—the author being an Austrian, Heinrich der Vogler—and show only too plainly the decay that had by this time set in Middle High German poetry. The second cycle of sagas is represented by several long romances, all of them unmistakably "popular" in tone—conflicts with dragons, supernatural adventures, the wonderland of the East providing the chief features of interest. The dragon is a Legendary creature of which some interpretation or depiction appears in almost every culture worldwide The epics of this group are Ortnit, Hugdietrich, Wolfdietrich, the latter with its pathetic episode of the unswerving loyalty of Wolfdietrich's vassal Duke Berchtung and his ten sons. Although many of the incidents and motives of this cycle are drawn from the best traditions of the Heldensage, its literary value is not very high. This collection of popular romances was one of the first German books to be printed. The date of the first edition is unknown, but the second edition appeared in the year 1491 and was followed by later reprints in 1509, 1545, 1560 and 1590. The last of these forms the basis of the text edited by A von Keller for the Stuttgart Literarische Verein in 1867.

In 1472 the Heldenbuch was adapted to the popular tastes of the time by being remodelled in rough Knittelvers or doggerel; the author, or at least copyist, of the manuscript was a certain Kaspar von der Roen, of Münnerstadt in Franconia. Doggerel is a derogatory term for Poetry considered of little literary value Münnerstadt is a city in the district of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria, Germany. Franconia (Franken is a historic region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and the area to its immediate west This version was printed by F von der Hagen and S Primisser in their Heldenbuch (1820-1825). Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen ( February 19, 1780 - June 11, 1856) was a German Philologist, chiefly distinguished for

Das Heldenbuch, which F. von der Hagen published in two volumes in 1855, was the first attempt to reproduce the original text by collating the manuscripts. A critical edition, based not merely on the oldest printed text — the only one which has any value for this purpose, as the others are all copies of it — but also on the manuscripts, was published in five volumes by O. Jänicke, E. Martin, A. Amelung and J. Zupitza at Berlin (1866-1873). A selection, edited by E. Henrici, will be found in Kürschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. 7 (1887).

Late in the 19th century, editions appeared of Der Rosengarten and Laurin. by G. Holz (1893 and 1897). All the poems were translated into modern German by Karl Simrock and others. Karl Joseph Simrock ( August 28, 1802 &ndash July 18, 1876) was a German Poet and writer See F. E. Sandbach, The Heroic Saga-Cycle of Dietrich of Bern (1906). The literature of the Heldensage is very extensive. See especially W. Grimm, Die deutsche Heldensage (3rd ed. Wilhelm Carl Grimm ( February 24, 1786 &ndash December 16 1859) was a German author the younger of the Brothers Grimm , 1889); L. Uhland, "Geschichte der deutschen Poesie im Mittelalter," Schriften, vol. Johann Ludwig Uhland ( April 26, 1787 &ndash November 13, 1862) was a German Poet. i. (1866); O. L. Jiriczek, Deutsche Heldensage, vol. i. (1898); and especially B. Symons, "Germanische Heldensage," in Paul's Grundriss der germanischen Philologie (2nd ed. , 1898).

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone