Summary of the Thidrekssaga

Then they entered the gap and found the earth-house. Then they bound their helmets tight, donned their armour, and took their shields. Now Dietrich courageously went into the earthen-house, and Hildebrand close behind him. And when the giant Grim saw a strange man had entered his house he jumped to his weapon rack, but saw his sword was missing, and he understood that the dwarf Alberich, the famous thief, must have stole it. From the fire he took a burning tree and attacked Dietrich.

But Hilda took Hildebrand by the neck so tightly he could not move, and Hildebrand fell to the ground and Hilda on top of him. She wanted to bind him, and pressed his arms so hard that blood sprang from his nails, and so tightly she pressed her knees against his breast that he fell unconscious. Then Hildebrand calledUnconscious people frequently act in the saga; maybe I mistranslate it to his foster son: Lord Dietrich, help me, for I have never been in such danger.

I'll help you, Dietrich called, because I will not suffer my foster father to be brought into mortal danger by a woman. And with one stroke Dietrich beheaded Grim, and sprang to where his tutor lay, and cut Hilda in two. But she was so magicalfjölkunnig ok mikit troll in nature that the two pieces rejoined and she was as before. Dietrich thought this was a great wonder, and he hit her with another strike on her back, but everything went as before. And then Hildebrand called: Stand with your feet between her head and feet, and you will destroy this troll.

And a third time Dietrich clove her in two, and stood with both feet between the parts, and her lower part was dead, but her upper part said: I would want that Grim had taken Dietrich as I have taken Hildebrand, then we would have won. And now both pieces fell apart.

Hildebrand sprang up and said: You have given me as much help as possible, and God thanks you for it. Then they took the gold and silver and jewelry, and they saw the dwarf had not lied. Under the treasure Dietrich found a helmet, and the dwarf Alberich had told Dietrich the following about itsays A; B says: and the dwarf Malpriant had forged it, and Dietrich said: Hilda and Grim had thought it such a great treasure that they maned if after the two of them, and it was called Hildegrim, and Dietrich wore it for a long time in many battles.

Now Dietrich and Hildebrand took so much treasure as their horses could carry, and buried what was left. Then they went home, and Dietrich became famous in all lands because of this heroic deed.

Northward of the mountains in Svava there stood a castle names Seegard, and the wealthy and proud Brunhild ruled over it. And she was the most beautiful and most famous of all women in the South- and Northlands because of her wisdom and the heroic deeds done because of her, which have been told in many languages and will never be forgotten.

In a forest not far from there was a large estate owned by Brunhild, which was run by a man named Studa. In this forest there were many horses, and one herd was the best in the entire Northlands, and these horses were grey in colour, or white, or black, but always in one colour. Among this herd there were stallions big and strong, quick like a bird in flight, but they were easy to tame and well-tempered. Studa knew best of all men to train these horses for both tournaments and travel.

Studa was old, but he had a son also named Studa after his father. He was sixteensays B; A says twelve winters old when the saga comes to him. He was cruel and hard-hearted, greedy and ambitious, so that he wanted to serve no one and hated almost everyone.

He was later called Heime, and lost his original name, because there was a snakeormr; or dragon? out on the fields called Heime, and it was the strongest and most poisonous of all snakes so that all feared to come near its lair. And thus Studa got his name, because everyone compared him to this snake, and the NorthmenVæringjar called him Heime. He got a strong stallion from the best herd which Studa had trained, and it was called Rispa.

One day when Heime had taken his horse and his sword Blutgang he stood before his father and told him he didn't want to stay in this forest but ride forth, and meet famous men and win fame himself. And Studa asked where he wanted to go.

Heime replied that he wanted to go southwards to the town called Bern, there is a famous man there called Dietrich, and I want to find out if he or I is stronger with weapons. Studa said that wise men had told him of Dietrich, and that is was madness for Heime to measure himself against him, and that he should ride elsewhere. Heime angrily said he wanted to be a greater man than Dietrich or be killed quickly. Now I am sixteensays B; A says seventeen winters old, and he is not quite twelve yet, and where is the man I don't dare to fight againsti.e. I can handle anyone?

Angry as he was he jumped on his horse Rispa and rode away, along a long unknown road, and he didn't stop until he came to Bern, and rode into the town to the king's hall. He asked a man to hold his horse and spear, and went into the hall to the king's throne, greeted him, and , in the eyes of all who were there, came before Dietrich and said: Lord Dietrich, much have I heard from you, and a long way I have gone to see you, and I challenge you to a duel today outside of Bern, then we will find out who the stronger man is.

Dietrich thought this man was bold to speak these words, because no one had challenged him to a duel yet. But he did not hesitate and had confidence that this man would get what he deserved. He sprang up and left the hall, and Hildebrand and several other men with him, and had his weapons fetched. They brought him his armour and his red shield with a golden lion, and his helm Hildegrim, and his sword Nagelring, and his horse, which was saddled, and they gave him his spear, and Hildebrand held his stirrup for him when he mounted.

Then Dietrich rode from Bern, and with him Hildebrand his foster and several other men, and they went to where Heime awaited Dietrich. And they rode against one another with their spears, but neither of them hit the other's shield, and the horses ran past one another. They turned their horses and tried again, but the same happened. On the third try Heime hit Dietrich's shield and through his armour, but didn't wound him, but Dietrich stabbed his spear through Heime's shield and armour and wounded him slightly. And so powerfully rode Dietrich that his stallion almost sank to its hind legs and Dietrich's feet briefly touched the ground. Both spears broke.

Both dismounted and drew their swords and fought. Heime landed a big blow with his sword Blutgang on Dietrich's helmet Hildegrim, but the sword sprang in two pieces. Since he was now defenceless he surrendered to Dietrich. And Dietrich did not want to kill him and took him among his men, and from now on the two were the best friends. And Dietrich had increased his fame by yet another heroic deed.

Now Witig rode a long way through forests and lands inhabited and uninhabited. He came to a large river called EiðisáAccording to Ritter this is the Eitzer-See, the former mouth of the Aller into the Weser, but he could not find the ford his father had told him about. He tied his horse to a tree, took off his armour and clothes, carefully hid them under the ground, because he was afraid they'd be stolen, and waded into the water that was so deep that only his head was above it, and he went up and down the river.

Meanwhile three knights rode by, and these were Hildebrand, Dietrich's foster, and the other Heime, and the third was jarl Hornboge. Dietrich had sent the first two to jarl Hornboge to invite him to come to Bern, since he had heard the jarl was a great hero, and he wanted to make Hornboge his companion.

Now Hildebrand said to his companions: In this river I see a dwarf, which might well be the dwarf Alberich that Dietrich once defeated and won his sword Nagelring from, and his helmet Hildegrim, and I was there as well16. Let's try to capture him again; we will certainly get a nice ransom.

Then Dietrich called for his weapons. He donned his armour, put his helmet Hildegrim on his head, girded himself with his sword Nagelring, and took his shield with the golden lion on a red field, and took his lance. His horse Falke was brought to him and he mounted, and Falke was a brother of Schimming, Witig's horse, and Rispa, Heime's horse. Then Dietrich rode forth out of Bern with a large retinue of knights and chiefs. When he exited Bern he found Hildebrand and Witig with a few men. Witig sat fully armed on his horse, and was ready.

Now Heime came to Dietrich with a bowl full of wine, and said: Drink, mylord, and God grant you victory today and forever. Dietrich took the bowl, drank, and returned it. Then Hildebrand brought Witig the bowl, but Witig said he should bring the bowl to Dietrich first and ask him to drink to hisWitig's health. Now Hildebrand took the bowl to Dietrich, but he was so angry that he refused to take it.

Then Hildebrand said: You still don't know who you're angry at, but you'll quickly find he is a hero, and not a scoundrel. Then he walked back to Witig and offered him the bowl again, and said: Now drink, and defend yourself with bravery, and may God help you. Then Witig took the bowl and drank, and with the bowl he also gave Hildebrand a golden armring and thanked him for his help.

Then Dietrich called to Witig if he was ready, and Witig said he was.

Then they spurred their stallions and rode at one another like a hungry hawk at its prey. Dietrich's spear glanced off Witig's shield, but Witig's hit Dietrich's shield squarely, and the shaft broke into three pieces.

Then Witig called: Turn your horse and ride at me again! You still have your spear, so I'll keep still, but you'll break your spear just like I did mine. And he drew his sword.

Then Dietrich rode at him with all his might and hit Witig's breast with his spear, and he expected to kill him with that blow, but Witig hacked his spear in two with his sword, and with the same blow he hacked off a bit of his own shield. He was not wounded, since his hard armour protected him.

Then both dismounted and attacked one another, and they hit each other mightily with their swords. Dietrich gave Witig many heavy blows with Nagelring, and Witig wanted to give Dietrich a blow that would wound him, and he swung his sword with all his might against Dietrich's helmet Hildegrim, but the helmet was so hard that this marvelous blow did break something, but it was the sword that sprang in two pieces.

Then Witig called: Ha, Wieland, my father, have God's wrath for forging this sword so badly. I would have fought like a hero had I but had a good sword, but this brings shame and injury to me, and also to the one who made it.

Now Dietrich swung Nagelring with both hands and wanted to behead Witig. But Hildebrand jumped between them and said to Dietrich: Give this man peace and take him as your companion. You will never get a better hero than him: he defeated twelve men at fort Brictan all by himself, and you couldn't conquer the fort with all your men. It would honour you if such a man would serve you.

But Dietrich said he would stick with what he said before: Witig would hang before Bern today. Hildebrand praised Witig's descent of royal houses on his father's and mother's side, and again asked him to make Witig his follower.

But Dietrich said: I'd like to make it a law in my father's lands that not every slave's sonþrælssonr can challenge me to a duel. And I want to hang this evil dog today outside Bern. Now get out of my way! And if you don't I'll hack you to pieces first.

When Hildebrand saw that Dietrich did not want to listen, he said: Now I see that my good counsel will not be heeded, and therefore the child shall have what it cries for.

Then Hildebrand drew his sword from the sheath and said to Witig: See now, good sir knight, how I keep my vow of brotherhood. Here, take the sword Mimung and defend yourself.

Then Witig became as happy as a bird at the crack of dawn. He kissed the sword and said: God forgive the words I said about my father Wieland. See, Dietrich, my good hero, this is Mimung. Now I am as eager to fight you as a thirsty man to drink, or a hungry dog to eatThat's Von der Hagen's translation; the original says Nú em ek svá fúss at berjast við þik sem þyrstr maðr til drykkjar eða soltinn til matar. 'Salt to eat'? My Old Norse is really too lousy to decide..

Now he hit Dietrich blow after blow, and each time he took away a piece of his armour or shield or helmet, and Dietrich didn't manage to strike one blow, and could do nothing but defend himself, and he had five wounds already. Then he saw he would lose this fight, and called to Hildebrand his teacher: Come here and separate us! Because I do not see how to separate us by myself!

Then Hildebrand said: When I tried to separate you you didn't want to take good advice, but now I think you'll agree that Witig is a good hero. And it seems to me that with your armour is pierced, your helmet is broken, your shield split, and you yourself wounded, and you'll finish this fight with shame and dishonour, and that's what your pride bought you. So separate yourself if you can. And he will have the power to do to you what you sentenced him toi.e. hang him, although he might do better than that.

When king Dietmar saw that his son would be defeated he took a red shieldapparently an official sign of some kind and stepped between the two of them. Then Witig said: What do you want, lord king? If you're going to kill me with all your men no one will think you a better hero, and my death will not remain unavenged, because my mother's brother is as powerful a king as you are.

Then the king said: Good sir knight, I merely want to ask you to spare my son, because I see that when you fight on his end is near. And if you do I'll give you a castleor town in my lands and make you a count, and also give you a noble wife.

Then Witig said: I won't spare him; he will receive the same sentence he wanted to give me, unless you prevent me with your multitude of men.

Then the king stepped back and the fight recommenced, and Dietrich defended himself bravely, but in the end Witig hit the helmet Hildegrim so hard that it was cut from left to right, and the upper part flew off Dietrich's head and some of his hair with it.

When Hildebrand saw that Hildegrim had been broken he sprang between the two and said: My dear friend Witig, please give Dietrich peace for the sake of our brotherhood, and take him as your companion, because when the two of you fight together, no one in the entire world will be your peer.

Then Witig said: Although he doesn't deserve it I will do as you ask for the sake of our brotherhood. Then they put down their weapons, shook hands, and became good friends and companions. They rode back to Bern and were all happy.

Now Detlef considered himself a man, and his father and mother also saw that he had honoured his parents by his good behaviour in battle. Then Detlef asked them for clothes, weapons, and gold because he wanted to travel to his grandfather in SachsenlandOda's father to learn about other countries and customs, and get to know his relatives. His parents gave him what he wanted.

Then his father said that he should behave well while he was in Jutland, but if you go far into Sachsenland, as far as the place called Bern, and find Dietrich, son of king Dietmar, then make sure never to fight with him or his heroes, because you can't withstand their strong strikes. And his helm is called Hildegrim, and his sword Eckensax, and his horse Falke. With him are many famous heroes, and make sure not to annoy them. But it might be better to stay with your grandfather in Sachsenland and come home afterwards. Detlef promised to do so.

And Biterolf went on: on the way to his grandfather Detlef would find the Burgwald, in which there was the place Marstein, and there lies a castle. You will find no one in the castle, but you will find a beautiful chair, and on the chair a horn. Blow that horn, and then he lord of that castle, my good friend Sigurd, will come. He is old, as white as a dove, and when you find him, tell him your father's name, so that he will receive you well. But even if you brought twelve men you could not fight against him. And Detlef promised to do so.

When Detlef left his parents gave him more good advice, and his mother gave him golden ring and her regards to her father. And Biterolf gave him twenty marks of gold, and then Detlef left.

• The three swords in this chapter, Mimung, Nagelring, and Eckisax, are also mentioned as famous swords in Hendrik van Veldeke's Eneas V 160, 20 ff; written around 1180. So they are actually attested as a group outside the Thidrekssaga, together with Halteclair and Durendal, the swords of Olivier and Roland from the Chanson de Roland.

Detlef didn't want to go into the king's hall for food and drink, but preferred to arrange things for himself. So when the feast started, Detlef went to the market with a few other boysservants? squires? and bought wine and mead, and bread so that even the king's dish wouldn't be better served with food and drink. And everything was brought to the inn, where Detlef gave a feast for the servants and squires, three days long.

And then all his 30 marks of gold were spent. Still, he didn't want to give up his feast while the king's went on, so again he went to the market and bought new food and drink, and he pawned Heime's horse Rispa and his sword Nagelring for ten marks of gold. And thus they ate and drank until everything was gone.

And Detlef went to the market again, and now he pawned Witig's horse Schimming and his sword Mimung for twenty marks of gold. Then he again invited his guests, and also he had the inn hung with tapestries.

And when everything was eaten and drunk the king's feast had gone on for seven days and would go on for two more. And again he went to the market, and when someone asked 12 pennies for something, he would bid 20. And he pawned Dietrich's horse Falke, and his sword Eckisax and his helm Hildegrim for 30 marks of gold, and now he had no fewer than thirty hundreds of guests, servants and squires, fiddlers and minstrels. And on the day the feast ended, Detlef gave the golden ring his mother had given to him to the chief minstrel IsungIt is important to treat your minstrels well! Said the minstrel, because Isung was the best of them all. And Detlef gave him purple clothes with golden seams, and those were the clothes of Dietrich the king's son, and thus he rewarded Isung for his playing, and the other minstrels also got a mark or two of gold.

Then Dietrich said to master Hildebrand: We should send a messenger to king Attila, if we can find someone who is courageous enough to do so. And Hildebrand said: No one is better suited than Wildeber the hero. And Dietrich asked Wildeber to take on this mission.

But Wildeber replied: I am seriously wounded, so I cannot ride through such a great army, although I will still fight for you. But ask your relative Wolfhart, he would be suitable.

So Dietrich asked Wolfhart, who replied that Wildeber would be better suited, since he himself was younger and less experienced. But Dietrich told him Wildeber was too wounded to travel. And Wolfhart agreed to the mission, but asked Dietrich for his sword Eckisax and his helmet Hildegrim and his horse Falke, and Dietrich granted him that.

Jarl Elsung came closer, and his sister-son Amelung said, when he saw Herrat: If you leave this woman behind, then you will escape with your lives. Master Hildebrand replied she had come with king Dietrich from Soest for another purpose. And one of Elsung's men said he had never heard an old man speak so fearlessly or haughtily. Dietrich replied that the old man had spent his entire life in honour and manliness. Don’t insult him for his age.

Amelung said: Now surrender, or I will pull your beard so that most of it will come off. Hildebrand replied: Try that, and you'll regret it. Who is your leader? OneMs A and B: Ingram said: Don't you know our jarl Elsung? We are certainly fools that we exchange words with you for so long.

He drew his sword and hit Hildebrand on his helm hat, and the sword cut through it, but beneath it was Hildegrim, Dietrich’s old helmet, and it withstood the blow. But king Dietrich now had Sigfrid's helmetGunther had given it to Osid in 357, and apparently Dietrich got it when Osid died, which was the best of all and studded with gold. And Hildebrand drew his sword Gram, which once belonged to Sigfridand which Hildebrand apparently took from Giselher in 390 and hit Ingram on his helmet and cut through helmet and head, torso and armour, and the sword hit the saddle bow.

Then Dietrich drew his sword Eckisax and struck the foremost knight on his shoulder so that his arm was cut off, and with another blow he hit jarl Elsung so that the sword cut off his arm and went into his jawbone, and he fell dead.