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Source: Wikiwand: Legends about Theoderic the Great

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Titre	Wikiwand: Legends about Theoderic the Great

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Theoderich der Grosse König der Ostgoten

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In legends about Theoderic the Great that spread after his death, the Gothic king Theoderic became known as Dietrich von Bern, a king ruling from Verona (Bern) who was forced into exile with the Huns. The differences between the known life of Theoderic and the picture of Dietrich in the surviving legends are usually attributed to a long-standing oral tradition that continued into the sixteenth century. The majority of legendary material about Dietrich/Theoderic comes from high and late medieval Germany and is composed in Middle High German or Early New High German. Another important source for legends about Dietrich is the Old Norse "Thidrekssaga," which was written using German sources. In addition to the legends detailing events that may reflect the historical Theoderic's life in some fashion, many of the legends tell of Dietrich's battles against dwarfs, dragons, giants, and other mythical beings, as well as other heroes such as Siegfried. Dietrich also appears as a supporting character in other heroicpoems such as the "Nibelungenlied," and is frequently referenced and alluded to throughout medieval German literature. Poems about Dietrich were extremely popular among the medieval German nobility and, later, the late medieval and early modern bourgeoisie, but were frequently targets of criticism by persons writing on behalf of the church. Though some continued to be printed in the seventeenth century, most of the legends were slowly forgotten after 1600. They became objects of academic study by the end of the sixteenth century, and were revived somewhat in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, resulting in some stories about Dietrich being popular in South Tyrol, where many of the legends take place. Development of an oral tradition about Theoderic the Great Although the lives of Dietrich von Bern and Theoderic the Great have many important differences, it was never questioned throughout the entire Middle Ages that the two were the same figure. Modern scholarship therefore generally accepts this identification and has focused on ways to explain the main differences between Theoderic and Dietrich. The most striking difference is that, whereas Theoderic the Great conquered Italy as an invader, Dietrich von Bern is portrayed as exiled from his rightful kingdom in Italy. Victor Millet suggests that this difference in particular shows that heroic tradition has a fundamental discontinuity with the historical events that inspire it. In effect, Theoderic's conquest has been transformed according to a literary scheme consisting of exile, then return, a story which has a relatively consistent set of recurring motifs throughout world literature. The story told in the heroic tradition is nevertheless meant to convey a particular understanding of the historical event, namely: that Dietrich/Theoderic was in the right when he conquered Italy. To some extent, thedevelopment of the "exile-saga" of Theoderic can be traced in early medieval chronicles, where Theoderic is said to "reconquer" Italy and other information known from the later saga and not history is reported. Dietrich's exile and repeated failed attempts to reconquer his rightful kingdom, as reported in the later historical poems, may also be a reflection of the destruction of the Theoderic's Gothic kingdom by the Byzantine Empire under Justinian I. This is particularly true for the figure of Witege and his betrayal at Ravenna, as told in Die Rabenschlacht. Millet notes, furthermore, that Dietrich is portrayed as without any heirs and that his closest relatives and supporters die in every attempt to reclaim Italy: this too could be a way to explain theshort duration of Ostrogothic rule in Italy. A particularly noticeable difference between Theoderic and Dietrich is that, in the stories about Dietrich recorded from the High Middle Ages, Dietrich/Theoderic (454-526) is a contemporary of Etzel (Attila the Hun, died 453) and his uncle is semi-legendary Gothic king Ermenrich (Ermanaric, died 370s). Their co-existence in the world of heroic legend is a process known as synchronization ("Synchronisierung") that is common in many oral traditions. In the case of Dietrich, its development can even be traced, to some extent: Dietrich is already associated with an exile among the Huns in the Old High German "Hildebrandslied" (before 900), and possibly with Etzel/Attila, depending on how one interprets the mentioned "huneo druhtin" (Hunnish lord). It nevertheless still retains Theoderic's historical opponent Odoacer, seemingly showing that Odoacer was the original opponent. It is also possible that the author of the Hildebrandslied altered the report in the oral saga by replacing the unhistorical Emenrich with the historical Odoacer. In the "Annals of Quedlinburg" (1008), Odoacer and Dietrich have both become relatives of Ermenrich; at roughly the same time, Dietrich appears together with Witege, a hero originally associated with Ermanaric, in the Old English"Waldere" fragment. It is possible that Ermenrich/Ermanaric was drawn into the story due to his historical enmity with the Huns, who destroyed his kingdom. He was famous for killing his relatives, moreover, and so his attempts to kill his kinsman Dietrich make sense in the logic of the oral tradition. By the 1000s, almost all figures of Germanic legend had been connected together in a heroic age, uniting the sagas of Etzel/Attila, Dietrich/Theoderic/Ermenrich/Ermanaric, Wayland the Smith, and the Nibelungen. Additionally, Dietrich has a number of features that have been "mythologized" from Theoderic. In the early eleventh-century Waldere he is an enemy of giants, and in later Middle High German texts he also fights against dwarfs, and wild men. Even more notable is the fact that multiple texts record Dietrich breathing fire. It is possible that this tradition comes from ecclesiastical criticism of the Arian Theoderic, whose soul, Gregory the Great reports, was dropped into Mount Etna as punishment for his persecution of orthodox Christians. Another notable tradition, first reported in the world chronicle of Otto of Freising (1143-1146), is that Theoderic rode to hell on an infernal horse while still alive. He is attested as a ghostly rider appearing near the Moselle in the "Chronica regia Coloniensia" from before 1202, and as a spectral hunter of "nymphs" in the forest at night by the Veronese chronicler Giovanni Mansionario around 1320. Lusatian folklore in the nineteenth century may have identified Dietrichas the leader of the Wild Hunt. Other traditions record that Theoderic was the son of the devil. It is unclear whether these negative traditions are the invention of the Church or whether they are a demonization of an earlier apotheosis of the heretical Theoderic. None of the surviving heroic material demonizes Dietrich in this way, however, and presents a generally positive view of the hero. Many of the texts show a tendency to minimize or explain away traits such as Dietrich's fiery breath. Another minor difference between Theoderic and Dietrich is that Theoderic's capital was at Ravenna, whereas Dietrich's is at Bern (Verona). This may suggest Longobardic influence, as Verona was the Longobardic capital for a time, while Ravenna was under the control of the Byzantines. The figure of Dietrich's tutor and mentor Hildebrand is also often thought to derive from Longobardic influence. Heinzle suggests that the exile-saga may have been first told among the Longobards, giving the end of the sixth century as the latest date at which the story may have formed, with the Longobardic conquest of Italy. Dietrich has been identified as "Dietrich 'von Bern'" (Middle High German for Verona) or "Theodericus Veronensis" since at least the composition of the "Annals of Quedlinburg." The non-academic researcher Heinz Ritter-Schaumburg has proposed an alternative explanation to the differences between Dietrich and Theoderic: according to Ritter-Schaumburg, Dietrich von Bern was an otherwise unattested historical Frankish king who ruledin Bonn, which sometimes is Latinized as Verona. In doing so, Ritter-Schaumburg relies on the Old Swedish version of the Thidrekssaga, believing that it is a translation of a lost German chronicle, rather than a translation of the Old Norwegian Thidrekssaga as is generally held by scholars. The Old Swedish Thidrekssaga, which Ritter-Schaumburg calls the Svava, would be the only historical attestation of a series of persons who later became figures in Germanic heroic poetry; Dietrich would then later havebeen confused with Theoderic the Great. Ritter-Schaumburg's theory has been rejected by academic scholars, but has found some following among amateur saga-researchers. It receives no mention in the majority of introductions to either the Dietrich or Nibelungen material. Appearance in Early Germanic Literature In Scandinavia One of the earliest (quasi-)literary sources about the legend of Theoderic is the Rök Stone, carved in Sweden in the 9th century. There he is mentioned in a stanza in Eddic meter: "Þjóðríkr the bold, chief of sea-warriors, ruled over the shores of the Hreiðsea. Now he sits armed on his Goth(ic horse), his shield strapped, the prince of the Mærings." The mention of Theodoric (among other heroes and gods of Norse mythology) may have been inspired by a no longer extant statue of an unknown emperor assumed to be Theodoric sitting on his horse in Ravenna, which was moved in 801 A.D. to Aachen by Charlemagne. This statue was very famous and portrayed Theodoric with his shield hanging across his left shoulder, and his lance extended in his right hand: the German clerical poet Walahfrid wrote a poem (De imagine Tetrici) lampooning the statue, as Theodoric was not favorably regarded by the church.[28] Alternatively, Otto Höfler has proposed that Theodoric on the horse may be connected in some way to traditions of Theodoric as the Wild Huntsman (see the Wunderer below); Joac..

In legends about Theoderic the Great that spread after his death, the Gothic king Theoderic became known as Dietrich von Bern, a king ruling from Verona (Bern) who was forced into exile with the Huns. The differences between the known life of Theoderic and the picture of Dietrich in the surviving legends are usually attributed to a long-standing oral tradition that continued into the sixteenth century. The majority of legendary material about Dietrich/Theoderic comes from high and late medieval Germany and is composed in Middle High German or Early New High German. Another important source for legends about Dietrich is the Old Norse "Thidrekssaga," which was written using German sources. In addition to the legends detailing events that may reflect the historical Theoderic's life in some fashion, many of the legends tell of Dietrich's battles against dwarfs, dragons, giants, and other mythical beings, as well as other heroes such as Siegfried. Dietrich also appears as a supporting character in other heroicpoems such as the "Nibelungenlied," and is frequently referenced and alluded to throughout medieval German literature.

Poems about Dietrich were extremely popular among the medieval German nobility and, later, the late medieval and early modern bourgeoisie, but were frequently targets of criticism by persons writing on behalf of the church. Though some continued to be printed in the seventeenth century, most of the legends were slowly forgotten after 1600. They became objects of academic study by the end of the sixteenth century, and were revived somewhat in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, resulting in some stories about Dietrich being popular in South Tyrol, where many of the legends take place.

Development of an oral tradition about Theoderic the Great
Although the lives of Dietrich von Bern and Theoderic the Great have many important differences, it was never questioned throughout the entire Middle Ages that the two were the same figure. Modern scholarship therefore generally accepts this identification and has focused on ways to explain the main differences between Theoderic and Dietrich.

The most striking difference is that, whereas Theoderic the Great conquered Italy as an invader, Dietrich von Bern is portrayed as exiled from his rightful kingdom in Italy. Victor Millet suggests that this difference in particular shows that heroic tradition has a fundamental discontinuity with the historical events that inspire it. In effect, Theoderic's conquest has been transformed according to a literary scheme consisting of exile, then return, a story which has a relatively consistent set of recurring motifs throughout world literature. The story told in the heroic tradition is nevertheless meant to convey a particular understanding of the historical event, namely: that Dietrich/Theoderic was in the right when he conquered Italy. To some extent, thedevelopment of the "exile-saga" of Theoderic can be traced in early medieval chronicles, where Theoderic is said to "reconquer" Italy and other information known from the later saga and not history is reported. Dietrich's exile and repeated failed attempts to reconquer his rightful kingdom, as reported in the later historical poems, may also be a reflection of the destruction of the Theoderic's Gothic kingdom by the Byzantine Empire under Justinian I. This is particularly true for the figure of Witege and his betrayal at Ravenna, as told in Die Rabenschlacht. Millet notes, furthermore, that Dietrich is portrayed as without any heirs and that his closest relatives and supporters die in every attempt to reclaim Italy: this too could be a way to explain theshort duration of Ostrogothic rule in Italy.

A particularly noticeable difference between Theoderic and Dietrich is that, in the stories about Dietrich recorded from the High Middle Ages, Dietrich/Theoderic (454-526) is a contemporary of Etzel (Attila the Hun, died 453) and his uncle is semi-legendary Gothic king Ermenrich (Ermanaric, died 370s). Their co-existence in the world of heroic legend is a process known as synchronization ("Synchronisierung") that is common in many oral traditions. In the case of Dietrich, its development can even be traced, to some extent: Dietrich is already associated with an exile among the Huns in the Old High German "Hildebrandslied" (before 900), and possibly with Etzel/Attila, depending on how one interprets the mentioned "huneo druhtin" (Hunnish lord). It nevertheless still retains Theoderic's historical opponent Odoacer, seemingly showing that Odoacer was the original opponent. It is also possible that the author of the Hildebrandslied altered the report in the oral saga by replacing the unhistorical Emenrich with the historical Odoacer. In the "Annals of Quedlinburg" (1008), Odoacer and Dietrich have both become relatives of Ermenrich; at roughly the same time, Dietrich appears together with Witege, a hero originally associated with Ermanaric, in the Old English"Waldere" fragment. It is possible that Ermenrich/Ermanaric was drawn into the story due to his historical enmity with the Huns, who destroyed his kingdom. He was famous for killing his relatives, moreover, and so his attempts to kill his kinsman Dietrich make sense in the logic of the oral tradition. By the 1000s, almost all figures of Germanic legend had been connected together in a heroic age, uniting the sagas of Etzel/Attila, Dietrich/Theoderic/Ermenrich/Ermanaric, Wayland the Smith, and the Nibelungen.

Additionally, Dietrich has a number of features that have been "mythologized" from Theoderic. In the early eleventh-century Waldere he is an enemy of giants, and in later Middle High German texts he also fights against dwarfs, and wild men. Even more notable is the fact that multiple texts record Dietrich breathing fire. It is possible that this tradition comes from ecclesiastical criticism of the Arian Theoderic, whose soul, Gregory the Great reports, was dropped into Mount Etna as punishment for his persecution of orthodox Christians. Another notable tradition, first reported in the world chronicle of Otto of Freising (1143-1146), is that Theoderic rode to hell on an infernal horse while still alive. He is attested as a ghostly rider appearing near the Moselle in the "Chronica regia Coloniensia" from before 1202, and as a spectral hunter of "nymphs" in the forest at night by the Veronese chronicler Giovanni Mansionario around 1320. Lusatian folklore in the nineteenth century may have identified Dietrichas the leader of the Wild Hunt. Other traditions record that Theoderic was the son of the devil. It is unclear whether these negative traditions are the invention of the Church or whether they are a demonization of an earlier apotheosis of the heretical Theoderic. None of the surviving heroic material demonizes Dietrich in this way, however, and presents a generally positive view of the hero. Many of the texts show a tendency to minimize or explain away traits such as Dietrich's fiery breath.

Another minor difference between Theoderic and Dietrich is that Theoderic's capital was at Ravenna, whereas Dietrich's is at Bern (Verona). This may suggest Longobardic influence, as Verona was the Longobardic capital for a time, while Ravenna was under the control of the Byzantines. The figure of Dietrich's tutor and mentor Hildebrand is also often thought to derive from Longobardic influence. Heinzle suggests that the exile-saga may have been first told among the Longobards, giving the end of the sixth century as the latest date at which the story may have formed, with the Longobardic conquest of Italy. Dietrich has been identified as "Dietrich 'von Bern'" (Middle High German for Verona) or "Theodericus Veronensis" since at least the composition of the "Annals of Quedlinburg."

The non-academic researcher Heinz Ritter-Schaumburg has proposed an alternative explanation to the differences between Dietrich and Theoderic: according to Ritter-Schaumburg, Dietrich von Bern was an otherwise unattested historical Frankish king who ruledin Bonn, which sometimes is Latinized as Verona. In doing so, Ritter-Schaumburg relies on the Old Swedish version of the Thidrekssaga, believing that it is a translation of a lost German chronicle, rather than a translation of the Old Norwegian Thidrekssaga as is generally held by scholars. The Old Swedish Thidrekssaga, which Ritter-Schaumburg calls the Svava, would be the only historical attestation of a series of persons who later became figures in Germanic heroic poetry; Dietrich would then later havebeen confused with Theoderic the Great. Ritter-Schaumburg's theory has been rejected by academic scholars, but has found some following among amateur saga-researchers. It receives no mention in the majority of introductions to either the Dietrich or Nibelungen material.

Appearance in Early Germanic Literature

In Scandinavia
One of the earliest (quasi-)literary sources about the legend of Theoderic is the Rök Stone, carved in Sweden in the 9th century. There he is mentioned in a stanza in Eddic meter:

"Þjóðríkr the bold,
chief of sea-warriors,
ruled over the shores of the Hreiðsea.
Now he sits armed
on his Goth(ic horse),
his shield strapped,
the prince of the Mærings."

The mention of Theodoric (among other heroes and gods of Norse mythology) may have been inspired by a no longer extant statue of an unknown emperor assumed to be Theodoric sitting on his horse in Ravenna, which was moved in 801 A.D. to Aachen by Charlemagne. This statue was very famous and portrayed Theodoric with his shield hanging across his left shoulder, and his lance extended in his right hand: the German clerical poet Walahfrid wrote a poem (De imagine Tetrici) lampooning the statue, as Theodoric was not favorably regarded by the church.[28] Alternatively, Otto Höfler has proposed that Theodoric on the horse may be connected in some way to traditions of Theodoric as the Wild Huntsman (see the Wunderer below); Joac..