WDieA-1: In Constantinople in Greece lives a magnanimous heathen king with the name Hugdietrich. He conquered Bulgaria and his wife is the Hun Botelung’s sister. The virtuous queen has three sons all named Dietrich. When they have two sons already, Hugdietrich goes to war.

Motif References:

T 586.1.2.2 King has six [three] sons all named Lugaid [Dietrich]

WDieA-5: When he departs, he is not aware that the queen is with child. Berchtung of Meran, his faithful counselor, rides with him. They wage war against Fruote of Denmark, his sister’s son. Hugdietrich appoints his counselor governor and guardian of his countries and his wife. Berchtung recommends Duke Saben and the king installs him.

Motif References:

P 14.15.1 (Old, wise) Counselors of court [King’s council]
P 193 (Bm) Guardian [regent]

WDieA-10: After Hugdietrich has departed, Saben approaches the queen with lecherous eyes and an indecent proposal, because he believes that Hugdietrich will not return. Angrily the queen rejects him calling him unfaithful. He pretends that he merely tried to delude her (test of faithfulness) she forgives him but threatens to have him killed if he proposes again.

Motif References:

T 210.1 Faithful wife
T 322.2 Princess [queen] threatens to kill amorous king [governor]
K 2249 Other treacherous officers and tradesmen [noblemen]

WDieA-19: When the queen’s time comes to give birth (although she is a heathen, she believes in God) a voice calls out to her in the middle of the night and demands that her third child is to be a Christian. On the fifth day, she will have her child. A hermit lives half a mile away where to she has to go.

Motif References:

F 966 Voices from heaven (or from the air)

WDieA-24: On the fifth morning, she clandestinely brings her newborn child to the hermit, who baptizes it. He advises her to keep the baptismal garments. Wherever he is in danger, he should put them on. Although he will grow to a big man, the garment will always fit him. The garment protects against attack, no weapons can injure him, and neither water nor fire will cause his death.

Motif References:

V 332 Baptism of heathen
F 821.9 Garments grow with man wearing them [garment adapts to size of wearer]
D 1381.5 Magic shirt protects against attack
D 1382.6 Magic shirt protects from cold and burning

WDieA-31: The hermit prophesies that the boy will live to his fiftieth year and have the strength of fifty men. He will be in danger, even near death, but he will win a beautiful queen and a kingdom. The boy grows up dearly loved by his mother. The messenger tells Hugdietrich of his beautiful son. Overjoyed, he rewards the messenger. The little boy merely holds himself upright, but he crushes every dog who tries to snatch the bread out of his hand against the wall.

Motif References:

M 301.5 Saints (holy men) [hermits] as prophet
F 610.4 Man with strength of many men
F 611.3.2 Hero’s precocious strength
D 1830 Magic strength

WDieA-39: The people bless themselves in dismay about the strength of the four and a half years old boy and advise the king to have the devil’s child killed. The king sends for Saben and asks him about the queen’s faithfulness. The unfaithful Saben now takes revenge for the queen’s rejection and accuses the queen that she had wanted the devil always at her side and that the youth is the devil’s son. However, she made him promise never to reveal the secret.

Motif References:

T 75.2.1 Rejected suitors’ revenge
G 303.11.2 The devil’s son
T 640 Illegitimate children
K 2112 Woman slandered as adulteress (prostitute) [concubine]

WDieA-49: The king, although he is convinced of his wife’s innocence, nevertheless asks Saben to advise him how they can kill the boy. Saben advises summoning Berchtung of Mêran to kill the boy. If they do it openly, people will accuse the king of infanticide. The king agrees and Saben even makes him promise not to reveal that it was his advice. The king calls Berchtung and demands to kill the boy. First Berchtung refuses, but the king threatens to kill his wife and his sons. So he has to give in.

Motif References:

S 11 Cruel father
S 11.3.7 Father orders son assassinated

WDieA-59: The king decides to have no chamberlain at the boy’s door, but Berchtung is to wait until all are asleep and he will give him the child. King and queen quarrel about the boy. The king angrily deprives his son of his inheritance, and tells the queen that the boy will be a peasant but never a noble; he is not even fit to serve a noble. He even might become a robber once. The queen rebukes him, telling him that she has foreseen in a dream that the boy will win a queen and a kingdom. If he will have a kingdom, then he is to leave his inheritance to his brothers, who are even forced to swear to give him no part of the inheritance.

Motif References:

M 302.7 Prophecy through dreams
D 1812.3.3 Future revealed in dream

WDieA-71: When the queen is asleep, the king calls for Berchtung. Then he goes to the child’s bed taking a knife with him in order to kill it, if it weeps. However, the child is asleep. Berchtung puts in under his raincoat and rides to the forest. When he comes upon a heath, he puts the child down and pulls his sword. Nevertheless, the young boy’s fate moves him and he decides to put the boy on the rim of a well so that it drowns itself. However, the child jumps down from the well to play in the grass. Berchtung leaves it alone and rides away. At daybreak, all the wild animals come for water, lions, bears, boars, and a lost pack of wolves. Although they are hungry, they do not attack the child.

Motif References:

B 771 Wild animal miraculously tamed
B 771.3 Wild animal will not attack royal person

WDieA-101: The animals form a circle round the child. The wolves’ eyes burn like a candle and the little boy goes from one to the other and touches their faces. Whenever an animal tries to defend itself, the boy strikes it down. Berchtung the onlooker interprets it as God’s omen: He decides to risk his and his family’s life for the boy. Then he tests the child by making a wooden cross, if his hand breaks it he will be convinced the boy is a devil’s child. The cross does not break and Berchtung is convinced that it is God’s child. From this moment, he is called Wolf Dietrich.

Motif References:

H 216 Indications of innocence
H 486 Test of paternity
K 522 Escape by shamming death
J 1176 Decisions based on experimental tests

WDieA-115: He brings the boy to a hunter, bestows him with the house and the game and the village nearby if he cares for the boy. The hunter has to swear that the boy is his and his wife’s child. When the queen awakens and does not find her child, she cries in her grief and accuses the king, who denies the murder. However, the queen is convinced that the king has killed it. She calls him an unworthy king, a real devil.

Motif References:

S 350 Fate of abandoned child
S 350.2 Child driven out (exposed) brought up in secret
S 351.2 Abandoned child reared by herdsman

WDieA-130: The treacherous Saben blames Berchtung for having murdered the child and advises having him pay for it. Saben accuses Berchtung of craving for the kingdom and demands punishment for the traitor. He advises summoning Berchtung to court to attend a knighting ceremony (dubbing). Berchtung receives the message at his home Lilienparte and takes his best men with him. He has a faithful man write down the story about his contract to murder the child: how it remained alive and got his new name Lord Wolf Dietrich.

Motif References:

P 53 (Bm) Obtaining knighthood
P 54 (Bm) Knighting custom

WDieA-141: When Berchtung arrives at court, the king asks Saben for advice how they can capture him. Saben forbids Berchtung and his men to carry arms in court. When they all have their meal, he will accuse Berchtung of murder and tell it to the queen and then sixty knights shall rush in.

Motif References:

K 2247 Treacherous lord [vassal]

WDieA-146: When Berchtung arrives with his retinue, the chamberlains keep them from carrying their swords. The king has the queen sit beside Berchtung. Before that, the king calls the queen to a chamber and tells her to take revenge on Berchtung, who killed the child. But the queen does not believe it is Berchtung, but suspects Saben’s lies. The queen refuses to accuse Berchtung of murder. If the king has mercy on Berchtung, she even promises to come to the king’s bed again.

Motif References:

K 2150 Innocent made to appear guilty

WDieA-156: Then the king even threatens to kill the queen and exclaims in a loud voice that Berchtung committed murder. The sixty knights and his men are held captive. The queen treats the captives well without the king’s knowledge. They are held captive for over four months. The king summons a law court to try Berchtung. All the lords are denied to carry their arms. The law court takes place on a plain. Baltram, Berchtung’s brother-in-law, attends secretly because he had lost the king’s good will.

Motif References:

R 9 Captivity – miscellaneous
M 500 (Bm) Threats
K 2100 False accusation
K 2246.1 Treacherous king

WDieA-169: The king installs Saben as judge wearing the royal crown. Saben rules Berchtung’s denial of advocates and the king forbids helping Berchtung. Saben has the king summon Berchtung and the queen. Berchtung appears in chains. The queen begs him to speak to Berchtung. The captives suspect the queen’s unfaithfulness, but she calms him and asks if her child is still alive. When Berchtung tells her the truth, she is overjoyed. Then he gives her the letter and proposes to read it on his command.

Motif References:

P 510 Law courts
K 2249.7 (Bm) Treacherous judge and jury

WDieA-180: Berchtung has to stand trial with bound hands and Saben asks him if he pleads guilty or innocent of the murder. Berchtung answers that he is not guilty but he needs somebody as legal security. Saben grants it and he waits to choose from among the by standers. All of a sudden, Berchtung’s brother-in-law rushes in with hundred men. Baltram asks about his verdict, standing there bound like a common thief. When he learns about the murder accusation, he angrily cuts his fetters. Then he rebukes the king that he installed Saben as royal judge a man who is not even a count’s companion at Batelunge’s court. Baltram demands revenge. The king asks Saben if he wants to fight, but he refuses, saying it is the king’s honor.

Motif References:

P 510.1 (Bm) False treacherous trials
P 524 Legal security

WDieA-198: Then the king announces that there is no proof of Berchtung’s guilt and sentencing him to death will not revive the child. Berchtung asks the queen to have the letter read by a chaplain. However, the chaplain refuses to read it after one glance. Cleric after cleric refuses to read it, fearing the king’s anger. Finally, she forces a minister to read the letter by threatening to take his parish. The letter says that the boy is still alive, but that it was the king’s command to kill his son. He threatened Berchtung and his whole family with hanging. Berchtung took the boy to a well full of roses but the child did not fall in and even survived among the wolves and is now called Lord Wolf Dietrich. The king admits his guilt but tells them it was Saben’s advice, who is condemned without mercy. The king demands that Berchtung takes revenge on Saben. Berchtung takes Saben, leads him away, and shows him the gallows, the stake and the wheel. Saben begs for mercy, offers him his dukedom and his lands. Finally, Berchtung feels moved and takes Saben by the hand, leads him to the king and pleads for mercy. The king is convinced that Saben will always be a traitor and the queen demands that he is hanged.

Motif References:

Q 261 Treachery punished
Q 413.8 Hanging as punishment for treachery

WDieA-226: The queen rules that Saben shall lose his inheritance and exiles him. Berchtung pleads for him because Saben’s wife is with child. He promises to keep mother and child. If the child lives, it will receive his legal inheritance. Saben goes to the Huns. Berchtung returns with the child and his 16 sons. Wolfdietrich is the tallest, although Berchtung’s sons are nine years his senior. He tells the queen that the hunter who kept him was glad to see him go because of his violent behavior. When the king tries to put the boy on his lap the child, who does not remember his father, strikes him. Berchtung demands that he and his men who want to be knighted prepare themselves. The queen grants it. 15 days feast.

Motif References:

Q 431 Punishment: banishment (exile)
F 611.3.2 Hero’s precocious strength
T 615 Supernatural growth

WDieA-241: On the 15th day, Wolfdietrich is commended to Berchtung. The king begs Berchtung to guard the boy well, give him his inheritance and be governor after the king’s death, and divide the country among the sons. Berchtung promises his sons as Wolfdietrich’s vassals as soon he is grown. Wolfdietrich is an unruly child. Whenever Berchtung has to beat him for his disobedient behavior, the servants have to catch and bind him. Berchtung batters the boy quite often. However, Wolfdietrich never breaks a promise.

Motif References:

F 612 Strong hero sent from home

WDieA-265: When Hugdietrich is dying, he commends castle and lands, his three sons and his wife to Berchtung. After some time, Saben is courting the queen. The queen asks Berchtung for advice because all the nobles have tried to persuade her. Berchtung in dismay warns her that she will regret it, because the traitor will destroy the queen, him and his sons. First, she takes Berchtung’s advice but then she yields to Saben’s wooing.

Motif References:

T 50 Wooing

WDieA-272: Berchtung knows that the traitor will pursue young Wolfdietrich, himself and his family. In addition, Berchtung is excluded from the council of court. Saben tells the princes that Wolfdietrich is not their brother. After some time the sons believe it and even reject the queen. She pleads for them not to deprive her of her legal inheritance, but the sons are adamant and send her to Berchtung.

Motif References:

U 90 (Bm) Dispossessed heir
P 251.5.3 Hostile [half-] brothers
K 2010 Hypocrite pretends friendship but attacks

WDieA-278: The queen, Hugdietrich’s widow, is only allowed to keep her clothes and a horse and is deprived of all her treasure. When she arrives at Berchtung’s court, Wolfdietrich does not know her, thinking Berchtung’s wife is his mother. Berchtung first refuses to keep the queen, but then receives her well and Wolfdietrich greets her warmly. Wolfdietrich has to serve Berchtung as chamberlain to learn obedience. One day he asks him after his father. Berchtung sends him to the queen. With his sword in hands, he approaches his mother who prays in the cathedral. She tells him of Hugdietrich the king and shows him Berchtung’s letter, which he is able to read, being literate.

Motif References:

S 21 Cruel son
S 62 Cruel husband
S 411 Wife banished

WDieA-307: Wolfdietrich hurries back to Berchtung, expresses his gratefulness and tells him that he wants to take revenge on Saben and win back his inheritance. However, Berchtung disapproves because of his tender age. According to Greek custom, a warrior has to be 24 years of age to carry the sword. However, Wolfdietrich tells him that he fights on his own rights.

Motif References:

WDieA-318: Berchtung does not dare to deny Wolfdietrich and gives him his 16 sons as vassals. Every son has a retinue of a thousand knights and carries a flag. In addition, another thousand follow Wolfdietrich. Berchtung summons the knights. Berchtung calls to battle, the hostile brothers come with 30,000 men; to battle songs they engage in a furious struggle. Wolfdietrich fights so bravely that Saben advises retreat. Berchtung and Wolfdietrich slay many; they rush to take Saben captive, but he has already disappeared when they reach his tent. Then they see him together with the two brothers at a distance and pursue them, but they cannot catch them.

Motif References:

P 555 Defeat in battle [single combat]
F 1084 Furious battle [fight]

WDieA-355: Back at the battlefield, they slay all the remaining enemies. Wolfdietrich wants to await Saben and the kings who promised to return the other morning. Wolfdietrich grieves for Berchtung’s dead sons and even tells him to take it out on him by cutting off his head. Nevertheless, Berchtung refuses telling him not to mourn anymore and advises them to retreat to their fortress. They have enough provisions for five years. They fight with the enemies but have to retreat. Fifty castelains find the eleven vassals and Wolfdietrich. Back at the fortress, the lady asks after her slain sons. They mourn until the fifth day. However, one morning they are besieged by Wolfdietrich’s brothers: 5000 men pitch camp outside Berchtung’s fortress.

Motif References:

P 557.0.4 (Li) Siege

WDieA-399: They prepare for battle. Wolfdietrich kills many and they make truce. Saben and Berchtung negotiate. Saben demands the fortress and Berchtung’s sons as vassals, otherwise he threatens to burn the fortress and kill them. They have to suffer four years under siege. Wolfdietrich decides to set off for adventure and if he finds a mighty king, he will offer his service and win him as an ally against his brothers. Berchtung first tries to dissuade him, but then tells him of Ortnît in Lamparten who took his wife from a king by force. A dwarf helped him to win the queen.

Motif References:

P 558 (Bm) Truce
H 1220 Quests voluntarily undertaken
H 1221 Quest for adventure
H 1224 Quest to distant king for military aid

WDieA-420: Berchtung tells him of the dangerous journey to Lamparten, gives him his father’s horse, his shield, sword and armor. However, Wolfdietrich refuses to carry his father’s shield, because he is eager to earn his own. Wolfdietrich bids farewell to the queen, who gives him a magic garment that protects against water, fire and injuries. It is his christening garment. Wolfdietrich promises to free his eleven vassals, swears on oath. Berchtung gives him thirty gold marcs and provision for the journey.

Motif References:

H 1228 Quest undertaken by hero for vengeance.
D 1381.5 Magic shirt protects against attack
D 1382.6 Magic shirt protects from cold and burning

WDieA-447: Outside the fortress, unrecognized Wolfdietrich tells the guards that Wolfdietrich and the vassals are trying to escape and rides unharmed through the lines. When his horse becomes tired, he walks and leads it. However, at last it hardly can walk, so he carries the saddle. He passes a mountain where he hears a terrible voice. He fears he hears the devil’s voice and that he has reached hell. After a while, he realizes that it is the surf. He rides on and comes upon a beautiful linden tree surrounded by flowers and grass. Exhausted he lies down and falls asleep.

Motif References:

K 1760 Other bluffs

WDieA-471: From the bottom of the sea comes a hideous woman, who has scales on her skin; water moss grows on her body to her toes. Although heinous, she is soft of heart. She is wet and slimy. Her hair reaches the ground; she has broad, deep set eyes. She has a broad mouth and long teeth; she has feet like a shovel. Her forehead is one yard broad. She takes Wolfdietrich’s sword and hides it. When the hero wakes up and does not see his sword, he is desperate, thinking it was robbers. He takes out his letters and reads them to himself.

Motif References:

F 420.1.2 Water-spirit as woman (water-nymph, water-nix)
F 420.1.4.2 Water-spirits have body covered with fish scales

WDieA-478: The wild woman listens and asks him from the tree who allowed him to rest. When he notices her ugly shape, he drops the letters. Then has asks her if the linden tree is her property and when he learns that it is hers, he apologizes. Then he tells her that he is famished. She promises to help him, but wants to know his name and family, and he tells her about his hostile brothers and the eleven vassals. She promises her help. When he marries her, she will give him three kingdoms. However, he rejects her, thinking she is a devil.

Motif References:

F 420.5.1 Kind water-spirits
F 420.6.1.2 Water-spirit offers gift to mortal to win love

WDieA-491: But then she throws off her scale skin and becomes a beautiful woman. Wolfdietrich tells her that his oath binds him and he cannot marry until he has freed his vassals. The lady knows that Wolfdietrich will not marry her but asks him for his brother. She is the lady of the sea. Then she hands out a healing root to him. When he gives just a little to the horse, it becomes strong again. He asks her for the way to Lamparten, and she advises him to ride by the sea.

Motif References:

D 721 Disenchantment by removing skin
D 967 Magic roots
D 1025.2 Magic fish-skin [Mermaid’s magic skin].
D 1335 Object gives magic strength
D 1337.2.5 Magic skin makes person appear ugly
D 1860 Magic beautification

WDieA-507: On the fourth morning in a wild forest, he hears the wailing of a female voice. Fifty robbers are in the forest who observe Wolfdietrich and plan on dividing his possessions before he is even near them. Wolfdietrich slays 24 of them, the others escape. The captured maiden thanks him. Wolfdietrich takes her on his horse and commends her to a peasant.

Motif References:

R 111.1.2 Princess [maiden] rescued from robbers
P 475 Robber [thief, outlaw, pirate]
H 1162.1 Task: overcoming robbers

WDieA-517: One morning, he comes upon a narrow path. He rides all day without food and encounters a peasant in the evening, who shows him the right way to Garten. When he hears the Lake Garda, he leads his horse through the forest and hears Ortnit’s wife lament. The queen’s lady-in-waiting tells her not to despair and informs her about Wolfdietrich. The hero speaks and the queen first mistakes him for Ortnît. She tells him that Count Herman woes her, who is of lower rank. She is deprived of her in inheritance and gets only 100 pounds per year.

Motif References:

T 91.6.4.4 (Bm) Heroine will not marry knight of lower rank
T 91.6.5 (Bm) Lowly squire [count] loves king’s daughter

WDieA-543: Wolfdietrich tells her that he is a knight banished from his kingdom. When she tells him that the dragons killed Ortnît, he promises to take revenge, but refuses to reveal his identity. He reaches the Etsch River and approaches Triente and country folks tell him about their troubles with the dragons that killed 500 men. They give him accommodation for three days.

Motif References:

P 33 (Bm) Impecunious prince [king]
P 320 Hospitality

WDieA-562: Then he proceeds to the wild forest and finds a dead count, which the dragon had killed but dropped. The countess, his wife, is in labor and Wolfdietrich offers his help, but she refuses modestly. He brings water in his helmet, then takes her and the child to a peasant and demands to baptize the child and call it Hugdietrich after his father. Then he covers the count’s corpse with tree branches and rides on to search for the dragon.

Motif References:

V 81.4 Baptism of infants
T 581.1 Birth of child in forest
N 856 Helpful forester
H 1161 Task: killing ferocious beast.
H 1161.7 (Bm) Task: slay fire-breathing dragon

WDieA-581: When he grows tired, he dismounts. In the morning, a dwarf tries to wake him, but he is fast asleep. When the dragon tries to kill him, his horse defends him and is injured. At last, he awakes finding his horse near death. He mounts his horse, rides to the cliffs and calls out for the dragon. In the lair are five young ones but he believes that there is no honor in killing the young but turns to find the old monster.

Motif References:

B 11 Dragon
B 401 Helpful horse

Wolfdietrich A Fortsetzung (ca. 1250)
Jänicke, O.(ed.): Deutsches Heldenbuch III. Berlin 1871 and IV, Berlin 1873. Reprint Berlin 1968.

Heroic Epic

Wolfdietrich A (ca. 1230) Jänicke, O.(ed.): Deutsches Heldenbuch III, Berlin 1871 and IV, Berlin 1873. Reprint Berlin 1968.

Wolfdietrich A (ca. 1230)
Jänicke, O.(ed.): Deutsches Heldenbuch III, Berlin 1871 and IV, Berlin 1873. Reprint Berlin 1968.