This is my article about the Hildebrandslied; an old Germanic song (lied) about a hero named Hildebrand, the song was partially copied from an older version (which is now lost) by monks at the monastry of Fulda, Germany in 810AD, but the origins of the song are thought to be much older since the theme is probably connected to the Ostrogothic Dietrich saga.
In the middle ages some monks started to write down the old Germanic sagas, songs, poems, verses, etc. which had been handed over from generation to generation, because it were originally heathen works, they were "Christianized" by the monks and most of the heathen influences were left out or replaced by Christian versions.
For example; a sentence which said:"Wodan gave the hero a magical sword" became;"God gave the hero a magical sword".
The song is written in a western Germanic dialect; many people think it is Old High German but actually it is an Old High German dialect known as Old Bavarian which has been combined with Old Low German from which Dutch and the northern German dialects originate.
Some parts of the song are still easily readable by speakers of Dutch or German; for example; the opening sentence "Ik gihorta dat seggen" ("I have heard tell") is written in old fashioned Dutch as "Ik gehoorde dat zeggen", and in German as "Ich gehörte das sagen", notice the similarities?
Also, the "w" is written as "uu" in some western Germanic languages that use the Roman alphabeth, this is also the reason why the English still call the "w" a "double-u", the "uu" was pronounced the same way as a "w" so a word like "uuas" is pronounced as "was"
The song tells about a warrior named Hildebrand (the weapon master of the legendary Dietrich von Bern, better known as Theodorik the Great), who meets a young warrior named Hadubrand on the battlefield; Hildebrand does not know that Hadubrand is actually his forgotten son and after they have spoken they fight eachother.
What now follows is the original text of the Hildebrandslied, some parts of the song are missing and have been replaced by dots:
Hildebrandslied
Ik gihorta dat seggen,
dat sih urhettun 'non muotin,
Hiltibrant enti Hadubrant untar heriun tuem.
sunufatarungo iro saro rihtun.
5.
garutun se iro gudhamun, gurtun sih iro suert ana,
helidos, ubar hringa, do sie to dero hiltiu ritun,
Hiltibrant gimahalta (Heribrantes sunu): her uuas heroro man,
ferahes frotoro- her fragen gistuont
fohem uuortum, hwer sin fater wari
10.
fireo in folche, ...............
............... "eddo hwelihhes cnuosles du sis.
ibu du mi enan sages, ik mi de odre uuet,
chind, in chunincriche: chud ist mir al irmindeot".
Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu:
15.
"dat sagetun mi usere liuti,
alte anti frote, dea erhina warun,
dat Hiltibrant h'tti min fater: ih heittu Hadubrant.
forn her ostar giweit, floh her Otachres nid,
hina miti Theotrihhe enti sinero degano filu.
20.
her furlaet in lante luttila sitten
prut in bure, barn unwahsan,
arbeo laosa: her raet ostar hina.
des sid Detrihhe darba gistuontun
fateres mines: dat uuas so friuntlaos man.
25.
her was Otachre ummet tirri,
degano dechisto miti Deotrichhe.
her was eo folches at ente: imo was eo fehta ti leop:
chud was her..... chonnem mannum.
ni waniu ih iu lib habbe".....
30.
"wettu irmingot (quad Hiltibrant) obana ab hevane,
dat du neo dana halt mit sus sippan man
dinc ni gileitos".....
want her do ar arme wuntane bauga,
cheisuringu gitan, so imo se der chuning gap,
35.
Huneo truhtin: "dat ih dir it nu bi huldi gibu".
Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu:
"mit geru scal man geba infahan,
ort widar orte. ...............
du bist dir alter Hun, ummet spaher,
40.
spenis mih mit dinem wortun, wili mih dinu speru werpan.
pist also gialtet man, so du ewin inwit fortos.
dat sagetun mi seolidante
westar ubar wentilseo, dat inan wic furnam:
tot ist Hiltibrant, Heribrantes suno".
45.
Hiltibrant gimahalta, Heribrantes suno:
"wela gisihu ih in dinem hrustim,
dat du habes heme herron goten,
dat du noh bi desemo riche reccheo ni wurti".
"welaga nu, waltant got (quad Hiltibrant), wewurt skihit.
50.
ih wallota sumaro enti wintro sehstic ur lante,
dar man mih eo scerita in folc sceotantero:
so man mir at burc enigeru banun ni gifasta,
nu scal mih suasat chind suertu hauwan,
breton mit sinu billiu, eddo ih imo ti banin werdan.
55.
doh maht du nu aodlihho, ibu dir din ellen taoc,
in sus heremo man hrusti giwinnan,
rauba birahanen, ibu du dar enic reht habes".
"der si doh nu argosto (quad Hiltibrant) ostarliuto,
der dir nu wiges warne, nu dih es so wel lustit,
60.
gudea gimeinun: niuse de motti,
hwerdar sih hiutu dero hregilo rumen muotti,
erdo desero brunnono bedero uualtan".
do lettun se 'rist asckim scritan,
scarpen scurim: dat in dem sciltim stont.
65.
do stoptun to samane staim bort chludun,
heuwun harmlicco huitte scilti,
unti imo iro lintun luttilo wurtun,
giwigan miti wabnum ...............
This is the English translation by mr. D.L. Ashliman together with some notes he made;
I have left his work completely intact and everything you see between the red lines is his work and his credit.
Well, enjoy this wonderful translation:
I have heard tell,
that two chosen warriors, Hildebrand and Hadubrand,
met one another, between two armies.
Father and son, the champions examined their gear,
prepared their armor, and buckled their swords
over their chain mail, before riding out to battle.
Hildebrand, the older and more experienced man, spoke first,
asking, with few words who his father was
and from which family he came.
"Tell me the one, young man, and I'll know the other,
for I know all great people in this kingdom."
Hadubrand, the son of Hildebrand, replied:
"Old and wise people who lived long ago
told me that my father's name was Hildebrand.
My name is Hadubrand.
Long ago he road off into the East with Dietrich,
and his many warriors, fleeing Otacher's wrath.
He rode off into the East, leaving his wife at home
with a small child, deprived of his inheritance.
Dietrich, a man with but few friends,
came to rely upon my father.
His feud with Otacher grew more intense,
and my father became his best-loved warrior.
He was at the front of every battle, wanting to be in every duel.
.....
Brave men knew him well.
....."
"With Almighty God in Heaven for a witness,
may you never go to battle against your next of kin."
And he took from his arm a band of rings,
braided from the emperor's gold,
which the King of the Huns had given to him.
"I give you this in friendship."
Hadubrand, the son of Hildebrand, replied:
"A gift should be received with a spear,
point against point.
You are a cunning old Hun,
leading me into a trap with your words,
only to throw your spear at me.
You have grown old by practicing such treachery.
Sailors traveling westward across the Mediterranean Sea
told me that he fell in battle.
Hildebrand, the son of Heribrand, is dead."
Hildebrand, the son of Heribrand, replied:
"I see from your battle gear
that you have a good master at home,
and that you have never been banished by your prince.
.....
Alas, Lord God, fate has struck.
Sixty times I have seen summer turn to
winter
and winter to summer in a foreign land.
I was always placed on the front lines;
I was never killed while storming a fortress,
and now my own child should strike me with his sword
and hit me with his ax, if I don't kill him first.
But if you have the courage, you can easily
win the armor from an old man like me,
and take away the spoils, if you have any right to them.
.....
Not even the worst of the men from the East
would turn down the the chance to fight with you,
with your desire to duel. Cost what it may,
let us see who will boast of this gear
and who will lay claim to these two suits of chain mail."
Then they let sail their ashen spears,
Sharp showers, sticking in their shields.
They came closer on foot, splitting each other's bright boards,
striking fiercely until their weapons shattered their shields.
.....
Notes
Composed in alliterative verse during the second half of the 8th
century, this poem was recorded in Old High German about 810 a.d. at the
Fulda Monastery in southern Germany. The manuscript was used as the
binding for a theological treatise. Translated here into free verse. No
attempt has been made to reproduce the original meter or alliteration.
The poem's conclusion is lost. Parallel traditions suggest that the
father killed his son. However, a ballad from the 13th century, the
so-called "Younger Hildebrandslied," ends with a reconciliation between
father and son.
The five dots indicate that part of the text is
missing or unreadable.
Two seasons per year times sixty seasons equals
thirty years. This was a standard way to reckon time in medieval northern
Europe.
Well, the story stops just when it's getting exciting doesn't it?
Unfortunately the end of the story is lost but the most likely ending would be that Hildebrand kills his son Hadubrand; tragical endings were typical in Germanic sagas (think of the legends about Siegfried/Sigurd for example), it may also be possible that they stopped fighting after finding out their kinship.
In 1515AD the "Jüngere Hildebrandslied" (Younger Hildebrandsong) was written which had a less tragical ending in which father and son reconciled with eachother.
