Hildebrandslied

Hildebrandslied was a fragmented, alliterative heroic poem, written in Old High German, probably in the early 9th century. The poem centred around the hero Hildebrand and his son Hadubrand. A large part of the poem was a dialogue between the two characters.

Two armies faced one another at the battleground. Hildebrand, the aged adviser and champion of Dietrich, met a much younger warrior between the two armies. Hildebrand had been exiled from Attila's court along with Dietrich for 60 years.

Hildebrand asked his younger opponent his name. When the younger warrior told him that he was Hadubrand, Hildebrand's own son, the old warrior became distressed.

Hildebrand told the younger warrior that he was his father, but Hadubrand didn't believe the old man, thinking it was a trick to trap or kill him. No matter what Hildebrand told him, he was unconvinced. Hadubrand believed that his father had gone into exile with Dietrich, when Otacher (Odoacer, the Ostrogothic king of Italy) deprived Dietrich of his kingdom. Hadubrand also believed that his father had died in battle.

The ending of the poem is missing, but most scholars believe that Hildebrand fought his son, and he killed Hadubrand in single combat.

There are a couple of later poems that had much happier endings, though they were less powerful than the original.

There is another poem called The Younger Lay of Hildebrand (c. 15th century), which ended with reconciliation between father and son.

In another poem of the same theme – the Jüngres Hildebrandslied (c. 13th century) – there was also a recognition and reconciliation scene between the old warrior and his son. Hadubrand brought his father back home, after being exiled for 32 years. Hildebrand was reunited with his wife, Ute.