Here I store my sources and amateur researches and notes on the Thidrekssaga and the other poems and tales about Thidrek/Dietrich von Bern. I am barely starting with the first links I have on my hands. The bibliography is almost entirely online because I don't have much access to books for geographical reasons, but I'm working on it.

Dietrich von Bern
The "perfect knight" of Germanic sagas, a King Arthur without romantic complications, is possibly best known as a minor character from the Nibelungenlied. The poem dedicated to him, the Thidrekssaga, is less-known than the Volsungasaga or the Nibelungenlied, though it offers another version of the legends of Sigfried and the Nibelungs. It is also the core of an interesting philological conundrum.

First, though being a poem written around the beginning of the 13th century in Old Swedish, it draws from much more ancient Germanic materials such as the Hildebrandslied (8th century).

Second, its hero has been traditionally identified with the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great ("Dietrich von Bern" = "Theodoric of Verona"), due to the correspondence between the names and, vaguely, between the events of both men's life. This theory has been recently challenged by Dr. Ritter-Schaumburg's theory that identifies Dietrich von Bern with a king Dietrich of Bonn, possibly Theodoric I, son of the Frankish king Clovis.

Dietrich's origins, however, are much more ancient. Viktor Rydberg's Teutonic Mythology proves that the figure of Dietrich is identical with Hadding, a mythic hero of the Norse sagas.

My interest lies in trying to understand what happened sometime around the 6th century or even earlier. When did Hadding became Dietrich of Bern? Why did Dietrich of Bern became Theodoric of Verona, or vice versa? Given that of course one was not the other because one did earthly things and the other went around chasing dragons and giants, how much of legend is there in the history that came to us, and, especially, how much of history in the legends?...


Dietrich's Saga and other relevant sagas and poems, and modern retellings
(NB: I haven't found a good way yet to put the poems in order, and I haven't jotted down the sources for dates, authors etc. As I said, it is not even a work in progress, it's a barely starting work.)

• Das Hildebrandslied (8th century)
  
• Waltharius, Latin, c. 9th c.
  
• Waldere Fragment, Anglo-Saxon, c. 10th c.
  
• Nibelungenlied (c. 1203): part of original text with German translation, German translation by Karl Simrock, English translation by George Henry Needler.
  
• Thidrekssaga (c. 1205): original text, partial translation in English
  
• Walter und Hildegunde from Das Kleine Heldenbuch, (collected by whom and when?, German translation by K. Simrock
  
• Alphart from Das Kleine Heldenbuch
  
• Der hörnerne Siegfried from Das Kleine Heldenbuch
  
• Der Rosengarten from Das Kleine Heldenbuch
  
• Ortnit from Das Kleine Heldenbuch
  
• Hugdietrich und Wolfdietrich from Das Kleine Heldenbuch
  
• Poetic Edda (Elder Edda) collected c. 1250
  
• Prose Edda (Snorri's Edda) c. 1220
  (More sagas to be added)
  
• Jüngres Hildebrandslied, c. 13th c.
  
• Goldemar, by Albrecht von Kemenaten, fragment of poem based on Tyrolese story, 13th c.: from Das Heldenbuch, collection published by Kaspar von der Roen in 1472.
  
• Sigenot, High German poem, probably of Tyrolese origin, mid 13th c.: from Das Heldenbuch
  
• Alpharts Tod, Bavarian poem, c. 1250: from Das Heldenbuch (same as Alphart above?)
  
• Biterolf und Dietleib, Austrian poem, second half of 13th c.: from Das Heldenbuch
  
• Laurin (Der kleine Rosengarten), Tyrolese origin, late 13th c.: from Das Heldenbuch
  
• Der Rosengarten zu Worms, or Der grosse Rosengarten, Austro-Bavarian poem, late 13th c.: from Das Heldenbuch (any of these is the same as the Rosengarten above?
  
• Die Rabenschlacht & Dietrichs Flucht (Buch von Bern), German epic by Heinrich der Vogler, late 13th c.: from Das Heldenbuch.
  
• Das Eckenlied, German verse tale, probably of Tyrolese origin, 14th c.: from Das Heldenbuch
  
• Virginal (Dietrichs erste Ausfahr; Dietrich und seine Gesellen). Poems, varying versions of a Tyrolese story, uncertain date (end 13th?): from Das Heldenbuch
  
• Der Wunderer, possibly mid 13th c.
  
• The Younger Lay of Hildebrand, c. 15th c.
  
• Ermenrichs Tod
  
• Etzels Hofhaltung
  
• Anhang zum Heldenbuch (Appendix to the Book of Heroes)
  
• Didrikssaga, Swedish (Same as Thidrekssaga - I think? or is it the more recent version? or the older version?)
  
  
• Walhall, a prose retelling by Felix Dahn, in German.
  
• Teutonic Myth and Legend a prose retelling by Donald A. Mackenzie, 1912?
  

• Tacitus' Germania (I century AD)
  
• Letters of Sidonius Apollinaris
  
• Ennodius' Panegyricus
  
• Edictum Theodorici Regis
  
• Cassiodorus' Variae
  
• Jordanes' History of the Goths (6th century)
  
• Anonymus Valesianus in Latin and English
  
• Procopius of Cesarea: De Bello Gothico
  
• Gregory of Tours' History of the Franks; and an English translation
  
• Fredegarius, a continuator of Gregory of Tours' History
  
• Liber Historiae Francorum
  
• Saxo Grammaticus' History of the Danes (1150-1220): also speaks about the legendary Hadding
  

• Analysis of the Thidrekssaga by P.P. Koch
  
• Summary and genealogies of the Thidrekssaga
  
• The Heroic Saga-Cycle of Dietrich von Bern, by F.E. Sandbach
  
• Viktor Rydberg's Teutonic Mythology which connects Dietrich with the mythological figure of Hadding.
  
• Grimm's Teutonic Mythology
  
• Dr. Ritter-Schaumburg's theory about Dietrich being the son of Frankish king Clovis.
  
• Der Nibelungen Tod in Soest about Ritter's theory
  
• Die Dietrich-Sagen im neuen Licht - more theories
  
• Cycle of the Ring: an invaluable synoptic table.
  
  
• Cassiodorusby James J. O'Donnell
  
• Gibbon: Decline and fall of the Roman Empire
  
  
• www.edgarlowen.com A commercial site, but with great pictures of Gothic and Late Empire jewellery, weapons and artifacts.
• www.ancienttouch.com Same as above.

• Dietrich/Theodoric theories
  
• Quick summary of Thidrekssaga.
  
• Synoptic table of sagas and sources quoted in Rydberg. Quick summary of everything related to Thidrek.
  
• Compared genealogy. An overview of Rydberg's theories. The distortions of the Thidrekssaga. Who is Samson, Thidrek's Grandfather?
  
• Compared geography of the sagas. Where exactly does each take place? Do we actually know? Legends and theories.
  
• Origin of the name "Thidrek". Why is the saga called like that, if the protagonist is called Dydrik? When did the name Thidrek/Dietrich began to be attributed to the character formerly known as Hadding? Since it means "Lord of the People", is it just a title?
  
• The Amaliggs, history and legend.