King Thetmar ruled in Bern. He was a powerful, generous, kind man, and his wife was both fair and wise. They had one son called Thidrek. He grew up strong and healthy, with bold eyes and long golden curls. He never grew a beard, not even when he was older. He had wide shoulders and sinewy arms: he was so strong that few could be his peers, though he was slender in the waist and fine-boned. He had a glad, gentle and friendly disposition, and spared no gold nor silver. If he was drawn to anger, however, flames erupted from his mouth.
(Thidrekssaga - amateurishly translated by me)
 Welcome, visitor, to my palace. It was my father's palace, King Thetmar of Bern. My name means "Lord of the People". I use the form that is more familiar to the people in the North; I am known as Dietrich of Bern, son of Dietmar, to the Germanic people of more recent times, and as Thiudareiks son of Thiudamers in the language of my own tribe, the Goths of the East. But this latter name is too heavy for my shoulders, having been borne by another who was so much greater than I.
I am almost never home. There is so much to be done across the kingdom and beyond... proving I am the worthiest knight around, saving peasants from dragons or wicked knights, fending off the evil schemes of disreputable relatives who are always after my throne. This of course involves a certain degree of hazard, and I've been known to spend weeks as a prisoner in a giant's cave or lying in a bed with wounds the lesser of which would have killed a normal man outright. But you can rest assured that in the end my faithful sword Eckisax and I will come through.
For example, as King of Bern I am facing terrible challenges at Yggdrasil. See the Yggdrasil Guide in my Courtyard.
A younger and sillier version of me as Prince of Bern is having fun at the Red Boar Tavern with wolves and monkeys and donkeys and airheaded Saxons. [Look who's talking! - The air-headed Saxon] I have good friends in this incarnation: look at this gift from the MacRoth family, The Boop, ancient clan goddess! All hail The Boop!
Lastly, though I cannot fill his shoes as I said above, I am not unrelated to the world-weary antagonist/deuteragonist of The Dragon and the King, Theodoric the Ostrogoth. As you will see in my Library, they basically wrote fanfiction about him from ancient times, and the protagonist was Dietrich of Bern, meaning me...
... well, almost!
The Sun God Contest, Yule 2004
The following is SCARY:
You scored as The Dragon. Ancient, chaotic, and a bit mysterious is the Dragon figure. Awakened from your happy slumber upon a pile of gold, you go about the country slaying its occupants. Beowulf manages to kill you, but not before you ensure his death. Congrats.
If You Were in Beowulf...
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Credits:
- Best viewed: Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Avatar: Siegfried from the game Soul Calibur. Found by my friend Fenrir!
- Entrance image: the Palace of Theodoric the Great, mosaic in Ravenna. A respectful thank you to my namesake.
- Courtyard, Library and Study images: illustrations of a book on Dietrich von Bern whose web page has disappeared.
- Bathroom tiles... er, background by Aelfwine Scylding.
- All other images belong to their authors.
- Moral support and help with that thing whose name I don't know: Desdemona Eurimedon.
- Where are bathroom tiles and a bathtub, there has to be bubble bath! By Phenom Leonidas.
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