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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: VIR-WAT |
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WALTHARIUS , a Latin poem founded on German popular tradition, relates the exploits of the west Gothic
Walter was the son of Alphere, ruler of Aquitaine, which in the 5th century, when the legend developed, was a province of the west Gothic
Hagen as a hostage
house
Hagen and Walter became brothels in arms, fighting at the head of Attila's armies, while Hiltegund was put in charge of the queen's treasure. Presently Gunther succeeded his father and refused to pay tribute to the Huns, whereupon Hagen fled from Attila's court. Walter and Hiltegund, who had been betrothed in childhood, also made good their escape during a drunken feast of the Huns, taking with them a great treasure. The story of their flight forms one of the most charming pictures of old German story. They were recognized at Worms, however, where the treasure excited the cupidity of Gunther. Taking with him twelve knights, among them the reluctant Hagen, he pursued them, and overtook them at the Wasgenstein in the Vosges mountains. Walter engaged the Nibelungen knights one at a time, until all were slain but Hagen, who held aloof from the battle, and was only persuaded by Gunther to attack his comrade in arms on the second day. He lured Walter from the strong position of the day before, and both Gunther and Hagen attacked at once. All three were incapacitated, but their wounds were bound up by Hiltegund and they separated friends,The essential part of this story is the series of single combats. The occasional incoherences of the tale make it probable that many changes have been introduced in the legend. The Thidreks Saga (chaps. 241-244) makes the story more probable by representing the pursuers as Huns. There is reason to believe that Hagen was originally the father of Hiltegund, and that the tale was a variant of the saga of Hild as told in the Skaldskaparmdl. Hild, daughter of King Hogni, was carried off by Hedinn, son of Hjarrandi (A.S. Heorrenda). The fight between the forces of father and lover only ceased at sundown, to be renewed on the morrow, since each evening Hild raised the dead by her incantations. This is obviously a form of the old myth of the daily recurring struggle between light and darkness. The songs sung by Hiltegund in Waltharius during her night watches were probably incantations, a view strengthened by the fact that in a Polish version the glance of Helgunda is said to have inspired the combatants with new strength. Hiltegund has retained nothing of Hild's fierceness, but the fragment of the Anglo-Saxon Waldere shows more of the original
Cassel, t881); by F. Holthausen in Goteborgs Hogskolas I rsskrift (vol. V., 1899), with autotype reproductions of the two leaves which have been preserved. See also A. Ebert, Allg. Gesch. der Lit. des Mittelalters im Abendlande ( Leipzig
Baltimore , 1892) ; B. Symons, Deutsche Heldensage (Strassburg, 1905). With Waltharius compare the Scottish ballads of " Earl
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