Wolfdietrich

Wolfdietrich is a German hero of romance. The tale of Wolfdietrich is connected with the Merovingian princes, Theodoric and Theodebert, son and grandson of Clovis; but in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in the Heldenbuch.

Wolfdietrich is the son of Hugdietrich, emperor of Constantinople. Repudiated and exposed by his father, the child was spared by the wolves of the forest, and was educated by the faithful Berchtung of Meran. The account of his parents and their wooing, however, differs in various texts. After the emperor's death, Wolfdietrich was driven from his inheritance by his brothers at the instigation of the traitor Sabene. Berchtung and his sixteen sons stood by Wolfdietrich. Six of these were slain and the other ten imprisoned. It was only after long exile in Lombardy at the court of King Ortnit that the hero returned to deliver the captives and regain his kingdom.