fessor of the Dresden academy of
arts.

DIETRICH OF BERN, the name given in German popular poetry to Theodoric
the Great. The legendary history of Dietrich differs so widely from the
life of Theodoric that it has been suggested that the two were
originally unconnected. Medieval chroniclers, however, repeatedly
asserted the identity of Dietrich and Theodoric, although the more
critical noted the anachronisms involved in making Ermanaric (d. 376)
and Attila (d. 453) contemporary with Theodoric (b. 455). That the
legend is based on vague historical reminiscences is proved by the
retention of the names of Theodoric (Thiuda-reiks, Dietrich) and his
father Theudemir (Dietmar), by Dietrich's connexion with Bern (Verona)
and Raben (Ravenna). Something of the Gothic king's character descended
to Dietrich, familiarly called the Berner, the favourite of German
medieval saga heroes, although his story did not leave the same mark on
later German literature as did that of the Nibelungs. The cycle of songs
connected with his name in South Germany is partially preserved in the
Heldenbuch (q.v.) in _Dietrich's Flucht_, the _Rabenschlacht_ and
_Alpharts Tod_; but it was reserved for an Icelandic author, writing in
Norway in the 13th century, to compile, with many romantic additions, a
consecutive account of Dietrich. In this Norse prose redaction, known as
the _Vilkina Saga_, or more correctly the _Thidrekssaga_, is
incorporated much extraneous matter from the Nibelungen and Wayland
legends, in fact practically the whole of south German heroic tradition.

There are traces of a form of the Dietrich legend in which he was
represented as starting out from Byzantium, in accordance with
historical tradition, for his conquest of Italy. But this early
disappeared, and was superseded by the existing legend, in which,
perhaps by an "epic fusion" with his father Theudemir, he was associated
with Attila, and then by an easy transition with Ermanaric. Dietrich was
driven from his kingdom of Bern by his uncle Ermanaric. After years of
exile at the court of Attila he returned with a Hunnish army to Italy,
and defeated Ermanaric in the Rabenschlacht, or battle of Ravenna.
Attila's two sons, with Dietrich's brother, fell in the fight, and
Dietrich returned to Attila's court to answer for the death of the young
princes. This very improbable renunciation of the advantages of his
victory suggests that in the original version of the story the
Rabens