Many thanks go to Kiyo at Kiyo's
Repository of Mythos and Poesy for providing us with this text, translation
and notes.
| {Old German Text}
Ik gihorta ðat seggen, |
{My English translation}
I heard it said, for it was surely told, |
| 5 garutun sê iro guðhamun, gurtun sih iro suert
ana, helidos, ubar hringa, do sie to dero hiltiu ritun. Hiltibrant gimahalta, Heribrantes sunu,—her uuas heroro man, ferahes frotoro—her fragen gistuont fohem uuortum, hwer sin fater wari |
(5) righted their armor and girt their swords over the ring[-mail], riding forth to combat. Hildebrand, son of Heribrand commenced speech — it was the elder and more inveterate one who with sparse words asked who the other's father was, [*1] |
| 10 fireo in folche, "eddo hwelihhes cnuosles du sis. ibu du mi enan sages, ik mi de odre uuet, chind in chunincriche. chud ist mi al irmindeot." Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu: |
(10) and which line he stemmed from.
|
| 15 "dat sagetun mi usere liuti, alte anti frote, dea érhina warun, dat Hiltibrant hætti min fater, ih heittu Hadubrant. forn her ostar giweit, floh her Otachres nid, hina miti Theotrihhe enti sinero degano filu. |
(15) "My people have told me,
|
| 20 her furlaet in lante luttila sitten, prut in bure barn unwahsan, arbeo laosa. her raet ostar hina. des sid Detrihhe darba gistuontun fateres mines: dat uuas so friuntlaos man. |
(20) He left a young wife in the homeland,
|
| 25 her was Otachre ummet tirri, degano dechisto miti Deotrihhe. her was eo folches at ente: imo was eo fehta ti leop. chud was her chonnem mannum. ni waniu ih iu lib habbe." |
(25) [ However, my father, ] Dietrich's most faithful follower,
|
| 30 "wettu irmingot", quad Hiltibrant, "obana
ab heuane, dat du neo dana halt mit sus sippan man dinc ni gileitos!" want her do ar arme wuntane bauga, cheisuringu gitan, so imo se der chuning gap, |
(30) "I call upon the God of Heaven", Hildebrand then said,
|
| 35 Huneo truhtin: "dat ih dir it nu bi huldi gibu." Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu: "mit geru scal man geba infahan, ort widar orte. du bist dir, alter Hun, ummet spaher; |
(35) of the Huns had given him: "I give you this out of friendship."
But Hadubrand, Hildebrand's son, answered:
|
| 40 spenis mih mit dinem wortun, wili mih dinu speru werpan pist also gialtet man, so du ewin inwit fortos. dat sagetun mi seolidante westar ubar wentilseo, dat inan wic furnam: tot is Hiltibrant, Heribrantes suno." |
(40) lulling me with your words into a [ sense of false ] security, only then to strike me with your spear. You are already so old, and you are as full of tricks as ever. — I know from seafarers who [came] westward over the sea, and who fought alongside father in battle: Hildebrand, the son Heribrands is dead! "
|
| 45 Hiltibrant gimahalta, Heribrantes suno: "wela gisihu ih in dinem hrustim, dat du habes heme herron goten, dat du noh bi desemo riche reccheo ni wurti." welaga nu, waltant got", quad Hiltibrant, "wewurt skihit! |
(45) Hildebrand, son of Heribrand, then said: "On your armor I see clearly, that you serve in the household of a mighty lord, and you have not yet been banished by your master. — O wieldly God" [*4], quoth Hildebrand, "Fate wills to run its course!
|
| 50 ih wallota sumaro enti wintro sehstic ur lante, dar man mih eo scerita in folc sceotantero. so man mir at burc enigeru banun ni gifasta. nu scal mih suasat chind suertu hauwan, breton mit sinu billiu, eddo ih imo ti banin werdan. |
(50) I have been gone sixty summers and winters [*5] away in a foreign land. There I was e'er put up against a whole batallion of archers. One castle upon another. Death never overcame me all that time, but alas it comes to me now, for my own son with the sword shall slay me, with his weapon shall fell me to ground — unless I bring death to him.
|
| 55 doh maht du nu aodlihho, ibu dir din ellen taoc, in sus heremo man hrusti giwinnan, rauba birahanen, ibu du dar enic reht habes." "der si doh nu argosto", quad Hiltibrant, "ostarliuto, der dir nu wiges warne, nu dih es so wel lustit, |
(55) Nonetheless, you can vanquish me now easily, if your strength is equal to it, win the spoils of this old warrior's armor, if you can prove your mettle. — Now [I] would really be one of the wretchedest cowards that ever went east," said Hildebrand, "if I fain refuse to fight you, since you are seething so much to
|
| 60 gudea gimeinun. niuse de motti, hwerdar sih hiutu dero hregilo rumen muotti, erdo desero brunnono bedero uualtan!" do lettun se ærist asckim scritan scarpen scurim, dat in dem sciltim stont. |
(60) [have this] fight between us. So let us now have the test imposed
upon us, as to who between the two of us will lose our harness
[*6], which of us will win both our byrnie."
[*7]
|
| 65 do stoptun to samane staimbort hludun, heuwun harmlicco huitte scilti, unti im iro lintun luttila wurtun, giwigan miti wabnum [..] |
(65) From this, they rebounded off each other in recoil, their shields banging loudly [*8]. Full of wrath, they struck at their white shields, until the linden-wood boards were shivered to bits by the weapons [..] [*9] |
| Footnotes: [*1]Though this may be a form of flyting, or verbal contest, it is much more civil than the example one sees in the Volsunga Saga, Ch. 9. In Robert Graves' I, Claudius, two Germanic chieftains called Sigimerus/Siegmyrgth and Arminius/Hermann participate in such contest, one which is based on Tacitus' account. [Back] [*2]Odoacer/Ottovacar (434?-493 A.D.) is known for deposing the Roman emperor and declaring himself ruler of Italy, and eventually defeated and murdered by Theodoric the Great (the usual figure identified with Dietrich, who appears here as Hildebrand's master). In most other works of the Dietrich cycle, Ermanrich appears in the place of Odoacer. It is often commentated that Theodoric was victor and was never put to flight by Ermenrich/Odoacer, but I don't think this is completely true. When Tufa, who was originally Odoacer's general, entered Theodoric's service, only to revert back to his old allegiance, Theodoric suffered a serious reversal of fortune, and took flight (although the exile certainly did not endure for 30 years &madash; see footnote5). [Back] [*3]This might be interpreted as the custom where the giver places the ring at the tip of his spear, and passing it to the receiver spear, so he can let the ring slide down the shaft and catch it. (I attribute this interpretation to Lee Edgar Tyler — thx. ) [Back] [*4]It is an open question whether this God is Christian or heathen. [Back] [*5] Sixty summers and winters is thirty years. In this poem, this is the length of time since Hildeberand left his homeland, wherever that may be. In other works, thirty years is the amount of time Dietrich spent in exile (in the service of Attila the Hun) before he got his vengeance. [Back] [*6] hregil is the etymological root for rail (garment or mantle). Here I used "harnsess" (MHG harnische) which applied to gear worn by men-at-arms, and not just to horses. [Back] [*7] Brünne: (OHG brunia ON brynja) is most commonly rendered in English as "byrnie" (though "brynie" seems phonetically closer). Though one cannot pinpoint the form of this armor, it may well be a leather jacket with metal lames or scales sewn onto them. [Back] [*8]Germanic practice of banging on their own shield with their swords, to muster their own courage and strike fear in the enemy. [Back] [*9]The so-called "younger" Hildebrandslied (in Old High German) gives this an ending, and Hildebrand defeats his son but does not kill him. [Back] Notes from the Translator: * The above rendition of mine in English is entirely based on the modern German and English translations I found below: LINKS OGer. Text + {modern German tr.(1): www.nd.edu/~gantho/anth1-163/Hildebrandslied13-20.html#n1 another modern German tr. (2): http://hub.ib.hu-berlin.de/~hab/arnd/Start.html D. L. Ashliman's English text: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/hildebrand.html |
© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.
|