The Waldere is a fragmentary OLD ENGLISH poem
preserved on two pages today kept in the Royal Library
of Copenhagen (Ny Kgl. s. ms. 167b), comprising
63 verses in which two, perhaps three,
speeches are given; the first by Hidgyth (Hildegund),
the second by Hagano, the third by Waldere
(Walther). The poem reflects upon the Latin
Waltharius poem composed by Ekkehard I of St.
Gall ca. 825, or it derives from a source common to
both.
In the Latin epic,Waltharius (accompanied by
his beloved Hildegund) escapes from the Hunnish
king Attila to whom they both had been sent as
hostages from their native countries, Aquitaine
and Burgundy, respectively.When they arrive in
the kingdom of the Burgundians, King Guntharius,
out of greed for the treasures that Waltharius
had taken with him from the Hunnish court, attacks
the two with 12 of his men. However,
Waltharius has positioned himself in a mountain
pass where only one warrior can approach the hero
at a time.Waltharius defends himself valiantly and
kills 10 of Guntharius’s men, including Hagano’s
nephew.At the end, having lured Waltharius out of
his refuge, both the Burgundian king and his liege
man Hagano enter the fray, and in this battle Guntharius
loses a leg,Waltharius a hand, and Hagano
one eye. As soon as they realize this tragic outcome,
they strike a friendship, laughing about their
disfigurements. This is possible especially because
Hagano had also been a hostage at Attila’s court
before Waltharius managed to escape, and greatly
respects Waltharius as a warrior. Afterward
Waltharius and Hildegund return home and are
married.Waltharius ascends to the throne of his
father Elfhere’s kingdom and reigns for 30 years.
In the first speech contained in Waldere,
Hidgyth encourages Waldere to fight courageously
with his trustworthy sword Mimming. The second
fragment seems to begin with a short speech by
Hagano, who praises the quality of Mimming,
which had been sent by Theoderic the Great as a
gift to Widia. The last section consists ofWaldere’s
speech in which he taunts Guthhere.
The Anglo-Saxon Waldere demonstrates that
Germanic heroic poetry was also known in England.
Scholars now assume that Waldere and the
Latin epic Waltharius developed separately out of a
Germanic heroic epic lay. Other versions of the
Waltharius are extent in Italian, Old Norse, and
Polish.
Bibliography
Anderson, Theodore M. “The Speeches in the
Waldere Fragments.” In De Gustibus: Essays for
Alain Renoir, edited by John Miles Foley, J. Chris
Womack, and Whitney A.Womack, 21–29. New
York: Garland, 1992.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin, trans. The Anglo-Saxon
World: An Anthology. 1982. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1999.
Langosch, Karl. “Waltharius”: Die Dichtung und die
Forschung. Darmstadt, Germany:Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft, 1973.
Norman, Frederick. “The Old English Waldere and
Some Problems in the Story ofWalther and Hildegunde.”
In Mélanges pour Jean Fourquet: 37 essais
de linguistique germanique et de littérature du
Moyen Âge français et allemand, edited by Paul
Valentin and Georges Zink, 261–271. Paris:
Klincksieck, 1969.
Waldere. Edited by Arne Zettersten from Royal Library,
Copenhagen NY Kgl. S. Ms. 167 b. Manchester,
U.K.:Manchester University Press, 1979.
Albrecht Classen