Heime (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
), Háma ( ang, Hāma), or Heimir (
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
) was a
Germanic figure in
Germanic heroic legend
Germanic heroic legend (german: germanische Heldensage) is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the Migration Period (4th-6th centuries AD). Stories from this time period, to whic ...
who often appears together with his friend
Witige
Witege, Witige or Wittich ( ang, Wudga, Widia; Gotho- lat, Vidigoia) or Vidrik "Vidga" Verlandsson ( + ''Viðga'' or ''Videke'' + ''Verlandsson'', ''Vallandsson'', or ''Villandsson'') is a character in several Germanic heroic legends, poems abou ...
.
[The article ]
Heimer
' in ''Nordisk familjebok
''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...
'' (1909). He appears in the Anglo-Saxon poems ''
Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'' and ''
Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'', in the Scandinavian ''
Þiðrekssaga'' and in German epics such as ''
Alpharts Tod
''Alpharts Tod'' (The Death of Alphart) is an anonymous late medieval Middle High German poem in the poetic cycle of the hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It i ...
''.
[The entry ''Heime/Heimir'' in ''The Nibelungen Tradition: An Encyclopedia'' (2002) by Francis G. Gentry. p. 84]
Origins
Since Wudga is based on a
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
hero named
Vidigoia Vidigoia was a Thervingian Gothic warrior. His name means either "the man from the forest zone" or "the forest-barker/wolf".
Vidigoia figured during the campaigns of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great across the Danube around 330 AD. Having been ...
, it is possible that Hama has a similar origin, and the Anglo-Saxon poem ''
Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'' talks of Hama and Wudga as Gothic warriors fighting against the
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
in the
Vistula forests, where the Goths had an early settlement.
Later, during the evolution of the legends, the two heroes were connected with both the Gothic kings
Ermanaric
Ermanaric; la, Ermanaricus or ''Hermanaricus''; ang, Eormanrīc ; on, Jǫrmunrekkr , gmh, Ermenrîch (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia ...
and
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy b ...
, and they were increasingly presented as traitors; it is as traitors that they appear in the ''
Þiðrekssaga''.
Adventures
According to the ''Þiðrekssaga'', Heime was originally named Studas and named so after his father. However, he was renamed Heime after the fierce dragon he defeated in the forest. In the
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
Dietrich cycle, he is the son of a Madelger or Adelger of Lamparten, and he appears either as a duke or as a giant with several hands or elbows, a trait which also appears in the Swedish version of the ''Þiðrekssaga''. Heime has an excellent weapon named Blutgang and a famous horse called Rispa. When Theodoric is only 12 years old and Heime is 17, Heime leaves his home to challenge Theodoric in a duel. In the fight, Heime's sword, Blutgang,
Teutonic Myth and Legend: Chapter XXXVII. Dietrich of Bern
/ref> is destroyed and Theodoric's helmet shattered. Heime loses the duel, and swears allegiance to Theodoric. Later, when Theodoric wins the sword Eckesachs, he gives his old sword Nagelring to Heime. Heime is among Theodoric's twelve men who help him fight against Isung.
In the German poems, Heime is bought over by Ermanaric and so abandons Theodoric. This is not mentioned in ''Þiðrekssaga'', but on the other hand it relates that Heime and his comrade Widga (Wudga) fight for Ermanaric. This pairing of Widga and Heime is also mentioned in ''Widsith''. In ''Alpharts Tod'', Witege (Wudga) is rescued from Alphart
''Alpharts Tod'' (The Death of Alphart) is an anonymous late medieval Middle High German poem in the poetic cycle of the hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It i ...
(Hildebrand
Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword". ...
's kinsman) by Heime. By dishonourably fighting two against one, Heime and Wudga kill Alphart.
The ''Þiðrekssaga'' has Heime spend his last years in a monastery where he calls himself Ludwig. When a giant named Aspilian threatens the monastery, Heime dons his armour again and kills the giant. He fails to return to his life as a monk because Theodoric calls him back and wants his services again. Heime then returns to the monastery in order to demand taxes from the monks, but when he does not receive anything, he kills every monk inside it and burns it down. Heime then has to fight a second giant, but loses and is killed. He is avenged by Theodoric. According to German sources, Heime is buried near Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
at a monastery called Wilten
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a pop ...
.
King Heimir
In ''Grípisspá
''Grípisspá'' (''Grípir's prophecy'') or ''Sigurðarkviða Fáfnisbana I'' ("First Lay of Sigurd Fáfnir's Slayer") is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows '' Frá dauða Sinfjötla'' and precedes ''Reginsmál''.
...
'', ''Helreið Brynhildar ''Helreið Brynhildar'' (Old Norse 'The Hel-ride of Brynhild') is a short Old Norse poem that is found in the ''Poetic Edda''. Most of the poem (except stanza 6) is also quoted in ''Norna-Gests þáttr''.
Henry Adams Bellows says in his commenta ...
'' and the ''Völsunga saga
The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century poetic rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the stor ...
'' there is a Heimir, and although the accounts of this Heimir have nothing in common with the traditions mentioned above, they have been presented as the same character. This Heimir is the king of Hlymdalir, the maternal uncle of Brynhildr
Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=New High German, Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigoths, Vis ...
and foster-father, or spouse, of Brynhildr's sister Bekkhildr.[Ohlmarks, Åke. (1994). Fornnordiskt lexikon. Tiden. p. 144] He is also the foster-father of Aslaug
Aslaug ( non, Áslaug ), also called Aslög, Kráka (O.N.: ) or Kraba, is a figure in Norse mythology who appears in Snorri's Edda, the Völsunga saga and in the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok as one of his wives.
Aslaug in legend
According to the 13 ...
, Brynhildr's daughter with Sigurd
Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Meroving ...
(Sigfried). As the Burgundians wanted to kill the little child, he kept her hidden in a harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
and wandered as a minstrel until he arrived in Spangereid
Spangereid is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1889 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality was located in the southwe ...
in Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, where he was murdered in his sleep by Áki and Grima, who believed that Heimir kept valuables in the harp.
See also
The Four Sons of Aymon
''The Four Sons of Aymon'' (french: esQuatre fils Aymon, nl, De Vier Heemskinderen, german: Die Vier Haimonskinder), sometimes also referred to as ''Renaud de Montauban'' (after its main character) is a medieval tale spun around the four sons ...
References
Bibliography
*Haymes, Edward R. and Susann T. Samples. ''Heroic Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Nibelung and Dietrich Cycles''. New York: Garland. 1996, p 151.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hama
Dietrich von Bern cycle
Germanic heroic legends
Legendary Norsemen