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 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''.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 ''

'' 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, 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 ( Hildebrand'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'' 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, 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 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.

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

Origins

Adventures

King Heimir

See also

References

Bibliography