Eneit

work by Heinrich von Veldeke

Also known as: “Eneide”

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June 26, 2026

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Heinrich von Veldeke's Eneit is considered the first German courtly epic to achieve artistic mastery. Written around 1170, it is modeled on the Old French Roman d’Eneas rather than directly on Virgil's Aeneid.12

The Eneit tells the story of Aeneas, expanding significantly on the episode of Aeneas and Dido. It transforms the classical epic into a courtly romance that delves into the psychology of love. This work was highly valued by later poets like Gottfried von Strassburg and Wolfram von Eschenbach as a model for their own writing. Heinrich von Veldeke also wrote a religious epic, Servatius, and lyric poems, establishing himself as an important transmitter of new literary fashions from Romance models into Germany.1

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Heinrich von Veldeke
…of Thuringia, Heinrich completed the Eneit, modeled on the French Roman d’Eneas rather than directly on Virgil’s Aeneid. Eneit was written not in Heinrich’s native Flemish but in the Franconian literary language of such works as Eilhart von Oberg’s Tristrant und Isalde. Following its French example, Eneit greatly expands the…
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…of Thuringia, Heinrich completed the Eneit, modeled on the French Roman d’Eneas rather than directly on Virgil’s Aeneid. Eneit was written not in Heinrich’s native Flemish but in the Franconian literary language of such works as Eilhart von Oberg’s Tristrant und Isalde. Following its French example, Eneit greatly expands the…
Read More

Dutch literature
Poetry and prose
In addition to his Eneit (c. 1185), a chivalrous rendering of Virgil’s Aeneid, and his love lyrics, which were important for German poets, Heinrich produced Servatius, a saint’s life written in the Limburg dialect. Dutch 13th- and 14th-century texts were generally written in the cultural centres of Flanders and…
Read More
In addition to his Eneit (c. 1185), a chivalrous rendering of Virgil’s Aeneid, and his love lyrics, which were important for German poets, Heinrich produced Servatius, a saint’s life written in the Limburg dialect. Dutch 13th- and 14th-century texts were generally written in the cultural centres of Flanders and…
Read More

German literature
Courtly romance
…Heinrich von Veldeke produced the Eneide (c. 1170; written in an intermediate dialect that contained elements of both Low and High German), a “modern” version of Virgil’s Aeneid adapted from the anonymous Old French Roman d’Énéas. It turns on the two loves of Aeneas—one passionate and destructive (Dido); the other…
Read More
…Heinrich von Veldeke produced the Eneide (c. 1170; written in an intermediate dialect that contained elements of both Low and High German), a “modern” version of Virgil’s Aeneid adapted from the anonymous Old French Roman d’Énéas. It turns on the two loves of Aeneas—one passionate and destructive (Dido); the other…
Read More