Wolfdietrich

Wolfdietrich, Germanic hero who appears in the Middle High German poems of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich in Das Heldenbuch (see Heldenbuch, Das) as the son of Hugdietrich, emperor of Constantinople. Repudiated by his father, who mistakenly believes him illegitimate, he is brought up by the emperor’s faithful retainer Berchtung von Meran. Berchtung and his 16 sons support Wolfdietrich, who, after his father’s death, is driven from his inheritance by his own brothers. After a long exile...