Rabenschlacht
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Die Rabenschlacht (The Battle of Ravenna) is an anonymous 13th-century Middle High German poem about the hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It is part of the so-called "historical" Dietrich material and is closely related to, and always transmitted together with another Dietrich poem, Dietrichs Flucht. At one time, both poems were thought to have the same author, possibly a certain Heinrich der Vogler, but stylistic differences have led more recent scholarship to abandon this idea.[1]
Die Rabenschlacht concerns a failed attempt by the exiled Dietrich to reclaim his kingdom in Northern Italy from his treacherous uncle Ermenrich, with the help of an army provided by Etzel, king of the Huns. In the course of this attempt, Dietrich's younger brother and Etzel's young sons by his wife Helche are killed by Dietrich's former vassal Witege outside of Ravenna. Witege then flees into the sea and is rescued by a mermaid rather than fighting against Dietrich. The poem may be a dim reflection of the death of Attila's son Ellac at the Battle of Nedao in 454, combined with Theodoric the Great's siege of Ravenna in 491–493.[2] It would therefore be one of the oldest parts of the legends about Dietrich von Bern.