Lay of Hildebrand - Analogues & The Ending

Analogues & The Ending

Although the ending is missing, later works which draw on the same legendary material offer evidence about the original conclusion:

• In the 13th century Old Norse Thiðrekssaga, Hildibrand defeats his son, Alibrand. Alibrand offers his sword in surrender but attempts to strike Hildibrand as he reaches for it. Hildibrand taunts him for having been taught to fight by a woman, but then asks if he is Alibrand and they are reconciled.
• The Early New High German Jüngeres Hildebrandslied (first attested in the fifteenth century) tells a similar story of the treacherous blow, the taunt that the son was taught to fight by a woman, and the final reconciliation.
• In the 14th century Old Norse Ásmundar saga kappabana, Hildebrand's shield bears paintings of the warriors he has killed, which include his own son.
• In the Faroese ballad Snjólvskvæði, Hildebrand is tricked into killing his son.
• In Book VII of the Gesta Danorum (early 13th century), Hildiger reveals as he is dying that he has killed his own son.

Even though some of these versions end in reconciliation, this can be seen as a concession to the courtly tastes of a later period. The heroic ethos of an earlier period would leave Hildebrand no choice but to kill his son after the treacherous stroke, and this is preserved in the other analogues.

A more distant analogue is the Persian tale of Rostam in the Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings), who kills his son Sohrab in single combat between two armies. They do not recognize each other until, after Sohrab has been fatally wounded, Rostam sees the arm-ring he had given his son at his birth. The similarities with the Hildebrandslied suggest the story may derive from a Proto-Indo-European folk tale.