The Text

The Waldere poem was an Anglo-Saxon epic of considerable length of which only two short fragments survive. The poem was probably composed around 770, but nothing is known about its author. The story is recorded in the 10th-century Latin poem Waltharius: Waldere, the son of a king of Aquitaine, and Hiltgund, a Burgundian princess are both prisoners of Attila, king of the Huns. They escape with much treasure and are attacked by the Franks on their flight to Aquitaine. After slaying all but Gunther and Hagen Waldere is wounded. But Hiltgund and he are able to return to Aquitaine and are finally married.

The Waldere Fragments

Appendix

Waldere, Two Fragments (Benjamin Slade)

Sources/Colophon