Hildebrand left his infant son Hadubrand behind when he rode into exile with Dietrich von Bern. Thirty years later, father and son face each other across the battlefield as strangers.
Hildebrand stood at Dietrich's side through thirty years of exile, his master-at-arms and most loyal companion. The old warrior fought in every campaign to reclaim Bern and was the last of Dietrich's original retainers still standing.
Hildebrand slew his own son Hadubrand in single combat, the young warrior's refusal to believe the old stranger's identity forcing a duel neither could escape.
⚠ The original Hildebrandslied (c. 830) breaks off during the fight, leaving the outcome unknown. The Jüngeres Hildebrandslied has a happy ending with recognition. The Þiðreks saga preserves the tragic ending where the father kills the son.
The old warrior Hildebrand, outraged that a woman had slain so great a warrior as Hagen, struck down Kriemhild with his sword in the final moments of the Nibelungenlied. Her death ends the epic, completing the destruction of all the principal characters.
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