Alpharts Tod

Alpharts Tod, an anonymous Middle High German poem written c.1250. It is preserved in a defective MS. of the 15th c., which contains 467 eight-line stanzas of the form known as Hildebrandston. The story is an offshoot of the Dietrich legend (see Dietrichsage). Alphart, a warrior of Dietrich and a nephew of Hildebrand, rides out against Ermanarich's forces, subdues the warrior Witege, but is then treacherously attacked simultaneously by Witege and Heime and falls after a heroic resistance. The poem ends with Dietrich's victory at Bern (Verona). The standpoint of the poem is chivalric; Ermanarich's men are condemned for their shameful disregard of the code of knightly conduct.