Laurin or Der kleine Rosengarten (The Small Rose Garden) is an anonymous Middle High German poem about the legendary hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It is one of the so-called fantastical (aventiurehaft) Dietrich poems, so called because it more closely resembles a courtly romance than a heroic epic. It likely originates from the region of South Tyrol, possibly as early as 1230, though all manuscripts are later.
The poem has five extant versions. In each, it concerns Dietrich's fight against the dwarf King Laurin, which takes place when Dietrich and Witege destroy Laurin's magical rose garden. The heroes are subsequently invited into Laurin's kingdom inside a mountain when it is discovered that Laurin has kidnapped and married the sister of Dietleib, one of Dietrich's heroes. Laurin betrays the heroes and imprisons them, but they are able to defeat him and save Dietleib's sister. The different versions depict Laurin's fate differently: in some, he becomes a jester at Dietrich's court, in others the two are reconciled and become friends.
The Laurin was one of the most popular legends about Dietrich. Beginning in the fifteenth century, it was printed both as part of the compendium of heroic poems known as the Heldenbuch and independently, and continued to be printed until around 1600. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a variant of the poem was reimagined as a folk saga and became part of South Tyrolean popular folklore.
Summary
The Laurin exists in several versions (see "Transmission, versions, and dating" below). The oldest version of the tale (the so-called elder Vulgate version (ältere Vulgatversion), which the "Dresdner version" follows closely, begins with a conversation between Witige and Hildebrand. Witige says that Dietrich is the greatest hero of all time; Hildebrand objects that Dietrich has never experienced a twergenâventiure (dwarf-adventure). At that point Dietrich walks in and is very angered by Hildebrand's private criticism. Hildebrand tells Dietrich where he can find such an adventure: the dwarf king Laurin has a rose-garden in the Tyrolian forest. He will fight any challenger who breaks the thread surrounding his rose garden. Dietrich and Witige immediately set off to challenge Laurin; Hildebrand and Dietleib follow secretly behind. Upon seeing the beautiful rose-garden, Dietrich relents and decides that he does not want to harm anything so lovely. Witige, however, says that Laurin's pride must be punished, and not only breaks the thread, but tramples the entire rose garden. Almost immediately the dwarf Laurin, armed so wonderfully that Witige mistakes him for Michael the Archangel, appears, and demands the left foot and right hand of Witige as punishment for the destruction of the garden. He fights and defeats Witige, but Dietrich then decides that he cannot allow his vassal to lose his limbs, and fights Laurin himself. Initially, Dietrich is losing, but Hildebrand arrives and tells Dietrich to steal the dwarf's cloak of invisibility () and strength-granting belt then fight him on foot (the dwarf had been riding a deer-sized horse) wrestling him to the ground. Laurin, now defeated, pleads for mercy, but Dietrich has become enraged and vows to kill the dwarf. Finally, Laurin turns to Dietleib, informing him he had kidnapped and married the hero's sister Künhilt, so that he was now Dietleib's brother-in-law. Dietleib hides the dwarf and prepares to fight Dietrich, but Hildebrand makes peace between them.
Dietrich and Laurin are reconciled, and Laurin invites the heroes to his kingdom under the mountain. All are enthusiastic except Witige, who senses treachery. In the mountain they are well received, and Dietleib meets Künhilt. She tells him she is being treated well and that Laurin has only one fault: he is not Christian. She wants to leave. Meanwhile, Laurin, after a feast, confides to Dietleib's sister that he wishes to avenge himself on the heroes. She advises him to do so. He drugs Witige, Hildebrand, and Dietrich and throws them into a dungeon. He tries to commit Dietleib to join his side, but locks him in a chamber when the hero refuses. Künhilt steals the stones that light the mountain and releases Dietleib. They then deliver weapons to the other heroes, and they begin a slaughter of all the dwarves in the mountain. In the end Laurin is taken as a jester back to Bern (Verona).
In the "younger Vulgate version", the story of how Laurin kidnapped Dietleib's sister is told: he used a cloak of invisibility. Dietleib then goes to Hildebrand and reports the kidnapping. The two heroes set off, encountering a wild man who has been banished by Laurin. The wild man tells Hildebrand about Laurin and his rose garden, after which the heroes go to Bern. There follows the story as told in the older version. At the end, however, it is added that Dietrich accompanies Dietleib and his sister to Styria, where they stay with Dietleib's father Biterolf.
In the so-called "Walberan" version, Laurin surrenders to Dietrich during their battle in the mountain. As Wolfhart and Witege prepare to slaughter all the inhabitants of the mountain, Laurin begs for mercy. Dietrich initially refuses, but Künhilt, Hildebrand, and Dietleib convince him to stop the killing. Laurin is taken as a prisoner to Bern, while the dwarf Sintram becomes Dietrich's vassal in command of the mountain. Once the heroes have returned to Bern, Künhilt begs Dietrich to treat Laurin well, as he has treated her well, and to convert him to Christianity. She is married to an unnamed noble and disappears from the story. Sintram, however, is disloyal, and sends for help from other dwarfs. Laurin's relative Walberan assembles a large army and declares war on Dietrich. Laurin tells Walberan's messengers that he is being treated well and begs Walberan not to damage Dietrich's lands. Walberan does as he is asked, but marches to Bern. Laurin attempts to negotiate with Walberan on Dietrich's behalf, and Walberan announces he and select warriors will fight Dietrich and his heroes in single combat. When Walberan fights Dietrich, Walberan is about to defeat Dietrich when Laurin and Laurin intervene—they reconcile Dietrich and the dwarf, and the poem ends with a courtly feast.
The "Pressburg version" appears to parody Laurin: Hildebrand tells Dietrich about Laurin during a feast at carnival. Dietrich sets out with Hildebrand, Dietleib, Witege, Siegfried, and Wolfhart, before the text breaks off.
Transmission, versions, and dating
The Laurin is transmitted in at least eighteen manuscripts, dating from the fourteenth century until the beginning of the sixteenth century, and in eleven printings dating from 1479 to 1590. The text was first composed some time before 1300; Heinzle suggests it may have been composed before 1230, as it appears that Albrecht von Kemenaten may have known it when he composed his own poem about Dietrich and a dwarf king, Goldemar. The poem may have been composed in Tyrol. Victor Millet does not believe that it is possible to say when in the twelfth century and where the poem was composed. Like almost all German heroic poems, it is anonymous, but the "younger Vulgate version" claims the fictional poet Heinrich von Ofterdingen—who sings about Dietrich in a continuation to the poem Wartburgkrieg—as its author.
There are five overarching versions, but due to the immense variability of the fantastical Dietrich poems, each manuscript can also be considered a version within these overarching five. The five overarching versions are: the so-called "older Vulgate version" (ältere Vulgatversion); the "younger Vulgate version" (jüngere Vulgatversion), which can be further split into versions a and b; the "Walberan" version; the Dresdner Laurin; and the Pressburger Laurin. The poem was also translated into Czech and Danish.
Manuscripts with the older Vulgate version:
L3 (P, p): Graf von Schönbornsche Schlossbibliothek Pommersfelden, Cod. 54. Paper, middle of fourteenth century, from Erfurt(?). Contains various poems in rhyming couplets, including the Rosengarten zu Worms and Laurin. L4 (H, h): Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. germ. 8° 287, Fragment I. Fragment of a parchment manuscript, fourteenth century, Middle German. L5 (f): Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, Ms. germ. 4° 2. Paper, second half of the fourteenth century, Rhine Franconian dialect. Contains various texts in rhyming couplets, including the Rosengarten and Laurin. L6 (b): Öffentliche Bibliothek der Stadt Basel, Cod. G2 II 73. Paper, first half of the fifteenth century, from Basel(?). L7 (Dess.): Stadtbibliothek Dessau, Hs. Georg. 224 4°. Paper, 1422, from Trier. Contains various poems in rhyming couplets, including the Rosengarten and Laurin. L8 (m): in two libraries: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich, Cgm. 811, and Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. germ. 8° 287, Fragment II. Paper, second quarter of the fifteenth century, from Wemding. In poor condition with great loss of text. L9 (v): Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Vienna, Cod. 2959. Paper, middle of fifteenth century, Bavarian. Collection of didactic love poems, but also includes Laurin. L10 (w): Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Vienna, Cod. 3007. Paper, 1472, Silesian dialect. Contains various poetic, pragmatic, and didactic texts. Contains the ending of Laurin according to the younger vulgate version. L13 (z): Domherrenbibliothek Zeitz, Cod. 83. Paper, fifteenth century, from Merseburg or Zeitz. Contains a Latin grammar and various German texts. L15 (r): Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich, Cgm. 5919. Paper, beginning of sixteenth century, from Regensburg. Contains both pragmatic and poetic texts, including the Wunderer and Laurin. L16: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Vienna, Cod. 636. Parchment. Contains Latin text with a pen trial writing Laurin, probably written in the early fourteenth century. L17: vanished, possibly Bavarian parchment manuscript, probably from the fourteenth century. Contained Laurin and the Nibelungenlied, possibly other texts. L18: Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Krakow, Berol. ms. germ. 4° 1497. Paper, fifteenth century, in Upper German or Middle German. Contains spiritual texts and the Rosengarten and Laurin.
Younger vulgate version:
L12 (s): Heldenbuch of Diebolt von Hanowe. Formerly Strasbourg City/Seminary Library, destroyed 1870.
It is also found in several printings. The Younger vulgate version b (a metrical and stylistic reworking) is found in various printings after 1555.
The "Walberan" version:
L1 (K): Arnamagnæanske Institut Copenhagen, AM 32 fol. Parchment, beginning of fifteenth century, from Venice in Bavarian dialect. L2 (M): formerly Archive of the Historischer Verein von Oberbayern, Munich, Manuscript Cahier I von 4° Nr. 6. Lost.
The Dresdner Laurin:
L11 (ß): Dresdner Heldenbuch. Sächsische Landesbibliothek Dresden, Msc. M 201. Paper, 1472, from Nuremberg(?).
The Pressburger Laurin:
L14 (α): formerly Cathedral Chapter Library Bratislava, lost. Breviary manuscript, on four empty pages the beginning of Laurin by a hand of the fifteenth century, Bavarian.
Genre and interpretation