Dietrich von Bern in the context of Thidrekssaga

Das Eckenlied or Ecken Ausfahrt (The Song of Ecke or Ecke's Quest) is an anonymous 13th-century 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.

The Eckenlied tells the story of Dietrich's fight against the giant Ecke, who has been sent out by three queens to fetch Dietrich. Dietrich is forced to kill Ecke, after which he must fight Ecke's family, particularly Ecke's treacherous and vengeful brother Fasold. The poem exists in at least three separate but closely related versions, which offer different endings to the tale. A fragmentary text known as Dietrich und Fasold may represent another version of the Eckenlied, but differences in meter and content make this uncertain. Fasold and the three queens may have originally been figures of Tyrolean folklore, while Ecke may have been invented to explain the name of Dietrich's sword, Eckesachs (sharp sword).

Die Rabenschlacht (The Battle of Ravenna) is an anonymous 13th-century Middle High German poem about the hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It is part of the so-called "historical" Dietrich material and is closely related to, and always transmitted together with another Dietrich poem, Dietrichs Flucht. At one time, both poems were thought to have the same author, possibly a certain Heinrich der Vogler, but stylistic differences have led more recent scholarship to abandon this idea.

Die Rabenschlacht concerns a failed attempt by the exiled Dietrich to reclaim his kingdom in Northern Italy from his treacherous uncle Ermenrich, with the help of an army provided by Etzel, king of the Huns. In the course of this attempt, Dietrich's younger brother and Etzel's young sons by his wife Helche are killed by Dietrich's former vassal Witege outside of Ravenna. Witege then flees into the sea and is rescued by a mermaid rather than fighting against Dietrich. The poem may be a dim reflection of the death of Attila's son Ellac at the Battle of Nedao in 454, combined with Theodoric the Great's siege of Ravenna in 491–493. It would therefore be one of the oldest parts of the legends about Dietrich von Bern.