Biterolf und Dietleib
Biterolf continues his journey, but is forced repeatedly to fight against the lords through whose territory he travels, who demand a toll for him to pass through.
Etzel calls together his army to avenge this dishonor and invades the Burgundians' kingdom, with the help of heroes such as Dietrich von Bern and others from Lombardy, Styria, Hungary, Austria, Poland, and Turkey.
Upon receiving the declaration of war, Gunther calls together his own vassals from Saxony, Thuringia, Bohemia, Bavaria, Swabia, Lorrain, and the Netherlands.
Rüdiger brings this message back to the Hunnish camp, where Hildebrand begins to organize the army for a large battle.
Dietrich von Bern learns that he will be fighting against the troop led by Siegfried and becomes fearful due to the many stories about this hero.
In the course of the tournament, however, several of the heroes on the Hunnish side are captured, including Wolfhart, and a change in the rules is negotiates so that Dietrich and his men can free them.
The poet introduces the different troops that will fight as well as the various messengers and couriers traveling between them who will make sure that relatives on different sides avoid each other in battle.
The battle lasts all day, with its climax being Dietrich's vassal Heime's decision to leave his troop to attack Siegfried.
The two groups of 86 fight an evenly matched battle until Rüdiger succeeds in bringing his banner to the gates of Worms.
He strikes a splinter from the wooden gate with his sword, and the ladies of Worms demand an end to the battle, to which the exhausted men agree.
Brünhild explains that she gave Rüdiger the flag in order to see the heroes demonstrate their abilities rather than in hopes of seeing the men kill each other.
[5] The battle for the city of "Gamaly" in Prussia may reflect the two Prussian crusades undertaken by Ottokar II of Bohemia, who ruled Styria around that time.
[11] Although both Biterolf and Dietleib existed in the heroic tradition prior to composition of this poem, they do not appear to have had any particular story attached to them.
[12] The story may have been composed as a way of explaining Dietleib's description, already found in other poems, as von Stîre (of Styria), as well as playing the role of making Dietelib into a local hero for the Styrians.
At the same time, the story seems to cite traditions also found in texts such as König Rother when Biterolf gives himself an alias at Etzel's court.
She characterizes the poem as using techniques of "montage" for a "literary game" ("literarisches Spiel") with the public's foreknowledge of the heroic tradition.
Hoffmann suggests that the work presents a sort of utopian vision of the time before these great conflicts and battles, in which reconciliation and recompense are possible.
[19] The poem is also characterized by its at times ironic tone and critical distance to the story, which allows the narrative to play with elements of the heroic tradition.
