| Ortnit | |
|---|---|
 Ortnit attacking the dragons on the first page of Ortnit. From Heidelberg, Universitätsbiblothek, Cpg 365, folios 1v and 2r. | |
| Full title | Ortnit |
| Language | Middle High German |
| Date | Various versions c. 1230–1590 |
| Provenance | Germany |
| Manuscript(s) | Two distinct versions preserved in 11 MSS; another version preserved in two fragments |
| First printed edition | in the Strassburg Heldenbuch (Johann Prüss, 1479) |
| Genre | Heroic epic |
| Verse form | Hildebrandston; later, Heunenweise |
| Length | c. 450–600 strophes |
| Sources | Oral tradition |
Ortnit is the eponymous protagonist of the Middle High German heroic epic Ortnit. First written down in strophic form in around 1230 by an anonymous author, it circulated in a number of distinct versions.
In the earliest version, King Ortnit sets out on an expedition to make the daughter of the heathen King Machorel his bride. He is greatly assisted by the cunning of the dwarf Alberich, who can only be seen by the wearer of a magic ring, and by the martial prowess of the Russian king Ilyas, Ortnit's uncle. In the second part of the story, Machorel, enraged by Ortnit's abduction of his daughter, sends him, in a feigned gesture of reconciliation, two dragon eggs. When these hatch, the dragons terrorise the land. After a year's delay, Ortnit sets out to kill the dragons, but falls asleep and is killed by them.
In most of the surviving versions, this is followed by the story of Wolfdietrich, who avenges Ortnit's death and marries his widow. Though the two stories have distinct origins, they were possibly combined and integrated at an early stage. The earliest surviving versions, Ortnit A and Wolfdietrich A may be the work of a single author.
The bride-quest and dragon motifs come from older oral traditions, but a strong crusading element in the journey to the Levant and defeat of a heathen army reflects the concerns of the 13th century. There is no consensus about the origins of the figure of Ortnit himself.
With a dozen manuscripts, six printed editions and a theatrical adaptation, the story remained popular right up until the early 17th century.