Virginal (poem)

Virginal, also known as Dietrichs erste Ausfahrt (Dietrich's first quest), or Dietrich und seine Gesellen (Dietrich and his companions) 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. The poem was composed by 1300 at the latest, and may have been composed as early as the second quarter of the thirteenth century.^[1]

There are three principal versions of the Virginal. The poem concerns the still young and inexperienced Dietrich's quest to save the dwarf queen Virginal in Tyrol from a force of attacking heathens. After defeating the heathens, Dietrich encounters a series of further adventures while trying to reach Virginal's court, including, depending on version, his capture by giants and his rescue of the hero Rentwin out of the mouth of a dragon. When he finally reaches Virginal's court, Dietrich marries Virginal in two of the three versions.