Editing Mermaid (section)

==== Rabenschlacht ====

Middle High German ''mereminne'' 'mermaid' is mentioned, among other epics, in the ''[[Rabenschlacht]]''<ref name="lexer-merminne"/><ref name="rabenschlacht-ed-martin"/> ("Battle of Ravenna", 13th cent.) of the Dietrich cycle. The mermaid (or {{linktext|undine}}{{sfnp|Paff|1959|p=129}}) is named Wâchilt and is the ancestress{{efn|MHG: ''ane''; modern {{langx|de|Ahn}}.}} of the traitorous [[Witege|Wittich]] who carries him off at the time of peril to her "submarine home".{{sfnp|Paff|1959|p=129}}<ref name="bashe"/><ref name="davidson1958"/>

This material has been found translated as a medieval ''[[Þiðreks saga]]'' only in a late, reworked Swedish version,<ref name="davidson1958"/> i.e., one of the closing chapters of ''Ðiðriks saga'' (fifteenth century,<ref name="didriks_saga-ed-hylten-cavallius">[[Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius|Hyltén-Cavallius, Gunnar Olof]] ed. (1854). ''Sagan om Didrik af Bern'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=5K4YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA300 Kap. 383, p. 300]. ''Den gamla svenska bearbetningen af Didriks saga'' is dated as ''ifrån 1400-talet'' (fifteenth century or later), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5K4YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR23 p.xxiii]</ref> also known as the "Swedish epilogue"{{sfnp|Paff|1959|p=71}}).<ref>Haymes tr. (1988), p. 270: "The End of Vidga and Thidrek, according to the Swedish Chronicle of Thidrek", Ch. 439. Vidga takes up residence in Sjaland.</ref><ref name="paff-p073"/> The mermaid/undine is here translated as Old Swedish {{lang|mis|haffru}}.<ref name="didriks_saga-ed-hylten-cavallius"/>

The Old Norse ''Þiðreks saga'' proper<ref name="thidrekksaga-kap84(57)">[[Henrik Bertelsen|Bertelsen, Henrik]] ed. (1905). ''Þiđriks saga af Bern '' [https://books.google.com/books?id=IGtBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA73&q=siokononar Kap. 84<sup>1</sup> (57), '''I''':73]: "Vaðe rise ier asiolande svnr villcinus konongs ok siokononar ..."</ref>{{Refn|The so-called ''Vilkinasaga'' ends before this chapter, according to Bertelsen's notes. But ''Þiðreks saga'' was frequently referred to as ''Vilkina saga'' by early commentators.}} calls the same mermaid a {{lang|non|{{linktext|sjó|kona}}}} ({{lang|non|siókona}} [sic.])<ref name="buchholz"/><ref name="davidson1958"/> or "sea-woman".<ref name="bashe"/>{{Refn|Or Ger. ''Meerfrau''.<ref name="buchholz"/>}}

The genealogy is given in the saga: the sea-woman and Villcinus (Vilkinus), king of Scandinavia together had a son, Vaði ([[Wade (folklore)|Wade]]) of (Sjóland=[[Sjælland]], Zealand) who was a giant ({{lang|non|risi}}); whose son was Velent ([[Wayland the Smith]]), whose son after that was Viðga Velentsson (Wittich or [[Witige]]),<ref name="thidrekksaga-kap84(57)"/>{{sfnp|Paff|1959|p=53}}<ref name="davidson1958"/><ref name="bashe"/><ref name="buchholz"/> who became a companion/champion of King Þiðrekr (Dietrich von Bern).

Thus the saga is an early source which associates a famed clan of merfolk with a place in Denmark, i.e., Sjælland. Sjælland was the divided portion of Villcina-land inherited by the bastard prince Vaði/Wade according to the saga.<ref>{{harvp|Paff|1959|pp=53}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sP8ZAAAAYAAJ&legitimate 217]</ref> The Swedish epilogue transposed the locations concerning the battle (from Italy to Germany), and claimed the rescued Viðga/Witige was brought to Sjælland. That is to say, the crucial battle had been in Ravenna, Northern Italy in the German epic ''Rabenschlacht''), but the battle spot was changed to Gronsport, somewhere on the [[Moselle]], in Northern Germany in the Swedish version.{{sfnp|Paff|1959|pp=35, 73, 85}}{{Refn|Identification of Gronsport with a specific modern city has not been made; von Der Hagens tr. (1855) ''Wilkina- und Niflunga-Saga oder Dietrich von Bern und die Nibelungen'', {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2YAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA267 |2='''III''': 267n}} states he doesn't know.}}<ref name="paff-p073">{{harvp|Paff|1959|p=71}}: "The Swedish epilogue (II, 395) purports to know the true story of the death of Viðga and þíðrikr: after þíðrikr chased Viðga into the sea (see Musulá) Viðga's great-grandmother, an undine, conveyed him to Sjælland". Cf. {{harvp|Paff|1959|pp=51–53, 129}}.</ref>