Editing Henry the Lion (section)

===Folklore and fiction===
[[Image:Johann Wilhelm Völker Heinrich der Löwe1.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Henry and his lion (title page illustration from [[Karl Joseph Simrock]]'s retelling of the folktale ''Geschichte des großen Helden und Herzogen Heinrich des Löwen und seiner wunderbaren höchst gefährlichen Reise'' (1844))]]

Shortly after his death, Henry the Lion became the subject of a [[folklore|folktale]], the so-called ''Heinrichssage''.<ref>{{cite web | author = Brothers Grimm | authorlink = Brothers Grimm | url = http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/753/272 | title = Heinrich der Löwe |trans-title=Henry the Lion – The Brothers' Grimm version | work = [[Deutsche Sagen]] | language = de | publisher = Projekt Gutenberg-DE | access-date = 10 May 2013}}</ref> The tale was later also turned into the [[opera]] ''[[Enrico Leone]]'' by Italian composer [[Agostino Steffani]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Steffani_Agostino/Oper/EnricoLeone/index.html |title=Enrico Leone (Heinrich der Löwe) |website=Klassica |access-date=9 May 2013 |language=de}}</ref> The ''Heinrichssage'' details a fictional account of Henry's [[pilgrimage]] to the [[Holy Land]]. A popular part of the tale deals with the [[Brunswick Lion]]. According to legend, Henry witnessed a fight between a lion and a [[dragon]] while on pilgrimage. He joins the lion in its fight and they slay the dragon. The faithful lion then accompanies Henry on his return home. After its master's death, the lion refuses all food and dies of grief on Henry's grave. The people of Brunswick then erect a statue in the lion's honour.<ref>{{Citation| last = Combellack| first = C. R. B.| title = Die Sage von Heinrich dem Löwen. Ihr Ursprung, Ihre Entwicklung und Ihre Überlieferung by Karl Hoppe| journal = Comparative Literature| volume = 7| issue = 2| year = 1955| pages = 160–162| jstor = 1769130| doi=10.2307/1769130}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last1 = Jäckel| first1 = Dirk| title = Der Herrscher als Löwe: Ursprung und Gebrauch eines politischen Symbols im Früh- und Hochmittelalter| publisher = Böhlau Verlag| place = Cologne / Weimar| language = de| year = 2006| pages = 163–164}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last1 = Pollach| first1 = Günter| title = Kaleidoskop der Mächtigen: Randglossen zu überlieferten Mythen und Episoden der Geschichte| language = de| year = 2011| pages = 64–67}}</ref> The legend of Henry the Lion also inspired the Czech tale of the knight [[:cs:Bruncvík|Bruncvík]], which is depicted on a [[List of statues on Charles Bridge#Statue of Saints Vincent Ferrer and Procopius .2B Bruncv.C3.ADk column|column]] on [[Charles Bridge]] in [[Prague]].

The book ''The Pope's Rhinoceros'' (1996) by [[Lawrence Norfolk]] opens with an allegory of a planned ransack by Henry's army of the monastery at [[Usedom]] where purportedly a treasure was kept. However, the night before the attack the poorly maintained monastery and its treasures crumble into the sea as the result of a storm, and henceforth constituting a loss to the military expedition.