Summary of the Thidrekssaga

A king named Osid ruled over Frisia. He had two sons, the elder was Ortnit, the younger Attila, and Osid set him over his chieftains as he was twelve winters old. Often, Attila and his army would ride into king Melias' realm, and since Melias was old and feeble and didn’t have a son to protect him, Attila did grave damage and took many castles and towns.

In these days king Melias became gravely ill and called together his chieftains and talked to them in secret about the fact that he didn’t have a son, and his daughter was married in Wilkinenland to the north, and his son in law, Osantrix, was too far away to protect Hunnenland. But Attila made great progress in Hunnenland, and therefore Melias believed the realm would pass out of his family, even though he wished king Osantrix to take it and defend it against Attila.

Beset by these concerns, and also because he was very ill, Melias died. He was mourned throughout Hunnenland because he had been peaceful and generous, and had kept the laws.

When Attila heard this he called a large meetingþing and had all of his friends come. He held a long speech about how lucky his expeditions into Hunnenland had been and how many towns he’d taken from king Melias. And he swore he would never be home in his father’s realm before he had taken all of Hunnenland.

His speech found great applause, and for a long time people praised him for his generosity and valour, and the fact he’d become much more powerful than his kinsmen.

• Again Von der Hagen’s version is quite a bit longer than the Haymes/Jónsson one.

Now Attila was made king over the army, and his retainers gave him the king’s nameNú er Attila tekinn til konungs yfir herinn, ok gefa liðsmenn honnm konungsnafn, and in return he swore to uphold justice and law, and at another time he swore that he would not return to his father’s realm before he had conquered all of Hunnenland, all that king Melias had owned.

Melias had had his capital in Walterborg, but when Attila subdued the entire realm he moved his capital to Soest, and he had his seat here for a long time and he was the first to buildDoes this mean found? and inhabit this city, and it is still impressive and powerful to this dayThese last two clauses are only in Von der Hagen. Attila was now made king of all HunnenlandAlso only in Von der Hagen; previously Attila had merely been king of the army.

King Osantrix thought king Attila had taken by force the land that belonged to his wife, queen Oda, Melias' daughter. But Attila kept it all and never sent Osantrix tributeVon der Hagen adds a long piece about how they waged many wars, and how Attila boasts that his father doesn’t have as large a realm as he does.

Then king Osid, king Attila’s father, died, and his elder son Ortnit, Attila’s brother, took over the realm. Ortnit has a son called Osid whom he sent to king Attila to be raisedVon der Hagen: when Osid was a man, he wanted to visit Hunnenland. Attila made him a chieftain over many knights. Thus the realm remained for a long time.