toleration. His far-sighted goals included taking what was best from Roman culture and combining it with Gothic energy and physical power as a way into the future. Relatively amicable relations between Goths and Romans also make Theodoric's kingdom notable. Memories of his reign made him a hero of medieval German legends, as Dietrich von Bern, where the two figures have represented the same person. Medieval reception Theodoric is an important figure in Germanic heroic legend as the character Dietrich von Bern (), known in Old Norse as Þjóðrekr or Þiðrekr, and Old English as Þēodrīc. In German legends, Dietrich becomes an exile from his native kingdom of Lombardy, fighting with the help of Etzel against his usurping uncle, Ermenrich. Only the Old High German Hildebrandslied still contains Odoacer () as Dietrich's antagonist. The 13th century Norse Þiðreks saga, based on lost Low German sources, moves the location of Dietrich's life to Westphalia and northern Germany. The legends paint a generally positive picture of Dietrich, with only some influence visible from the negative traditions of the church. See also Alboin Alfred the Great Ardaric Charlemagne Clovis I Ermanaric Gaiseric Hermeric Liutprand, King of the Lombards Liuvigild Theodoric I (Visigothic king) Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius Odoacer Ostrogothic Kingdom Totila Notes References Sources Further reading Andreas Goltz, Barbar – König – Tyrann. Das Bild Theoderichs des Großen in der Überlieferung des 5. bis 9. Jahrhunderts (Berlin: de Gruyter 2008) (Millenium-Studien zu Kultur und Geschichte des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr., 12). Theodoric the Great at MiddleAges.net Theodoric the Goth, 1897, by Thomas Hodgkin, from Project Gutenberg Medieval Lands Project on Theodoric the Great, King of Italy External links Amali dynasty Burials in Italy German heroic legends Gothic warriors Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum Medieval legends Ostrogothic kings 454 births 526 deaths 5th-century Ostrogothic people 5th-century kings of Italy 5th-century monarchs in Europe 5th-century Roman consuls 6th-century Arian Christians 6th-century Ostrogothic people 6th-century kings of Italy 6th-century monarchs in Europe