Whether it's Dietrich of Bern or Wieland the Smith, whether Walther and Hildegunde or Hilde and Kudrun: the figures of the great German heroic sagas are not individuals, nor characters in the modern sense of the word. However, the sagas themselves belong to the canon of world literature, even though we do not know their authors. The heroes with their mythical weapons and cloaks are not suitable as moral role models or national heroes; rather, their stories, battles, intrigues, and romantic entanglements exemplify the human longing for glory, love, and recognition. This edition of the Insel-Bücherei makes the classic retelling of the German heroic sagas by Gretel and Wolfgang Hecht, which closely adheres to the original texts, accessible once again—now for the first time supplemented by colorful illustrations by Burkhard Neie.