Work / monument · text

Heliand

c. 830 · 9th century

The Heliand is an Old Saxon epic poem of about 6,000 lines, written around 830, that retells the life of Christ from the Gospels in Germanic alliterative verse. It presents Christ as a lord and his disciples as loyal retainers, adapting the story to the values of the recently converted Saxons. It is the largest surviving work of Old Saxon literature.

Heliand
Image: German Historical Museum · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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SaxonsImpact

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Heliand. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heliand
MLA
“Heliand.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heliand. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Heliand.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heliand.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Heliand’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/heliand (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻