Fasolt

Fasolt,FasoldorVasoltis agiantor knight who appears in the following works:

• TheMiddle High Germanheroic poemEckenlied(c. 1230).

• TheOld Norsecompendium of German legends known as theThidrekssaga(c. 1250).

• Richard Wagner'soperaDas Rheingold(1869).

The nameFasoltlikely derives from a root similar toOld High Germanfaso,thread, and most likely refers to the long braided hair he is described as having in theEckenlied.He may have originally been a storm demon, as evidenced by a 17th-century prayer to witches at the mountain Jochgrimm outside ofBozento cause "ffasolt" to send storms far away.

References

• Gillespie, George T. (1973).Catalogue of Persons Named in German Heroic Literature, 700-1600: Including Named Animals and Objects and Ethnic Names.Oxford: Oxford University.ISBN9780198157182.

• Heinzle, Joachim (1999).Einführung in die mittelhochdeutsche Dietrichepik.Berlin, New York: De Gruyter.ISBN3-11-015094-8.