On the historical prototype of the Hildebrand character

The article deals with the question of the existence of the historical prototype of Hildebrand. The author believes that the medieval High German epic character was Herman rich the chieftain of Ostrogoths (IV century A.C.) as his prototype, though the latter was very much idealized afterwards. Here is considered how the same person could serve as prototype both negative (Eormenric etc.) and positive (Hildebrand) characters.