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Edited by
Francis G. Gentry
Winder McConnell
Ulrich Muller
and
Werner Wunderlich
I~ ~~o~1~~n~~~up
New York London
This edition published 2011 by Routledge:
Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
711 Third Avenue 2 Park Square, Milton Park
New York, NY 10017 Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Published in 2002 by
Routledge
29 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001
Copyright © 2002 by Francis G. Gentry, Winder McConnell, Ulrich Miiller, and Werner Wunderlich
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Frontispiece: Nibelungen-ms. D (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Muenchen, cgm 31, 14th century), foUr:
Beginning of the Nibelungenlied. Courtesy of Kiimmerle, from Otfrid Ehrismann, ed., Das Nibelungenlied:
Abbildungen, Transkriptionen und Materialien zur gesamten handschriftlichen Oeberliejerung der I. und
xxx: Aventiure (Litterae, Goppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik, edited by Ulrich Miiller, Franz
Hundsnurscher, Cornelius Sommer, vol. 23). Goppingen: Kiimmerle, 1973. Figure 1 courtesy of Ulrich
Miiller. Figure 2 courtesy of Philipp Reclamjun. GmbH & Co., Stuttgart, from Siegfried Grosse, ed., Das
Nibleungenlied. MittelhochdeutschlNeuhochdeutsch. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1997.
The Nibelungen tradition: an encyclopedia/edited by Francis G. Gentry, Winder McConnell, Ulrich Miiller,
Werner Wunderlich
ISBN 0-8153-1785-9
Table of Contents
Preface Vll
Contributors ix
Contributions Xl
v
Preface
The Nibelungen Tradition is the first comprehen- 5) Examination of major scholarly questions
sive reference work on one of the major themes associated with the topic of the Nibelungen;
in Gennanic and world literature, and is intended 6) Literary reception of the Nibelungen theme
to provide the reader with an extensive overview in Gennan;
of the Nibelungen tradition from its origins to the 7) Literary reception ofthe Nibelungen theme
present. For in much the same fashion as another in languages other than Gennan;
great medieval icon, Arthur, his knights, and the 8) Music and composers associated with the
courtly ideals embodied in his tales, have sur- Nibelungen theme;
vived the ages to inspire less chivalrous times, 9) Art and artists, film and filmmakers, sculp-
so, too, have Siegfried, the Gennanic heroes, and ture and sculptors associated with the
the bold virtue of unswerving loyalty and death Nibelungen theme; and
before dishonor which they incorporate endured 10) Historians, clerics, politics, the military,
the transition from the heroic to the present, propaganda, psychology, education, icon-
decidedly "post-heroic" age. ography, and geography.
Departing from the practice that has pre-
vailed in the series, we have not listed entries Although we intended from the onset of the
solely in alphabetical order but rather have project to be as comprehensive as possible in our
divided them up into ten major categories: selection of entries, it might be argued that cer-
tain references are too indirect in nature to
1) Primary works in which the Nibelungen deserve inclusion-the many personal names
topic plays a significant role; cited from the Volsunga saga or the jJioreks saga,
2) Names of all important persons and places for example-but a conscious decision was
in the major literary works of the Middle made by the editors to err, if err we did, on the
Ages that contain elements of the side of generosity and inclusiveness with respect
Nibelungen theme; to the Scandinavian analogues. While this vol-
3) Explanations of key words, motifs, themes, ume is clearly not intended as an all-
and objects related to the story of the encompassing reference work on all extant Ger-
Nibelungen; manic heroic epics, in those instances where pri-
4) Manuscript collections and literarylhistor- mary works in Old Norse did incorporate ele-
ical analogues; ments of the Nibelungen tradition, we have taken
vii
viii PREFACE
the liberty of including many of the figures who their erudition and effort to accommodate the
constitute a vital part of the overall heroic sce- editors' wishes. Obviously, withouttheircooper-
nery. We cannot, on the other hand, claim to have ation, this volume would not have progressed
found every pertinent reference that should be beyond the "drawing board." We also wish to
included in a work of this nature. thank most sincerely the University of St. Gall
While the bulk of entries in The Nibelungen for its generous support. That such a project de-
Tradition are directly related to the Nibelungen pends in large measure on the knowledge and
theme, with references to the Nibelungenlied cooperation of library colleagues goes without
based on manuscript B, unless otherwise stated, saying, and we wish to thank all our colleagues
the one obvious area that has not been considered and friends at various university and archival
in detail is Wagneriana. To be sure, Wagner's libraries who have so selflessly assisted us. In
Der Ring des Nibelungen itself, along with all of particular we would like to single out three col-
its figures, has been included, but only the most leagues, pars pro toto, for special mention,
standard scholarship has been cited in the bibli- Opritsa Popa, Distinguished Librarian of the
ography, and no attempt has been made to treat University of California, Davis; Doris
systematically the corpus of works that con- Uberschlag, Bibliothekarin der Kan-
stitute its literary reception. tonsbibliothek Vadiana in St. Gall, Switzerland;
There are no individual entries on Nibe- and Dr. Gerlinde Weiss (Salzburg), who pro-
lungen scholars. The major trends in Nibelungen vided the vast majority of contributions on the
scholarship from its beginnings to the present Old Norse materials pertaining to the
have been summarized in Part V of the Encyc- Nibelungen theme. The editors also wish to
lopedia. thank Routledge for including this volume
This encyclopedia, like all works of the within its series of highly useful and respected
genre, is less a finished product than an ongoing encyclopedias.
enterprise. In the final stages of the book's prepa- Finally, the editors would like to stress that
ration for publication, several more significant this encyclopedia is the happy result of a truly
entries came to the attention of one or more ofthe cooperative international editorial undertaking
editors and were subsequently added to the text. with two editors in the United States, one on each
Thus we can say with assurance that the work on coast, and two in Europe, one in Austria and the
this project will continue long after it has been other in Switzerland. It is true that the modem
published. aids of e-mail and fax greatly facilitated com-
There remains the enjoyable task of thank- munication and overcame otherwise daunting lo-
ing all those colleagues, editors, and students, gistical problems, but the spirit of the enterprise
some of whom have been involved in the project was present in each editor in full measure.
from the beginning. First and foremost, our
heartfelt thanks go to our colleagues, an interna- Francis G. Gentry Ulrich Muller
tional team from North America, Europe, and Winder McConnell Werner Wunderlich
Asia, who willingly and graciously contributed
List of Contributors
ix
x LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
xi
xii LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS
WM Dancrat FH Fallborg
WM Dancwart JLF Fasold (Fasolt, Yasolt)
NY Danes WM Feng
GW Danpr WM Fjolnir
NY Danube WM Fjornir
NY Denmark JLF Florigunda
BS Dietlinde FH Folkher
JLF Dietrich von Bern BOM Fredegund(a)
GW Drasolf JKW Frey
SSch Dtirnstein JKW Freya
NY East Franconia JKW Fricka
WM Ecke JKW Frigg
GW Eckewart BOM Ga(i)lswinth(a)
WM Efferding WM Gelpfrat
JLF Egwaldus WM Gerbart
JLF Ehrenbertus KM Gere
FGG Eitell WM Gernot
FH Ekkiharth FH Gernoz
WM Elbe GW Geva Langa (Geva the Long)
GW Eleven Sons ofIsung JLF Gibaldus
WM Else NY Gibeche
GW Elsung BOM Gibica
NY Enns WM Giselher
FH Erka BOM Gislahari
JLF Ennanaric GW Gjaflaug
FGG Erp WM Gjuki
NY Esztergom WM Gjukungs
FH Ethgeir WM Glaum
BS/JHS J;:tzel JHS Glaumvor
FGG Etzelnburg WM Gnitaheath
WM Eugel BS Golnir
WM Eylimi BS Goldrun
WM Eymod BS Gotelind
JLF Fafnir NY Goths
FH Falka WM Goti
xiv LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS
AC Gran BS Haki
GW Grani/Grane BS Hakon
WM Granmar BS Half
WM Grimhild (1) (Wife of King WM Hamdir
Gjuki, mother of Gunnar, Hamund
WM
Hogni, Guttorm, and Gudrun)
GW Hartwin
FH Grimhild (2) (Daughter of
Aldrian, sister to Gunnar et. WM Heimburg
aI., Hogni's half sister) HeimelHeimir
GW
UM Grimhilde Heimir
WM
WM Gripir
WM Hel
NY Grossmehring
NM Helche
GW Gu5run
WM Helgi
GW Gullrond
WM Helmnot
BOM Gundahari
WM Helpfrich
BOM Gundomar
GW Herborg
GW Gunnar
FH Herbrand
JHS Gunther
GW Herkja
WM Guntherjr.
WM Herlind
BOM Gunthram (Guntramm)
WM Herman of Poland
FH Guthilinda (1 ) (Eldest
GW Hermann
daughter of King Drusian of
Drekanfils) GW Herraland
FH Guthilinda (2) (Sister to Duke BS Herrat (Herad)
Nauthung and wife of
GW HertnitIHertnid
Rothingeir)
WM Hessen
FH Guthorm
JKW Hildebrand
UM Gutrune
WM Hildeburg
JHS Gutthorm (Guttormr
Gjukasson) FH Hildibrand
JLF Gybich BOM Hildico
JLF Gyrnot GW Hildigund
WM Hadeburg WM Hindarfell
WM HagbardI WM Hjalli
WM lIagbardII WM Hjalmgunnar
WM Hagen WM Hjalprek
JLF Hagenwald WM Hjordis
NY/SSch Hainburg WM Hjorvard
LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS xv
WM Hljod WM Jarisleif
GW Hniflung GW Jarizkar
WM Hnikar WM Jonakr
WM Hodbrodd JLF Jorcus
WM Holkvir GW Knefrod
GW Holmgard NY Konrad
KM Homboge WM Kriechen
GW Sregard GW Sistram
GW Saxi GW Sivard (Snarensvend)
NV Saxons WM Skadi
NV Saxony GW Skemming
KM Schilbung WM Sleipnir
KMIWM Schrutan WM Snaevar
JLF Seyfiid(Seyfiied,Sevvfiid) WM Sorli
FGG Siegfiied SMJ Soest
WM Siegfiied jr. WM Solar
RB Sieghardus SMJ Spanje
MEG Siegmund MEG Spessart
FH Sifjan MEG/OE Speyer
FH Sitka FH Studas
JHS Sigar (I) (Person vvho took FH Susa (also vvritten Susat and
sister ofHaki and Hagbard) Susakk)
JHS Sigar (2) (Figure vvoven into GW Svanhild
tapestry by Gudrun and
Thora) WM Sveggjud
WM Sigeher of Wallachi a WM Sveipud
MEG Sigelind I (Sigelint) NV Svvabia
WM SigelindII NV Svvalevelt
WM Sigelind III WM Svvemmel
WM Sigestab WRH Theoderic "the Great"
WM Siggeir GW Thetleifthe Dane
WM Sigi FH Thithrek (piarek)
BOM Sigibert WM Thora
WM Sigmund MEG Thuringia
WM Signy HR Traisen
HR Sigrdrifa (Brynhildr) HR Traismauer
WM Sigrun WM Tronege
GW Sigurd NV Tnlne
JKW Sigurd Snake-Eye NV Tulne
BS Sindolt MH Ungerlant
WM Sinfjotli WM Ute
WM Sintram JHS Valdamar of Denmark
FH Sisibe (Valdamarr afDanmork)
xviii LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS
Primary Works
ALTERE NmELUNGENOT (Elder Nibe- exacts revenge for the death of her brother by
lungenot). Given the hypothetical nature of this killing the drunken Atli and burning the hall.
work, see under PART v: SCHOLARSHIP. Gunnar is here more heroic than Gunther, to
whom he corresponds in the Nibelungenlied, and
ATLAKVIDA (Lay of Atli), a poem in the Elder he takes the dominant role, while his sister
Edda combining the fall of the Burgundians with Gu6nin is more violent than the sister Kriemhild
the death of Attila and the collapse of the Hun in the Nibelungenlied.
empire. The Burgundian brothers Gunnar and [BOM]
Hogni are invited to the court of Atli and, in spite
of warnings from their sister Gu6nin, now Atli's Bibliography
Dronke, Ursula, ed. and trans. The Poetic Edda. Vol. 1
wife, Gunnar makes the decision to go to the
of Heroic Poems. Oxford: Clarendon, 1969, pp.
court accompanied only by a select band of war-
1-74.
riors. Their departure is mourned, and on arrival Gottzmann, Carola L. Das alte Atlilied. Heidelberg:
Gu6nin curses them for coming. After a brave Winter, 1973.
struggle against the avaricious Huns Gunnar and Murdoch, Brian. The Germanic Hero. London:
Hogni are taken prisoner. Then, in a reversal of Hambledon, 1996, pp. 46-52.
the situation that prevails at the end of the Nibe-
lungenlied, Gunnar refuses to reveal the where- ATLAMAL IN GROENLENZKU (The
abouts of their treasure until he knows that his Greenlandish Lay of Atli) is one of the most
brother Hogni is dead. After an attempt to trick recent lays of the Poetic Edda and it is the long-
him with the heart of another warrior, which est one (105 stanzas in malahattr; this meter is
Gunnar knows cannot be Hogni's because it is only used here in an Eddie poem, being more
trembling, Hogni is killed and his heart is typical of scaldic poetry). It was written during
brought to Gunnar. Gunnar then refuses once the twelfth or the thirteenth century (Icelandic
more to reveal where the treasure is hidden and scholars suggest a much earlier date, 1050-
dies defiantly in a snake pit, singing a song of 1150). The title indicates that the lay was written
triumph. He is praised by the poet for behaving in Greenland, and the work corresponds to the
as a king should and for defending his gold poet's inclination to describe everyday life in
against his enemies. The treasure, now lost to all, modest circumstances. There is also the presence
is referred to as the "metal of strife." Gu6nin then of the hvitabjorn (white bear), the polar bear, in
1
2 PRIMARY WORKS
stanza 18, further pointing to Greenland as a out of them and consumes their roasted hearts. A
place of the lay's origin, although this animal long dialogue between Gudrun and the dying
was known to Icelanders as well. The rural atmo- Atli closes the poem. Gudrun and Hniflung (he is
sphere described in the poem is typical of wide not mentioned before), Hogni's son, finally
areas in Scandinavia. Thus while scholars sus- strike Atli dead.
pect that the lay was written in Greenland, its [GW]
origin cannot be proven definitively.
The lay relates the same story as the At- Bibliography
Andersson, Theodore M. "Atlamal in groenlenzku."
lakvioa in a broader and more descriptive style.
In Dictionary of the Middle Ages, edited by
The poet included new persons and new scenes,
Joseph R. Strayer. Vol.1. New York: Scribner,
foreboding dreams, and many events in retro- 1982.
spect. He is more interested in the mental and _ _. "Did the Poet of Atlamal Know Atlakvioa?"
emotional state of his figures, especially in In Edda: A Collection ofEssays, edited by Robert
Gudrun's cruelty to her children, than in action J. Glendinning and Haraldur Bessason. Winni-
and events. According to the story, Atli invites peg: University of Manitoba Press, 1983, pp.
Gunnar and Hogni, the sons of the Rhenish King 243-257.
Gjuki, to his court. Gudrun tries to warn her de Vries, Jan. AltnordischeLiteraturgeschichte. Vol. 2.
brothers of the treachery planned by her hus- 2nd ed. Grundriss der gennanischen Philologie
band, but her warning runes are subtly altered by 15. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, pp. 150-154.
Vingi, a treacherous messenger, and her intended Dronke, Ursula, ed. and trans. The Poetic Edda. Vol. 1
of Heroic Poems. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
message does not get through. The Hunnish en-
1969, pp. 77-141.
voys are received very kindly by Hogni and Gun-
Finch, R. G. "Atlakvioa, Atlamal, and Volsunga Saga:
nar, yet their wives, Kostbera and Glaumvor, A Study in Combination and Integration." In
have dreams that foretell a catastrophe. The hus- Speculum Norroenum: Norse Studies in Memory
bands interpret the dreams as being harmless and of Gabriel Turville-Petre, edited by Ursula
depart together with Snawar and Solar, Hogni's Dronke et al. Odense: Odense University Press,
sons, and Orkning, Kostbera's brother. They row 1981, pp. 123-138.
their boat so violently that they ruin it and leave it Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den
untied (stanza 37; cf. Nibelungenlied B, 1581). Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Ger-
When Vingi admits that he has deceived Gunnar manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle
and Hogni, they kill him. The two are later joined (Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran-
cke), 1931, pp. 364-410.
by their sister in the battle that takes place in the
Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
hall. Snawar, Solar, and Orkning are killed and
Legends ofthe North: An Introduction to the Ni-
Hogni is taken prisoner. Beiti, Atli's master of
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland,
ceremonies, advises the Huns to kill Hjalli in- 1996, pp. l24f.
stead ofHogni and cut his heart out of his breast. Simek, Rudolf, and Hennann Palsson. Lexikon der
Hjalli is such a coward that he is spared at altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987,
Hogni's request, and Hogni is killed. Gunnar pp. 24, 240.
ends up in a snake pit playing the harp with his
toes. (According to the Volsunga saga his hands BROT AF SIGURDARKVIDU (Fragment of a
are bound together. The scene of Gunnar playing Sigurd Lay). The beginning of this Eddic lay is
the harp with his toes is depicted on the portals of lost in the lacuna of the Codex Regius. Only
the Norwegian churches of Hyllestad and Os- nineteen stanzas infornyroislag exist. Obviously
tad.) Atli tries to reconcile with Gudrun, but she the scribe did not know the end of the poem, and
does not accept his presents. She is intent on so he used a prose bridge about Sigurd's death to
revenge. She gives him so much beer that he the GuorUnarkvioa in fYrsta. Andreas Heusler
becomes completely drunk. Meanwhile, in a called the lay Siguroarkvioa in forna (The O1d
tender scene, Gudrun says goodbye to her and Lay of Sigurd) and believed it to be the oldest
Atli's boys and then cuts their throats. She has and shortest of the Sigurd lays. Although parts of
drinking vessels made out of their skulls, and the lay are missing, we can reconstruct those
Atli drinks beer mixed with the children's blood parts of the story from the Volsunga saga.
CODEX REGIUS 3
The background of the story is that Sigurd Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre, ed-
arrives at the court of Rhenish King Gjuki's sons, ited by Ursula Dronke et al. Odense: Odense
Gunnar, Hogni, and Gutthonn. He marries University Press, 1981, pp. 6-26.
Gudrun, their sister, and becomes blood brother de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. I.
2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie
to Gunnar and Hogni. Sigurd agrees to help Gun-
15. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964, pp. 299-303.
nar win the valkyrie-like queen Brynhild, and,
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den
drawing on his magical powers, exchanges Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder.
shapes with him, because Gunnar cannot pass Germanistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle
through the Waberlohe (wall of flame) around (Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses
her hall. He spends three nights with Brynhild (Francke), 1931, pp. 223-233.
with a drawn sword between them. Later, while Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
bathing in a river, Gudrun and Brynhild quarrel Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
about their husbands, and Brynhild finds out she belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland,
has been deceived by Sigurd. She then claims 1996, p. 122.
that Sigurd had betrayed Gunnar while they slept Heusler, Andreas. "Die Lieder der Lucke im Codex
together and that she does not want to be the wife Regius." In Germanistische Abhandlungen Her-
of two men. At that moment the lay begins. Gun-
mann Paul dargebracht. Strassburg: Triibner,
1902, pp. 1-98.
nar learns of his own supposed deception and
Schier, Kurt. "Brot af Siguroarkviou." In vol. 18 of
wants Sigurd to be killed, but Hogni opposes the
Kindlers neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter
murder. Finally Gutthonn, who is not bound by Jens. Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 340-341.
an oath, kills Sigurd in the forest. The deed itself See, Klaus von. "Die Werbung urn Brynhild." ZfdA 88
is not depicted in the lay. The kings return home, (1957/1958): 1-20.
and Hogni tells Gudrun that they have murdered Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann Plilsson. Lexikon der
her husband. During the night and after a drink- altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987,
ing spree, Brynhild tells Gunnar the truth: she p.48.
had lied to them, Sigurd never broke his oath,
and as a result they were treacherous in their BRYNNHILDA TATTUR. see PART x: FAEROE
murderous deed. The fmal prose passage dis- ISLANDS
cusses the different versions of Sigurd's death.
The original conclusion probably told of Bryn- CODEX REGIUS is the name given to the main
hild's suicide and her joining Sigurd on his fu- vellum manuscript of the Poetic Edda (Icelan-
neral pyre. dic: Konungsb6k eddukvceoa), written in the sec-
The lay closely mirrors the Gennan tradi- ond half of the thirteenth century and preserved
tion: Sigurd/Siegfried is killed in the forest since 1662 in the Royal library Copenhagen
"south of the Rhine," not in his bed or at the (Gl.kgl.sml.2365 4to). In April 1971 the Codex
Thing, the Old Norse assemby. His death is al- Regius was returned to Iceland as the first of a
ready connected with the fall of the NiflungsINi- series of Old Icelandic manuscripts and is now
belungs. The Hunnish king Atli will avenge preserved in the Icelandic Foundation for Manu-
Sigurd's death on Gunnar and Hogni (contrary to scripts (Stofnun Ama Magnussonar a Islaodi).
the Atlakvioa, in which Atli invites the brothers Fonnerly it had belonged to the Icelandic bishop
because of his greed for Sigurd's gold). The lay is Brynjolfr Sveinsson at Skalholt (1605-1675),
very heterogeneous in its language and its narra- who gave it the title Edda Saemundi multiscii
tive style. Some scholars suggest it may be very (Edda of Saemund the Learned), thereby dem-
old (ninth and tenth centuries), although most of onstrating that he believed it to be the work of the
them believe it was written between the eleventh Icelandic historian Sremundr SigfUsson inn fr60i
and twelfth century. (Saemund Sigfusson the Wise, 1056-1133). It is
[GW] clear, however, that the book was compiled at a
much later period than that of Saemund, proba-
Bibliography bly in the 1270s, and written in a single hand,
Andersson, Theodore M. "The Lays in the Lacuna of although some of the poetry contained in it is
Codex Regius." In Speculum Norroenum: Norse among the oldest preserved in a Scandinavian
4 PRIMARY WORKS
language. The scribal and linguistic evidence of ofSeyfrid's adventures largely as found in Scan-
the manuscript indicates that all the poems now dinavian sources, telling how he acquired a
preserved in the Codex Regius must have existed horny skin. Strophes 173-179 represent an at-
in written form before 1240. We do not know tempt to relate the story of Seyfrid's rescue of
where in Iceland the codex was written. There is Krimhilt from the dragon to the story known
also no record of the manuscript before it came from the Nibelungenlied: Seyfrid returns to
into the possession of Bishop Brynj61fr Worms with Krimhilt after having thrown the
Sveinsson in 1643. Already at that date it had lost treasure he has won from the dwarfs into the
the original fifth gathering, probably of eight Rhine to avoid envy. His behavior gives rise to
leaves. This lacuna concerns poems about hatred in Krimhilt's brothers, Giinther, Gyrnot
Sigurd, mainly the Brot af SiguroarkviOu. In and Hagen, who murder him broadly speaking in
1662 the manuscript was sent as a gift by the the manner recounted in the Nibelungenlied.
bishop to King Frederich III of Denmark, and The importance of the LhS lies in the fact
so it later became part of the "Old Royal that it contains material found in Scandinavian
Collection." sources (Eddic lays, Volsunga saga, Pioreks
The codex contains forty-five leaves in six saga (especially chapters 163-168) but which
gatherings, five of which consist of eight leaves, are otherwise only uncertainly attested in Ger-
and the last one of five leaves. It also includes many, for example in Rosengarten (see GoIther,
eleven mythological poems, sixteen heroic p. xxx). It is not clear whether the LhS as known
poems preserved in their entirety, two heroic to us was composed only in the sixteenth century
poems in fragmentary form, and two short prose (see the diagram in King, p. 90) or whether it is a
parts. The poems in the last two gatherings all derivative of a much earlier (thirteenth-century)
deal with the legends of Sigurd and Brynhild, the version which has not survived.
Niflungar and their descendants. Humble work though it is, the LHS was able
[GW] to inspire further versions. It was the chief source
of Hans Sachs's seven-act "tragedy" of 1557 and
Bibliography also influenced the Dutch Historie van den Reus
Codex Regius of the Elder Edda. MS No. 2365 4to in Gilias. It was revitalized in the mid-seventeenth
the Royal Collection in the Royal Library in century when it was turned into prose as the
Copenhagen. With an introduction by Andreas Historia von dem gehOrnten Siegfried.
Heusler. Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii [JLF]
Aevi 10. Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard,
1937.
Schier, Kurt. "Edda, Altere." In Reallexikon der ger- Bibliography
manischen Altertumskunde, edited by Johannes Golther, W. Das Lied yom hurnen Seyfrid. Neudrucke
Hoops. 2nd ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1986, pp. deutscher Literaturwerke des 16. u. 17. Jhs.
355-394. 81/82. 2nded. Halle: Niemeyer, 1911.
King, K. C. Das Lied yom hurnen Seyfrid. Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1958.
DAS LIED YOM HURNEN SEYFRID (The Brunner, H. "HUmen Seyfrid." In vol. 4 of Die
Lay of Seyfrid with the Horny Skin), this poem, deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexi-
first known from a Nuremberg edition of about kon. 2nd ed., edited by Kurt Ruh et aI. Berlin: de
1530, is a clumsy compilation from different Gruyter, 1977ff, cols. 317-326.
sources. Though devoid of merit in purely liter- Flood, John L., and Jiirgen Beyer. "Siegfried in Liv-
ary and poetic terms, it is of interest for the light land? Ein handschriftliches Fragment des 'Liedes
it throws on narrative traditions and popular be- vom HUmen Seyfrid' aus dem Baltikum." In
Jahrbuch for Volksliedforschung. Forthcoming.
liefs around 1500. The lay consists of 179
Lecouteux, C. "Seyfrid, Kuperan et Ie dragon." Etudes
strophes in the Hildebrandston (Hildebrand's
Germaniques 49 (1994): 257-266.
melody), of which strophes 16-172 focus on
Seyfrid's rescue of Krimhilt, daughter of King
Gybich of Worms, from a dragon who has ab- DIETRICH EPICS, a collective term for
ducted her. Strophes 1-15 give a laconic account twelve late Middle High German narratives con-
DIETRICH EPICS 5
nected through the presence of the character manuscript from Hanau, but it is probably based
Dietrich von Bern. There are also two related on a late thirteenth-century Alemannic source.
ballads, Koninc Ermenrikes Dot (King Ermen- If, as seems likely, the Alpharts Tod manuscript
rich's Death) and the Jiingere Hildebrandslied and manuscript n of the Nibelungenlied are one
(The Later Lay of Hildebrand); the prose sum- and the same, Alpharts Tod was once followed
mary of the Heldenbuch; the Norse PiOreks by the second part of the Nibelungenlied (an
saga, adapted from German sources; and two abridgement of the eversion).
fragments. Although the epics as we have them The Buch von Bern and the Rabenschlacht
were all composed in response to the Nibelun- are both set in an earlier time than the Nibelun-
genlied, their authors drew upon the same orally genlied and they attempt to resolve positively the
transmitted and written stories of Dietrich and ambiguities of Dietrich's character as it is
his men that were available to the Nibelungen depicted there, most strikingly in his relationship
poet. On the basis of content (and, to some ex- to his men, his continuing exile, and his lack of
tent, transmission), the epics fall into three enthusiasm for his marriage with Herrat. Due
groups, the "historical" Dietrich epics, the aven- probably to tempering and moralizing clerical
tiurenhaft or "questlike" epics, and epics that influence on the heroic tradition, he is doomed to
parody the Nibelungenlied. There are three "his- misfortune. His every effort to make good results
torical" Dietrich epics, so called because some of only in personal and political tragedy.
the characters are named after historical figures. The clergy knew that Theoderich the Great
The central conflict of these epics is military- was an Arian heretic, the murderer of Boethius
political, and like the Nibelungenlied this body and others. Narratives like the Kaiserchronik
of works serves as the vehicle for contemporary, depict his bad end, which is also mentioned in the
thirteenth-century social criticism. Among the Pioreks saga and the prose summary of the
historical characters, Dietrich is named after Heldenbuch. As in the Nibelungenlied, Hilde-
Theoderich the Great (d. 526 a.d.), Ermenrich brand serves as Dietrich's aide and mentor, and
after Eormenrich (d. ca. 375), and Etzel after Wolthart plays the role of undisciplined and im-
Attila (d. 453). The central conflict in all three pudent warrior. In the Buch von Bern, which
"historical" epics is between Dietrich and Er- protests unjust treatment of nobles by princes,
menrich: Ermenrich invades Dietrich's territo- Dietrich's concern for his men at the expense of
ries and Dietrich attempts to defend them. The his own political and personal well-being is seen
first two narratives were composed in the second positively as the mark of a responsible leader. In
half of the thirteenth century. The Rabenschlacht that story Dietrich's army defeats the enemy, but
(Battle of Ravenna, written in a unique, six-line a few of his men are taken hostage, so Dietrich
strophe) probably antedates the Buch von Bern chooses to go into exile at Etzel's court rather
(Book of Verona), also called Dietrichs Flucht than sacrifice their lives. With Etzel's help,
(Dietrich's Flight, written in the rhymed couplets Dietrich tries to recover his lands. He wins the
of chronicles and courtly romances). A man first battle but loses Ravenna when Witege, left
named Heinrich der Vogelrere (after King in charge of the city, defects to Ermenrich. Etzel
Heinrich I, "the fowler") identifies himself in the and Helche (his wife) then set marriage to
Buch von Bern, but the nature and extent of his Helche's niece Herrat as the condition for further
contribution to its composition is unclear. Their aid. Dietrich reluctantly agrees and then wins the
sequel,Alpharts Tod (Alphart's Death, about half last battle, but Ermenrich escapes. Afterward
of which is in Nibelungen strophes, the rest in Dietrich buries the fallen on both sides, thus
Hildebrandston), was composed later in the thir- paving the way to eventual reconciliation, and
teenth century. The Buch von Bern and the returns to exile. The Rabenschlacht (with an "ed-
Rabenschlacht are transmitted together in this itorial bent" that reeks of the cloister) deplores
order in all complete manuscripts, showing that revenge. If Dietrich refused to let his men fight in
the Austrian nobles for whom they were com- the Nibelungenlied out of lack of confidence in
piled interpreted them according to similarities the goodness of the divine order, here his tragedy
in content as a double epic. Alpharts Tod, a long is the result of overpermissiveness based on
fragment, is found only in a fifteenth-century overconfidence. The Rabenschlacht begins
6 PRIMARY WORKS
where the Buch von Bern ended, with Dietrich one) by Witege and Heime, formerly Dietrich's
lamenting for the dead. Helche, hoping to relieve men but now serving Ermenrich. In this narrative
his depression, arranges for him to marry her the poet underscores the fact that their disloyalty
niece, Herrat. After, Dietrich obtains Etzel's aid is not Dietrich's fault. Dietrich and his men
for a new campaign. He becomes overconfident avenge Alphart's death and prevent Ermenrich
that he will win, and mistakenly thinks God will from taking Verona, but Ermenrich, Witege, and
help him avenge Ermenrich's depredations be- Heime all escape. There is no mention of exile,
cause he is in the right. But all is lost from the which might be an effort on the part of the poet
outset. Just as Wolfhart promotes tragedy in the and/or compiler of the manuscript to avoid re-
Nibelungenlied by persuading Hildebrand to let dundancy in connection with Nibelungenlied D.
all of Dietrich's men accompany him to negotia- The Dietrich epics of the second and largest
tions with the Burgundians, the two young sons of group are now named according to their struc-
Helche and Etzel beg to go to Verona with ture, aventiurenhaft (like a chivalric quest). Ear-
Dietrich. Dietrich, believing that he can protect lier they were named marchenhaft (like a folk-
them, persuades their very reluctant parents to let tale), after Dietrich's opponents, many of whom
them go. The boys and Dietrich's younger brother are dwarfs or giants. Several were anthologized
are then left in the care of the elderly warrior in manuscript and printed as HeldenbUcher
Elsan. They are forbidden to leave Verona, but (large anthologies and/or anthologies containing
they run off, lose their way in a fog, and are killed heroic narratives) and were circulated widely
in unequal combat by the disloyal Witege. among nobles and burghers alike from the late
Dietrich's campaign thus ends in tragedy despite thirteenth to the late sixteenth century. All of the
the defeat of Ermenrich's forces. Then, as if to works constituting this second group criticize
refute accusations of heresy, Dietrich confesses heroic and courtly literature. Dietrich's character
his sins in the narrative and afterward survives a is drawn as if in answer to the Nibelungenlied: he
duel with Siegfried because he is wearing relics. is naive with regard to love and chivalry, is fre-
Having repented his overconfidence, he now quently accused of cowardice because he refuses
despairs that Helche and Etzel will not forgive to fight without just cause, but exonerates him-
him. Rudiger persuades Helche that the deaths self by acting for the good of all. Three of these
were not treachery on Dietrich's part. She and narratives are named after Dietrich's
Etzel thenreluctantly forgive him. opponents-the Eckenlied (Song of Ecke; a
Alpharts Tod takes place at an earlier time giant), Goldemar (a dwarf), and Sigenot (a
than the Buch von Bern or the Rabenschlacht. giant)-and are written in a thirteen-line strophe
The conflict is depicted on a less personal level called Bernerton (Strophe of Verona) or
than that between Dietrich and the emperor, Er- Eckenstrophe (Ecke's strophe). Another narra-
menrich, who lays claim to Dietrich's hereditary tive written in the thirteen-line strophe is Vir-
territories, and here Dietrich is depicted as in the ginal, sometimes called Dietrichs erste Ausfahrt
right. He is deeply concerned for the welfare of ("Dietrich's first quest") or Dietrich und seine
his men and they, in turn, serve him loyally and Gesellen ("Dietrich and his companions"). Vir-
well. A catalogue of Dietrich's warriors fore- ginal is a queen in distress whom Dietrich helps
shadows the tragedy of Alpharts Tod as well as and, in two of three versions, marries. Albrecht
that of the Nibelungenlied by underscoring the von Kemenaten names himself as author in the
presence ofNuodung, said in the Nibelungenlied fragmentary Goldemar. He was long thought to
to have been slain by Witege (1699, 3-4). As in have written all four of these thirteen-line-
the other two narratives, Ermenrich attacks strophe narratives, but differences in dialect and
Dietrich. Against everyone's advice, Dietrich's transmission have disproved this theory. In con-
counselor and warrior, Alphart, who is also trast to Goldemar, only nine strophes of which
Hildebrand's nephew and Wolfhart's younger remain, Eckenlied (which probably originated as
brother, insists upon going on watch alone. After an etiological explanation for the name of Diet-
proving his mettle by vanquishing Hildebrand in rich's sword, Eckesachs [sharp blade]) enjoyed
a duel, he is killed in unequal combat (here, in long-term popularity throughout the German-
mirror image to the Rabenschlacht, two against speaking area. It is the earliest of all Dietrich
DIETRICH EPICS 7
epics to be documented. One strophe is found in bras Codex but probably was composed in the
the early thirteenth-century Bavarian Carmina third quarter of the thirteenth century for nobles
Burana, and there is also an Ecca episode in the in Styria. Dietrich plays only a subordinate role.
Pioreks saga. In addition, the Eckenlied is one of Biterolf and Dietleib are father and son. Young
the latest printed of the Dietrich epics, the latest Dietleib, seeking his father, is on his way to
edition appearing in Cologne in 1590. The elder Etzel's court when he encounters Gunther,
Sigenot, an abbreviated version, exists in only Hagen, and Gernot returning from the Saxon
one manuscript as an introduction to the war. Dietleib, only a squire, has disguised him-
Eckenlied. Like "Ecke the younger," Sigenot and self as a knight. The Burgundians challenge him
Virginal were very popular. Other Dietrich epics when he refuses to identify himself. He defeats
of this group include Laurin (a dwarf). Laurin, each one in a duel (Gunther hopes he will sur-
which was also very popular, is sometimes called render to him without a fight because he is a
Der kleine Rosengarten (The Small Rose king). Even though Dietleib is victorious, he
Garden) to distinguish it from Der grofte Rosen- thinks the Burgundians have insulted him by
garten zu Worms (The Large Rose Garden at assuming he was a knight, and he refuses to
Worms; see Heinzle's article). In Laurin, Diet- accept knighthood at Etzel's court until this in-
rich trespasses on Laurin's rose garden then sult has been avenged. This motivation for re-
fights him to rescue the sister of his friend venge is as trivial as Kriemhild's was great, but it
Dietleib. A sequel, Walberan, named after Lau- underlies the largest part of the epic: a journey
rin's uncle, follows one version of Laurin. Wal- and battle that are the reverse of that of the Nibe-
beran comes to Verona to rescue Laurin, who, lungenlied. Etzel's troops, allied with many oth-
converted to Christianity, is no longer in need of ers, among them Dietrich and his men, march to
rescue. Last, but not least, there is the popular Worms. Dietrich is afraid to fight Siegfried, but a
Wunderer (A Monster), which survives in three duel with Hildebrand restores his confidence.
complete and numerous fragmentary versions. Wolfhart is overeager to fight in a tournament but
Some, including a Shrovetide play, are com- is soon benched for breaking the rules, where-
posed in rhymed couplets, others in Heunen- upon the allies negotiate to have the tournament
weise strophes. The work derives much of its changed to a real battle. Rudiger acts as liaison
humor in reaction to the Nibelungenlied. More- between the allies and the Burgundians. His
over it is the only narrative ofthe questlike group interactions with Kriemhild and Briinhild iron-
that depicts Dietrich at Etzel's court, not as an ically foreshadow the events of the Nibelungen-
exile, but as a youth being educated there. At a lied. The battle/tournament ends in reconcilia-
feast a princess asks for protection against the tion. Upon returning to Etzel's country, Biterolf
Wunderer, a giant who is threatening to eat her and Dietleib are given Styria as a fief, but there is
because she has not accepted his marriage pro- no further mention of Dietleib 's knighthood. The
posal. Etzel, who in reality fears the giant, re- fragmentary narrative Dietrich und Wenezlan
fuses to help because his rank is too high. (also composed in rhymed couplets) is preserved
Rudiger cannot help because his station is too on two mid-thirteenth-century leaves used as
low. Only Dietrich can protect her. He defeats the part of a book cover. It resembles Biterolf more
Wunderer in a duel and beheads him. The closely than it does any other Dietrich epic,
princess then identifies herself as "Fraw Seld" though it combines elements of all groups.
(Lady Luck), which might refer obliquely to Dietrich is in exile. He and Etzel are on their way
Dietrich's lamentation at his lack of good fortune to a military encounter, because they are en-
in the Nibelungenlied. camped with an army somewhere near the Sal-
Three more epics are usually classified as zach river. Wolfhart brings Dietrich a challenge
Dietrich epics, but at least two of them might from Wenezlan of Poland: he and Hildebrand are
well be viewed instead as Nibelungen parodies. Wenezlan's hostages. Wenezlan will have them
The two are Biterolfund Dietleib and Der grofte killed if Dietrich refuses to duel with him.
Rosengarten zu Worms (see Heinzle's article for Dietrich at first refuses to help, but, when Wolf-
further discussion). Biterolf, in rhymed couplets, hart accuses him of cowardice, he agrees to tht:
is preserved only in the sixteenth-century Am- duel, saying his refusal was only ajoke. The duel
8 PRIMARY WORKS
takes place the next day and is still in progress as genlied also contain the Klage, the length of
the fragment ends. which ranges from 4360 to 4425 verses, depend-
[RHF] ing on the specific version of the text. Based on
the classification of the script variants, two main
Bibliography texts, Band C, can be differentiated, to which the
Curschmann, Michael. "Zu Struktur und Thematik des closely related versions J and D must also be
Buchs von Bern." BGDSL 98 (1976): 357-383. attributed. The Klage, whose author remains
- _ . "Biterolf und Dietleib: A Play upon Heroic anonymous, can be divided into four main narra-
Themes." In Germanic Studies in Honor a/Otto tive segments. The first part (B, 1-586) consists
Springer, edited by Stephen J. Kaplowitt. Pitts- of a summary, mainly of the events described in
burgh: K & S Enterprises, 1978, pp. 77-91. the second section of the Nibelungenlied, the
Firestone, Ruth H. "An Investigation of the Ethical content of which is assumed to be already
Meaning of Dietrich von Bern in the Nibelungen- known. The question of who is to be made re-
lied, Rabenschlacht, and Buch von Bern." In "In sponsible for the tragic events at Etzel's court
hohem Prise:" A Festschrift in Honor a/Ernst S. figures prominently and Kriemhild is effectively
Dick, edited by Winder McConnell. GAG 480.
absolved of all guilt. Her revenge for Siegfrid's
Goppingen: Kiimmerle, 1989, pp. 61-82.
death is justified by her true loyalty (triuwe)
_ _. "The Literary Classification of Dietrich und
Wenezlan: A Reevaluation." German Studies Re-
towards her first husband. Etzel's mourning for
view 5 (1982): 9-20. the slain opens the second part of the epic. The
Heinzle, Joachim. Mittelhochdeutsche Dietrichepik: discovery, the final journey, and burial of the
Untersuchungen zur Tradierungsweise, dead of all parties-Kriemhild and Ortlieb, the
Uberlie/erungskritik und Gattungsgeschichte Burgundian and Hunnish heroes, as well as the
spiiter Heldendichtung. MTU 62. Zurich: Ar- Amelungs-involved in the conflict are de-
temis, 1978. scribed in great detail (B, 587-2496). The
Janicke, Oskar, ed. Laurin- Walberan and Biterolf und discovery of the dead bodies is "complemented"
Dietleib. Deutsches Heldenbuch, I, 2nd. ed. by the desolation of the survivors. The life and
1866. Reprint, Berlin: Weidmann, 1963. times of the deceased and their role in the bloody
Martin, Ernst, ed. Alpharts Tad, Dietrichs Flucht, and conflict are then outlined in short biographies.
Rabenschlacht. Deutsches Heldenbuch, II, 2nd The minstrel Swemmel 's journey introduces
ed. 1866. Reprint, Dublin: Weidmann, 1967.
a new, more animated segment of the plot (B,
Rohrich, Lutz. Erziihlungen des spiiten Mittelalters
2497-4999). Swemmel brings the news of the
und ihr Weiterleben in Literatur und Volksdich-
tung bis zur Gegenwart. Vol. 2. Berne: Francke,
tragic events to the court of Duchess Isolde of
1967. Vienna, to Rudiger's family in Bechelaren, and
Schnyder, Andre, ed. Biterolf und Dietleib. Sprache to Bishop Pilgrim in Passau, uncle ofKriemhild
und Dichtung 31. Berne: Haupt, 1980. and Gunther. Wherever the message is received,
Wisniewski, Roswitha. Mittelalterliche Dietrichdich- it evokes immeasurable anguish, ultimately even
tung. Sammlung Metzler 205. Stuttgart: Metzler, at Swemmel's final destination, Worms, where
1986. the minstrel's report to the prince's household
Zatloukal, Klaus, ed. 2. Pochlarner Heldenliedge- summarizes once again the course of the battle.
spriich: Die historische Dietrichepik. Philologica Queen Ute, who undertakes for this reason a
Germanica 13. Vienna: Fassbaender, 1992. journey from her residence in Lorsch to Worms,
Zimmer, Uwe. Studien zu "Alpharts Tad" nebst einem dies of grief. Urged by Briinhild's followers, the
verbesserten Abdruck der Handschrifi. GAG 67. advice of Bishop Pilgrim to crown the prince is
Goppingen: Kiimmerle, 1972.
heeded at last: dynastic continuity is assured by
Zupitza, Julius, ed. Virginal, Goldemar, Sigenot,
the much-celebrated coronation of the Queen's
Eckenlied, Dietrich und Wenezlan. Deutsches
He1denbuch, V. 1870. Reprint, Dublin: Weid-
adolescent son. In the fourth and last part of the
mann, 1968. text (B, 4100-4360), Dietrich's departure from
Etzel's court is described. According to the text,
Dietrich and his wife, Herrat, visit Rudiger's
DIU KLAGE (The Lament of the Nibelungen). daughter, Dietlind, on their way to Dietrich's
Most of the intact manuscripts of the Nibelun- kingdom. They give Dietlind all the support they
DIUKLAGE 9
can, for her mother has just died of grief over Klage is not simply a continuation of the Nibe-
Rudiger's death. Afterwards the poet describes lungenlied, but also acts as a commentary and an
how Pilgrim has the story of the fall of Burgundy interpretation of that epic tale. Its origins most
written down in Latin by his scribe, Master Con- probably lie in the contemporary reader's per-
rad. This story is called Diu chlage (B, 4322) and plexity, brought about by the bloodthirsty con-
has been widely read in the German language clusion of the Nibelungenlied. The catastrophe
ever since. The thirty-eight verses which com- described in the Nibelungenlied is overcome
plement version B of the Klagedocument (in an emotionally by the description of the lamenta-
extremely verbose fashion) underscore the fact tion for, and the burial of, the fallen heroes and
that nothing is known of Etzel's life after Diet- brought to an adequate conclusion from a
rich's departure. Christian point of view. In addition the corona-
Although the Klage summarizes, adds to, tion of Gunther's son (Siegfried) and the subse-
and recounts the Nibelungenlied (if sometimes in quent joyful celebration justify a positive out-
a slightly deviant manner), it differs from its look on the future. This perspective supports the
great predecessor with regard to its form and its Christian view of medieval history, which could
way of dealing with the material. The exclusive not accept the cessation of all dynastic con-
use of rhymed couplets, the meter of the courtly tinuity, as exemplified by the fall of the kings of
epic, combined with a more descriptive narrative Burgundy in the Nibelungenlied, as being a valid
style, contrasts with the narrative flow of the Ni- ending to a well-rounded heroic epic. After all,
belungenlied, which is written in strophes, each according to Augustine, God created history as a
of which concludes with a Langzeile (extended whole, having both a beginning and an end. The
verse). Furthermore the heroic stance of the Ni- fact that the Nibelungenlied and the Klage have
belungenlied provides a sharp contrast to the for the most part been passed on as one entity
Klage's exclusively Christian perspective. While (except for the Wiener Piaristenhandschrift k
the author of the Nibelungenlied accentuates the [Viennese Piarist Manuscript k), the Klage is
inherent dynamism of the fall of Burgundy by a missing only in the more recent manuscript n)
near total omission of (Christian) values, the demonstrates that the medieval recipients of the
writer of the Klage detects the cause of the avoid- epic thought that both works belonged together,
able catastrophe in the false moral judgment of regardless of their formal differences and their
the main protagonists. This tendency to moralize disparate contents. The historical and literary im-
is obvious in the schematic "black and white" portance of the Klage, therefore, also lies in its
portrayal of the characters: the author of the Ni- function as the earliest evidence of the Nibelun-
belungenlied is able to show Hagen both as a genlied's reception in medieval times. The
coldly calculating executor of an unavoidable Christian perspective of the fall of the Nibelungs
destiny, while at the same time calling him his makes the assumption likely that the author of
master's loyal follower. In the same way it is also the Klage was himself a clergyman, whose place
possible to portray Kriemhild's revenge as a le- of activity was possibly the cathedral town of
gitimate consequence of her loyalty towards her Passau in Bavaria.
husband while calling the cruelty resulting from The Klage's thoroughly autonomous ap-
her revenge the work of a she-devil. This refined, proach to the contents of the Nibelungenlied has
but at the same time impartial, depiction of the repeatedly brought up the question as to the rela-
characters is lost entirely on the writer of the tion of both epics to one another, to what extent
Klage, for whom Hagen alone is seen as the each is influenced by the other, and/or whether
embodiment of the mortal sin of superbia they were both written as more or less separate
(iibermuotlvanity) and who is made responsible entities. Even though there is no agreement on
for all the suffering experienced by the guests the matter of its origins, it must be accepted as
taking part in the feast at Etzel's court. On the likely that the Klage was influenced by the Nibe-
other hand Kriemhild is declared free of all guilt lungenlied, which was already available in book
and made to appear as the loyal wife who be- form. Version C of the Nibelungenlied, which
haves according to Christian principles and presents a similar assessment of events from a
whose place in heaven is assured. Therefore the Christian point of view as well as the question of
10 PRIMARY WORKS
the guilt and the exoneration ofKriemhild, illus- must, however, be considered that no other text
trates that the Klage's antiheroic basis soon al- has survived besides the Klage which confirms
tered the face of the heroic epic (i.e., the Nibe- the existence of such a document.
lungenlied). One of the central clues that helps to Less convincing is the view that the source
date the Klage is provided by some of the themes material mentioned by the Klage is a hidden
contained therein, which, it can be said with eulogy of Bishop Wolfger of Passau. The histor-
some certainty, were taken from Wolfram von ical bishop of Passau appears as the patron and
Eschenbach's later work Willehalm (probably initiator of the canonization of the Nibelungen-
written between 1210 and 1220). Such is the case lied: thus Wolfger, who supposedly had the epic
with the unusual metaphor of death as a pair of written down, is insinuated by the appearance of
scales. Verses 2829-2936 of the Klage manu- the character Pilgrim. If this is the case, then
script C read as follows: "ouch liezen si da Conrad's Latin text would refer to the Nibelun-
hinder in, [... ] ir viI liben mage/in des todes genlied itself. Ultimately the achievements of
wage" (There they left behind them, too, [... ] contemporary research, which consider the Ni-
their beloved kin on the scales of death), and in belungenlied and the Klage mainly in their liter-
Willehalm 80,25ff. one finds: "dune gultes mine ary context, have downplayed theories of oral
mage/mit des todes wage" (You cannot atone for formulaic composition. At the same time, the
[the deaths of] my kin, unless it be on the scales view that both epics are only textual representa-
of death [i.e., unless you dieD. If the author of the tions of the same material but in different oral
Klage had really drawn upon Wolfram's work, traditions has been discarded. Earlier it was be-
his text could not possibly have been written lieved that oral fragments of the material and
before 1220, about twenty years after the autonomous single scenes were woven into the
composition of the earliest version of the Nibe- story line, whereby the Klage was even thought
lungenlied. of as the older of the two epics. In addition it was
It was mainly the reference to the exaltation seen as a wholly separate poem, which could be
of the Nibelungen material upon the initiative of understood without reference to the Nibelungen-
Bishop Pilgrim that created a stir in contempo- lied. Even the possibility that the Nibelungenlied
rary research, since it is possible on the one hand itself was influenced by the Klage was con-
to use the passage concerning Master Conrad's sidered. However this new evaluation of the de-
Latin manuscript as proof that someone had tam- pendency of the poems on each other does not
pered with source material in order to convince allow a basic demarcation: even if the Nibelung-
readers of the narrative's authenticity. Fictional en lied and the Klage are only different descrip-
references to source material of that kind were tions of one oral version of the epic, that oral
widespread in medieval epics: a clerical or version must have been remarkably fixed in sub-
worldly authority testified to the fact that the stance as well as in subject matter by 1200. The
narrated events were true and had the tale written impracticality of this thesis lies in the fact that its
down in Latin, the respected language of medi- advocates expect the interaction between Lied
eval sciences. In Herzog Ernst, for example, pos- and Klage to be evident as early as the time of
sible doubts as to the authenticity of the hero's their written composition, which then would ulti-
fantastic escapades are dispelled by mentioning mately lead to the aforementioned form of the
a Latin adaptation of that very story written Klage as a continuation of and a commentary to
down by a "master" in Bamberg upon the initia- the Nibelungenlied.
tive of the emperor, who himself owes his [MO]
knowledge to Ernst. On the other hand Conrad's
Latin text may be regarded as one of the first Bibliography
written versions of the Nibelungenlied, set down Bartsch, Karl, ed. Diu Klage. Mit den Lesarten
in the tenth century at the court of the historical siimtlicher Handschriften. 1875. Reprint, Dann-
Bishop Pilgrim (971-991), a distant "relative" of stadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964.
the Nibelungenlied we know today. If such a text Bumke, Joachim. Die vier Fassungen der "Nibelun-
ever existed in Latin, then it must have been genklage. " Untersuchungen zur Uberlieferungs-
written in the form of a chronique scandaleuse. It geschichte und Textkritik der hofischen Epik im
EDDA 11
13. Jahrhundert. Quellen und Forschungen zur _ _ . trans. Die Nibelungenklage: Mittelhoch-
Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte. Berlin: de Gruy- deutscher Text nach der Ausgabe von Karl
ter, 1996. Bartsch. SchOninghs mediiivistische Editionen,
_ _, ed. Die Nibelungenklage. Synoptische Aus- vol. 5. Paderborn: Schoningh, 2000.
gabe aller vier Fassungen. Berlin and New York: McConnell, Winder, trans. The Lament of the Nibe-
de Gruyter, 1999. lungen (Diu Chlage). Translations from Medi-
Classen, Albrecht. "Diu Klage: A Modern Text from eval Literature, edited by Evelyn S. Firchow. Co-
the Middle Ages." Neuphilologische Mittei- lumbia, SC: Camden House, 1994.
lungen 96 (1995): 315-329. _ _. "The Problem of Continuity in The Klage."
_ _, trans. Diu Klage. Mittelhochdeutsch- Neophilologus 70 (1986): 248-255.
Neuhochdeutsch. GAG 647. Goppingen: Kiim- Ranft, Brigitte, ed. "Diu Klage. Kritische Ausgabe der
merle, 1997. Bearbeitung *C." Diss., MarburgILahn, 1971.
Curschmann, Michael. "'Nibelungenlied' und Schroder, Werner. Wolfram von Eschenbach, 'Das Ni-
'Klage. ' " In Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelal- belungenlied' und 'Die Klage.' Akademie der
ters. Verfasserlexikon. 2nd rev. ed., edited by Wissenschaften und der Literatur. Abhandlungen
Kurt Ruh. Vol. 6 of Lieferung 3/4. Berlin: de der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen
Gruyter, 1987, cols. 926-969. Klasse 5. Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften
_ _ . '" Nibelungenlied' und 'Nibelungenklage '; und der Literatur; Stuttgart: Steiner, 1989.
Uber Miindlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit im ProzeE Szklenar, Hans. "Die literarische Gattung der Nibe-
der Episierung." In Deutsche Literatur im Mit- lungenklage und das Ende 'alter maere.'" Poe-
telalter: Kontakte und Perspektiven. Hugo Kuhn tica 9 (1977): 41-61.
zum Gedenken, edited by Christoph Cormeau. Voorwinden, Norbert. "Nibelungenklage und Nibe-
Stuttgart: Metzler, 1979, pp. 85-115. lungenlied." In Hohenemser Studien zum Nibe-
Deck, Monika. Die Nibelungenklage in der For- lungenlied, edited by Irmtraud Albrecht and
schung. Bericht und Kritik. Europiiische Achim Masser. Dornbirn: Vorarlberger Verlag-
Hochschulschriften. Reihe 1: Deutsche Sprache sanstalt, 1981, pp. 276-287.
und Literatur 1564. Frankfurt a. M.: Lang, 1996. Wachinger, Burkhard. "Die Klage und das Nibelun-
Gillespie, G. T. "'Die Klage' as a commentary on 'Das genlied." In Hohenemser Studien zum Nibelun-
Nibelungenlied.' " In Probleme mittelhoch- genlied, edited by Irmtraud Albrecht and Achim
deutscher Erziihlformen. Marburger Colloquium Masser. Dornbirn: Vorarlberger Verlagsanstalt,
1969, edited by Peter F. Ganz and Werner Schroder. 1981, pp. 264-275.
Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 1972, pp. 153-177. Wehrli, Max. "Die 'Klage' und der Untergang der Ni-
Giinzburger, Angelika. Studien zur Nibelungenklage. belungen." In Zeiten und Formen in Sprache und
Forschungsbericht, Bauform der Klage, Perso- Dichtung. Festschrift Fritz Tschirch. Cologne:
nendarstellung. Europiiische Hochschulschriften. Bohlau, 1992, pp. 96-1l2.
Reihe 1: Deutsche Sprache und Literatur 685.
Frankfurt a. M.: Lang, 1983.
Hoffmann, Werner. Das Nibelungenlied. 6th ed. EDDA. The name is given to two books written
Sammlung Metzler 7. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1992, in Iceland in the thirteenth century: The Prose
pp. 126-140. Edda and the Poetic Edda. The name Edda was
Kiihebacher, Egon. Deutsche Heldenepik in Tirol: applied fIrst to the Prose Edda and belonged
Konig Laurin und Dietrich von Bern in der originally to that book alone. The Prose Edda is
Dichtung des Mittelalters. Schriftemeihe des also called the Younger Edda or Snorri Edda,s
siidtiroler Kulturinstitutes 7. Bolzano: Athesia, because it was written by Snorri Sturluson
1979. (1178/79-1241), the most important and promi-
Lachmann, Karl. Der Nibelunge Noth und die Klage nent Icelandic author and historian, probably
nach der iiltesten Oberlieferung mit Bezeichnung
during the years 1222 to 1223. The meaning of
der unechten und mit Abweichungen der ge-
the name Edda is not quite clear and many inter-
meinen Lesart. 5th ed. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1878.
pretations have been offered. The Icelandic word
Lienert, Elisabeth. "Intertextualitat in der Helden-
dichtung. Zu Nibelungenlied und 'Klage.'" In edda means great-grandmother, as a title possi-
Neue Wege der Mittelalter-Philologie: Landshu- bly referring to a collection of ancient tales. Per-
ter Kolloquium 1996, edited by Joachim Heinzle. haps Edda is derived from oor (poetry). If so,
Wolfram-Studien 15. Berlin: Erich Schmidt, then the title means poetics, and in fact, the Prose
1998,pp.276-298. Edda is a handbook of poetics. Another interpre-
12 PRIMARY WORKS
tation connects Edda with Oddi, the name of the The poetry of the Edda falls into two groups,
farm where Snorri was brought up and educated. the mythological and the heroic lays. Among the
An equally plausible explanation is that Edda is mythological poems are narrative lays and
derived from Latin edo, "I proclaim," according didactic lays. The most famous one is the Vol-
to medieval etymology. uspa (Sibyl's Prophecy), a narrative lay about the
The Prose Edda is divided into four sections: story of the world and of the gods from the begin-
Prologue, Gylfaginning, SkaldskaparmaI, Hatta- ning until the end of the world and the doom or
tal. The short Prologue stands apart. Its contents twilight of the gods. The Hyndluljod (The Lay of
show historical interest: the Norse gods are traced Hyndla), a didactic lay, is the only mythological
from heroes of Greece and ultimately from lay that concerns the Nibelungs.
Adam. The Hattatal (List of Verse Forms) pre- Nearly all the heroic lays in the Edda are
sents one hundred different verse forms in 102 associated in some way with the story of Sigurd;
stanzas. The SkaldskaparmaI (Speech of Poetry) only the Volundarkvioa (The Lay of Wayland) is
contains Snorri's explanations of the poetry of totally separated from his story, and the three
skalds (poets, especially court poets). Skaldic Helgi lays (Helgakvioa Hjorvarossonar,
poetry is quite unlike Anglo-Saxon and early Helgakvioa Hundingsbana L II) have only a di-
Germanic poetry. It differs from the poetry of the stant relationship with him. Many of the legends
Poetic Edda in meter, in syntax, and choice of upon which the heroic lays are based originated
expression. For, example the skalds use kennings in continental Germania. Some of the heroes in
(periphrases) ofsuch complexity that their poems these lays appear in Old English and Middle
often read like riddles. The various types of High German literature, especially in the Nibe-
kennings are illustrated with examples from lungenlied. A group of lays is concerned with
the works of poets who lived between the ninth Sigurd and Brynhild: Gripisspa (The Prophecy
and twelfth century. In some chapters of the of Gripir; the most recent heroic lay, believed to
SkaldskaparmaI, Snorri retells legends of Sigurd, have been set in writing no earlier than about the
Brynhild, the Burgundian kings, Hogni, and the thirteenth century), Siguroarkvioa hin skamma
Norse gods. The Gylfaginning (Beguiling of (The Short Lay of Sigurd), Brot afSiguroarkviou
Gylfi) is an account of the Norse gods written in (Fragment of a Sigurd Lay), and SiguroarkviOa
the form of dialogue between Gylfi and three in meiri (The Longer Lay of Sigurd). The last one
gods. Snorri wrote it to inform skalds about the is completely lost in a lacuna of the Codex Re-
mythological concepts a writer had to know in gius and can only be reconstructed from a prose
order to understand kennings. He chiefly used version in the Volsunga saga. The deeds of
lays about the gods, many of which are preserved young Sigurd are told in the Fiifnismal (The Lay
in the Poetic Edda. Snorri was educated as a of Fafnir), the Reginsmal (The Lay of Regin),
Christian and he wrote his Edda more than two and the Sigrdrifumal (The Lay ofSigrdrifa). One
centuries after Iceland had been converted to lay is devoted to Brynhild's death: Helreio
Christianity. Therefore the value ofthe book as a Brynhildar (Brynhild's Ride to Hel). Two lays
record ofmythology has been questioned. are concerned with Atli (Attila) and the downfall
The Poetic Edda is also called Elder Edda or of the Burgundians: Atlakvioa (The Lay of Atli)
Saemund's Edda. It is a collection of lays pre- and Atlamal in groenlendzku (The Greenlandish
served in the vellum manuscript Codex Regius, Lay of Atli). They contain memories of events
which formerly belonged to the Icelandic bishop that took place in western Germany in the fifth
Brynjolfr Sveinsson (1605-1675), who believed century, when Gundicarius (Gunnar), the Bur-
it to be the work of the Icelandic historian gundian king, was defeated by a Hunnish army.
Sremundr SigfUsson inn fr06i (Saemund Sig- The Oddritnargratr (The Plaint of Oddrun) is
fusson the Wise, 1056-1133). But the book was connected with the story of Gunnar's life. The
compiled at a much later period than that of spiritual conflicts ofGudrun, Gunnar's sister, are
Saemund. Some Eddic lays are handed down in described with great pathos in four lays: Guoritn-
other manuscripts, for example in Snorri's Edda arhvot (Gudrun's Lament) and GuornnarkvilJa
or in the Flateyjarb6k (Book ofFlatey). All these I-III (The Lay ofGudrun I-III). The Hamdismal
lays were passed down anonymously. (The Lay of Hamdir), perhaps the oldest lay in
EDDA 13
the maunscript (earlier than 1000), relates the _ _, ed. and trans. The Poetic Edda. Vol. I of
story of Svanhild, Gudrun's daughter. Heroic Poems. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
Many of the poems, both mythological and Glendinning, Robert J. and Haraldur Bessason, eds.
heroic, have prologue, narrative links, and epi- Edda: A Collection o/Essays. Winnipeg: Univer-
sity of Manitoba Press, 1983.
logue in prose to explain the background and
Harris, Joseph. "Eddie Poetry." In Old Norse-
action of the verses. Three alliterative meters are
Icelandic Literature: A Critical Guide, edited by
commonly distinguished in Eddic poetry: the
Carol J. Clover and John Lindow. Islandica 45.
fornyroislag (meter for old sagas/poems), a four- Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985, pp. 68-
syllable, two-footed line, about eight lines form- 156.
ing one stanza; the malahtittr (quotation tone), a Hauck, Karl, ed. Zur germanisch-deutschen Helden-
five-syllable, two-footed line, about eight lines sage. Wege der Forschung 14. Dannstadt:
forming one stanza; and the ljooahtittr (tune/ Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1965.
melody of songs), a stanza consisting of two Haymes, Edward R. and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
four-syllable, two-footed lines forming one long Legends o/the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
line, and a single three-footed full line without a belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland,
caesura. Most of the narrative poems are in the 1996.
fornyrois[ag, which resembles the measure used Hollander, Lee Milton, trans. The Poetic Edda. 2nd ed.
by Anglo-Saxon and early Germanic poets. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1962.
Hoops, Johannes, ed. Reallexikon der germanischen
The Poetic Edda contains only a small pro-
Altertumskunde. Vol. 6. 2nd ed. Berlin and New
portion of the heroic poetry known in Iceland in
York: de Gruyter, 1986. See articles by Kurt
the early Middle Ages. Much has been lost, but Schier, Edda, Altere. pp. 355-394; Gerd Wolf-
fragments of ancient lays are found in prose gang Weber, Edda, Jiingere, pp. 395-412;
sagas of the thirteenth and fourteenth century. Heinrich Beck, Eddische Dichtung, pp. 413-
[GW] 425; Heinrich Beck, Eddische Preislieder, pp.
425f.
Jonsson, Finnur, ed. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar.
Bibliography Copenhagen: Gyldendalske boghandel, 1931.
Beck, Heinrich, ed. Heldensage und Heldendichtung Kellogg, Robert L. "The Prehistory of Eddie Poetry."
im Germanischen. Reallexikon der gennan- In Poetry in the Scandinavian Middle Ages: The
ischen Altertumskunde: Erganzungsband 2. Seventh International Saga Conference, edited
Berlin: de Gruyter 1988. by Teresa paroli. Spoleto: Presso la sede del
Bellows, Henry Adams, trans. The Poetic Edda. 1923. Centro Studia, 1990, pp. 187-199.
Reprint, New York: The American-Scandinavian Klingenberg, Heinz. Edda: Sammlung und Dichtung.
Foundation, 1969. Beitriige zur nordischen Philologie 3. Basel and
_ _, trans. The Poetic Edda. Lewiston, NY: Stuttgart, 1974.
Mellen, 1991. Neckel, Gustav, and Felix Neidner, trans. Die jiingere
Boklund-Schlagbauer, Ragnhild. Vergleichende Stu- Edda mit dem sogenannten ersten gram-
dien zu Erziihlstrukturen im Nibelungenlied und matischen Traktat. Sammlung Thule 20.
in nordischen Fassungen des Nibelungenstoffes. Dannstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft,
GAG 626. Goppingen: Kfunmerle, 1996. 1966.
de Vries, Jan. Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 2 Neckel, Gustav, and Hans Kuhn, eds. Edda: Die
vols. 2nd ed. Grundriss der gennanischen Phil- Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten
ologie 121I, l21I1. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1956- Denkmiilern. 5th ed. Heidelberg: Winter, 1983.
1957. Reichert, Hennann, and Giinter Zimmennann, eds.
_ _. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. 2 vols. 2nd Heiden und Heldensage. Otto Gschwantler zum
ed. Grundriss der gennanischen Philologie 15, 60. Geburtstag. Philologica Gennanica 11.
16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964-1967. Vienna: Fassbaender, 1990.
Dronke, Ursula, "Eddie Poetry as a Source for the Schier, Kurt. HEdda." In vol. 18 of Kindlers neues
History of Gennanic Religion." In Germanische Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter Jens. Munich:
Religionsgeschichte: Quellen und Quellen- Kindler, 1992, pp. 512-519.
probleme, edited by Heinrich Beck. Reallexikon _ _. "Snorri Sturluson: Edda." In vol. 15 of Kind-
der gennanischen Altertumskunde: Erganzungs- lers neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter
band 5. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1992, pp. 656-684. Jens. Munich: Kindler, 1991, pp. 646-648.
14 PRIMARY WORKS
Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann Paisson. Lexikon der ger, puts it into his mouth, and is able to under-
altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987. stand the language of the birds. Seven titmice
Sturluson, Snorri. Edda: Prologue and Gy/faginning, warn him (according to the Volsunga saga, there
edited by Anthony Faulkes. Oxford: Clarendon are six birds, and in the Pioreks saga two birds
Press, 1982.
warn him; the motif does not exist in the German
_ _ . Gy/faginning. Texte, Ubersetzung, Kommen-
tradition) that Regin plans to kill him to avenge
tar von Gottfried Lorenz. Texte zur Forsehung
48. Darmstadt: Wissensehaftliehe Buehgesell- his brother's death. The birds advise him to kill
sehaft, 1984. Regin, who is here called a giant (contrary to the
_ _ . Edda: Hattatal, edited by Anthony Fau1kes. Reginsmal, in which Regin is a dwarf). The
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. scene of Sigurd roasting Fafnir's heart and lis-
Terry, Patricia. Poems a/the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: tening to the birds was often depicted in wood or
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990. stone in Norway, Sweden, and England, and the
motif may be Irish in origin (stanzas 32-38).
FAFNISMAL (The Lay of Fafnir). In the Codex In a further prose bridge, we are informed
Regius of the Poetic Edda this heroic lay is not that Sigurd decapitates Regin, eats Fafnir's heart,
separated from the Reginsmal and the Sigrdrifu- and drinks Fafnir's and Regin's blood. In stanzas
mal. The title was taken from the more recent 40-44 the titmice talk to him again. They foretell
paper manuscripts. that he will marry Gjuki's daughter and that he
The lay relates an event of Sigurd's youth will find a sleeping warrior maiden (the Vol-
and is composed in verse (forty-four stanzas) sunga saga calls her Brynhild) on a high hill. The
with prose bridges. The metrical form is not ho- story relates that Odin had pricked her with a
mogeneous. Some passages are composed in the thorn and now she waits for her liberator. In a
epic fornyroislag, with others in lj6oahattr. An- prose passage that fmishes the lay, Sigurd fills
dreas Heusler called the poem an "einseitiges two boxes with gold, puts them on Grani's (his
Ereignislied" (one-sided lay relating an event). horse's) back, takes Fafnir's helmet, a golden
Regin covets Fafnir's gold. His brother suit of armor, Fafnir's sword, Hrotti, and other
Fafnir has turned himself into a dragon, and now treasures and rides away.
he guards a hoard of gold on the Gnitaheide. The most significant difference between this
Regin provokes Sigurd into killing the dragon. lay and the Nibelungenlied, the Pioreks saga,
Sigurd digs a pit, jumps into it, and when Fafnir and the Lied vom Hurnen Seyfrid is the combina-
creeps over it, he stabs the dragon in the heart tion of the dragon fight and the winning of the
with his sword. In a dialogue the mortally hoard. But this linking ofthe two motifs is an old
wounded dragon addresses his killer (stanzas 1- pattern of heroic poetry, as shown in Sigmund's
22). He asks for Sigurd's name, which Sigurd dragon fight in Beowulf. Andreas Heusler tried to
does not reveal at first, calling himself "gofuct rearrange the stanzas of the Reginsmai and those
dY'r" (wonderful animal). Fafnir wants to know of the Fafnismal in order to arrive at two more
why Sigurd has killed him. He warns him that the homogeneous poems: a Lied vom Drachenhort
treasure he has won will bring him an early end. (Lay of the Dragon's Hoard), written in
He also warns him of the curse on the gold and of lj6oahattr, and a Lied von Sigurds Vaterrache
the treacherous Regin. Within this section, (Lay of Sigurd's Revenge for His Father) written
stanzas 12-15 contain mythological wisdom mainly in fornyroislag, but including Hnikar's
that has nothing to do with Sigurd. advice for Sigurd in lj6oahattr. Poems about
The second part of the lay begins with a Young Sigurd's deeds are usually more recent
dialogue between Regin and Sigurd (stanzas 23- than those retelling old continental tales. Perhaps
29). Regin clearly expects to share the spoils of these events were only told in prose at the begin-
Sigurd's victory. Two stanzas (30, 31) follow that ning of the tenth century. Therefore the "Lay of
depict the character of a warrior, his boldness, his Regin" is frequently dated between 1000 and
fearlessness, and his good spirits. The story is 1150. Icelandic scholars suggest that it may have
continued in prose. Sigurd roasts the dragon's been written earlier than 1000.
heart and, upon tasting the blood, burns his fin- [GW]
GRlPISspA 15
Sigurd (Siguror) in the fonn of a prophecy, GuorUnarhvot starts at the moment when
which strongly underlines the fate aspect of the Gudrun provokes her sons to take revenge on
story. Although late in composition (ftrst part of Jonnunrek for their sister's murder. She is even
the thirteenth century), it is the ftrst of the Sigurd
willing to sacriftce her own flesh to accomplish
poems in the Codex Regius. In the poem, Sigurd this act of revenge. She laughs as she arms her
asks the seer Gripir to outline his future. He is sons and weeps after their departure because
told that he will kill dragons and will become both she and her sons know that they will never
betrothed to Brynhild, but will be trapped by meet again. In stanza 8 Gudrun starts to relate her
magic into marrying Guorun, daughter of hard and bitter fate in a retrospective elegiac lay
Grimhild. Gripir is reluctant to tell Sigurd the (Riickblickslied; Andreas Heusler). She had been
whole story, but reveals eventually that the hero married three times but now she has lost all hope
will help Gunnar win Brynhild, but then will be of domestic joy. She speaks about the horror of
murdered at her instigation by Gunnar, Hogni, her brothers' deaths and about the murder of
and Guoonn. Sigurd seeks assurance throughout Sigurd. Gudrun is totally alone now and passion-
that he will himself be blameless, and that heroic ately calls for death. She hopes that Sigurd will
songs will be sung about him. Gripir tells him ride back from Hel, the world of the dead, to
that songs about his deeds will be used as battle- meet his wife, who is still grieving for her dead
inspiration as long as the world lives. Thus reas- husband. She made a vow with Sigurd that death
sured, Sigurd accepts his fate and rides out to would never part them. Now they will lie on their
meet it. funeral pyre together. This manner of Gudrun's
[BOM]death is only told here. Perhaps it is influenced
by poems relating of Brynhild's death on a pyre.
Bibliography The contents of the lay are also related in the
Neckel, Gustav, ed. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Re- Volsunga saga. The poem must be late in the
gius.4th ed. Revised by Hans Kuhn. Heidelberg: tradition of heroic verse, and the echoes of the
Winter, 1962. Atlamal suggest that it was composed towards
Terry, Patricia. Poems of the Vikings. New York: the end of the twelfth century. Some Icelandic
Bobbs-Merrill, 1969, pp. 140-149. scholars suggest an earlier date: 1050-1150. In
Murdoch, Brian. The Germanic Hero. London: any case Gudrun's provocation (hvot) of her sons
Hambledon, 1996, pp. 17-20. may be a very old literary motif.
[GW]
GUDRUNARHVOT (Gudrun's Lament, or
Gudrun's Goading). This Eddic title literally Bibliography
translated means "Gudrun's Provocation" and Dronke, Ursula, ed. and trans. The Poetic Edda. Vol. 1
can be easily explained by the ftrst part of the of Heroic Poems. Oxford: Clarendon, 1969, pp.
poem. The English title "Gudrun's Lament" is 143-157.
self-evident for the second half of the poem. The de Boor, Helmut. "Die nordische Schwanhild-
lay consists of twenty-one stanzas mainly injor- dichtung." In Erbe der Vergangenheit. Festgabe
nyroislag. After the Atlamal in groenlenzku there for Karl Helm zum 80. Geburtstage. Tiibingen:
follows a prose section about Gudrun's further Niemeyer, 1951, pp. 47-63.
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. 2.
lot, according to which we learn that she and
2nd ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, pp. 140-142.
Hniflung, Hogni's son, killed Atli. Then she tries
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den
to drown herself in the sea, but the waves bring Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Halle
her to Jonaker's land. Gudrun marries the king (Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran-
and bears him three boys, Sorli, Erp, and Hamdir. cke), 1931, pp. 411-424.
The boys grow up with Svanhild, Sigurd's Harris, Joseph. "Guorunarhvot."In vol. 6 of Diction-
posthumously born daughter. Svanhild is killed ary of the Middle Ages, edited by Joseph R.
by King Jonnunrek because his counselor, Bikki, Strayer. New York: Scribner, 1985.
had slandered her. The story of Svanhild is also Heusler, Andreas. Die altergermanische Dichtung.
told in the Hamoismcil (Lay of Hamdir). 2nd ed. Potsdam: Athenaion, 1941, pp. 183ff.
GUDRlJNARKVIDA (ONNUR) 17
SchrOder, Franz Rolf. "Die Eingangsszene von Sigurd). The origin of this lay of Gudrun might
Guoninarhvot und Hamoismtil." PBB (Tiibingen) be a Danish-Gennan cycle of poems.
98 (1976): 430-436. [GW]
See, Klaus von. "Guoninarhvot und Hamoismtil."
PBB (Tubingen) 99 (1977): 241-249. Bibliography
Zeller, Rose. Die Gudrunlieder der Edda. Tiibinger Beck, Heinrich. "Guoninarkvioa I" In vol. 18 of Kind-
germanistische Arbeiten 26. Stuttgart: Kohlham- lers neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter
mer, 1939. Jens. Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 677ff.
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. 2.
2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie
GUDRUNARKVIDA (IN FYRSTA) (The 16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, pp. 135-138.
First Lay of Gudrun). This Eddic lay consists of Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den
twenty-seven stanzas in fornyroislag. It closes Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Halle
with a short prose epilogue, giving us infonna- (Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran-
tion taken from the GuorUnarkviOa (onnor) (The cke), 1931, pp. 235-243.
Second Lay ofGudrun). Therefore we know that Harris Joseph. "Guoninarkvioa 1." In vol. 6 ofDiction-
this Second Lay of Gudrun must have been com- ary of the Middle Ages, edited by Joseph R.
posed earlier than the first one. We do not know Strayer. New York: Scribner, 1985, pp. 36f.
when the lay was written. Icelandic scholars tend Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
to suggest an earlier date (about 1050-1150)
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland,
than other scholars (second half of the 12th/13th 1996, p. 123.
century). In any case the lay belongs to the group Zeller, Rose. Die Gudrunlieder der Edda. Tubinger
of younger Eddic lays. It is a Standortlied (A. germanistische Arbeiten 26. Stuttgart: Kohlham-
Heusler), which is a lay set in one place or posi- mer, 1939.
tion, because it does not relate heroic events, but
rather infonns us in the tone of an elegy about the GUDRUNARKVIDA (ONNUR) (The Second
feelings and reactions of Gudrun and Brynhild Lay of Gudrun). This Eddic lay is called GuorU-
shortly after Sigurd's murder. Gudrun is mourn- narkviOa in forna (The Old Lay ofGudrun) in the
ing for Sigurd and cannot weep. Clever dukes final prose section of the Brot af Siguroarkviou:
(jarlar) and noble women try to comfort her by Fra dauoa Siguroar (Fragment of a Sigurd Lay:
telling of their ill fate but without success. Three About the Murder of Sigurd). In Nornagests
women are mentioned by name: Gjaflaug, Her- pattr (The Story of Nomagest; early fourteenth
borg, and Gullrond. When Gullrond unveils century) it is called GuorUnameoa (The Speech
Sigurd's dead body, Gudrun is able to weep. She ofGudrun). There are references to the lay in the
now praises her outstanding husband, whom her Volsunga saga.
brothers have killed for Fafnir's gold, and she The lay consists of forty-four stanzas infor-
predicts Gunnar's death. Brynhild scolds nyroislag, partly written as a monologue by
Gullrond for having caused this outburst, but Gudrun in the tone of sentimental retrospection.
Gullrond asks her to be quiet because she blames We can distinguish three scenes: The first
the disaster on Brynhild. Yet according to (twelve stanzas) relates Gudrun's life up to
Brynhild, it is all Atli's (her brother's) fault be- Sigurd's murder, assuming a version of his death
cause he forced her into a marriage with Gunnar. that is mentioned otherwise only in Nornagests
She loved Sigurd and could not bear to see her pattr: Gunnar and his brothers had ridden with
hero married to Gudrun. The final prose tells us Sigurd to a Thing (assembly) and Sigurd was
that Gudrun vanished into the woods and went fatally wounded there by Gunnar's brother Gut-
on until she came to Denmark. There she lived thonn, who is in turn slain by the dying Sigurd.
with Hakon's daughter Thora for seven years. Gudrun is forced to wander through the woods in
Brynhild did not want to live any longer without search of his body. The second scene (up to the
Sigurd and fatally injures herself in order to be thirty-fifth stanza) tells us that she finally arrives
cremated with Sigurd as is related in the at the Danish court. There she spends three-and-
Sigurc,arkvic,a in skamma (The Short Lay of a-half years with Thora, the daughter of King
18 PRIMARY WORKS
Half, doing needlework. The best earls woo her, GUDRUNARKVIDA (IN THRIDIA) (The
but she cannot forget Sigurd. Finally Grirnhild, Third Lay of Gudrun). This short Eddic lay
her mother, prepares a potion of forgetfulness (eleven stanzas) is written in the fornyroislag
and asks her to accept compensation and to meter. The lay was not used by the scribe of
marry Atli. Gudrun resists remarriage, particu- the Volsunga saga. The episode is related partly
larly because Atli is Brynhild's brother. Appar- as a report, partly in direct speech called a
ently under the influence of the potion, she re- doppelseitiges Ereignislied (double-sided lay
lents and leaves the Danish court in order to relating an event) by Andreas Heusler.
marry Atli. The last scene is written as a dialogue Gudrun is married to Atli, who has a con-
between Gudrun and Atli. Heavy dreams weigh cubine, Herkja. Herkja tells Atli that his wife
upon Atli's mind. Gudrun interprets them ambig- has committed adultery with Thjodrek, Thjod-
uously' hinting at the dreadful events that will mar's son. Gudrun swears on the holy white
follow. stone that she is innocent and that she never
The elegiac poem is very heterogeneous in embraced Thjodrek, yet she confesses that they
language and style and is partly dependent on have talked about their bitter fate. Thjodrek lost
late German-Danish ballads. The lay may even his thirty brave men who came with him to
be fragmentary because it breaks off with stanza Atli's court, and she herself lost her brothers
forty-four. Most likely its time of origin is the Gunnar and Hogni because of Atli. An ordeal
second half of the twelfth century, although Ice- for her is planned, and she asks Atli to send for
landic scholars suggest that, as the fIrst lay, it Saxi, who is capable of consecrating the boiling
was also written between 1050 and 1150. kettle used in the ordeal. Seven hundred men
[GW] witness the ordeal, in which Gudrun takes
bright stones out of the boiling kettle without
Bibliography burning her hand. Atli is very pleased to see that
Beck, Heinrich. "Guon'markvioa II." In vol. 18 of Gudrun does not get burned and forces Herkja
Kindlers neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter to reach into the boiling water. Herkja burns her
Jens. Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 677ff. hand and is sentenced to death and sunk in a
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. 2. fen.
2nd ed. Grundriss der gennanischen Philo1ogie The events of this poem take place after the
16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967. pp. 131-135. death of Hogni and Gunnar and before Atli's
_ _ . "Das 'Zweite Gudrunlied.' " ZfdP77 (1958):
death, but the Eddic lays depict Gudrun's re-
176-199.
venge on Atli immediately after the death of her
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den
brothers, so that there is no time left during
Liedern der Edda. 2. Hii1fte: Heldenlieder. Ger-
manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle
which this ordeal might have taken place.
(Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran- The lay shows features of the German tradi-
cke), 1931, pp. 290-316. tion about the Nibelungs and Dietrich of Bern,
Glendinning, Robert J. "Guon'marqvioa forna. A Re- son of Dietmar, the historical Theodemer, at the
construction and Interpretation." In Edda: A Col- court of Etzel. It is interesting that the poet com-
lection of Essays, edited by Robert J. Glendin- bined Christian and heathen elements to prove
ning and Haraldur Bessason. Winnipeg: Gudrun's innocence. The ordeal of the boiling
University of Manitoba Press, 1983, pp. 258- kettle, introduced in Norway at the time of Olaf
282. the Holy (Olaf II Haraldsson, 995-1030), out of
Harris Joseph. "Guon'markvioa II." In vol. 6 of Dic- which Gudrun has to take bright stones, is
tionary of the Middle Ages, edited by Joseph R.
Christian, but her oath on a holy white stone (on
Strayer. New York: Scribner 1985, pp. 36f.
which a person's foot was placed during the
Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
swearing of the oath) and Herkja's death in the
Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
belung and Dietrich Cyc!es. New York: Garland, fen are heathen.
1996,pp.123f. The text resembles more a ballad than a
Zeller, Rose. Die Gudrunlieder der Edda. TUbinger heroic Eddic lay, its tone is elegiac, typical of
gennanistische Arbeiten 26. Stuttgart: Koh1ham- later lays, written during the second half of the
mer, 1939. twelfth century. According to Icelandic scholars,
HELREID BRYNHILDAR 19
the poem might have been composed earlier, stanzas) and the later Edda poem GuorUnarhvot
about 1150. (Gudrun's Chain of Woes).
[GW] [BOM]
Bibliography
Bibliography
Dronke, Ursula, ed. The Poetic Edda. Vol. 1 of Heroic
Andersson, Theodore M. "Guoninarkvioa III." In vol.
Poems. Oxford: Clarendon, 1969, pp. 159-242.
6 of Dictionary of the Middle Ages, edited by
Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Scribner, 1985, p.
HELDENSCHAU is the modern name of a
38.
Beck, Heinrich. "Guoninarkvioa III." In vol. 18 of central part ofthe Pioreks saga, that relates of the
Kindlers neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter following events. After a period of peace, which
Jens. Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 677ff. corresponds to the one before King Arthur's
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den feast in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia
Liedern der Edda. 2. HaUte: Heldenlieder. Ger- Regum Britanniae, Thidrek decides to invite the
manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle most outstanding heroes to his court. The twelve
(Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran- bravest men sit together with Thidrek on one
cke), 1931, pp. 317-323. bench. The Niflungar Gunnar and Hogni are
Haymes, Edward R. and Susann T. Samples. Heroic mentioned as guests, and the other ten are Hil-
Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni- dibrand, Hornbogi, Vidga, Aumlung, Thetleif,
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland,
Fasolt, Sistram, Vildiver, Herbrand, and Heime.
1996, p. 124.
In these twelve one can find an obvious parallel
Heusler, Andreas. Die altgermanische Dichtung. 2nd
to the twelve "Pairs of France" in Geoffrey's
ed. Potsdam: Athenaion, 1947, pp. 154ff.
Historia, which later became the model for the
Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann PaIsson.
"Guoninarkvioa III." In Lexikon der altnor- Round Table. These heroes and two more who
dischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987, p.l25. are not present (Sigurd and Sitka) are consis-
Zeller, Rose. Die Gudrunlieder der Edda. Tiibinger tently described according to a particular pattern:
germanistische Arbeiten 26. Stuttgart: Kohlham- usually their appearance (color of hair, form of
mer, 1939. face, size), habits, and weapons. After the feast
they decide to test their skill in single combat
against the thirteen warriors of King Isung of
BAMDISMAL (Lay ofHamoir), one ofthe ear-
Brittany, Arthur's successor (twelve sons and
lier poems in the elder Edda (with some confus-
Young Sigurd). The combat scenes are subse-
ing lines and gaps in the train of thought).
quently described in a manner similar to what is
Gudrun urges her last surviving sons Hamoir and
found in the Rosengarten epics in Germany.
Sorli to avenge the death of their sister Svanhild,
The Heldenschau shows clear signs ofhav-
who has been killed by being trampled to death
ing been inserted into the context of the banquet
by horses (an echo of the actual death of the
scene, as after it the statement that the heroes
historical Brunhild) on the orders of Jormunrek,
were all sitting on one bench has to be repeated
king of the Goths. Their bastard half brother Erp
for the sake of coherence. The Volsunga saga
offers to help but is killed by them in an act of
took the description of Sigurd from a manuscript
hubris, which they later regret since without him
of the Pioreks saga contained within the family
they are defeated. They cut Jormunrek down, but
of the Icelandic manuscript A, which assists in
without Erp, who might have cut offhis head, the
the dating of the former.
king can still call out for assistance.
[HR]
There are references earlier in the poem to
the death of Gudrun's husband Sigurd, who in Bibliography
this version was dragged from his bed and killed Reichert, Hermann. Heldensage und Rekonstruktion.
by Hogni, and to Gudrun's own killing of Atli's Untersuchungen zur Thidrekssaga. Vienna: Fass-
children, Erp and Eitill. The latter incident is a baender, 1992.
closer match with the Nibelungenlied than the
former. There is also a close relationship be- HELREIB BRYNHILDAR (Brynhild's Ride
tween this piece (sometimes with identical to Hel). This Eddic lay is recorded in the Codex
20 PRIMARY WORKS
Cavallier who is eventually slain with a Rappier) Sowden, J. K. "Andreas Heinrich Buchholtz and the
and Krimhilt is now Florigunda. King Gybich Siegfried Chapbook." GLL, n.s., 24 (1970-71):
and his sons Giinther, Hagen, and Gyrnot be- 32-42.
come Gibaldus, Ehrenbertus, Hagenwald and Suchsland, P., ed. Deutsche Volksbiicher in drei
Banden. Vol. 1. Bibliothek deutscher Klassiker.
Walbertus. Eugleyne/Eugel the dwarf and
Berlin: Autbau-Verlag, 1968, pp. 241-88.
Kuperan the giant become Egwaldus and
Wulffgrambahr respectively. The story itself, on H0GNA TATTUR. (see Part X: Faeroe
the other hand, follows that of the Lied vom Islands).
Hiirnen Seyfrid quite closely, indeed in parts al-
most verbatim, though certain details are em- HVEN CHRONICLE. A prose rendition of the
broidered. Thus whereas LHS (32) tells how demise of the Nibelungen on the island of Hven
Gybich dispatches messengers to enlist help in in the Oere Sound. It was originally composed in
the search for his daughter, in the Historia when Latin in the sixteenth century and is extant today
the foreign kings arrive to offer Gibaldus their solely in a Danish translation dating from the
condolences he turns the occasion into a colorful beginning of the seventeenth century.
tournament at which Siegfried outshines all oth- [WW]
ers. Then after Siegfried has slain the last of the
dragons, Siegfried's recovery from his exertions
and his growing love for Florigunda are HYNDLULJO» (The Lay of Hyndla). The lay
described in a series ofHollywoodesque cliches is a very young Eddic poem consisting of fifty
(Golther, pp. 85-87, corresponding to LHS 155). stanzas, written perhaps during the thirteenth
Strophes 170-172 of the LHS describe the return century. It belongs more to the mythological
of Seyfrid and Krimhilt and their marriage in poems than to the heroic lays, although its frame-
Worms. This segment is also developed in the work is not truly mythological. It is partly a poem
Historia, and the comic fight between the of wisdom, relating the historical and pseu-
cowardly Jorcus and Zivelles is totally new dohistorical genealogy of Norwegian genera-
(Golther, pp. 92-97). According to this version, tions, offering a catalogue of about seventy
Hagenwald (= Hagen) is slain in his sleep by names of heroes, beginning with the mythic past
Zivelles. and the age of the great migrations of Germanic
The author seems to have been familiar with peoples, the VOlkerwanderung, to the period of
some heroic material other than his immediate the Vikings. In the middle of the lay (stanzas 29-
source, for he mentions a story of a battle, un- 44), a mythological poem is inserted as an inde-
leashed by greed for the treasure, from which pendent part. Snorri Sturluson (1178/79-1241),
only Hildebrand and Dietrich emerged un- the renowned Icelandic authorihistorian, cites
scathed (Golther, p. 89), and at the end Flo- stanza 33 of this poem in his Voluspa in skamma
rigunda and her son are said to have gone to the (The Short Voluspa) in the Snorra Edda.
Netherlands to live with her father-in-law (Golt- Perhaps the Hyndlulj60 was written for a
her, p. 98; cf. Nibelungenlied 1073), a detail not Norwegian (possibly from the family ofOttarr, a
mentioned in LHS. favorite of King Sigurdr Jorsalfari, see Gering!
[JLF] Sijmons, p. 375) by a learned man, who knew the
Hakonarmal (a poem of the skald Eyvindr
Bibliography Skaldaspillir, written about 960), the two heroic
Conrady K. 0., ed. Deutsche Volksbiicher. Rowohlts lays about Helgi Hundingsbani and tales about
Klassiker. Deutsche Literatur 24. Reinbek:
Jormunrek, Eylimi, Hraudung, Hjordis, Sigurd,
Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 1968.
Golther, Wolfgang, ed. Das Lied yom hiirnen Seyfrid. Fafnir, Gunnar, Hogni, Gjuki, Gudrun, and Gut-
Neudrucke deutscher Literaturwerke des 16. u. thorm (stanzas 25-27). The lay is not part of the
17. Jhs. 81182. 2nd ed. Halle: Niemeyer, 1911, Poetic Edda, it is only recorded in the Flateyjar-
pp.61-99. bOk (Book of Flatey), an important compilation
Jantz, Harold. "The Last Branch of the Nibelungen of texts written about 1380-1390.
Tree." MLN 80 (1965): 433-440. [GW]
22 PRIMARY WORKS
stood as a song as well as a narrative poem. part, as the thirty-third and the thirty-fourth
Finally it is also used to designate a larger poem aventiuren are combined to form the thirty-third
not written in strophes. aventiure. The second part of the epic is almost
The Nibelungs, who are mentioned again at 100 strophes longer in version *B and more than
the end of the epic, are the Burgundians (Bur- 100 strophes longer in version *C. The two sec-
gonden in the Nibelungenlied manuscripts), the tions are connected through the presence of the
name used from the beginning of the text. But in Burgundian princess, Kriemhild. She is the
line 1523,1 (according to B, without a corre- central figure and it is quite revealing that in two
sponding reference in C) the synonymous name manuscripts the epic is named after her: in manu-
Nibelunge is mentioned for the first time in the script D (the second Munich manuscript, dating
formulation "die Nibelunges helde" (the heroes from the first third of the fourteenth century),
of [King] Nibelung), which is actually not at all "Daz ist das Buch Chriemhilden" (This is the
correct. They are not Nibelung's men, as the book of Kriemhild); and in manuscript d (the
latter is only mentioned within a time framework famous Ambraser Heldenbuch, written during
that precedes the events of the Nibelungenlied, the years 1504 to 1515116 by Hans Ried on be-
nor are they Siegfried's, in whose service they half of Emperor Maximilian I), "Ditz Puech
later stand. The attentive author of version *C heysset Chrimhilt" (This book is called
probably left the line out for precisely this rea- Kriemhild). This is quite understandable, given
son. In B strophes 1526 and 1527 (C 1562 and the fact that medieval writers often entitled a
1563), the name "Nibelung" applies both to the work of literature according to the first proper
people and its clan of kings. No satisfactory an- name that appears in the text.
swer has been found to explain why the change In the epic Kriemhild is the inordinately
of name occurred at precisely this point. The beautiful sister ofthe Burgundian kings Gunther,
following commentary is based principally on Gemot, and Giselher, who reside in Worms on
the not-version The characteristic differences the Rhine. She dreams of taming a falcon that is
between the latter and the liet-version require a tom apart by two eagles. Her mother, Ute, inter-
separate discussion because, according to the prets the falcon as a symbolic representation of a
manuscripts, the liet-version was more widely nobleman, leading Kriemhild to reject every
known during the Middle Ages. One can say thought oflove in an effort to escape the sorrow
from the outset that the differences do not in- resulting from it. The reputation of Kriemhild's
volve the narrative framework as such and even beauty leads Siegfried, the son of King Sieg-
most of the details correspond in both the liet- mund, who resides in Xanten on the Lower
and not-versions. This provides strong support Rhine, to Worms. At first the Burgundians in
for the opinion that the different manuscripts- Worms do not realize who the visitor is. But
and both of the versions represented by them- Hagen von Tronege, a relative and vassal of the
are based on a formulated written concept and kings and their most important adviser, identifies
composition of the epic, such as can only be the newcomer as Siegfried and he reports in
attributed to a single poet and not to a number of strophes 87-100 how the young hero won the
different epic singers. His poetic achievement hoard of the Nibelungs, killing not only both
occasioned such a high obligation towards the sons of King Nibelung, but also twelve giants
representation of the subject matter that, on the and seven hundred of their warriors. Siegfried
one hand, there are different versions but, on the had already received the sword BaImung from
other, no really different Nibelungen poems, as is the two princes. He subsequently won the cloak
the case, for instance, with the Wolfdietrich of invisibility from the dwarf Alberich, the
materials. guardian of the hoard in the land of the Nibe-
The Nibelungenlied is divided into two parts lungs. This cloak not only makes its wearer in-
with different origins: the Siegfried-Kriemhild- visible, it also gives him the strength of twelve
Briinhild-plot (aventiuren 1-19), and the story men. In another adventure the young Siegfried
of the downfall of the Burgundians or slays a dragon and, by bathing in its blood,
Kriemhild's revenge (aventiuren 20-39). Ver- causes his skin to become invulnerable to
sion *C has one aventiure fewer in the second weapons. Upon his arrival in Worms, Siegfried
24 PRIMARY WORKS
behaves aggressively and demands that Gunther strength without violating her sexually. Before
duel with him to determine who will rule over the leaving the bedroom, he takes Briinhild's ring
Burgundian empire. He is subsequently per- and girdle, which he later gives to Kriemhild.
suaded to calm down and stays for a whole year Siegfried then returns with his wife to his native
at the court without ever setting eyes on land, where Siegmund entrusts him with the
Kriemhild. She, on the other hand, catches sight power of kingship.
of him frequently and secretly. She gives the Ten years later Kriemhild and Briinhild each
resplendent young man (who emerges victorious give birth to a son. Briinhild is still mulling over
from every tourney) her loving attention, forget- the inexplicable fact that Siegfried, the supposed
ting the warning provided by the falcon dream. vassal, has been allowed to marry the sister of the
When the Saxons and the Danes declare war on Burgundian kings and that he has never fulfIlled
the Burgundians, it is Siegfried who gains the his vassal duty in all these years. She persuades
victory for his hosts and at the subsequent Gunther to invite his sister and his brother-in-law
celebration he is allowed to see Kriemhild for the to journey to Worms for a festival, during which,
fIrst time face to face. however, a violent quarrel ensues between the
The marriage between the two, however, is two queens over the respective priority status of
only possible after Siegfried has conquered the their husbands. The tension escalates; at fIrst it is
powerful Queen Briinhild of Is/ant (not the Ice- confIned to an exchange of words between just
land of today) for Gunther. Siegfried and the two of them, but this develops into a public
Gunther agree on a contract which establishes confrontation. Briinhild's assertion that
that Gunther will only give his sister to Siegfried Kriemhild's husband is a serf is countered by
if the latter will help him to court Briinhild. Kriemhild's retort that her sister-in-law is the
Briinhild is only willing to marry the man who is mistress of Siegfried, that it was he who
able to beat her in three warrior games (javelin- deflowered her, and she provides "evidence" for
throwing, stone-hurling, and long jump). Those her claim by showing Briinhild the ring and gir-
men whom she defeats in the three tests, and dle. Gunther is quite willing to forget what has
there have been quite a few, forfeit their lives. happened once Siegfried demonstrates his readi-
Siegfried, who introduces himself to Briinhild as ness to swear an oath that he did not brag about
Gunther's man (vassal), obviously so as notto be what Kriemhild had stated publicly. But Hagen is
considered a contestant for the proud queen, suc- absolutely determined to avenge the insult to his
ceeds in passing the tests with the help of his Queen by killing Siegfried. He is able to draw
cloak of invisibility. The splendid wedding of the Gunther into the plot, despite the latter's initial
two couples takes place in Worms, although reluctance to consider such a move. Hagen
Siegfried has to remind the Burgundian king of makes up a story that the Saxons and the Danes
his promise. When Briinhild sees that the sister have again declared war on the Burgundians and
of her husband has been given to Siegfried as his has absolutely no difficulty convincing
wife and so, as he himself had intimated to her in Kriemhild to reveal to him the location of Sieg-
Is/ant, to a nonequal, whom she furthermore fried's sole vulnerable spot, supposedly so that
considers to be a serf, she breaks out in tears and he can better protect him during the anticipated
refuses to consummate her marriage to Gunther battle. (When Siegfried was bathing in the blood
because he is unable to give her a satisfactory of the slain dragon, the leaf of a lime tree had
explanation regarding Siegfried's status. fallen onto his shoulder and this is the only place
Briinhild rejects Gunther's advances and where he is not protected.) Kriemhild marks the
demonstrates her superior strength by tying him spot by sewing a cross onto Siegfried's clothing.
up with her girdle and hanging him from a nail in The supposed declaration of war is subsequently
her chamber until morning. The next day "dropped," and instead of marching off to war,
Gunther complains to his brother-in-law about the Burgundian knights, without the younger
what has happened to him and Siegfried imme- brothers Gernot and Giselher, go on a hunt in the
diately is willing to help him a second time. The Waskenwalt (the Vosges Mountains; in manu-
following night, with the help of his cloak of script C, more accurately in the Odenwald [line
invisibility, Siegfried is able to break Briinhild's 919,3]). Ominous dreams, which Kriemhild re-
NIBELUNGENLIED 25
lates to her husband, fail to hinder him from It is not difficult for Kriemhild to convince
participating in the hunt. Hagen deliberately Etzel to invite her relatives to Hungary. She is
leaves behind the wine intended for the feast of motivated solely by her desire to take revenge on
the hunt. As Siegfried quenches his thirst by Hagen for the murder of Siegfried. Etzel does not
drinking from a nearby spring, Hagen treach- have the slightest idea of her intentions. Hagen
erously stabs him from behind with a spear in the perceives the danger and opposes the invitation,
spot that had been marked by Kriemhild. He then but again the kings do not follow his advice.
has the dead body placed in front ofKriemhild's However he manages to convince them to set out
chamber. She knows immediately who the mur- on the journey with a large and heavily armed
derer is and Hagen's guilt is apparent in the judg- army. When they reach the flooded Danube, they
ment of God as manifested through the cannot fInd a ferryman to take them across.
Bahrprobe: as Hagen walks beside the stretcher While searching for ferrymen, Hagen comes
on which Siegfried's corpse is laid out, his across bathing water nymphs, one of whom
wounds begin to bleed. Yet this has no legal makes a catastrophic prediction: none of the Bur-
consequences for Hagen. Kriemhild remains in gundians, except for their chaplain, will return to
Worms. After three and a half years a reconcilia- the Rhine. After killing the ferryman, whom he
tion is effected between her and her brothers had fInally found but who, in self-defense, re-
which is not, however, extended to Hagen, al- fused to take the Burgundians across the river,
though he had been the individual primarily re- Hagen himself rows the entire army across the
sponsible for bringing it about. Shortly after that, Danube. To test the truth of the prophecy, he
Kriemhild is persuaded to have the gigantic hurls the chaplain into the waters of the Danube.
hoard of the Nibelungs brought to Worms. When Although the chaplain cannot swim, he reaches
she begins to use her wealth to recruit men loyal the riverbank with the help of God. Following a
to her, Hagen recognizes the danger and, follow- nocturnal skirmish with the Bavarian earls Else
ing Gernot's advice, sinks the treasure in the and Gelpfrat, both of whom had wished to
Rhine. In the meantime the kings have left the avenge the death of the ferryman, and a short
country so that they can pretend to be innocent. A sojourn with the Bishop Pilgrim of Passau, the
decade passes without any further noteworthy brother of the Queen Mother Ute, the Burgun-
events. dians pay a visit to the generous RUdiger. Here,
With the beginning of the second part ofthe on the advice of Hagen, Giselher is married to
Nibelungenlied (strophe B 1143; C 1166), the Rudiger's daughter. Even before the Burgun-
plot shifts to a new geographical setting, to Hun- dians arrive at the court of the Huns, they are
gary, the land of the Huns. Etzel, the king of the warned of Kriemhild's intentions by Dietrich
Huns, is a widower and, following the advice of von Bern, who lives there in exile. That she has
relatives and friends, he decides to court not ceased to suffer is demonstrated by the fact
Kriemhild. Margrave Rudiger von Bechlarn is that of all her relatives she only welcomes her
given the task of acting as his emissary in con- favorite brother Giselher. A verbal clash ensues
veying the marriage suit. While Kriemhild's between her and Hagen in which the latter proves
brothers approve of the marriage of their sister, to be the more sharp-tongued of the two. Also,
Hagen is in total disagreement. At fIrst before the official reception of the guests by
Kriemhild herself refuses to accept Etzel's court- Etzel, Kriemhild, with the crown of the Huns
ship, but she has a change of mind when Rudiger upon her head, goes to Hagen and accuses him of
solemnly swears to avenge any harm done to her. having murdered Siegfried, which he then
While he is thinking of possible future harm, she openly admits. But she does not succeed in con-
is thinking ofthe suffering already caused her by vincing the four hundred Huns that are accom-
Hagen. The wedding ceremony is performed in panying her to attack him. A night attack on the
Vienna. Kriemhild gains high esteem in the sub- Nibelungs by Hunnish soldiers is also unsuc-
sequent years in the country of the Huns and, cessful because of the Schildwacht (guard duty)
after seven years, gives birth to a son, Ortlieb, undertaken by Hagen and his friend Volker.
who is baptized according to Kriemhild's The atmosphere is extremely tense the fol-
wishes. lowing morning. The hospitable and impartial
26 PRIMARY WORKS
Etzel is able to prevent an armed clash that Vol- prerequisite for the events in the second part,
ker tries to provoke. Etzel's brother, Bloedelin, Kriemhild's revenge, which leads to the destruc-
enticed by Kriemhild's promise of a high reward, tion of all the Nibelungs at the court of the Huns.
attacks the Burgundian squires who had been This was not always consistent with tradition.
housed separately from their masters. All the The circle of legends to which the two parts of
attackers and the squires are wiped out, pre- the epic can be traced back were not originally
cipitating the outbreak of hostilities between connected. If one accepts the premise that heroic
Huns and Burgundians in the Great Hall of Etzel. legend and heroic epic basically have a historic
Hagen's beheading of Ortlieb, son of Kriemhild foundation, then the historic substratum for the
and Etzel, provides the immediate catalyst. decline of the Burgundians can be clearly
Owing to his reputation, Dietrich is not only able detected; that being the crushing defeat of this
to obtain the withdrawal from the hall for himself Germanic people under King Gundahar
and his men, but also for the Hunnish royal cou- (Gunther) in the year 437, when they tried to
ple. Rudiger is also allowed to leave the hall with extend their power into Roman Gaul. The Huns
his vassals. The fighting is costly for both sides. were involved in the battle as Roman reserve
Finally, during the night, Kriemhild orders the units, but were not led by Attila (Etzel). The
hall to be set on fire. But at least six hundred Ni- historic foundations for the first part of the Nibe-
belungs manage to survive the inferno. The next lungenlied are less clear but might be located in
morning Kriemhild appeals to RUdiger to fulfill the Merovingian history of the sixth century,
the oath he had sworn when he had initially which offers us the topics of rivalry between
presented the wedding suit, and Etzel also urges women, the murder of kings, revenge, as well as
him to observe his feudal duty. After a torturous such names as Sigibert and Brunichild
battle with his conscience, Rudiger gives in. He (Brunhild), even though the figures themselves
and all his men lose their lives, Rudiger by the did not share the same relationship as their name-
hand of Gernot, whom he, in turn, kills with the sakes in the Nibelungenlied. Although the Aus-
last stroke of his sword. The Ame1ungs' request trasian King Sigibert, who was murdered in 575,
that the Burgundians hand over Rudiger's corpse could be the historic "model" for Siegfried, the
leads to the final mass battle. The only survivors character of the latter seems to be rooted in my-
among the Burgundians are Gunther and Hagen thology as well as he is the personification ofthe
and, on the side of the Amelungs, Hildebrand, youthful, mythical hero. In the Nibelungenlied
Dietrich's old sword master. Now it is Dietrich's this mythical layer is totally ignored or rather
turn to demand satisfaction for the wrong done to transformed into the burlesque.
him, but this is refused by Hagen. Dietrich over- Regardless of the actual origins of these two
comes both Gunther and Hagen in individual groups of legends, they remained separated for
combat and hands them over to Kriemhild. She centuries as is the case in the songs of the Edda,
demands that Hagen return the treasure hoard of which obviously represents an older develop-
the Nibelungs. He answers that he has sworn mental stage of the subject matter of the Nibe-
not to betray its whereabouts as long as one of lungs. Beyond the thematic historicity it is inter-
his masters is alive. Kriemhild thereupon has esting to note that in the Edda, Gudrun (the
her brother Gunther beheaded. Hagen, however, Nordic name for the Middle High German name
is accorded the final triumph over his enemy by Kriemhild) exacts vengeance for her brothers on
declaring that now only he and God know where Atli (Middle High German Etzel), who had had
the treasure lies hidden. Kriemhild kills Hagen them killed to satisfy his greed for gold. The
with Siegfried's sword, only to lose her own female protagonist thus supports her clan, in con-
life seconds later at the hand of Hildebrand. Die- trast to the Middle High German epic, in which
trich and Etzel, the only princes to have survived she avenges Siegfried through actions taken
the bloodbath, are left to mourn the countless against her clan. Marriage, which was preceded
dead. by romantic love in the Nibelungenlied, not
It is clear that the two parts of the Nibelung- dynastic considerations, is valued higher than
en lied are causally connected: the central event relationships based on blood. That these have
of the first part, the murder of Siegfried, is the not, however, become meaningless, can be seen
NIBELUNGENLIED 27
in the fact that the dying Siegfried commends during the Middle Ages. At the conclusion of the
Kriemhild to the care of her brother Gunther, work, she does, therefore, appear to be the
who had, after all, agreed to his murder and been dehumanized valandinne (she-devil) described
a part of the intrigue (B 996,2-997,2 = C by Dietrich von Bern (B 1748,4 =C 1789,4) and
1006,2-1007,2) and in the fact that Siegfried Hagen (B 2371,4 = C 2431,4). This certainly
fears that his little son will forever be stigmatized corresponds to point of view expressed by the
by the unfaithful and underhanded crime com- poet, who withdraws the sympathy he had earlier
mitted against him by Kriemhild's relatives (B displayed for the loving and suffering Kriemhild
995 =C 1004). and which he had tried to instill within his lis-
It is not clear when the two groups of leg- teners. This is very revealing and anticipates
ends were joined into one cycle. According to what actually does ensue, namely, that the poet
Andreas Heusler, it was the author of the Nibe- himself associates Kriemhild's actions with the
lungenlied who fIrst connected them around devil in strophe B 1394 (not in the liet version)
1200. In addition he also expanded the events and that he speaks of the argen willen (bad will)
surrounding Siegfried and Bri.inhild, which until of the Queen (B 1399,4 = C 1426,4). However it
then had merely existed in heroic songs, into epic would be imprudent to interpret as a foreshadow-
breadth, whereas the so-called Altere Not (older ing of impending disaster the fact that Etzel's
Not) already had epic dimensions in 1160/1170, courtship of the widowed Kriemhild, and there-
although not as extensively as in the Nibelungen- fore also their marriage, takes place thirteen
lied. This opinion has not gone unchallenged. It years after the death of Siegfried (B 1142), or
is quite possible that the two groups of legends that, thirteen years after having married Etzel,
were joined together earlier, perhaps in the fIrst Kriemhild prepares to take herrevenge (B 1390).
third of the twelfth century. The number thirteen was probably not an un-
The fact that the poet gives the love between lucky number during the Middle Ages. It is note-
Siegfried and Kriemhild such high status in an worthy, nonetheless, that the author of version
epic indebted to heroic tradition is not surprising *C (who sees Kriemhild in a somewhat more
at a time when minne (courtly love) had become positive light) replaces the number both times
a central topic of narrative works of literature as with the more common number twelve (C 1157
well as poetry; a time in which the relationship and 1417).
between the sexes acquired such ·a new As early as in the fIrst part of the Nibelun-
dimension-the erotic-that one could speak of genlied, the poet has shown with the fIgure of
the "discovery of love during the High Middle Siegfried that minne, and the actions resulting
Ages" (peter Dinzelbacher, 1981). Friedrich from it, are contradictory. In order to win the
Panzer called the relationship between Siegfried beloved virgin, Siegfried has no scruples about
and Kriemhild "from its budding to its fulfIll- lying and deceiving and then procuring Briinhild
ment . . . by far the most beautiful and intimate for a man who is not her equal. His uncom-
love story in a medieval German work of litera- promising adherence to his role as Gunther's
ture" (1955, p. 465). It is the kind of love that man (vassal) in Islant, his taming of Briinhild
survives the death of the beloved husband and during the wedding night and, fInally, the re-
does not come to an end through the marriage of moval of Briinhild's ring and girdle and his
Kriemhild and Etzel. Indeed Kriemhild only thoughtless presentation of both of them to the
agrees to this second marriage because it pro- woman he loves, Kriemhild, lay the foundation
vides her with the opportunity to demonstrate her for his own destruction. In this way minne in the
absolute loyalty to Siegfried after his murder Nibelungenlied is depicted as being rather am-
through an act of revenge that is similarly abso- biguous. Of course Siegfried himself is not con-
lute. But it is precisely this loyalty that leads scious of the inherent danger in the double be-
Kriemhild to precipitate a tremendous blood trayal ofBriinhild and, therefore, of the possible
bath, which even engulfs the innocent, and fI- results of his actions. This accords with his
nally, with the sword of her holden vriedel (be- characteristic naIvete and his unawareness of
loved husband), to behead Hagen herself and what is happening around him when the events
thereby defInitively transgress the role of women have a "political" dimension as, for instance, the
28 PRIMARY WORKS
(supposed) disclosure of the concubinal status of the Burgundian kings and Hagen make it impos-
the Burgundian Queen during the argument be- sible for Gunther and his brothers to turn their
tween the sisters-in-law. Hagen, on the other vassal over to Kriemhild at the court of Etzel,
hand, recognizes immediately that this is an ex- thereby possibly ending the terrible bloodshed.
plosive political issue. Love and marriage be- Hagen himself-although there certainly is no
tween kings and queens is never merely personal consensus on this point among the interpreters of
and the poet has made this very clear by showing the Nibelungenlied-acted in accordance with
the results of the fervent love between Kriemhild the interests of the Burgundian state when he
and Siegfried. The extreme counterpart to Sieg- killed Siegfried; at least his personal motives are
fried's excessive trust and blindness (compare the same. But in the second part of the epic the
strophe B 923 =C 931) is Hagen's matter-of-fact man who has been called "Burgundy's political
and cold, but correct, assessment of people, his conscience" (Otfrid Ehrismann, 1987, p. 129)
thinking and planning ahead and his calculated, decides, despite his insight and contrary to all
reasoned actions. Can it be a mere coincidence common sense, to take part in the expedition into
that Hagen-diametrically opposed to Sieg- the country of the Huns. As the leader of the
fried-is never touched, let alone overcome, by Burgundians-it is not King Gunther-it is
minne, so that his actions are never influenced by Hagen who makes their voyage irreversible be-
it? It can certainly be seen that the "most beauti- cause he knows for certain, at least since the
ful and intimate love story" of medieval German crossing of the Danube, that none of them will
literature is much more problematic than might survive. The hero ofTroneck makes the decision
be assumed from the aforementioned formula- to ride along because his ere (honor) is at stake,
tion by Friedrich Panzer, apart from the fact that and the threat to it (compare the strophes B 1462
the Nibelungenlied is more than just a romance and 1463 =C 1490 and 1491) is as deadly to the
about minne or Kriemhild. At the same time the aristocratic warrior as physical death. Moreover,
Nibelungen not emphasized in the last strophe of unlike death, it would be a disgrace for him to
the epic, as far as it arises from the relationships remain at home without honor. Overcoming his
and conflicts of the characters, is ultimately a own self is as impossible for Hagen as it is for
consequence of Siegfried and Kriemhild's love. Kriemhild, who never even considers the
The untold suffering, into which all happi- Christian commandment of forgiveness, at least
ness and also the joy oflove are transformed, is .not in association with her deadly enemy Hagen,
brought about step by step by the actions of the even though she attends church assiduously. On
people and not through some disaster hovering the whole Christianity appears in the Nibelung-
over them, an inevitable destiny. Though the enlied as something merely superficial and for-
characters normally act in accordance with the mal (if one disregards the figure of Rudiger,who
dictates of a specific code of behavior, they have appears to be the only one in the work concerned
internalized this behavior to such an extent that with his soul). As Gottfried Weber (1963) and
their nature, their "character," is entirely ruled by others have stressed, Christianity in the Nibe-
it and they really do not have any freedom of lungenlied is a TauJscheinchristentum (Christ-
choice. Most of all the consequences of an initial ianity only on paper, on the baptismal certifi-
action develop their own dynamic to the point cate), without any real Christian ethics.
that they can have ramifications that extend con- Hagen shares his knowledge of imminent
siderably beyond the original intentions of the death with the Burgundians (B 1587-1589 =C
people involved. This is, for instance, the case 1627-1629) and the snellen helde (courageous
with Kriemhild's revenge. With his matter-of- heroes) turn pale when they consider the herten
fact outlook on reality, the poet shows, time and tot (bitter death) that awaits them. However,
time again, the ambivalence of values and vir- when they are fmally drawn into battle, none of
tues. This not only holds true for minne, but also them loses heart for a moment, rather they
for triuwe (loyalty): Kriemhild's excessive re- display exemplary heroism in the face of death.
venge is the consequence of her absolute loyalty The poet, who has created an almost apocalyptic
to Siegfried. The bonds of loyalty, defined ac- work ofliterature and has demonstrated the con-
cording to the laws of the feudal system, between sequences of human fallibility in his plot, does
NIBELUNGENLIED 29
not deny the courageous and fearless warriors poet, of Wolfhart's heroic attitude, which ulti-
respect; he sometimes even seems to be report- mately culminates in his death.
ing their deeds with some admiration (compare The conclusion of the Nibelungenlied is
strophe B 1970 =C 2023 devoted to Giselher and dominated by sorrow and grief without a single
the narrative comments in lines B 2210,4 and positive perspective for the future, such as that
2283,2-4 = C 2268,4 and 2342, 2-4). Very re- later added by the poet of the Klage. With its
veallng, in this context, is what the dying Wolf- pessimistic and tragic outlook, the work funda-
hart, a hot-headed young vassal of Dietrich von mentally differs from the optimistic and utopian
Bem, says to his uncle Hildebrand: atmosphere of the contemporary courtly ro-
mance. Grief is experienced in courtly
Unde ob mich mine mage nach tOde wellen (Arthurian) romance, but it is never complete
klagen, and always transitory. Sorrow and disharmony
den naehsten unt den besten den suIt ir von mir are overcome and transformed into all-
sagen, embracing joy and harmony at the conclusion,
daz si nach mir niht weinen; daz ist ane not. which usually finds its expression in a huge feast.
vor eines ldineges handen lige ich hie herlichen By contrast in the Nibelungenlied the
tot. catastrophe evolves from the feast which
(B 2302 =C 2362) Kriemhild organizes with the ulterior motive of
[And if my kinsmen wish to lament me when I am using it as a springboard for her revenge. The two
dead, tell those who are nearest and dearest not to major exceptions to the optimistic and joyful
weep for me, there is no need. I die a magnificent atmosphere ofthe courtly romance-Gottfried's
death, slain by the hand of a king.] Tristan and Wolfram's Willehalm-were written
later than the epic of der Nibelungen not, so that
In his perception of himself it is an honor to have the poet of the Nibelungenlied was the first to
lost his life in battle with a king (Giselher) whom give literary form to a position that ran counter to
he then killed with the last stroke of his sword, that encountered in courtly romance. Ursula
just as Rudiger had killed Giselher's brother Ger- Schulze has quite correctly pointed out that
not (compare also lines B 2303,3-4 =C 2363,3- Arthurian romance and the Nibelungenlied are
4). One should not simply interpret passages complementary literary models within the same
such as these as the poet's attempt to glorify a social frame: "The Arthurian romance demons-
heroic attitude and propagate heroic death, as trates the path to joy and happiness by means of
these statements are embedded in a narrative an idealized conception; the Nibelungenlied un-
context in which the consequences of absolute derscores the path of human mortality with the
egotism are developed, of which pride to the help of an historically related tale" (1988, p.
point of arrogance, ere, and fame are integral 273). One could also say it shows the world
components. One should also not overlook the consigned to a state of hopelessness. The ques-
fact that the poet lets another warrior, who is no tion is whether the vision of the world so
less driven by ere, express a reaction toward his described is only to be found within literary
death that stands in marked contrast to that discourse. This is unlikely. The statements might
demonstrated by Wolfhart. The Dane Iring, who be a matter of fiction, as far as literary theory
lives at Etzel's court and to whom the poet dedi- goes, but they are not made without desired and
cates a whole dventiure (the thirty-fifth) and recognizable reference, according to the author's
whom he repeatedly calls helt (hero), is fatally intention as well as the understanding of a con-
wounded by Hagen. His final words do not exude temporary audience, to the reality of contempor-
a sense of pride in his deeds but rather contain a aries. The perspective from which the poet pre-
warning to the Danes and the Thuringians not to sents the events of the Nibelungenlied-
let Kriemhild entice them with gifts into par- regardless of whether one labels it pessimistic,
ticipating in the battle and therefore into death (B resigned, skeptical, or simply astute-would
2068,2-4 =C 2124,2-4), but it is not enough to therefore mirror the perspective from which he
stop them from joining the fray. This certainly is judged the history of his time. He might have
a relativization, by an apparently sympathetic anticipated, in a quasi-visionary manner, the
30 PRIMARY WORKS
decline of the power of the magnificent who sang the entire Nibelungenlied for the first
Hohenstaufen dynasty, which would not have time in 1988, required a total of thirty-three
been such a far-fetched reason for anxiety at that hours over a period offive days.) It is quite likely
time, considering the early death of Emperor that during the Middle Ages just parts, rather
Henry VI in 1197 and the ensuing election of two than the whole epic, were recited. In addition the
kings (Philipp of Swabia and the Guelph Otto poet is clearly not capable of telling his story
IV) in 1198 which subsequently led to civil war with the same linguistic agility as, for instance,
in Germany. Even without this concrete realiza- his contemporary Hartmann von Aue, with his
tion of the Christian perspective of mortality it is Iwein. His vocabulary, which definitely exhibits
clear that the Nibelungenlied is not just a new modem courtly words borrowed from French, is
account of alte maere (old tales) for the sake of limited, especially where rhymes are concerned.
recounting alte maere, but that the poet associ- For the 9516 rhymes in the not version, there are
ated it with a message to contemporary aristocra- only 796 rhyming words, of which forty are used
tic courtly society. Of course we do not know more than fifty times and some of these even
whether the audience decoded the message in more than a hundred times (man, lant, hant, Ifp,
accordance with the author or in another way. It wfp, etc.). Most are pure rhymes, as had been the
is very probable, however, that the reaction from case in German narrative works of literature
the audience was not uniform. since Heinrich von Veldeke; deviations with re-
Who was the anonymous poet who ex- spect to quantity (man: getan, dan: stan, etc.)
pounded the terrible consequences of values and remain within the framework of what is also
patterns of behavior in the first heroic epic to be customary with Wolfram von Eschenbach. Only
written in the German language, values which the proper name Hagene forces the poet to use
not only typified heroism, but which were also very inexact rhyming pairs (e.g., Hagene:
retained, at least in part, in medieval knighthood degene). The stereotypical character of the lan-
(e.g., ere, triuwe)? All attempts, even in more guage is inherited from the oral tradition of the
recent times, to determine who he was have not subject matter of the Nibelungs. The high per-
borne fruit. There is no doubt, however, that he centage of formulaic and stereotypical expres-
was an educated man who, to a certain degree, sions is not to be interpreted as the Nibelungen-
was familiar with classical and French literature lied's dependence on oral composition with
and with the more recent literary developments respect to its origins. It is not a product of the oral
in Germany. This points to a cleric,which does tradition, but rather of the written word, while
not necessarily mean a priest; perhaps one in the containing distinct traces of a century-old oral
administrative service of a large court, most tradition. The pseudo-oral formulae, which have
likely that of Bishop Wolfger von Passau (1191- become elements of style, can sometimes evoke
1204). There are quite a number of indicators monotony among modem readers as, for in-
that speak in favor of Passau as the Nibelungen- stance, when the poet consistently uses the same
lied s place of origin. formulae to introduce direct quotations: Do
The Nibelungenlied is undoubtedly based sprach der kUnec rfche (Thus spoke the noble
on a narrative concept that has been accorded king), Do sprach der kUnec Gunther (Thus spoke
careful consideration, and the author alludes to King Gunther), Do sprach aber Etzel (Then
the tragic ending at every phase of the story Etzel spoke once again), Do sprach der kuchen-
through his ominous predictions. On the other meister (Thus spoke the master of the kitchen),
hand he often focuses so intensively on the par- and so on. Yet this rather monotonous tendency
ticular aventiure (or scene) that a number of in- to use linguistic stereotypes does not preclude,
consistencies, incongruities, and contradictions even in our own time, the emerging certainty that
result. The reader notices these more than the one is reading an important and deeply moving
listener, who was never exposed to the epic as a work of literature. As Arthur T. Hatto so accu-
whole but only to numerous oral performances rately put it: "It is marvelous that the Nibelung-
stretched out over a couple of days. (The Vien- poet can say so much so well with so wretched an
nese musician and singer Eberhard Kummer, epic diction" (1980, p. 191).
NIBELUNGENLIED 31
The undeniable artistic weaknesses of the tic achievement of the poet of the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied are countered by the masterly primarily from version *B, one should not forget
shaping of expressive and powerful images in that obviously not all contemporary and later
which gestures and actions combine in striking audiences were in agreement with his representa-
symbolism: in the seventh iiventiure, when Sieg- tion of the subject. Apart from the murder of
fried leads and holds Gunther's horse by the Siegfried by Hagen, the poet throughout the epic
reins; when Hagen destroys the only boat after clearly refrains from explicitly judging the events
having crossed the Danube in the twenty-fifth he describes. He also avoids painting Kriemhild
iiventiure; when Kriemhild welcomes only and Hagen in crude black-and-white terms; he
Giselher with a kiss in the twenty-eighth iiven- also tends to refrain from categorizing people's
tiure, which Hagen then answers with a gesture actions as a sign of guilt. The author ofversion *C
that is just as expressive by binding his helmet offers a clear shift of emphasis. The date of origin
tighter; when Hagen and Volker refuse to get up is a matter of some uncertainty. Some scholars
from their seats in honor of the deceptive Queen assume that it immediately succeeded version
Kriemhild in the twenty-ninth iiventiure. Like- *B, therefore having already existed in
wise the poet demonstrates considerable talent in 1205/1206 or earlier; others date its emergence to
his depiction of particular scenes. The events of the second decade of the thirteenth century. The
the epic often seem to be taking place on a stage, adaptation is diverse but hardly ever completely
which gives this work ofliterature, together with consistent (Werner Hoffmann, 1967). It has the
its frequent dialogues, an intensely dramatic function, for instance, of smoothing the metrics
character. Instances of such events include the of the text, of heightening the linguistic melo-
arrival of the four suitors in Islant (beginning of diousness, of clarifying the formulations, of
the seventh iiventiure); the quarrel of the queens eliminating inconsistencies and contradictions.
in the fourteenth iiventiure, particularly the seg- The author of this adaptation turns out to be
ment that transpires in front of the Cathedral of someone who is very concerned with clarity and
Worms; the beginning of the thirty-third iiven- transparency even to the point of small-
tiure with the very theatrical "entrance" by mindedness and pedantry. With regard to the con-
Dancwart; and, last but not least, the highly dra- tent ofthe work, it is illuminating that he makes
matic final encounter between Kriemhild and an attempt to be more specific with his recrimina-
Hagen in the thirty-ninth iiventiure. It is this tions, and this corresponds to a medieval under-
scene, in particular, that demonstrates how far standing of human behavior influenced by
the epic poet can let himself be drawn into the Christianity. It is absolutely correct to suggest
individual scenes, even to the point that the nar- that the author of the liet-version was interested
rative context is neglected. After Kriemhild has in having Kriemhild appear in a more flattering
cut off the head of Hagen, her mortal enemy, light and, at the same time, degrading and
Etzel, Dietrich, and Hildebrand are suddenly discrediting Hagen. The omission of strophes
present with no explanation from the poet as to 698/699 in the not-version is typical of this ten-
where they have come from or where they were dency. After her marriage to Siegfried, Kriemhild
during the final encounter between the major wishes to exercise her right to bring back to
protagonists. B 2373,4 = C 2433,4 could be Xanten those Burgundian vassals to whose ser-
taken as an indication that Etzel, at least, enters vices she is entitled. In these two strophes she
the room at the very moment Kriemhild kills calls upon Hagen, the most powerful vassal at the
Hagen. Certain questions remain unanswered court in Worms and the chiefpillar of the Burgun-
that might be asked by a reader who approaches dian kingdom, as well as his nephew Ortwin, to
fiction in a very rational manner and who pays follow her, which Hagen emphatically refuses to
attention to a strict logic of action. They are, do. This incident is part ofthe reason for Hagen's
however, unimportant when compared to the umelenting resentment of Kriemhild and it fi-
succinct, dramatic force with which the conclud- nally leads to the overt enmity between the two.
ing section of the epic is described. In the liet-version Kriemhild does not give Hagen
If one can deduce the intention and the artis- any such cause for complaint. The author of this
32 PRIMARY WORKS
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Knapp, Fritz Peter, ed. Nibelungenlied und Klage: Vienna: Fassbaender, 1990.
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sansta1t, 1981. Osterreich in der Heldendichtung. Philologica
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World Authors Series 712. Boston: G. K. Hall,
1984. ODDRUNARGAATR (Oddrun's Lament), an
___, ed. A Companion to the Nibelungenlied. Co- Eddic lay recorded in the Codex Regius. The title
lumbia, SC: Camden House, 1998. comes from the more recent paper manuscripts.
Moser, Dietz RUdiger, and Marianne Sammer, eds. Ni- The lay consists of thirty-four stanzas infornyr-
belungenlied und Klage. Ursprung, Funktion, oislag and begins with a prose part providing
Bedeutung. Symposium Kloster Andechs 1995. background material. After the poem there also
Munich: Institut Bayerische Literaturgeschichte follows a prose passage about Atli's death. Od-
der Universitat Miinchen, 1998.
drun is also mentioned in the Siguroarkvioa in
Miiller, Jan-Dirk. Spielregelnfor den Untergang: Die
skamma and in one of the prose bridges, Dnip
Welt des Nibelungenliedes. Tiibingen: Niemeyer,
1998. Niflungar, (The Murder of the Niflungs) and in
Nagel, Bert. Das Nibelungenlied: Stoff, Form, Ethos. the Volsunga saga.
Frankfurt a. M.: Hirschgraben, 1965; 2nd ed., Borgny, the daughter of King Heidrek, had a
1970. lover called Vilmund. She could not give birth to
Panzer, Friedrich. Das Nibelungenlied: Entstehung her child until Oddrun, Atli's and Brynhild's sis-
und Gestalt. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1955. ter, came to her assistance. Oddrun had been the
Rupp, Heinz, ed. Nibelungenlied und Kudrun. Wege beloved of Gurmar, Gjuki's son. Here the poetic
der Forschung 54. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche part begins. At the beginning it once again tells us
Buchgesellschaft, 1976. about Borgny's plight. Then Oddrun sings magic
Schroder, Werner. Nibelungenlied-Studien. Stuttgart: tunes for the sick woman. Borgny gives birth to a
Metzler, 1968. boy and a girl and wants to thank Oddrun, but the
Schulze, Ursula. Das Nibelungenlied. Lite-
latter rejects her thanks brusquely, because once
raturstudium. Stuttgart: Rec1am, 1997. With ex-
Borgny had blamed her for her illegal love of
tensive bibliography, pp. 299-325.
_ _ . "Nibelungenlied." In Deutsche Literatur: Gurmar. She had only come because she had
Eine Sozialgeschichte, edited by Horst Albert promised to help all the poor and needy.
Glaser. Vol. 1, Aus der Mundlichkeit in die The second part of the lay is really Oddrun's
Schriftlichkeit: Hofische und andere Literatur, lament. She grew up happily in a king's palace.
edited by Ursula Liebertz-Griin. Reinbek bei Her dying father Budli betrothed her to Gurmar,
Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1988, pp. 264-278. but her sister Brynhild was destined to become a
34 PRIMARY WORKS
valkyrie. Brynhild's castle was taken by Gunnar, Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann P:ilsson. Lexikon der
yet he was unable to win her, so Sigurd ex- altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987,
changed shapes with him, and successfully p.263.
wooed her. This betrayal of trust led to a number
of cataclysmic events that culminated in Sigurd's RAGNARS SAGA LODBROKAR, the tale of
and Brynhild's death. Ragnar Loobr6k, along with his wife Aslaug and
Oddrun fell in love with Gunnar, but her his sons. The saga is found in the same manu-
brother Atli did not approve of their good rela- script (Ny kgl. saml. 1824b, 4to.) as the Volsunga
tions. He even rejected Sigurd's gold when Gun- saga, which it follows without interruption, only
nar sought her hand. Gunnar and Oddrun met a small space having been left for the new title.
secretly but were discovered by Atli's men. Atli Schlauch believes that the first chapter may actu-
invited Gunnar and Hogni to his court. When ally have belonged to the Volsunga saga. Rag-
Hogni was killed (his heart was cut out of his nars saga is not the invention of the Volsunga
breast) and Gunnar was put into the snake pit, saga compiler, however; it has its own sources,
Oddrun heard her lover play the harp and set out among them Adam of Bremen and Saxo
to save him, but she was too late, because she had Grammaticus.
been brewing beer for Geirmund at Hlesey at that The saga opens with Heimir, the foster fa-
time. Atli's mother, in the form of a serpent, had ther of Aslaug, hiding Aslaug in a harp. Aslaug is
already killed Gunnar. Now she could only weep the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild. Heimir
and lament for her dead beloved. takes her to Norway where he is murdered and
The author ofthe poem aimed to retell an old Aslaug is found and raised by a peasant couple
tale about the fall of the Niflungs from a different who name her Kraka. We are then introduced to
point of view. He invented Oddrun and made her Ragnar Loobr6k, who kills a dragon in order to
Atli's sister. Gunnar's and Hogni's deaths are win Thora, the daughter of Herraud. Thora and
seen as a cruel punishment because Atli con- Ragnar have two children, Erik and Agnar. After
demned the secret love between Gunnar and Od- Thora's death, Ragnar finds and weds Aslaug.
drun. The elegiac tone ofOddrun's retrospective She bears him five sons: Ivar the Boneless,
monologue is typical of the more recent Eddie Bjorn, Hvitserk, Rognvald, and Sigurd Snake-
lays (second half of the twelfth century/ Eye. When Thora's sons Erik and Agnar are
thirteenth century; Icelandic scholars suggest killed in battle against Eystein, king of Sweden,
1050-1150). and his divine cow Sibilia, Aslaug urges her sons
[GW] to avenge their deaths and accompanies them to
battle in Sweden under the name Randalin. Ivar
Bibliography kills Sibilia, Eystein is slain, and the Swedes are
Beck, Heinrich. "OddrUnargratr." In vol. 5 of Kindlers defeated. After this Ragnar's sons win fame in
Literaturlexikon. Zurich: Kindler, 1964, cols. countless battles as they attack and destroy a
785f. number of famous fortified towns. Ragnar
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. 2. desires to cultivate his own fame and conse-
2nd ed. Grundriss der gennanischen Phi101ogie quently launches a poorly planned attack on the
16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, pp. 143-145. English. He is defeated by the English king Ella,
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den captured, and cast into a snake pit, where he dies
Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Ger- (note also Gunnar's fate in the Volsunga saga
manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle and Atlakvioa). Ella sends messengers to Den-
(Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran-
mark to inform Ragnar's sons, and except for
cke), 1931, pp. 324-338.
Ivar, who has other plans, they set out for Eng-
Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
land, where they, too, are defeated. Ivar demands
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland, from Ella only an ox hide's worth of land as
1996, p. 124. compensation for his father's death. He then
Mohr, Wolfgang. "Wortschatz und Motive der stretches and cuts the ox hide so that it covers a
jlingeren Eddalieder mit sUdgermanischem large tract of land where he builds a mighty
Stoff." ZfdA 76 (1939), 149-217. fortress. Ivar uses his position to buy off many
REGINSMAL 35
English warriors, and when his brothers return to stanzas in lj6oahattr. A longer prose passage at
fight, they are victorious and Ella is captured and the beginning is followed by the poem about
executed. After this the line of Sigurd Snake-Eye Sigurd acquiring the treasure. The same story is
is detailed: his daughter Ragnhild will be the told in the Volsunga saga, some parts following
mother of Harald of Norway, the first monarch to this lay word for word.
unite the country. Ivar rules England until his Regin, a dwarf magician and a smith, has
death. Later, when William the Conqueror opens two brothers, Otr and Fafnir. Otr has the habit of
his grave mound, he finds Ivar's body uncor- spending his time in the shape of an otter and
rupted and burns him on a pyre. likes to fish in a waterfall that is the home of the
The saga's chief function would seem to be dwarf Andvari, who possesses a great hoard of
as a "sequel" of sorts to the Volsunga saga, a gold. The gods, Odin, Hoenir, and Loki, meet
bridge between the legends of Sigurd and Otr, and Loki kills him with a stone. Afterwards
Brynhild and actual history of the ninth through they seek shelter with Otr's father, Hreidmar.
eleventh centuries. The Norwegian royal house The father demands compensation for his son.
receives a mythological ancestor (Sigurd) on The gods are forced by Regin, Fafnir, and Hreid-
which to base claims of superiority, and the ninth mar to fill the flayed skin of the otter with gold
century establishment of the Danelaw in En- and to cover it completely with gold. Loki is
gland is related to the same lineage in the person therefore compelled to seek the gold they need.
ofIvar. (An English chronicle cites Ingvar as the He goes back to the waterfall and catches
slayer of King Aella in 866.) Andvari with a net, for the dwarf has turned into
The exploits of Ragnar and his sons also a pike. Loki forces Andvari to hand over all the
take up much of Book IX of Saxo Grammaticus' gold, including a ring that would have allowed
Gesta Danorum. Many parts of the saga can be the dwarf to build up his treasure again. Andvari
read in Saxo, including Ragnar's winning of curses the gold. He prophesies that two brothers
Thora as bride and the origin of his nickname; (Fafnir and Regin) will be killed and eight earls
Ragnar's subsequent marriage to Swanloga (Sigurd, Gutthorm, Gunnar, Hogni, Atli, Erp,
(Aslaug?); the deeds of Ragnar's sons, particu- Sorli, and Hamdir) will start to quarrel about the
larly the deeds of Iwar (Ivar), who gained so treasure. Hreidmar is compensated, but he does
much land in England with the ox hide, and those not want to share the gold with his sons. Fafnir
ofSiward (Sigurd Snake-Eye), whose nickname therefore kills his father, takes the gold, turns
is explained in quite a different way. Ragnar's himself into a dragon, and guards the gold on the
own wars in England against Ella and his death Gnitaheide.
in the snake pit are also recounted there. Later Sigurd is raised by Regin, who now
[JKW] wants Sigurd to kill the dragon and gives him the
excellent sword Gram for this deed. Sigurd
Bibliography agrees to do so, but only after he has avenged his
Olsen, Magnus, ed. Volsunga saga ok Ragnars saga own father. In a bloody battle, Sigurd kills
loobrokar. Copenhagen: M011er, 1906-1908. Lyngvi and his brothers, the sons of Hunding. On
Schlauch, Margaret, trans. The Saga o/the Volsungs; his journey Hnikar (another name for Odin) en-
The Saga 0/ Ragnar Loobrok together with the ters Sigurd's ship and tells him about good and
Lay o/Kraka. New York: AMS Press, 1978. bad omens.
The lay is very heterogeneous in form and
REGINSMA.L (The Lay of Reg in). In the Codex content, and the prose bridges relate more of the
Regius of the Poetic Edda, this heroic lay is not story than the dialogues. In this lay the conti-
separated from the Fajnismal and the Sigrdrifu- nental tale of Sigurd is connected to the Northern
mal. The title has become customary since tale of Helgi Hundingsbani (Helgi, the killer of
Sophus Bugge's edition in 1867. Older editions Hunding) by making Sigurd a stepbrother to
call the lay Siguroarqvioa Fajnisbana onnor Helgi. Both are the sons of King Sigmund and
(The Second Lay of Sigurd, the Killer of Fafnir). come from the Volsung family.
It contains an event of Sigurd's youth. The lay is Andreas Heusler tried to rearrange the
written in the form of a dialogue in twenty-six stanzas of the Reginsmal and those of the Fajhis-
36 PRIMARY WORKS
mal in order to get two more homogeneous which changed from Kriemhild in the Nibelun-
poems, the Lied vom Drachenhort (Lay of the genlied to Florigunda in the folk book of Sieg-
Dragon's Hoard), written in ljooahrittr; and the fried (the Gehiirnte Siegfried), the son's name
Lied von Sigurds Vaterrache (Lay of Sigurd's also changed from Gunther to Lowhardus. The
Revenge for His Father) written mainly infor- book about Lowhardus is already mentioned by
nyrois[ag, but including Hnikar's advice to the author of the Gehiirnte Siegfried, but there
Sigurd in lj60ahrittr. Poems about young was no record of its existence until Harold Jantz
Sigurd's deeds are usually more recent than rediscovered it and presented his ftndings sev-
those retelling old continental tales. Perhaps eral decades ago. The only extant copy of the
these events were only told in prose at the begin- book is the one in the Jantz collection housed at
ning of the tenth century. Therefore the Lay of Duke University. It was published in Erfurt
Regin is frequently dated between 1000 and around the middle of the seventeenth century.
1150. Icelandic scholars suggest it may have With its 216 pages, it is considerably longer than
been written earlier than 1000. the prose book about Siegfried, which obviously
[GW] served as its model, but it almost appears to have
been written by the same author. Departing from
Bibliography the heroic core of the Siegfried legend like its
Andersson, Theodore M. "Reginsmal and Fifnismal." predecessor, the new folk book embraces the
In vol. 10 of Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed- notion of an open-ended family saga to be con-
ited by Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Scribner, tinued from one sequel to the next. Consequently
1988,pp.290f. the story of Lowhardus is in turn to be followed
Beck, Heinrich. "Reginsmal." In vol. 19 of Kindlers
by a book about his oldest son, Artaxant, king of
neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter Jens.
Sicily.
Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 499-500.
The Erfurt print of Ritter Lowhardus shows
Bugge, Sophus, ed. Norron fommvk di: islandsk sam-
ling affolkelige oldtidsdigte om Nordens guder no date of publication. But the text contains an
og heroer almindelig kaldet Smmundar Edda hins important reference to the publication of the
Fr6da. Christiana: P.T. Mailing, 1867. Gehiirnte Siegfried, namely, "zu Hamburg Anno
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. 2 vols. 57" (N 6 r). This is the only source for an earlier
2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie date of the Siegfried book than that of the earliest
15, 16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964, 1967. preserved edition (1726). At the same time it
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den suggests a time frame for the dating of Ritter
Liedem der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Ger- Lowhardus. A conflicting reference to Erfurt as
manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle "recent" place of publication for the Gehiirnte
(Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran- Siegfried (Preface, A 2 v) suggests a possible
cke), 1931, pp. 160-183.
reprint of an original North German text. Jantz
Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
concludes that probably both books fIrst ap-
Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland, peared in Hamburg and were subsequently re-
1996,pp.115,121. printed in Erfurt by Martha Hertz. Since the au-
Heusler, Andreas. "Altnordische Dichtung und Prosa thor of the Siegfried book seems completely
von Jung Sigurd" (1919). Reprint in Kleine familiar with the Lowhardus book, it is reason-
Schriften. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1943, pp. 26-64. able to expect its appearance in print to be not too
Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann Pilsson. Lexikon der far removed from the date of the Hamburg Sieg-
altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987, fried. This argues for a date of the Lowhardus
p.288. book somewhere between 1657 and the early
1660s. Such a time frame is, as Jantz suggests,
RITTER LOWHARDUS. The seventeenth- also in keeping with the typographical evidence.
century "History of Ritter Lowhardus" is the Nothing is known about the author's iden-
latest account of the living tradition of the Nibe- tity. Judging from his interest in military events
lungen legend. It is the ftrst and only story of in North Germany and his reference to a Pomera-
Siegfried's son, the story of a hero who never had nian chronicle in particular, he was likely some-
a story before. Like the name of his mother, one steeped in military history and closely re-
RITTER LOWHARDUS 37
lated to the coastal region of northeastern Ger- The composition is strikingly syncretistic.
many, somewhere in the area of Stralsund and The title announces that the story has been
Greifswald. His extensive knowledge of a great gleaned from "many ancient writers." The
variety of earlier narrative materials also sug- sources include Old and New Testament mate-
gests someone of considerable erudition with rials; narrative schemes from Greek romance;
specialized knowledge in regional history. elements from popular narrative in fables, leg-
The type of story told in Ritter Lowhardus ends, and anecdotes; central motifs from medi-
resembles less a traditional heroic tale than a eval romance and contemporary folk books; and
Ritterroman. At the same time the folk book even episodes from regional chronicles. Exam-
accommodates the narrative content of Late Hel- ples of how these many sources manifest them-
lenistic family romance. In an innovative two- selves in the story include the bride quest se-
part structure, the book combines the bride-quest quence of the first part, which leans strongly on
scheme patterned on the Siegfried story with an Tristan's dragon strategy in winning Isolde, and
adventurous separation and reunion plot based in the second part the rescue operation on the
on the journey scheme of Greek romance. Most island of the pirate prince, a scene that suggests
of the action takes place in the area of the Medi- basic motifs of the Korntin episode in Wiga/ois.
terranean and the Orient, with Sicily functioning The very name of the hero, Lowhardus, sup-
as a pivotal point. The book title gives the fol- ported by his status as a knight with a lion, re-
lowing synopsis of the plot: " ... Eine flects the biblical lion of the Samson story as
vortreftliche wunderschOne History ... von well as the legendary lion healed by a hero-the
eines Koniges Sohn aus Niederlandlwie derselbe "grateful lion" of medieval romance. The most
die schOne und tapffere Heldin Sicilianenldes extensive borrowing of an entire narrative se-
Koniges in Sicilien Tochter durch seine Heroi- quence occurs in the second part, where the sepa-
sche Mannliche Thaten uberkommenlund wie ration and reunion of the hero and his wife fol-
diese Liebpaar/nach viel und grosser ausgestan- lows closely the popular story of Apollonius von
dener Gefahr und Wunder/endlich zur Tyrus, of which a folk book was available in
gewUnschten Rube gelanget .... " [A splendid Steinhowel's translation of 1461. It has been
and marvelous tale of a king's son from the shown that nearly all ofthe major episodes relat-
Netherlands and a beautiful and brave heroine, ing to the fates of Lowhardus and Siciliana after
Siciliana, whom he won over from the king of their departure from Sicily match the calamities
Sicily through his heroic and manly deeds, and of Apollonius and Cleopatra after their marriage
how this love pair, after enduring much danger (see Dick 6lf.).
and fantastic adventure, finally reach a much Owing to the systematic adaptation of the
desired state of peace.] Surprisingly, the return Apollonius romance, the story of Ritter
of the couple constitutes the entire second part, Lowhardus has outgrown the traditional narra-
thus forming a narrative entity in its own right. tive mold of the Siegfried story. It results in a
The preview given in the GehOrnte Siegfried, translation of the heroic subject matter to the
which simply concluded with the winning ofthe medium of romance. The hero figure becomes a
bride in Sicily, did apparently not foresee the courtly knight, and instead of an early tragic
addition of a second part. The seemingly endless death he is rewarded for his sufferings by a
trials of the couple, which include the bride's happy fairy-tale end with infinite prospects of
apparent death and revival, a period of Babylo- continuation. The transformation involves the
nian captivity, repeated shipwrecks, separations names as well as the setting of the story in time
and reunions, single combat between husband and place, but above all a fundamental change in
and wife, captivity in an Egyptian brothel and on the narrative paradigm of the folk book genre. In
the island of a pirate prince, up to a fmal gigantic its new format the Lowhardus book differs from
sea battle against the Turks off the Dutch coast, the Siegfried book in that it represents a new
all this is hardly related to the Nibelungen tradi- form of fiction, a hero figure that undergoes a
tion. Its origins are closer to the type of romance spiritual crisis. It also shows a shift from the Ni-
of late antiquity, such as Heliodor's Aithiopica. belungen tradition to the fantastic realm of the
A new story called for new narrative resources. earliest form of European romance merged with
38 PRIMARY WORKS
a seventeenth-century penchant for the popu- for her arrogance (she thinks that nobody mea-
larized fiction of medieval chivalry. sures up to the guardians of the rose garden) and
[ESD] bloodthirstiness, he scratches her face bloody
with his beard, declaring "this is the way I will
Bibliography kiss a treacherous young lady." In version DP,
German Baroque Literature: A Descriptive Catalogue Gibeche appears as the lord of the garden. He has
of the Collection of Harold Jantz. 2 vols. No.
publicly proclaimed that he will subject himself
3274, reel 592. New Haven: Research Publica-
to the man who defeats the guardian of the
tions, 1974.
Dick, Emst S. "Ritter Lowhardus: The Folk Book of garden. Thereupon the king of the Huns, Etzel,
Siegfried's Son." Monatshefie 78 (1986), 54-68, and Dietrich von Bern, who is being challenged
esp.61f. personally by Kriemhild, travel to Worms.
Jantz, Harold. "The Last Branch of the Nibelungen Rudiger presents Etzel's and Dietrich's chal-
Tree." MLN80 (1965), 433-440. lenges for battle to Kriemhild. The heroes from
Steinhowel, Heinrich. Apollonius von Tyrus. 1461; Worms are defeated here as well except for Wal-
reprint Hildesheim: Olms 1975. ther, whose fight again ends in a tie (this time
against Hartnit). Dietrich spews fire at Siegfried
ROSENGARTEN ZU WORMS (Rose Garden during their fight, which causes the hero's horny
at Worms), Middle High German epic poem in skin to melt. Kriemhild is also mocked by
the metric form of the Hildebrandslied. It may Briinhild, who is already living at the court of
have originated in the first half of the thirteenth Worms, and is scolded by Hagen ("queen
century and is today extant in twenty manu- Kriemhild cooked up the murderous fighting;"
scripts (dating from ca. 1300 to ca. 1500) and six strophe D 604). Comparable to A, Gibeche at the
printed versions (1479 to 1590). Author and end has to take his own land in feudal tenure
place of origin are unknown (earlier scholars from the winners.
suggested Austria). At least five versions can be The characterization of figures in the Rosen-
distinguished, which deviate from each other in garten allows it to be closely linked to the recep-
some parts substantially in the details of the nar- tion of the Nibelungenlied. As an attempt to in-
rative plot; the most important versions are A terpret the ambiguous figure of Kriemhild of the
and DP, as they are the most widespread. Ac- Nibelungenlied it follows in the tracks of the Ni-
cording to version A, Kriemhild tends a belungenlied version *C and the Klage. But
gorgeous rose garden at Worms, which is while these emphasize the positive image of
guarded by twelve heroes, among them her fa- Kriemhild as the loyal and faithful widow and
ther Gibeche, her brothers Gunther and Gernot, eXCUlpate the avenger as much as possible, the
her fiance Siegfried, and also Hagen. She wishes Rosengarten already presents the young
to see Siegfried fight Dietrich von Bern and lets Kriemhild as a valandinnne ("she-devil," as she
the latter be challenged. Siegfried travels with is also called in the second part of the Nibelun-
his heroes to Worms. Each one of Dietrich's he- genlied). Since the Klage has been handed down
roes is individually pitted in a contest against a regularly together with other versions of the Ni-
guardian of the rose garden. Dietrich's men are belungenlied and consequently guides their re-
victorious, only the fight between Dietleib (on ception and interpretation in its own sense, the
Dietrich's side) and Walther ends in a tie. Each of positive Kriemhild image must be seen as the
the winners receives a kiss from Kriemhild and a generally accepted one in the Nibelungenlied tra-
rosary. In the last contest, Siegfried and Dietrich dition. That the rival Kriemhild characterization
von Bern confront each other as the twelfth pair, of the Rosengarten was no less popular is evi-
but Kriemhild intercedes in the fight, preventing denced by the widespread transmission of the
Dietrich from killing Siegfried. Following the text and by the fact that "ubeliu Kriemhilt"
regular battles, the monk Ilsan challenges fifty- (wicked Kriemhild) was a common term of
two more opponents, defeats all of them, and abuse in the later Middle Ages.
wins fifty-two rosaries for his fellow monks and Apparently all through the Middle Ages
fifty-two kisses from Kriemhild; as punishment there was (besides the Nibelungenlied) a strong
SIGRDRiFUMAL 39
and lively narrative tradition (probably predomi- includes parts that do not fit together. But the lay
nantly oral) about the Nibelungs. Therefore, it is embedded in narrative prose to guarantee the
does not come as a surprise that the Rosengarten understanding of the events.
has absorbed elements from the Nibelungen tale Sigurd, Sigmund's son, rides to the Hindarf-
that are absent in the Nibelungenlied. Thus jall. He sees a bright light on top of the hill and
Kriemhild's father bears his original name finds a person asleep in full armor. When he
Gibeche (which in the Nibelungenlied, except in removes the metal covering, he discovers that it
the late manuscript k, is replaced by "Dancrat"). is a woman. She calls herself Sigrdrifa, greets the
There are also allusions to Siegfried's youth with day and the world, and asks who has awakened
a smith (strophe A 331) and his slaying in her. She tells Sigurd that Odin had punished her
strophe A 329 of a dragon "uf eimesteine" (on a for disobedience. Her transgression occurred
crag). The dragon fight probably involved the when she helped Agnar, Auda's brother, to win in
liberation of Kriemhild as is related in the Lay of combat against Hjalmgunnar, to whom Odin had
Hurnen Seyfried and mentioned in manuscript D, promised victory. Odin thus pricked her with a
and to which the version of manuscript m of the thorn of sleep (svefnftorn; cf. the fairy tale about
Nibelungenlied (which is lost except for the list- Sleeping Beauty). At this point Sigrdrifa is no
ing of chapter headings) devotes three longer a valkyrie and is compelled to marry, but
aventiuren. she states that she would never marry a timid
[JH] man. Most of the subsequent text is occupied
with general advice concerning magic runes and
Bibliography
then with proper and wise behavior. In the mid-
Holz, Georg, ed. Die Gedichte vom Rosengarten zu
dle there is a short passage which suggests that
Worms. Halle: Niemeyer, 1893. Sigurd and Sigrdrifa swear to marry, even if they
Heinzle, Joachim. "Konstanten der Nibelun- thereby choose death. The original conclusion of
genrezeption im Mittelalter und Neuzeit." In 3. the poem is lost because of the lacuna in the
Pochlarner Heldenliedgespriich. Die Rezeption Codex Regius. The lay was used by the scribe of
des Nibelungenliedes, edited by Klaus Zatloukal, the Volsunga saga. Although there is no sugges-
Philologica Germanica 16. Vienna: Fassbaender, tion in the poem that Sigrdrifa is Brynhild, the
1995, pp. 81-107. author of the saga and the late paper manuscripts
_ _. Mittelhochdeutsche Dietrichepik. Unter- intimate that she was.
suchungen zur Tradierungsweise, Uberliej- [GW]
erungskritik und Gattungsgeschichte spiiter Hel-
dendichtung, MTU 62. Munich: Artemis, 1978.
_ _ . "Rosengarten." In vol. 8 of Die deutsche Lite- Bibliography
ratur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon, 2nd ed., Andersson, Theodore M. "Sigrdrifll1mil." In vol. 11 of
edited by Kurt Ruh et al. Berlin: de Gruyter, Dictionary o/the Middle Ages, edited by Joseph
1992, cols. 187-192. R. Strayer. New York: Scribner, 1988, pp. 288f.
Beck, Heinrich. "Sigrdrifwmil." In vol. 19 of Kindlers
neues Literaturlexikon, edited by Walter Jens.
SIGRDlUFUMAL (The Lay of Sigrdrifa) is a Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 499-500.
heroic poem in the Poetic Edda. It is not pre- de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. 2 vols.
sented as a poem separate from the Reginsmai 2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie
15, 16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964, 1967.
and the Fajnismal in the Codex Regius. Only in
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den
the more recent paper manuscripts is it an inde-
Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Ger-
pendent poem, also called Brynhildarljoo. The manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle
lay consists of thirty-seven stanzas but only (Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran-
seven of them concern an event of Sigurd's cke), 1931, pp. 205-222.
youth. The stanzas are written partly infornyr- Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
oisiag, partly in ljooahilttr. The metrical incon- Legends o/the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
sistencies correspond to inconsistencies found in belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland,
the order of the stanzas, and the poem includes 1996, p. 121.
40 PRIMARY WORKS
Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann Patsson. Lexikon der Jonas Kristjansson, and Hans Bekker-Nielsen.
altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987, Vienna: Bohlau, 1986, pp. 1-12.
pp.308f. Beck, Heinrich. "Eddaliedforschung heute: Bemer-
kungen zur Heldenlied-Diskussion." In Heiden
und Heldensage: Otto Gschwantler zum
SIGURDARKVIDA IN MEIRI (The Longer 60. Geburtstag, edited by Hermann Reichert and
Lay of Sigurd). This lay is completely lost in the GUnter Zimmermann. Vienna: Fassbaender,
lacuna of the Codex Regius. We can only recon- 1990, pp. 1-24.
struct the contents from chapters 25 to 32 in the de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. 2.
Volsunga saga. The name was given to it by 2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie
Andreas Heusler, who thought the lay may have 16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, p. 150.
had about 160 stanzas. As far as we know, the Heusler, Andreas. "Die Lieder der Lucke im Codex
story resembled that of the Siguroarkvioa in Regius." In Germanistische Abhandlungen Her-
skamma, but its metrical and stylistic form was mann Paul dargebracht. Strassburg: Trubner,
different. It was more courtly in diction, and the 1902, pp. 1-98.
Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann P<ilsson. Lexikon der
details of its plot may have been more similar to
altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987,
the Nibelungenlied than to the other Eddic lays. pp. 228, 315.
Therefore, the poem was likely one of the most
recent Sigurd lays. In 1902 Heusler recon-
structed three Eddic lays that had been com- SIGURDARKVIDA IN SKAMMA (The Short
pletely lost: the Meiri; a Traumlied (Dream Lay), Lay of Sigurd) is a later version, hence also re-
which corresponds to Kriemhild's dream about ferred to as The Younger Lay of Sigurd, of the
the falcon or hawk (Volsunga saga, ch. 26-27); story told in the older Brot af Siguroarkvioa. It
and a Falkenlied (Hawk Lay), a recent lay about consists of seventy-one stanzas infornyroislag.
Sigurd wooing Brynhild (Volsunga saga, ch. 24- Its place in the Codex Regius is between Guornn-
25). The beginning of the Brot af Siguroarkvioa arkvioa in fyrsta and the Helreio Brynhildar. It
and the end of the Sigrdrifumal are also lost in the was probably created between the second half of
lacuna. This gap has occasioned a vast amount of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thir-
speculation about the contents of the missing teenth century. Yet Icelandic scholars suggest an
lays. Some scholars think that only one lay may earlier date: 1050-1150. The poem is not partic-
be missing, the Meiri, which must have been ularly unified in composition and integrates allu-
very extensive and substantial. Theodore M. An- sions to other poems into its verses, sometimes
dersson suggests: "If we assume that this gather- combining lines of relative insignificance. In
ing was largely filled with the Long Lay of comparison to the Brot, it is noteworthy that the
Sigurd, we may suppose that it was borrowed for poet is greatly interested in Brynhild's feelings
the specific purpose of consulting this latest, and emotions. Her soliloquies are accorded con-
longest, and perhaps at the time most fashionable siderable space, but only two lines are concerned
version of the tale of Sigurd and Brynhild. We with Sigurd's murder. The middle of the poem
may regret that the borrower never returned the occurs in Brynhild's statement: "Hafa scal ec
gathering, but his delinquency has done nothing Siguro/-eoa po svelti!-/mog frumungan,/mer
to detract from the fascination ofthe piece." 11 armi!" (I will hold Sigurd, the young hero, in
[GW] my arm-or I must die! stanza 6).
The lay begins with Sigurd's arrival at
Gjuki's court. Gjuki's sons, Gunnar and Hogni,
Bibliography
become blood brothers with Sigurd, and Sigurd
Andersson, Theodore M. "The Lays in the Lacuna of
marries Gudrun. Later Gunnar decides to win
Codex Regius." In Speculum Norroenum: Norse
Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre, ed-
Brynhild with Sigurd's help. Sigurd spends three
ited by Ursula Dronke et al. Odense: Odense nights with Brynhild, but the hero lays a sword
University Press, 1981, pp. 6-26. between them. From that moment on Brynhild
_ _ . "Beyond Epic and Romance: Siguroarkvioa knows that an evil, unalterable fate is working
in Meiri". In Sagnaskemmtun: Studies in Honour against them. She does not get the man she loves.
of Hermann Pdlsson, edited by Rudolf Simek, Therefore she now demands that Gunnar kill
I>lE>REKS SAGA AF BERN 41
Sigurd. Hogni advises Gunnar against murdering lung legend and it is this part of the saga that has
their brother-in-law, but finally Gutthorm, who is received the most scrutiny in Germanistic
not bound by oaths, murders Sigurd in his bed. scholarship.
Gudrun wakes up lying in Sigurd's blood. The According to statements made within the
dying Sigurd entrusts his wife to her brothers and saga, this compendium was assembled from the
avenges himself by throwing his sword at his stories and songs of German men. The single
attacker. (This is the only difference between this medieval manuscript is Norwegian and is usu-
work and the Brot, in which Sigurd dies in the ally dated to the middle of the thirteenth century.
woods.) Gudrun cries bitterly, but Brynhild This circumstantial evidence leads us to place
laughs and elects to die with Sigurd. Neither the work at the court of King Hakon the Old of
Hogni nor Gunnar can prevent her suicide and Norway in Bergen, where a number of other
she kills herself with a sword. Dying, she forsees Norse retellings of continental materials were
the future: Gunnar will be murdered at Atli's produced. The earliest and best known of these is
court, and Gudrun will lead an unhappy life with the Tristrams saga ok /sond, done in Norse by a
her husbands, Atli and Jonaker. Her last wish is certain Brother Robert in 1226. There are also
to lie on a funeral pyre next to Sigurd. Norse adaptations of romances by Chretien de
[GW] Troyes, the lais of Marie de France, and several
chansons de geste of the Charlemagne cycle. It is
Bibliography clear that Hakon's court was most interested in
Andersson, Theodore M. "Siguroarkvioa in skamma." continental European literature and that there
In vol. 11 of Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed-
were men at the court who were able to prepare
ited by Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Scribner,
Norse versions of that literature. The Pioreks
1988, p. 293.
Beck, Heinrich. "Siguroarkvioa in scamma." In vol.
saga is the only work of this group with German
19 of Kindlers neues Literaturlexikon, edited by sources.
Walter Jens. Munich: Kindler, 1992, pp. 500- Theodore Andersson has argued that the
501. saga represents a German prose compilation that
de Vries, Jan. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. Vol. 2. was simply translated into Norse. He offers no
2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie evidence for this thesis that would justify ignor-
15. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1967, pp. 147-150. ing the claims made by the saga's compilers
Gering, Hugo, and B. Sijmons. Kommentar zu den themselves that their saga was made from stories
Liedern der Edda. 2. Halfte: Heldenlieder. Ger- and songs heard from German men. The pres-
manistische Handbibliothek VII 3,2. Halle ence of a mixture of German and Norse name
(Saale): Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses (Fran-
forms and a few motifs from Norse versions of
cke), 1931, pp. 244-278.
the sagas make a literal translation from a Ger-
Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic
Legends of the North: An Introduction to the Ni-
man source even more unlikely. The presence of
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland, German loan words in the text does not affect the
1996, p. 122. argument either way since they could have been
Simek, Rudolf, and Hermann PaIsson. Lexikon der borrowed from German oral sources or from a
altnordischen Literatur. Stuttgart: Kroner, 1987, written text with equal ease. Some parts of the
p.315. saga do seem to have an extensive written
source. We will discuss one of these in more
SJURDARKVAEDI see PART x: FAEROE IS- detail when we turn to the Niflunga saga. There
LANDS. is a Swedish version of the saga from the four-
teenth century and the relatively free handling of
fJIDREKS SAGA AF BERN (Saga of Dietrich the materials there suggests the possibility that it
of Verona; Thidrekssaga) assembles most of the may be derived from a source of the surviving
known heroic legends of Germany around the saga, rather than from that text itself.
life of Thidrek, a legendary figure based on the When one speaks of the Pioreks saga, it is
historical Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great, usually the text contained in the Norwegian
who reigned over Italy from 493 to 526. A con- manuscript mentioned above that is meant. This
siderable part of the saga is devoted to the Nibe- manuscript lacks the opening pages and the con-
42 PRIMARY WORKS
clusion, but these can be supplied from Icelandic age of heroes and is flnally spirited off to Hel by
paper manuscripts from the seventeenth century a mysterious horse that appears to him while he
that seem to be derived in a reasonably straight is bathing in a river.
line from the Norwegian parchment. There is Students of the Nibelung legend will flnd
evidence of a large-scale revision affecting the the treatment of Sigurd particularly interesting
flrst half of the Norwegian manuscript. Sections because it follows neither the Norse version we
have been clearly moved from one part of the know from the Volsunga saga and the Eddas nor
manuscript to another and new bridge passages the South German version we know from the Ni-
have been composed to cover the changes. These belungenlied. King Sigmund of Tarlungaland
revisions were part of the process that produced (perhaps a corruption of Karlungaland-the
the manuscript in the thirteenth century and can- land of the Carolingians) woos Sisibe, the daugh-
not be blamed on post-medieval "revisors." ter of King Nidung of Spain. After he brings her
The saga begins with a narrative about an home he is called away to support his brother-in-
otherwise unknown grandfather of Thidrek's law in a military campaign, leaving his pregnant
named Samson. Samson violates the trust of his wife at home. During his absence a courtier at-
lord to gain the latter's daughter in what can only tempts to force his attentions on the queen and
be called a kidnapping. Samson is able to fight when she refuses him, the courtier rides to meet
off the forces of his lord and later of his lord's the king before he can see his wife and tells him
brother, the king. He is fmally able to establish that she is pregnant with another man's child.
himself as king in their place. His sons Erminrek Sigmund orders her to be abandoned in the for-
and Thetmar divide the inheritance unequally est. There she gives birth to Sigurd, whom she
and Thetmar passes his holdings on to his son places in a glass container and sets adrift in a
Thidrek. The next major portion of the saga tells river. Later the container washes ashore and the
the stories of the youthful adventures of the he- infant is suckled by a hind in the forest. He is
roes of Germanic legend, most of whom even- later adopted by a smith named Mimir, who has a
tually become retainers of Thidrek in a sort of brother in dragon form named Regin. Because of
Germanic Round Table. The conclusion of this Sigurd's unruly behavior, Mimir sends him into
process is marked by a great feast followed by a the forest, expecting that he will be killed by
tournamentlbattle with King Isung and his sons Regin. Sigurd kills Regin instead and, upon tast-
in Bertangaland (Brittany). ing the monster's blood, is able to understand the
In the second major portion of the saga, the birds who tell him to kill Mimir as well, since he
heroes are engaged in a series of bride winning, will want revenge for his brother. Sigurd returns
seduction, and rape stories that begins with the home and Mimir gives him excellent armor and a
deception and rape ofBrynhild by Young Sigurd sword, which Sigurd promptly uses to dispatch
and Gunnar and concludes with the rape of his foster father. He then journeys to Brynhild,
Sitka's queen by his king, Erminrek. This last act the daughter of Budli, who tells him of his true
leads directly to the expulsion of Thidrek from parentage. She also gives him the horse Grani.
his lands and his thirty-year exile at the court of He then goes and joins the court of King Isung.
Atli. There is a brief chapter introducing the court
The last third of the saga includes many of King Aldrian of Niflungaland. His queen is
tragic heroic tales, including the story of the ravished while she sleeps by a supernatural
Niflungs and their destruction at Atli's court. being. She later gives birth to Hogni. Her chil-
This section concludes with Thidrek's return dren by Aldrian are Gunnar, Gernoz, Gislher,
home and his reinstallation over the lands for- and their sister Grimhild. Later the saga returns
merly held by Erminrek and Sitka. This return to Niflungaland and tells of the arrival of Young
story includes the encounter between Hildibrand Sigurd who marries Grimhild and agrees to help
and his son Alibrand in a form very similar to the Gunnar win Brynhild as his bride. Brynhild is
Younger Hildebrandslied. The saga concludes enraged when she hears about this because she
with an epilog in which Thidrek, after carrying and Sigurd had sworn to marry each other on his
out the dragon fight and bride winning told of earlier visit. She refuses herself to Gunnar and
Wolfdietrich in Germany, observes the end of the Sigurd has to take his place in the marriage bed to
VOLSUNGA SAGA 43
tame the supernatural woman. A fight between Friedrich Panzer argued that the Pi(Jreks saga
the two queens takes place over seating rights in had simply made use of the Nibelungenlied it-
the hall. Grimhild reveals that Sigurd was the self, but most scholars feel that the source was a
man who had taken Brynhild's virginity. relatively extensive telling of the fall of the Bur-
Brynhild then forces Gunnar to have Sigurd gundians in written German verse. The great
killed. Hogni kills him with a spear in the back at differences in events before the Niflunga saga
a stream in the forest where the men lie down to makes the Nibelungenlied itself unlikely as a
drink. The men bring his body back and throw it source. Following Andreas Heusler, scholars
into the bed with Grimhild, who accuses Hogni have called this common source the altere Not.
ofthe deed, although the men claim he was killed [ERH]
by a boar.
The widow Grimhild is married to Atli. She Bibliography
tells him of the Niflung treasure and he invites Andersson, Theodore M. A Preface to the Nibelungen-
the Niflungs to his court with the idea of gaining lied. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.
(Contains translations ofthe Nibelungen portions
it. Queen Oda, the mother of the Niflung kings,
of the saga.)
advises against the journey, but the men set out.
Andersson, Theodore M. "An Interpretation of
At the Rhine Hogni is told by some mermaids
Thidreks saga." In Structure and Meaning in Old
how he is to cross the Rhine and that he will Norse Literature, edited by John Lindow, Lars
never return. Hogni ferries the army across, kill- Loennroth, and Gerd Wolfgang Weber. Odense:
ing the ferryman. The men approach the land of Odense University Press, 1986, pp. 347-377.
MarkgrafRodingeir and Hogni, who goes ahead _ _. "The Epic Source of Niflunga saga and the
of the men finds a sleeping watchman named Nibelungenlied." Arkiv for nordisk filologi 88
Ekkivard, who leads them to Rodingeir's castle. (1973), 1-54.
The host's daughter is betrothed to young Bertelsen, Henrik, ed. Thidreks Saga af Bern. 2 vols.
Gislher and Hogni receives a shield that had Copenhagen: Meller, 1905-1911.
belonged to Naudung. Curschrnann, Michael. "The Prologue of Thidreks
The Niflungs ride to Atli in Susa (Soest) Saga: Thirteenth-Century Reflections on Oral
Traditional Literature." Scandinavian Studies 56
where they take part in a great feast until
(1984), 140-151.
Grimhild is able to convince lrung to break the
Haymes, Edward R. "The Bridewinning, Seduction,
peace and begin the battle. While the latter is and Rape Sequence in Thidrekssaga." In In
killing the squires, Grimhild incites her little son h6hem Prise: A Festschrift in Honor of Ernst S.
to strike Hogni, who beheads the boy and throws Dick on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday, April
the head at the queen. The battle then breaks out 7, 1989, edited by Winder McConnell. Gop-
in earnest and hundreds are killed. Gunnar is pingen: Kiimmerle, 1989, pp. 145-152.
captured and ends his life in a snake pit. Gislher _ _, trans. The Saga of Thidrek of Bern. Garland
kills Rodingeir, an act that brings Thidrek into Library of Medieval Literature 56, Series B. New
the battle. The fmal duel is between Hogni and York: Garland, 1988.
Thidrek and it is decided when Thidrek breathes - . and Susann T. Samples. Heroic Legends of
fire at Hogni, who is forced to tear offhis heated the North: An Introduction to the Nibelung and
Dietrich Cycles. Garland Reference Library of
byrnie and surrenger. Hogni asks for and is
the Humanities 1403. New York: Garland, 1996.
granted a woman on whom to sire an heir in his
Kralik, Dietrich von. Die Oberlieferung und Ent-
last night before dying of his wounds. Grimhild stehung der Thidrekssaga. Halle: Niemeyer,
goes about with a torch trying to determine who 1931.
is dead. She sticks the brand into the mouth of the Reichert, Hennann. Heldensage und Rekonstruktion:
still-living Giselher, who dies of the mistreat- Untersuchungen zur Thidrekssaga. Philologica
ment. Thidrek asks permission to slay the "she- Gennanica 14. Vienna: Fassbaender, 1992.
devil." Wyss, Ulrich. "Struktur der Thidrekssaga." Acta Ger-
The close similarity of events in this manica 13 (1980), 69-86.
Niflunga saga to those narrated in the second
half of the Nibelungenlied makes it highly proba- VOLSUNGA SAGA is the ambitious project of
ble that both works had a common source. an anonymous twelfth-century author, who, in
44 PRIMARY WORKS
this work and in the Ragnars saga loobr6kar diction, particularly unusual words, poetic cir-
which follows in the manuscript, retells in prose cumlocution, and kennings. The compiler also
saga form the legends of the Volsungs and their demythologized the material, removing all but
ancestors, of Sigurd the dragon slayer, of the fall the most necessary references to the actions of
ofthe Burgundians (Gjukungs), and of the fate of Scandinavian deities.
Gudrun's children. In the Ragnars saga these are While the relationship of the Volsunga saga
connected to the fate of Sigurd's daughter, to the Middle High German Nibelungenlied is
Aslaug, the role of her husband Ragnar and her clear, particularly in that in both works the leg-
sons in the Danish settlement of England in the ends of Sigurd/Siegfried are connected to the
eighth and ninth centuries, and their place among downfall of the Burgundians, the Scandinavian
the ancestors of Norway's frrstking, Harald Fair- work reflects the undoubtedly older version of
hair. Accordingly Harald can count Sigmund and the Burgundians' destruction by the Huns:
Sigurd, the greatest of Scandinavian heroes, Gudrun, the royal sister, does not seek to avenge
among his ancestors. The composite work her husband's death, instead she attempts to warn
weaves together Germanic legend, fairy-tale them, fights alongside them in battle, and later
motifs, historical sagas, Edda verse, and Scan- exacts bitter revenge on Attila. Sigurd's youthful
dinavian myth. The identity of the author- adventures, merely alluded to in the Nibelungen-
compiler is unknown; though some have argued lied, take up a significant part of the saga. The
for a Norwegian author, most scholars see here saga writer's desire to create a prose saga which
the work of an Icelander who wrote the saga in ultimately connects with Danish and Norwegian
the thirteenth century, most likely during the history, as well as Scandinavia's distance from
reign of Norwegian king Hakon Hakonarson the courtly societies of Western Europe, account
(1217-1263). for major differences in artistry and focus be-
The Volsunga saga (which as mentioned is tween these two most important works of the
immediately followed by Ragnars saga Siegfried/Sigurd-Burgundian cycle.
loobr6kar, as well as the related Lay of Kraka) The Volsunga saga can be neatly divided
exists in a single vellum manuscript (Ny. kgl. into five sections, each of which (except for the
saml. 1824b 4to), written about 1400, and in opening chapter) is marked by the introduction
twenty-one paper manuscripts, from the seven- of a king, according to the formula: "N. hefrr
teenth through the nineteenth centuries, all of konungr heitit" or "N. het konungr." Chapters 1
which are based on the vellum. The traditional and 2, which have no known sources, introduce
chapter divisions are found in the vellum manu- the kinship between the god Odin and the Vol-
script, and there is some reason to believe they sung kings. The outlaw Sigi becomes a great
reflect the author's intent. king. After he is killed by his wife's brothers, his
Besides stories and native material, the ori- son Rerir inherits his lands and avenges his fa-
gins of which remain untraceable, it is clear that ther's death. Through Odin's intervention, Re-
the author borrowed material from a number of rir's otherwise barren wife is able to conceive a
sources, primarily found in the Poetic Edda: the child. The child, Volsung, must be cut from the
Lay ofAtli, the Greenlandish Lay ofAtli, the Lay dying woman. Later Volsung marries Hljod, with
of Fafnir, the Old Lay of Gudrun, Gudrun s In- whom he has a daughter, Signy, and ten sons, the
citing, the Prophecy of Gripir, the First Lay of oldest of whom is Sigmund.
Helgi Hunding s Bane, the Lay of Hamdir, the Chapters 3 through 10 can be seen as a Saga
Lay ofRegin, the Lay ofSigrdrifa, the Short Lay of Sigmund and SinfJotli, wherein Sigurd's an-
ofSigurd, the prose tale About the Death ofSin- cestry is revealed. There are few known sources
fjotli, and the PiOreks saga. The missing sections for this material, though the prose tale About the
of the Poetic Edda must have contained a Death of SinfJotli and the Lay of Helgi Hun-
Sigurds saga (fragments of which are extant) dingsbane underlie chapters 8 through 10. King
from which much ofthe compiler's material was Siggeir of Gautland asks for Signy in marriage,
borrowed. Finch's study of the saga showed that and the request is granted. At the banquet in
the author-compiler, in borrowing from poetic Volsung's hall, Odin appears and thrusts a sword
sources, sought to eliminate all traces of poetic into the center tree, promising it to whoever can
VOLSUNGA SAGA 45
pull it out. Only Sigmund is able to do so and thus horse. Regin urges him to kill Fafnir the dragon
keeps the sword. Siggeir offers to buy it, but his in order to recover a treasure hoard. Regin recites
offer is met with insult. He takes Signy home, the story of how Fafnir got his treasure, and
and in three months' time invites Volsung to visit reforges Sigmund's broken sword, whereupon
him. Upon his arrival in Gautland, Volsung is the boy raises an army and kills his father's
warned by Signy ofSiggeir's plot to kill him. He slayers. After this, Sigurd kills Fafnir and takes
is killed in battle, and his sons are captured. The his treasure. Regin drinks Fafnir's blood and
brothers are then executed one-by-one by a she- asks Sigurd to roast the heart for him. As Sigurd
wolf. Sigmund, however, kills the wolf with follows Regin's request, he bums his finger on
Signy's help and escapes to the forest. Signy has the heart and puts the bumt finger into his mouth,
Sigmund test the courage ofSiggeir's two sons, whereupon he can understand the singing of
and when they fail, she allows him to kill them. some nearby birds. The birds tell him to eat the
She then exchanges appearances with a sorceress heart himself and to kill Regin. Sigurd does so
and sleeps with Sigmund, from which union Sin- and rides away with Fafnir's treasure. As has
fjotli is born. Sinfjotli passes Sigmund's test and been foretold, Sigurd finds Brynhild tied to a slab
the two live as marauders in the forest. When of stone in the middle of a fire. He releases her,
they go to Siggeir's hall for revenge, they are and she gives him lessons in traditional lore; the
discovered by his two young children, whom two pledge to marry one another. Later Sigurd
they kill. For their treacherous act Siggeir buries goes to stay with Heimir, Brynhild's uncle,
Sigmund and Siggeir alive in a mound, but Signy where he sees Brynhild again and they renew
sneaks Sigmund's sword into the mound and the their oaths.
two men cut their way out, bum down Siggeir's In chapters 26 through 41, the author, work-
hall, and kill the king. Signy refuses to leave the ing from what must have been a complete Sigurd
burning hall, informs Sigmund that Sinfjotli is lay attested to by fragments found in the Edda, as
his son, and dies with her husband. Sigmund well as from the Old Lay of Gudrun, the Lay of
returns home, marries Borghild and has two Atli and the Greenlandish Lay of Atli, takes up
sons, Helgi and Hamund. Helgi fights a war in the story of the fall of the Burgundians, the sons
which he wins Sigrun as wife. Sinfjotli, who has of Gjuki. In the story King Gjuki and his wife
killed Borghild's brother, is poisoned to death by Grimhild are the parents of three sons, Gunnar,
his stepmother. Hogni and Guttorm, and a daughter Gudrun.
Chapters 11 through 25 form a "Lay of Gudrun has two dreams, which Brynhild inter-
Sigurd the Dragon Slayer," their material prets for her; namely, that she will have a life full
derived from the "Death ofSinfjotli," the Lay of of loss and sorrow. When Sigurd comes to the
Regin, the Lay ofFafnir, and the Lay ofSigrdrifa, Gjukungs, Grimhild gives him a drink which
along with the Prophecy ofGripir (a summary of causes him to forget Brynhild. He now swears a
which makes up chapter 16), and chapter 291 of pact of brotherhood with Gunnar and his
the PiOreks saga (the basis of chapter 23). The brothers and marries Gudrun. He then urges
fma1 three chapters of this section (23-25), Gunnar to seek Brynhild in marriage. She lives in
wherein the hero's worthiness and his relation- a house surrounded by fire (the motif is re-
ship to Brynhild are emphasized, differ in style peated), and will only marry the man who rides
and vocabulary from the preceding chapters, re- through the flames to her. Sigurd exchanges
flecting courtly interests of Western Europe in shapes with Gunnar, rides to Brynhild and
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They con- spends three nights with her, his sword between
clude the youthful adventures of Sigurd and form them. He gives her treasures from Fafnir's hoard,
a transition to his adventures among the Burgun- but takes back the ring he had given her earlier.
dians. Sigmund, having driven away Borghi1d, This ring he now gives to Gudrun. Only after he
marries Hjordis. He is then killed in battle when and Gunnar have returned to their actual forms,
Odin appears and breaks his sword. The pregnant and Gunnar has married Brynhild, does he re-
Hjordis is later taken as wife by King Alf. member his oaths to Brynhi1d. While bathing in
Hjordis gives birth to Sigurd, and Regin becomes the river, Brynhi1d and Gudrun argue over their
his foster father. Sigurd soon acquires Grani, his husbands' status. Gudrun shows Brynhild the
46 PRIMARY WORKS
ring that Sigurd gave her, and Brynhild is saga was the principal source used by Richard
stricken with grief. Sigurd goes to her but she Wagner for his Ring cycle.
will not be consoled, saying at last to Gunnar: [JKW]
"This shall be Sigurd's death or yours or mine."
While Gunnar and Hogni have sworn friendship Bibliography
to Sigurd and cannot kill him, they persuade Byock, Jesse 1. The Saga of the Volsungs. Berkeley:
Guttonn to commit the act. Guttonn kills Sigurd University of Califomi a Press, 1990.
as he lies in bed, and the dying Sigurd kills his Finch, R. G., ed., trans. The Saga of the Volsungs.
attacker. Brynhild then commits suicide and is London: Thomas Nelson, 1965.
burned on Sigurd's funeral pyre. Gudrun subse- Finch, R. G. "The Treatment of Poetic Sources by the
quently flees to Denmark, where Grimhild finds Compiler ofthe Volsunga Saga." In Saga Book of
her and persuades her to marry King Atli. Atli the Viking Society for Northern Research 16
covets the Gjukungs' treasure and so arranges a (1965): 315-353.
feast at his court where he hopes to force them to Olsen, Magnus. VOlsunga saga ok Ragnars saga
loobr6kar. Copenhagen: Meller, 1906-1908.
yield him their wealth. Gudrun's attempts to
warn her brothers about the danger of the invita-
tion fail. Hogni's and Gunnar's wives have warn- WALTARI AND HILDIGUND. The story of
ing dreams, but the brothers still disregard them, Waltari and Hildigund in the Pioreks saga fol-
and ride to Atli's court where they meet a hostile lows the tale of the establishment of Attila as the
reception. The Gjukungs fight well. Gudrun king ofHUnaland. It stands alone in the middle of
fights alongside her brothers, but in the end Gun- the second major section of the saga that is
nar and Hogni are captured. When they refuse to devoted to a series of bride-winning stories,
reveal the whereabouts of the treasure, Atli has without any connection to the story of Thidrek.
Hogni's heart cut out. Gunnar dies bravely in a Attila, king of Susa, and Enninrek, son of King
snake pit. To avenge the death of her brothers, Samson of Salemi, have become friends. King
Gudrun kills Atli's sons and feeds him their Enninrek sends Waltari of Waskastein, his sis-
hearts and blood at his victory feast. Later ter's son, and twelve knights as noble hostages,
Hogni's son Niflung gives Gudrun a sword with whereas King Attila sends his relative Osid and
which she kills Atli. She then fires his hall and all twelve knights to secure the peace. Two years
his retainers die with him. Gudrun attempts sui- later Hildigund, daughter of Jad Ilias of Greece,
cide by throwing herself into the sea but is car- is sent as a hostage to the Hunnish court. Hildi-
ried by the waves to King Jonakr. Her daughter gund and Waltari grow up together at Attila's
with Sigurd, Svanhlld, is raised there, and she court and fall in love. Now they try to escape
has three sons with Jonakr. together and to return to his homeland. Hildi-
The final three chapters tell of Gudrun's gund collects Attila's treasures at the court and
children, using material from Gudrun s Inciting they ride away. When Attila finds out that they
and the Lay of Hamdir. Svanhild is married to have fled, he sends out twelve knights, among
King Jonnunrek, but sleeps with Jonnunrek's them Hogni, King Aldrian's son, in order to get
son, Randver. The couple is betrayed, and as a back the treasures, he even orders that Waltari be
result Randver is hanged and Svanhild is tram- killed by the Hunnish knights. Despite the odds,
pled to death by horses. Gudrun urges her sons to Waltari is effectively able to fight off eleven
avenge their half sister. One of the sons, Erp, is knights. Only Hogni is able to escape during the
killed by his brothers on the way to Jonnunrek's battle. Waltari, although himself wounded, takes
land, but the other two attack Jonnunrek, cutting care of Hildigund and roasts the thigh of a boar
off his hands and feet. Protected by their for her and himself. At that moment Hogni am-
mother's magic, they cannot be killed by iron, bushes him. Waltari hurls the big bone of the
but through the advice of an old man (Odin), they boar at him, and the blow cuts out Hogni's eye
are killed by stoning instead. The Ragnars saga and wounds him badly on the cheek. Hogni then
loobr6kar follows immediately; in fact some edi- flees and returns to Attila. Waltari and Hildigund
tors have chosen to number its first chapter as arrive at Erminrek's court and, concerned about
chapter 45 of the Volsunga saga. The Volsunga relations with Attila, Enninrek decides to give a
WALTHARIUS (WALTHARlLIED) 47
great of deal money to the king as a pledge of of the major manuscripts. The poet claims to be a
further peace. novice, and his work contains frequent echoes of
There were at least four medieval versions Vergil. The story (versions of which are also
of the story including that in the Pioreks saga. known in other languages, including the Anglo-
The most important difference between the Saxon fragment Waldere, Norse analogues, and a
above-mentioned story and the other versions is Polish text) opens with the Huns threatening the
the fact that Gunnar/Gunther is not included. The Germanic tribes in Western Europe (Franks, Vis-
oldest written version is a Latin poem called igoths of Aquitaine, and Burgundians), who elect
Waltharius manu fortis (about 930). Two brief to pay tribute and to send hostages to Attila. The
fragments of an Old English version exist which king of the Franks is Gibicho (Gibica) and his
must have belonged to a poem of considerable infant son is Guntharius (Gundahari), in whose
length. Finally we have a few fragments of a place Hagen, a noble youth, is sent, together with
Middle High German epic poem, written in Walthari, prince of the Visigoths, and his be-
stanzas very much like those used in the Nibe- trothed, Hiltgund (Hildegunda), a Burgundian
lungenlied, and the story is also mentioned in princess. That the Burgundian names are here
that epic. The gist ofthe story seems to have been applied to Franks reflects the later Frankish take-
a battle over treasure. Originally it was Gunther over (well established by the time of the poem)
who was filled with avarice and who tried to of what were originally Burgundian territories.
procure Walter and Hildegund's gold. In con- Attila treats the hostages well, and the two young
trast, in the Pioreks saga the emphasis is on the men are brought up as warriors, becoming firm
bride-winning story. There are also allusions to friends. However, when Gibicho dies,
the tale ofWaltari and Hildigund in the German Guntharius ceases to pay tribute, and Hagen is
heroic epics Biterolf und Dietleib, the Rosen- forced to flee. Walthari organizes a feast, and
garten, and elsewhere. Even Walther von der while Attila is drunk, Walthari and Hiltgund es-
Vogelweide must have known it, because he calls cape with a large amount of treasure. That none
his beloved lady Hildegunde ("Die mir in dem of the Huns will pursue them is a milder ver-
winter froide Mnt benommen ... " [Those who sion of the decline of the Hunnish empire
have taken away my joy in winter] L 74,19). The attributed to Attila's drunkenness, which is given
story is continued and related differently in the a far more violent twist in texts like the
Chronicle ofNovalesa (based on the Latin Wal- Atlakvioa.
tharius, eleventh century) and in a Polish tale When the fugitives arrive in the land of the
(thirteenth century). It is also mentioned in the Franks, Guntharius hears of them and decides to
Middle High German poem "Von einem "libelen take the treasure, claiming it to be his own.
wibe" (Regarding a terrible woman). Hagen advises against an attack on Waltharius
[GW] but is overruled by the king (to whom the word
superbus [arrogant] is applied in the work). Wal-
Bibliography tharius then takes up a defensive position in the
Haymes, Edward R., and Susann T. Samples. Heroic Vosges mountains (Waskenstein) and kills most
Legends o/the North: An Introduction to the Ni- of Guntharius's twelve warriors in single ormul-
belung and Dietrich Cycles. New York: Garland, tiple combat. Guntharius himself is severely
1996,pp. 60-63, 69. wounded. In a fmal battle he fights his former
Schneider, Hermann. Germanische Heldensage. Vol. friend Hagen, who has so far refused to fight. He
1. 2nd ed. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie agrees to do so only at the last moment with some
lOll. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1962, pp. 331-344.
reluctance, pressured by feelings ofloyalty to his
king and to his nephew, one of those already
WALTHARIUS (WALTHARILIED), a Latin killed by Waltharius. Waltharius has lost a hand
poem of nearly 1500 hexameters, variously at- and Hagen an eye by the time the battle, which
tributed to Ekkehart I of St Gall (d. 973) or to an has reached a stalemate, is called off. Hiltgund
otherwise unknown German monk, Greraldus, tends the wounds, and the poet summarizes that
perhaps writing in the ninth century. The latter "this is how the gold arm rings of the Huns were
name is attached to a prologue found in several shared."
48 PRIMARY WORKS
Walthari and Hiltgund return to Aquitaine references clearly identify the Hagen of this
and rule for thirty years. The quasi-happy ending poem with that in the Nibelungenlied. In line 555
(which has biblical echoes) may have been sup- of the Latin poem, too, when Walthari sees the
plied by the poet to replace an earlier outcome, Franks coming toward them (he is afraid at first
which perhaps called for the death of one or both that they are Huns in pursuit), he refers to them as
of the warriors. The arrogant figure of nebulones (probably Nibelungs), yet another
Guntharius matches Gunther in some respects, echo of the Nibelungenlied.
and the role of Hagen as chief adviser, who has [BOM]
detailed knowledge of the unknown, but fierce,
warrior with the treasure, is a parallel with Hagen Bibliography
of Tronje, even though in the Nibelungenlied, Gregoire, Henri. "La patrie des Nibelungen," Byzan-
Hagen is in favor of obtaining the treasure. The tion 9 (1934): 1-39.
Kratz, Dennis M., trans. Waltharius and Ruodlieb.
exile at his court of Hagen and Walter of Spain
New York: Garland, 1984, pp. 1-71.
(that is, of the Visigoth territory, Aquitaine in the
Learned, Marion Dexter. The Saga of Walther ofAqui-
Latin poem) is referred to by Etzel, who speaks taine. Latin text with texts of all the analogues.
of having sent Hagen back, while Walther ran 1892; repro Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1970.
away with Hildegund. Hildebrant refers at the Murdoch, Brian, trans. Walthari. Glasgow: SPIGS,
end of the German epic to the encounter between 1989.
Hagen and Walther at the Waskenstein, implying Strecker, Karl. Waltharius. Text and German trans. by
that Hagen hesitated while others fought. Such Peter Vossen. Berlin: Weidmann, 1947.
References
and Hogni, they kill him. The two are later joined
they run off, lose their way in a fog, and are killed
Lachmann, Karl. Der Nibelunge Noth und die Klage nach der
iiltesten Oberlieferung mit Bezeichnung der unechten und
mit Abweichungen der gemeinen Lesart. 5th ed. Berlin: G.
Reimer, 1878.
heart and, upon tasting the blood, burns his finger, puts
it into his mouth, and is able to understand the language
of the birds. Seven titmice warn him (according to the
Volsunga saga, there are six birds, and in the Pioreks
saga two birds warn him; the motif does not exist in the
German tradition) that Regin plans to kill him to avenge
his brother's death. The birds advise him to kill Regin,
who is here called a giant (contrary to the Reginsmal, in
which Regin is a dwarf). The scene of Sigurd roasting
Fafnir's heart and listening to the birds was often
depicted in wood or stone in Norway, Sweden, and England,
and the motif may be Irish in origin (stanzas 32-38). In
a further prose bridge, we are informed that Sigurd
decapitates Regin, eats Fafnir's heart, and drinks
Fafnir's and Regin's blood. In stanzas 40-44 the titmice
talk to him again. They foretell that he will marry
Gjuki's daughter and that he will find a sleeping warrior
maiden (the Volsunga saga calls her Brynhild) on a high
hill. The story relates that Odin had pricked her with a
thorn and now she waits for her liberator. In a prose
passage that fmishes the lay, Sigurd fills two boxes with
gold, puts them on Grani's (his horse's) back, takes
Fafnir's helmet, a golden suit of armor, Fafnir's sword,
Hrotti, and other treasures and rides away. The most
significant difference between this lay and the
Nibelungenlied, the Pioreks saga, and the Lied vom Hurnen
Seyfrid is the combination of the dragon fight and the
winning of the hoard. But this linking ofthe two motifs
is an old pattern of heroic poetry, as shown in Sigmund's
dragon fight in Beowulf. Andreas Heusler tried to
rearrange the stanzas of the Reginsmai and those of the
Fafnismal in order to arrive at two more homogeneous
poems: a Lied vom Drachenhort (Lay of the Dragon's
Hoard), written in lj6oahattr, and a Lied von Sigurds
Vaterrache (Lay of Sigurd's Revenge for His Father)
written mainly in fornyroislag, but including Hnikar's
advice for Sigurd in lj6oahattr. Poems about Young
Sigurd's deeds are usually more recent than those
retelling old continental tales. Perhaps these events were
only told in prose at the beginning of the tenth century.
Therefore the "Lay of Regin" is frequently dated between 1
000 and 1150. Icelandic scholars suggest that it may have
been written earlier than 1000. [GW]
third of the twelfth century. The fact that the poet gives
the love between
tues. This not only holds true for minne, but also
the audience was not uniform. Who was the anonymous poet
who ex
Oddrun heard her lover play the harp and set out
to save him, but she was too late, because she had
and lament for her dead beloved. The author ofthe poem
aimed to retell an old
1050-1150). [GW]
aventiuren. [JH]
LANDS.
which she kills Atli. She then fires his hall and all
has three sons with Jonakr. The final three chapters tell
of Gudrun's
treasure. [GW]
wife kills him in his bed and sets the hall on fire.
Ravenna]). [JLF/SMJ]
saga, as are the runes that were cut on his tongue. [WM]
nobles. [BOM]
Dietrich. [WM]
Erka's pleas that this will cost her her head. Erka
retreated. [FH]
(Skirnismal). [JK.W]
HeIche. [BS]
murder. [GW]
invention. [UM]
future. [WM]
Hagen. [UM]
Sigar. [WM]
1068ff.). [JLF]
ney took place on the right bank of the Danube after the
crossing at Pforring. During the 1980s there were attempts
to rebuild Bratislava and a performance of the
Nibelungenlied was staged there by the inhabitants of
Hainburg. [NV/SSch] HAKI, son of Hamund in the Volsunga
saga. Brynhild considers him and his brother Hagbard the
foremost of kings because of their warrior skills.
However, Gudrun disagrees with her since Haki and Hagbard
did not take revenge on Sigar for abducting one of their
sisters and burning another one in her house. For the
complete account, see Saxo Grammaticus, The History of the
Danes, Book 7. [BS] HAKON, in the Volsunga saga and
Guoronarkvioa onnoy, Hakon is the father of Thora, the
woman Gudrun stays with in Half's hall for three and a
half years after Sigurd's murder. In the Heimskringla,
Snorri gives a detailed account of the deeds of Hakon,
king of Norway, son of Harald Hairfair and foster son of
Athelstan. [BS] HALF, king of Denmark. In the Volsunga
saga Gudrun leaves Gunnar after Sigurd's murder and stays
for three and a half years with Thora in Half's hall.
[BS] HAMDIR, in the Volsunga saga, a son of Gudrun by her
third husband, Jonaker (the other two being Sorli and
Erp). [WM] HAMUND, in the Volsunga saga, one of two sons
King Sigmund has by Borghild. [WM] HARTWIN is, according
to the Pioreks saga, one of the advisors of King Sigmund.
During Sigmund's campaign in Poland, Hartwin is regent of
the empire and protector of Sigmund's wife, Sisibe. Hoping
to become king himself, he tries in vain to seduce the
queen. His friend, Hermann, wants to support him, but
both are unsuccessful. When King Sigmund returns from
Poland, Hartwin and Hermann slander the queen. Hartwin
even tries to kill Sisibe but is
her from Hel and also wait for her to join him
there. [WM]
Herkja. [NM]
realm. [FH]
lungenlied. [WM]
Fafnir. [WM]
victims. [JKW]
Hirthir. [FH]
century. [SMJ]
treasure. [SMJ]
Worms. [NV]
master of the well that lies beneath that root of the land
of the Huns and Gunnar's realm in the
accretion. [GCS]
to Gunther. [WM]
NITGER, mentioned in the Klage (v. 1543) as
blood that Velent has placed beneath his arm, and Velent
escapes. Nithung dies and is succeeded by his only
remaining son, Otvin. [FH] NORDIAN (1), in the Pioreks
saga, the huntsman of Iron, earl of Brandinaborg. He
accompanies Iron on his hunting expeditions. Not willing
to abandon his lord when all of Iron's other men flee,
Nordian is captured with Iron by King Salamon. Salamon
sends Nordian to Isolde, Iron's wife, to procure ransom
for Iron. After Iron has been slain by Aki
Omlungatrausti, Nordian and three other men of the late
earl ride to Hunaland to tell Atli the news. [FH]
NORDIAN (2), in the Pioreks saga, the second son of King
Vilkinus of Vilkinaland (and half brother to Vathi).
After Vilkinus's death, Nordian becomes king of
Vilkinaland. A less able ruler than his father, he is
attacked by Hertnit, who had paid tribute to Vilkinus but
who now refuses to do so to Nordian. Nordian's force is
smaller, and Nordian is defeated and flees. He appeals to
Hertnit for mercy. Hertnit complies and makes Nordian
ruler of "Svithjoth" (= Sweden), later called "Sjoland."
When Osantrix succeeds to the throne of Vilkinaland,
Nordian becomes his man. Nordian has four sons, Ethgeir,
Aventrod, Vitholf, and Aspilian, all of them giants. After
Nordian's death, Osantrix makes Aspilian king of Sjoland.
[FH] NORWAY is mentioned in the Nibelungenlied as the
country where the Nibelungs reside and have their castle
(739,3). [AC] NUODUNG, a magnificent warrior mentioned
throughout the Dietrich epics as an ally of Dietrich. It
is most likely his wife whom Kriemhild promises to
Bloedel in the Nibelungenlied in her attempt to have the
latter avenge Siegfried's death by attacking Hagen. His
name also occurs in Heinrich Wittenwiler's Ring. [WM]
NUODUNG'S WIFE, the bribe offered Bloedel by Kriemhild in
the Nibelungenlied to induce the former to attack the
Nibelungs and avenge her
Dancwart. [KM]
group. [RB]
Amelungs. [KM]
Nibelungenlied. [SSch]
snake pit, make up the whole ofthe Lay ofKraki. They are
perhaps most remarkable in their expression of a warrior
ethic and pagan religious fervor. Ragnar is also a major
figure in Book IX of Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum.
[JKW] RAMUNG OF WALLACHIA, in the Nibelungenlied he is
identified as a duke from Wallachia who is invited to the
court of Etzel to celebrate the wedding between the king
and Kriemhild. He brings along seven hundred men, who are
described as "flying birds" as they make their way into
the land of the Huns. [WM] RANDVER, son of King Jormunrek
in the Volsunga saga. His father sends him and the
counselor Bikki to woo for him Svanhild, Gudrun's
daughter. Bikki suggests to Randver that he would be a
more suitable husband for Svanhild than his father, and
Randver (as well as Svanhild) appear to agree. They are
betrayed, however, by the malevolent Bikki to Jormunrek,
who has his son hanged and Svanhild trampled to death by
horses. [WM] REGIN, a wise, skillful, cunning dwarf and
magician. It is principally the Reginsmal and the
Fajnismal that tell us something about this character. He
is the son of Hreidmar and the brother of Fafnir and Otr,
his sisters are Lyngheid and Lofnheid. He helps his father
to take Odin, Hoenir, and Loki into custody because these
gods have killed Otr. When the Aesir (the gods) have paid
the fine, his father does not give him his share. After
Fafnir has killed Hreidmar, Regin demands his heritage, but
in vain. His sister Lyngheid advises him not to raise a
weapon against his brother. Regin comes to King Hjalprek,
the foster father of Sigurd, and becomes Sigurd's teacher.
He knows that Sigurd will be a brave hero and tells him
the story of Fafnir, who guards an immense treasure on
the Gnitaheath. He even forges the sword Gram, with which
Sigurd splits the anvil, and provokes Sigurd into killing
Fafnir. The dying dragon warns Sigurd that Regin will be a
traitor to him. Regin cuts out Fafnir's heart, drinks his
blood, and asks Sigurd to roast the dragon's heart. Then
he goes to sleep. The titmice also warn Sigurd of
of Etzel. [WM]
riches. [KM]
court. [WM]
dies. [FH]
she has had a dream in which all of the birds of the land
were dead. Hagen maintains that no stock should be put in
dreams, although his later behavior after having met the
water sprites would seem to indicate that he is less
inclined to dismiss such "warnings" as might seem to be
the case. Ute's innate sense that this will not turn out
well finds reflection in a similar attitude of those women
who gather on the riverbank to see their men off (1521).
In the Klage Ute dies when she is later told of the
slaughter of the Burgundians at the court of Etzel. [WM]
VALDAMAR OF DENMARK (VALDAMARR AF DANMORK), one of the "men
of great reputation" who accompany Grimhild and her sons
to Denmark in order to compensate Gudrun for the murder
of Sigurd in the Volsunga saga. [JHS] VELENT (VOLUND),
in the Pioreks saga, he is the son of Vathi and grandson
of Vilkinus. When Velent is nine, his father sends him to
apprentice with Mimir in Hooaland. Young Sigurd is with
Mimir at this time. Velent remains with Mimir for three
years. Vathi then takes Velent to apprentice with two
dwarfs who live in a mountain. They instruct Velent for
twelve months. At the end of this time, they do not want
to release him and keep him for a second year. Velent
becomes as skillful a smith as the dwarfs. When Vathi is
crushed by a landslide, Velent finds the sword that his
father has left for him, kills the dwarfs, and then sets
out for Denmark. Unable to cross the Visara (Weser), he
fashions a watertight container for himself and his
implements from a tree trunk and floats ashore in
Nidung's kingdom. Velent serves Nidung well. Velent and
Amilias, Nidung's smith, wager their heads about who is
the more accomplished artisan. When Velent tries to
retrieve his own tools, he finds that they have been
stolen. He identifies the thief by making a lifelike
statue of him. Velent then forges the sword Mimung with
which he cleaves Amilias's helmet and splits Amilias
down to the belt. Nidung wants Mimung, but under pretense
of fetching a scabbard, Velent brings Nidung a copy and
keeps the original for himself. Velent accompanies Nidung
on his campaign against a large enemy army. At
epic. [WM]
andRAMuNG.
epic. [MR]
Notung. [WM]
BOTENBROTIBOTENMIETE (messenger's
her son and his bride with silver and gold (705,1
torch the Great Hall, she recalls that she and the
murder. [ASH]
and the miners who work under the earth, whom betrothal.
Asked the reason for her tears,
saga. [JLF]
Sigmund. [WM]
sources. [JLF]
Fafnismal). [JKW]
lungenlied. [OE]
tale. [FGG]
the very final word in the epic: daz ist der Nibe
lunge not. By contrast, manuscripts of the liet
existence. [MR]
peasantry. [BC]
the adverb sit (later on, since then), but the forms
heroes. [MH]
cowardice. [KQ]
poetry. [GW]
mir harte leit" ("I do not care at all for this recon
authority. [MH]
DARMSTADTER AVENTIURENVER
literature. [SGA]
Nibelungenlied. [WW]
"gender." [AKN]
lungenlied. [WW]
death. [VU]
may not wish to: "Sit daz ich iu diu mrere gar
208 SCHOLARSHIP
GERMANY) [RWIUM]
Figure 1
depicted. [RHFIMS]
materials. [YO]
poems. [MR]
race. [WW]
guilt. [WW]
soil. [RK]
I. General Collections
peoples. [WW]
III). [SJ]
Teutonism." [MHIWW]
Burgundians. [MS]
Springeth, Margarete. "Attila (II). Der Attila-Mythos in
der nordischen und in der deutschen Literatur." In
Herrscher, Heiden, Heilige, edited by Ulrich MUller and
Werner Wunderlich. MittelalterMythen 1. St. Gall:
UVK.-Verlag, 1996, pp. 2946.
reception. [WW]
individual. [WW]
lungs. [WW]
mankind. [WW]
tradition." [WW]
impression. [RHF]
valkyrie. [WW]
death, war and violence, and man and nature. In his second
Nibelungen novel, Wodan s
included. [BC]
together. [SJM]
Copenhagen. [WW]
(1971). [UM]
Rheingold. [UM]
Karlsruhe. [UM]
Cornelius. [UM]
Siegfried. [UM]
completed. [UM]
Kastner, JOrg. Das Nibelungenlied in den Augen der
Kiinstler vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Exhibition
catalog. Passau: Passavia Universitiitsverlag, 1986, pp.
88-89.
Cornelius. [UM]
frescoes. [UM]
annihilation. [WW]
1900). rUM]
interrelated. [UM]
illustrations. [UM]
in 1897. [UM]
nature). [UM]
Nibelungenlied. [UM]
Schulte-WUlwer, Ulrich. Das Nibelungenlied in der
deutschen Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts. Giellen:
Anabas, 1979, pp. 60-61, 86.
1823. rUM]
Coogan, Tim Pat. The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and
TImes of Michael Collins. Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart
Publishers, 1992, pp. xiv, 109.
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Figure 2
314 MISCELLANEOUS
Kolb, Julius. Vom Rhein zur Donau: Auf den Spuren der
Nibelungen. Munich: Herbig, 1989.