Nibelungenlied

Background/History
• The Nibelungenlied, translated
as The Song of the Nibelungs, is
an epic poem in Middle High
German. The story tells of dragonslayer Siegfried at the court of
the Burundians, how he was
murdered, and of his
wife Kriemhild's revenge.

•A historical nucleus of the saga lies in
events of the Germanic Migration Period,
in particular the defeat of
the Burundians by Flavius Etuis with the
aid of Hunnish mercenaries
near Worms in ca. AD 436. Other possible
influences are the feud between the 6th
century
Merovingian queens Brunhilda and Frede
gunde, as well as the marriage of Attila
with the Burgundian princess Ildikó in AD
453.

Settings:

The Nibelungenlied is a
German epic poem
which was written
sometime around
1200, probably in what
is today Austria.

Characters: of Xanten; dragon-slayer
Siegfried - Crown Prince
Gunther - King of Burgundy; his brother Gernot and
Giselher
Kriemhild - Heroine of Siegfried
Brunhild - Queen of Iceland, a beautiful maiden of
almost superhuman strength.
Hagen - the faithful vassal of Gunther
Etzel (Attila) - King of Huns
Alberich - The dwarf who was the Lord Treasurer of
the Nibelung dynasty. When Siegfried conquered the
Nibelung brothers, he took his magic cloak of
invisibility and made Alberich Lord Treasurer of the
Nibelung treasure.

Summary:

The hero of Nibelungelied is Siegfried, the
crown prince of Xanten and dragon slayer,
and its heroine Kriemhild the sister of
Gunther, king of Burgundy and brothers of
Gernot and Giselher.
Kriemhild has a dream of a falcon that is
killed by two eagles which means her
future¶s husband will die in a violent death
and consequently revolves to remain
unmarried.

Summary:
Siegfried arrived in Worms (is a city in
Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine
River) with the hopes in wooing Kriemhild. Upon
his arrival, Hagen, one of King Gunther's vassals,
tells Gunther about Siegfried's youthful exploits
that involved winning a treasure and lands from
a pair of brothers, Nibelung and Schilbung,
whom Siegfried had killed when he was unable
to divide the treasure between them and,
almost incidentally, the killing of a dragon.
Siegfried leaves his treasure in the charge of a
dwarf named Alberich.

Summary:
After killing the dragon, Siegfried then
bathed in its blood, which rendered
him invulnerable. Unfortunately for
Siegfried, a leaf fell onto his back from
a linden tree, and the small patch of
skin that the leaf covered did not come
into contact with the dragon's blood,
leaving Siegfried vulnerable in that
single spot.

Summary:
Siegfried finally meets Kriemhild.
Gunther requests Siegfried to sail with
him to the fictional city of Isenstein in
Iceland to win the hand of the
Iceland's Queen, Brünhild. Siegfried
agrees, though only if Gunther allows
him to marry Gunther's sister,
Kriemhild, whom Siegfried pines for.

Summary:

Gunther, Siegfried and a group of Burgundians set
sail for Iceland with Siegfried pretending to be
Gunther's vassal. Upon their arrival, Brünhild
challenges Gunther to a trial of strength with her
hand in marriage as a reward. If they lose, however,
they will be sentenced to death. She challenges
Gunther to three athletic contests, throwing a
javelin, tossing a boulder, and a leap. After seeing
the boulder and javelin, it becomes apparent to the
group that Brünhild is immensely strong and they
fear for their lives. Gunther wins only because of
Siegfried, putting on his cloak of invinsibility and
performs all the actions for him.

Summary:
Gunther wins Brunhild for his wife
and a doble wedding is performed
in the Burgundy. Gunther is
married to Brunhild and Siegfried is
married to Kriemhild. They had a
son, Brunhild named his son
Siegfried while Kriemhild named
his son Gunther.

Summary:
However, on their wedding night, Brünhild suspects
something is amiss with her situation, particularly
suspecting Siegfried a potential cause. Gunther
attempts to sleep with her and, with her great strength,
she easily ties Gunther up and leaves him that way all
night. Siegfried slips into the room according to plan
and after a difficult and violent struggle, an invisible
Siegfried defeats Brünhild. Siegfried then takes her ring
and belt, which are symbols of defloration. Here it is
implied that Siegfried sleeps with Brünhild despite
Gunther's request. Afterwards, Brünhild no longer
possesses her once-great strength and says she will no
longer refuse Gunther. Siegfried gives the ring and belt
to his own newly wed, Kriemhild.

Summary:
The two queens had an argument and is
both a risk for the marriage of Gunther and
Brünhild and a potential cause for a lethal
rivalry between Gunther and Siegfried,
which both Gunther and Siegfried attempt
to avoid. Hagen contrives a false military
threat to Gunther and Siegfried,
considering Gunther a great friend,
volunteers to help Gunther once again.

Summary:

Under the context of this threat of war, Hagen
persuades Kriemhild, who still trusts Hagen, to
mark Siegfried's single vulnerable point on his
clothing with a cross under the premise of
protecting him. Now knowing Siegfried's
weakness, the fake campaign is called off and
Hagen then uses the cross as a target on a
hunting trip, killing Siegfried with a spear as he
is drinking from a brook. Further dishonoring
Siegfried, Hagen steals the hoard from Kriemhild
and throws it into theRhine (Rheingold), to
prevent Kriemhild from using it to establish an
army of her own.

Revenge:

Kriemhild swears to take revenge for the murder of her
husband and the theft of her treasure. Many years
later, King Etzel of the Huns (Attila the Hun) proposes to
Kriemhild, she journeys to the land of the Huns, and
they are married. For the baptism of their son, she
invites her brothers, the Burgundians, to a feast at
Etzel's castle in Hungary. Hagen does not want to go,
but is taunted until he does: he realizes that it is a trick
of Kriemhild in order to take revenge and kill them all.
As the Burgundians cross the Danube, this fate is
confirmed by Nixes, who predict that all but one monk
will die. Hagen tries to drown the monk in order to
render the prophecy futile, but he survives.

Revenge:

The Burgundians arrive at Etzel's castle and are
welcomed by Kriemhild "with lying smiles and
graces". But the lord Dietrich of Bern, an ally of
Etzel's, advises the Burgundians to keep their
weapons with them at all times, which is normally
not allowed. The tragedy unfolds. Kriemhild
comes before Hagen, reproaches him for her
husband Siegfried's death, and demands the
return of her Nibelungenschatz. Hagen answers
her boldly, admitting that he killed Siegfried and
sank the Nibelungen treasure into the Rhine, but
blames these acts on Kriemhild's own behaviour.

Revenge:

King Etzel then welcomes his wife's brothers
warmly. But outside a tense feast in the great hall, a
fight breaks out between Huns and Burgundians,
and soon there is general mayhem. When word of
the fight arrives at the feast, Hagen decapitates
Kriemhild and Etzel's little son before his parents'
eyes. The Burgundians take control of the hall,
which is besieged by Etzel's warriors. Kriemhild
offers her brothers their lives if they hand over
Hagen, but they refuse. The battle lasts all day, until
the queen orders the hall to be burned with the
Burgundians inside.

Revenge:

All of the Burgundians are killed except for
Hagen and Gunther, who are bound and held
prisoner by Dietrich of Bern. Kriemhild has the
men brought before her and orders her
brother Gunther to be killed. Even after seeing
Gunther's head, Hagen refuses to tell the
queen what he has done with the Nibelungen
treasure. Furious, Kriemhild herself cuts off
Hagen's head. Old Hildebrand, the mentor of
Dietrich of Bern, is infuriated by the shameful
deaths of the Burgundian guests.

Revenge:

He hews Kriemhild to pieces with his
sword. In a fifteenth century manuscript,
he is said to strike Kriemhild a single clean
blow to the waist; she feels no pain,
however, and declares that his sword is
useless. Hildebrand then drops a ring and
commands Kriemhild to pick it up. As she
bends down, her body falls into pieces.
Dietrich and Etzel and all the people of the
court lament the deaths of so many heroes

Nibelungenlied

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Nibelungenlied