The time came when the people of Western Europe learned to believe
in one God and were converted to Christianity, but the old stories
about the gods and Valkyries and giants and heroes, who were half
gods and half men, were not forgotten.
These stories were repeated from father to son for generations,
and in the twelfth century a poet, whose name we do not know, wrote
them in verse. He called his poem the Nibelungenlied (song of the
Nibelungs). It is the great national poem of the Germans. The
legends told in it are the basis of Wagner's operas.
"Nibelungs" was the name given to some northern dwarfs whose king
had once possessed a great treasure of gold and precious stones but
had lost it. Whoever got possession of this treasure was followed
by a curse. The Nibelungenlied tells the adventures of those who
possessed the treasure.
II
In the grand old city of Worms, in Burgundy, there lived long ago
the princess Kriemhilda. Her eldest brother Gunther was king of
Burgundy.
And in the far-away Netherlands, where the Rhine pours its waters
into the sea, dwelt a prince named Siegfried, son of Siegmund, the
king.
Ere long Sir Siegfried heard of the beauty of fair Kriemhilda.
He said to his father, "Give me twelve knights and I will ride to
King Gunther's land. I must win the heart of Kriemhilda."
After seven days' journey the prince and his company drew near to
the gates of Worms. All wondered who the strangers were and whence
they came. Hagen, Kriemhilda's uncle, guessed. He said, "I never
have seen the famed hero of Netherlands, yet I am sure that yonder
knight is none but Sir Siegfried."
"And who," asked the wondering people, "may Siegfried be?"
"Siegfried," answered Sir Hagen, "is a truly wonderful knight.
Once when riding all alone, he came to a mountain where lay the
treasure of the king of the Nibelungs. The king's two sons had
brought it out from the cave in which it had been hidden, to divide
it between them. But they did not agree about the division. So
when Seigfied drew near both princes said, 'Divide for us, Sir
Siegfried, our father's hoard.' There were so many jewels that
one hundred wagons could not carry them, and of ruddy gold there
was even more. Seigfied made the fairest division he could, and as
a reward the princes gave him their father's sword called Balmung.
But although Siegfried had done his best to satisfy them with his
division, they soon fell to quarreling and fighting, and when he
tried to separate them they made an attack on him. To save his own
life he slew them both. Alberich, a mountain dwarf, who had long
been guardian of the Nibelung hoard, rushed to avenge his masters;
but Siegfried vanquished him and took from him his cap of darkness
which made its wearer invisible and gave him the strength of twelve
men. The hero then ordered Alberich to place the treasure again
in the mountain cave and guard it for him."
Hagen then told another story of Siegfried:
"Once he slew a fierce dragon and bathed himself in its blood, and
this turned the hero's skin to horn, so that no sword or spear can
wound him."
When Hagen had told these tales he advised King Gunther and the
people of Burgundy to receive Siegfried with all honor.
So, as the fashion was in those times, games were held in
the courtyard of the palace in honor of Siegfried, and Kriemhilda
watched the sport from her window.
For a full year Siegfried stayed at the court of King Gunther,
but never in all that time told why he had come and never once saw
Kriemhilda.
At the end of the year sudden tidings came that the Saxons and
Danes, as was their habit, were pillaging the lands of Burgundy.
At the head of a thousand Burgundian knights Siegfried conquered
both Saxons and Danes. The king of the Danes was taken prisoner
and the Saxon king surrendered.
The victorious warriors returned to Worms and the air was filled with
glad shouts of welcome. King Gunther asked Kriemhilda to welcome
Siegfried and offer him the thanks of all the land of Burgundy.
Siegfried stood before her, and she said, "Welcome, Sir Siegfried,
welcome; we thank you one and all." He bent before her and she
kissed him.
III
Far over the sea from sunny Burgundy lived Brunhilda, queen of
Iceland. Fair was she of face and strong beyond compare. If a
knight would woo and win her he must surpass her in three contests:
leaping, hurling the spear and pitching the stone. If he failed
in even one, he must forfeit his life.
King Gunther resolved to wed this strange princess and Siegfried
promised to help him. "But," said Siegfried, "if we succeed, I must
have as my wife thy sister Kriemhilda." To this Gunther agreed,
and the voyage to Iceland began.
When Gunther and his companions neared Brunhilda's palace the gates
were opened and the strangers were welcomed.
Siegfried thanked the queen for her kindness and told how Gunther
had come to Iceland in hope of winning her hand.
"If in three contests he gain the mastery," she said, "I will become
his wife. If not, both he and you who are with him must lose your
lives."
Brunhilda prepared for the contests. Her shield was so thick and
heavy that four strong men were needed to bear it. Three could
scarcely carry her spear and the stone that she hurled could just
be lifted by twelve.
Siegfried now helped Gunther in a wonderful way. He put on his
cap of darkness, so that no one could see him. Then he stood by
Gunther's side and did the fighting. Brunhilda threw her spear
against the kings bright shield and sparks flew from the steel.
But the unseen knight dealt Brunhilda such blows that she confessed
herself conquered.
In the second and third contests she fared no better, and so
she had to become King Gunther's bride. But she said that before
she would leave Iceland she must tell all her kinsmen. Daily her
kinsfolk came riding to the castle, and soon an army had assembled.
Then Gunther and his friends feared unfair play. So Siegfried
put on his cap of darkness, stepped into a boat, and went to the
Nibelung land where Alberich the dwarf was guarding the wonderful
Nibelung treasure.
"Bring me here," he cried to the dwarf, "a thousand Nibelung
knights." At the call of the dwarf the warriors gathered around
Sir Siegfried. Then they sailed with him to Brunhilda's isle and
the queen and her kinsmen, fearing such warriors, welcomed them
instead of fighting. Soon after their arrival King Gunther and
his men, Siegfried and his Nibelungs, and Queen Brunhilda, with
two thousand of her kinsmen set sail for King Gunther's land.
As soon as they reached Worms the marriage of Gunther and Brunhilda
took place. Siegfried and Kriemhilda also were married, and after
their marriage went to Siegfried's Netherlands castle. There they
lived more happily than I can tell.
IV
Now comes the sad part of the Nibelung tale.
Brunhilda and Gunther invited Siegfried and Kriemhilda to visit them
at Worms. During the visit the two queens quarreled and Brunhilda
made Gunther angry with Siegfried. Hagen, too, began to hate
Siegfried and wished to kill him.
But Siegfried could not be wounded except in one spot on which
a falling leaf had rested when he bathed himself in the dragon's
blood. Only Kriemhilda knew where this spot was. Hagen told her
to sew a little silk cross upon Siegfried's dress to mark the spot,
so that he might defend Siegfried in a fight.
No battle was fought, but Siegfried went hunting with Gunther and
Hagen one day and they challenged him to race with them. He easily
won, but after running he was hot and thirsty and knelt to drink
at a spring. Then Hagen seized a spear and plunged it through the
cross into the hero's body. Thus the treasure of the Nibelungs
brought disaster to Siegfried.
Gunther and Hagen told Kriemhilda that robbers in the wood had
slain her husband, but she could not be deceived.
Kriemhilda determined to take vengeance on the murderers of Siegfried,
and so she would not leave Worms. There, too, stayed one thousand
knights who had followed Siegfried from the Nibelung land.
Soon after Siegfried's death Kriemhilda begged her younger brother
to bring the Nibelung treasure from the mountain cave to Worms.
When it arrived Kriemhilda gave gold and jewels to rich and poor
in Burgundy, and Hagen feared that soon she would win the love of
all the people and turn them against him. So, one day, he took
the treasure and hid it in the Rhine. He hoped some day to enjoy
it himself.
As Hagen now possessed the Nibelung treasure the name "Nibelungs"
was given to him and his companions.
V
Etzel, or as we call him, Attila, king of the Huns, heard of the
beauty of Kriemhilda and sent one of his knights to ask the queen
to become his wife.
At first she refused. However, when she remembered that Etzel
carried the sword of Tiew, she changed her mind, because, if she
became his wife, she might persuade him to take vengeance upon
Gunther and Hagen.
And so it came to pass.
Shortly after their marriage Etzel and Kriemhilda invited Gunther
and all his court to a grand midsummer festival in the land of the
Huns.
Hagen was afraid to go, for he felt sure that Kriemhilda had not
forgiven the murder of Siegfried. However, it was decided that
the invitation should be accepted, but that ten thousand knights
should go with Gunther as a body-guard.
Shortly after Gunther and his followers arrived at Attila's court
a banquet was prepared. Nine thousand Burgundians were seated at
the board when Attila's brother came into the banquet hall with a
thousand well-armed knights. A quarrel arose and a fight followed.
Thousands of the Burgundians were slain. The struggle continued
for days. At last, of all the knights of Burgundy, Gunther and
Hagen alone were left alive. Then one of Kriemhilda's friends fought
with them and overpowered both. He bound them and delivered them
to Kriemhilda.
The queen ordered one of her knights to cut off Gunther's head, and
she herself cut off the head of Hagen with "Balmung," Siegfried's
wonderful sword. A friend of Hagen then avenged his death by
killing Kriemhilda herself.
Of all the Nibelungs who entered the land of the Huns one only ever
returned to Burgundy.
