“Cowards and traitors, ye! A curse shall fall upon you. My every care
has been to serve and please you, and thus I am requited. Bitterly shall
you rue this deed. The brand of traitor is set upon your foreheads, and
it shall be a mark of loathing and shame to you forever.”
Then the weak old Gunther began to wring his hands, and to bewail the
death of Siegfried. But the hero bade him hush, and asked him of what
use it was to regret an act which could have been done only by his leave
and sanction.
“Better to have thought of tears and groans before,” said he. “I have
always known that you were a man of weak mind, but never did I dream
that you could lend yourself to so base a deed. And now, if there is
left aught of manliness in your bosom, I charge you to have a care for
Kriemhild your sister. Long shall my loved Nibelungen-folk await my
coming home.”
The glorious hero struggled in the last agony. The grass and flowers
were covered with his blood; the trees shivered, as if in sympathy
with him, and dropped their leaves upon the ground; the birds stopped
singing, and sorrowfully flew away; and a solemn silence fell upon the
earth, as if the very heart of Nature had been crushed.
And the men who stood around--all save the four guilty ones--bowed their
heads upon their hands, and gave way to one wild burst of grief. Then
tenderly they took up Siegfried, and laid him upon a shield, with his
mighty weapons by him. And, when the sorrowing Night had spread her
black mantle over the mid-world, they carried him silently out of the
forest, and across the river, and brought him, by Gunther’s orders,
to the old castle, which now nevermore would resound with mirth and
gladness. And they laid him at Kriemhild’s door, and stole sadly away to
their own places, and each one thought bitterly of the morrow.[EN#33]
Adventure XX. How the Hoard Was Brought to Burgundy.
And what was done on the morrow?
Too sad is the tale of Kriemhild’s woe and her grief for the mighty
dead. Let us pass it by in tearful, pitying silence, nor wish to awaken
the echoes of that morning of hopeless anguish which dawned on the cold
and cheerless dwelling of the kings. For peace had fled from Burgundy,
nevermore to return.
Siegfried was dead. Faded, now, was the glory of the Nibelungen Land,
and gone was the mid-world’s hope.
It is told in ancient story, how men built a funeral-pile far out on the
grassy meadows, where the quiet river flows; and how, in busy silence,
they laid the sun-dried beams of ash and elm together, and made ready
the hero’s couch; and how the pile was dight with many a sun-bright
shield, with war-coats and glittering helms, and silks and rich dyed
cloths from the South-land, and furs, and fine-wrought ivory, and
gem-stones priceless and rare; and how, over all, they scattered sweet
spices from Araby, and the pleasantest of all perfumes. Then they
brought the golden Siegfried, and laid him on his couch; and beside him
were his battered shield, and Balmung with its fire-edge bare. And,
as the sun rose high in heaven, the noblest earl-folk who had loved
Siegfried best touched fire to the funeral-pile. And a pleasant breeze
from the Southland fanned the fire to a flame, and the white blaze
leaped on high, and all the folk cried out in mighty agony to the gods.
Such was the story that men told to each other when the world was still
young, and the heroes were unforgotten.[EN#34] And some said, too, that
Brunhild, the fair and hapless queen, died then of a broken heart and of
a hopeless, yearning sorrow, and that she was burned with Siegfried on
that high-built funeral-pile.
“They are gone,--the lovely, the mighty, the hope of the ancient earth:
It shall labor and bear the burden as before the day of their birth:...
It shall yearn, and be oft-times holpen, and forget their deeds no more,
Till the new sun beams on Balder and the happy sealess shore.”[EN#35]
Another and much later story is sometimes told of these last sad
days,--how the hero’s body was laid in a coffin, and buried in the quiet
earth, amid the sorrowful lamentations of all the Rhineland folk; and
how, at Kriemhild’s earnest wish, it was afterwards removed to the place
where now stands the little minster of Lorsch. As to which of these
stories is the true one, it is not for me to say. Enough it is to know
that Siegfried was dead, and that the spring-time had fled, and the
summer-season with all its golden glories had faded away from Rhineland,
and that the powers of darkness and of cold and of evil had prevailed.
To this day the city where was the dwelling of the Burgundian kings is
called Worms, in remembrance of the dragon, or worm, which Siegfried
slew; and a figure of that monster was for many years painted upon
the city arms, and borne on the banner of the Burgundians. And, until
recently, travellers were shown the Reisen-haus,--a stronghold, which,
men say, Siegfried built; and in it were many strange and mighty
weapons, which, they claim, were wielded by the hero. The lance which
was shown there was a great beam nearly eighty feet in length; and the
war-coat, wrought with steel and gold, and bespangled with gem-stones,
was a wonder to behold. And now, in the Church of St. Cecilia, you may
see what purports to be the hero’s grave. And a pleasant meadow, not far
from the town, is still called Kriemhild’s Rose-garden; while farther
away is the place called Drachenfels, or the dragon’s field, where, they
say, Siegfried met Fafnir. But whether it is the same as the Glittering
Heath of the ancient legend, I know not.
And what became of the Hoard of Andvari?
The story is briefly told.[EN#36] When the days of mourning were past,
and the people had gone back sadly to their homes, Queen Kriemhild began
to speak of returning to the land of the Nibelungens. But Ute, her aged
mother, could not bear to part with her, and besought her to stay, for
a while at least, in the now desolate Burgundian castle. And Gernot and
Giselher, her true and loving brothers, added their words of entreaty
also. And so, though heart-sick, and with many misgivings, she agreed to
abide for a season in this cheerless and comfortless place. Many days,
even months, dragged by, and still she remained; for she found it still
harder and harder to tear herself away from her mother, and all that her
heart held dear. Yet never, for three years and more, did she even speak
to Gunther, or by any sign show that she remembered him. And, as for
Hagen, no words could utter the deep and settled hate she felt towards
him. But the dark-browed chief cared nought either for love or hate; and
he walked erect, as in the days of yore, and he smiled and frowned alike
for both evil and good. And he said, “It was not I: it was the Norns,
who wove the woof of his life and mine.”
The years went by on leaden wings, and brought no sunlight to Gunther’s
dwelling; for his days were full of sadness, and his nights of fearful
dreams. At length he said to chief Hagen, “If there is aught in the
mid-world that can drive away this gloom, I pray thee to help me find
it; for madness steals upon me.”
“There is one thing,” answered Hagen, “which might brighten our land
again, and lift up your drooping spirits, and bring gladness to your
halls.”
“What is that?” asked the king.
“It is the Nibelungen Hoard,” said the chief. “It is the wondrous
treasure of Andvari, which Siegfried gave as a gift to Kriemhild. If it
were ours, we might become the masters of the world.”
“But how can we obtain it?”
“It is Kriemhild’s,” was the answer. “But she does not care for it;
neither could she use it if she wished. If you could only gain her favor
and forgiveness, I feel sure that she would let you do with it as you
wish.”
Then Gunther besought his younger brothers to intercede for him with
Kriemhild, that she would so far forgive him as to look upon his face,
and speak with him once more. And this the queen at last consented to
do. And, when Gunther came into her presence, she was so touched at
sight of his haggard face and whitened locks, and his earnest words
of sorrow, that she forgave him the great wrong that he had done, and
welcomed him again as her brother. And he swore that never would he
again wrong her or hers, nor do aught to grieve her. But it was not
until a long time after this, that he proposed to her that they should
bring the Hoard of Andvari away from the Nibelungen Land.
“For, if it were here, dear sister,” he said, “it might be of great use
to you.”
“Do whatever seems best to you,” answered Kriemhild. “Only remember the
oath that you have given me.”
Then Gunther, because he was anxious to see the wondrous Hoard, but more
because he was urged on by Hagen, made ready to send to the Nibelungen
Land to bring away the treasure by Kriemhild’s command. Eight thousand
men, with Gernot and Giselher as their leaders, sailed over the sea in
stanch vessels, and landed on the Nibelungen shore. And when they told
who they were, and whence they came, and showed the queen’s signet-ring,
they were welcomed heartily by the fair-haired folk of Mist Land,
who gladly acknowledged themselves the faithful liegemen of the loved
Kriemhild.
When the Burgundians made known their errand to Alberich the dwarf,
who still held watch and ward over the mountain stronghold, he was much
amazed, and he grieved to part with his cherished treasure.
“But,” said he to his little followers, who stood around him by
thousands, each anxious to fight the intruders,--“but there is Queen
Kriemhild’s order and her signet-ring, and we must, perforce, obey. Yet
had we again the good Tarnkappe which Siegfried took from us, the Hoard
should never leave us.”
Then sadly he gave up the keys, and the Burgundians began to remove the
treasure. For four whole days and nights they toiled, carrying the Hoard
in huge wagons down to the sea. And on the fifth day they set sail, and
without mishap arrived in good time at Worms. And many of Alberich’s
people, the swarthy elves of the cave, came with Gernot to Rhineland;
for they could not live away from the Hoard. And it is said, that hidden
among the gold and the gem-stones was the far-famed Wishing-rod, which
would give to its owner the power of becoming the lord of the wide
mid-world.
And the vast treasure was stored in the towers and vaults of the castle.
And Queen Kriemhild alone held the keys, and lavishly she scattered the
gold wherever it was needed most. The hungry were fed, the naked were
clothed, the sick were cared for; and everybody near and far blessed the
peerless Queen of Nibelungen Land.
Then Hagen, always plotting evil, whispered to King Gunther, and said,
“It is dangerous to suffer your sister to hold so vast a treasure. All
the people are even now ready to leave you, and follow her. She will yet
plot to seize the kingdom, and destroy us.”
And he urged the king to take the keys and to make the Nibelungen Hoard
his own.
But Gunther answered, “I have already done too great a wrong. And I have
sworn to my sister never to harm her again, or to do aught that will
grieve her.”
“Let the guilt, then, rest on me,” said Hagen. And he strode away, and
took the keys from Kriemhild by force.
When Gernot and Giselher heard of this last vile act of the evil-eyed
chief, they waxed very angry, and vowed that they would help their
sister regain that which was her own. But the wary Hagen was not to be
foiled; for, while the brothers were away from the burgh, he caused the
great Hoard to be carried to the river, at a place called Lochheim,
and sunk, fathoms deep, beneath the water. And then, for fear of the
vengeance which might be wreaked upon him, he fled from Rhineland, and
hid himself for a while among the mountains and the barren hill-country
of the South.
And this was the end of the fated Hoard of Andvari.
The After Word.
Such is the story of Siegfried (or Sigurd), as we gather it from various
German and Scandinavian legends. In this recital I have made no attempt
to follow any one of the numerous originals, but have selected here
and there such incidents as best suited my purpose in constructing one
connected story which would convey to your minds some notion of the
beauty and richness of our ancient myths. In doing this, I have drawn,
now from the Volsunga Saga, now from the Nibelungen Lied, now from one
of the Eddas, and now from some of the minor legends relating to the
great hero of the North. These ancient stories, although differing
widely in particulars, have a certain general relationship and agreement
which proves beyond doubt a common origin. “The primeval myth,” says
Thomas Carlyle, “whether it were at first philosophical truth, or
historical incident, floats too vaguely on the breath of men: each has
the privilege of inventing, and the far wider privilege of borrowing
and new modelling from all that preceded him. Thus, though tradition
may have but one root, it grows, like a banian, into a whole overarching
labyrinth of trees.”
If you would follow the tradition of Siegfried to the end; if you would
learn how, after the great Hoard had been buried in the Rhine, the curse
of the dwarf Andvari still followed those who had possessed it, and how
Kriemhild wreaked a terrible vengeance upon Siegfried’s murderers,--you
must read the original story as related in the Volsung Myth or in the
Nibelungen Song. Our story ends with Siegfried.
The episodes which I have inserted here and there--the stories of AEgir,
and of Balder, and of Idun, and of Thor--do not, as you may know, belong
properly to the legend of Siegfried; but I have thrown them in, in order
to acquaint you with some of the most beautiful mythical conceptions of
our ancestors.
A grand old people were those early kinsmen of ours,--not at all so
savage and inhuman as our histories would sometimes make us believe. For
however mistaken their notions may have been, and however ignorant they
were, according to our ideas of things, they were strong-hearted, brave
workers; and, so far as opportunity was afforded them, they acted well
their parts. What their notions were of true manhood,--a strong mind in
a strong body, good, brave, and handsome,--may be learned from the story
of Siegfried.
End of The Story of Siegfried.
The Story of Siegfried Endnotes.
[EN#1] Siegfried’s Boyhood.
“All men agree that Siegfried was a king’s son. He was born, as we here
have good reason to know, ‘at Santen in Netherland,’ of Siegmund and the
fair Siegelinde; yet by some family misfortune or discord, of which the
accounts are very various, he came into singular straits during boyhood,
having passed that happy period of life, not under the canopies of
costly state, but by the sooty stithy, in one Mimer, a blacksmith’s
shop.”--Thomas Carlyle, The Nibelungen Lied.
The older versions of this story represent Siegfried, under the name of
Sigurd, as being brought up at the court of the Danish King Hialprek;
his own father Sigmund having been slain in battle, as related in this
chapter. He was early placed under the tuition of Regin, or Regino, an
elf, who instructed his pupil in draughts, runes, languages, and various
other accomplishments.--See Preface to Vollmer’s Nibelunge Not, also the
Song of Sigurd Fafnisbane, in the Elder Edda, and the Icelandic Volsunga
Saga.
[EN#2]--Mimer.
“The Vilkinasaga brings before us yet another smith, Mimer, by whom not
only is Velint instructed in his art, but Sigfrit (Siegfried) is brought
up,--another smith’s apprentice. He is occasionally mentioned in the
later poem of Biterolf, as Mime the Old. The old name of Munster in
Westphalia was Mimigardiford; the Westphalian Minden was originally
Mimidun; and Memleben on the Unstrut, Mimileba.. .. The elder Norse
tradition names him just as often, and in several different connections.
In one place, a Mimingus, a wood-satyr, and possessor of a sword and
jewels, is interwoven into the myth of Balder and Hoder. The Edda gives
a higher position to its Mimer. He has a fountain, in which wisdom
and understanding lie hidden: drinking of it every morning, he is the
wisest, most intelligent, of men. To Mimer’s fountain came Odin, and
desired a drink, but did not receive it till he had given one of his
eyes in pledge, and hidden it in the fountain: this accounts for Odin
being one-eyed.... Mimer is no Asa, but an exalted being with whom the
Asas hold converse, of whom they make use,--the sum total of wisdom,
possibly an older Nature-god. Later fables degraded him into a
wood-sprite, or clever smith.”--Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie, I. p. 379.
Concerning the Mimer of the Eddas, Professor Anderson says, “The name
Mimer means the knowing. The Giants, being older than the Asas, looked
deeper than the latter into the darkness of the past. They had witnessed
the birth of the gods and the beginning of the world, and they foresaw
their downfall. Concerning both these events, the gods had to go to
them for knowledge. It is this wisdom that Mimer keeps in his
fountain.”--Norse Mythology, p 209.
In the older versions of the legend, the smith who cared for Siegfried
(Sigurd) is called, as we have before noticed, Regin. He is thus
described by Morris:--
“The lore of all men he knew,
And was deft in every cunning, save the dealings of the
sword.
So sweet was his tongue-speech fashioned, that men
trowed his every word.
His hand with the harp-strings blended was the mingler
of delight
With the latter days of sorrow: all tales he told
aright.
The Master of the Masters in the smithying craft was
he;
And he dealt with the wind and the weather and the
stilling of the sea;
Nor might any learn him leech-craft, for before that
race was made,
And that man-folk’s generation, all their life-days had
he weighed.”
Sigurd the Volsung, Bk. II.
[EN#3]--The Sword.
“By this sword Balmung also hangs a tale. Doubtless it was one of those
invaluable weapons sometimes fabricated by the old Northern smiths,
compared with which our modern Foxes and Ferraras and Toledos are mere
leaden tools. Von der Hagen seems to think it simply the sword Mimung
under another name; in which case, Siegfried’s old master, Mimer, had
been the maker of it, and called it after himself, as if it had been his
son.”--Carlyle, on the Nibelungen Lied, note.
In Scandinavian legends, the story of Mimer and Amilias is given,
differing but slightly from the rendering in this chapter.--See Weber
and Jamieson’s Illustrations of Northern Antiquities.
In the older versions of the myth, the sword is called Gram, or the
Wrath. It was wrought from the shards, or broken pieces, of Sigmund’s
sword, the gift of Odin. It was made by Regin for Sigurd’s (Siegfried’s)
use, and its temper was tested as here described.
[EN#4]--Sigmund The Volsung.
Sigmund the Volsung, in the Volsunga Saga, is represented as the father
of Sigurd (Siegfried); but there is such a marked contrast between him,
and the wise, home-abiding King Siegmund of the later stories, that I
have thought proper to speak of them here as two different individuals.
The word “Sigmund,” or “Siegmund,” means literally the mouth of victory.
The story of the Volsungs, as here supposed to be related by Mimer, is
derived mainly from the Volsunga Saga.
[EN#5]--Siegfried’s Journey Into The Forest.
“In the shop of Mimer, Siegfried was nowise in his proper element, ever
quarrelling with his fellow-apprentices, nay, as some say, breaking the
hardest anvils into shivers by his too stout hammering; so that Mimer,
otherwise a first-rate smith, could by no means do with him there. He
sends him, accordingly, to the neighboring forest to fetch charcoal,
well aware that a monstrous dragon, one Regin, the smith’s own brother,
would meet him, and devour him. But far otherwise it proved.”--Carlyle,
on The Nibelungen Lied.
[EN#6]--The Norns.
The Norns are the Fates, which watch over man through life. They are
Urd the Past, Verdande the Present, and Skuld the Future. They approach
every new-born child, and utter his doom. They are represented as
spinning the thread of fate, one end of which is hidden by Urd in the
far east, the other by Verdande in the far west. Skuld stands ready
to rend it in pieces. --See Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology, p. 405, also
Anderson’s Norse Mythology, p. 209.
The three weird women in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth represent a
later conception of the three Norns, now degraded to mere witches.
Compare the Norns with the Fates of the Greek Mythology. These, also,
are three in number. They sit clothed in white, and garlanded, singing
of destiny. Clotho, the Past, spins; Lachesis, the Present, divides; and
Atropos, the Future, stands ready with her shears to cut the thread.
[EN#7]--The Idea of Fatality.
Throughout the story of the Nibelungs and Volsungs, of Sigurd and of
Siegfried,--whether we follow the older versions or the mote recent
renderings,--there is, as it were, an ever-present but indefinable
shadow of coming fate, “a low, inarticulate voice of Doom,” foretelling
the inevitable. This is but in consonance with the general ideas of
our Northern ancestors regarding the fatality which shapes and controls
every man’s life. These ideas are embodied in more than one ancient
legend. We find them in the old Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf. “To
us,” cries Beowulf in his last fight, “to us it shall be as our Weird
betides,--that Weird that is every man’s lord!” “Each man of us shall
abide the end of his life-work; let him that may work, work his doomed
deeds ere death comes!” Similar ideas prevailed among the Greeks. Read,
for example, that passage in the Iliad describing the parting of Hector
and Andromache, and notice the deeper meaning of Hector’s words.
[EN#8]--Regin.
As we have already observed (EN#1), the older versions of this myth
called Siegfried’s master and teacher Regin, while the more recent
versions call him Mimer. We have here endeavored to harmonize the two
versions by representing Mimer as being merely Regin in disguise.
[EN#9]--Gripir.
“A man of few words was Gripir; but he knew of all deeds that had been;
And times there came upon him, when the deeds to be were seen: No sword
had he held in his hand since his father fell to field, And against the
life of the slayer he bore undinted shield: Yet no fear in his heart
abided, nor desired he aught at all: But he noted the deeds that had
been, and looked for what should befall.” Morris’s Sigurd the Volsung,
Bk. II.
[EN#10]--The Hoard.
This story is found in both the Elder and the Younger Eddas, and is
really the basis upon which the entire plot of the legend of Sigurd, or
Siegfried, is constructed. See also EN#18.
[EN#11]--The Dragon.
The oldest form of this story is the Song of Sigurd Fafnisbane, in the
Elder Edda. The English legend of St. George and the Dragon was probably
derived from the same original sources. A similar myth may be found
among all Aryan peoples. Sometimes it is a treasure, sometimes a
beautiful maiden, that the monster guards, or attempts to destroy. Its
first meaning was probably this: The maiden, or the treasure, is the
earth in its beauty and fertility. “The monster is the storm-cloud.
The hero who fights it is the sun, with his glorious sword, the
lightning-flash. By his victory the earth is relieved from her peril.
The fable has been varied to suit the atmospheric peculiarities of
different climes in which the Aryans found themselves.... In Northern
mythology the serpent is probably the winter cloud, which broods over
and keeps from mortals the gold of the sun’s light and heat, till in the
spring the bright orb overcomes the powers of darkness and tempest, and
scatters his gold over the face of the earth.” This myth appears in a
great variety of forms among the Scandinavian and German nations. In
the Eddas, Sigurd (Siegfried) is represented as roasting the heart of
Fafnir, and touching it to his lips. We have ventured to present a less
revolting version.--See Baring-Gould’s Curious Myths of the Middle Ages.
“The slaying of the dragon Fafnir reminds us of Python, whom Apollo
overcame; and, as Python guarded the Delphic Oracle, the dying Fafnir
prophesies.”--Jacob Grimm.
[EN#12.]
In order to harmonize subsequent passages in the story as related in
different versions, we here represent Siegfried as turning his back
upon the Glittering Heath, and leaving the Hoard to some other hero or
discoverer. In the Younger Edda, Siegfried (Sigurd) rides onward until
he comes to Fafnir’s bed, from which “he took out all the gold, packed
it in two bags, and laid it on Grane’s (Greyfell’s) back, then got on
himself and rode away.”
[EN#13]--BRAGI. This episode of Bragi and his vessel is no part of the
original story of Siegfried, but is here introduced in order to acquaint
you with some of the older myths of our ancestors. Bragi was the
impersonation of music and eloquence, and here represents the music of
Nature,--the glad songs and sounds of the spring-time. “Above any other
god,” says Grimm, “one would like to see a more general veneration of
Bragi revived, in whom was vested the gift of poetry and eloquence....
He appears to have stood in pretty close relation to AEgir.”
[EN#14]--AEgir.
“AEgir was the god presiding over the stormy sea. He entertains the
gods every harvest, and brews ale for them. The name still survives
in provincial English for the sea-wave on rivers.”--Anderson’s Norse
Mythology. See Carlyle’s Heroes and Hero-Worship.
[EN#15]--The Valkyries.
See Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology, p. 417, and Anderson’s Norse Mythology,
p. 265.
[EN#16]--Brunhild.
In the Elder Edda, Brunhild’s inaccessible hall stands on a mountain,
where she was doomed to sleep under her shield until Sigurd should
release her. In the Nibelungen Lied, she is represented as ruling
in Isenland, an island far over the sea. The well-known story of the
Sleeping Beauty is derived from this myth.
[EN#17]--Nibelungen Land.
“Vain were it to inquire where that Nibelungen Land specially is.
Its very name is Nebel-land, or Nifl-land, the land of Darkness, of
Invisibility.... Far beyond the firm horizon, that wonder-bearing
region swims on the infinite waters, unseen by bodily eye, or, at
most, discerned as a faint streak hanging in the blue depths, uncertain
whether island or cloud.”--Carlyle, on The Nibelungen Lied.
[EN#18]--Schilbung and Nibelung.
“Old King Nibelung, the former lord of the land, had left, when he died,
a mighty hoard concealed within a mountain-cavern. As Siegfried rode
past the mountain-side alone, he found Schilbung and Nibelung, the
king’s sons, seated at the mouth of the cavern surrounded by more gold
and precious stones than a hundred wagons could bear away. Espying
Siegfried, they called upon him to settle their dispute, offering him
as reward their father’s mighty sword Balmung.”--Auber Forestier’s
Translation of the Nibelungen Lied.
We have here made some slight variations from the original versions.
(See also EN#12.)
An ancient legend relates how King Schilbung had obtained the Hoard in
the upper Rhine valley, and how he was afterwards slain by his brother
Niblung. This Niblung possessed a magic ring in the shape of a coiled
serpent with ruby eyes. It had been presented to him by a prince named
Gunthwurm, who had come to him in the guise of a serpent, desiring the
hand of his daughter in marriage. This ring, according to the Eddas, was
the one taken by Loki from the dwarf Andvari, and was given by Sigurd
(Siegfried) to Brunhild in token of betrothal. It was the cause of all
the disasters that afterwards occurred.--See W. Jordan’s Sigfridssaga.
See also EN#10.
[EN#19]
“... Siegfried the hero good
Failed the long task to finish: this stirred their
angry mood.
The treasure undivided he needs must let remain,
When the two kings indignant set on him with their
train;
But Siegfried gripped sharp Balmung (so hight their
father’s sword),
And took from them their country, and the beaming,
precious hoard.”
The Nibelungenlied, Lettsom, 96, 97
[EN#20]--Siegfried’s Welcome Home.
In the Nibelungen Lied this is our first introduction to the hero. The
“High-tide” held in honor of Siegfried’s coming to manhood, and which we
suppose to have occurred at this time, forms the subject of the Second
Adventure in that poem.
[EN#21]--Kriemhild’s Dream.
This forms the subject of the first chapter of the Nibelungen Lied. “The
eagles of Kriemhild’s dream,” says Auber Forestier, “are winter-giants,
whose wont it was to transform themselves into eagles; while the pure
gods were in the habit of assuming the falcon’s form.”
[EN#22]--Idun.
The story of Idun and her Apples is related in the Younger Edda. It is
there represented as having been told by Bragi himself to his friend
AEgir. This myth means, that the ever-renovating spring (Idun) being
taken captive by the desolating winter (Thjasse), all Nature (all
the Asa-folk) languishes until she regains her freedom through the
intervention of the summer’s heat (Loki). --See Anderson’s Norse
Mythology.
[EN#23]--Balder.
The story of Balder is, in reality, the most ancient form of the
Siegfried myth. Both Balder and Siegfried are impersonations of the
beneficent light of the summer’s sun, and both are represented as being
treacherously slain by the powers of winter. The errand of Hermod to
the Halls of Death (Hela) reminds us of the errand of Hermes to Hades
to bring back Persephone to her mother Demetre. We perceive also a
resemblance in this story to the myth of Orpheus, in which that hero is
described as descending into the lower regions to bring away his wife
Eurydice.
[EN#24]
The making of rich clothing for the heroes is frequently referred to in
the Nibelungen Lied. Carlyle says, “This is a never-failing preparative
for all expeditions, and is always specified and insisted on with a
simple, loving, almost female impressiveness.”
[EN#25]--The Winning of Brunhild.
The story of the outwitting of Brunhild, as related in the pages which
follow, is essentially the same as that given in the Nibelungen Lied. It
is quite different from the older versions.
[EN#26]--Sif.
Sif corresponds to the Ceres of the Southern mythology. (See Grimm, p.
309.) The story of Loki and the Dwarfs is derived from the Younger Edda.
It has been beautifully rendered by the German poet Oelenschlager, a
translation of whose poem on this subject may be found in Longfellow’s
Poets and Poetry of Europe.
[EN#27]--Eigill.
Eigill is the original William Tell. The story is related in the Saga
of Thidrik. For a full history of the Tell myth, see Grimm’s Teutonic
Mythology, p. 380, and Baring-Gould’s Curious Myths of the Middle Ages,
p. 110.
[EN#28]--Welland the Smith.
The name of this smith is variously given as Weland, Wieland, Welland,
Volundr, Velint etc. The story is found in the Vilkina Saga, and was one
of the most popular of middle age myths. (See Grimm’s Mythology.) Sir
Walter Scott, in his novel of Kenilworth, has made use of this legend in
introducing the episode of Wayland Smith.
[EN#29]--Vidar[FN#1] the Silent.
“Vidar is the name of the silent Asa. He has a very thick shoe, and he
is the strongest next to Thor. From him the gods have much help in all
hard tasks.”--The Younger Edda (Anderson’s translation).
[FN#1] The word Vidar means forest.
[EN#30]--Loki.
“Loki, in nature, is the corrupting element in air, fire, and water. In
the bowels of the earth he is the volcanic flame, in the sea he appears
as a fierce serpent, and in the lower world we recognize him as pale
death. Like Odin, he pervades all nature. He symbolizes sin, shrewdness,
deceitfulness, treachery, malice etc.”--Anderson’s Mythology, p. 372.
He corresponds to the Ahriman of the Persians, to the Satan of the
Christians, and remotely to the Prometheus of the Greeks.
[EN#31]--The Quarrel of the Queens.
In the ancient versions, the culmination of this quarrel occurred while
the queens were bathing in the river: in the Nibelungen Lied it happened
on the steps leading up to the door of the church.
[EN#32]--Hagen.
Hagen corresponds to the Hoder of the more ancient myth of Balder. In
the Sigurd Sagas he is called Hogni, and is a brother instead of an
uncle, of Gunther (Gunnar).
[EN#33]--The Death of Siegfried.
This story is related here essentially as found in the Nibelungen
Lied. It is quite differently told in the older versions. Siegfried’s
invulnerability save in one spot reminds us of Achilles, who also was
made invulnerable by a bath, and who could be wounded only in the heel.
[EN#34]--The Burial of Siegfried.
The story of the burning of Siegfried’s body upon a funeral-pile, as
related of Sigurd in the older myths, reminds us of the burning of
Balder upon the ship “Ringhorn.” (See p. 162.) The Nibelungen Lied
represents him as being buried in accordance with the rites of the
Roman-Catholic Church. This version of the story must, of course, have
been made after the conversion of the Germans to Christianity. “When
the Emperor Frederick III. (1440-93) visited Worms after his Netherlands
campaign,” says Forestier, “he undertook to have the mighty hero’s bones
disinterred, probably in view of proving the truth of the marvellous
story then sung throughout Germany; but, although he had the ground dug
into until water streamed forth, no traces of these became manifest.”
[EN#35]--Morris: Sigurd the Volsung, Bk. III.
[EN#36]--The Hoard.
The story of bringing the Hoard from Nibelungen Land belongs to the
later versions of the myth, and fitly closes the First Part of the
Nibelungen Lied. Lochheim, the place where the Hoard was sunk, was not
far from Bingen on the Rhine.
[EN#37]--a Short Vocabulary of the Principal Proper Names Mentioned in
this Story.
AEGIR. The god of the sea.
ALBERICH and ANDVARI. Dwarfs who guard the great Hoard.
ASA. A name applied to the gods of the Norse mythology.
ASGARD. The home of the gods.
BALDER. The god of the summer sunlight.
BRAGI. The god of eloquence and of poetry.
DRAUPNER. Odin’s ring, which gives fertility to the earth.
FAFNIR. The dragon whom Siegfried slays.
FENRIS-WOLF. The monster who in the last twilight slays
Odin.
FREYJA. The goddess of love.
REY. The god of peace and plenty.
GRIPIR. The giant who gives wise counsel to Siegfried
(Sigurd).
GUNTHER. In the older myths called Gunnar.
HEIMDAL. The heavenly watchman.
HELA. The goddess of death.
HERMOD. The quick messenger who is sent to Hela for Balder.
HODER. The winter-god. He slays Balder.
HOENIR. One of the three most ancient gods.
HUGIN. Odin’s raven, Thought.
IDUN. The goddess of spring.
IVALD. A skilful dwarf.
JOTUNHEIM. The home of the giants.
KRIEMHILD. In the older myths called Gudrun.
LOKI. The mischief-maker. The god of evil.
MIMER. In the later German mythology a skilful smith. In the
older mythology a wise giant.
NORNS. The three Fates,--Urd, Verdande, and Skuld.
ODIN. The chief of the gods.
REGIN. The teacher of Sigurd, by whom he is slain.
SIEGFRIED. In the older myths called Sigurd.
SIF. Thor’s wife.
SLEIPNER. Odin’s eight-footed horse.
TYR. The god of war.
THOR. The god of thunder. The foe of the giants.
VALHAL. The hall of the slain.
VALKYRIES. The choosers of the slain. Odin’s handmaidens.
VIDAR. The silent god.
YMIR. The huge giant out of whose body the world was made.