Nibelungenlied

ne'be-long-en-led, an ancient German epic. It has been called the "Iliad of Germany." The scene is laid on the Rhine. The principal characters are Siegfried, a prince of the Netherlands; Gunther, king of Burgundy; Gunther's sister, Chriemhild; and Brunhild, a heroine of Iceland. Siegfried and Chriemhild, husband and wife, were much attached to each other. Gunther, with the aid of Siegfried, overpowered and married Brunhild much against her will. During the contest Siegfried wore an invisible coat and took from Brunhild a magic girdle and ring in which her power chiefly lay. These he gave to his wife Chriemhild. Ten years later Chriemhild told Brunhild the secret of her defeat. Brunhild, with the assistance of her husband, Gunther, wreaked her vengeance by persuading Hagen, a northern hero, to murder Siegfried. Chriemhild then married Etzel, king of the Huns. Thirteen years later the Burgundians or Nibelungen were invited, with Gunther and Brunhild, their king and queen, to a feast at the court of Chriemhild's second husband. Having become involved in a quarrel with the Huns the whole party was slain with the exception of Gunther and Hagen whom Chriemhild put to death with her own hand. The poem concludes with a general scene of fire and bloodshed. Immense treasure-gold and jewels-was cast into the Rhine near Worms and has never been seen since.

The authorship of the Nibelungenlied is unknown. The legend is not uncommon among the Germans and Scandinavians. It is believed that the poem was pieced together from German sources by an Austrian knight about 1140. It attracted little attention for some centuries. In 1751 it was published by a German named Bodmer. As a source of information relative to the early language, costumes, food, arms, and habits of the Germans, it is now made a subject of serious study in German universities and elsewhere.