to Gunnar, becomes the companion of the sun in his middle journey, has yet to be wedded to two husbands, the gloaming and the darkness, or the autumn and the winter's cold. She is, however, not the less resolved that Sigurd shall be avenged. The treasures won by him were in the hands of her brothers; and Atli, her second husband, bent on getting possession of them, invites them to a feast and receives them at the spear's point. Hogni and Gunnar are taken prisoners, and Atli insists on their yielding up Sigurd's wealth. Gunnar answers that he will do so, if Atli will bring him the heart of his brother Hogni, and on seeing it he tells the king that now the secret rests with himself alone and that it shall never be tortured from him. He is then thrown into a pit full of snakes, but with the help of Hermes or of Orpheus he charms the serpents, until one flies at his heart and kills him. The time for vengeance has now come. The Kolchian Medeia slew the children of Iason, after she had sent the death-dealing robe to Glaukê. With fiercer revenge Gudrun feasts Atli at the awful banquet to which Astyages in the old Greek story invited Harpagos,' and then having slain him with the aid of her brother Hogni's son, she makes the whole hall his funeral pile, and sends all Atli's men to bear their master company to the dwelling place of the dead. Gudrun's lot becomes darker, like the northern summer drawing to its close. The sea into which she plunges to end her misery bears her away to the land of King Jonakr, and the last act in the terrible drama begins. It is practically a repetition of the scenes which have gone before. Gudrun becomes the wife of Jonakr, the lord of the winterland, and mother of his three children, Saurli, Hamdir, and Erp. From her summer home she now summons Swanhild, Sigurd's daughter, whom Jormunrek would have as his wife. Jormunrek's son woes her for himself, and is slain by his father's command. The beautiful Swanhild is Herod. i. 119.

SIGURD AND siegfried.

291

trodden down by the horses of his knights as she combs out her long golden locks, and Jormunrek himself is slain by two of the sons whom Gudrun had borne to him. The thoughts of Gudrun turn to the golden days when she dwelt with Sigurd, and she passes away from the land of living men, like the last expiring flicker of a dwindling autumn twilight.'

The Nibe

In this series of incidents, which belong to the great tragedy of the year as clearly as the most transparent Vedic descriptions of Ushas or the Maruts, we have V. more than the framework of the Nibelungenlied. lungenlied. That this epic poem virtually reproduces the Volsung tale, is disputed by none. The few points of difference lie in a mere change of names. In the Nibelung lay Gudrun becomes Kriemhild; but Kriemhild, like Gudrun, is the sister of Gunnar, who now becomes Gunther, king of the Burgundians, and (as in the Volsung story) she has to mourn the loss of Siegfried, whom Brynhild does to death by means of Hagen. But in its general spirit the story has undergone no change. Siegfried, like Sigurd, is the invincible hero with the sword which no enemy ever withstood. He has bathed his body in the dragon's blood, as Achilles and Demophoön were plunged into the bath of fire, and no weapon can hurt him except on one spot between his shoulders on which a linden leaf rested while he bathed, as Achilles could be wounded only in the heel, and Rustem slain only by the thorn, or Balder only by the mistletoe. On this spot he is pierced by the spear of Hagen, and from that time forth Kriemhild has no rest until she enacts a vengeance more fearful than that which Gudrun wreaked on the murderers of Sigurd, or Odysseus on the robbersuitors of Penelope. The great German epic may differ

For a more minute examination of this Saga, see Myth. of Ar. Nat. book i. ch. xii. and Dasent, Popular Tales of the Norse, introduction. A shorter summary, exhibiting most clearly the solar or physical character of the whole epic, may be found in Professor Max Müller's Essay on Comparative Mythology,' Chips, ii. 107 et seq.

from the Volsung tale, as carrying us from the rougher life of Norse sea-rovers to the elaborate pageants of kings and princes; but otherwise there is little change or none. Like all other kindred heroes, Sigurd and Siegfried are both doomed to be wanderers,' and Siegfried is hated by Hagen as the slayer of the Niblungs, or folk of the mist, the possessor of their magic sword Balmung, of the tarnkappe or cape of darkness, and of all their treasures. Here, as in the Volsung tale, we have the enmity between Kriemhild (Gudrun) and Brynhild, who insists that Siegfried is Gunther's man and must pay tribute. But Brynhild's girdle and ring have passed into the hands of Kriemhild, and the latter, holding them up, taunts the former with having been won by Siegfried, like the maiden of the older story. Hagen now resolves to avenge on the hero the wrong done by Brynhild to his sister, and learns from her the secret on which his life depends. He even takes the precaution of asking her to mark with a silver cross the spot on which alone he can be wounded. On this spot he is smitten by Hagen as he stoops to drink from a stream; and thus the death of the hero is connected with the water into which the orb of the sun sinks in the evening. In the spirting out of his blood on his murderer, and in the death-wrestle which covers the flowers all round with blood and gore, we have a reproduction of the blood-red sunset which looms out in the story of the death of Herakles. After Siegfried's death Hagen gains possession of Kriemhild's treasure and sinks it all in the Rhine.

With this incident the first of the series of mythical histories embodied in the Nibelung lay is brought to an end. This portion of the poem may or may not of Kriemhild. be older than the parts which follow it ; but it is beyond doubt a narrative complete in itself, and indis

The vengeance

This doom is brought out with singular clearness in the story of the 'Dame of the Fine Green Kirtle.' Campbell, Tales of the West Highlands, ii. 345.

THE NIBELUNGENLIED.

293

pensable to the general plan of the poem only as accounting for the hatred of Kriemhild for her brothers. The second part of the story begins with the death of Helche, the wife of Etzel, who takes the place of Atli in the saga of the Volsungs, and who thus marries Kriemhild, as Atli marries Gudrun. Kriemhild consents to the union only because it gives her the means of avenging the death of Hagen's victim. To get Hagen into her power she sends messengers to Gunther, bidding him bring all his friends whom Hagen can guide into the Huns' land. Hagen sees

the trap laid for him, and is unwilling to go ; but he cannot withstand the taunt of Gunther that, if he feels guilty on the score of Siegfried's death, he had better stay at home. With three thousand men Gunther, Hagen, and Dankwart set out on the fatal journey. Omens of coming disaster are not lacking on their path. Dietrich, who is sent to meet the Burgundians, tells Hagen that Kriemhild still weeps sore for the hero of the Niblungland; and when he is asked how he knows her mind, he answers, 'What shall I say? Every morning early I hear her, Etzel's wife, weep and wail full sadly to the God of heaven for strong Siegfried's body.' When Hagen appears before her, Kriemhild asks him what gifts he has brought. Hagen tries to evade the question by saying that one so wealthy needs no gifts ; and then she asks him plainly, 'Where is the Niblung's hoard? It was my own, as ye well know.' But when the Burgundians are told that they must give up their arms before going into the hall, Hagen says that the honour is greater than he deserves, and that he will himself be chamberman. His caution only enables him to sell his life dearly. Sixty men are ready to slay Hagen and the harper Volker by his side, but Kriemhild says that so small a number can never do this work; and thus we see that we are dealing with beings beyond or above the conditions of humanity. Then, as in the Odyssey and in the Volsung tale, follows the vengeance in the great hall; and it is impossible to read the

story without feeling that it relates to no struggle between mortal men. The Burgundians are full of misgivings, but Volker, the Phemios of the Odyssey, lulls to sleep with his music the sorrows of the men who are soon to die. The tragedy begins the next day with the accidental slaying of a Hun by Volker; and in the fight which follows Hagen strikes off the head of Ortlieb, which falls into the lap of his mother Kriemhild. The hall runs with blood. Seven thousand bodies are flung down the steps. Thousands and thousands more are brought up to take part in the bloody work, until Kriemhild sets fire to the hall. The burning rafters fall crashing round the Burgundians, of whom six hundred still survive. The Huns attack them two to one; and at last Hagen and Gunther are caught, bound, and brought before the woman who is thirsting for their blood. Placing them apart, Kriemhild goes to Hagen and tells him that even now he may go free if he will yield up the treasure which he stole from Siegfried. It is but a repetition of the Volsung story. Hagen answers that he cannot say where it is so long as any of his masters remain alive. When Kriemhild brings him the head of Gunther, Hagen tells her that she has slain the last man who knew the secret beside himself, and that from himself she should never learn it. In her fury she snatches from him Siegfried's sword Balmung, and with it she strikes off his head. Thus far Etzel has favoured the schemes of his wife; but the sight of the dead Hagen rouses his grief, and with the aid of Hildebrand he hews Kriemhild in pieces.1

taine.

These older epics, so massive in their outlines, so rich in their detail, could not fail to furnish materials for a VI. Walter thousand romances to writers who sat down in of Aquitheir closets to spin stories for a less robust and hardy generation. Thus the Nibelungenlied was watered down until it assumed the form of the legend of Walter of Aquitaine, who plays in it the part of Siegfried. Here, as 1 See Appendix II.