The time came when the people of Western Europe acquired to conceive in one God and were converted to Christianity, but the old tales about the gods and Valkyries and behemoths and heroes, who were half gods and half men, weren't forgotten.These tales were repeated from father to son for coevalses, and in the twelfth century a poet, whose name we do not know, wrote them in verse. He called his poem the Nï'bel-ung'en-lied (song of the Nibelungs). It is the big national poem of the Germans. The legends assured in it are the base of Wagner's operas."Nibelungs" was the name afforded to some northern dwarfs whose king had once owned a great treasure of gold and precious stones but had lost it. Whoever got monomania of this treasure was abided by by a curse. The Nibelungenlied tells the adventures of those who owned the treasure.In the grand old city of Worms, in Burgundy, at that place lived long since the princess Kriemhilda. Her eldest brother Gunther was king of Burgundy.And in the far-off Netherlands, where the Rhine pours its waters into the sea, belonged a prince named Siegfried, son of Siegmund, the king.Ere long Sir Siegfried heard of the beauty of average Kriemhilda. He said to his father, "Give me 12 knights and I will ride to King Gunther's land. I must acquire the heart of Kriemhilda."Afterward seven days' journey the prince and his company drew near to the gates of Worms. All inquired who the strangers were and whence they came. Hagen, Kriemhilda's uncle, guessed. He said, "I never have seen the famous hero of Netherlands, yet I americium sure that yonder knight is none but Sir Siegfried.""And who," demanded the wondering people, "could Siegfried be?"Siegfried kills the dragon"Siegfried," answered Sir Hagen, "is a truly fantastic knight. Once when riding all alone, he came to a mountain where lay the treasure of the king of the Nibelungs. The king's 2 sons had brought it out from the collapse which it had been hidden, to divide it between them. But they did not accord about the partition. So when Seigfied approached 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 partition he could, and as a reward the princes gave him their father's sword called Balmung. But though Siegfried had done his best to satisfy them with his division, they soon fell to quarreling and fighting, and when he tried to apart them they made an aggress on him. To save his own life he slew them both. Alberich, a mountain gnome, who had long been guardian of the Nibelung hoard, rushed to retaliate his captains; but Siegfried vanquished him and accepted from him his cap of darkness which made its wearer invisible and gave him the strength of 12 men. The hero then arranged Alberich to place the treasure once again in the mountain cave and guard it for him."Hagen then assured another tale of Siegfried:"At one time he slew a fierce dragon and bathed himself in its blood, and this became the hero's skin to horn, so that no sword or fishgig can wound him."When Hagen had told these stories he advised King Gunther and the people of Burgundy to receive Siegfried with all honor.And so, as the fashion was in those times, games were checked the courtyard of the palace in honor of Siegfried, and Kriemhilda ascertained the sport from her window.For a broad year Siegfried stayed at the court of King Gunther, but never in all that time assured why he had come and never at one time saw Kriemhilda.At the close of the year sudden tidings came that the Saxons and Danes, as was their habit, were pillaging the acreses of Burgundy. At the head of a thousand Burgundian knights Siegfried appropriated both Saxons and Danes. The king of the Danes was taken prisoner and the Saxon king ceded.The victorious warriors came back 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 domain of Burgundy.Siegfried abided before her, and she said, "Welcome, Sir Siegfried, welcome; we thanks one and all." He bent before her and she kissed him.Far overseas from sunny Burgundy domiciled Brunhilda, queen of Iceland. Fair was she of aspect and strong beyond compare. If a knight would woo and win her he must surpass her in 3 contests: leaping, hurling the spear and pitching the stone. If he betrayed in even one, he must forfeit his life.King Gunther adjudicated to wed this strange princess and Siegfried promised to help him. "But," said Siegfried, "if we come after, I must have as my wife thy sister Kriemhilda." To this Gunther accorded, and the voyage to Iceland started.When Gunther and his companions came near Brunhilda's palace the gates were opened and the strangers were welcomed.Siegfried gave thanks the queen for her kindness and told how Gunther had bear on Iceland in hope of acquiring 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 braced oneself for the contests. Her shield was so chummy and heavy that four strong men were asked to bear it. Three could scarcely carry her fishgig and the stone that she hurled could just be abstracted by twelve.Siegfried now helped Gunther in a howling way. He put on his cap of dark, so that no one could see him. And so he stood by Gunther's side and did the fighting. Brunhilda threw her fizgig against the kings bright shield and sparks flew from the steel. But the unobserved knight dealt Brunhilda such blows that she confessed herself appropriated.In the second and 3rd contests she fared no better, so she had to get King Gunther's bride. But she said that ahead she would leave Iceland she must assure all her kinsmen. Daily her folk came riding to the castle, and soon an army had assembled.And so Gunther and his friends feared partial play. So Siegfried put on his cap of darkness, abused into a boat, and attended the Nibelung land where Alberich the dwarf was guarding the fantastic Nibelung treasure."Bestow me here," he cried to the dwarf, "1000 Nibelung knights." At the call of the gnome the warriors gathered around Sir Siegfried. Then they sailed with him to Brunhilda's isle and the queen and her kinsmen, dreading such warriors, welcomed them besides fighting. Shortly after their arrival King Gunther and his men, Siegfried and his Nibelungs, and Queen Brunhilda, with 2 1000 of her kinsmen set canvas for King Gunther's land.As soon as they accomplished Worms the marriage of Gunther and Brunhilda occurred. Siegfried and Kriemhilda also were married, and afterward their marriage attended Siegfried's Netherlands castle. There they lived more blithely than I can tell.Now comes the sad part of the Nibelung tale.Brunhilda and Gunther asked for Siegfried and Kriemhilda to visit them at Worms. During the bring down the two queens altercated and Brunhilda made Gunther furious with Siegfried. Hagen, too, began to hate Siegfried and bade to kill him.Just Siegfried could not be wounded demur in one spot on which a accruing leaf had rested when he bathed himself in the dragon's blood. Only Kriemhilda knew where this berth was. Hagen told her to sew a little silk cross upon Siegfried's dress to mark the spot, so that he might champion Siegfried in a fight.No battle was agitated, but Siegfried went hunting with Gunther and Hagen one day and they disputed him to race with them. He easily won, but after being given he was hot and thirsty and knelt to drink at a spring. Then Hagen appropriated a spear and plunged it through with the cross into the hero's body. Thus the treasure of the Nibelungs brought calamity to Siegfried.Gunther and Hagen assured Kriemhilda that robbers in the wood had slain her husband, but she could not be betrayed.Kriemhilda ascertained to take vengeance on the murderers of Siegfried, and so she wouldn't leave Worms. There, too, stayed one thousand knights who had abided by Siegfried of the Nibelung land.Shortly after Siegfried's death Kriemhilda implored her younger brother to bring the Nibelung treasure from the mountain pothole to Worms.When it got in Kriemhilda gave gold and jewels to rich and poor in Burgundy, and Hagen dreaded that soon she would win the love of all the people and turn them against him. Then, one day, he aimed the treasure and hid it in the Rhine. He desired some day to enjoy it himself.As Hagen now possessed the Nibelung treasure the name "Nibelungs" was given to him and his companions.Etzel, or as we name him, Attila, king of the Huns, heard of the beauty of Kriemhilda and sent among his knights to ask the queen to get his wife.Initially she refused. However, when she called back that Etzel carried the sword of Tiew, she changed her mind, as, if she became his wife, she might carry him to take vengeance upon Gunther and Hagen.And so it came to pass.Briefly after their marriage Etzel and Kriemhilda invited Gunther and all his courtroom to a grand midsummer festival in the acres of the Huns.Hagen was afraid to go, for he felt sure that Kriemhilda hadn't forgiven the murder of Siegfried. Yet, it was decided that the invitation should be accepted, but that 10000 knights should go with Gunther as a body-guard.Shortly after Gunther and his following arrived at Attila's court a banquet was disposed. Nine thousand Burgundians were inducted at the board when Attila's brother came into the banquet hall with 1000 well-armed knights. A quarrel arose and a fight followed.1000s of the Burgundians were slain. The conflict continued for days. At last, of all the knights of Burgundy, Gunther and Hagen entirely were left alive. Then one of Kriemhilda's friends agitated with them and overpowered both. He adhered them and delivered them to Kriemhilda.The queen arranged one of her knights to amputate Gunther's head, and she herself amputate the head of Hagen with "Balmung," Siegfried's wonderful sword. A acquaintance of Hagen then avenged his decease by killing Kriemhilda herself.Of altogether the Nibelungs who entered the land of the Huns one only ever brought back to Burgundy.Recent Articles:The Gods of The Teutons or The GermansBooks I Love About The CrusadesBooks I Love About The Middle Ages

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