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Rhine Sagas, #2
as they have been told in Germany throughout history:
The second in a series.
Siegfried and Kriemhilde
In an area between the Black Forest and the Vosges Mountains the Rhine runs through green banks surrounded by fruit trees and vineyards. After the Romans had left, the Burgundians appreciated the fertile land and decided to settle there. The old town of Worms was filled with new life. Three brothers shared the regal dignity: Gunther , Gernot and Giselher. The beautiful blonde sister Kriemhilde attracted suitors from near and far. They offered gold and jewellery as morning gifts. But Kriemhilde dreamily said to her mother Ute: "He is not the one my heart fancies!" Lady Ute could only bow her head and think:"What one sees in one's dreams is only a fairy prince."
Kriemhilde's dream did, however, become reality. From the far north came a young, blonde man on horseback. Strong and well-built, this stranger had behind him a large number of pack-horses carring well-filled leather sachels. He came grown up on the left river bank, a three day journey and more by ship downstream from Worms, in the old Roman city of Xanten There, his father Siegmund reigned as king. Siegfried was the son's name, and when he had learned how to tame a horse and to handle a weapon, he felt the urge to go upstream. He wanted to know from where all the water was coming. The pull of fate was stronger than the supplications of his parents who begged him to stay and inherit the royal crown. But he was not to live ling enough. The father outlived the son, though the name Siegfried is still surrounded by glouious splendour.
Kriemhilde was standing on the high balcony of the royal castle in Worms when Siegfried came riding up the river meadow. Her blonde hair waved in the wind. Her whole attention was on the newcomer, and she disregarded his xenial presents. Siegfried did not look up at her once, focusing his eyes rather on the towers of the royal castle, its walls and merlons and the wide locked entrance door.
The guest, being of royal blood, was admitted into the castle. He was allowed to measure his strength against that of the three kings of the Burgundians in competitions, and he offered them proof of his power, dexterity and adroitness. Kriemhilde watched them with great interest when they tried their physical strength in a sword fight, in the long jump or in a race. Afterwards they were all sitting at the open fireplace , drinking and eating. King Gunther invited Siegfried to stay and he redily agreed. Siegfried grew very fond of the sister of the three kings of the Burgundians.
The young hero passed the time hunting and fishing, so that the days passed quickly. Every evening there was a reason for celebrating: the biggest salmon he had caught, the huge stag he had killed with a spear, and whose larded back was now being prepared on the spit.
The prince got used to going for a brief walk through the rose garden, which was in full bloom, before he finally went to sleep. In this garden on the summer evenings, he listened to the nightengale and was burning with love. Late one evening he heard light footsteps in the dark. When he had hidden himself, he saw Kriemhilde in the moonlight. His pulse quickened. He siezed her hand and she did not resist. He kissed her on the forehead, pressed her tenderly against his breast and told her that her loved her. She asked all the questions lovers usually ask, but when she tenderly caressed his arm, she became scared. The skin that she hat touched seemed strange, almost as if it were not the skin of a living human being.
Siegfried explained the reason for this. After a super human fight he had succeded in killing a dragon on the Drachenfels, a rock where dragons used to live. This had happened when Siegfried had been near Königswinter on the banks of the Rhine. The blood of the monster immediately congealed, where it came in contact with his body, into an impermeable, horny skin. Consequently, he took a bath in the blood and became invulnerable. The immense golden treasure of the Nibelungs which Siegfried ahd wrestled from the dwarf Alberich , was hidden by Siegfried in the cave of the dragon.Now he promised the Nibelungen hoard to Kriemhilde as a morning gift, and he kissed her long and tenderly. But now she asked the fatal question: " Is this horny skin then really all over your body?" Reluctantly, Siegfried showed her the place between his shoulders where a linden tree leaf had fallen when he was taking the bath. This was the only place where the dragon's blood did not cover his body. Thrilled, she rested her head against this place.
When Siegfried asked permission to marry Kriemhilde the next morning, , King Gunther, her brother, made one condition. He himself was also courting. As a consequence, he wanted Siegfried to accompany him as a shield bearer. After their happy return, they would celebrate a double wedding. Siegfried gladly agreed. H accompanied King Gunther by ship to Iceland where the beautiful Queen Brunhilde was waiting for her suitor from Worms.
She was the dark-haired sovereigen who ruled over the land of the volcanoes. Many suitors had come to Brunhilde before Gunther, but they had lost their lives in the course of the competitions with the queen because they were not in a position to defeat her. Brunhilde walked towards Gunther, full fo pride and confident of victory. Gunther became very frightened when he sensed to power which emanated freom Brunhilde, but he could no longer back out, so he asked Siegfried for assistance on the next day when the competition was to take place. Siegfried fetched from the ship the magic hood which he had taken from the dwarfs. This hood made him invisible and, without being seen, he was able to assist Gunther in his fight against Brunhilde. Gunther was not capable of withstanding the terrible attacks from Bruhnilde. When Siegfried recongized this, he defeated Brunhilde and forced her to the ground. Brunhilde was obliged to grant Gunther sovereignty over her country and had to accompany him as his bride to Worms. When all had returned, Siegfried went to his fiancée Kriemhilde, and they celebrated their wedding together with Gunther and Brunhilde. On the wedding night Brunhilde challenged Gunther again for a competition, just to convince herself again of his strength. After a short struggle she defeated him, tied his hand and feet and left him lying on the floor of her bedroom. When she had released him, Gunther went to see Siegfried and poured out his troubles to him again. Siegfried slipped , the following night, into Brunhilde"s rooms, using again the magic hood to make himself invisible. When Brunhilde appeared, he defeaterd her and surreptitiously took her beld and ring. On the next day, he gave thise things to Kriemhilde.
In Worms the proud Icelandic queen now began to compare Gunther and Siegfried in her thoughts. She sensed that the hero from Xanten was the stronger of the two. How she envied her blonde sister-in-law! She expressed her annoyance one morning when both women were ascending toe steps to the cahtedral. Bruhnilde, the queen, wanted to enter before Kriemhilde, the wife of the vassal. At this, Kriemhilde lost her temper and hurled the truth into the face of the dark-haired queen: Gunther had not defeated her, but Siegfried. As proof Kriemhilde showed her the ring and the belt given to her by Siegfried and then crossed the threshold of the cathedreal first. Brunhilde was mortally offended. Gunther was obliged to obtain satisfaction for Brunhilde. This he confided to his amourer, the fierde Hagen . The plan to destroy Siegfried was hatched and to his end they invited him to participate in a big hunting event in the Odenwald. Before they left to go to the forest Hagen went to Kriemhilde and feigned concern for Siegfried's life. "The forest is full of riss", he said ponderingly. " One angry bull is stronger than ten strong men!" The princess laughed at him and said "Siegfried is invulnerabel!" Cunningly, Hagen doubted this and then she divulged the secret and history of the death of the dragon. Unfortunately she also told him of the linden-tree leaf. Now Hagen knew exactly where Siegfried was vulnerable
After the strenuous hunt, Siegfried knelt down at a spring to quench his thurst. At that moment Hagen thrust a hunting spear between Siegfried's shoulders. With his last strength Siegfried turned around and saw the deadly hatred in the eyes of his murderer. He bled to death and the Burgundians placed his corpse on the mule which originally was to carry a bag containing their hunting kill. Gunther and Hagen placed the body at Kriemhilde's door in the castle andthere she found him, cold and rigid, as she was leaving for church in the morning. With a loud cry she sank to the floor.
Wanting to keep the truth from her, the brothers lied: "We found him killed by robbers near the spring." Their eyes flickered when telling this lie and their faces were treacherously pale. Kriemhilde was suspicious, thinking that they knew who Siegfried's murders was. She requested a trial by ordeal, and thy had to comply: Siegfried's corpse was laid in state in front of thealtar and everybody belonging to the court had to walk past his dead body. When Hagen approached the bier, Siegfried's wound began bleeding again. Kriemhilde, now knowing exactly who Siegfried's murderer was, demanded Hagen's head . Her brothers refused. Kriemhilde was not to be deterred and recoginizing this, Hagen secretly fetched the Nibelungen hoard out of the vault and threw it in the Rhine, thus depriving Kriemhilde of the means for revenge. Never again did one single piece of the treasure come to the light of day.
Kriemhilde buried her dead husband in the monastery of Lorch. For thirteen years she lived close to it and her heart hardened in vengence.When the matchmakers from Hungary came, Kriemhilde agreed to marry the King Etzel, the powerful king of the Huns. This she did not for love, but rather to gain the weapons to carry out her vengeance.
She facinated the king and gained the means to carry out her plan. Then she invited her three brothers to attend the baptism of her child. Hagen had a presentiment of danger, but the kings threw his warnings to the winds. Armed as if for war, but with peaceful intentions, they rode on horseback with all their men to Etzel's court. There they found festive attire prepared for every one of them. Following Hagen's advoce, they put these over their coats of mail and cuirasses. The festive dinner table bent under the load of food and wine jugs.
Kriemhilde knew exactly how to start a quarrel between the guests and the hosts and suddenly weapons were drawn from every corner. The Burgundians had to fight for their lives and they made a bloody path through hordes of Huns toward the door. But before they ultimately reached the exit into the protection of the dark night, Kriemhilde gave orders to set fire to the tapestries on the walls and to the wooden ceiling of the hall. The kings of the Burgundians fought their last battle in smoke and flames, bleeding from countless wounds. The last to be defeated was Hagen. With her own hands Kriemhilde cut his head from his shoulders. She had no opportunity for rejoicing over her revenge, as Hildebrand, the armourer of Etzel's ally, the king of the Goths, killed her in disgust.
The greatest poetic work of the early history in the German language, the song of the Niebelungs has immortalized the extinction of the Burgundians.
Rhine Sagas 1: Lohengrin, the Swan Knight of Kleve
Rhine Sagas 3: Siegfriend's Contest on the Drachenfels (Dragon Rock)
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