[72] Sigurd's liberation of a virgin woman, Brynhild/Brünhild, is only told in Scandinavian sources, but may be an original part of the oral tradition along with the slaying of the dragon, since the Nibelungenlied seems to indicate that Siegfried and Brünhild already know each other. [114] The earliest of these are from Södermanland, the Ramsund carving and the Gök runestone, which appears to be a copy of the former. In both the Norse and continental Germanic tradition, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife (Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he has tricked into marrying the Burgundian king Gunnar/Gunther. [29], The Nibelungenlied gives two contradictory descriptions of Siegfried's youth. [163], With the founding of the German Empire (1871), the German view of Siegfried became more nationalistic: Siegfried was seen as an identifying epic figure for the new German Empire and his reforging of his father's sword in the Nordic tradition was equated with Otto von Bismarck "reuniting" the German nation. Gudrun woke, to find her husband dying. [146] It is possible that Siegfried's rescue of Kriemhild (rather than Brünhild) in the late-medieval Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid reflects the tradition that Sigurd liberated a virgin. Brynhild refuses, and later demands that Gunnar kill Sigurd. Names equivalent to Siegfried are first attested in Anglo-Saxon Kent in the seventh century and become frequent in Anglo-Saxon England in the ninth century. When Sigurd goes to talk to her, the two confess their love for each other and Sigurd proposes divorcing Gudrun to be with Brynhild. Two widely divergent versions of this story exist. It was Sigurd that rode through the ring of fire the second as well as the first time. [47], One day Thidrek (Dietrich von Bern) comes to Bertangenland; he fights against Sigurd for three days. "Thou art married to a King, but not to one more valorous than my lord," Gudrun said. And so Sigurd and Brynhild went together to join Baldur and Nanna in Hela's habitation. [80], In Grípisspá, Sigurd goes to Grípir, his uncle on his mother's side, in order to hear a prophecy about his life. Sigurd and Gudrun have two children, Svanhild and young Sigmund. [19] As the Merovingian parallels are not exact, other scholars also fail to accept the proposed model. Why does Regin want to kill Fafnir? Siegfried was able to kill the dragon, however, and eventually kills many more by trapping them under logs and setting them on fire. She would not allow Odin to have his wilful way with her. Brynhild then fights with Sigurd's wife Signild, and Signild shows Brynhild a ring that Brynhild had given Sigurd as a love gift. [116], Three further depictions come from Gästrikland, the Årsund runestone, the Ockelbo runestone, which has been lost, and the Öster-Färnebo runestone. [124] There is also a badly worn gravestone from York Minster that appears to show Regin after having been beheaded and Sigurd with his thumb in his mouth, along with possibly Grani, the fire, and the slain Fafnir. [6] The Danish form Sivard also derives from this form originally. He rides away with the hoard and then awakens the valkyrie Brynhild by cutting the armor from her, before coming to king Gjuki's kingdom. And Grani heard in the cave where Regin had left him and he came galloping to Sigurd with flowing mane and eyes flashing fire. The brothers then place his corpse in Grimhild's bed, and she mourns. [59], The Heldenbuch-Prosa has very little to say about Siegfried: it notes that he was the son of King Siegmund, came from "Niederland", and was married to Kriemhild. "[164] Siegfried's murder by Hagen was further used to illustrate Nazi racial theories about the inherent evilness of certain "non-German" races, to which Hagen, typically depicted as dark, was seen as belonging. Brynhild claims that Sigurd is not of noble birth, after which Grimhild announces that Sigurd and not Gunnar deflowered Brynhild. Not often they were together. [1], The names Sigurd and Siegfried do not share the same etymology. [51] The author mentions alternative Scandinavian versions of many of these same tales, and appears to have changed some details to match the stories known by his Scandinavian audience. [14][9][19] The idea that Sigurd derives from Arminius nevertheless continues to be promoted outside of the academic sphere, including in popular magazines such as Der Spiegel. [106], The Norwegian ballad of "Sigurd Svein" (NMB 177, TSB E 50) tells of Sigurd's selection of the horse Grani and his ride to Greip (Grípir). He died fighting Lyngvi, a rival for Hjordis's hand. Hjordis was left alone on the battlefield where Sigmund died, and was found there by King Alf, who married her and took the Sigmund's shattered sword. Odin's self-sacrifice He sacrificed his eye in Mimir's well and he threw himself on his spear Gungnir in a kind of symbolic, ritual suicide. "He slew the Dragon Fafnir, and won for himself Fafnir's hoard," said Gudrun. [120] In some of the depictions, Sigurd appears beside Old Testament heroes such as Samson (stave churches at Lund and Nes). Högni suggests that Brynhild may be lying that Sigurd slept with Brynhild. Then Brynhild knew, all at once, that what Gudrun said was true. [35] The redactor states the Siegfried was buried at the abbey of Lorsch rather than Worms. [101] The Faroese ballads include Sigurd's slaying of the dragon and acquiring of the hoard, his wooing of Gudrun and Brynhild, and his death. With his sword Guttorm mortally wounded Sigurd. [36], In the Rosengarten zu Worms (c. 1250), Siegfried is betrothed to Kriemhild and is one of the twelve heroes who defends her rose garden in Worms. Guthorm then slays Sigurd in his bed, but Sigurd kills him before dying. [152] The earliest text to make this connection is the Nibelungenlied (c. 1200); the combination appears to be older, but it is difficult to say by how much. And they left Brynhild beside him, Brynhild with her wondrous hair and her stern and beautiful face. Then he did listen to Brynhild's words. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. When Sigurd stopped to take a drink of water at the river, Guttorm plunged his sword through Sigurd's only weak spot (identified by a leaf pattern stitched into his hunting outfit that his wife made) on his back. [103], In the ballad Kong Diderik og hans Kæmper (DgF 7, SMB 198, TSB E 10), Sigurd fights against Diderik's warrior Humlung. When Gunnar came she told him she would forgive him, and love him as she had not loved him before, if he would slay Sigurd. Inside he finds a sleeping woman who is wearing armor that seems to have grown into her skin. Norse Mythology and Viking Legends for Kids The Death of Sigurd. [159] A nationalist tone and attempt to make Siegfried into a national icon and symbol was nevertheless already present in attempts to connect Siegfried to the historical Arminius, who was already established as a national hero in Germany since the sixteenth century. [87], The Völsunga saga is the most detailed account of Sigurd's life in either the German or Scandinavian traditions besides the Poetic Edda. Gudrun asked. "Gunnar rode through the ring of fire. Loki disguised himself as a woman and found this out. He had indeed plotted to kill his father with Regin, but he soon decided that he didn’t want to share the treasure and drove out his brother from his father’s house. Wagner relied heavily on the Norse tradition in creating his version of Siegfried. Guthorm has also killed Sigurd's three-year-old son Sigmund. [79], Frá dauða Sinfjötla is a short prose text between the songs. He rescues the princess and slays the dragon, finding the treasure of the Nibelungen inside the mountain. Although he does not sleep with Brünhild, Siegfried takes her belt and ring, later giving them to Kriemhild. There was one who had not sworn brotherhood with Sigurd. Grípir tells Sigurd that he will kill Hunding's sons, the dragon Fafnir, and the smith Regin, acquiring the hoard of the Nibelungen. [8], There are competing theories as to which name is original. The fatal wound was too much for Sigurd and he laid dying among the wild flowers. [108] The Faroese ballads include Regin smiður (Regin the Smith, TSB E 51), Brynhildar táttur (the song of Brynhild, TSB E 100), and Høgna táttur (the song of Högni, TSB E 55 and E 38). Sigurd and Gjuki's sons Gunnar and Högni swear an oath of loyalty to each other and become blood brothers. [110] Attempts to identify depictions of the Sigurd story in Sangüesa (the "Spanish Sigurd"), in Naples (the "Norman Sigurd"), and in northern Germany have all been refuted. The most beautiful of the Valkyries. It is most likely that Sigurd's youth with the smith, his stupidity, and his success through supernatural aid rather than his own cunning is the more original of these conceptions. the Burgundian kingdom). [72] The text identifies Sigurd as being raised in a place called "Thjod."[73]. Guthorm stabs Sigurd in his sleep, but Sigurd is able to slice Guthorm in half by throwing his sword before dying. Sigurd deceives Brynhild by taking Gunnar's shape when Gunnar cannot fulfill the condition that he ride through a wall of flames to wed her; Sigurd rides through the flames and weds Brynhild, but does not sleep with her, placing his sword between them in the marriage bed. They bore Sigurd out of the Hall and Brynhild went beside where they placed him. [126] The most famous of these is the Hylestad Stave Church, likely from around 1200. In particular, the murder of Sigebert I (d. 575), who was married to Brunhilda of Austrasia, is often cited as a likely inspiration for the figure,[14][15] a theory that was first proposed in 1613. [92] The saga changes the geographic location of Sigurd's life from Germany to Scandinavia. [76], The Poetic Edda identifies Sigurd as a king of the Franks. Signy wanted nothing but to see her father’s death avenged. He marries Kriemhild and rules there together with her brothers Gunther, Hagen, and Giselher, but they resent him and have him killed after eight years. Brünhild openly accuses Kriemhild of being married to a vassal, and Kriemhild claims that Siegfried took Brünhild's virginity, producing the belt and ring as proof. Brynhild desires Sigurd, however, and when she cannot have him decides to have him killed. Thidrek is unable to wound Sigurd because of his invulnerable skin, but on the third day, Thidrek receives the sword Mimung, which can cut through Sigurd's skin, and defeats him. Older scholarship sometimes connected him with Arminius, victor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. [50], The author of the saga has made a number of changes to create a more or less coherent story out of the many oral and possibly written sources that he used to create the saga. This page was last edited on 7 April 2021, at 14:09. Brynhild went to Guttorm. When he puts his finger into his mouth, he can understand the language of the birds, who warn him of Regin's plan to kill him. How Sigurd/Siegfried won Brynhild/Brunhild in marriage for Gunnar/Gunther. Sigurd is born at the end of the poem; he is the posthumous son of Sigmund, who dies fighting the sons of Hunding, and Hjordis. Fafnir, Ótr's brother, guards the treasure now and has turned into a dragon. [55], The second half of the heroic poem Biterolf und Dietleib (between 1250 and 1300)[56] features a war between the Burgundian heroes of the Nibelungenlied and the heroes of the cycle around Dietrich von Bern, something likely inspired by the Rosengarten zu Worms. [163] Numerous paintings, monuments, and fountains of Siegfried date from this time period. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Siegfried became heavily associated with German nationalism. [83] The poems also mix two conceptions of Sigurd: on the one hand, he is presented as an intelligent royal prince, on the other, he is raised by the smith Regin and is presented as stupid. Many of the oldest depictions are very unclear however, and their depiction of the Sigurd legend is often disputed. In the myth of Sigurd, the hero's downfall occurs because of a cursed ring he obtains as part of a treasure when he kills Fafnir. [101], In the ballad Sivard Snarensvend (DgF 2, SMB 204, TSB E 49), Sigurd kills his stepfather and rides, with great difficulty, the unbroken horse Gram to his uncle in Bern. And Grani stood listening for some sound. As part of Siegfried's help, they lie to Brünhild and claim that Siegfried is Gunther's vassal. Now, to pass the time in this era before the Internet, you tell stories from Norse mythology. [141] Hermann Reichert, on the other hand, argues that the two dragon-slayings are originally unrelated: Sigurd kills one when he is young, which represents a sort of heroic initiation, whereas Sigmund kills a dragon when he is old, which cannot be interpreted in this way. But she answered him: "Too late thou hast come to me, Sigurd. Sigurd is depicted stabbing Fafnir so that his sword takes the appearance of a u-rune. [21], Franz-Joseph Mone [de] (1830) had also believed Siegfried to be an amalgamation of several historical figures, and was the first to suggest possible connection with the Germanic hero Arminius from the Roman period, famed for defeating Publius Quinctilius Varus's legion at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. [127] It shows numerous scenes from Sigurd's legend: Regin is shown in his smithy, Sigurd fights against and kills the dragon, cooks its heart and sucks his burnt thumb, receives the advice of the birds, kills Regin. 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