NIBELUNGENLIED, or DER NIBELUNGE NOT, a mediaeval German heroic epic. The story on which it is based belongs to the general stock of Teutonic saga, and was very widespread under various forms, some of which are preserved. Thus it is touched upon in Beowulf, and fragments of it form the most important part of the northern Eddas, the poets of which evidently assumed that the tale as a whole was well known and that their hearers would be able to put each piece in its proper place. In the prose Edda, or V olsungasaga, which though largely primitive in spirit dates from the 13th century, it is set forth in full. The substance of this Norse version is as follows : "The three Anses—Odin, Loki and Hornir—saw an otter de vouring a salmon beside a waterfall. They killed and skinned the otter and, taking the skin with them, sought shelter for the night with Rodmar the giant. But Rodmar recognized the skin as that of his son, and demanded as weregild gold enough to cover it completely. Loki thereupon went back to the stream, where Andvari in the form of a pike was guarding a great treasure, caught him in a net, and forced him to surrender his hoard. But the piled-up gold left one hair exposed ; in order to cover it Loki returned to Andvari and forced him to surrender a magic ring, which had the virtue of breeding gold. Thereupon Andvari, en raged, laid upon the hoard and all who should possess it a curse. This curse, the Leitmotif of the whole story, began to operate at once. Rodmar, for the sake of the treasure, was slain by his sons Fafnir and Regin; and Fafnir, seizing the whole, retired to a desolate heath and in the form of a snake or dragon brooded over the hoard. Regin, cheated of his share, plotted vengeance and conquest of the treasure.
"To Regin, a notable smith, was sent Sigurd—son of the slain hero Sigmundr the Volsung and his wife Hiortis, now wife of the Danish king Alf—to be trained in his craft. To him Regin told of Fafnir and the hoard, and the young hero offered to go out against the dragon if Regin would weld him a sword. But every brand forged by the smith broke under Sigurd's stroke ; till at last he fetched the fragments of the sword Gram, Odin's gift to his father, which Hiortis had carefully treasured. These Sigurd forged into
a new sword, so hard that with it he could cleave the anvil, and so sharp that it would sever a flock of wool floating against it down stream ; and, so armed, he sought and slew the dragon. But while roasting Fafnir's heart, which Regin had cut out, Sigurd burned his finger with the boiling fat and, placing it to his lips, found that he could understand the language of birds, and so learned from the chattering of the woodpeckers that Regin was planning treachery. Thereupon he slew the smith, and loading the treasure on the magic steed Grani, given to him by Odin, set out on his travels.
"On a fire-girt hill Sigurd found the Valkyrie Brunhild in an enchanted sleep, and ravished by her beauty awakened her; they plighted their troth to each other and, next morning, Sigurd left her to set out once more on his journey. Coming to the court of Giuki, a king in the Rhine country, Sigurd formed a friendship with his three sons, Gunnar, Hogni and Guthorm; and, in order to retain so valuable an ally, it was determined to arrange a match between him and their sister Gudrun. Queen Grimhild, skilled in magic, therefore gave him an enchanted drink, which caused him to forget Brunhild. Gunnar, on the other hand, wished to make Brunhild his wife, and asked Sigurd to ride with him on this quest, which he consented to do on condition of receiving Gudrun to wife. They set out ; but Gunnar was unable to pass the circle of fire round Brunhild's abode, the achievement that was the condition of winning her hand. So Sigurd, assuming Gunnar's shape, rode through the flames on his magic horse, and in sign of troth exchanged rings with the Valkyrie, giving her the ring of Andvari. So Gunnar and Brunhild were wedded, and Sigurd, re suming his own form, rode back with them to Giuki's court, where the double marriage was celebrated. But Brunhild was moody and suspicious, remembering her troth with Sigurd and believing that he alone could have accomplished the quest.