"They are gone,--the lovely, the mighty, the hope of the ancient earth:It shall labor and bear the burden as before the day of their birth:...It shall yearn, and be oft-times holpen, and forget their deeds no more,Till the new sun beams on Balder and the happy sealess shore."[EN#35]
Another and much later story is sometimes told of these last saddays,--how the hero's body was laid in a coffin, and buried in the quietearth, amid the sorrowful lamentations of all the Rhineland folk; andhow, at Kriemhild's earnest wish, it was afterwards removed to the placewhere now stands the little minster of Lorsch. As to which of thesestories is the true one, it is not for me to say. Enough it is to knowthat Siegfried was dead, and that the spring-time had fled, and thesummer-season with all its golden glories had faded away from Rhineland,and that the powers of darkness and of cold and of evil had prevailed.
To this day the city where was the dwelling of the Burgundian kings iscalled Worms, in remembrance of the dragon, or worm, which Siegfriedslew; and a figure of that monster was for many years painted uponthe city arms, and borne on the banner of the Burgundians. And, untilrecently, travellers were shown the Reisen-haus,--a stronghold, which,men say, Siegfried built; and in it were many strange and mightyweapons, which, they claim, were wielded by the hero. The lance whichwas shown there was a great beam nearly eighty feet in length; and thewar-coat, wrought with steel and gold, and bespangled with gem-stones,was a wonder to behold. And now, in the Church of St. Cecilia, you maysee what purports to be the hero's grave. And a pleasant meadow, not farfrom the town, is still called Kriemhild's Rose-garden; while fartheraway is the place called Drachenfels, or the dragon's field, where, theysay, Siegfried met Fafnir. But whether it is the same as the GlitteringHeath of the ancient legend, I know not.
And what became of the Hoard of Andvari?
The story is briefly told.[EN#36] When the days of mourning were past,and the people had gone back sadly to their homes, Queen Kriemhild beganto speak of returning to the land of the Nibelungens. But Ute, her agedmother, could not bear to part with her, and besought her to stay, fora while at least, in the now desolate Burgundian castle. And Gernot andGiselher, her true and loving brothers, added their words of entreatyalso. And so, though heart-sick, and with many misgivings, she agreed toabide for a season in this cheerless and comfortless place. Many days,even months, dragged by, and still she remained; for she found it stillharder and harder to tear herself away from her mother, and all that herheart held dear. Yet never, for three years and more, did she even speakto Gunther, or by any sign show that she remembered him. And, as forHagen, no words could utter the deep and settled hate she felt towardshim. But the dark-browed chief cared nought either for love or hate; andhe walked erect, as in the days of yore, and he smiled and frowned alikefor both evil and good. And he said, "It was not I: it was the Norns,who wove the woof of his life and mine."
The years went by on leaden wings, and brought no sunlight to Gunther'sdwelling; for his days were full of sadness, and his nights of fearfuldreams. At length he said to chief Hagen, "If there is aught in themid-world that can drive away this gloom, I pray thee to help me findit; for madness steals upon me."
"There is one thing," answered Hagen, "which might brighten our landagain, and lift up your drooping spirits, and bring gladness to yourhalls."
"What is that?" asked the king.
"It is the Nibelungen Hoard," said the chief. "It is the wondroustreasure of Andvari, which Siegfried gave as a gift to Kriemhild. If itwere ours, we might become the masters of the world."
"But how can we obtain it?"
"It is Kriemhild's," was the answer. "But she does not care for it;neither could she use it if she wished. If you could only gain her favorand forgiveness, I feel sure that she would let you do with it as youwish."
Then Gunther besought his younger brothers to intercede for him withKriemhild, that she would so far forgive him as to look upon his face,and speak with him once more. And this the queen at last consented todo. And, when Gunther came into her presence, she was so touched atsight of his haggard face and whitened locks, and his earnest wordsof sorrow, that she forgave him the great wrong that he had done, andwelcomed him again as her brother. And he swore that never would heagain wrong her or hers, nor do aught to grieve her. But it was notuntil a long time after this, that he proposed to her that they shouldbring the Hoard of Andvari away from the Nibelungen Land.
"For, if it were here, dear sister," he said, "it might be of great useto you."
"Do whatever seems best to you," answered Kriemhild. "Only remember theoath that you have given me."
Then Gunther, because he was anxious to see the wondrous Hoard, but morebecause he was urged on by Hagen, made ready to send to the NibelungenLand to bring away the treasure by Kriemhild's command. Eight thousandmen, with Gernot and Giselher as their leaders, sailed over the sea instanch vessels, and landed on the Nibelungen shore. And when they toldwho they were, and whence they came, and showed the queen's signet-ring,they were welcomed heartily by the fair-haired folk of Mist Land,who gladly acknowledged themselves the faithful liegemen of the lovedKriemhild.
When the Burgundians made known their errand to Alberich the dwarf,who still held watch and ward over the mountain stronghold, he was muchamazed, and he grieved to part with his cherished treasure.
"But," said he to his little followers, who stood around him bythousands, each anxious to fight the intruders,--"but there is QueenKriemhild's order and her signet-ring, and we must, perforce, obey. Yethad we again the good Tarnkappe which Siegfried took from us, the Hoardshould never leave us."
Then sadly he gave up the keys, and the Burgundians began to remove thetreasure. For four whole days and nights they toiled, carrying the Hoardin huge wagons down to the sea. And on the fifth day they set sail, andwithout mishap arrived in good time at Worms. And many of Alberich'speople, the swarthy elves of the cave, came with Gernot to Rhineland;for they could not live away from the Hoard. And it is said, that hiddenamong the gold and the gem-stones was the far-famed Wishing-rod, whichwould give to its owner the power of becoming the lord of the widemid-world.
And the vast treasure was stored in the towers and vaults of the castle.And Queen Kriemhild alone held the keys, and lavishly she scattered thegold wherever it was needed most. The hungry were fed, the naked wereclothed, the sick were cared for; and everybody near and far blessed thepeerless Queen of Nibelungen Land.
Then Hagen, always plotting evil, whispered to King Gunther, and said,"It is dangerous to suffer your sister to hold so vast a treasure. Allthe people are even now ready to leave you, and follow her. She will yetplot to seize the kingdom, and destroy us."
And he urged the king to take the keys and to make the Nibelungen Hoardhis own.
But Gunther answered, "I have already done too great a wrong. And I havesworn to my sister never to harm her again, or to do aught that willgrieve her."
"Let the guilt, then, rest on me," said Hagen. And he strode away, andtook the keys from Kriemhild by force.
When Gernot and Giselher heard of this last vile act of the evil-eyedchief, they waxed very angry, and vowed that they would help theirsister regain that which was her own. But the wary Hagen was not to befoiled; for, while the brothers were away from the burgh, he caused thegreat Hoard to be carried to the river, at a place called Lochheim,and sunk, fathoms deep, beneath the water. And then, for fear of thevengeance which might be wreaked upon him, he fled from Rhineland, andhid himself for a while among the mountains and the barren hill-countryof the South.
And this was the end of the fated Hoard of Andvari.
The After Word.
Such is the story of Siegfried (or Sigurd), as we gather it from variousGerman and Scandinavian legends. In this recital I have made no attemptto follow any one of the numerous originals, but have selected hereand there such incidents as best suited my purpose in constructing oneconnected story which would convey to your minds some notion of thebeauty and richness of our ancient myths. In doing
this, I have drawn,now from the Volsunga Saga, now from the Nibelungen Lied, now from oneof the Eddas, and now from some of the minor legends relating to thegreat hero of the North. These ancient stories, although differingwidely in particulars, have a certain general relationship and agreementwhich proves beyond doubt a common origin. "The primeval myth," saysThomas Carlyle, "whether it were at first philosophical truth, orhistorical incident, floats too vaguely on the breath of men: each hasthe privilege of inventing, and the far wider privilege of borrowingand new modelling from all that preceded him. Thus, though traditionmay have but one root, it grows, like a banian, into a whole overarchinglabyrinth of trees."
If you would follow the tradition of Siegfried to the end; if you wouldlearn how, after the great Hoard had been buried in the Rhine, the curseof the dwarf Andvari still followed those who had possessed it, and howKriemhild wreaked a terrible vengeance upon Siegfried's murderers,--youmust read the original story as related in the Volsung Myth or in theNibelungen Song. Our story ends with Siegfried.
The episodes which I have inserted here and there--the stories of AEgir,and of Balder, and of Idun, and of Thor--do not, as you may know, belongproperly to the legend of Siegfried; but I have thrown them in, in orderto acquaint you with some of the most beautiful mythical conceptions ofour ancestors.
A grand old people were those early kinsmen of ours,--not at all sosavage and inhuman as our histories would sometimes make us believe. Forhowever mistaken their notions may have been, and however ignorant theywere, according to our ideas of things, they were strong-hearted, braveworkers; and, so far as opportunity was afforded them, they acted welltheir parts. What their notions were of true manhood,--a strong mind ina strong body, good, brave, and handsome,--may be learned from the storyof Siegfried.
End of The Story of Siegfried.
The Story of Siegfried Endnotes.
[EN#1] Siegfried's Boyhood.
"All men agree that Siegfried was a king's son. He was born, as we herehave good reason to know, 'at Santen in Netherland,' of Siegmund and thefair Siegelinde; yet by some family misfortune or discord, of which theaccounts are very various, he came into singular straits during boyhood,having passed that happy period of life, not under the canopies ofcostly state, but by the sooty stithy, in one Mimer, a blacksmith'sshop."--Thomas Carlyle, The Nibelungen Lied.
The older versions of this story represent Siegfried, under the name ofSigurd, as being brought up at the court of the Danish King Hialprek;his own father Sigmund having been slain in battle, as related in thischapter. He was early placed under the tuition of Regin, or Regino, anelf, who instructed his pupil in draughts, runes, languages, and variousother accomplishments.--See Preface to Vollmer's Nibelunge Not, also theSong of Sigurd Fafnisbane, in the Elder Edda, and the Icelandic VolsungaSaga.
[EN#2]--Mimer.
"The Vilkinasaga brings before us yet another smith, Mimer, by whom notonly is Velint instructed in his art, but Sigfrit (Siegfried) is broughtup,--another smith's apprentice. He is occasionally mentioned in thelater poem of Biterolf, as Mime the Old. The old name of Munster inWestphalia was Mimigardiford; the Westphalian Minden was originallyMimidun; and Memleben on the Unstrut, Mimileba.. .. The elder Norsetradition names him just as often, and in several different connections.In one place, a Mimingus, a wood-satyr, and possessor of a sword andjewels, is interwoven into the myth of Balder and Hoder. The Edda givesa higher position to its Mimer. He has a fountain, in which wisdomand understanding lie hidden: drinking of it every morning, he is thewisest, most intelligent, of men. To Mimer's fountain came Odin, anddesired a drink, but did not receive it till he had given one of hiseyes in pledge, and hidden it in the fountain: this accounts for Odinbeing one-eyed.... Mimer is no Asa, but an exalted being with whom theAsas hold converse, of whom they make use,--the sum total of wisdom,possibly an older Nature-god. Later fables degraded him into awood-sprite, or clever smith."--Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, I. p. 379.
Concerning the Mimer of the Eddas, Professor Anderson says, "The nameMimer means the knowing. The Giants, being older than the Asas, lookeddeeper than the latter into the darkness of the past. They had witnessedthe birth of the gods and the beginning of the world, and they foresawtheir downfall. Concerning both these events, the gods had to go tothem for knowledge. It is this wisdom that Mimer keeps in hisfountain."--Norse Mythology, p 209.
In the older versions of the legend, the smith who cared for Siegfried(Sigurd) is called, as we have before noticed, Regin. He is thusdescribed by Morris:--
"The lore of all men he knew, And was deft in every cunning, save the dealings of the sword. So sweet was his tongue-speech fashioned, that men trowed his every word. His hand with the harp-strings blended was the mingler of delight With the latter days of sorrow: all tales he told aright. The Master of the Masters in the smithying craft was he; And he dealt with the wind and the weather and the stilling of the sea; Nor might any learn him leech-craft, for before that race was made, And that man-folk's generation, all their life-days had he weighed."
Sigurd the Volsung, Bk. II.
[EN#3]--The Sword.
"By this sword Balmung also hangs a tale. Doubtless it was one of thoseinvaluable weapons sometimes fabricated by the old Northern smiths,compared with which our modern Foxes and Ferraras and Toledos are mereleaden tools. Von der Hagen seems to think it simply the sword Mimungunder another name; in which case, Siegfried's old master, Mimer, hadbeen the maker of it, and called it after himself, as if it had been hisson."--Carlyle, on the Nibelungen Lied, note.
In Scandinavian legends, the story of Mimer and Amilias is given,differing but slightly from the rendering in this chapter.--See Weberand Jamieson's Illustrations of Northern Antiquities.
In the older versions of the myth, the sword is called Gram, or theWrath. It was wrought from the shards, or broken pieces, of Sigmund'ssword, the gift of Odin. It was made by Regin for Sigurd's (Siegfried's)use, and its temper was tested as here described.
[EN#4]--Sigmund The Volsung.
Sigmund the Volsung, in the Volsunga Saga, is represented as the fatherof Sigurd (Siegfried); but there is such a marked contrast between him,and the wise, home-abiding King Siegmund of the later stories, that Ihave thought proper to speak of them here as two different individuals.The word "Sigmund," or "Siegmund," means literally the mouth of victory.The story of the Volsungs, as here supposed to be related by Mimer, isderived mainly from the Volsunga Saga.
[EN#5]--Siegfried's Journey Into The Forest.
"In the shop of Mimer, Siegfried was nowise in his proper element, everquarrelling with his fellow-apprentices, nay, as some say, breaking thehardest anvils into shivers by his too stout hammering; so that Mimer,otherwise a first-rate smith, could by no means do with him there. Hesends him, accordingly, to the neighboring forest to fetch charcoal,well aware that a monstrous dragon, one Regin, the smith's own brother,would meet him, and devour him. But far otherwise it proved."--Carlyle,on The Nibelungen Lied.
[EN#6]--The Norns.
The Norns are the Fates, which watch over man through life. They areUrd the Past, Verdande the Present, and Skuld the Future. They approachevery new-born child, and utter his doom. They are represented asspinning the thread of fate, one end of which is hidden by Urd in thefar east, the other by Verdande in the far west. Skuld stands readyto rend it in pieces. --See Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, p. 405, alsoAnderson's Norse Mythology, p. 209.
The three weird women in Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth represent alater conception of the three Norns, now degraded to mere witches.
Compare the Norns with the Fates of the Greek Mythology. These, also,are three in number. They sit clothed in white, and garlanded, singingof destiny. Clotho, the Past, spins; Lachesis, the Present, divides; andAtropos, the Future, stands ready with her shears to cut the thread.
[EN#7]--The Idea of Fatality.
Throughout the story of the Nibelungs and Volsungs, of Sigurd and ofS
iegfried,--whether we follow the older versions or the mote recentrenderings,--there is, as it were, an ever-present but indefinableshadow of coming fate, "a low, inarticulate voice of Doom," foretellingthe inevitable. This is but in consonance with the general ideas ofour Northern ancestors regarding the fatality which shapes and controlsevery man's life. These ideas are embodied in more than one ancientlegend. We find them in the old Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf. "Tous," cries Beowulf in his last fight, "to us it shall be as our Weirdbetides,--that Weird that is every man's lord!" "Each man of us shallabide the end of his life-work; let him that may work, work his doomeddeeds ere death comes!" Similar ideas prevailed among the Greeks. Read,for example, that passage in the Iliad describing the parting of Hectorand Andromache, and notice the deeper meaning of Hector's words.
[EN#8]--Regin.
As we have already observed (EN#1), the older versions of this mythcalled Siegfried's master and teacher Regin, while the more recentversions call him Mimer. We have here endeavored to harmonize the twoversions by representing Mimer as being merely Regin in disguise.
[EN#9]--Gripir.
"A man of few words was Gripir; but he knew of all deeds that had been;And times there came upon him, when the deeds to be were seen: No swordhad he held in his hand since his father fell to field, And against thelife of the slayer he bore undinted shield: Yet no fear in his heartabided, nor desired he aught at all: But he noted the deeds that hadbeen, and looked for what should befall." Morris's Sigurd the Volsung,Bk. II.