SIGURD (Sigur6r)

This article appears in Volume V25, Page 83 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SIGURD (Sigur6r) or SIEGERIED (M. H. G. Sifrit), the hero of the Nibelungenlied, and of a number of Scandinavian poems included in the older Edda, as well as of the

prose

PROSE

VSlsunga Saga, which is based upon the latter. According to both the
German and Scandinavian authorities he was the son of a certain Sigmundr (Siegmund), a king in the Netherlands, or the " land of the Franks." The exploits of this Sigmundr and his elder sons Sinfiotli and Helgi form the subject of the earlier parts of Volsunga Saga, and Siegmund and Fitela (i.e. Sinfiotli) are also mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. According to the Scandinavian story Sigmundr was slain in battle before the

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

Sigurd

SIGURD (Sigur6r)

, but the German story makes him survive his son.

Sigurd

SIGURD (Sigur6r)

acquired

great

GREAT

fame and riches by slaying the

dragon

DRAGON (Fr. dragon, through Lat. draco, from the Greek; connected with SEpeoľay " see," and interpreted as " sharp-sighted "; O.H. Ger. tracho, dracho, M.H.G. trache, Mod. Ger. Drachen; A.S. draca, hence the equivalent English form " drake," " fire-drake,

Fafnir, but the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

interest

INTEREST

of the story centres round his connexion with the court of the Burgundian king Gunnar (Gunther). He married Gudrun (Kriemhild), the sister of that king, and won for him by a stratagem the hand of the Valkyrie Brynhildr, with whom he had himself previously exchanged vows of love. A quarrel arose between Brynhildr and Gudrun, in the course of which the former learnt of the deception which had been practised upon her and this led eventually to the murder of Sigurd. According to the Scandinavian version he was slain by his brother-in-law Guttorin, according to the German version by the knight

Hagen

HAGEN
HAGEN, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH VON DER (178o-1856)

. Gunther's brothers were subsequently slain while visiting Atli (Etzel), who married Gudrun after Sigurd's death. According to the German story they were killed at the instigation of Kriemhild in revenge for Siegfried. The Scandinavian version of the story attributes the deed to Atli's lust for gold.
The story of Sigurd has given rise to more discussion than any other subject connected with the Teutonic heroic age. Like Achilles he is represented as the perfect embodiment of the ideals of the race, and, as in the case of the Greek hero, it is customary to regard his personality and exploits as mythical. There is no question, however, that the Burgundian king who is said to have been his brother-in-law was an historical person who was slain by the Huns, at the time when the Burgundian kingdom was overthrown by the latter. Sigurd himself is not mentioned by any contemporary writer; but, apart from the

dragon

DRAGON (Fr. dragon, through Lat. draco, from the Greek; connected with SEpeoľay " see," and interpreted as " sharp-sighted "; O.H. Ger. tracho, dracho, M.H.G. trache, Mod. Ger. Drachen; A.S. draca, hence the equivalent English form " drake," " fire-drake,

incident, there is nothing in the story which affords sufficient

justification

JUSTIFICATION

for regarding his personality as mythical. Opinions, however, vary widely as to the precise proportions of history and fiction which the story contains. The story of Siegfried in Richard Wagner's famous opera-cycle Der Ring der Nibelungen is mainly taken from the northern version; but many features, especially the characterization of

Hagen

HAGEN
HAGEN, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH VON DER (178o-1856)

, are borrowed from the German story, as is also the episode of Siegfried's murder in the forest.
See NIBELUNGENLIED and also R. Heinzel, " Ober die Nibelungensage," in Sitzungsberichte der K. Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna, 1885) ; H. Lichtenberger, Le Paine et la legende des Nibelungen (Paris, 1891) ; B. Symons, " Heldensage" in H. Paul's Grundriss der germ. Philologie, vol. iii. (Strassburg, 1900) ; and R. C. Boer, Untersuchungen fiber den Ursprung and die Entwicklung der Nibelungensage (

Halle

, 1906). Also T. Abeling, Nibelungenlied (1907).
(F. G. M. B.)

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