The Nibelungenlied
(This is part two; click here for part one)
Part II: Kriemhild's Revenge
Well, naturally that wasn't the end of the story. A woman like Kriemhild wasn't just going to sit there, after Hagen killed her husband. After some time, King Etzel of the Huns (Attila the Hun) came and proposed marriage to Kriemheld, and she was happy to marry him. Soon King Etzel and Queen Kriemhild had a little baby boy.
Kriemhild invited her whole family, and their servants, to come from Burgundy to the land of the Huns for her son's baptism. Hagen saw that this was a trap, and that Kriemhild wanted to kill them all once she got them into the land of the Huns, but nobody else believed him. So King Gunther, Queen BrŸnhild, and everybody else all started riding off to the baptism, and they made Hagen go along too.
When they got to King Etzel's castle, the Burgundians wanted to keep their weapons and not put them aside for the party. King Etzel said that was rude, but he let them do it anyway. Once King Gunther, Queen BrŸnhild, and everyone were inside the hall, Kriemhild demanded that Hagen return her gold, and sure enough he used his sword to cut off her baby's head.
After that, everyone started fighting, all over the hall. The Burgundians ended up winning control of the castle, but outside the castle there was all of the Hun army, so they couldn't get out. Queen Kriemhild offered to let her brothers go if they would hand over Hagen, but they wouldn't do it. After much more fighting, all of the Burgundians were killed except King Gunther and Hagen, who were taken prisoner
Kriemhild went down to Gunther and Hagen's jail cell, where the two men are tied up. Ignoring all the rights of the prisoners, Kriemhild cut off both men's heads. Everyone was angry at this betrayal, and a man called Hildebrand killed Kriemhild, which is the end of the story, as everyone mourned for the dead heroes.
First part of the Niebelungenlied
To find out more about the Niebelungenleid, check out these books from your local library or from Amazon:
The Story of Siegfried, by James Baldwin (2006). Many stories about Siegfried, retold for kids.
Stories of Siegfried Told to the Children , by Mary Macgregor (2006). Another retelling of the same story.
The Nibelungenlied: Prose Translation (Penguin Classics), translated by A. T. Hatto (1965). The original text, full length, translated from German into English.
Hildebrand's story
Beowulf
Main German literature page
Main Germans page
Books and gifts about ancient Germany
Medieval Literature page
Main Literature page
Kidipede - History for Kids home page
