I.A. BLACKWELL.
HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D.,
EDITOR IN CHIEF.
J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.,
MANAGING EDITOR.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NORROENA SOCIETY,
LONDON STOCKHOLM COPENHAGEN BERLIN NEW YORK
1906
KING GUNTHER
(After a painting by B. Guth.)
Gunnar, Gunther, or Gunter, King of Burgundy, was probably a real personage of the troubled times with which his name is associated—a period distinguished as much for heroic characters as for tragic events. Gunther represents the best type of kinghood of his age; a man swayed by his affections rather than by ambition, who scrupled at misdeeds, yet yielded to the mastering passions of love; one whose instincts were loyalty to friends and country, and who shrank from cruelties to gain his ends, but who fell a victim to woman's fascinations. History accordingly praises him more for a lover than for a sovereign.