Siegfried called Horny. He was called horny because, when he slew the dragon, he bathed in its blood, and became covered with a horny hide which was invulnerable. A linden leaf happened to fall on his back between his shoulder-blades, and, as the blood did not touch this spot, it remained vulnerable.—The minnesingers, The Nibelungen Lied (1210).
Sieg´fried von Lindenberg, the hero of a comic German romance by Müller (1779). Still popular and very amusing.
Sieglind [Seeg.lind], the mother of Siegfried, and wife of Siegmund, king of the Netherlands.—The minnesingers, The Nibelungen Lied (1210).
Siegmund [Seeg.mund], king of the Netherlands. His wife was Sieglind, and his son, Siegfried [Seeg.freed].—The minnesingers, The Nibelungen Lied (1210).
Sige´ro, “the Good,” slain by Argantês. Argantês hurled his spear at Godfrey, but it struck Sigēro, who “rejoiced to suffer in his sovereign’s place.”—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, xi. (1575).
Sightly (Captain), a dashing young officer, who runs away with Priscilla Tomboy, but subsequently obtains her guardian’s consent to marry her.—The Romp (altered from Bickerstaff’s Love in the City).
Sigismonda, daughter of Tancred, king of Salerno. She fell in love with Guiscardo, her father’s squire, revealed to him her love, and married him in a cavern attached to the palace. Tancred discovered them in each other’s embrace, and gave secret orders to waylay the bridegroom and strangle him. He then went to Sigismonda, and reproved her for her degrading choice, which she boldly justified. Next day, she received a human heart in a gold casket, knew instinctively that it was Guiscardo’s, and poisoned herself. Her father being sent for, she survived just long enough to request that she might be buried in the same grave as her young husband, and Tancred:
Too late repenting of his cruel deed,
One common sepulchre for both decreed;
Intombed the wretched pair in royal state,
And on their monument inscribed their fate.
Dryden, Sigismonda and Guiscardo (from Boccaccio).
Sigismund, emperor of Austria.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).
Sigismunda, daughter of Siffrēdi, lord high chancellor of Sicily, and betrothed to Count Tancred. When King Roger died, he left the crown of Sicily to Tancred, on condition that he married Constantia, by which means the rival lines would be united, and the country saved from civil war. Tancred gave a tacit consent, intending to obtain a dispensation; but Sigismunda, in a moment of wounded pride, consented to marry Earl Osmond. When King Tancred obtained an interview with Sigismunda, to explain his conduct, Osmond challenged him, and they fought. Osmond fell, and when his wife ran to him, he thrust his sword into her and killed her.—J. Thomson, Tancred and Sigismunda (1745).