The Heroic Age

by H. Munro Chadwick

I am not arguing now to prove that Högni was a historical person. He may be of fictitious origin or even mythical (though the latter seems to me extremely improbable). But if so clearly he must have been taken either from the story of Sigurðr into that of Waldhere, or from the story of Waldhere into that of Sigurðr. Which of the two he belonged to originally is a question of minor importance. The essential point is that an earlier German form of the story of Sigurðr must be the link between the Norse version and the story of Waldhere; for there is no evidence that the story of Waldhere itself was ever known in the North. The conclusion to which we are naturally brought is that in this earlier German form of the story Högni bore the same character which is attributed to him in the Norse version. This character however is of course totally incompatible with a demonic origin; and here, it seems to me, the interpretation which we are discussing hopelessly breaks down.

I cannot help thinking that the investigation of the whole story has been greatly prejudiced by the application of wrong methods. There can be no doubt that a story of some kind—in which the adventures of Sigurðr were already combined with those of the historical Burgundian princes—was in existence long before the date of the earliest extant records, and that from this story, whether it was embodied in a single poem or consisted only of a mass of lays or legends, both the Norse and German versions are ultimately derived. It seems to me that, before trying to ascertain the origin of the various elements contained in the story, the object should be to determine the main features of this common foundation. The way to achieve this end is surely not by arbitrarily selecting one feature from the Norse version and another from the German, but by bringing together all the various features which the two have in common. To carry out such a process systematically would be quite beyond the scope of this book, but a brief outline of the scheme may not be out of place here.

First then we will take the part of the story relating to the hero's early adventures, which is preserved mainly in a different set of authorities from the rest. The chief German authority is the late Seyfridslied which, as we have seen, is really made up of two different ballads, inconsistent with one another. The Nibelungenlied contains only allusions to this part of the story, the action proper beginning shortly before the hero's arrival at Worms. The Norse version is given in the trilogy, Reginsmál, Fáfnismál and Sigrdrífumál, as well as in Völsunga Saga, which is derived from these poems. The account given in Thiðreks Saga is mainly a combination of the German and Norse versions, though it has one or two features peculiar to itself.

In this part of the story the common elements are very few in number. (1) Sigurðr kills a dragon; (2) Sigurðr gains a great treasure. In the Norse version the two adventures are combined, but in the Nibelungenlied the treasure belonged to Nibelung and his brother who had quarrelled and who are both killed by the hero. It may be noticed that Reginn and Fáfnir are also brothers who have quarrelled over a treasure, and they too are both killed by Sigurðr; but Fáfnir has become a dragon—or perhaps a reptile. The Seyfridslied, Part I mentions only the killing of a dragon (serpent), while Part II unites the acquisition of the treasure with the killing of a dragon—a fiery dragon—but states that the hero erroneously thought that the treasure belonged to the dragon. Really it belonged to the three sons of the dwarf-king Nybling, who are friendly to the hero and not killed by him. As a further common element we may mention (3) that Sigurðr is brought up by a smith. This story is found in the Seyfridslied, Part I, and in Thiðreks Saga—practically also in the Edda, since Reginn is represented as a smith. Again, (4) both in the ballad and in Norse prose authorities Sigurðr breaks the smith's anvil, though the circumstances are quite different. It is doubtful whether we should connect the eating of Fáfnir's heart, which enabled the hero to understand the birds, with the German story that he became invulnerable by bathing in the dragon's blood. Further, we have seen that the awakening of the valkyrie in Sigrdrífumál has practically nothing in common with the rescue of the maiden (Kriemhild) from the dragon related in the ballad (Part II). Lastly, it is to be observed that though the hero's father has the same name (Sigemund) in all authorities, there is great discrepancy as to his childhood. In the Edda he is posthumous but knows his parentage, in the Nibelungenlied he is brought up at his father's court, in the ballad, Part I, he leaves his home and goes to the smithy, in Part II and Thiðreks Saga he does not know his parentage—in the latter indeed he is a foundling and suckled by a hind. It will be seen that this part of the story is permeated throughout by the supernatural and marvellous.

From the time of the hero's arrival at the Burgundian court we may take the Nibelungenlied for the German version, while the Norse one is best represented by the poems from the fragmentary Sigurðarkviða I to Atlamál. For the earlier portion we have also to use Völsunga Saga and the prose Edda in place of certain poems which are lost (cf. p. [13]). In this part of the story the elements common to the two versions are far more numerous and striking. (1) Sigurðr comes to the Rhineland (Worms in the German version) and marries a sister (Guðrún, Kriemhild) of King Gunnarr (Gunther). (2) Sigurðr in supernatural disguise wins Brynhildr for Gunnarr. (3) Sigurðr again in supernatural disguise sleeps with Brynhildr and takes from her a ring[216]. (4) Brynhildr quarrels with Sigurðr's wife, and the latter shows her the ring[216]. (5) Brynhildr bitterly resents the treatment she has received and devises the hero's death. (6) Sigurðr is killed by treachery; but the versions differ in regard to the perpetrator of the deed. (7) The hero's widow is for a long time irreconcilable, but eventually is married to Atli (Etzel). (8) Gunnarr with Högni and many others are invited to Atli's home. (9) The gold is sunk in the Rhine. (10) Gunnarr and Högni are captured alive and the rest killed in Atli's land. (11) A demand for the gold is made and refused. (12) Gunnarr and Högni are killed.

It will be seen that the supernatural is here confined to (2) and (3); indeed these are almost the only incidents in which it occurs in this part of the story. There is a difference between the two versions in regard to the character of the supernatural disguise. In the Norse version, where the two incidents are combined, Sigurðr and Gunnarr have exchanged forms; in the German Gunther is present in both cases, though Siegfried, who has rendered himself invisible, is the real actor. Several other important differences between the two versions have already been noted (p. [13] f.). In addition to these each version has of course many characters and incidents peculiar to itself.

Of the discrepancies enumerated on p. [13] f. the fifth is by far the most important, since Kriemhild's revenge for Siegfried forms the central motif of the second half of the Nibelungenlied. In the Norse version no such central motif is to be found. In the prose piece Dráp Niflunga Atli's conduct is attributed to revenge for the death of Brynhildr, while in Völsunga Saga it is ascribed to his lust for Sigurðr's gold. But in the poems themselves no real explanation is given, and the connection between this part of the story and that relating to Sigurðr is scarcely more than a personal one—viz. that Guðrún, Gunnarr and Högni figure in both. This however is a phenomenon for which parallels are to be found in other heroic stories, e.g. those of Beowulf and Weland. It is now held—and doubtless rightly—by the majority of scholars that the unity of interest imparted to the Nibelungenlied by the motif of Kriemhild's revenge is a later improvement on the somewhat disconnected story given in the Edda. For our present purpose however the question is immaterial, since it is not contended that this part of the story is of mythical origin.

In spite of the discrepancies noted above it cannot be denied that the two versions contain a remarkable number of identical features in this part of the story—a fact which renders all the more striking the very slight amount of agreement in the part dealing with the hero's early adventures. Unless all analogies are misleading the conclusion to which we are driven is that the original story began more or less where the Nibelungenlied begins, and that the hero's youthful adventures are later accretions, such as we see gathering round the childhood or ancestry of other heroes, e.g. Biarki (cf. p. [120]). We may add also the cases of Starkaðr, Hagen in Kûdrûn and perhaps Witege (cf. p. [135]). They appear to be derived, in part at least, from folk-tales. One of these—affecting probably only the Norse version—may be identified with the Scandinavian story of Svipdagr and Menglöð (cf. p. [12]), a variety perhaps of that of the Sleeping Beauty. Another is that of the forest dwarf who forges or preserves a magical sword. We may note that in Thiðreks Saga the smith is called Mimir, a name which recalls Saxo's Mimingus (cf. p. [133])[217]. The story of the treasure-guarding dragon may also be included in this category, though strictly perhaps it belongs rather to popular belief than to folk-tale. From the fact that some of these elements are common to both versions we may probably infer that the process of accretion had begun before the story reached the North. Yet there do seem to be some indications of a reflex influence[218]—from the North or some region exposed to Northern influence—upon the development of the story in Germany.

In addition to folk-tales we must take into consideration also a tendency which is often associated with them—the desire to account for an obscure name. This seems to be the most reasonable explanation of the names Nibelung and Nibelunge in the first part of the German epic and Nybling in the ballad—all denoting the original owners of the treasure. We have seen that in the Norse version, as well as in the latter half of the Nibelungenlied, Niflungar means the Burgundians. May we not suppose that it was really a dynastic name[219] like Scyldungas, Uffingas, Merewioingas? In that case of course hodd Niflunga (hort der Nibelunge) ought to mean the family treasure of the Burgundian kings. But is it quite certain that Atlakviða does not use it in this sense? That it is identified with Fáfnir's treasure in later authorities may be due to subsequent German influence. As for the fact that the name Nibelunge is used for the Burgundians only in the second half of the German epic, may not this spring from some stylistic peculiarities of the 'common foundation'? It is not necessary to suppose that the latter was all the work of one author or even of one generation.