[EN#34]—The Burial of Siegfried.
The story of the burning of Siegfried’s body upon a funeral-pile, as related of Sigurd in the older myths, reminds us of the burning of Balder upon the ship “Ringhorn.” (See p. 162.) The Nibelungen Lied represents him as being buried in accordance with the rites of the Roman-Catholic Church. This version of the story must, of course, have been made after the conversion of the Germans to Christianity. “When the Emperor Frederick III. (1440-93) visited Worms after his Netherlands campaign,” says Forestier, “he undertook to have the mighty hero’s bones disinterred, probably in view of proving the truth of the marvellous story then sung throughout Germany; but, although he had the ground dug into until water streamed forth, no traces of these became manifest.”
[EN#35]—Morris: Sigurd the Volsung, Bk. III.
[EN#36]—The Hoard.
The story of bringing the Hoard from Nibelungen Land belongs to the later versions of the myth, and fitly closes the First Part of the Nibelungen Lied. Lochheim, the place where the Hoard was sunk, was not far from Bingen on the Rhine.
[EN#37]—a Short Vocabulary of the Principal Proper Names Mentioned in this Story.
AEGIR. The god of the sea.
ALBERICH and ANDVARI. Dwarfs who guard the great Hoard.
ASA. A name applied to the gods of the Norse mythology.
ASGARD. The home of the gods.
BALDER. The god of the summer sunlight.
BRAGI. The god of eloquence and of poetry.
DRAUPNER. Odin’s ring, which gives fertility to the earth.
FAFNIR. The dragon whom Siegfried slays.
FENRIS-WOLF. The monster who in the last twilight slays
Odin.
FREYJA. The goddess of love.
REY. The god of peace and plenty.
GRIPIR. The giant who gives wise counsel to Siegfried
(Sigurd).
GUNTHER. In the older myths called Gunnar.
HEIMDAL. The heavenly watchman.
HELA. The goddess of death.
HERMOD. The quick messenger who is sent to Hela for Balder.
HODER. The winter-god. He slays Balder.
HOENIR. One of the three most ancient gods.
HUGIN. Odin’s raven, Thought.
IDUN. The goddess of spring.
IVALD. A skilful dwarf.
JOTUNHEIM. The home of the giants.
KRIEMHILD. In the older myths called Gudrun.
LOKI. The mischief-maker. The god of evil.
MIMER. In the later German mythology a skilful smith. In the
older mythology a wise giant.
NORNS. The three Fates,—Urd, Verdande, and Skuld.
ODIN. The chief of the gods.
REGIN. The teacher of Sigurd, by whom he is slain.
SIEGFRIED. In the older myths called Sigurd.
SIF. Thor’s wife.
SLEIPNER. Odin’s eight-footed horse.
TYR. The god of war.
THOR. The god of thunder. The foe of the giants.
VALHAL. The hall of the slain.
VALKYRIES. The choosers of the slain. Odin’s handmaidens.
VIDAR. The silent god.
YMIR. The huge giant out of whose body the world was made.