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Kriemhild
Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two queens of the Merovingian dynasty, Brunhilda of Austrasia and Fredegund. In both the Continental (German) and Scandinavian traditions, Gudrun/Kriemhild is the sister of the Burgundian king Gunther/Gunnar and marries the hero Siegfried/Sigurd. Both traditions also feature a major rivalry between Gudrun and Brunhild, Gunther's wife, over their respective ranks. In both traditions, once Sigurd has been murdered, Gudrun is married to Etzel/Atli, the legendary analogue of Attila the Hun. In the Norse tradition, Atli desires the hoard of the Nibelungen, which the Burgundians had taken after murdering Sigurd, and invites them to his court; intending to kill them. Gudrun then avenges her brothers by killing Atli and burning down his hall. The Norse ...
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Gudrun Setting Fire
Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two queens of the Merovingian dynasty, Brunhilda of Austrasia and Fredegund. In both the Continental (German) and Scandinavian traditions, Gudrun/Kriemhild is the sister of the Burgundian king Gunther/Gunnar and marries the hero Siegfried/Sigurd. Both traditions also feature a major rivalry between Gudrun and Brunhild, Gunther's wife, over their respective ranks. In both traditions, once Sigurd has been murdered, Gudrun is married to Etzel/Atli, the legendary analogue of Attila the Hun. In the Norse tradition, Atli desires the hoard of the Nibelungen, which the Burgundians had taken after murdering Sigurd, and invites them to his court; intending to kill them. Gudrun then avenges her brothers by killing Atli and burning down his hall. The Norse ...
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Sigurd
Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovingian dynasty, with Sigebert I being the most popular contender. Older scholarship sometimes connected him with Arminius, victor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. He may also have a purely mythological origin. Sigurd's story is first attested on a series of carvings, including runestones from Sweden and stone crosses from the British Isles, dating from the eleventh century. In both the Norse and continental Germanic tradition, Sigurd is portrayed as dying as the result of a quarrel between his wife ( Gudrun/Kriemhild) and another woman, Brunhild, whom he has tricked into marrying the Burgundian king Gunnar/Gunther. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respect ...
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Brunhild
Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda of Austrasia. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shieldmaiden or valkyrie, who appears as a main character in the and some Eddic poems treating the same events. In the continental Germanic tradition, where she is a central character in the , she is a powerful Amazon-like queen. In both traditions, she is instrumental in bringing about the death of the hero Sigurd or Siegfried after he deceives her into marrying the Burgundian king Gunther or Gunnar. In both traditions, the immediate cause for her desire to have Sigfried murdered is a quarrel with the hero's wife, Gudrun or Kriemhild. In the Scandinavian tradition, but not in the continental tradition, Brunhild kills herself after Sigurd's death. Richard Wagner made Brunhild (as ) a ...
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Gunther
Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they crossed the Rhine into Roman Gaul. He was involved in the campaigns of the failed Roman usurper Jovinus before the latter's defeat, after which he was settled on the left bank of the Rhine as a Roman ally. In 436, Gundahar launched an attack from his kingdom on the Roman province of Belgica Prima. He was defeated by the Roman general Flavius Aetius, who destroyed Gundahar's kingdom with the help of Hunnish mercenaries the following year, resulting in Gundahar's death. The historical Gundahar's death became the basis for a tradition in Germanic heroic legend in which the legendary Gunther met his death at the court of Attila the Hun (Etzel/Atli). The character also became attached to other legends: most notably he is associated with Siegf ...
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Germanic Heroic Legend
Germanic heroic legend (german: germanische Heldensage) is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the Migration Period (4th-6th centuries AD). Stories from this time period, to which others were added later, were transmitted orally, traveled widely among the Germanic speaking peoples, and were known in many variants. These legends typically reworked historical events or personages in the manner of oral poetry, forming a heroic age. Heroes in these legends often display a heroic ethos emphasizing honor, glory, and loyalty above other concerns. Like Germanic mythology, heroic legend is a genre of Germanic folklore. Heroic legends are attested in Anglo-Saxon England, medieval Scandinavia, and medieval Germany. Many take the form of Germanic heroic poetry (german: germanische Heldendichtung): shorter pieces are known as heroic lays, whereas longer pieces are called Germanic heroic epic (). The early Middle Ages preser ...
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Kudrun
''Kudrun'' (sometimes known as the ''Gudrunlied'' or ''Gudrun''), is an anonymous Middle High German heroic epic. The poem was likely composed in either Austria or Bavaria around 1250. It tells the story of three generations of the ruling house of Hetelings on the North Sea, but is primarily the story of Kudrun, who is abducted by the Norman prince Hartmut who desires to marry her. Kudrun remains true to her fiancé Herwig and eventually is rescued. After the defeat of the Normans, however, Kudrun ensures that peace will be kept between the two peoples by arranging for marriages and alliances. Although the story of Kudrun is very likely the invention of the poet, the story of her parents has its origins in a common Germanic tale known in Scandinavia as the ''Hjaðningavíg'': it tells how Kudrun's mother, Hilde, eloped with her father, Hetel, against the will of Hilde's father, Hagen. In ''Kudrun'', this originally tragic tale has been transformed into a happy one that serves as th ...
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Attila
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ... from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Western Roman Empire, Western and Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empires. He crossed the Danube twice and plundered the Balkans, but was unable to take Constantinople. His unsuccessful campaign in Sasanian Empire, Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He also attempted to conquer Roman Gaul (mode ...
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Attila The Hun
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Eastern Europe. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. He crossed the Danube twice and plundered the Balkans, but was unable to take Constantinople. His unsuccessful campaign in Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He also attempted to conquer Roman Gaul (modern France), crossing the Rhine in 451 and marching as far as Aurelianum (Orléans), before being stopped in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. He subsequently invaded Italy, devastating the northern provinces, but was unable to take Rome. He planned for further campaigns against the Romans, but died in 453. After Attila' ...
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Brunhilda Of Austrasia
Brunhilda (c. 543–613) was queen consort of Austrasia, part of Francia, by marriage to the Merovingian king Sigebert I of Austrasia, and regent for her son, grandson and great-grandson. In her long and complicated career she ruled the eastern Frankish kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy for three periods as regent for her son Childebert II from 575 until 583; her grandsons Theudebert II and Theuderic II from 595 until 599; and her great-grandson Sigebert II in 613. The period was marked by tension between the royal house and the powerful nobles vying for power. Brunhilda was apparently an efficient ruler, but this and her forceful personality brought her into conflict with her nobles, the church and the other Merovingians. Her bitter feud with Fredegund, mistress of Chilperic I of Neustria, who murdered Brunhilda's sister, Queen Galswintha (c. 568) in order to replace her as queen, lasted until Fredegund's death in 597. Fredegund had Brunhilda's husband murdered and Brunhilda im ...
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Gundomar I
Gundomar I (also Gundimar, Godomar, or Godemar) was eldest son and successor of Gebicca, King of the Burgundians. He succeeded his father in 406 or 407 and reigned until 411. He was succeeded by his brother Giselher. In the ''Nibelungenlied'', he is named Gernot (sometimes Gernoz) and he is the brother of Gunther, Giselher and Kriemhild. In Norse mythology, he is called Guthormr, and he was the murderer of Sigurd (Sigfried), the dragon slayer. See also *Germanic king Germanic kingship is a thesis regarding the role of kings among the pre-Christianized Germanic tribes of the Migration period (c. 300–700 AD) and Early Middle Ages (c. 700–1,000 AD). The thesis holds that the institution of feudal m ... Kings of the Burgundians German heroic legends 4th-century births 411 deaths Nibelung tradition 5th-century monarchs in Europe {{europe-royal-stub ...
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Ildico
Ildico (''fl.'' AD 453) was the last wife of the Hunnic ruler Attila. Her name is probably Germanic, a diminutive form of the noun ("battle"), a common element in Germanic female names (e.g. ''Svanhildr'', ''Brynhildr'' and '' Gunnhildr''), and ''Hildr'' ("battle") was the name of a Valkyrie. Her name is thus reconstructed as *''Hildiko'' ("little Hildr"), and it is probably preserved in *''Grímhild'' or *''Krēmhild'', the name of Ildico's later legendary version. According to Priscus, Attila died after the feast celebrating their marriage in 453 AD, in which he suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor. "Shortly before he died, as the historian Priscus relates, he took in marriage a very beautiful girl named Ildico, after countless other wives, as was the custom of his race. He had given himself up to excessive joy at his wedding, and as he lay on his back, heavy with wine and sleep, a rush of superfluous blood, which would ordinarily have flowed from his ...
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Burgundians
The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and were later moved into the empire, in the western Alps and eastern Gaul. They were possibly mentioned much earlier in the time of the Roman Empire as living in part of the region of Germania that is now part of Poland. The Burgundians are first mentioned together with the Alamanni as early as the 11th panegyric to emperor Maximian given in Trier in 291, and referring to events that must have happened between 248 and 291, and they apparently remained neighbours for centuries. By 411 a Burgundian group had established themselves on the Rhine, between Franks and Alamanni, holding the cities of Worms, Speyer, and Strasbourg. In 436, Aëtius defeated the Burgundians on the Rhine with the help of Hunnish forces, and then in 443, he re-settle ...
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