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Nibelung IV
The term Nibelung (German) or Niflungr (Old Norse) is a personal or clan name with several competing and contradictory uses in Germanic heroic legend. It has an unclear etymology, but is often connected to the root ''nebel'', meaning mist. The term in its various meanings gives its name to the Middle High German heroic epic the ''Nibelungenlied''. The most widespread use of Nibelung is used to denote the Burgundian royal house, also known as the Gibichungs (German) or Gjúkingar (Old Norse). A group of royal brothers led by king Gunther or Gunnar, the Gibichungs are responsible for the death of the hero Siegfried or Sigurd and are later destroyed at the court of Attila the Hun (called Etzel in German and Atli in Old Norse). This is the only use of the term attested in the Old Norse legends. In medieval German, several other uses of the term Nibelung are documented besides the reference to the Gibichungs: it refers to the king and inhabitants of a mythical land inhabited by dw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg and Belgium, as well as a national language in Namibia. Outside Germany, it is also spoken by German communities in France ( Bas-Rhin), Czech Republic (North Bohemia), Poland ( Upper Silesia), Slovakia (Bratislava Region), and Hungary ( Sopron). German is most similar to other languages within the West Germanic language branch, including Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German, Luxembourgish, Scots, and Yiddish. It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group, such as Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language after English, which is also a West Germanic language. German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pannonian Avars
The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine sources, and the Apar ( otk, 𐰯𐰺) to the Göktürks (). They established the Avar Khaganate, which spanned the Pannonian Basin and considerable areas of Central and Eastern Europe from the late 6th to the early 9th century. The name Pannonian Avars (after the area in which they settled) is used to distinguish them from the Avars of the Caucasus, a separate people with whom the Pannonian Avars might or might not have had links. Although the name ''Avar'' first appeared in the mid-5th century, the Pannonian Avars entered the historical scene in the mid-6th century, on the Pontic–Caspian steppe as a people who wished to escape the rule of the Göktürks. They are probably best known for their invasions and destructio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finnesburg Fragment
The "Finnesburg Fragment" (also "Finnsburh Fragment") is a portion of an Old English heroic poem about a fight in which Hnæf and his 60 retainers are besieged at "Finn's fort" and attempt to hold off their attackers. The surviving text is tantalisingly brief and allusive, but comparison with other references in Old English poetry, notably ''Beowulf'' (''c.'' 1000 AD), suggests that it deals with a conflict between Danes and Frisians in Migration-Age Frisia (400 to 800 AD). Transmission The extant text is a transcript of a loose manuscript folio that was once kept at Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury. This manuscript was almost certainly Lambeth Library MS 487. A British scholar, George Hickes, made the transcript some time in the late 17th century, and published it in an anthology of Anglo-Saxon and other antiquities in 1705. (This anthology also contains the first reference to the sole manuscript of ''Beowulf''.) Since the time when the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old English Language
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman (a relative of French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland. Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or Ingvaeonic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. As the Germanic settlers became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hnæf
Hnæf son of Hoc is a prince mentioned in the Old English poems ''Beowulf'' and the ''Finnsburg Fragment.'' According to the listing of tribes in the poem ''Widsith'' (10th century), Hnæf ruled the Hocings. Hoc is called ''Hoc Healfdene'', suggesting a partly Danish ancestry. According to the narrative, Hnæf was the brother of Hildeburh and brother-in-law of Finn, who ruled the Frisians and was killed during a Danish expedition to Frisian territory. Hoc may be identical to the chieftain Haki mentioned in the ''Ynglinga Saga'' by Snorri Sturlason. This Haki conquered the kingdom of Uppsala and reigned there for ten years before he was cast out by king Jorund. The father-son pair Hoc and Hnæf has been associated with the historical Alamannic noblemen, possibly of Nibelung extraction, Huoching (d. 744) and Hnabi (d. 788), the founder of the Ahalolfings. This suggestion was first made in 1849 by John Mitchell Kemble in ''History of the Saxons in England'' (p. 419). If the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
"Völsungakviða" or "Helgakviða Hundingsbana I" ("The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane") is an Old Norse poem found in the ''Poetic Edda''. It constitutes one of the Helgi lays, together with ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II'' and '' Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar''. The locations in the poem have been fervently debated with a Danish school maintaining Danish origins and locations and a Swedish one pointing out that locations (e.g. Brávellir and Brandey) and characters ( Ylfings, Högni and Granmarr) place the events in Östergötland and Södermanland. The poem is also ambiguous in attributing Helgi to the Ylfing, Yngling and Völsung clans, which suggests a merging of originally unrelated traditions. In the Edda, the poem is a sequel to '' Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar'' whose heroes Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváfa are reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrún. However, in Codex Regius, it is actually followed by '' Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar''. The poem begins in a location ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gudrun
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 Nors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlamál
''Atlamál in grǿnlenzku'' (''The Greenlandic Lay of Atli'') is one of the heroic poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It relates the same basic story as ''Atlakviða'' at greater length and in a different style. The poem is believed to have been composed in Greenland, most likely in the 12th century. It has 103 stanzas and is the only Eddic poem written entirely in the metre málaháttr. Plot Plotting to kill his brothers-in-law, Atli dispatches messengers to Gunnarr and Högni, the sons of Gjúki, with an invitation to his hall. Guðrún daughter of Gjúki, Atli's wife, learns about the plot and sends a runic message to her brothers but the runes are corrupted by one of the messengers, Vingi. Nevertheless, Kostbera, Högni's wife, discerns from the runes that something is wrong and warns Högni. Högni dismisses her fears but she persists and describes dreadful dreams she has had, interpreting them as warnings. Högni remains unmoved and explains the dreams away. Glaumvör, Gunnarr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gjúki
Gibica (also ''Gebicca'', ''Gifica'', ''Gjúki'', ''Gebicar'', ''Gibicho'' or ''Gippich'') was the King of the Burgundians in the late 4th century until his death in or around 407. He was the father of Gundomar I, Giselher and Gunther. He is mentioned in Widsith as ''Gifica'' and as ''Gjúki'' in the eddic poem ''Atlakviða'', where he was the father of Gunnar (see Gunther). As one of the earliest kings of the Nibelungs, the clan is called the Gjúkungar. In the ''Prose Edda,'' Snorri Sturluson says that Gjúki was the father of sons Gunnar and Hogni and a daughter Gudrun. Gotthorm (slayer of Sigurd) is his stepson from his wife Grimhild's previous marriage. The ''Prose Edda'' mentions Gudny, a second daughter of Gjúki and Grimhild. In the Gudrunarkvida, this second daughter is named Gullrond. See also *Völsunga saga *Tribes of Widsith *Rosengarten zu Worms Dietrich and Siegfried from a 15th-century manuscript of the ''Rosengarten zu Worms'' ''Der Rosengarten zu Worms'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Högni
Haguna or Hagana is a historical Germanic name. It is attested in the form ''Hagano'' in Old High German (8th century) and as ''Haguna'' and ''Hagena'' in Old English. Old West Norse has ''Hǫgni'', presumably loaned from the character in German legend. Old Danish has ''Haghni'' and ''Hoghni''; Old Swedish ''Haghne'' and ''Høghne''. The element ''Hagan-'' also occurs in dithematic names such as Chagnoald (7th century), Chagoulf (7th century), Haganrih (8th century). It is presumably an extension of the element ''Hag-'' which is attested in numerous variants from the 8th century. The etymology of this element cannot be recovered with certainty, especially as these names were conflated from an early time with names in Ag- and Agin-. A derivation from ''hag-'' "enclosure" is possible, but Förstemann also considered Old Norse ''hagr'' "favour, advantage". Hagen is a character in the German Nibelungenlied, who was adopted in Old Norse sources as ''Hǫgni''. Högne in the legends su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlakviða
''Atlakviða'' (''The Lay of Atli'') is one of the heroic poems of the '' Poetic Edda''. One of the main characters is Atli who originates from Attila the Hun. It is one of the most archaic Eddic poems, possibly dating to as early as the 9th century. Owing to its stylistic similarity to '' Hrafnsmál'' it has been suggested that the poem might have been composed by Þorbjörn Hornklofi.Genzmer, Felix. 1926. ‘Der Dichter der Atlakviða’. ANF 42, 97-134. It is preserved in the Codex Regius and the same story is related in the ''Völsunga saga''. In the manuscript the poem is identified as Greenlandic but most scholars believe that this results from a confusion with ''Atlamál''. The metre of the poem alternates irregularly between '' málaháttr'' and '' fornyrðislag''. This may be an indication that two or more original poems have been merged or that the short and long lines were not felt as constituting two different metres at the time the poem was composed. Historical backg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the '' Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic medieval manuscript known as the ''Codex Regius'', which contains 31 poems. The ''Codex Regius'' is arguably the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. Since the early 19th century, it has had a powerful influence on Scandinavian literature, not only through its stories, but also through the visionary force and the dramatic quality of many of the poems. It has also been an inspiration for later innovations in poetic meter, particularly in Nordic languages, with its use of terse, stress-based metrical schemes that lack final rhymes, instead focusing on alliterative devices and strongly concentrated imagery. Poets who have acknowledged their debt to the ''Codex Regius'' include Vilhelm Ekelund, August ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
