Nibelung

Norse/German clan name The dwarf Alberich (with whip) drives on the Nibelung dwarfs, who collect gold and other treasures. (Arthur Rackham, 1910) 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 of German 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 the term Nibelung denotes the Burgundian royal house, also known as the Gibichungen (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 dwarfs and giants in the first half of the Nibelungenlied, as