Hell Hath No Fury
By Christine G. Richardson
This story is recounted in the "Nibelungenlied", an Austrian epic
poem composed around 1200 A.D., chronicling alleged events
approximately 800 years earlier.
The Courtship of Chriemhilde and Brunhilde
In ancient days, when warriors were valorous and the women they loved where beautiful beyond imagination, a Germanic princess named Chriemhilde lived in Worms-on-the-Rhine in the pleasant land of Burgundy, protected by her three brothers Gunther, Gernot and Giselhers, and their uncle Hagen.
Chriemhilde once dreamed that her beloved pet falcon was torn apart by two fierce eagles. After her mother told her the falcon represented her future husband, Chriemhilde resolved to avoid the sorrow of married life, and refused all offers of marriage. Her beauty and inaccessibility were vividly described by bards in the Rhine area and beyond.
On the lower reaches of the Rhine lived the fabled Frankish king named Sigmund and his queen Siglinde. Their son Sifrit had already made a great name for himself. It was he who defeated the dwarf Alberich and took his magic cloak of invisibility which gave him the strength of twelve men. Afterwards, he did battle with a dragon and slew it under a linden tree, winning the fabulous treasure of the Nibelungen, including the mighty sword Balmung. He bathed in the dragon's blood, rendering his skin invulnerable to all weapons.
Although many women tried to win his heart, he had no interest in love until he heard the story of the sheltered loveliness of Chriemhilde. Ignoring his parents' protests, he set out for Burgundy in his golden armour, with eleven knights attending.
King Gunther knew Sifrit only by reputation, but he made him welcome. He staged a huge tourney, where Sifrit placed first in every contest. Safely hidden from view, Chriemhilde watched the guests from her window. Despite her vow to remain single, she fell in love with Sifrit.
In the midst of the festivities, the Danes and Saxons marched on Burgundy. With Sifrit's help, the war soon ended in a glorious victory. During the celebration that followed, Chriemhilde and Sifrit met for the first time, and their hearts were entwined forever.
Gunther, wanting a trophy wife worthy of his greatness, decided to court the warrior maiden Brunhilde, who lived far across the sea in Iceland. She ruled alone, without a man beside her. Anyone bold enough to seek her hand in marriage had to best her in three tests of arms, or forfeit his head.
Sifrit advised against the courtship, but agreed to help Gunther win Brunhilde in exchange for Chriemhilde's hand in marriage. After delaying seven weeks while the women feverishly upgraded their wardrobes, Gunther, Sifrit, Hagen and his brother Dankwart set out for Isenstein Castle. Sifrit posed as Gunther's vassal, and required the entire party to swear never to tell Brunhilde otherwise.
Brunhilde greeted them with superb arrogance. After Sifrit explained their mission, Brunhilde advised against rashness: if Gunther lost, the entire party would be put to death.
Seven hundred knights gathered to see the contest. While preparations were being made, Sifrit slipped away to the boat and put on his magic cloak.
First, Gunther and Brunhilde tilted with lances. Brunhilde's was so heavy it required three men to carry it. Even with Sifrit's supernatural strength supporting Gunther, Brunhilde's lance pierced his shield and knocked him over. With a great effort that left Sifrit vomiting pools of blood, the two men charged Brunhilde and managed to knock her over, evening the score.
In a rage, Brunhilde moved onto the next two contests. She picked up a boulder heavier than any man could lift, threw it, and then leaped beyond it, her armour clashing. Gunther and Sifrit threw it further--more than seventy-two feet--and landed beyond it with a prodigious leap.
Brunhilde admitted defeat and declared to her vassals that Gunther was now their king and owner of all her lands and wealth. While she was doing this, Sifrit ran back to the ship and hid his cloak. Then he returned, all innocence, asking when the contest would begin.
Gunther took Brunhilde home along with two thousand warriors, eighty-six matrons, and a hundred maidens. A sumptuous double wedding was duly celebrated.
Happily Ever After? Not Exactly!
Brunhilde could not understand why Gunther treated his "vassal" Sifrit so respectfully, and why he would marry his sister to an inferior. On their wedding night, while Sifrit and Chriemhilde were ecstatically consummating their love, Brunhilde told her new husband that she would remain a virgin until he told her the whole truth about his relationship with Sifrit. Gunther was too involved in foreplay to pay much attention until he found himself tied up with the braided silk belt of her robe and hung on a hook for the night.
The next morning, Gunther again turned to Sifrit for help. Sifrit agreed to help subdue the reluctant bride. He instructed Gunther to make sure that all the servants were out of earshot that night. Gunther gave Sifrit leave to do whatever he pleased to Brunhilde, as long as he did not take her virginity.
After the evening banquet, Gunther and Brunhilde retired to their bedchamber. Sifrit slipped away from Chriemhilde and followed them, wearing his cloak of invisibility. After extinguishing the tapers, Gunther double-bolted the door. Sifrit and Brunhilde battled ferociously in the dark. She managed to throw him off the bed, cracking his head on a bench. Sifrit attacked again, and again she fought him off, squeezing his wrists so hard that the skin cracked and blood flowed between his fingers. While she was trying to untangle her belt to tie him up, she caught her own wrists. No one heard her screams while Sifrit took his revenge. At last she lay trembling in his grasp while Gunther consummated the marriage.
Brunhilde's supernatural strength disappeared with her virginity. Fearing for her life, she knelt beside the bed and promised that she would never resist Gunther again. Sifrit slipped away, carrying with him Brunhilde's braided sash and her golden ring. Laughing, he joined Chriemhilde in her chamber and presented her with his trophies.
After the fourteen-day wedding feast was over, Sifrit returned home with his love. Brunhilde outwardly adjusted to her new life, but her thoughts were troubled. If Sifrit was Gunther's vassal, why did he fail to pay homage?
Fatal Revelations
In an attempt to discover the truth, Brunhilde persuaded Gunther to invite Sifrit and Chriemhilde to a tournament. When Brunhilde and Chriemhilde were seated side by side at table, they began to brag about their husbands. Chriemhilde said that all the lands of the earth should belong to Sifrit. Brunhilde countered that this would never happen while Gunther lived. Soon, they were disputing bitterly which one outranked the other. Chriemhilde declared that everyone would know the true state of affairs when the time came to go to church.
Dressed in their finest, the two queens arrived at the church door with their entourages, each confident of her own superiority. Brunhilde raised her hand majestically, commanding Chriemhilde to stand back. "A vassal does not precede a queen!"
Enraged, Chriemhilde cried out at the top of her lungs that Brunhilde was not an honourable wife, but merely a concubine, because Sifrit had taken her virginity. Brunhilde was so devastated that she stayed outside the church, weeping, until the service was over. When Chriemhilde swept out, Brunhilde demanded proof of her accusation. Chriemhilde showed her the braided belt and the ring Sifrit had given her.
Gunther assembled his court, and accused Sifrit of slandering Brunhilde by bragging that he had deflowered her. Sifrit swore that he had never made any such claim. The Burgundian nobles were not impressed, but Gunther believed Sifrit and made peace with him. Sifrit beat Chriemhilde to ensure her future silence on the subject, and suggested Gunther do likewise to his wife.
At last, Brunhilde knew Gunther's secret--and so did everyone else. Overcome with shame and grief, she confided in her uncle-in-law Hagen, who swore that he would avenge her disgrace.
The Most Dangerous Game
Many of the Burgundians felt that Sifrit should be punished. Gunther pointed out that Sifrit was no easy prey--his kingdom was as powerful as Burgundy, and he had magic on his side. Hagen kept harping on the fact that if Sifrit were dead, Gunther could claim all his lands and the celebrated Nibelungen treasure. Finally, the Burgundian council gave Hagen the task of finding a way to dispose of this invulnerable warrior.
Hagen arranged for false messages announcing that the Saxons and Danes were invading Burgundy. Sifrit immediately offered to help Gunther defend his kingdom.
Hagen visited Chriemhilde, who trusted him completely, and asked if there was anything he could do to help her through the coming war. Despite Sifrit's invulnerability, Chriemhilde always worried about him when he went to battle. She confided in Hagen that a linden leaf had fallen on Sifrit's shoulder while he was bathing in the dragon's blood, leaving a vulnerable spot. Hagen suggested that she embroider a cross on her husband's robe marking the exact place, so that he could make a special effort to protect it. Chriemhilde happily followed his advice.
The next day, the army rode out gallantly with streamers flying from their lances, only to be met by more messengers announcing that the Saxon and Danish kings had called off the attack. Since everyone was primed for action, Gunther suggested a wild game hunt in the Odenwald Forest.
They quickly rode back to the castle to let loose the dogs. Brunhilde prepared baskets of food and had them sent to a clearing near a spring deep in the forest.
Chriemhilde had been tormented by terrible dreams during the night. Weeping, she pleaded with Sifrit to stay in the castle. He reassured her, saying that he was safe among friends.
Sifrit had an excellent hunt, felling a wolf, a lion, a wild bull, a bison, and a buffalo, as well as several deer and a giant boar. Finally Sifrit captured a large bear, tied its claws, and dragged it into camp, where a sumptuous feast was being prepared.
He was a magnificent sight as he rode, in his black robe and sable toque, his collar of white lynx scalloped with gold, his quiver filled with gold-shafted arrows, and his legendary sword Balmung gleaming in his hand.
Laughing, he released the bear, which lumbered among the campfires, creating pandemonium. After he had enjoyed the confusion, he killed the animal with a single stroke of Balmung. Everyone complimented him on the fine entertainment he had provided, and the feasting began.
The food was splendid, but there was nothing to drink. Hagen had seen to it that the wine was sent to another part of the forest. When Sifrit was parched with thirst, Hagen mentioned that there was a crystal-clear spring not far away. Hagen and Gunther suggested a foot-race to the spring. The stripped off their heavy hunting suits, but Sifrit decided to run fully equipped, so that his victory would be all the more glorious.
Sifrit was the first to arrive, but he was too gallant to drink before the other two. While he was waiting for them to catch up, he unbuckled his sword, stripped off his quiver and shield, and lay his lance against a tree. When Gunther reached the spring, followed closely by Hagen, he threw himself face down to drink. Sifrit followed suit. It was then that Hagen drove his lance through the cross Chriemhilde had embroidered on her husband's robe.
Blood from Sifrit's heart spattered Hagen's white shirt. Sifrit staggered to his feet, and Hagen retreated. Sifrit could not reach his sword, but he picked up his shield and threw it at Hagen, knocking him to the ground.
The flowers at Sifrit's feet reddened with his lifeblood, just as Chriemhilde had dreamed. His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, calling down curses on Hagen and Gunther. The other knights arrived at the scene in ones and twos, and lamented the dying hero. Gunther began to weep sorrowfully, but Sifrit told him that would not erase his guilt. The day would come when he would regret what he had done.
After Sifrit was dead, the warriors lay him on his shield and prepared to carry him to the castle. They planned to tell Chriemhilde that Sifrit had died in a hunting accident, but Hagen wanted her to know that he had avenged himself for Brunhilde's shame. He buckled Balmung to his belt, carried the body to the castle himself, and left it outside Chriemhilde's chamber door, where she would find it at dawn on her way to church.
The Bloody Aftermath
Chriemhilde stayed at Gunther's castle, mourning for her beloved. She asked Sigmund and Siglinde for the Nibelungen treasure, hoping to hire knights to avenge Sifrit. However, Hagen stole it and threw it into the Rhine.
When Attila the Hun asked for Chriemhilde's hand in marriage, Gunther was relieved. Hagen opposed the idea of letting Chriemhilde gain power, but Gunther was eager to get her somber presence out of his castle. She married Attila and went to live with him far away in eastern lands. Many years later, she sent persuasive messengers to Worms-on-the-Rhine saying that all was forgiven, and inviting her brothers and their uncle to a tournament in Attila's court. Despite Hagen's suspicions, they accepted, and travelled down the Danube with their most valiant knights.
Chriemhilde greeted them in royal state, and ushered them into her mead hall for a great banquet. During the meal, the Huns massacred the Burgundians. Chriemhilde set the hall on fire and burned any who had survived. The great warrior Dietrich took Gunther and Hagen prisoner and brought them to Chriemhilde after she promised not to harm them.
Breaking her word, Chriemhilde had Gunther beheaded immediately. Clutching his bleeding head, she confronted Hagen, demanding to know where her treasure was. When he refused to tell her, she took Balmung in both hands and sliced off his head. The Huns were so horrified by her behaviour that one of them stepped forward and killed her.
Epilogue
If you want to see where Sifrit died, walk through the forest of Odenwald, near the village of Ottenheim. The water still flows from that spring, clear and pure.
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