The Nibelungenlied · Chapter
Adventure I: Kriemhilda explained
The first adventure introduces Kriemhilda, a noble maiden of Burgundy, and her three royal brothers—Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher—who rule at Worms.
What happens
The first adventure introduces Kriemhilda, a noble maiden of Burgundy, and her three royal brothers—Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher—who rule at Worms. The court is served by many valiant knights, including Hagen of Tronjé and his brother Dankwart. Kriemhilda has a prophetic dream of a falcon torn by two eagles, which her mother Uté interprets as a warning about a future husband who will be killed. Despite her resolve to avoid love to escape sorrow, the dream foreshadows her eventual marriage and the tragic vengeance she will exact for her husband's death.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Foreboding
Kriemhilda's prophetic dream of the falcon and eagles sets a tone of inevitable tragedy, foreshadowing her husband's death and her own vengeful path.
Love and Marriage
The chapter explores Kriemhilda's initial rejection of love and marriage to avoid sorrow, yet the dream and her mother's counsel hint at the unavoidable union that will bring both joy and grief.
Power and Wealth
The description of the three wealthy kings, their broad lands, and the splendid court at Worms underscores the power and riches of the Burgundian realm.
Characters to notice
- Kriemhilda
The noble maiden of Burgundy, whose beauty and virtue are unmatched. She dreams of a falcon (her future husband) being killed, and initially swears to avoid love to escape sorrow.
- King Gunther
The eldest of the three Burgundian kings, guardian of Kriemhilda, and ruler at Worms.
- Gernot
The second Burgundian king, known for deeds of honor.
- Giselher
The youngest Burgundian king, a gallant warrior and brother to Kriemhilda.
- Dame Uté
Mother of the Burgundian kings and Kriemhilda; she interprets Kriemhilda's dream as a prophecy of a future husband who will be killed.
- Hagen
Foremost vassal of the Burgundian court, of Tronjé, mentioned among the loyal knights serving the kings.
- Dankwart
Hagen's brother and the Marshal of the court, a swift-footed knight.
- Ortwein
High Sewer of the court, nephew of Dankwart, and a knight of Metz.
Key passages
“To us, in olden legends, is many a marvel told Of praise-deserving heroes, of labours manifold, Of weeping and of wailing, of joy and festival; Ye shall of bold knights’ battling now hear a wondrous tale.”
The narrator announces that the story will recount ancient legends of heroes, their great deeds, and the mix of joy and sorrow that follows.
Opening invocation setting the epic tone.
“Meanwhile, amid this splendour, the maid Kriemhilda dreamed That she had reared a falcon— strong, fair and wild he seem’d— And that two eagles rent him before her very eyes;— No worse grief could life bring her in any evil guise.”
Kriemhilda dreams of raising a beautiful falcon that is torn apart by two eagles, a vision that fills her with dread.
The prophetic dream that foreshadows Siegfried's murder by Hagen and Gunther's betrayal.
“What sayest thou of husbands, O dearest mother mine? Never for hero’s wooing shall I, your daughter, pine! Spotless and fair would I be, as now, unto my death;— I would forego the sorrow that lurks man’s love beneath.”
Kriemhilda tells her mother she wants no husband, preferring to remain pure and avoid the pain that love brings.
Kriemhilda's initial rejection of love, which will later be overturned.
“It was the self-same falcon that she in dreams did see, Just as her mother told her; and bloody was to be Her vengeance on her kinsmen, by whom the deed was done— For one man’s death did perish full many a mother’s son.”
The falcon of her dream was indeed her future husband, and her revenge on her relatives for his murder would cause the deaths of many.
Foreshadowing the entire tragedy of the Nibelungenlied.
