# Adventure XVI: How Siegfried Was Slain explained — The Nibelungenlied

> Chapter companion for The Nibelungenlied by Anonymous.

## What happens

King Gunther and Hagen treacherously organize a hunt in the forest, intending to murder Siegfried. Despite Kriemhilda's ominous dream and pleas, Siegfried joins the hunt. After a day of exceptional hunting, the party rests near a spring. Hagen tricks Siegfried into a race to the spring, and while Siegfried drinks, Hagen stabs him through the cross-mark on his back, killing him.

## Themes in this chapter

### Betrayal and Deception

Hagen and Gunther's treacherous plot to murder Siegfried under the guise of a friendly hunt.

### Fate and Foreboding

Kriemhilda's prophetic dream foreshadows Siegfried's death, yet fate unfolds inevitably.

### Revenge and Vengeance

Brunhilda's desire for revenge against Siegfried drives the murder plot.

## Character check-ins

### Siegfried

The heroic protagonist who is betrayed and murdered by Hagen during a hunt.

### Kriemhilda

Siegfried's wife who has a prophetic dream and begs him not to go hunting.

### King Gunther

King of Burgundy who conspires with Hagen to murder Siegfried.

### Hagen

The treacherous vassal who plots and executes Siegfried's murder.

### Brunhilda

Gunther's wife whose counsel leads to the plot against Siegfried.

### Giselher

Kriemhilda's brother who remains at home during the hunt.

### Gernot

Kriemhilda's brother who remains at home during the hunt.

## Key lines

> Last night I had an ill dream: two wild boars I did see That chased you o'er the moorland: the flowers grew red as blood.

Kriemhilda tells Siegfried of her nightmare in which two boars chased him and flowers turned blood-red.

_Kriemhilda's dream serves as a clear omen of Siegfried's impending death._

> He stabb'd him through the cross-mark, and through the wound his blood Straight from his heart outspurted, and Hagen's shirt was wet; So foul a misdeed never befell a hero yet.

Hagen stabs Siegfried in the vulnerable spot on his back, and blood soaks Hagen's shirt, marking the foulest deed ever done to a hero.

_The murder of Siegfried is described as a heinous and unprecedented act of treachery._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_nibelungenlied_se/chapters/adventure-xvi-how-siegfried-was-slain
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