that of a hero who rescues a maiden from a magic charm, which may take
the form of a deep sleep, as in the case of Sleeping Beauty, or of being
sewed into a garment, as in No. 111 of Grimm's fairy tales. By the union
of the two stories, i.e., the Hagen-Siegfried saga with the Sleeping
Beauty tale, Siegfried stands in relation to two women; on the one hand
his relation to Sigrdrifa-Brynhild, the maiden whom he rescues on the
rock, on the other his marriage with Grimhild-Gudrun and his consequent
death. This twofold relation had to be disposed of, and since his
connection with Grimhild was decisive for his fate, his relation to
Brunhild had to be changed. It could not be entirely ignored, for it
was too well known, therefore it was given a different interpretation.
Siegfried still rescues a maiden from the rock, not for himself,
however, but for another. The exchange of forms on the part of
Siegfried and Gunther is a reminiscence of the older form. It gives the
impression, that Siegfried, and yet not Siegfried, won the bride. This
alteration probably took place when the Burgundians were introduced into
the legend. With this introduction an unlocalized saga of unknown heroes
of ancient times became one of events of world-wide importance; the fall
of a mighty race was depicted as the result of Siegfried's death. To
render this plausible, it was necessary on the one hand to idealize
the hero, so that his death should appear as a deed of horror demanding
fearful vengeance, and on the other, to make the king of the Burgundians
an active participator in Siegfried's death, for otherwise it would not
seem natural, that the whole race should be exterminated for a crime
committed by the king's brother or vassal. As the role of Brunhild's
husband had become vacant, and as Gunther had no special role, it was
natural that it should be given to him. Boer traces very ingeniously
the gradual development of this exchange of roles through the various
sources.
Another method of explaining away Siegfried's relation to two women is
to identify them, and this has been done by the Seyfrid ballad. Here the
hero rescues Kriemhild from the power of the dragon, marries her,
and then is later killed by her brothers through envy and hatred. As
Brunhild and Kriemhild are here united in one person, there is no need
of a wooing for the king, nor of vengeance on the part of Brunhild,
accordingly the old motive of greed (here envy) reappears.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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