The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer Free

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It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovingian dynastywith Sigebert I being the most popular contender. Older scholarship sometimes connected him with Arminiusvictor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. He may also have a purely mythological origin. Sigurd's story is first attested on a series of carvings, including runestones from Sweden and stone crosses from the British Islesdating from the eleventh century. His slaying of a dragon and possession of the hoard of the Nibelungen is also common to both traditions. In other respects, however, the two traditions appear to diverge. He also appears in numerous other works from both Germany and Scandinavia, including a series of medieval and early modern Scandinavian ballads. Wagner relied heavily on the Norse tradition in creating his version of Siegfried. His depiction of the hero has influenced The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer subsequent depictions. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Siegfried became heavily associated with German nationalism. The Thidrekssaga finishes its tale of Sigurd by saying. The names Sigurd and Siegfried do not share the same etymology. This form of the name had been common even outside of heroic poetry since the ninth century, though the form Sigevrit is also attested, along with the Middle Dutch Zegevrijt. There are competing theories as to which name is original. Names equivalent to Siegfried are first attested in Anglo-Saxon Kent in the seventh century and become frequent in Anglo-Saxon England in the ninth century. Hermann Reichert, on the other hand, notes that Scandinavian figures who are attested in pre-twelfth-century German, English, and Irish sources as having names equivalent to Siegfried are systematically changed to forms equivalent to Sigurd in later Scandinavian sources. Unlike many figures of Germanic heroic tradition, Sigurd cannot be easily identified with a historical figure. In particular, the murder of Sigebert Iwho was married to Brunhilda of Austrasiais often cited as a likely inspiration for the figure, [14] [15] a theory that was first proposed in If this theory is correct, then in the legend, Fredegunda and Brunhilda appear to have switched roles, [17] while Chilperic has been replaced with Gunther. Another theory argues that Sigurd and his slaying of the dragon represented a mythological version of Arminius 's defeat of Publius Quinctilius Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. A connection between Siegfried and Arminius was first proposed by Franz-Joseph Mone inwho believed Sigurd to be an amalgamation of several historical figures. InAdolf Griesebrecht proposed that Sigurd is a mythologized version of Arminius, while the Romans represent the dragon. It has also been suggested that Sigurd may be a purely mythological figure without a historical origin. Continental Germanic traditions about Siegfried enter writing with the Nibelungelied around The German tradition strongly associates Siegfried with a kingdom called "Niederland" Middle High German Niderlantwhich, despite its name, is not the same as the modern Netherlandsbut describes Siegfried's The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer around the city of Xanten. The Nibelungenlied gives two contradictory descriptions of Siegfried's youth. On the level of the main story, Siegfried is given a courtly upbringing in Xanten by his father king Siegmund and mother Sieglind. When he is seen coming to Wormscapital of the Burgundian kingdom to woo the princess Kriemhild, however, the Burgundian vassal Hagen von Tronje narrates a different story of Siegfried's youth: according to Hagen, Siegfried was a wandering warrior Middle High German recke who won the hoard of the Nibelungen as well as the sword Balmung and a cloak of invisibility Tarnkappe that increases the wearer's strength twelve times. He also tells an unrelated tale about how Siegfried killed a dragon, bathed in its blood, and thereby received skin as hard as horn that makes him invulnerable. Of the features of young Siegfried's adventures, only those that are directly relevant to the rest of the story are mentioned. In order to win the hand of Kriemhild, Siegfried becomes a friend of the Burgundian kings GuntherGernot, and Giselher. Siegfried, using The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer cloak of invisibility, aids Gunther in each task. Siegfried and Kriemhild have a son, whom they name Gunther. Finally, in front of the door of the cathedral in Worms, the two queens argue who should enter first. Hagen tricks Kriemhild into telling him where Siegfried's skin is vulnerable, and Gunther invites Siegfried to take part in a hunt in the Waskenwald the Vosges. Siegfried is mortally wounded but still attacks Hagen, before cursing the Burgundians and dying. Hagen arranges to have Siegfried's corpse thrown outside the door to Kriemhild's bedroom. Kriemhild mourns Siegfried greatly and he is buried in Worms. It is also mentioned that he was buried in a marble sarcophagus—this may be connected to actual marble sarcophagi that were displayed in the abbey, having been dug up following a fire in In the Rosengarten zu Worms c. Kriemhild decides that she would like to test Siegfried's mettle against the hero Dietrich von Bernand so she invites him and twelve of his warriors to fight her twelve champions. When the fight is finally meant to begin, Dietrich initially refuses to fight Siegfried on the grounds that the dragon's blood has made Siegfried's skin invulnerable. Dietrich is convinced to fight Siegfried by the false news that his mentor Hildebrand is dead and becomes so enraged that he begins to breathe fire, melting Siegfried's protective layer of horn on his skin. He is thus able to penetrate Siegfried's skin with his sword, and Siegfried becomes so afraid that he flees to Kriemhild's lap. Only the reappearance of Hildebrand prevents Dietrich from killing Siegfried. Some of the details agree with the Thidrekssaga. When Sigmund returns from a campaign one day, he discovers his wife is pregnant, and believing her to be unfaithful to him, he exiles her to the "Swabian Forest" the Black Forest? She dies after some time, and Sigurd is suckled by a hind before being found by the smith Mimir. Mimir tries to raise the boy, but Sigurd is so unruly that Mimir sends him to his brother Regin, who has transformed into a dragon, in the hopes that he will kill the boy. Sigurd, however, slays the dragon and tastes its flesh, whereby he learns the language of the birds and of Mimir's treachery. He smears himself with dragon's blood, making his skin invulnerable, and returns to Mimir. Mimir gives him weapons to placate him, but Sigurd kills him anyway. Thidrek is unable to wound Sigurd because of his invulnerable skin, but on the third day, Thidrek receives the sword Mimung, which can cut through Sigurd's skin, and defeats him. Sigurd recommends to Gunnar that he marry The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, and the two ride to woo for her. Brynhild now The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer that Sigurd had earlier said he would marry her unmentioned before in the textbut eventually she agrees to marry Gunnar. She will not, however, allow Gunnar to consummate the marriage, and so with Gunnar's agreement, Sigurd takes Gunnar's shape and deflowers Brynhild, taking away her strength. Sometime later, Grimhild and Brynhild fight over who has a higher rank. Brynhild claims The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer Sigurd is not of noble birth, after which Grimhild announces that Sigurd and not Gunnar deflowered Brynhild. The brothers then place his corpse in Grimhild's bed, and she mourns. The author of the saga has made a number of changes to create a more or less coherent story out of the many oral and possibly written sources that he used to create the saga. The Thidrekssaga makes no mention of how Sigurd won the hoard of the Nibelungen. The second half of the heroic poem Biterolf und Dietleib between and [55] features a war between the Burgundian heroes of the Nibelungenlied The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer the heroes of the cycle around Dietrich von Bern, something likely inspired by the Rosengarten zu Worms. In this context, it also features a fight between Siegfried and Dietrich in which Dietrich defeats Siegfried after initially appearing cowardly. The text also features a fight between Siegfried and the hero Heimein which Siegfried knocks Heime's famous sword Nagelring out of his hand, after which both armies fight for control over the sword. The text also relates that Dietrich once brought Siegfried to Etzel's court as a hostage, something which is also alluded to in the Nibelungenlied. The so-called "Heldenbuch-Prosa"first found in the Heldenbuch of Diebolt von Hanowe and afterwards contained in printings untilis considered one of the most important attestations of a continued oral tradition outside of the Nibelungenliedwith many details agreeing with the Thidrekssaga. The Heldenbuch-Prosa has very little to say about Siegfried: it notes that he The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer the son of King Siegmund, came from "Niederland", and was married to Kriemhild. Unattested in any other source, however, is that Kriemhild orchestrated the disaster at Etzel's court in order to avenge Siegfried being killed by Dietrich von Bern. According to the Heldenbuch-Prosa, Dietrich killed Siegfried fighting in the rose garden at Worms see the Rosengarten zu Worms section above. This may have been another version of Siegfried's death that was in oral circulation. It agrees in many details with the Thidrekssaga and other Old Norse accounts over the Nibelungenliedsuggesting that these details existed in an oral tradition about Siegfried in Germany. He was so unruly, however, that the smith arranged for him to be killed by a dragon. Siegfried was able to kill the dragon, however, and eventually kills many more by trapping them under logs and setting them on fire. The dragon's skin, described as hard as horn, melts, and Siegfried sticks his finger into it, discovering that his finger is now hard as horn as well. He smears himself with the melted dragon skin everywhere except for one spot. Later, he stumbles upon the trail of another dragon that has kidnapped princess Kriemhild of Worms. With the help of the dwarf Eugel, Siegfried fights the giant Kuperan, who has the key to the mountain Kriemhild has been taken to. He rescues the princess and slays the dragon, finding the treasure of the Nibelungen inside the mountain. Eugel prophesies, however, the Siegfried only has eight years to live. Realizing he will not be able to use the treasure, Siegfried dumps the treasure into the Rhine on his way to Worms. He marries Kriemhild and rules there together with her brothers Gunther, Hagen, and Giselher, but they resent him and have him killed after eight years. The Icelandic Abbot Nicholaus of Thvera records that while travelling through Westphaliahe was shown the place where Sigurd slew the dragon called Gnita-Heath in the Norse tradition between two villages south of Paderborn. In a song of the mid-thirteenth-century wandering lyric poet Der Marner, "the death of Siegfried" Sigfrides [ The chronicles of the city of Worms record that when Emperor Frederick III visited the city inhe learned that the townspeople said that the "giant Siegfried" gigas [ Meinhard and St. Frederick ordered the graveyard dug up—according to one Latin source, he found nothing, but a German chronicle reports that he found a skull and some bones that were larger than normal. In contrast to the surviving continental traditions, Scandinavian stories about Sigurd have a strong connection to Germanic mythology. While older scholarship took this to represent the original form of the Sigurd story, newer scholarship is more inclined to see it as a development of the tradition that is unique to Scandinavia. Although the earliest attestations for the Scandinavian tradition are pictorial depictions, because these images can only be understood with a knowledge of the stories they depict, they are listed last here. The so-called Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson is the earliest non-pictorial attestation of the Scandinavian version of Sigurd's life, dating to around Sigurd tastes the dragon's blood and understands the birds when they say that Regin will kill him in order to acquire the dragon's gold. He then kills Regin and takes the hoard of the Nibelungen for himself. He rides away with the hoard and then awakens the valkyrie Brynhild by cutting the armor from her, before coming to king Gjuki 's kingdom. There he marries Gjuki's daughter, Gudrun, and helps her brother, Gunnar, to acquire Brynhild's hand from The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer brother Atli. Sigurd deceives Brynhild by taking Gunnar's shape when Gunnar cannot fulfill the condition that he ride through a wall of flames to wed her; Sigurd rides through the flames and weds Brynhild, but does not sleep with her, placing his sword between them in the marriage bed. Sigurd and Gunnar then return to their own shapes. Sigurd and Gudrun have two children, Svanhild and young Sigmund. Later, Brynhild and Gudrun quarrel and Gudrun reveals that Sigurd was the one who rode through the fire, and shows a ring that Sigurd took from Brynhild as proof. Brynhild then arranges to have Sigurd killed by Gunnar's brother Guthorm. Sigurd - Wikipedia

Written in thirteenth-century Iceland but based on ancient Norse poetry cycles, The Saga of the Volsungs combines mythology, legend and sheer human drama. It tells of the cursed treasure of the Rhine, a sword reforged and a magic ring of power, and at its heart are the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon slayer, who acquires magical knowledge from one of Odin's Valkyries. One of the great books of world literature, the saga is an unforgettable tale of princely jealousy, unrequited love, greed, vengeance and the downfall of a dynasty. Account Options Sign in. Top charts. New arrivals. The epic Viking Age stories that inspired J. Tolkien and Wagner's Ring cycle Written in thirteenth-century Iceland but based on ancient Norse poetry cycles, The Saga of the Volsungs combines mythology, legend and sheer human drama. Translated with an Introduction by Jesse L. Reviews Review Policy. Published on. Flowing text. Best for. Web, Tablet, Phone, eReader. Content The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. Learn more. Flag as inappropriate. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are. Please follow the detailed Help center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders. The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs - Wikipedia

Goodreads helps you keep track The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — The Saga of the Volsungs by Anonymous. Jesse L. Byock Goodreads Author Translator. The Saga of the Volsungs is an Icelandic epic of special interest to admirers of Richard Wagner, who drew heavily upon this Norse source in writing his Ring Cycle and a primary source for writers of fantasy such as J. Tolkien and romantics such as William Morris. A trove of traditional lore, it tells of love, jealousy, vengeance, war, and the mythic deeds of the drago The Saga of the Volsungs is an Icelandic epic of special interest to admirers of Richard Wagner, who drew heavily upon this Norse source in writing his Ring Cycle and a primary source for writers of fantasy such as J. A trove of traditional lore, it tells of love, jealousy, vengeance, war, and the mythic deeds of the dragonslayer, Sigurd the Volsung. Byock's comprehensive introduction explores the history, legends, and myths contained in the saga and traces the development of a narrative that reaches back to the period of the great folk migrations in Europe when the Roman Empire collapsed. Get A Copy. Kindle Editionpages. Published June 19th by University of California Press first published More Details Original Title. SigurdRegin. Worms Germany. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Saga of the Volsungsplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Saga of the Volsungs. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. His ornamented shield was plated with red gold and emblazoned with a dragon. Its top half was dark brown and its bottom half light red, and his helmet, saddle, and buffcoat were all marked in this way. He wore a mail coat of gold and all his weapons were ornamented with gold. In this way the dragon was illustrated on all of his arms, so that when he was seen, all who had heard the story would recognize him as the one who had killed the great dragon called Fafnir by the Vaerings. Step aside, St. And save some of that ale and meat, Beowulf. For there is another dragon slayer in town, and his name is Sigurd. Most of us have heard of these other dragon slayers, but few have heard of Sigurd. Maybe more of us has heard of him by his German name Siegfried, from the tales The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer the Nibelungenlied. Some people might know the name of this hero from the composer Richard Wagner who drew from both the Icelandic and German sagas for inspiration while creating his grand musical dramas. Unless you are from one of the cold Nordic countries, you probably have not had much of an opportunity to hear about the exploits of the warrior Sigurd. Sigurd is descended from the Volsung family, and let me tell you, this is one crazy, brutal, blood to the shoulder kind of family. Any perceived slight is a cause for violence; odds such as 10 to 1 or to 1 are never calculated. More men just means more skulls to crack, more arms to lob off, and more spleens to split. A Volsung sword once unsheathed is a weapon that will not be put away without blood dripping from the tip. A lot of these old sagas would be lost, except for the diligent interest and meticulous work shown by Icelandic writers. Fortunately for posterity, writing became popular among the Icelanders in the thirteenth century, when interest in old tales was still strong. Almost all the Old Norse narrative material that has survivedwhether myth, legend, saga, history, or poetryis found in Icelandic manuscripts, which form the largest existing vernacular literature of The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer medieval West. The tiny, sparsely populated, volcanic churning, bitter cold country of Iceland is where the Northern oral traditions were best preserved? Still to this day, Icelanders are intense readers who have a wonderful reading tradition that is a part of their Christmas holiday. It is no surprise that they are one of the most literate countries in the world. A fierce battle commenced, and, although Sigmund was old, he fought hard and was always at the front of his men. Neither shield nor mail coat could withstand him, and again and again that day he went through the ranks of his enemies, and no one could foresee how it would end between them. Many a spear and arrow was cast in the air. Both his arms were bloody to the shoulder. Sigmund has many rather bizarre encounters in his lifetime, including this French snogging action with a she-wolf. She jerked and The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer back hard, thrusting her feet against the trunk so that is split apart. There are numerous Lady Macbeth characters sprinkled throughout this saga. Women who are more ambitious and, in many ways, more vicious than their men. It goes well beyond Eve tempting Adam with an apple, as war or revenge are the usual objective. There is also a healthy dose of betrayal, jealousy, incest, sorcery, gore, greed, unrequited love, fratricide, and filicide. One shudder worthy moment was a mother serving a father wine in the skulls of his sons. There are stories in this saga that would make Quentin Tarantino turn a paler shade of white. These will, of course, lead to more sagas, and as I gain a working knowledge of these tales, my enjoyment of them will continue to grow as well. View all 11 comments. Jul 07, E. List of Maps Introduction, by Jesse L. View 1 comment. It's thrilling that this is a legend from a time when there were hardly any written records: the 4th-5th centuries. It is of course a later mashup - characters meet, marry and fight who were alive at different times - and not written down until the thirteenth century, but it's tantalisingly close to the edge of history. Many readers pick up The Saga of the Volsungs because of Tolkien or Wagner, but for me it was this, one of the first times we can hear an account from the barbarians of the Migra It's thrilling that this is a legend from a time when there were hardly any written records: the 4th-5th centuries. Many readers pick up The Saga of the Volsungs because of Tolkien or Wagner, but for me it was this, one of the first times we can hear an account from the barbarians of the Migration Period, and especially in an interesting and readable narrative. It's very different from dry chronicle- type works like popular academic primary-source text Two Lives of Charlemagne. The concrete, action-based narrative of sagas - in which little or no interiority is shown, but characters do and say plenty - probably isn't for those who need stylistically rarefied writing, but for much of the text, I found the straightforwardness, the absolutes, and clarity of purpose refreshing. Just about everything, including online, looked like ridiculous clutter when I surfaced from the book. Much of the action is Game of Thrones type stuff, but swift and matter-of-fact, in minimalist phrasing. Saga of the Volsungs doesn't have too many instances of those wonderfully likeable metafictional interjections "so-and-so entered the saga"; "And he is out of the saga", but there is a clear sense of its differentness from later novels. It was amazing being reminded of possible historical details I'd read of elsewhere, such as when Sigmund and his son, both of The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer wearing wolf-skins, set out into the forest, each going his own way. This has been suggested as a relic of an initiation rite found in a number of prehistoric Indo-European cultures in which bands of young men The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer dog skins, with similar practices hinted at in the Rig Veda not as straightforwardly as the article suggests; see p. This is from archaeologist David Anthony, author of The Horse the Wheel and Languagemuch of which has become widely accepted and supported by further evidence. The clarity of purpose in the characters does not last, however. When Brynhild becomes angry and sulky around Chapter 31, it feels as emotionally messy as any later text: it is not simply "so-and-so is an oathbreaker, they must die" as it might have been earlier. And thus, rippling out from one grimly resolute and affronted, but implicitly conflicted, person begins a Greek-tragedy-like series of events in which almost everybody ultimately ends up dead over a number of years. Patterns of blame are sometimes notably far from what contemporary western psychology considers healthy or correct - something often noticeable in classic texts, including far more recent examples than this - which to some extent will be connected with the honour-shame culture. In addition, to the modern reader, as characters consider life-or-death events to be fated, it seems as if this should obviate blame, though it does not. Jesse Byock's introduction to this Penguin edition is usefully informative about the historical context; the extent to which whole peoples moved around, and can't be associated for long eras with specific locations, still seems remarkable like Goths from Scandinavia to the Black Sea to Poland to Ostrogoths along the Danube and Italy and the Visigoths to Spain - because of the current habituation to fixed countries, although quite a lot of those have not been there for very long either on the timescales concerned. He goes into just the right amount of detail about likely origins for the characters - I still can't believe that most of these are Burgundians and that I hadn't heard that before - and also about Wagner's use of the saga. I have always labelled Wagner "boring", and although The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer recent years I've been exploring some of the classical music I shunned as The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer kid, and even didn't find all traditional opera terrible any more, I'd continued to ignore Wagner, so this info was new to me. Plenty of people over the years have recommended that one should listen to Wagner for the music, and not be put off by the politics one of the first instances was probably a Stephen Fry column in his collection Paperweight and I think my mother went to see the whole Ring Cycle in the s, but the dubious history was always a good extra excuse to keep ignoring him. But if I was going to actually try, surely this was the time.