German and Northern mythology, robs a dwarf named Andvari, of his gold, together with a ring, which has the power to render its possessor master of immense treasures. In consequence of this, the dwarf lays the curse of a violent death upon every one who should henceforth wear this ring; a circumstance, which explains the hereditary fate which befalls all who become the owners of the luckless ornament. This treasure comes, ere long, into the hands of Fafnir, as an indemnification for the loss of his brother, whom Loki has killed. Fafnir, in order to guard it with more safety, assumes the form of a 'Lindwurm,' i. e. a dragon. This, however, avails him very little; for he is soon after killed by Sigurd, (the Siegfried of our poem,) who has a mighty sword, forged for that purpose by Reigin or Regina, a brother of Fafnir. Sigurd, as a matter of course, now takes the treasure to himself; and having wetted his fingers with the hot blood of the dragon, he is all at once enabled to understand the language of the birds, one of which advises him to go to Brünhild, who is Walkyre. He finds her at her castle, which stands in the midst of a lake of fire, where she had been sunk in a magic sleep; and having roused her from her trance, he remains at the castle for some time, during which she makes the discovery that he is a man who knows naught of fear, and is therefore the only one whom she deems worthy of becoming her spouse. In this way they become man and wife.

The combination of the saga of Sigurd, with that of the Burgundians as contained in the poem, is likewise given in the Völsungasaga, although under a somewhat different form. Here the three kings of the Rhine are called Gunnar, Hogni (the Günther and Hagen of the poem) and Gudorm; their sister is called Gudrun. Chriemhild, or Grimhild, is here the name of the mother, who is called Ute in the Nibelungenlied; but even as the mother (in the poem before us it is the daughter) Grimhild becomes the immediate cause of all the mischief and evil which befall their house. For, by means of a philter, she causes Sigurd to forget Brunhild, and marry Gudrun, laying thus the foundation of a jealousy, which ends with the destruction of the hero and the Burgundians. The subsequent wooing of Brunhild by Gunnar; the aid rendered him on this occasion by Sigurd; the quarrel of both queens, and as the consequence, the murder of Sigurd,all this betrays a close similarity with the narration of the Nibelungenlied; yet, all is more grand in its conception, and more fanciful in its representation. It is remarkable, however, that Hogni here shows himself as the more noble hero, who dissuades from the murder. After the death of Sigurd, Brunhild commits suicide. Gudrun is induced to a reconciliation with the murderers of her husband, and to a marriage with

Atli, (the Etzel of the poem) by means of a philter. The invitation to the Court of the Huns, here proceeds from Atli himself, who cherishes the treacherous design of appropriating to himself the treasure of Sigurd; he orders himself the combat with the Kings of Burgundy. His spouse, who, in this respect, is unlike the Chriemhild of the Nibelungenlied, espouses the cause of her brothers, and fights in their ranks. But the powers are too unequal; those from the Rhine are beaten, Gunnar and Hogni excepted. As Atli requires of Gunnar to tell him the place where the treasure is to be found, the latter cunningly demands that they should bring him first the heart of his brother Hogni, which being done, Gunnar answers like Hogni in the Nibelungenlied: Except myself no one knows the treasure; but ye shall never have it.' The consequence is, that this 'chosen knight' is thrown into the serpents' pit, where an adder buries itself in his heart, and thereby causes his death. Gudrun, however, avenges her brothers in a terrible manner. She destroys her own and Atli's children, and makes the king eat their roasted hearts, and drink their blood. Atli, hereupon orders her to be slain by the hand of Niflung, the son of Hogni. Thus far the Völsungasaga.

As for the Vilkinasaga, this is still more closely related to the Nibelungenlied. The commencement of it is nothing else than the history of the celebrated Genoveva, who is here called Sisilia, and is the wife of Siegmund, and mother of Sigurd. The smith, with whom the youthful hero is to serve his apprenticeship, has here the well-known name of Mimer. In this saga there appears Dietrich of Bern, the hero, who performs so conspicuous a part in the Nibelungenlied, and who is as yet unknown to the Völsungasaga; he contends with Sigurd, whom he vanquishes. The names of the three kings and their sister are those of the Nibelungenlied; only Hogni acts here as a fourth brother of theirs. Their castle, too, is called Vermza, i. e. Worms, and almost in imitation of our poem, the following narratives are related in all their details. There appears here, moreover, the Margrave Rodingeir (the Rüdiger of the poem), who lives at the castle called Bechlaren, the name of which is here given as Bakalar. Attila is mentioned as the king of Susat, which is, perhaps, the Soëst of Westphalia; and yet the Rhenish kings, strange to say, have to pass through the land of Rodingeir on their way to the court of Attila. Such contradictions are not uncommon in ancient popular sagas. The confounding of the people on the Rhine with the Niflungen, who only get into the power of Gunnar through and with the treasure, appears, likewise, for the first time in the Vilkinasaga. Chriemhild has here the same terrible character of the implacable enemy of her

brothers, which is assigned to her in the Nibelungenlied, and in consequence is killed by the hand of Dietrich of Bern.

All this would lead us to suppose, that this poem is of the same origin with the Vilkinasaga, which like many other sagas spread from mouth to mouth, resounded on festive occasions, and contributed frequently to the enjoyment of festive moments. Poets by profession were at that time as yet unknown; whoever knew an ancient heroic tale, etc., which was fit for song or play, felt called upon to sing that which was already known to his hearers, and which they longed to hear over again. In this manner, sprung up from the soil of the people, if we may use the expression, with exuberant creative power, that grove of heroic lays, which was ever blooming and unceasingly increasing in richness and power.

After the foregoing remarks on a few of the Sagas connected with the Nibelungenlied, we may proceed to an examination of the 'Lied' itself, which has been investigated and commented upon, with more or less success, by some of the greatest German and foreign writers of the day; premising, however, that in expressing our opinion on the merits of this production, we shall endeavour to treat of its origin, subject, and aesthetical worth.

Like the Iliad of Homer, this Epos, which is not improperly called the German Iliad, is supposed to be a combination or compilation of various poetical compositions, belonging to various poets and periods. These compositions of LongobardoGothic and Franconian-Burgundian origin, are-Siegfried und Brunhild; the Destruction of the Burgundians, or Nibelungen by the Huns under Etzel or Attila, king of the Huns: and, finally, Dietrich of Bern, that is, Theodoric of Verona, the celebrated king of the Eastern Goths, or Austrogoths. The two lastmentioned are founded on historical facts, which, circulating among the people, very soon assumed the form of mighty poetical creations; the composition of Siegfried and Brünhild, on the other hand, is founded on a saga which belongs to the most ancient period of the German race; perhaps to those times when the Germans, Greeks, and Indians, united by one and the same tie of relationship, lived in the table-lands or elevated plains of Asia. It is for this reason that this saga is found by all the nations of the so-called Caucasian race, although in a different state of developement. There are, no doubt, many other sources from which the Nibelungenlied has flowed; but, although their traces are as yet perceptible, they have, nevertheless, dried up in the rude desert of ages. All these, for the most part non-contemporary productions, are here brought to play as if they belonged to one and the same period, and as if the place of action was one only. And

still it must be confessed that the whole has been effected with considerable skill. There is a poetical fullness and force, if we may so speak, in the delineation and illumination of each adventure; the developement of the characters, based as they are on ethical motives, in consequence of which, action briskly follows action, without being in any way interrupted, as with the Greeks and Romans by episodes, etc., until the whole becomes concentrated in the tragical catastrophe, is so consequent and poet-like, and the simple grandeur of the ancient heroic tradition, moreover, so overpowering, that we are startled by it, as well as pleased.

According to Lachmann the Nibelungenlied seems to have received its present form about the year 1210. And, although the name of the compiler is unknown; yet we are led to suppose from internal evidence, that it was Heinrich von Ofterdingen, the lovely Minnesinger. One thing, however, is beyond doubt, namely, that this poem as we now find it, has been compiled by one hand only. There are various manuscripts of it, which are chiefly to be found in the southern parts of Germany, and of which, did our space permit, we would give a catalogue.

The main substance of this Epos is the Destruction of the Burgundians, or Nibelungen, caused by Chriemhild, the fair princess, in consequence of the murder of Siegfried, her consort, both of whom form the chief dramatis persone of the poem. It is for this reason that it is called, in some manuscripts, after her name. The whole is divided into three parts. The first embraces the events that take place up to the death of Siegfried. The second, the terrible revenge of Chriemhild, including at the same time the period of her widowhood, during which she planned this awful punishment, the Hochgeziet,' or high-tide, given to her adversaries at the court of King Etzel; and finally, the conflict which takes place between the Burgundians and the Huns, which forms the catastrophe of the Nibelungenlied. Throughout the whole, Christianity remains in the back ground; and wherever it does appear, though always very dimly, it belongs to the poet and compiler, but not to the subject. The third and concluding part is the Klage,' or Lamentation, which being of later date, and differing in form as well as spirit, although treating of the same subject, is a kind of epilogue, or resumée, and is in some measure of importance, for a right understanding of the two former parts.

Subdivided, this poem consists of 39 Adventures, or Aventiuren (as the original hath it), in 9,836 verses, or 2,459 strophes of four lines each.

With regard to the metre of this Epos, it may be said, that there prevails in general the rule according to which the Arses

only count. These may follow each other in quick succession, as in min sun Sifrit (727, 4); but they may also be separated every time by a thesis, and by one only; as for example, ist ieman báz enpfángén (730, 1). The arsis before or at the commencement of every verse, or even the half of each verse, admits, nevertheless, of from two to three theses; as for example, si gedáhten zweier réckén, etc. (841, 2). To speak in the language of poets, its metrical form is the iambic and trochaic strophe of four lines, in male pairs of rhymes with six principal accents, and spondaic, anapaestic, and dactylic rhythms.

Let us now examine the Adventures, and, as much as circumstances will admit of, separately.

In the first Aventiure the poet conducts us to Worms, on the Rhine, where there dwell the Burgundian kings, Gunther, Gernot and Giselher, who are the sons of Dankrat, late king of Worms. But with them lives also their mother, dame Ute, the royal widow, and their sister, the fair Chriemhild

'The lovely maiden, beauty-crowned, who well might seek to mate With the bravest, stoutest hero; no one did her hate.

Her noble form unboundedly with beauty was bedight,
And her virtues unto any maid would have lent a holy light.'*

Together with these personages the poet introduces to us several heroes, who are subject to them, as for example, Troneg von Hagen, his brother Dankwart, Ortewein of Metz, the Margraves Echewart and Gere, Volker, and other worthies. But even at the very outset, the singer causes us to forebode the tragical end of the chief actors in the drama, for Chriemhild, the world's wonder,' dreams one night that she reared a wild falcon, which two eagles snatched away from her; that she was forced to see this, than which greater sorrow could never befall her in this world. This dream her mother interprets, saying:—

The falcon, which thou rearest, is a man noble to see,

If unshielded by God, he will soon be lost to thee.'

To this Chriemhild replies, that she has no wish to know either man or love, and therefore decides for the state of 'single blessedness.' Dame Ute, however, knowing something of human nature, advises her not to be too determined, for if ever she have heartfelt joy on earth, it will be from man's love; and she shall be a fair wife, when God sends her a right worthy Ritter.'

• The translations given from the poem, in the course of this article, are original and free.