Kriemhild

Also known as: Dame Kriemhild / Lady Kriemhild / fair Kriemhild / the lovely Kriemhild · Family: Burgundians · Role: sister of Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher · First appears: Adventure I

In Adventure I, Kriemhild, daughter of Uta and Dankrat, was sister to Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher, who had her in their care. She dreamed that two eagles tore apart a falcon she had trained, told Uta of the dream, and renounced love in her heart. In Adventure III, she and Siegfried loved each other from afar before meeting; she greeted him in Adventure V and revealed her love, and in later adventures they became husband and wife. Their son, Gunther (son of Siegfried), was born in Adventure XI and named for his uncle.

In Adventure XIV, Kriemhild’s friendship with Brunhild turned to hatred in a quarrel over Siegfried’s standing: at Isenstein, Siegfried had declared Gunther his liege lord as part of the wooing, and Brunhild believed it, while Kriemhild denied it. Kriemhild publicly accused Brunhild and used her ring and girdle as proof. In Adventure XV, she told Hagen Siegfried’s vulnerable spot and showed him where to guard his husband’s vesture. After Siegfried was murdered, she accused Gunther and Hagen, refused to forgive Hagen, and stayed with her kin. In Adventure XIX, after years without speaking to Gunther, she agreed to greet him, but Hagen took her Nibelung hoard and sank it in the Rhine.

In Adventure XX, Kriemhild at first refused Etzel’s proposal, then vowed to become his bride and went to the Huns. Rudeger swore to serve her faithfully, and in Adventure XXII she married Etzel in Vienna and took over Helca’s household. After the birth of their son Ortlieb, in Adventure XXIII she persuaded Etzel to invite her kin to his land. When they arrived, she plotted against them, promising rewards to those who would attack them. In Adventure XXXVI, she refused mercy to her brothers unless they gave Hagen as hostage, then ordered the hall set on fire. In Adventure XXXIX, she had Gunther killed, then killed Hagen with Siegfried’s sword; Hildebrand struck her dead.