Introduction

Siegfried the dragon-slayer once bathed in the dragon's blood and became invulnerable, except for one spot between his shoulder blades where a linden leaf had fallen. He wins the treasure of the Nibelungs and comes to Worms, the Burgundian capital, to woo the princess Kriemhild, and helps her brother King Gunther win Brunhild, queen of Iceland, by deceit. Later the two queens quarrel and the old deception is exposed; Gunther's vassal Hagen learns Siegfried's weak spot, kills him on a hunt and sinks the treasure in the Rhine. Thirteen years later Kriemhild marries Etzel, king of the Huns, invites the Burgundians to his court, and takes a terrible revenge in which almost all on both sides perish.