Das Nibelungenlied | Otto L. Jiriczek (essay date 1902)
Otto L. Jiriczek (essay date 1902)
SOURCE: “The Saga of the Niblungs” in Northern Hero Legends, J. M. Dent & Co., 1902, pp. 10-61.
[In the following excerpt, Jiriczek discusses the historical and mythical foundations of the Nibelungenlied, and the development, continuance, and extinction of the saga.]
… III. THE HISTORICAL FOUNDATION OF THE SAGA.
In German and Norse sources mention is made of a Burgundian king Gibich, Norse Gjuki [in the Nibelunlied his name is Dancrât] who is said to have three sons, Gunther, Gernot, Giselher; in Norse, Gunnar, Guthormr, Hogni [Hagen stands for Giselher in the Seyfriedslied also]. The historical origin of some of these names may be proved. In the Lex Burgundionum, which was proclaimed at the beginning of the sixth century, King Gundobad enumerates his ancestors and predecessors: Gibica, Godomar, Gislaharius and Gundaharius. These four alliterative names are therefore an...
[The entire page is 5140 words long]
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