It is a circumstance of some importance that when this treasure enters the land of the Burgundians they take the name of Nibelungs, as Siegfried was called Lord of the Nibelungs on first possessing the hoard, and for this reason that part of the poem which commences with the Burgundian acquirement of the treasure was formerly known as the Nibelungen Not.

The confiscation of the treasure was another sharp wound to Kriemhild, who appears to have bitterly cherished every hostile act committed against her by her uncle Hagen and her brothers, and to have secretly nursed her grievances throughout the remainder of her saddened existence.

Kriemhild Marries Attila

Thirteen years after the death of Siegfried, Helche, wife of Attila, or Etzel, King of the Huns, having died, that monarch was desirous of marrying again, and dispatched his faithful councillor, Ruediger, Margrave of Bechlarn, to the Burgundian court to ask for the hand of Kriemhild.  Her brethren, only too anxious to be rid of her accusing presence, gladly consented to the match, but Hagen had forebodings that if she gained power she would wreak a dreadful vengeance on them all.  But he was overruled, and Ruediger was permitted to interview Kriemhild.  At first she would not hear of the marriage, but when Ruediger expressed his surprise at the manner in which she was treated in her own country, and hinted that if she were to wed with Etzel she would be guarded against such insulting conduct, she consented.  But first she made Ruediger swear to avenge her wrongs, and this he did lightly, thinking it merely a woman’s whim which would pass away after marriage.  She accompanied Ruediger to the court of Etzel, stopping at his castle of Bechlarn, where dwelt his wife Gotelind and his daughter Dietlinde.  The journey to Vienna is described in detail.  At length they met Etzel at Tulna with twenty-four kings and princes in his train and a mighty retinue, the greatest guest present being Dietrich of Bern, King of the Goths, who with his band of Wolfings was sojourning at the court of Etzel.  The nuptials took place at Vienna amid great magnificence, but through all Kriemhild sorrowed only for Siegfried and brooded long and darkly on her schemes of vengeance.

Seven years passed, during which Kriemhild won the love of all Etzel’s court.  She bore the King a son, Ortlieb, and gained the confidence and respect of his advisers.  Another six years passed, and Kriemhild believed that the time for vengeance had now arrived.  To this end she induced Etzel to invite her brethren and Hagen to his court at Vienna.  At first the Burgundians liked the hospitable message well, but suspicion of it was sown in their minds by Hagen, who guessed that treachery lurked beneath its honeyed words.  In the end they accepted the invitation and journeyed to the land of the Huns, a thousand and sixty knights and nine thousand soldiers.  On the way they encountered many ill omens.