CHARACTERS OF THE NIBELUNGENLIED

The following is a list of characters from A.T. Hatto's translation, published by Penguin Books, London 1969.

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-A-

ALBERICH: A dwarf; Lord High Treasurer of the Nibelung dynasty and then to Siegfried, who took the treasure and wrested the cloak of invisibility from Alberich.

ALDRIAN: father of Hagen and Dancwert.

AMELUNG: dynastic name of Dietrich's family, applied collectively to his vassals.

ASTOLT: a lord of Melk (Molk)

-B-

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BALMUNG : Siegfried's sword; stolen from him by Hagen, who is slain with it by Kriemhild. Listed here because in heroic poetry swords are persons.

BLOEDELIN : (Blodelin) brother of Etzel, slain by Dancwert.

BOTELUNG : (Budli) father of Etzel.

BRUNHILD : (Brynhild, Brunild) Queen of Iceland; married to Gunther.

-D-

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DANCRAT : father of Gunther, husband of Uote

DANCWART: younger brother of Hagen; vassal of Burgundian kings, more particularly of Giselher. Slain by Helpfrich

DIETRICH: (Thidrek) Theoderic the Great, the favorite hero of Upper Germany. Lord of the Amelungs; lives in exile at Etzel's court, engaged to Herrat.

-E-

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ECKEWART :(Ekkivard) Burgundian Margrave; accompanies Kriemhild to the Netherlands and then to Hungary; found sleeping on Rudiger's frontier by Hagen. Considered by some to have been conflated from two different characters of the same name.

ELSE : (Elsung) Lord of the Marches on the southern, Bavarian bank of the Danube; brother of Gelpfrat

ETZEL: (Atli, Attila) Attila, king of the Huns; son of Botelung, husband of Helche, then of Kriemhild

-G-

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GELPFRAT : Bavarian Margrave, brother of Else

GERBART : a vassal of Dietrich

GERE: Margrave, and kinsman of the Bavarian kings

GERNOT: (Gernoz) the second-eldest co-king of Germany; slain by Rudiger, whom he slays.

GIBECH: a tributary king under Etzel. (Otherwise in heroic tradition of Germany and Scandinavia father of Gunther. Norse Gjuki. Replaced by Dancrat in this poem.

GISELHER: (Gisler, Gilser) the youngest of the three co-kings of Burgundy. Legally married to Rudiger's unnamed daughter, but owing his failure to return from Hungary neither consummates the marriage nor takes her home.

GOTELIND: (Gudalinda) wife of Rudiger.

GUNTHER: (Gunnar) 1. son of Dancrat and Uote; senior king of Burgundy; brother of Gernot, Giselher, and Kriemhild; marries Brunhild; connives murder of Siegfried; beheaded in bonds by Kriemhild.
2. son of Kriemhild and Siegfried

-H-

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HADEBURG: a Danubian water-sprite; prophesies to Hagen

HAGEN: (Hogni) eldest son of Aldrian; brother of Dancwart; kinsmen and vassal of the Burgundian kings; lord of Troneck; former hostage at Etzel's court; murders Siegfried; slain in bonds by Kriemhild

HAWART: Danish prince lving in exile at Etzel's court; overlord of Iring; slain by Hagen

HELCHE: (Erka) Etzel's first queen; maternal aunt of Herrat

HELMNOT: a vassal of Dietrich

HELPFRICH: a vassal of Dietrich; slays Dancwart

HERRAT: (Herrad) daughter of Nantwin; maternal niece of Helche; betrothed to Dietrich

HILDEBRAND: Dietrich's tutor and Master-at-Arms; maternal uncle of Wolfhar; slays Kriemhild

HILDEGUND: The beloved of Walther of Spain

HORNBOGE: a vassal of Etzel

HUNOLD: Lord Chamberlain of Burgundy

-I-

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IRING: vassal of Hawart; slain by Hagen

IRNFRIED: Landgrave of Thuringia; lives in exile with Etzel; slain by Volker

-K-

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KRIEMHILD: (Gudrun in Norse tradition, also Grimhild) daughter of Dancrat and Uote; sister to Gunther, Gernot and Giselher; wife of Siegfried and then Etzel; mother of Gunther by Siegfried; mother of Ortlieb by Etzel; slays Hagen with her own hands; slain by Hildebrand

-L-

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LIUDEGAST: King of Denmark; brother of Liudeger; makes war on Burgundy and is captured by Siegfried.

LIUDEGER: King of Saxony; brother of Liudegast; captured with his brother

-N-

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NANTWIN: father of Herrat

NIBELUNG: 1. lord of Nibelungland; father of Kings Schilbung and Nibelung, to whom he bequeathed his treasure
2. King of Nibelungland; son of the foregoing; brother of Schilibung; slain by Siegfried over the treasure

NUODUNG: (Naudung) kinsman of Gotelind; slain by Witege in another epic; Hagen is given his shield; his bride is promised to Bloedelin by Kriemhild as a lure to battle

-O-

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ORTLIEB : (Aldrian) son of Kriemhild and Etzel; about 6 years of age when slain by Hagen.

ORTWIN : Lord High Steward of Burgundy and lord of Metz; maternal nephew of Hagen

-P-

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PILGRIM: Bishop of Passau; brother of Uote, maternal uncle of Kriemhild and the Burgundian kings

-R-

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RAMUNG : Duke of Wallacia and vassal of Etzel

RITSCHART : a vassalof Dietrich

RUDIGER : (Rodengeir) Margrave, and lord of Pochlarn; vassal of Etzel; husband of Gotelind; becomes father-in-law of Giselher; slain by Gernot as he slays him

RUMOLD : Lord of the Kitchen in Burgundy; appointed regent when his lords leave for Hungary

-S-

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SCHILIBUNG : a king of Nibelungland; son of Nibelung; slain by Siegfried over the Nibelung treasure

SCHRUTAN : vassal of Etzel

SIEGFRIED : (Sigurd) son of Siegmund and Sieglind; lord of the Netherlands, Norway, and he Nibelungland; marries Kriemhild; murdered by Hagen; avenged by Kriemhild

SIEGLIND : 1. (Sisibe) Siegmund's queen; mother of Siegfried
2. a water-sprite questioned by Hagen

SIEGMUND: King of the Netherlands; husband of Sieglind; father of Siegfried

SINDOLD : Cup-bearer of Burgundy

SWEMMEL : minstrel to Etzel; with Werbel, envoy to Worms

-U-

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UOTE : (Oda) dowager queen of Burgundy; widow of Dancrat; mother of Gunther, Gernot, Giselher, and Kriemhild; sisterof Bishop Pilgrim of Passau

-V-

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VOLKER: (Folkher) lord of the Alzei and vassal of the Burgundian kings; gentleman-musician with the sobriquets of "The Fiddler" and "The Minstrel"; Hagen's chosen comrade in arms; slain by Hildebrand

-W-

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WALTHER : of Spain; hero of the epic Waltharius; former hostage of Etzel, from whom he escaped with his beloved Hildegund; waylaid in the Vosges by Gunther and his vassals, with Hagen refusing to fight him as an old comrade at arms, until forced by circumstances to do so.

WERBEL : minstrel to Etzel; with Swemmel, envoy to Worms

WASKE: Iring's sword

WICHART: a vassal of Dietrich

WITEGE: (Vidga) a famous hero of the Dietrich cycle; slayer of Nuodung

WOLFHART: maternal uncle of HIldebrand; vassal of Dietrich; slain by Giselher slaying him

WOLFBRAND : a vassal of Dietrich

WOLFWIN: a vassal of Dietrich

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