Final Thoughts on The Nibelungenlied

After reading the ending of The Nibelungenlied, I have to say, I was pretty shocked at Kriemhild’s behavior. She becomes, perhaps, far more monstrous than Brunhild ever was, for although Brunhild killed her unsuccessful suitors with her monstrous strength, she did so because the suitors came to her and were under an unofficial contract. Knowing the rules of engagement, if you’ll forgive the terrible pun, Brunhild’s suitors still chose to continue with the competition, giving them the option to back out of the battle with their lives. Kriemhild, on the other hand, is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Burgundian knights, Hunnish knights, and the deaths of her kinsmen, all for revenge rather than defense of her kingdom, as in the case of Brunhild’s killings.

Both Brunhild and Kriemhild plot revenge in much the same way. They both plead their respective cases to able knights in their court. In Brunhild’s case, she pleads her case to Hagen, who is more than willing to take Siegfried out. In choosing Hagen, the cleverest and most vocal of the knights in Worms, Brunhild minimizes the bloodshed. Hagen, instead of approaching mighty Siegfried with brute force, finds a way to strike at his vulnerability. Enter Kriemhild and her naiveté. Once she reveals Siegfried’s weakness, no one but Siegfried has to die. Because of Hagen’s clever assassination plot, Brunhild’s plotting did not cause the death of more than one knight in Burgundy.

Kriemhild, however, doesn’t think her revenge strategy through as well. Instead of considering Hagen’s weakness or picking a worthy match for him, she pits all of her available forces against Hagen without regard to the consequences she or her knights must face. As a woman lacking great physical strength, Kriemhild’s ability to plot and to manipulate should be fairly keen as it one of the only political tools at her disposal. Kriemhild is unable to use her intellect to any great effect, and the lack of planning and strategy on Kriemhild’s part results in more deaths than Brunhild was responsible for, even in her armor-wearing, sword-swinging days.

But beyond her oversights in tactical issues or her underestimation of her kinsmen’s strength, it is Kriemhild’s attitude about the final revenge that is most monstrous. After Dietrich captures Hagen, he asks her to spare Hagen and Gunther because “He should not be made to suffer for standing bound before you.” (Nibelungenlied 289) Although she sends him away, he goes to a “cheerless dungeon” (289) Kriemhild relishes in the idea of torturing Hagen. According to the poet, “She kept them apart to add to their suffering.” (290) The poet hints at the fact that Kriemhild knows that keeping Hagen and Gunther separate will cause them pain, and she intentionally sets up their imprisonment in the most painful way possible.

The most monstrous image of Kriemhild is that of her carrying Gunther’s severed head by the hair. She brings it to Hagen, just to torture him. In this exchange, Kriemhild is at her most sadistic. She presents the severed head to Hagen as he is proclaiming his loyalty and devotion to his kinsmen. Taunting Hagen and making him look at the head of his king hanging by the hair in his mortal enemy’s hand embodies Kriemhild’s monstrousness better than her final act. While she kills Hagen with her own power with Siegfried’s sword, her derisive and contemptuous treatment of Hagen is what is most dangerous about Kriemhild.