_ Such is the story of Siegfried (or Sigurd), as we gather it
from various German and Scandinavian legends. In this
recital I have made no attempt to follow any one of the
numerous originals, but have selected here and there such
incidents as best suited my purpose in constructing one
connected story which would convey to your minds some notion
of the beauty and richness of our ancient myths. In doing
this, I have drawn, now from the Volsunga Saga, now from the
Nibelungen Lied, now from one of the Eddas, and now from
some of the minor legends relating to the great hero of the
North. These ancient stories, although differing widely in
particulars, have a certain general relationship and
agreement which proves beyond doubt a common origin. "The
primeval myth," says Thomas Carlyle, "whether it were at
first philosophical truth, or historical incident, floats
too vaguely on the breath of men: each has the privilege of
inventing, and the far wider privilege of borrowing and new
modelling from all that preceded him. Thus, though tradition
may have but one root, it grows, like a banian, into a whole
overarching labyrinth of trees."
If you would follow the tradition of Siegfried to the end;
if you would learn how, after the great Hoard had been
buried in the Rhine, the curse of the dwarf Andvari still
followed those who had possessed it, and how Kriemhild
wreaked a terrible vengeance upon Siegfried's
murderers,--you must read the original story as related in
the Volsung Myth or in the Nibelungen Song. Our story ends
with Siegfried.
The episodes which I have inserted here and there--the
stories of AEgir, and of Balder, and of Idun, and of
Thor--do not, as you may know, belong properly to the legend
of Siegfried; but I have thrown them in, in order to
acquaint you with some of the most beautiful mythical
conceptions of our ancestors.
A grand old people were those early kinsmen of ours,--not at
all so savage and inhuman as our histories would sometimes
make us believe. For however mistaken their notions may have
been, and however ignorant they were, according to our ideas
of things, they were strong-hearted, brave workers; and, so
far as opportunity was afforded them, they acted well their
parts. What their notions were of true manhood,--a strong
mind in a strong body, good, brave, and handsome,--may be
learned from the story of Siegfried.
End of The Story of Siegfried. _