The Nibelungenlied: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

Count Eckewart remains in Burgundy with the widowed Kriemhild. A magnificent house is built for her next to the church, and she lives there joylessly, going only to services and to Siegfried’s grave. Her keen grief for her husband displays her great virtue.

For three and a half years, Kriemhild avoids speaking to Gunther or even setting eyes on Hagen. Meanwhile, Hagen tells Gunther that if he won back Kriemhild’s friendship, then they could bring the Nibelung treasure to Burgundy. Gunther agrees to make overtures to Kriemhild through his brothers. After Gernot and Giselher entreat her, she agrees to see Gunther, though Hagen doesn’t dare enter her presence.

Kriemhild makes peace with Gunther, and it isn’t long before the Nibelung treasure, her nuptial dower, is ferried over the Rhine. Giselher and Gernot, along with 8,000 men, travel to Nibelungenland to fetch it from Alberich the dwarf, who grumbles that if Siegfried hadn’t stolen the invisibility cloak, then none of this would have happened. It takes four days and a dozen wagons to haul the gems and gold back to Burgundy, and Kriemhild’s rooms are soon crammed with treasure.

Kriemhild’s hoard draws many foreign warriors to Burgundy, and she bestows lavish gifts on rich and poor alike. This begins to make Hagen nervous, and he is annoyed with Gunther’s permissiveness toward his sister, telling him, “No man who is firm in his purpose should leave the treasure to a woman.” Gunther still refuses to interfere, so Hagen secures the keys to the treasure himself.

Kriemhild appeals to her brothers to intervene, but while they are away on a journey, Hagen dumps the entire treasure into the Rhine with the intention of using it for himself one day. When her brothers return, they agree that Hagen has acted badly, but he stays away from them until their anger cools. Kriemhild, however, stews in her malice toward Hagen. Her sorrow increases all the more, and she spends 13 years after Siegfried’s death lamenting.