The Nibelungenlied: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

Etzel and Kriemhild live together peacefully for seven years, at which time Kriemhild gives birth to a son, Ortlieb, and insists on having him baptized. Kriemhild continues to be “renowned among natives and foreigners alike,” a reputation she maintains in Hungary until her 13th year there.

All this time, however, Kriemhild has been brooding over the wrongs that had been done to her in Burgundy. She muses that if she could get Hagen to Hungary in some way, she could exact revenge on him. She also dreams of walking with her brother Giselher and kissing him.

“If you ask me,” remarks the poet, “it was the foul fiend who prompted Kriemhild to break with Gunther.” Kriemhild is oppressed by the memory of how, through no fault of her own, she was brought to the point of having to marry a heathen—something for which she blames Hagen and Gunther. Aware of how much wealth and power she now possesses, she “tenaciously […] nurse[s]” the intention to do Hagen harm.

Kriemhild knows that no one in Hungary would dare thwart her plans, so she decides she will prompt Etzel to invite her relatives to visit. So, one night, as the King lovingly caresses her, she thinks of her enemies. She tells Etzel that people in Hungary think her a friendless foreigner, and she regrets that her kinsmen are never seen here. Etzel immediately offers to invite them.

Etzel immediately summons his two minstrels, Swemmel and Werbel, and explains that he is sending them to the Rhine as envoys to invite Kriemhild’s kinsmen to a midsummer festival. He outfits them with new clothes and a company of warriors. Later, in secret, Kriemhild meets with the minstrels again and promises them further riches in exchange for delivering a more detailed message. She tells them they must never let her kinsmen know that they have seen her sorrowing. And if Hagen wishes to stay at home, they must ask how the retinue will find their way to Hungary, since he has known the roads all his life. The messengers don’t understand why the Queen is so insistent on Hagen’s coming, but they duly set out for the Rhine.