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Hagen
Etzel is the widowed King of Hungary (his character is based on Attila the Hun). Because he is a pagan, he doubts that the Christian Kriemhild will consider marrying him, but hopes that his extravagant wealth might persuade her. Rüdiger, Etzel’s vassal, travels to Burgundy to secure Kriemhild’s consent, and she returns with him to Hungary to become Etzel’s new bride. Etzel seems generally good-natured, gullible, and quite oblivious to what’s happening around him—he apparently never suspects Kriemhild’s persistent grief and vengefulness, for example, and is persuaded that the Burgundians remain armed out of custom, not fear for their lives. After his son Ortlieb is slain, however, he desires no mercy for the perpetrators. Nevertheless, he is shocked and grieved to see Kriemhild slay Hagen. With Dietrich and Hildebrand, he is one of the only characters who remains alive at the story’s end.
Etzel Quotes in The Nibelungenlied
The The Nibelungenlied quotes below are all either spoken by Etzel or refer to Etzel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 21 Quotes
Etzel’s dominion was so widely known that the most fearless warriors that were ever heard of among Christians and heathen alike were always to be found at his court, all having joined him. And always — a thing that will hardly happen again — the Christian life and the heathen existed side by side. But whichever rite a man followed, the King’s magnanimity saw to it that all were amply rewarded.
Related Characters:
Etzel
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Page Number and Citation:
170
Explanation and Analysis:
This quote appears after Kriemhild has agreed to marry King Etzel and is journeying to Hungary for the wedding. She hasn’t met the King yet, and this passage reads like a bit of an explanatory aside, as though to reassure the audience that this somewhat unusual match is a legitimate one. During the time that the poem is set (roughly the fifth century), Eastern Europe was not yet thoroughly Christianized. What’s more, the foreboding figure that history has remembered as Attila the Hun (sometimes called the “Scourge of God” by contemporaries who interpreted his ferocious aggression as a form of God’s judgment) enjoyed a tolerant relationship with some Germanic peoples, which explains the benign portrayal that survives in this story. By the 1200s, however, Hungary had been solidly Christian for at least two centuries, and interreligious marriages (the “other” more likely being Jewish or Muslim than pagan by this time) were far from the norm. So the poet walks a fine line—preserving something of the historical record, yet also emphasizing that such interreligious harmony “will hardly happen again.”
Chapter 31 Quotes
Leaving Bloedelin resolved on battle, the Queen went to table with King Etzel and his men. She had laid a deadly plot against their guests.
Kriemhild’s old grief was embedded deep in her heart. Since there was no beginning the fighting in any other way, she had Etzel’s son carried to the board. (How could a woman ever do a more dreadful thing in pursuance of her
revenge?) Four of Etzel’s followers went immediately and returned bearing the young Prince Ortlieb to the King’s table, where Hagen, too, was seated, owing to whose murderous hate the boy must needs soon die.
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Chapter 39 Quotes
“You have repaid me in base coin,” she said, “but Siegfried’s sword I shall have and hold! My fair lover was wearing it when last I saw him, through whom I suffered mortal sorrow at your hands.” She drew it from its sheath -he was powerless to prevent it - and bent her thoughts to robbing him of life. She raised it in both hands - and struck off his head! King Etzel saw this, and great was the grief it gave him.
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Etzel Character Timeline in The Nibelungenlied
The timeline below shows where the character Etzel appears in The Nibelungenlied. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 20
In Hungary, King Etzel, a widower, desires to take another wife. His friends encourage him to consider Kriemhild. He...
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...known the Queen and her brothers since childhood, offers to go to the Rhineland as Etzel’s envoy. Etzel promises to reward him with treasure, clothes, and horses, though Rüdiger says it...
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...received in the King’s hall. Hagen reminds Gunther that he was once a hostage in Etzel’s court, and that they must always seek to repay Rüdiger for his kindness to Burgundy....
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...dressed in her widow’s clothes, she receives him the following day in tears. After hearing Etzel’s proposal, Kriemhild explains that she cannot love another man. Rüdiger argues that affection can heal...
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Giselher and Uote appeal to Kriemhild in private, trying to convince her that marriage to Etzel will make her happy. Kriemhild prays and ponders all night, wishing she had access to...
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...despite having been robbed of her fortune by Hagen. Aloud, she voices her concerns about Etzel’s heathenism. Rüdiger assures her that Etzel has many Christian warriors, and besides, perhaps she will...
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Finally, Kriemhild consents to marry Etzel. Rüdiger urges her to prepare for the journey to Hungary at once. When Kriemhild plans...
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...takes leave of Worms accompanied by a guard of honor, messengers rushing ahead to tell Etzel that his new bride is on her way.
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Chapter 21
Kriemhild’s party stays in Etzel’s fortress on the Traisen River in Austria for a few days while waiting for the...
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Chapter 22
As Etzel rides out to meet Kriemhild, “bold knights of many different languages […] great companies past...
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Finally, King Etzel appears, accompanied by Lord Dietrich and his comrades. He joyfully approaches Kriemhild and greets her...
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The festivities go on for 17 days. As rich as Siegfried was, Etzel is richer—no man has ever been surrounded by so many noble heroes or has given...
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Chapter 23
Etzel and Kriemhild live together peacefully for seven years, at which time Kriemhild gives birth to...
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...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,...
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Etzel immediately summons his two minstrels, Swemmel and Werbel, and explains that he is sending them...
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Chapter 24
...remains open. Hagen replies that Gunther is deceiving himself, because “in matters of revenge King Etzel’s queen has a long memory.” Seeing Hagen’s hesitation to go to Hungary, Giselher taunts him...
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...who also plays the viol and so is known as “The Minstrel.” Meanwhile, Hagen delays Etzel’s envoys so that they can’t arrive too far in advance of the Burgundians, lest Kriemhild...
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...to who exactly is coming and expresses particular pleasure at the prospect of seeing Hagen. Etzel’s court begins to make preparations for the State visit.
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Chapter 25
...believes them. The fairy pledges her word of honor that they can ride confidently into Etzel’s land without fear of harm. Pleased, Hagen returns their clothes, but another fairy says that...
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Chapter 27
...they protest—Rüdiger’s hospitality is too formidable to resist. Before they continue on their way to Etzel’s country, Rüdiger bestows many gifts, including a gem-studded shield that catches Hagen’s eye. He also...
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Meanwhile, messengers rush to Etzel’s court to announce that the Nibelungs are in Hungary. Kriemhild stands at a window watching...
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Chapter 28
...Siegfried every morning. Volker points out that there’s no stopping whatever will befall them in Etzel’s court, so they might as well proceed. As they do so, Hagen attracts much curiosity...
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...calling Kriemhild a “she-devil.” She withdraws from them in fear for the time being. Meanwhile, Etzel, oblivious, reminisces about Hagen’s boyhood as a hostage in his court.
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Chapter 29
...two in exchange for any riches. The men from Burgundy retreat to the court, where Etzel greets them amicably and presides over a feast in their honor.
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Chapter 31
When Etzel arrives and sees the Burgundians wearing their helmets in church, he is sorry and wants...
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...the Huns, leading the rest of the Huns to take up their swords against him. Etzel hurriedly takes a sword and beats back his own knights, enraged at such a disgraceful...
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...arguing that such a request “does [her] little honor.” She next appeals to Lord Bloedelin, Etzel’s brother, offering him riches, lands, and a bride if he will fight. He is swayed...
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...in her heart.” Since the fighting could be instigated in no other way, she has Etzel’s son brought to the table. The poet remarks, “How could a woman ever do a...
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Etzel happily praises Ortlieb’s great promise and asks that he be taken home with Kriemhild’s relatives...
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Chapter 32
...off Bloedelin’s head. Bloedelin’s men immediately spring at Dancwart’s, and bloody fighting ensues. Even before Etzel hears of it, 2,000 Huns slaughter Dancwart’s men. Dancwart survives the fray, fighting his way...
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Chapter 33
The warriors allow Dietrich safe-conduct to leave the scene of the fight along with Etzel, Kriemhild, and Rüdiger. Once outside the hall, Etzel laments that Volker’s “lays grate on the...
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Chapter 34
...door of the hall and throw them down the stairs. Outside the palace, Hagen taunts Etzel to join in battle—he and Siegfried have a very distant relationship, he jeers, since Siegfried...
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Chapter 35
...through the water-spouts into the gutters. There is another respite from the fighting, during which Etzel and Kriemhild lament bitterly.
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Chapter 36
Etzel comes at their request, but he refuses the idea of a truce, since his losses...
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Chapter 37
...he would naturally oppose the foreigners, except that he has acted as their escort into Etzel’s country, so he is honor-bound to them and cannot fight them. Kriemhild argues that he...
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Etzel joins his wife, Kriemhild, in entreating Rüdiger on their knees. Rüdiger declares himself a “godforsaken...
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...weary and grief-stricken by this turn of events. When they see Rüdiger’s body carried out, Etzel and Kriemhild, too, lament loudly.
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Chapter 39
...men had entered the hall fully armed. Gunther adds that they were trying to spite Etzel, not Dietrich, with their refusal to surrender Rüdiger’s body.
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...shall have!” She takes the sword Balmung in her hands and slashes off Hagen’s head. Etzel is grieved to witness the slaying of such a great warrior by a woman’s hand....
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Overlooking the bodies of all the doomed, Dietrich and Etzel weep for their kinsmen and vassals. The festival has ended in sorrow, “as joy must...
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