fate, the retribution which overtakes the criminal. This feeling
for the irony of fate was lost when the motive, that Hagen kills
Siegfried because of his treasure, was replaced by the one that
he does it at the request of Brunhild. This leads Boer to the
conclusion, that Brunhild did not originally belong to the
Siegfried story, but to the well-known fairy tale of Sleeping
Beauty ("Erlosungsmurchen"), which occurs in a variety of forms.
The type is that of a hero who rescues a maiden from a magic
charm, which may take the form of a deep sleep, as in the case of
Sleeping Beauty, or of being sewed into a garment, as in No. 111
of Grimm's fairy tales. By the union of the two stories, i.e.,
the Hagen-Siegfried saga with the Sleeping Beauty tale, Siegfried
stands in relation to two women; on the one hand his relation to
Sigrdrifa-Brynhild, the maiden whom he rescues on the rock, on
the other his marriage with Grimhild-Gudrun and his consequent
death. This twofold relation had to be disposed of, and since
his connection with Grimhild was decisive for his fate, his
relation to Brunhild had to be changed. It could not be entirely
ignored, for it was too well known, therefore it was given a
different interpretation. Siegfried still rescues a maiden from
the rock, not for himself, however, but for another. The
exchange of forms on the part of Siegfried and Gunther is a
reminiscence of the older form. It gives the impression, that
Siegfried, and yet not Siegfried, won the bride. This alteration
probably took place when the Burgundians were introduced into the
legend. With this introduction an unlocalized saga of unknown
heroes of ancient times became one of events of world-wide
importance; the fall of a mighty race was depicted as the result
of Siegfried's death. To render this plausible, it was necessary
on the one hand to idealize the hero, so that his death should