up in the woods by a cunning dwarf. He kills a dragon and takes
possession of his hoard, then rescues a maiden, imprisoned upon a
mountain, as in the older Norse version and the popular ballad,
or in a tower, as in the "Thidreksaga", and surrounded either by
a wall of fire, as in the Norse, or by a large body of water, as
in the "Nibelungenlied". After betrothing himself to the maiden,
he sets forth in search of further adventures, and falls into the
power of an evil race, who by their magic arts lure him to them,
cause his destruction, and then obtain his treasure and the
maiden for themselves. By her very name Sigrdrifa belongs to
Siegfried, just as Gunther and Gudrun-Grimhild belong together,
and it seems hardly possible that she should have entered the
story later, as Boer would have us believe. After all, it is
largely a matter of belief, for it is impossible to prove
positively that mythical elements did or did not exist in the
original.

To the combined Siegfried-Nibelung story various historical
elements were added during the fifth century. At the beginning
of this period the Franks were located on the left bank of the
Rhine from Coblenz downward. Further up the river, that is, to
the south, the Burgundians had established a kingdom in what is
now the Rhenish Palatinate, their capital being Worms and their
king "Gundahar", or "Gundicarius", as the Romans called him. For
twenty years the Burgundians lived on good terms with the
surrounding nations. Then, growing bolder, they suddenly rose
against the Romans in the year 436, but the rebellion was quietly
suppressed by the Roman general Aetius. Though defeated, the
Burgundians were not subdued, and the very next year they broke
their oaths and again sought to throw off the Roman yoke. This