Noble women of Germania learned at an early age they were unwelcome in the patriarchal realms of politics and war. Plots, trickery and murder entwine among the royalty of Burgundy, Rome, the Hunnish empire, Anatolia and other lands.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
The Burgundians were Germanic tribes who migrated to the west side of the Rhine in the early 5th century CE. The Burgundian capital, Worms, was previously known by the Celts as Borbetomagus, meaning settlement in a watery place.
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It was occupied by the Vangiones, a Germanic tribe who allied with the Suebi in 58 BCE. Julius Caesar called it Civitas Vangionum. The name Worms comes from the Celtic translated to Latin as Vormatia. In German the letter W is pronounced V.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
The Burgundians of the fifth century appear in the Nibelungenlied, a German epic of 1200 CE. The major character of the Nibelungenlied is the Germanic hero Siegfried. The King of Burgundy, Gunter, refuses to give permission for Siegfried to wed Burgundian Princess Kriemhild until Gunter himself is married.
Tales of a warrior Queen of Isenland came to the ears of the King. Isenland is often equated with Iceland. Tall, strong, proud and beautiful, she was the perfect woman for him, or so he thought. Queen Brunhilde has thus far defeated all suitors in feats of athletics.
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Translated from the Nibelungenlied:
"There was a queen who resided over the sea
Whose like no one knew of anywhere.
She was exceedingly beautiful and great in physical strength.
She shot the shaft with bold knights – love was the prize."
She competed with them in a spear throwing contest, a long jump competition and a game of boulder hurling. Due to her amazing strength she won every time, and retained her position of Queen over the winter lands. Kings and warriors went away drooping with humiliation as she kept their presents of treasure, weapons and animals.
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King Gunter of the Burgundians had heard the tales, so he requested the help of hero Siegfried. Siegfried ran off the northern realms to steal the Tarnkappe, a cloak or hat of invisibility which gives its wearer superhuman strength, from the King of the Mountain Dwarfs. He tricks Alberich the Dwarf King and returns to Borbetomagus with his prize.
Gunter's eager to set sail. He's already loaded several ships with weapons, gold, a white bulls and other presents. After a long journey they finally arrive in the bleak and barren lands. Queen Brunhilde comes to meet them, an amazing figure of statuesque beauty with fiery red hair.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
She gets a glimpse of Siegfried as the boats unload, and wonders if it's he who came to woo her, for he has the most lordly bearing of all the men. Shortly afterward, he disappears and King Gunter approaches Brunhilde and her entourage.
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Brunhilde gazes at Gunter with disdain but is certain she can win the challenges. She's beaten better men. They have a fine feast, then the games begin.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
Spear-throwing is the first challenge. Brunhilde throws hers so far it strikes a tree in a distant forest. Gunter looks dubious as he picks up his spear, and throws with the strength of a sick fish - yet for some reason his spear flies into distant forest even further than hers.
Brunhilde is puzzled, but they continue to the next feat. With a running start the competitors have to jump as far as possible. Brunhilde goes first. She runs then leaps high, over the trees to the other side of the forest. She's amazed to witness Gunter sail through the air to leap even further. It barely seems an effort for him.
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Now Brunhilde feels she has sorely underestimated this man. She has to beat him in the next challenge or submit to him as a wife. The third challenge is the boulder hurl and the boulders are almost as big as Gunter.
Brunhilde picks up a massive rock like a papier mâché plaything, steadies herself and throws with all her strength. The rock flies so far it strikes a mountain and shatters. Yet the rock Gunter hurls travels through the air and all the way to the sea behind the mountain, as witnessed by two fishermen.
Queen Brunhilde has to cede the contest to Gunter, although she's suspicious. He has neither the constitution nor the attitude of a great warrior. He drinks so much at the celebration feast he has to be carried to his bedchamber.
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Meanwhile, Brunhilde silently bewails her fate, though her expression gives nothing away. She wonders what happened to the warrior she saw when the ships came to shore, and thinks more of him than of Gunter. She's also missing a jeweled ring from her finger, and though her warriors and ladies look everywhere it's not to be found.
The next day they set sail back to the lands of the Burgundians. Gunter can't wait to get his hands on Brunhilde, but when he tries she ties him up and hangs him on a hook for the night.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
The second time the same thing happens, and finally Gunter goes to Siegfried for help. Siegfried is a firm believer in women knowing their place. So, he dons the Tarnkappe once more, and restrains Brunhilde while Gunter has his way. Siegfried takes Brunhilde's girdle as a prize, as he took her ring.
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Now Brunhilde is well and truly deceived, and gives herself willingly as a wife to Gunter. Siegfried marries the Princess Kriemhild and takes her to Xanten, his northerly home. Upon the death of his father they rule as king and queen.
Brunhilde becomes Queen of the Burgundians. Yet, try as she might, she has a hard time being obedient and subservient to Gunter, who she cannot see him as an equal, let along a lord or king. Nonetheless she fulfills her womanly duties on personal and social levels.
Gunter often went to war, raiding Roman settlements and encampments along the east side of the Rhine. When he's away it's Siegfried she thinks of, not him, and her bitterness gnaws inside her. She wants to see Siegfried again.
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She lays her strategy well. Casually she mentions to Gunter that his vassal Siegfried should be sending warriors to help Gunter's cause. Siegfried is quite rich, having slain the dragon Fafnir and stolen the never-ending treasure of the Nibelungen.
Brunhilde convinces Gunter she's lonely for the company of Kriemhild, wife of Siegfried. At first resistant, Gunter finally agrees to ask Siegfried and Kriemhild to attend the midsummer's feast in June. When they arrive, Kriemhild and Brunhilde embrace as sisters.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
While the men are off hunting, antagonisms flare between the women. Each argues her husband is the strongest, most courageous and heroic. Brunhilde wants Kriemhild to admit her husband's vassal status, but the proud Queen of Xanten laughs.
She shows Brunhilde the ring on her finger and the girdle around her waist. Brunhilde gasps when she recognizes the ornaments Siegfried stole from her while wearing the Tarnkappe. Her world comes crashing down as she realizes she was tricked into giving up her lands and maidenhood to a pair of conniving weasels.
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Little does Brunhilde know she will never see Siegfried alive again. While on the hunt, Gunter and his advisor Hagen trick and murder him, and bring the body back to Worms, claiming he was killed by a wild boar.
Brunhilde's fate differs but is always tragic. In one version, she falls upon her sword after learning of her depiction by the two men, and the death of Siegfried. In another, she throws herself upon the funeral pyre of Siegfried.
Brunhilde appears in Nibelung - Book 2 of the Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction series
In the Poetic Edda Brunhild is a Valkyrie and daughter of Odin. She will marry only a man without fear. She lives surrounded by a wall of flame. Siegfried arrives to rescue her, whereupon she teaches him ancient wisdom and the runes.
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She's associated with teaching the runes in more than one tale. In another, Brunhild is behind a wall of fire, tricked by Siegfried who poses as Gunter. Later, she and Kriemhild argue about who gets to wash her hair further upstream, and the story of Gunter and Siegfried's trickery emerges.
In yet another account Brunhild dies by the hand of Hagen, one of the conspirators in Siegfried's murder. In the Nibelungenlied, Brunhilde simply fades away as a tragic heroine, her part in the greater story done.
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