Der Held des Nordens

Held des Nordens, Der, a trilogy by F. de la Motte Fouqué, published in 1810. The three plays, each ‘Ein Heldenspiel’ in verse, are entitled Sigurd der Schlangentöter, Sigurds Rache, and Aslauga. Fouqué based his plays on the Edda, which he read in the original Icelandic.

In Sigurd der Schlangentöter, Sigurd slays the dragon Faffner, acquires his treasure, and learns to understand the speech of the birds. He enters the fire-girt castle of Hindarfiall, frees Brynhildur from her enforced sleep, and espouses her. Sent forth on further exploits he comes to King Giuke's castle by the Rhine. Queen Grimhildur, seeking to obtain the treasure, gives Sigurd a potion that makes him forget Brynhildur; he is betrothed to Gudruna, the daughter of Giuke and Grimhildur, and swears comradeship with her brothers Gunnar, Högne, and Guttorm. Guttorm, moved by covetousness and Brynhildur's desire for vengeance, murders Sigurd, and Brynhildur stabs herself and throws herself on Sigurd's funeral pyre. In Sigurds Rache, Gudruna is brought by one of Grimhildur's potions to forget Sigurd and marries King Atli. Accused of adultery, she clears herself by surviving the ordeal by boiling water. Atli entices her brothers to visit her, in the hope of obtaining the treasure. Högne and Gunnar perish, and Gunnar, before dying, reveals that the treasure is lost for ever in the Rhine. With the help of Högne's son Niflung, Gudruna slays Atli.

Aslauga deals with the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhildur. After her parents' death, Aslauga is protected by King Heimer, who hides her in a zither. He takes shelter in a hut, but is murdered by the peasant occupants, who bring her up as their daughter; in the end Aslauga marries Ragnar, King of Denmark. Each of the three plays is preceded by a verse dedication to J. G. Fichte.