Page:The Nibelungenlied - tr. Shumway - 1909.pdf/25

Rh which celebrates the adventures of the famous legendary hero, Dietrich of Berne, the historical Theodorich of Ravenna. In as far as it contains the adventures of the Nibelungs, it is also called the Niflungasaga. The Thidreksaga was written about 1250 by a Norwegian who, as he himself tells us, heard the story from Germans in the neighborhood of Bremen and Münster. Since it is thus based on Saxon traditions, it can be considered an independent source of the legend, and, in fact, differs from the earlier Norse versions in many important details. The author was acquainted, however, with the older versions, and sought to compromise between them, but mostly followed his German authorities.

The story, as given in the older Norse versions, is in most respects more original than in the Nibelungenlied. It relates the history of the treasure of the Nibelungs, tracing it back to a giant by the name of Hreithmar, who received it from the god Loki as a compensation for the killing of the former's son Otur, whom Loki had slain in the form of an otter. Loki obtained the ransom from a dwarf named Andwari, who in turn had stolen it from the river gods of the Rhine. Andwari pronounces a terrible curse upon the treasure and its possessors, and this curse passes from Loki to the Giant Hreithmar, who is murdered when asleep by his two sons Fafnir and Regin. The latter, however, is cheated out of the coveted prize by Fafnir, who carries it away to the Gnita heath, where he guards it in the form of a dragon.

This treasure, with its accompanying curse, next passes into the hands of a human being named Sigurd