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| Brunhild, the Valkyrie |
Of Warrior Queens and Valkyries
Probably one of my favorite characters in "Das Nibelungenlied" is Brunhild. If you do some research on her back story her life is just tragic. In "Das Nibelkungenlied" she certainly comes across as a total shrew. But considering that for instance in the Volsunga Saga, Siegfried has a child with her and promised eternal love to her, you can understand why she hates Kriemhild. In that account of the myth, Kriemhild enchants Siegfried, and he forgets about Brunhild and their son. So it is completely understandable that Brunhild has become bitter and revenge-seeking. She is a very proud woman and a Valkyrie. Those are the goddesses that bring the dead heroes to Walhalla.
Brunhild reminds me very much of another figure from Greek mythology: Hippolyta, the Amazon queen. Hippolyta appears in the legend of Heracles. She wears a magic girdle which her father, Ares, the god of war, has given her. It signifies that she is the queen of the Amazons who are a nation of female warriors. However, Heracles' ninth labor was to retrieve even that magic girdle from the Amazonian queen. Well, now this is VERY interesting because who else is a warrior and possesses a magic girdle that gives her strength? Brunhild and Hippolyta seem to be the same character to some extent.
This also makes us ables to draw some parallels between Siegfried the dragon slayer and Heracles. Both of them have to solve some difficult tasks in order to achieve what they want and in order to become heroic. Heracles has his twelve labors one of which also involves slaying the nine-headed Hydra which is SURPRISE SURPRISE also a dragon. Furthermore, the female warriors do not get to marry the hero that has defeated them. Brunhild ends up with Gunther in all traditions of the myth and Hippolyta marries Theseus who killed Medusa. It is interesting that these strong women end up with well second rate heroes (well I would not really consider Gunther as a hero at all). Theseus does not defeat her in battle but he tricks her into boarding his ship and kidnaps her.
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| Hercules slaying the Hydra |
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