such as a Siegfried "spring"
in the Odenwald, a Hagen "well" at Lorsch, a Brunhild "bed" near
Frankfort, and the well-known "Drachenfels", or Dragon's Rock, on the
Rhine. It is to Norway, however, that we must go for our knowledge
of the story, for, singularly enough, with the exception of the
"Nibelungenlied" and the popular ballad, German literature has preserved
almost no trace of the legend, and such as exist are too late and too
corrupt to be of much use in determining the original features of the
story.

Just when the legend emigrated to Skandinavia we do not know, but
certainly at an early date, perhaps during the opening years of the
sixth century. It may have been introduced by German traders, by slaves
captured by the Northmen on their frequent marauding expeditions, or,
as Mogk believes, may have been taken by the Heruli on their return
to Norway after their defeat by the Langobardi. By whatever channel,
however, the story reached the North, it became part and parcel of
Skandinavian folklore, only certain names still pointing to the original
home of the legend. In the ninth century, when Harald Harfagr changed
the ancient free constitution of the land, many Norwegians emigrated
to Iceland, taking with them these acquired legends, which were better
preserved in this remote island because of the peaceful introduction
of Christianity, than on the Continent, where the Church was more
antagonistic to the customs and legends of the heathen period.

The Skandinavian version of the Siegfried legend has been handed down
to us in five different forms. The first of these is the poetic or
older "Edda", also called Saemund's "Edda", as it was assigned to the
celebrated Icelandic scholar Saemundr Sigfusson. The "Codex Regius", in
which it is preserved, dates from the middle of the thirteenth century,
but is probably a copy of an older manuscript. The songs it contains
were written at various times, the oldest probably in the first half of
the ninth century, the latest not much before the date of the earliest
manuscript. Most of them, however, belong to the Viking period, when
Christianity was already beginning to influence the Norwegians, that
is, between the years 800 and 1000. They are partly heroic, partly
mythological in character, and are written in alliterative strophes
interspersed with prose, and have the form of dialogues. Though the
legends on which these songs are based were brought from Norway, most of
them w