and "Huns", Attila, who is the
chief representative of Hunnish power, was connected with the legend
and located at Seest. This would show that the original extension of the
legend was slight, as Xanten, the home of Hagen, is but seventy miles
from Seest. The original form would then be that Hagen was slain by a
king of "Hunaland", then because history relates that the Burgundians
were slain by the Huns, the similarity of the names led to the
introduction of Attila and the identification of the Nibelungs with the
Burgundians. The fact, too, that the Franks rapidly took possession
of the district depopulated by the crushing defeat of the Burgundians
likewise aided the confusion, and thus the Franks became the natural
heirs of the legend concerning the death of Gunther, and so we read of
the fall of the Nibelungs, a name that is wholly Frankish in character.
This identification led also to Attila's being considered the avenger of
Siegfried's death. Poetic justice, however, demands that the slaughter
of the Burgundians at the hands of Attila be also avenged. The rumor,
that Attila's death was not natural, but that he had been murdered by
his wife Ildico ("Hildiko"), gave the necessary features to round out
the story. As Kriemhild was the sister of the Burgundian kings, it was
but natural to explain her killing of Attila, as described in the Norse
versions, by her desire to avenge her brothers.

In our "Nibelungenlied", however, it is no longer Attila, but Kriemhild,
who is the central figure of the tragedy. Etzel, as he is called here,
has sunk to the insignificant role of a stage king, a perfectly passive
observer of the fight raging around him. This change was brought about
perhaps by the introduction of Dietrich of Berne, the most imposing
figure of all Germanic heroic lore. The necessity of providing him
with a role corresponding to his importance, coupled with a growing
repugnance on the part of the proud Franks to acknowledge defeat at the
hands of the Huns, caused the person of Attila to dwindle in importance.
Gradually, too, the role played by Kriemhild was totally changed.
Instead of being the avenger of her brothers, as depicted in the Norse
versions, she herself becomes the cause of their destruction. Etzel
is not only innocent of any desire to harm the Nibelungs, but is even
ignorant of the revenge planned by his wife. This change in her role was
probably due to the feeling that it was incumbent upon her to aveng