lly is.
Its very name is Nebel-land, or Nifl-land, the land of Darkness, of
Invisibility.... Far beyond the firm horizon, that wonder-bearing
region swims on the infinite waters, unseen by bodily eye, or, at
most, discerned as a faint streak hanging in the blue depths, uncertain
whether island or cloud."--Carlyle, on The Nibelungen Lied.

[EN#18]--Schilbung and Nibelung.

"Old King Nibelung, the former lord of the land, had left, when he died,
a mighty hoard concealed within a mountain-cavern. As Siegfried rode
past the mountain-side alone, he found Schilbung and Nibelung, the
king's sons, seated at the mouth of the cavern surrounded by more gold
and precious stones than a hundred wagons could bear away. Espying
Siegfried, they called upon him to settle their dispute, offering him
as reward their father's mighty sword Balmung."--Auber Forestier's
Translation of the Nibelungen Lied.

We have here made some slight variations from the original versions.
(See also EN#12.)

An ancient legend relates how King Schilbung had obtained the Hoard in
the upper Rhine valley, and how he was afterwards slain by his brother
Niblung. This Niblung possessed a magic ring in the shape of a coiled
serpent with ruby eyes. It had been presented to him by a prince named
Gunthwurm, who had come to him in the guise of a serpent, desiring the
hand of his daughter in marriage. This ring, according to the Eddas, was
the one taken by Loki from the dwarf Andvari, and was given by Sigurd
(Siegfried) to Brunhild in token of betrothal. It was the cause of all
the disasters that afterwards occurred.--See W. Jordan's Sigfridssaga.
See also EN#10.

[EN#19]

"... Siegfried the hero good
Failed the long task to finish: this stirred their
angry mood.
The treasure undivided he needs must let remain,
When the two kings indignant set on him with their
train;
But Siegfried gripped sharp Balmung (so hight their
father's sword),
And took from them their country, and the beaming,
precious hoard."
The Nibelungenlied, Lettsom, 96, 97

[EN#20]--Siegfried's Welcome Home.

In the Nibelungen Lied this is our first introduction to the hero. The
"High-tide" held in honor of Siegfried's coming to manhood, and which we
suppose to have occurred at this time, forms the subject of the Second
Adventure in that poem.

[EN#21]--Kriemhild's Dream.

This forms the subject of the first chapter of