Editing Gudrun (section)

{{short description|Legendary figure in Germanic lore}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Gudrun setting fire.png|thumb|Woodcut by [[Edward Burne-Jones]], for [[William Morris]]' work, Sigurd the Volsung.
(London: Kelmscott Press, 1898).]]
[[File:Johann Heinrich Füssli 046.jpg|thumb|Kriemhild discovers Siegfried's corpse. Painting by Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1817.]]
[[File:Emil Lauffer - Kriemhild's Complaint.jpg|thumb|Kriemhild accuses Hagen of murdering Siegfried. Painting by Emil Lauffer, 1879]]
[[Image:Johann Heinrich Füssli 047.jpg|right|thumb|Kriemhild and Gunther, [[Johann Heinrich Füssli]], 1807]]
[[File:SvEisenwerth-Death.jpg|thumb|Kriemhild's Death, [[Karl Schmoll von Eisenwerth]], 1911]]
'''Gudrun''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ʊ|d|r|uː|n}} {{respell|GUUD|roon}}; {{langx|non|Guðrún}}) or '''Kriemhild''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|iː|m|h|ɪ|l|t}} {{respell|KREEM|hilt}}; {{langx|gmh|Kriemhilt}}) is the wife of [[Sigurd|Sigurd/Siegfried]] and a major figure in [[Germanic heroic legend]] and literature. She is believed to have her origins in [[Ildico]], last wife of [[Attila the Hun]], and two queens of the [[Merovingian dynasty]], [[Brunhilda of Austrasia]] and [[Fredegund]].

In both the Continental (German) and Scandinavian traditions, Gudrun/Kriemhild is the sister of the [[Burgundians|Burgundian]] king [[Gunther|Gunther/Gunnar]] and marries the hero Siegfried/Sigurd. Both traditions also feature a major rivalry between Gudrun and [[Brunhild]], Gunther's wife, over their respective ranks. In both traditions, once Sigurd has been murdered, Gudrun is married to Etzel/Atli, the legendary analogue of Attila the Hun. In the Norse tradition, Atli desires the hoard of the Nibelungen, which the Burgundians had taken after murdering Sigurd, and invites them to his court; intending to kill them. Gudrun then avenges her brothers by killing Atli and burning down his hall. The Norse tradition then tells of her further life as mother of [[Svanhildr|Svanhild]] and enemy of [[Ermanaric|Jormunrekr]]. In the continental  tradition, Kriemhild instead desires revenge for her brothers' murder of Siegfried, and invites them to visit Etzel's court intending to kill them. Her revenge destroys both the Huns and the Burgundians, and in the end she herself is killed.

In [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'', Siegfried's wife is known as '''Gutrune'''. As Wagner's cycle ends with Siegfried's funeral and its immediate aftermath, it does not include her marriage to Atli/Etzel or revenge for Siegfried's death. 

Some of the differences and similarities between Gudrun and Kriemhild in the Scandinavian and continental Germanic traditions can be seen in the following two stanzas taken from original sources. The first is Kriemhild's introduction in the ''Nibelungenlied'':
{{Verse translation|
Ez wuohs in Burgonden ein vil edel magedîn,
daz in allen landen niht schoeners mohte sîn,
Kriemhilt geheizen. si wart ein schoene wîp.
dar umbe muosen degene vil verliesen den lîp.{{sfn|Heinzle|2013|p=10}}
|
There  grew  up  in  Burgundy  a most noble  maiden.
No one in all the lands could be fairer.
She was called Kriemhilt—she grew to be a beautiful woman.
For her sake many knights were to lose their lives.{{sfn|Edwards|2010|p=5}}}}

And this is how Gudrun is described at the end of the Eddic poem ''[[Atlakviða]]'':
{{Verse translation|
Fullrœtt er um þetta:
ferr engi svá síðan
brúðr í brynio
brœðr at hefna.
Hon hefir þriggia
þióðkonunga
banorð borit,
biǫrt, áðr sylti.{{sfn|Dronke|1969|p=12}}
|
The whole tale is told:
never after her
will any wife go thus in armour
to avenge her brothers.
She caused the death
of three kings
of a nation,
bright lady, before she died.{{sfn|Dronke|1969|p=12}}}}