WOMEN IN THE GERMANIC HERO-SAGAS 141 



which demanded the death of Siegfried, was for a stain upon her own 

 honor. She had been tricked into breaking her vow to marry no one 

 but the hero who should ride through the flames to win her. This 

 motive seems trivial by the side of Signy 1 the Waelsung daughter's 

 great sacrifice for the sake of her father and brothers. Kriemhilde's 

 vengeance for the death of Siegfried is, in the Nibelungenlied, sullied 

 by treachery, and by an indifference to bloodshed, which is unnatural 

 to any woman. In the northern version of the story the vengeance 

 is directed, not against her own kinsmen, but against Attila, and is 

 ennobled by its being a punishment for the treacherous invitation, 

 which, in this case, was sent by Attila, and not by Kriemhilde herself. 

 There is still a bit of the personal element in the vengeance of 

 Rosamunda, 2 the Gepid princess. Although she was fulfilling the 

 first and highest duty of a Teuton, when she avenged the death of 

 her father, it was an insult offered to herself, as well as to the memory 

 of her father, which goaded her to decisive action in the matter. 

 Rosamunda's father was killed by Alboin, king of the Lombards, 

 and Rosamunda herself was a prisoner of war, whom Alboin after- 

 ward married. One evening as they sat at the banquet, Alboin, 

 excited by wine and victory, offered to his wife a drinking vessel, 

 which he had had made from the skull of his father-in-law, bidding 

 her drink and be merry with her father. From that moment 

 Rosamunda had but one thought — to avenge the death of her father 

 by the death of her husband. This was not easy to accomplish. 

 The king was a brave man, and no one was willing to assume the 

 responsibility of his death. Finally, as the result of strategy, and by 

 the sacrifice of herself, Rosamunda gained an accomplice in Peredeo, 

 Alboin's bravest and most faithful courtier. At midday when all 

 was still in the palace, and Alboin safely asleep, Rosamunda had all 

 his arms removed except the sword, which he wore at his side. This 

 she had bound firmly to the head of the bed, so that it could not be 

 unsheathed. The hand of Peredeo completed the work, and Alboin 

 fell, with no chance to fight for his life. The cost had been great, 

 but Rosamunda's revenge was accomplished. 



■ Volsunga S., II-VIII. " Pauli, Lib. II, 28. 



