Chapters 114-123 - Germanic Mythology

passes through the generations of the other great mythic family of heroes: that of
Heimdall‘s son Borgar, Borgar‘s son Halfdan, and of Halfdan‘s sons Hadding and
Guthorm (Dieterich and Ermenrich). Borgar fights and must yield to the attack of Ivaldi,
and thereafter his sons from the North in alliance with the powers of frost (see nos. 22,
no. 28). Halfdan fights with Ivaldi's sons, recaptures the Germanic country for vegetation
as far as to "Svarin's mound," but falls before Ivaldi's grandson Svipdag, armed with the
Völund sword (see nos. 32, 33, 102, 103). In the conflict between Svipdag and Guthorm-
Ermenrich on one side, and Hadding on the other, we see the champions divided into
different camps after their families‘ mythological antecedents: Amalians and Hildings on
Hadding's side, the descendants of Ivaldi on the other (see nos. 42, 43). Therefore the
Gjukungs, "the kings on the Rhine" in the German tradition, stand on Ermenrich's side.
Therefore Vidga Völund's son, despite his bond of friendship with Hadding-Dieterich,
likewise fights under Ermenrich's banner. Therefore, [734] Vildebur-Egil is risen again
by the heroic saga, and there appears as the protector and helper of Völund‘s son, his own
nephew, and therefore Vati-Walther, too (see No. 123), the same as Ivaldi, Völund's
father, is reawakened by the heroic saga in order to bear Ermenrich‘s banner in the battles
(cp. no. 43).
120.
SLAGFINN-GJUKI'S SYNONYMS DANKRAT (ÞAKKRÁÐUR), IRUNG, ALDRIAN.
SLAGFINN A STAR-HERO LIKE HIS BROTHERS.
ALDRIAN'S IDENTITY WITH CHELDRICUS-GELDERUS.
Slagfinn-Gjuki has many names in the German traditions, as in the Norse. Besides
the name Gibich, Gibche (Gjuki), occur the synonyms Dankrat, Irung, and Aldrian. 79 In
the latter part of Nibelunge Noth, Gibich is called Dankrat (cp. "Klage"; Biterolf also has
the name Dankrat, and speaks of it in a manner which shows that in some of the sources
the author used Dankrat was a synonym of Gibich). 80 In Þidreks Saga af Bern
[Wilkinasaga] Gjuki appears now as Irung, now as Aldrian. Aldrian is (Þidreks Saga af
Bern ch. 169 [Wilkinasaga 150]) king of Niflungaland, and has the sons Högni, Gunnar,
79
Gillespie, George T. A Catalogue of Persons Named in Named in German Heroic Literature (700-1600),
(1973) s.v. Gibeche: In Waltharius, Gibicho, the ruler of Francia, has his capital is Worms; …In
Rosengarten (AD) Gibeche, the father of Kriemhilt, rules at Worms. …In Das Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid,
Das Volksbuch vom gehörnten Siegfried (1726) and Anhang des Heldenbuches, he is the father of the
Burgundians and rules at Worms. ..Rosengarte (F), v. 20.3 (MS, gebiche); Rosengarte (P) 2 (MS.
Geybich); … Das Volksbuch vom gehörnten Siegfried, p. 66, 7 (Gibaldus); …In the 8th century Old
English poem Widsith, Gifica is the ruler of the Burgundians. In ON Eddic tradition Gjúki is the father of
Gunnarr, Högni, and Guðrún. …Gjúkungar, as an alternate term for Niflungar, is often used of Gunnar and
his brothers (Sigurðarkviða in Skamma 35,3; Dráp Niflunga prose, p. 233; Skáldskaparmál chs. 48 and 50;
Völssunga saga ch. 25); it is also used in the Faroese ballad Högna táttur. (CCF I, 22-31) and occurs once
in a chapter heading of Þiðreks Saga af Bern (II. 302.19), in which Aldrian is in fact the father of the
Niflungar. …Gibica appears at the head of the list of ancestors of the Burgundian King Gunobad in the Lex
Burgundionum of 516.
80 Grimm identifies Dankrat as Gibiche [Deutsche Heldensage (1829) p. 129]; Gillispie, ibid: In
Nibelungenlied, the father of Gunther is Dancrât, whereas the name Gibeche is borne by a subject king at
Etzel‘s court. …This confusion is maintained in Biterolf und Dietlieb, in which Gunther and his brothers
are Gunther and his brothers are referred to as ‗Dancrâtes kint‘ (B2617), but Gibeche is known to have
formerly kept a company of warriors at Worms (2616 ff.). The 15 th century modernization of
Nibelungenlied, N(k) has Gibich, quite correctly, as Gunther‘s father (7,2; 123, 1).