In Hagen's attempt to drown the chaplain whom the Burgundians have with
them as they set out for the land of the Huns we have perhaps an
expression of the conflict between the heathen and the Christian
elements, possibly also a reflection of the traditional animosity of the
_spielmann_ to his clerical rival.

The Nibelungenlied and the Iliad of Homer have often been compared, but
after all to no great purpose. The two epics are alike in having their
roots deep in national origins, but beyond this we have contrasts rather
than resemblances. The Iliad is a more varied and complete picture of the
whole Greek world than the Nibelungenlied is of the German, its religious
atmosphere has not been disturbed in the same way as that of the saga of
early Germanic times projected several centuries into a later Christian
age, and it possesses in every way a greater unity of sentiment. In the
varied beauty of its language, its wealth of imagery, its depth of
feeling and copiousness of incident the Iliad is superior to the
Nibelungenlied with its language of simple directness, its few lyrical
passages, its expression of feeling by deeds rather than by words. Homer,
too, is in general buoyant, the Nibelungenlied is sombre and stern. And
in one last respect the two epics differ most of all: the Iliad is
essentially narrative and descriptive, a series of episodes; the
Nibelungenlied is essentially dramatic, scene following scene of dramatic
necessity and pointing steadily to a final and inevitable catastrophe.


4. Later Forms of the Saga

In the Northern Edda and in the German Nibelungenlied the Nibelungen saga
found its fullest and most poetic expression. But these were not to be
the only literary records of it. Both in Scandinavian lands and in