Atli, Lay of

Atli, Lay of

▪ medieval poem
Norse  Atlakvida 

      heroic poem in the Norse Poetic Edda (see Edda), an older variant of the tale of slaughter and revenge that is the subject of the German epic Nibelungenlied, from which it differs in several respects. In the Norse poem, Atli (the Hunnish king Attila) is the villain, who is slain by his wife, Gudrun, to avenge her brothers.

      In the Lay of Atli, Gudrun's brothers Gunnar and Hogni are lured to Atli's court so that Atli can learn the secret of their treasure. Gunnar and Hogni refuse to tell. Atli has Hogni's heart cut out while Gunnar laughs in scorn. Gunnar is thrown into a snake pit, then put to death. Gudrun, “the sweet-faced delight of the shield-folk,” takes her revenge by serving the murderers dainties that are actually the roasted hearts of Atli's sons. Then she stabs the wine-weary Atli and burns down his hall, allowing only the dogs to escape. In the German epic the characters of Atli, Gudrun, Gunnar, and Hogni are represented, respectively, by Etzel, Kriemhild, Gunther, and Hagen.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Nibelungenlied — /nee beuh loong euhn leet /, n. a Middle High German epic of c1200, related to the Scandinavian Volsunga Saga and telling of the life of Siegfried, his marriage to Kriemhild, his wooing of Brunhild on behalf of Gunther, his murder by Hagen, and… …   Universalium

  • Gudrun — /good roohn/, n. (in the Volsunga Saga) the daughter of the king of the Nibelungs. Cf. Kriemhild. [ON Guthrun, equiv. to gunn(r), guth(r) battle + rún fem. n. suffix] * * * ▪ Norse legendary heroine       heroine of several Old Norse legends… …   Universalium

  • Hagen — /hah geuhn/, n. a city in North Rhine Westphalia, in W Germany. 209,200. /hay geuhn/, n. Walter 1892 1969, U.S. golfer. * * * ▪ German mythology also called  Hagano, or Hogni,         mythological Germanic hero who plays a variety of roles in a… …   Universalium

  • Kriemhild — /kreem hilt/, n. (in the Nibelungenlied) the wife of Siegfried and the sister of Gunther. Cf. Gudrun. * * * or Gudrun In the Nibelungenlied, the gentle princess courted by Siegfried. Her grief at Siegfried s death transforms her into a she devil… …   Universalium

  • Poetic Edda — The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson s Prose Edda , the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and… …   Wikipedia

  • Guðrúnarkviða II — The Second Lay of Gudrún , or Guðrúnarkviða hin forna , The Old Lay of Gudrún is probably the oldest poem of the Sigurd cycle, according to Henry Adams Bellows.The poem was composed before the year 1000 and Bellows considered to be in a rather b …   Wikipedia

  • La Légende de Sigurd et Gudrún — Auteur J. R. R. Tolkien Préface Christopher Tolkien Genre poésie, fantasy Version originale Titre original The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Die Legende von Sigurd und Gudrún — (englischer Originaltitel: The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún) ist ein Erzählgedicht von J. R. R. Tolkien. Das Buch wurde weltweit am 5. Mai 2009 durch Houghton Mifflin Harcourt und HarperCollins veröffentlicht. Von Tolkien während 1920er und 1930er …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Atlamál — in gr oelig;nlenzku ( The Greenlandic Lay of Atli ) is one of the heroic poems of the Poetic Edda . It relates the same basic story as Atlakviða at greater length and in a different style. The poem is believed to have been composed in Greenland,… …   Wikipedia

  • Guðrúnarkviða III — The Third Lay of Gudrun , is a short Old Norse poem that is part of the Poetic Edda . It has not left any traces in Völsunga saga and was probably not known by its compilers.It is dated to the early 11th century, because that was the time when t …   Wikipedia

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