Attila (Etzel)

Attila or Etzel was king of the Huns in Hungary, where he ruled a large empire that included Austria and Germany. Attila was known in the Norse myths as Atli, but he was historically derived from Attila the Hun.

In the German legend, Attila (Etzel) was the son of Osid, the king of Frisia. Attila was the brother of Ortnid. When Milias, the king of the Huns, died, Attila won Hunland through ruthless conquest. Attila then moved the Hunnish capital from Valterborg to Susa.

Attila had many powerful advisers. Among his vassals were the heroes Dietrich and Rudiger. It has been mentioned several times in the Nibelungenlied that Etzel (Attila) once held Hagen and Waltharius of Aquitaine as hostages. This is how Hagen met Dietrich and became his friend.

Attila was first married to Helche, who was called Erka in Thiðrekssaga.

According to Thiðrekssaga, Erka (Helche) was the daughter of Osantrix, king of Vilkinaland, and of Oda, daughter of King Milias of Hunland. Attila had won Erka through trickery. His ambassador to Osantrix was named Duke Rudolf, but he used the name Sigifred or Sigurd when he offered services to Osantrix for two years. Osantrix, not realising that Rudolf/Sigurd was Attila's agent, infiltrated his court. Then Rudolf won an audience with Erka, who secretly agreed to marry Attila. When the time was ripe, Rudolf spirited Erka away to Hunland where she married Attila. A long feud between Attila and Osantrix erupted.

In the Nibelungenlied, Helche had a niece named Herrat, and Herrat was betrothed to Dietrich. Before Helche died, she warned her husband not to marry Kriemhild (Gudrun or Grimhild), but his advisers forgot her warning and told him that the Burgundian princess was also a widow; they suggested that Etzel should marry Kriemhild. Attila agreed and sent his vassal Rudiger as adviser.

Etzel did not realise that Kriemhild had only married him to get her revenge upon Hagen and Gunther, as well as recover the Nibelung treasure that belonged to her first husband.

Only the death of his son Ortlieb and some of his faithful vassals turned the king against his Burgundian guests. Rudiger tried to remain neutral in the conflict, but Kriemhild demanded that he avenge her, while Etzel called upon Rudiger's oath of fealty to fight against the Burgundians.

When Dietrich captured Gunther and Hagen, he asked Kriemhild to spare their lives. But Kriemhild had her brother and her enemy killed when Dietrich went to fetch the king (Etzel). Seeing Kriemhild decapitating Hagen upset Etzel and Dietrich. They didn't believe that a warrior of calibre deserved to die at the hands of a woman. With Etzel's consent, Hildebrand cut down Kriemhild, which ended the epic with her death.

In the Nibelungenlied and other German epics, Etzel was portrayed as a noble and generous king, unlike his Norse and historical counterparts. This was because the German poets saw Etzel and the Huns as German people, not barbarians from the steppe of Central Asia.

In the Volsunga Saga and the Thiðrekssaga, it was Atli (or Attila) who wanted Sigurd's treasure, not his wife Gudrun (Kriemhild or Grimhild). Gudrun was more loyal to her brothers than to her husband Atli in these sagas. In the Volsunga saga, Atli had Hogni's heart cut out and Gunnar thrown into a snake pit (the same as in Thiðrekssaga), when they refused to disclose the location of the treasure. Gudrun avenged her brothers' death by killing a wine-intoxicated Atli with a sword, before setting fire to the palace. (In the Thiðrekssaga, Atli allowed Thiðreks (Dietrich) to execute his wife Grimhild (Gudrun or Kriemhild) for causing so many deaths.)

The Volsunga Saga and the heroic poems in the Poetic Edda were probably closer to the historical Attila (died in AD 453) than the Etzel in the Nibelungenlied. Atli was more like Attila, because the real Hunnish king was known for his brutality and greed, especially for gold. The real Gunther ("Guntharius") was contemporary to Attila, however Guntharius was not killed by Attila's Huns, but by the Hunnish mercenaries led by the Roman general Aetius (AD 437).

See Atli in Norse Heroes and About Norse Myths for the real Attila. See also Gudrun in the Volsunga Saga.

According to Thiðrekssaga, Attila's death was different from that of Atli in the Volsunga saga.

After the hero Thidrek (Dietrich) returned to his own kingdom, Aldrian (Niflung) the son of Hogni (Hagen) decided to lure Attila to his death, because the king had married Aldrian's vengeful aunt Grimhild (Kriemhild or Gudrun) who was largely responsible for his father's death. Since Grimhild was already dead, the boy decided that he would avenge his father's death with Attila's.

Aldrian was only twelve. He became Attila's foster son, after Hogni's death. Attila, on the other hand, was an aged ruler of Hunland.

Aldrian told the king where the treasure of Sigurd (Niflung treasure) was hidden. Aldrian promised to take Attila to the treasure, if the king would come alone with him and not disclose where they were going. Attila, unsuspecting of treachery, followed his foster son through the forest to the cave.

This cave was in the mountains, with strong doors. The cave contained the treasures of Gunnar and Hogni. But Aldrian led the old king deeper into the cave, where there was another door that hid the dragon treasure hoard of the hero Sigurd. There was more gold in that part of the cave than the combination of the treasures of Gunnar and Hogni.

With Attila so absorbed with the gold of Sigurd, Aldrian shut and locked the door, leaving the old king trapped with the gold. Only then did he realise that he had been betrayed by his stepson. Attila also realised that this was vengeance for the death of Hogni and the destruction of the Niflungs (Nibelungs). Attila tried to plead with Aldrian for his freedom, offering him the kingdom and all the Niflung gold. Aldrian told the king that he already had everything he wanted. Aldrian left the cave, locking the door, before covering the entrance with boulders and rocks.

Aldrian returned to Niflungaland, where he was welcomed by Brynhild (Brunhild), Gunnar's wife. Brynhild made the boy an earl in Niflungaland.