Nibelungs (or Nibelungen), in Germanic and Scandinavian mythology, a race
of dwarfs or elves dwelling in Niflheim (or Nibelheim), a realm of mist or
darkness. According to some accounts, the Nibelungs were the descendants
of Nibelung, a legendary Scandinavian king, and heirs to a vast treasure
hoard of gold and jewels that had been amassed in some ancient time. Because
of its origins, the treasure never ceased to be tainted with corrupting greed
and madness. There are conflicting accounts and treatments of the Nibelungs
in the various sources. Nibelungs were sometimes referred to as Niflungs,
and the treasure, called the Rhine gold, was said to be guarded by the dwarf
Andvari (or Alberich). In the 'Volsunga Saga', the hero Sigurd acquires the
gold by slaying Fafnir, who had killed his own father, Hreidmar, for it and
turned himself into a dragon to protect it. Also in the 'Volsunga Saga',
Nibelung was the son of Hogni and grandson of Giuki. In the Germanic 'Song
of the Nibelungs' (Nibelungenlied), the term is used in the latter part of
the epic as an alternative name for the Burgundians. The Burgundians came
into possession of the treasure hoard through Siegfried (Sigurd), who had
married the Burgundian Kriemhild (Gudrun). In the 'Song of the Nibelungs',
Siegfried had already won the gold by defeating the dragon Fafnir and his
brother Regin before the narrative begins. In the 'Poetic (or Elder) Edda',
the Nibelungs were the kinsmen of Giuki, whose daughter Gudrun had married
Sigurd. In Richard Wagner's operatic cycle 'The Ring of the Nibelungs', the
Nibelungs were gnomes, dwarfs, or elves, such as Mime (a parallel of the
Regin character) and Alberich, who had put his curse on a ring that was part
of the treasure when the hoard was stolen from him by the gods.