Original subtitles

Despite having more or less always been in circulation,

D/E N/BEL UNGEN has never been presented

in any complete German version,

whether by way of any extant release print

or anything struck from an original camera negative

This photochemical restoration is based on incomplete camera negatives.

Missing sections were supplemented by various extant prints of the period

along with archival copies

Colouration follows the conventional method of then-contemporary prints,

and is based upon original tinting technique

the production of a B&W print

The German intertitles were taken from extant prints and flash-titles

restored digitally from the negatives

Missing titles that have been reconstructed

are designated by the IVIurnau-Stiftung logo

For this HD mastering, the image has been corrected in places

and heavy damage to the film has been retouched

Director: Fritz Lang

Scenario: Thea von Harbou

Cinematography: Carl Hoffmann and Gunther Rittau

Set Design and Construction: Otto Hunte

Set Collaborators

Dragon Design: Karl Vollbrecht

Make-Up: Otto Genath

Music: Gottfried Huppertz

Cast

Queen Ute: Gertrud Arnold

Kriemhild: Margarete Schon

Brunhild: Hanna Ralph

Siegfried: Paul Richter

King Gunther: Theodor Loos

Gerenot: Hans Carl Muller

Giselher: Erwin Biswanger

Volker von Alzey: Bernard Goetzke

Hagen Tronje: Hans Adalbert Schlettow

Dankwart: Hardy von Francois

Mime, the Blacksmith: Georg John

Alberich, the Nibelung: Georg John

The Rune-Maiden: Frida Richard

The Priest: Georg Jurowski

The Noble Boy: Iris Roberts

Dedicated to the German People

How Siegfried Slew the Dragon

Ride home to Xanten

Siegfried, King Siegmund's son!

Even I cannot teach you any more!

Have you never before heard

of the king's castle at Worms on the Rhine

nor the kings of Burgundy who reign there?

I shall set out for that place, so that I may win Kriemhild!

Show me the way to Worms

Fare thee well, Siegfried King Siegmund's son!

You shall never reach Worms!

Thus did young Siegfried

apprehend the birds' song

If the dragon-slayer

should bathe in dragon-blood

He'd then become invincible

And invulnerable to chop or stab!

Thus ends the First Canto

The Second Canto

How Volker Sang

and How Siegfried Came to Worms

The violin sounded and Volker sang

The dragon slayer, the son of Siegmund

entered the realm of the Nibelungen

He won the fight against the dragon

There is no-one on earth like him

Thus spake Alberich, the Nibelung

Spare my life in exchange for the Tarnhelm, O hero!

It turns its wearer invisible

allows him to take on any form!

Spare my life and I will make you the richest king on earth!

The crown of the Lord of the Northland the Ice-Giant King,

is being wrought here by the Nibelungen

No sword in the world compares with Balmung

The Nibelungen forged it in the fire of blood!

Cursed be the heir's inheritance!

And so Volker sang

The violin sounded

Take refuge among the lords of the Nibelungen

Twelve kingdoms did the mighty topple

Thus spake Kriemhild, Ute's daughter

Take this cloak, Volker

which I embroidered myself,

Siegfried, King Siegmund's son

stands outside the castle door

with twelve of his warriors,

and requests an audience

with King Gunther!

Thus spake Hagen Tronje

Refuse him welcome!

No longer shall anyone speak of Worms

saying he is not aware

how kings there greet one another!

Siegfried, King Siegmund's son

shall have my welcome!

Last night I dreamt an awful dream

And at this moment does this dream yet again invade my thoughts!

I come, King Gunther, to ask you for your sister Kriemhild's hand in marriage!

King Gunther, too

has designs on marriage

and has set his heart

on a mighty, and bold, maiden

Brunhild is her name

Flames blazing around its perimeter

her castle loftily projects itself,

invincible, amid the Northland Lights

Why must you speak of Brunhild

when you know

that thrice must the most powerful suitor

best her in feats of strength?

Siegfried, the worthy hero

has come to Worms

at an opportune moment!

He might help us win Brunhild for you!

Never was I any king's vassal,

nor shall I ever be!

Prepare for your bridal quest

King Gunther

for it is Siegfried, the mighty hero

who shall win you Brunhild!

Thus ends the Second Canto

The Third Canto

How Siegfried Won Brunhild for Gunther

The dragon ship is carrying strange heroes to your shores!

The foreigners draw ever closer to the flaming lake.

If the mightiest approaches, the flames will be extinguished

Prepare me, my maidens!

This will be a fight unlike any I've encountered!

Welcome, hero, to the fight for life and death!

I desire neither life nor death from your hand, Brunhild!

It is King Gunther who courts you!

Before evening falls, King Gunther

your shattered weapons shall adorn my hall!

Give me leave, King Gunther

to notify the ships

prepared to head homeward

with Brunhild, your royal bride!

Let the trifold battle begin, King Gunther!

Thrice must you defeat me, O King

in the stone hurl

in the distancejump

in the spear throw!

Stay strong, O King!

I shall sling the stone for you!

I shall carry you in thejump!

Thus ends the Third Canto

The Fourth Canto

How Brunhild Entered Worms

and How the Royals Were Wed

Begin the preparations for the wedding! The royal vessel approaches!

We have reached our destination my queen!

Are you truly the man who defeated me thrice?

I am your captive! But I shall never be your wife!

Keep your word, King Gunther as I have kept mine!

If Kriemhild gives her consent, O hero, today we shall celebrate a double wedding

Since when is it customary among kings

that the king's daughter

should be given over to a vassal?

Siegfried, King Siegmund's son

is not my vassal

Today he and I drink together

as blood brothers!

Red blood mingles with red blood

Inseparably fuse the drops

He shall perish at the wayside

dishonourably

Who forsakes his loyalty

to his blood brother!

but she is not cowed!

Shall the King of Burgundy

be scorned by an obstinate woman?

Damned be the deed half done!

Will you forsake your friend

who gave you his own sister?

The Tarnhelm shall transform you

into whatever you wish

Break Brunhild's will

whilst taking the form of Gunther!

Thus ends the Fourth Canto

Siegfried's Dowry

the Nibelungen Treasure

Arrived in Worms,

and How the Queens Quarrelled

with One Another

Burgundy's glory is waning, O king!

It is crucial

that we obtain the Nibelungen treasure!

It would be folly to reject

what Siegfried offers you as a brother

And Kriemhild is worth more

Look what I found!

Take off the armlet, Kriemheld

the mistress of the Nibelungen treasure

has no need for that

which guards an ugly secret

Listen, Kriemhild, how I won the armlet - and remain silent!

The Nibelungen treasure has arrived in the courtyard!

How long, King Gunther, do you think

Siegfried and Kriemhild will tarry in Worms?

They remain here

for the sake of my mother

Are you, Brunhild

willing to take up

the role of Ute's daughter?

Your brother's honour

It should never be seen again

by the eyes of men!

It strikes me as high time, King Gunther

that you send Siegfried homeward

on furlough to Xanten!

Never! He shall go on his own accord!

I shall attend mass, my daughter Follow me shortly!

I shall go to the cathedral

The wife of a vassal may not precede the Queen of Burgundy!

What did you dare call my husband Siegfried?

Siegfried introduced himself to me as Gunther's vassal and servant!

He carried out the duties of a servant to my husband!

You - whom he spurned, you, - whom he gave up, you dare to belittle Siegfried?

Give way to the Queen of Burgundy vassal's wife!

Do you recognise this armlet thou Queen of Burgundy?

How did that armlet come into your hands?

- Siegfried, my husband, bestowed it upon me!

O king! Does she speak the truth?

Kill Siegfried!

Kill Siegfried!

Your babbling, O hero, was worse than murder!

Kill Siegfried!

Siegfried is safe from your vengeance! Invincible be he who is dragon-slayer!

Where the linden leaf clung, there is he as vulnerable as any other!

We drank together as blood brothers!

Shall I kill him, when he was so faithful to me?

He who took the armlet from me

made me his wife!

He took my maidenhood from me!

Notify the people of Burgundy, Tronje that I invite them to a hunt!

To put down a mad dog - a ravenous wolf!

Thus ends the Fifth Canto

The Sixth Canto

How Gunther Broke His Vow to Siegfried

Can you keep a secret, Kriemhild?

I once broke an oath to keep a secret, I shall never do so again!

might easily become a manhunt

A S€Cf`€'lI m€SS3g€ W3f`l'1S me

Good for you, Kriemhild

that you have as your husband the dragon-slayer, the invincible!

Who warrants me that in the heat of battle

in that spot to which the linden leaf clung?

If truly you want me to protect him

I must know the precise spot

where the invincible one is vulnerable!

Thou truest of the true

give me no ill advice!

I'll mark for you myself the very spot

with a tiny cross

I come to take leave, Brunhild

We are gathering for the hunt

in the Odenwald

I shall not eat nor drink

until my disgrace has been vindicated!

O my dear lord, don't leave me!

Last night I dreamt

a furious boar tore you to pieces!

O my dear lord, don't leave me!

I dreamt still more

Two mountains collapsed on top of you!

Today shall Gunther and I reconcile

Mother, I feel as if the blood is draining from my heart!

The hunt in the Obenwald lasted from morning until the sun set

A handful of red gold for a draught of white wine!

A wheel broke on the wagon bringing the wine.

But I know of a cool brook, O hero!

I always heard you praised

as the most agile of heroes

If this be so, then let's place a wager

You and I

for which of us takes the first draught!

Brother, let us be friends once more!

When you return from the brook, O hero!

Thus spake grim Hagen: The Hunt is over!

Thus ends the Sixth Canto

The Seventh Canto

How Kriemhild Swore Revenge

You may end your vow, Brunhild

Siegfried is dead

For the sake of a woman's lie

have you slain your most loyal friend!

I call to you for justice, King Gunther!

Hagen Tronje slew my husband!

Loyalty for loyalty, Kriemhild!

His deed is our own!

His fate is our own!

Our breast is his shield!

or God's altars, or the end of the world

You shall not escape my vengeance,

Hagen Tronje!

Alert King Gunther, my brother

the Queen of Burgundy is dead!

Thus ends the myth of Siegfried

Restoration

With the collaboration of

The following partners also contributed to the restoration

Film restoration laboratory

Consultation on image quality and tinting

Original score

Reconstruction and synchronisation

Music in ZDF/Arte Edition

Recorded with

Musical director

Sound mixers

Synch editing

Sound engineer

Musical production of

Editorial

Director of production

A co-production of