Etzel’s Family Tree

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Family

• Budli(parent),Bekkhild(sibling),Brunhild(sibling)

  King Budli is the father of Brunhild, Etzel (Atli), and Bekkhild in the Völsunga saga and Eddic tradition. Brunhild became a valkyrie, Etzel became king of the Huns, and Bekkhild married the chieftain Heimir and lived a domestic life.

• Kriemhild(spouse),Ortlieb(child)— Marriage

  Kriemhild married Etzel, king of the Huns, thirteen years after Sigurd's murder, binding herself to the mightiest king in Christendom so that his warriors might one day serve her vengeance. Their son Ortlieb was cut down at the catastrophic feast where her long-laid plot at last ignited.

Allied with

• Dietrich von Bern

  Etzel hosted Dietrich at the Hunnic court for thirty years of exile, providing warriors and resources for Dietrich's campaigns to reclaim Bern from Ermenrich. Their alliance made Dietrich the foremost champion of the Hunnic king.

Equivalent to

• Atli(Norse)

  Norse Atli and Germanic Etzel both derive from the historical Attila the Hun, refracted through parallel legendary traditions — in the Norse he is a treacherous host who murders for gold, while in the Nibelungenlied Etzel is a noble king whose court becomes the stage for Kriemhild's vengeance.

Associated with

• Brunhild

  Before her self-immolation, Brunhild prophesied in the Völsunga saga that her brother Etzel (Atli) would marry Gudrun (Kriemhild) and that this union would bring catastrophic destruction to the Burgundian kings at Etzel's court.

• Kriemhild

  Etzel invited the Burgundians to a great festival at Kriemhild's urging, unknowingly serving as the instrument of her vengeance. When the fighting began, Etzel was powerless to stop the destruction Kriemhild had orchestrated in his own court.