Gibicho and Grimhild are the royal parents of the Burgundian dynasty, whose children — the kings Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher, and the princess Kriemhild — are swept into the tragedy of the Nibelung treasure and Sigurd's murder.
⚠ In the Nibelungenlied, the parents are Dancrat and Uote, and there is no Guttorm. This group follows the Völsunga saga/Thidrekssaga composite tradition (Gjúki/Gibicho and Grimhild).
Brunhild married Gunther after Siegfried of Burgundy, disguised in Gunther's form, crossed her wall of flames and won her on Gunther's behalf. The marriage was built on deception from the first night.
⚠ The Völsunga saga has Sigurd cross the flame-wall using shape-changing magic (skipta lítum); the Nibelungenlied replaces this with the Tarnkappe (cloak of invisibility) and bridal contests of strength.
Sigurd and Gunther swore oaths of blood-brotherhood at the Burgundian court. Sigurd then impersonated Gunther to cross the wall of flames and win Brunhild for his sworn brother, a deception that would ultimately cost Sigurd his life.
Kriemhild ordered Gunther beheaded and brought his severed head to the bound Hagen, trying to force Hagen to reveal where he had sunk the Nibelung treasure in the Rhine. This act of fratricide marks the extremity of Kriemhild's vengeance in the Nibelungenlied.
Gunther rules the Burgundian court at Worms, and Hagen of Tronje serves as his most powerful vassal and chief counselor, the sword-arm behind every fateful decision from the murder of Siegfried to the doomed journey to Etzel's court.
The Burgundians ride under King Gunther from the court at Worms, their fate sealed to the cursed Nibelungen treasure from the moment Siegfried enters their hall.
Norse Gunnar and Germanic Gunther descend from the same legendary Burgundian king — both bound to the dragon-slayer's fate, both destroyed by the lure of cursed gold, but the Norse Gunnar dies defiant in the snake pit while the German Gunther falls to Kriemhild's vengeance.
Siegfried wore the Tarnkappe to perform the bridal contests invisibly in Gunther's place, winning Brunhild through deception, then donned it again on the wedding night to subdue her supernatural strength — taking her ring and belt as trophies that would later betray the fraud.
Dietrich captured Hagen and Gunther in single combat at the end of the Nibelungenlied and delivered them bound to Kriemhild, the last great warrior standing after the destruction of both the Burgundian and Hunnic forces.
When Brunhild learned that Sigurd, not Gunther, had truly won her — whether by crossing the flame-wall or subduing her in the bridal chamber — the humiliation drove events toward Sigurd's murder, with Gunther complicit in the killing of his own sworn brother to preserve the deception.
⚠ The Völsunga saga has Brunhild directly demand Sigurd's death; the Nibelungenlied gives that role primarily to Hagen, with Gunther consenting rather than being manipulated by Brunhild.
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