Gjúki and Grímhild ruled the Burgundian court and raised four children — Gunnar, Högni, Gudrún, and Guttormr — whose entanglement with Sigurd and the cursed hoard of Fáfnir brought ruin upon the entire dynasty.
Gunnarr married Brynhild after Sigurd rode through the flame-wall in his shape. When the deception was exposed, Brynhild demanded Sigurd's death and then killed herself on his funeral pyre.
Atli invited Gunnar and Högni to his hall with treacherous intent, coveting the hoard of Fáfnir. Despite Gudrún's warning — a ring wound with wolf's hair — Gunnar rode to the feast and was seized. Atli had him thrown into a pit of serpents, where Gunnar played a harp with his toes until the last adder struck his heart.
Atli had Gunnarr thrown into a snake pit after he refused to reveal the hiding place of the Nibelung gold. Gunnarr played a harp with his toes, lulling all the serpents except one adder that struck his heart.
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.
Andvaranaut's curse passed to Gunnarr when he inherited the Nibelung treasure after Sigurd's death. The ring had already exposed his deception to Brynhild and would draw Atli's fatal greed.
Atli demanded the secret of the Nibelung gold and cut out Högni's heart to break Gunnar's resolve. Gunnar laughed at the bloody offering and declared that now only he knew the hoard's resting place — and he would never tell.
Sigurd swore blood-brotherhood with Gunnarr and helped him win Brynhild by riding through the flames in Gunnarr's shape. When the deception was exposed, Gunnarr ordered Sigurd's death at Brynhild's demand.
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