Misplaced Loyalties + Dishonor = No Heroes

There were no heroes in these films. They all suffered from intolerable misplaced loyalties or deception and dishonor.
Siegfried was a liar and a cheat.
Kriemhild was a weakwilled moron, turned insane killer.
Hagen Tronje was fiercely loyal which was no crime, but then at the end he became a child killer and hid behind Kriemhild's brothers as they died rather than take a more heroic exit.
Brunhilde was obviously evil.
Gunther was weak and enslaved by impulses and desires and also broke oaths.
Volker the minstrel was almost a hero and his toughness was on display as he sang that song while he was burning alive but really he was just a tragic figure more than anything else. His being conscious of the fact that he was the lynchpin for all this. The one who sang the song and set doomsday into motion.
Oddly enough, Atilla was as close to a hero as there was to be found. Widely considered one of the most despicably evil men in history and he takes a backseat in cruelty to these other people. Really interesting.
He was the most honest of the bunch and displayed true love for his wife and especially his child. He even managed the strength to set Kriemhild free at the end to go back to Worms. She didn't even deserve that.
Someone try to name a hero. I am not sure there was even intended to be a hero in these films other than "German Loyalty." As a concept, it did reign supreme even if it was generally misplaced or thrown about in a naive fashion.


By the way, does all this mean these films are bad? Hell no. They are extraordinarily fascinating and I look forward to watching them several more times over the years.


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