Siegfried of the Netherlands

"You vile cowards. What good has my service done me now that you have slain me? I was always loyal to you, but now I have paid for it."

- Siegfried of the Netherlands

Siegfried is the child of Siegmund and Sieglinde, a pair of twins who ruled the Niderlant from Xanten, a city in western Germany. Refusing to take the throne while his parents were still alive, he set out to journey and prove himself as a knight. He set out to woo Kriemhild, the fairest woman in the land, over the objections of his parents, who believed her brother, Gunther, to be treacherous. Along his adventures, he slew the dragon Fafnir and bathed in its blood, making his skin impenetrable save for a linden leaf-shaped spot on his back. He eventually made his way to Worms, where he entered the court of Gunther as an equal.

After his service in the wars against Saxony, Gunther continued to string Siegfried along, keeping him at his court but refusing to let him meet Kriemhild, until a feast, where he allowed him in her company to bind Siegfried to his service. Gunther continued to dangle the praise of Kriemhild in front of Siegfried, before finally consenting to the marriage should Siegfried help him woo Brunhild. Siegfried does so, assisting Gunther in cheating using his invisibility cloak.

After successfully overpowering Brunhild, Siegfried pridefully steals Brunhild's ring and belt, which are traditional symbols of chastity. After returning to the Netherlands, he gifts his own wife these objects. Upon returning to Worms at Gunther's invitation, Brunhild snubbed Kriemhild, and the latter displayed openly the belt and ring which Siegfried took from her. While Siegfried publicly refuted his wife's claim that he took Brunhild's chastity, the Queen of Worms was nevertheless incensed against him. Hagen, Kriemhild's friend and Gunther's closest advisor, then hatched a plan to kill Siegfried and steal his wealth.

Hagen tricked Kriemhild into telling him about Siegfried's weakness, the leaf-shaped patch between his shoulder blades where he can be killed. She marked it on his tunic, thinking she was showing her friend where to protect her husband. Then, during a hunt, Gunther, Hagen, and their followers killed Siegfried while he was getting a drink, taking great care to separate him from his weapons and armor. Once news of this reached his wife, Kriemhild fell into despair, before being married off to Etzel, whose court she used to exact revenge on her kin.

Tarot Battle Royale (by Leolab)
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