In
Norse mythology,
Brünnehilde was a heroine, a
Valkyrie. In the
Nibelungenlied, she is an
Icelandic princess who broke
Odin's laws and was imprisoned in a ring of fire and cursed to stay there until rescued by a hero.
Sigurd bravely entered the ring of fire (in the shape of a hero who had previously failed at the task,
Gunnar), awoke her from a magical sleep; they fell in love and he gave her his cursed ring,
Andvarinaut, unaware that it was cursed. Siegfried then betrayed Brünnehilde for a different woman,
Gudrun (Gunnar's sister), because he was unknowingly bewitched by the sorceress
Grimhild. Brünnehilde killed herself. She may have been a
lunar deity originally.
Alternative: Brunhilt, Brynhild, Brünnehilde, Brunnehilde, Brunhilde, Brynhilt, Brunhild
All Wikipedia text
is available under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License