The title character Siegfried masters the art of forging a sword at the shop of Mime. On a journey home, Siegfried hears tales of Kriemhild, the princess of Burgundy. En route to Burgundy, Siegfried slays the dragon Fafnir, and bathes in his blood. This makes him invulnerable to attack ? except for one spot on his shoulder blade which is missed after being covered by a falling leaf. Soon after, the powerful Siegfried encounters and defeats Alberich, King of the Dwarves, and obtains an invisibility cap. After finding the treasure of the dwarfs, Siegfried arrives in Burgundy. Siegfried wins the love of the beautiful princess Kriemhild, but cannot marry her until he has helped Kriemhild's brother, King Gunther, to marry Queen Brunhilde. With Siegfried's help, Gunther beats the powerful Queen in a battle of strength and wins her as his wife, while Siegfried weds Kriemhild. After finding out about Siegfried's role, Brunhild plots to have him killed; she makes up lies about him to the King and Gunther's uncle, Hagen von Tronje, finding Siegfried's weak spot, pierces it with a spear. After confessing her lies, Brunhilde kills herself.
A transformation sequence from Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache
Kriemhild vows to avenge her murdered husband, as her brother is too weak to bring the murderer, Hagen, to justice. In a marriage-of-state, she marries Etzel, King of the Huns. At the wedding feast, she imprisons the Burgundian guests and orders them to kill Hagen, who is among them, to obtain freedom. They refuse and defend the place they are staying against the assaults sent by Kriemhild until all are dead.
Adolf Hitler admired the movies very much. When he became chancellor of Germany, he wanted Fritz Lang to make propaganda movies for the Nazi government, not knowing that Lang was half-Jewish. Joseph Goebbels met with Lang and asked the director if he would like to. Lang said that he would think it over, and quickly fled Germany, eventually making his way to the United States.
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