Hagen Versus Kriemhild

Throughout history, virtually all people are seen as both good and evil. Some of these people are good and evil at the same time, while others go through phases. Great examples of those who go through stages are the characters, Kriemhild and Hagen, from The Nibelungenlied. These two leaders shifted sides throughout the work, and at different points they can be considered either good or bad people. Hagen is the "cynical villain" and Kriemhild is the "innocent damsel and loving wife" throughout the duration, but over time, both characters reveal attributes of both good and evil. There is no clear point in which the two switch from good to evil or the reverse, as they both portray elements of both throughout the duration. However, Hagen is generally horrible in the beginning and good toward the end, while Kriemhild is generally a saint in the beginning and awful toward the end.

In the first half of the epic, Hagen is clearly of evil mind. Not once does he truly act as a good person. One instance is the manner in which Hagen took advantage of Kriemhild to learn of Siegfried's weakness. Also, following his murder of Siegfried, the fact that Hagen left Siegfried's body on the doorstep for Kriemhild to find was especially cruel. Such deception and ill-intent on the part of Hagen, versus the loving care mixed with honesty from Kriemhild, can't possibly be seen as anything other than a direct association of Hagen with the side of evil. On the opposite end of the spectrum from Hagen lies Kriemhild.

Kriemhild continually gives her money away to her friends and visiting strangers in the first half of the epic, which acts as a major sign of her being a good person. Hagen's consequential jealously, which greatly inspired him to steal Kriemhild's treasure, builds off of Kriemhild's kindness. Hagen killed people, stole from people, told lies, and gave excuses to people as to why he did these things. Kriemhild unfortunately finds herself at the brunt of all of Hagen's cruelties and ends up suffering for them. Not much time passes after Hagen painfully wrongs Kriemhild before the roles of both characters go through some major shifts.

During