Character guide

Gudrun

major

Also known as Gudrun the lovely, fair Gudrun, young Gudrun

Hettel's daughter, praised as the fairest of women, whose betrothal to Herwic is shattered when Hartmut's wooing turns to abduction and her long captivity begins.

Hartmut

major

Also known as King Hartmut, young Hartmut, brave young Hartmut, the kingly Hartmut, the brave Sir Hartmut, Lord Hartmut, the Norman Hartmut

Norman prince who sends envoys to claim Gudrun as his bride, then rides to war when she refuses him, setting the poem's central feud in motion.

Hettel

major

Also known as King Hettel, the young King Hettel, the kingly Hettel, the knightly Hettel, the doughty Hettel, the lordly Hettel

Orphaned king of the Hegelings who wins Hilda of Ireland for his queen, only to find his daughter's beauty brings a war he cannot escape.

Hilda

major

Also known as Queen Hilda, fair Hilda, the lovely Hilda, Lady Hilda, the great Queen Hilda

Irish princess carried off by a griffin in youth, now queen of the Hegelings, whose fierce pride in her daughter Gudrun shapes the poem's first conflicts.

Hagen

supporting

Also known as King Hagen, wild Hagen, the mighty Hagen, the wild King Hagen, the lordly Hagen, great Hagen, the youthful Hagen

Irish king who as a boy was snatched by a griffin and raised among strange maidens, later returning home to rule and give his daughter Hilda to Hettel.

Herwic

major

Also known as the brave King Herwic, young King Herwic, King Herwic, young Herwic, Lord Herwic, Sir Herwic

Young king of Sealand who fights his way into Gudrun's favor, wins her troth, and becomes the knight whose name she invokes against every later suitor.

Ortwin

supporting

Also known as young Ortwin, Young Ortwin, the youthful Ortwin, King Ortwin, the high-bred Ortwin, brave Ortwin

Ortwin is the heir of Ortland, raised in the Hegeling court alongside his sister Gudrun, and when she is carried off he becomes one of the war-leaders sworn to bring her home. Young enough to be called "the youthful Ortwin" even as he commands, he must prove himself in a campaign that pits his family's seasoned vassals against Norman steel. His banner before the castle gate signals that the Hegelings have come in earnest, and his growth from prince to battlefield captain measures the story's turn from grief to vengeance.

Ludwig

supporting

Also known as King Ludwig, the glad King Ludwig, old King Ludwig

Ludwig rules Normandy beside his fierce queen Gerlind and their son Hartmut, and it is under his roof that the abducted Gudrun is held. Old, proud, and slow to read the danger at his gates, he mistakes the arriving Hegelings for merchants until Hartmut names their banners. When he finally sallies out, his death before the castle becomes the spark that turns a siege into a blood-feud, and the wailing that follows him up from the walls shows how much the kingdom leaned on him.

Gerlind

supporting

Also known as old Gerlind, the wicked Gerlind, evil Gerlind, the wolfish Gerlind, Queen Gerlind

Gerlind is Ludwig's wife and the mistress of the Norman court, a woman the poem calls wicked, evil, and wolfish without apology. Where her son wants Gudrun as a bride, Gerlind wants her broken, and she presses the captive princess with offers of a crown and threats of worse. Her scheming against Gudrun gives the middle of the poem its grinding tension, and her readiness to leave her sleeping husband's side at the first alarm shows a mind always calculating its own advantage.

Wâ-te

supporting

Also known as Sir Wâ-te, old Wâ-te, wise old Wâ-te, Siegfried Wâ-te, the aged Wâ-te, Wâ-te the old, the Sturmisch Wâ-te

Wâ-te is Hettel's oldest and wisest vassal, father of the singer Horant, and the man the Hegeling court turns to when grief threatens to outrun strategy. When Gudrun is taken, he counsels peace with Siegfried of Moorland so the Hegelings can turn their full strength against Normandy, and he alone can point the way across the water. His steadying voice in the war-council and his sword at the castle gate make him the spine of the rescue campaign.

Horant

supporting

Also known as young Horant, Horant the Dane, brave Horant, Sir Horant, the Danish Horant

Horant is a Hegeling vassal of Danish birth, celebrated less for his sword than for his singing, which in an earlier generation helped Hettel woo Hilda of Ireland. That gift places him at the court's emotional center even as the story turns to harder business, and his kinship with the aged Wâ-te ties him to the campaign's most trusted counsel. When the Hegelings sail for Normandy, Horant belongs to the company whose loyalty to Gudrun's family gives the rescue its long memory and its music.

Ortrun

supporting

Also known as the youthful Ortrun, fair Ortrun, Young Ortrun

Ortrun is Ludwig and Gerlind's daughter and Hartmut's sister, raised in the same castle where Gudrun is held against her will. Against her mother's cruelty and her brother's frustrated desire, she keeps trying to soothe Gudrun and win her love, and Gudrun shows a friendly face to no one else. Her quiet loyalty makes the Norman household more than a den of villains, and it gives the captivity passages their only warmth.

Sigeband

minor

Also known as young Sigeband, the kingly Sigeband, King Sigeband, the Griffin Sigeband

King of Ireland, father of Hagen, husband of Ute.

Ute

minor

Also known as Queen U-te, Lady U-te, the Lady U-te

Queen of Ireland, mother of Hagen, wife of Sigeband.

Irold

minor

Also known as Irold the strong, the knightly Irold

A knight of the Hegelings, fights in the wars.

Morunc

minor

Also known as Morunc the youthful, Sir Morunc

A young knight of the Hegelings, participates in battles.

Fru-te

minor

Also known as the Danish Fru-te, brave Fru-te, Sir Fru-te, the brave old Fru-te, old Fru-te

A Danish warrior and counselor to the Hegelings.

Hildeburg

minor

Also known as fair Hildeburg, lovely Hildeburg, the Lady Hildeburg

A noble maiden, companion to Gudrun in captivity.

Siegfried

minor

Also known as Siegfried Wâ-te

A suitor for Gudrun, later makes war on Herwic.

Grim

minor

A warrior mentioned in the narrative.