Sieglinda (Thor character; Siegmund sister/lover; Siegfried mother)

Group Membership: Presumably the House of Volsungs;
by marriage, she was associated with the Neiding Clan

Known Relatives: Odin (as Wulf; father), unidentified mother (deceased), Siegmund (brother/"husband," deceased), Siegfried (son, deceased);
Hunding (former husband)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly an unspecified location in northern Europe

First Appearance: (Wagner's Sieglinde) Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), the second of four parts in the "Der Ring Des Nibelung" (The Ring of the Nibelung) opera (August 14, 1876);
(Marvel's Sieglinda) Thor I#296 (June, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Sieglinda did not demonstrate any particular superhuman abilities. She did know how to prepare a sleeping potion, at least.

Height: Unrevealed (perhaps 5'9"...based on an estimation of Siegmund being 6'2" and Sieglinda looking to be only a few inches shorter than him)
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 135 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (few images show her eyes clearly, but those look like perhaps light blue)
Hair: Blonde

History: siegmund-thor-incarnation-youth

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#13: Thor entry) - Hoping to retrieve the Ring of Power, forged from the Rhinegold from the dragon Fafnir, which Odin could not perform directly due to an oath, Odin cast Thor into the mortal guise of Siegmund.

(Thor I#296 (fb)) - Siegmund was born the twin sister of Sieglinda, the children of Wulf and an unidentified woman, and they lived in the deep woods.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - While Siegmund and Wulf were out hunting, the Neiding clan attacked, burning their house, laying waste their lair, slaying the mother, and abducting Sieglinda. sieglinda-eye-unwilling

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - When Siegmund and Wulf returned home, Siegmund assumed Sieglinda had been consumed in the house fire. Wulf told Siegmund the Neidings had done the deed.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - Sieglinda was an unwilling bride to Hunding of the Neidlings.

(Thor I#296 (fb)) - At Sieglinda and Hunding's wedding feast, a grey-clad stranger (Wulf) suddenly arrived, holding a gleaming sword, which he drove deep into the ash tree that grew within Hunding's house, before he wordlessly departed. The Neidings tried -- to no avail -- to pull out the sword.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - Much later, after Wulf had vanished, Siegmund answered a woman's cry for help, and fought to rescue her from a marriage she did not want (also to one of the Neidings, whether Siegmund knew it or not). Not wishing to see her kinsmen slain, however, the intended bride intervened in the fight and eventually fell beneath the blade of one of her own people. Wounded and realizing more kinsmen would be coming, Siegmund fled.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - Arriving at the wedding site late, Hunding found his fallen clansmen and followed the departing tracks back toward his house.

(Thor I#296 (fb)) - Sieglinda found Siegmund after he entered her house, seeking rest by its hearth, and thereafter collapsed. Only naming herself as the wife of the house's owner (Hunding), Siegldina began tending to Siegmund's wounds shortly before Hunding's return.

While Hunding was clearly angered by his wife's attention to another man, Sieglinda explained the visitor was a wanderer in need, and Siegmund assured Hunding she had done no wrong. Though welcoming the traveler as a guest, Hunding questioned him further, and when Siegmund answered vaguely, Hunding grew suspicious and painfully grabbed Sieglinda's wrist as he queried whether there was more going on. Siegmund told Hunding to stay his hand, thanking his hospitality but insisting he would not have Hunding's wife innocently accused. Hunding assured his visitor that his wife was used to such caresses and knew he meant no harm. Telling Hunding he could call him "Woe-King," Siegmund shared his early and recent history. siegmund-thor-incarnation-needful-tree

Hearing Siegmund's tale, Hunding revealed his connection to Siegmund's foes as he drew his sword. However, Sieglinda stopped Hunding, reminding him of his oath of hospitality, and the strength of his people's oaths. Hunding vowed the visitor would be his guest, but that he should arm himself for tomorrow when he would pay his debt in blood whether he had a sword or not.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - Feeling a connection to her guest, Sieglinda mingled a potion with Hunding's drink to send him into a heavy sleep.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - As Siegmund lay awake that night, Sieglinda came into his bedroom and showed him a sword imbedded in the house's tree. She related its origins and that she had sensed it would one day be the method of her revenge if anyone could pull it from the tree. Calling the blade Needful as he pulled it free, the guest revealed his name to be Siegmund. Hearing this, Sieglinda revealed her own name and that she was his twin sister.

When Sieglinda noted that she had hoped they might be more than brother and sister, and Siegmund rationalized that they were not "true" siblings, as he had long suspected that Wulf was far more than merely human: "Being so sired, we are beyond all kinship -- like unto godlings ourselves!"

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - Siegmund and Sieglinda apparently had relations, after which they fled Hunding's house.

(Thor I#296 (fb) - BTS) - Odin's wife, Frigga, confronted Odin, demanding Siegmund's death for his transgression of wedding vows (see comments). Accepting Frigga's demand, Odin agreed to take back the sword Needful and not protect his son. Odin commanded Brunnhilde the Valkyrie to slay Siegmund.

Realizing that this was all connected to the curse of the Ring of the Nibelung, Odin considered that he needed a hero never helped by his power like Siegmund (referring to Siegmund and Sigelinda's future son, Siegfried).

(Thor I#296 (fb)) - As Siegmund and Sieglinda ascended out of a deep gorge, Siegmund agreed to rest as Sieglinda noted her fatigue. When Sieglinda instructed Siegmund to flee and leave her there for her hateful husband to find as she had disgraced them both and no good thing could come of their love, Siegmund said that was only for those in Asgard to know; however, neither of them would flee as he would stand and wait here for Hunding, delivering vengeance for Sieglinda's rough treatment.

That evening, Brunnhilde appeared before Siegmund, telling him he would die by Hunding's hand, regardless of his worthiness, and that Needful's power would be stripped away by its creator. Proclaiming his love for Sieglinda, Siegmund considered slaying Sieglinda to spare her further violence at Hunding's hand, Brunnhilde stopped him, telling him that she now swore that both he and Sieglinda would survive, and that Siegmund would slay Hunding. sieglinda-eye-seigmunds-death

Hunding then arrived and challenged Siegmund, but -- as Siegmund retained Needful and shattered Hunding's shield and sword -- Hunding soon called out to Frigga to help her avenger. Upon Frigga's urging, Odin invisibly backed Hunding's spear with his own, shattering Needful and then impaling the shocked Siegmund through the chest. After Brunnhilde fled atop her winged steed with Sieglinda, Odin slew Hunding and vowed punishment beyond all imagining for Brunnhilde.

(Thor I#297 (fb)) - Brunnhilde arrived in Valhalla and asked the other Valkyries to help her. Fearing Odin's wrath, they initially urged Valkyrie to send Sieglinda back, and Sieglinda agreed that she should go be with Siegmund. When she questioned what reason she had to live, Brunnhilde revealed Sieglinda was pregnant with Siegmund's child. When Sieglinda agreed she now wanted to live, Hildegard agreed to bring him to a great forest on Earth, traversed by few; as this was the same forest in which Fafnir hid his gold hoard, they felt Odin would avoid it for fear of the Ring of Power. Brunnhilde then gave Sieglinda the pieces of Needful, telling her that who ever swung the sword once it was forged anew would be named "Siegfried the Victor" and be even better than his sire. Sieglinda thanked Brunnhilde, who then transported Sieglinda away while staying herself to face Odin.

(Thor I#297 (fb) - BTS) - Mime delivered Sieglinda's son, but could not save her life. Before dying, Sieglinda told Mime to name the baby Siegfried.
She also gave Mime Siegmund's shattered sword, telling him its name was Needful, that it had been shattered by a god, and that when Siegfried grew up Mime should give it to him.

Comments: Sieglinda has some similarities to Signy (as the twin of Sigmund who also had a child by him), a character from the Volsunga Saga (13th century), created by unknown Icelandic parties;
the Ring of the Nibelung character was created by Richard Wagner;
the Marvel character was an adaptation of Wagner's character, adapted by Roy Thomas, Keith Pollard, and Chic Stone.

Notably, in the Volsunga saga, the offspring of Sigmund and Signy was the powerful Sinflotji, while Sigmund's later wife, Hjordis, was the mother of Sigurd. After Sigmund had been mortally wounded by a suitor Hjordis had rejected, Sigmund gave the fragments of his sword to Hjordis so that they might one day be reforged for their yet unborn son (Sigurd). Wagner's Sieglinde combined aspects of both Signy and Hjordis.

For this and all profiles related to the Ring of the Nibelung, you should open up another page in your browser and load Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie"

From the comic version, it would seem that Frigga only cared about weddings and their bonds, but didn't think it wrong for women to be forced into unwanted marriage. As referenced below (see the notes about Die Walküre), in the original stories, Frigga demanded Siegmund's death due to his committing incest.
Thor I#297 has Brunnhilde describe Sieglinda as Siegmund's bride.

The original Volsunga saga (partly based on the Elder Edda, the earliest recorded versions of Norse mythology), had Volsung as the father of Siegmund and his twin sister Signy. Siegmund and Signy were thus part of the House of Volsung.

The use of the name House of Volsungs is presumably an homage to the original Volsunga saga, but while the homage is appreciated, it's a bit of a head-scratcher in Reality-616 continuity.

Presumably, since Siegmund did not know any of his father's kith or kin, the House of Volsungs must refer to his mother's family?

I THINK this is the basis of the character Sigurd, who first appeared in Exiled#1, but that's after I stopped indexing comics (coinciding with the birth of my son: Bigger and better things!). After I stopped thoroughly evaluating and recording each comic, my memory of stories is much less than it used to be.

These stories were among those told to Thor by the Eye of Odin, and the events therein, particularly the origins of the current Odin incarnation, have been called into question.

Sieglinda was based on the character Sieglinde from Richard Wagner's Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), the second of four parts in the opera "Der Ring Des Nibelung" (The Ring of the Nibelung) opera. You can Google it for more information.

The Ring of the Nibelung comes, in a very general way, from the old Norse/Germanic legend of the Nibelungenlied ("The Song of the Dwarves"). Wagner created the story of the Ring by fusing elements from many German and Scandinavian myths and folk tales. The Old Norse Edda supplied much of the material for Das Rheingold, while Die Walküre was largely based on the Völsunga saga.

Although Die Walküre is the second of the Ring operas, it was the third in order of conception. Wagner worked backwards from planning an opera about Siegfried's death, then deciding he needed another opera to tell of Siegfried's youth, then deciding he needed to tell the tale of Siegfried's conception and of Brünnhilde's attempts to save Siegfried's parents, and finally deciding he also needed a prelude that told of the original theft of the Rheingold and the creation of the ring.

Fricka sought punishment on Siegmund and Sieglinde (as it was spelled) for their incest.

Here's some big information spelled out in Die Walküre not covered in the Thor comic (and thus not part of continuity):
Wotan explains his problems: troubled by the warning delivered by Erda (at the end of Das Rheingold), he had seduced the earth-goddess to learn more of the prophesied doom; Brünnhilde was born to him by Erda. He raised Brünnhilde and eight other daughters as the Valkyries, warrior maidens who gather the souls of fallen heroes to form an army against Alberich. Valhalla's army will fail if Alberich should ever wield the ring, which is in Fafner's possession. The giant has transformed himself into a dragon, lurking in a forest with the Nibelung treasure. Wotan cannot wrest the ring from Fafner, who is bound to him by contract; he needs a free hero to defeat Fafner in his stead. But as Fricka pointed out, he can create only thralls (i.e. servants) to himself. Bitterly, Wotan orders Brünnhilde to obey Fricka and grant victory to Hunding in his battle with Wotan's beloved son Siegmund.

The story of Sieglinde spans all three acts of Die Walküre, and she is mentioned in the first act of the third opera, Siegfried.

images: (without ads)
Thor I#296, pg. 5, panel 5 (face);
        pg. 6, panel 3 (youth);
        pg. 9, panel 3 (wedding feast);
            panel 8 (watching Siegmund pull out Needful);
        pg. 10, panel 1 (full, standing by Siegmund after he pulled out Needful);
        pg. 17, panel 5 (witnessing Siegmund's death)

Appearances:
Thor I#296 (June, 1980) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Keith Pollard (penciler), Chic Stone (inker), Jim Shooter (consulting editor)
Thor I#297 (July, 1980) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Keith Pollard (penciler), Chic Stone (inker), Mark Gruenwald (assistant editor)

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