My last post ended with;
On a few occasions the one suspects that this fragment would be the end of the Finn saga (11).

The fight at Finneshâm reminds us somewhat of the downfall of the Nibelungen, also when it comes to the names of the warriors involved. It is likely that some elements out of which the renowned tale of the Nibelungen grew were known in the lands of the Frisians, or the other way around.

If we compare this to Beowulf, we find the “Song of Sigemund” (1) wherein a poet sings of the heroic deeds of Välsing Sigemund who, together with his cousin Fitela, defeated many giants. Alone he fought the dragon, the keeper of the treasure (vyrm, hordes hyrde), and killed it, took the treasure into his ship and took it with him, only to be send back to the giants, his enemies and was held captive while his friends cried over his captivity.

We find the same in more recent Old Norse poetry, and some slightly altered versions and tied with other sagas. These tell us of Sigmundr, who is called a hero of Frakkaland (Frankenland) what would localize him (at that time) within the borders of what now is the Netherlands.
A tale largely correspondent with this one that exists in Old Norse is the saga of Sigurdr, perhaps why he is called the son of Sigmundr in Old Norse literature, and also is named Sigemunt’s son in the first part of the Nibelungen-song. Here he becomes the hero as ‘der hûrnen Sîfrit’ while the treasure they won from the dragon also is called the Treasure of the Nibelungen. This is the treasure that later is thrown into the river Rhine and is irrevocably lost. (2)

In Old Norse redaction of the Sigurdhsaga we find the name of Hjalprekr as Sigurdhs foster father. One might be tempted to assume that this is Chilperik, the Frankish king of Neustria. In the 18th century this led to believe that Sîfrit was a Dutch hero, because he was often referred to as ‘der helt von Niderlant' (3), and that the oldest song originated in the Netherlands.
At best we can assume that the Saxons have brought Danish and Norse tales to our grounds about Sigemund’s fight with the dragon, or his double Sigurd the Dragonslayer.

First and foremost because in Dutch or Frisian history there is no further reference to either of them.

However, there is an interesting thing in Old German proze, the Hoch Deutsches heroic epos of the Kudrun…but I’ll go into that in the next post.
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(1) Beowulf vs. 875 to 9914
(2) R.C. Boer, Untersuchungen über den Ursprung und die Entwicklung der Nibelungensage (Halle 1906-9 III dln.) III p. 75-94.
(3) Der Nibelungenôth (ed. K. Bartsch), III 98, 118, 131, IV 168, 214, V 272.