younger brother of Gunnar and Högni, who does so when egged on by his elder brothers. In German accounts, Gunther and Hagen, along with Kriemhild herself, are the final casualties of the fall of the Nibelungs. Hagen refuses to reveal the hiding place of the Nibelung treasure to Kriemhild as long as his king Gunther lives. When Gunther is slain, the mortally wounded Hagen continues his refusal with sure knowledge that Gunther cannot now weaken and betray the secret, being decapitated by Kriemhild with Balmung, Siegfried's sword which Hagen had stolen after his death. Norse accounts In Norse accounts, however, it is Gunnar who refuses to tell the secret to Attila the Hun as long as Högni lives, and so brings about Högni's death. Högni laughs as Attila has his heart cut out. In Atlamál, Hniflung, a son of Hagen/Högni, avenges his father's death and the deaths of his kin, together with his aunt Guðrún. This work also states that Hogni had a wife named Kostbera and two other sons: Solar and Snævar. The Drap Niflunga mentions a fourth son named Gjuki (named after Hogni's father). Wagnerian mythology In the opera Götterdämmerung, part of The Ring Cycle, Hagen is portrayed as the half-brother of Gunther and Gutrune, illegitimately fathered by the dwarf Alberich. He is similarly depicted as evil and cunning, acting under the influence of his father and for his own interests. The great German bass Kurt Moll pointed out that Hagen's music is unique in the bass repertoire: it requires a shouting, blaring vocal technique which risks damaging the singer's voice; only very large-voiced, powerful singers can sing it. References Burgundian warriors Fictional characters from Rhineland-Palatinate Fictional half-elves Fictional knights German heroic legends Nibelung tradition Legendary Norsemen Völsung cycle