Such is the story of Siegfried (or Sigurd), as we gather it from various German and Scandinavian legends. In this I have made no attempt to follow any one of the numerous originals, but have selected here and there such incidents as best suited my purpose in constructing one connected story which would convey to your minds some notion of the beauty and richness of our ancient myths. In doing this, I have , now from the Volsunga , now from the Nibelungen Lied, now from one of the Eddas, and now from some of the legends relating to the great hero of the North. These ancient stories, although differing widely in particulars, have a certain general relationship and agreement which proves beyond doubt a common origin. “The primeval myth,” says Thomas Carlyle, “whether it were at first truth, or historical incident, floats too on the breath of men: each has the privilege of inventing, and the far wider privilege of borrowing and new modelling from all that preceded him. Thus, though tradition may have but one root, it grows, like a banian, into a whole overarching of trees.”  
If you would follow the tradition of Siegfried to the end; if you would learn how, after the great ha............