The set is divided into scenes.
Scene 1: Siegfried, slave to the dwarf Mime, forges a magic sword he calls Balmung. He cuts the anvil in two and Mime, cowering back, has to let him go. Box127.
He kills a dragon and bathes in it’s blood, which makes his skin impervious to weapons apart from a small patch on his back where a leaf stuck. He wants to marry Kreimhild, but has to gain wealth in order to do so. He kills two brothers who are princes of the Nibelungs, a northern race. He becomes prince of the Nibelungs and gains their treasure.
Scene 2: Siegfried arrives in Worms and asks the Burgundians Gunther and Hagen for the hand of their sister Kreimhild. Box 128.
Scene 3: While Siegfried is in Worms there is an invasion by Germanic tribes. Siegfried aids the Burgundians to defeat them, helping him marry Kreimhild. Box128 bottom row.
Gunther wants to marry Brunhilde, a princess in Iceland. He and Siegfried journey there and Gunther has to perform feats greater than those Brunhilde can achieve with her magic strength. He manages this but only with Siegfried helping him secretly.
Scene 4: Brunhilde arrives at Worms to marry Gunther. Box 128 bottom row.
On their wedding night Gunther is again unable to subdue Brunhilde and has to get Siegfried to subdue her so he can bed her. Once she has lost her maidenhead her magical strength is gone so Gunther can manage on his own. Siegfried takes Brunhilde’s girdle as a souvenir and gives it to Kreimhild.
Some time later Siegfried and Kreimhild return to Worms.
Scene 5: The Quarrel of the Queens outside the cathedral at Worms. Brunhilde and Kreimhild argue about which of them takes precedence when entering the cathedral. Brunhilde believes Siegfried is Gunther’s vassal giving her precedence. Kreimhild retorts that Brunhilde is Siegfried’s paramour and produces the girdle to prove it. Brunhilde is devastated to learn she has been tricked. Box 127 second row.
Hagen is furious about the way Brunhilde has been betrayed and decides to become her champion. He learns the secret of the patch of ordinary skin on Siegfried’s back from Kreimhild.
Scene 6: The slaying of Siegfried. Hagen takes Siegfried hunting. When they are resting and have taken off their mail he hurls his spear into the patch on Siegfried’s back. Box 127 row 3.
Scene 7: Kreimhild’s lament. Hagen leaves Siegfried’s body on the doorstep for Kreimhild to find when she wakes up in the morning. Box 127 4th row.
Kreimhild vows vengeance. She tries to use the Nibelung’s treasure to bring about the downfall of Hagen.
Scene 8: Hagen hides the Nibelung’s treasure in the Rhine where it is watched over by the Rhinemaidens. Box127 4th row.
Kreimhild marries King Etzel of the Huns but never loses her desire for vengeance. She causes the Burgundians to be invited to Etzel’s castle. As soon as they are there she begins to incite trouble between them and the huns.
Scene 9: Night Watch at Etzel’s castle. Hagen and Volker the musician watch the night through to prevent the huns attacking. Box 127 bottom row.
Scene 10: The feast. The next evening there is a huge feast but Kreimhild has not given up. Box 129 top 3 rows.
Scene 11: The alarm. Kreimhild has caused some of the huns to attack and kill the Burgundian squires where they are having their own feast but one escapes and bursts in to the main feast. Hagen draws his sword and kills Ortlieb, Kreimhild’s son, and his nurse. Fighting breaks out. The Burgundians are all killed except Hagen who is captured. Box 129 rows 4 and 5.
Scene 12: The end of the Nibelungs. Kreimhild shows Gunthers' head to Hagen before she kills him with Siegfried’s sword Balmung. Kreimhild is then slain by Hildebrand. Box 127 bottom row.
