John Henry Haaren
John Henry Haaren (b. August 13, 1855, New York, New York – d. September 23, 1916, Brooklyn, New York) was an American educator and historian.
Haaren's father was German and his mother Irish.
He studied under Prof. N.M. Butler at Columbia University, 1889-91, before becoming a teacher in New York. In 1907 he became Associate Superintendent of Schools in New York, increasing the number and efficiency of kindergartens and starting classes to teach English to foreigners.
He was president of the department of pedagogy in the Brooklyn Institute.
Haaren High School (which was located on 10th Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets in Manhattan) was named in his honor.
The Charles B.J. Snyder - designed school which was initially DeWitt Clinton High School is now Haaren Hall on the campus of the John Jay of Criminal Justice.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Haaren
Haaren Hall in 2008 - John Jay College of Criminal Justice
THE NIBELUNGS
I
The time came when the people of Western Europe learned to believe
in one God and were converted to Christianity, but the old stories
about the gods and Valkyries and giants and heroes, who were half
gods and half men, were not forgotten.
These stories were repeated from father to son for generations,
and in the twelfth century a poet, whose name we do not know, wrote
them in verse. He called his poem the Nï'bel-ung'en-lied (song
of the Nibelungs). It is the great national poem of the Germans.
The legends told in it are the basis of Wagner's operas.
"Nibelungs" was the name given to some northern dwarfs whose king
had once possessed a great treasure of gold and precious stones but
had lost it. Whoever got possession of this treasure was followed
by a curse. The Nibelungenlied tells the adventures of those who
possessed the treasure.
In the grand old city of Worms, in Burgundy, there lived long ago
the princess Kriemhilda. Her eldest brother Gunther was king of
Burgundy.
And in the far-away Netherlands, where the Rhine pours its waters
into the sea, dwelt a prince named Siegfried, son of Siegmund,
the king.
Ere long Sir Siegfried heard of the beauty of fair Kriemhilda.
He said to his father, "Give me twelve knights and I will ride to
King Gunther's land. I must win the heart of Kriemhilda."
After seven days' journey the prince and his company drew near
to the gates of Worms. All wondered who the strangers were and
whence they came. Hagen, Kriemhilda's uncle, guessed. He said,
"I never have seen the famed hero of Netherlands, yet I am sure
that yonder knight is none but Sir Siegfried."
"And who," asked the wondering people, "may Siegfried be?"
"Siegfried," answered Sir Hagen, "is a truly wonderful knight.
Once when riding all alone, he came to a mountain where lay the
treasure of the king of the Nibelungs. The king's two sons had
brought it out from the cave in which it had been hidden, to divide
it between them. But they did not agree about the division. So when Seigfied
drew near both princes said, 'Divide for us, Sir Siegfried, our
father's hoard.'
There were so many jewels that one hundred wagons
could not carry them, and of ruddy gold there was even more. Seigfied
made the fairest division he could, and as a reward the princes gave
him their father's sword called Balmung. But although Siegfried
had done his best to satisfy them with his division, they soon
fell to quarreling and fighting, and when he tried to separate
them they made an attack on him. To save his own life he slew them
both. Alberich, a mountain dwarf, who had long been guardian of
the Nibelung hoard, rushed to avenge his masters; but Siegfried
vanquished him and took from him his cap of darkness which made its
wearer invisible and gave him the strength of twelve men. T
he hero
then ordered Alberich to place the treasure again in the mountain
cave and guard it for him."
Hagen then told another story of Siegfried:
"Once he slew a fierce dragon and bathed himself in its blood,
and this turned the hero's skin to horn, so that no sword or spear
can wound him."
When Hagen had told these tales he advised King Gunther and the
people of Burgundy to receive Siegfried with all honor.
|
SIEGFRIED SLAYS THE DRAGON |
So, as the fashion was in those times, games were held in the
courtyard of the palace in honor of Siegfried, and Kriemhilda watched
the sport from her window.
For a full year Siegfried stayed at the court of King Gunther,
but never in all that time told why he had come and never once saw
Kriemhilda.
At the end of the year sudden tidings came that the Saxons and
Danes, as was their habit, were pillaging the lands of Burgundy.
At the head of a thousand Burgundian knights Siegfried conquered
both Saxons and Danes. The king of the Danes was taken prisoner
and the Saxon king surrendered.
The victorious warriors returned to Worms and the air was filled
with glad shouts of welcome. King Gunther asked Kriemhilda to welcome
Siegfried and offer him the thanks of all the land of Burgundy.
Siegfried stood before her, and she said, "Welcome, Sir Siegfried,
welcome; we thank you one and all." He bent before her and she
kissed him.
III
Far over the sea from sunny Burgundy lived Brunhilda, queen of
Iceland. Fair was she of face and strong beyond compare. If a knight
would woo and win her he must surpass her in three contests: leaping,
hurling the spear and pitching the stone. If he failed in even one, he must forfeit
his life.
King Gunther resolved to wed this strange princess and Siegfried
promised to help him. "But," said Siegfried, "if we succeed, I must
have as my wife thy sister Kriemhilda." To this Gunther agreed,
and the voyage to Iceland began.
When Gunther and his companions neared Brunhilda's palace the gates
were opened and the strangers were welcomed.
Siegfried thanked the queen for her kindness and told how Gunther
had come to Iceland in hope of winning her hand.
"If in three contests he gain the mastery," she said, "I will become
his wife. If not, both he and you who are with him must lose your
lives."
Brunhilda prepared for the contests. Her shield was so thick and
heavy that four strong men were needed to bear it. Three could
scarcely carry her spear and the stone that she hurled could just
be lifted by twelve.
Siegfried now helped Gunther in a wonderful way. He put on his
cap of darkness, so that no one could see him. Then he stood by
Gunther's side and did the fighting. Brunhilda threw her spear
against the kings bright shield and sparks flew from the steel.
But the unseen knight dealt Brunhilda such blows that she confessed herself
conquered.
In the second and third contests she fared no better, and so she
had to become King Gunther's bride. But she said that before she
would leave Iceland she must tell all her kinsmen. Daily her kinsfolk
came riding to the castle, and soon an army had assembled.
Then Gunther and his friends feared unfair play. So Siegfried put
on his cap of darkness, stepped into a boat, and went to the Nibelung
land where Alberich the dwarf was guarding the wonderful Nibelung
treasure.
"Bring me here," he cried to the dwarf, "a thousand Nibelung knights."
At the call of the dwarf the warriors gathered around Sir Siegfried.
Then they sailed with him to Brunhilda's isle and the queen and her
kinsmen, fearing such warriors, welcomed them instead of fighting.
Soon after their arrival King Gunther and his men, Siegfried and his
Nibelungs, and Queen Brunhilda, with two thousand of her kinsmen
set sail for King Gunther's land.
As soon as they reached Worms the marriage of Gunther and Brunhilda
took place. Siegfried and Kriemhilda also were married, and after
their marriage went to Siegfried's Netherlands castle. There they
lived more happily than I can tell.
Now comes the sad part of the Nibelung tale.
Brunhilda and Gunther invited Siegfried and Kriemhilda to visit them
at Worms. During the visit the two queens quarreled and Brunhilda
made Gunther angry with Siegfried. Hagen, too, began to hate Siegfried
and wished to kill him.
But Siegfried could not be wounded except in one spot on which
a falling leaf had rested when he bathed himself in the dragon's
blood. Only Kriemhilda knew where this spot was. Hagen told her to
sew a little silk cross upon Siegfried's dress to mark the spot,
so that he might defend Siegfried in a fight.
No battle was fought, but Siegfried went hunting with Gunther and
Hagen one day and they challenged him to race with them. He easily
won, but after running he was hot and thirsty and knelt to drink
at a spring. Then Hagen seized a spear and plunged it through the
cross into the hero's body. Thus the treasure of the Nibelungs
brought disaster to Siegfried.
Gunther and Hagen told Kriemhilda that robbers in the wood had slain
her husband, but she could not be deceived.
Kriemhilda
determined to take vengeance on the murderers of Siegfried, and so
she would not leave Worms. There, too, stayed one thousand knights
who had followed Siegfried from the Nibelung land.
Soon after Siegfried's death Kriemhilda begged her younger brother
to bring the Nibelung treasure from the mountain cave to Worms.
When it arrived Kriemhilda gave gold and jewels to rich and poor
in Burgundy, and Hagen feared that soon she would win the love of
all the people and turn them against him. So, one day, he took
the treasure and hid it in the Rhine. He hoped some day to enjoy
it himself.
As Hagen now possessed the Nibelung treasure the name "Nibelungs"
was given to him and his companions.
V
Etzel, or as we call him, Attila, king of the Huns, heard of the
beauty of Kriemhilda and sent one of his knights to ask the queen
to become his wife.
At first she refused. However, when she remembered that Etzel carried
the sword of Tiew, she changed her mind, because, if she became
his wife, she might persuade him to take vengeance upon Gunther
and Hagen.
And so it came to pass.
Shortly
after their marriage Etzel and Kriemhilda invited Gunther and all
his court to a grand midsummer festival in the land of the Huns.
Hagen was afraid to go, for he felt sure that Kriemhilda had not
forgiven the murder of Siegfried. However, it was decided that
the invitation should be accepted, but that ten thousand knights
should go with Gunther as a body-guard.
Shortly after Gunther and his followers arrived at Attila's court
a banquet was prepared. Nine thousand Burgundians were seated at
the board when Attila's brother came into the banquet hall with a
thousand well-armed knights. A quarrel arose and a fight followed.
Thousands of the Burgundians were slain. The struggle continued
for days. At last, of all the knights of Burgundy, Gunther and
Hagen alone were left alive. Then one of Kriemhilda's friends fought
with them and overpowered both. He bound them and delivered them
to Kriemhilda.
The queen ordered one of her knights to cut off Gunther's head, and
she herself cut off the head of Hagen with "Balmung," Siegfried's
wonderful sword. A friend of Hagen then avenged his death by killing
Kriemhilda herself.
Of all the Nibelungs who entered the land of the Huns one only ever
returned to Burgundy.
