Günther der Gewalttätige ist der Gewinner

Chapter 34

Günther der Gewalttätige ist der Gewinner is a portrait that graces the third floor landing of the Grand Staircase. The name translates to "Günther the Violent is the winner" and the painting dates back to 1105 C.E. In the painting, Günther the Violent is shown winning the ancient German game of Stitchstock. He is very proud of his win and will often boast about it to passing students. However, Günther is also easily angered and has been known to yell and threaten those who disrespect him in any way. Stitchstock, which roughly translates to “sting stick”, is an ancient broomstick game that was the predecessor of Quidditch. The game is played on sharpened broomsticks and consists of a twenty foot pole with an inflated dragon bladder perched on top. One of the players is designated as the Bladder Guardian, which is similar to a Keeper in Quidditch, and their job is to guard the bladder, as the name implies. They are even allowed to use their wand to defend the bladder. The catch is that the Bladder Guardian has a rope tied around his waist, restricting them from going further than ten feet away from the pole. The goal of the other players is to puncture the bladder with the sharpened end of their broomsticks. The game does not end until the Bladder Guardian hexed everyone else, the bladder has been punctured, or when the Bladder Guardian collapsed from exhaustion. Stitchstock eventually died out due to the evolution of safer, friendlier broomstick games. Günther the Violent (also written as Gundahar, Gundahari, or Gunnar) was a Burgundian king from the early fifth century C.E. He often conducted raids in areas that would now be known today as present-day northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and parts of Switzerland. Günther was said to have been killed in battle after the Roman general, Flavius Aetius, called in Hun mercenaries to stop the power hungry king. During his raids into Germany, Günther discovered the German sport, Stitchstock. He became an avid player of the sport and was known to be overly competitive and very brutal when playing He would push people out of the way to get to the dragon bladder first, sometimes even stabbing some of the other players. If he was the Bladder Guardian, he would use more potent spells than normal. Günther the Violent appears in several works of medieval literature such as Waltharius, Atlamal, and Götterdämmerung. The most famous of the works that depict Günther is the Middle High German epic poem, Nibelungenlied. Most of the texts portray roughly the same story, with the exception of Waltharius. In the stories, a hero named Siegfried (or Sigurd, depending on the version that you read) helps Günther in wooing Brunhild, the Queen of Iceland. Brunhild however only agrees to marry a man who is able to beat her in three games: javelin throw, long jump, and long throw. As he is more capable in these games than Günther, Siegfried decides to help him in winning these games under the condition that he will be allowed to marry Kriemhild, Günther's sister. To perfect their trickery, Siegfried pretends to be a vassal of Günther, rather than a coequal king. Their plan succeeds and both couples marry. Years go by, and despite seemingly being happy, Brunhild has her doubts about the legitimacy of Siegfried's supposed vassellage and questions the happiness of his marriage with Kriemhild, as she is a princess while a vassellage would imply that Siegfried was a serf. As both women meet one day, they start arguing about their respective husbands' statuses. The argument escalates until Kriemhild claims that Siegfried took Brunhild’s virginity and presents Günther’s ring and belt. Brunhild decides that Siegfried ought to be killed for this treachery. Eventually, Günther agrees to this plan and assists in murdering Siegfried. No one tells Kriemhild of this murderous plan, but she suspects who the culprits are and begins to plot against them by marrying Attila the Hun. Her brothers, including Günther, receive an invitation to Attila's court which was ultimately a trap. Günther's demise varies in the different versions of the Nibelungenlied. In some, he is thrown to a snake pit and in others, he is left to fight off the Huns. To this day, no one is sure how he truly died.