The Lost Gold of the Rhine is the fourth episode of Olivier Simonnet's documentary series Looking for the Hobbit. It tours many castles of legendary significance in western Germany, and explores J.R.R. Tolkien's inspirations from German Mythology.
The episode spans 26 minutes, and is followed by "The Creatures of the North".
Synopsis[]
John Howe comes to Rhinefels Castle in Sankt Goar, Germany, on the Rhine river, seeking to learn about the Nibelungs (characters in the German medieval tale Nibelungenlied) and Siegfried, a Nibelung hero thought to be one inspiration for Aragorn. Here he meets writer and Tolkien-enthusiast David Day. The tale of Siegried, his quest, and the princess Kriemhild is told by a caretaker in Marksburg Castle, and then by Day. Medievalist and professor Leo Carruthers teaches of how real-world Medieval myths feuled, to an unprecedented effect, Tolkien's imagination for the making of The Lord of the Rings.
The castle caretaker reads to Howe and Day of Siegfried's coming to Iceland, and the aftermath the marriages of him and Gunther.
Howe and Carruthers discuss Fáfnir, an inspiration for the dragon Smaug, and Carruthers directs him to Iceland to discover more.