King Gunther's voyage to Iceland

Date of Issue: September 06, 1924
Scott #: B72

This is a semi-postal stamp - a postage stamp issued to raise money for some purpose (such as a charitable cause) and thus sold over and above the cost of postage. The stamp shows two denominations separated by a plus sign. The purpose of surtax of this stamp was for child welfare.

This stamp is one of the six stamps of Nibelungen issue and these stamps are printed in two sizes.

Nibelungen Lied (Nibelungen - name of an ancient royal race which possessed a great treasure ; Lied - song or ballad), one of the world's greatest epics, made its appearance in the 12th or 13th Century, in South Germany.

King Gunther's voyage to Iceland is a chapter/ballad in this great epic.

The German Nibelungen and the corresponding Old Norse form Niflung (Niflungr) is the name in Germanic and Norse mythology of the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled at Worms. The vast wealth of the Burgundians is often referred to as the Niblung or Niflung hoard. In some German texts Nibelung appears instead as one of the supposed original owners of that hoard, either the name of one of the kings of a people known as the Nibelungs, or in variant form Nybling, as the name of a dwarf.

Click here to know more about Nibelungen.

Source: Wikipedia and other websites.