Initial attempts at staging the work at the Paris Opéra failed, therefore the opera had its world premiere in the Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels on 7 January 1884 (directed by Alexandre Lapissida).

Within a year it was also performed with great success at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Lyon, Monte Carlo and, finally, at the Paris Opéra on 12 June 1885, (directed there by Raoul Lapissida).

In the ballets: Hilda, the younger sister of Gunther, king of the Burgundians, loves the hero Sigurd, despite the fact that she was expected to be given to Attila himself as a bride.

Sigurd, Gunther and Hagen then swear fealty to each other and set off to Iceland, where Brunehild lies asleep upon a lofty rock, surrounded by a circle of fire and some supernatural beings.

He recognises her as the bride ordained for him by the gods, and they sing a passionate love duet, but before he can taste his new-found happiness he is treacherously slain by Gunther while hunting.