title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: On the evening of November 26, the site was surrounded by a white picket fence. The fencing covered an expanded area long by wide. The enlarged site was due to Jacqueline Kennedy's desire to have her deceased children, Patrick and Arabella (a stillborn daughter born in 1956), reinterred next to their father. She had read that in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln had been buried next to his deceased son, Willie, and she recalled Kennedy's desire to be buried with his family. A small white cross was placed at the head of Arabella's grave, and a small white headstone placed at the head of Patrick's.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: During the funeral, flowers were laid on the hillside above the gravesite. After the erection of the fence, flowers were placed inside the enclosure, leaning against the uphill side of the fence. A canvas-covered circular wooden walkway was built from Sheridan Drive to the grave site to give members of the public access to the grave.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: John Carl Warnecke, a friend of the Kennedys, visited the grave with Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy on November 28, to discuss themes and plans for a permanent memorial. The following day, Warnecke was chosen by now former-first lady to design Kennedy's tomb. Warnecke immediately concluded that the permanent grave must be simple and must incorporate the eternal flame. A few days later, Warnecke agreed that, although it was not required, he would submit the design for the permanent Kennedy grave site to the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Initially, there was some concern that an eternal flame might not be approved by the cemetery. The Army Corps of Engineers was studying the installation of a permanent flame just a week after Kennedy's burial. But the Army was also considering removing the flame, as no such memorials were permitted in Arlington National Cemetery. On December 3, 1963, the Army concluded that the Kennedy plot was not part of the official burial section of Arlington National Cemetery, and agreed to continue to allow an eternal flame.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The U.S. government formally set aside a site surrounding Kennedy's grave on December 5, 1963. The grave design process was placed under tight secrecy. An extensive research project was conducted in which hundreds of famous tombs (such as the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and Grant's Tomb) as well as all existing presidential burial sites were documented and images of them collected. Warnecke discussed design concepts with more than 40 architects, sculptors, painters, landscape architects, stonemasons, calligraphers, and liturgical experts—including the sculptor Isamu Noguchi, architectural model maker Theodore Conrad, and the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts. Noguchi counseled Warnecke to add a large sculptural cross to the site and to eliminate the eternal flame (which he felt was kitschy). Warnecke consulted with Jacqueline Kennedy about the design of the grave many times over the following year. Hundreds of architectural drawings and models were produced to explore design ideas. On April 6, 1964, Warnecke sent a memorandum to her in which he outlined his desire to retain the eternal flame as the centerpiece of the burial site and to keep the site's design as simple as possible. In the course of the research and conceptualization effort, Warnecke considered the appropriateness of structures or memorials at the site (such as crosses, shafts, pavilions, etc.), the history of Arlington National Cemetery, the vista, and how to handle ceremonies at the site. By August 1964, Warnecke and his assistants had written a 76-page research report which concluded that the gravesite was not a memorial nor monument, but a grave. "This particular hillside, this flame, this man and this point in history must be synthesized in one statement that has distinctive character of its own. We must avoid adding elements that in later decades might become superficial and detract from the deeds of the man," Warnecke wrote This conclusion drove the final design. The walkways and elliptical overlook were conceptualized very early in the design process. Landscape architects Hideo Sasaki and Lawrence Halprin helped design the approaches and setting, but not the grave site. For some time in the spring and summer of 1964, the design process appeared to slow as Warnecke and his associates struggled to design the grave site. But in the summer of 1964 Sargent Shriver, Kennedy's brother-in-law, forcefully told Warnecke that "There must be something there when we get there." This spurred the design efforts forward. In the late summer and early fall, Warnecke considered massive headstones, a sarcophagus, a sunken tomb, a raised tomb, and sculpture to mark the graves. Very late in the design process, two abstract sculptures were designed but ultimately rejected.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The final design was unveiled publicly at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., on November 13, 1964. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara unveiled the design, with Kennedy's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, and sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in attendance. The final design had won the approval of the Kennedy family, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Two overarching design concerns guided the design of the site. First, Warnecke intended the grave itself to reflect the early New England tradition of a simple headstone set flat in the ground surrounded by grass. Second, the site was designed to reflect Kennedy's Catholicism. As originally envisioned, a circular granite walkway was envisioned which would create two approaches to the grave site. The walkways were intended to overcome the steep 45-degree incline of the hill up to the burial plot. Kennedy was buried so that his grave faced northeast toward the Washington Monument. The entrance to the circular walkway was from the southeast, which created a southern, shorter leg of the circular walkway. Warnecke intended for this shorter walkway to be used by family members and dignitaries who were making private visits to the grave, while the longer walkway would not only separate the public from these VIPs but also accommodate the long lines of people wishing to pay their respects. A small elliptical plaza ( long and wide) made of marble was set at the top of and inside the circle. The northeastern side of the elliptical plaza would be enclosed by a low wall inscribed with quotes from Kennedy's speeches. Marble steps would lead up from the plaza to a rectangular terrace long and wide. Flowering magnolia trees would be planted on either side of the steps up to the terrace. Centered in the terrace would be a rectangular plot of grass long and wide, raised slightly above the ground level, which would accommodate the graves. Flat black slate grave markers ( by ) would mark each grave, listing the name and date of birth and death in raised lettering. The headstones would be set flush with the earth. A high and long retaining wall, inscribed with the presidential seal, formed the rear of the burial site. The walkways, elliptical plaza, and terrace were designed to accommodate more than 50,000 visitors per day. The eternal flame itself would be placed in the center of the grassy plot in a flat, triangular bronze sculpture intended to resemble a votive candle or brazier. Rachel Lambert Mellon was employed to landscape the approaches with flowering trees (magnolia, cherry, and hawthorn). At the time of the design's unveiling, the quotations for the low wall had not yet been selected by Mrs. Kennedy. The original design won near-universal praise.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The plan was for work to begin in the fall of 1965 and be completed by the fall of 1966. The design required that the bodies of Kennedy, Patrick and Arabella be moved downhill about . A 150-year-old oak tree, which was off-center in the circular pathway, was to be retained. The total cost of the tomb was estimated at $2 million. The Kennedy family offered to pay for the entire cost, but the U.S. government refused and asked them to pay only the $200,000–300,000 cost of the grave itself. Most of the cost was attributed to the need to reinforce and strengthen the site to accommodate the weight of such large crowds. The U.S. Department of Defense formally hired Warnecke to design the approaches (although this was a "fait accompli").


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Work on the John F. Kennedy burial site continued over the next two and a half years. The Washington Gas and Light Company offered to build, maintain, and supply gas to the eternal flame at no expense. The final burner was a specially designed torch created by the Institute of Gas Technology with an electrical ignition which kept the flame lit in wind or rain and which fed the gas oxygen to create the correct color. A debate broke out between providers of bottled propane gas and line-fed natural gas as to which source of fuel should be used to supply the eternal flame. The debate was so vigorous that it broke out in public in March 1964. The cost of construction of the approaches, elliptical plaza, walls were estimated at $1.77 million in February 1965. The cost of construction of the actual grave site was estimated at $309,000. Fifteen firms were invited to bid on the construction contract and nine did so. A $1.4 million contract for construction was awarded to Aberthaw Construction in mid-July 1965. The Army Corps of Engineers consulted with the Kennedy family before letting the award. A second contract for structural design consulting in the amount of $71,026 went to Ammann & Whitney. At this time, contracts for the quotation inscriptions, the marble base for the flame, the bronze brazier, and the slate markers had yet to be let. The white marble for the plaza, terrace, and steps came from Proctor, Vermont, and the granite for the approaches came from Deer Isle, Maine.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Prior to construction, several design changes were made to the Kennedy grave site. The retaining wall behind the grave was removed, and the hill landscaped to allow an unobstructed view of Arlington House. Concerned that the grass on the burial plot would wither in Washington's hot summers, in the fall of 1966 the decision was made to replace the grass with rough-hewn reddish-gold granite fieldstone set in a flagstone pattern. The fieldstones used had been taken more than 150 years ago from a quarry on Cape Cod near where Kennedy used to spend his summers. The burial plot, originally designed to be raised a substantial height above the surrounding terrace, was lowered so that it was just three to four inches higher. The bronze brazier shape for the eternal flame was also replaced. Instead, a wide beige circular fieldstone (found on Cape Cod in 1965) was set nearly flush with the earth and used as a bracket for the flame.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Construction of the approaches required regrading the hill. Crews were forced to work with picks and shovels around the oak tree to protect its roots while engaged in regrading work. The tree's roots were reinforced with concrete to provide stability to the plant, and a "breathing system" incorporated into the concrete to allow the roots to still secure nourishment. Twenty tons of steel were used to build the terrace, and 280 tons of concrete poured to build the grave vaults and the eternal flame site. The first fieldstones for the graves were placed April 11, 1966. At the same time, the ground was prepared for the emplacement of the granite blocks which would form the low memorial wall on the downslope side of the elliptical plaza. Jacqueline Kennedy, with assistance of Kennedy speechwriter Ted Sorensen, selected the inscriptions for the wall by November 1965, all of which came from Kennedy's inaugural 1961 address (although some were shortened for artistic reasons). John E. Benson inscribed the quotations onto the seven granite blocks. The lettering is in Roman majuscule. In November 1965, the contractors estimated that the site would be finished by July 1966. The government announced that the bodies of Kennedy, Patrick and Arabella would be reburied in a private ceremony at night after cemetery had closed on the day before the site was opened to the public. For a time in the fall of 1966, the Army considered floodlighting the site to permit night-time ceremonies, but this plan was quickly discarded. In mid-October 1966, design changes and construction delays had forced the opening of the new burial site to early 1967.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The permanent John F. Kennedy grave site opened with little announcement or fanfare on March 15, 1967. A few days before, the eternal flame had been moved from its temporary location to the new site. The reburial of the bodies occurred on the evening of March 14, after Arlington National Cemetery had closed. Earth over the existing grave was removed, and a small crane was used to lift the burial vault (which remained unopened) from the old grave and place it in the new one. The event was unannounced. The transfer was witnessed by U.S. senators Robert and Ted Kennedy, and Cardinal Richard Cushing of Boston. Exhumation began at 6:19 PM and was complete at 9:00 PM. Consecration of the new burial site occurred at 7:00 AM on March 15, 1967, in a driving rain. The ceremony, which took 20 minutes, was attended by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy, and several members of the Kennedy family. Cardinal Cushing presided over the consecration. The final cost of the entire project was $2.2 million. Landscaping around the permanent site was not complete at the time of its consecration, and continued for several more weeks.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: One spontaneous act of respect at the site was curbed almost immediately. Jacqueline Kennedy had requested that a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces (the Green Berets) be part of the military honor squad at Kennedy's burial service. She specifically asked that the Special Forces soldier wear a green beret rather than formal Army headgear. After the funeral, the six military personnel in the honor guard (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and Special Forces) had spontaneously removed their covers and laid them on the evergreen boughs around the eternal flame. Also laid on the greenery were the insignia of a U.S. Army military policeman and the shoulder braid from a soldier in the 3rd US Infantry Regiment. The presence of the headgear was widely criticized after the dedication of the permanent grave site, and the U.S. Army (which administers Arlington National Cemetery) ordered all such memorabilia removed from the grave in April 1967.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 6, 1968, in Los Angeles, California. An expansion to the John F. Kennedy grave site was dedicated in 1971 to accommodate Robert Kennedy's grave. Robert F. Kennedy's resting place is only about southwest from the terrace at the John F. Kennedy site. Robert Kennedy is buried on the upslope side of the walkway, his burial vault marked by a white cross and a slate headstone set flush with the earth. Opposite his grave is a granite plaza designed by architect I. M. Pei and dedicated on December 6, 1971. A low granite wall similar to the one at the John F. Kennedy terrace contains quotations from famous Robert F. Kennedy speeches, and a small reflecting pool. As with his brother, Robert Kennedy's first grave was a temporary one, about upslope from its current location.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The Kennedy grave site's approaches were altered at the time the Robert F. Kennedy memorial was built. Previously, the approach consisted of a series of long steps. But several individuals in wheelchairs appealed to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and the steps were replaced by long ramps in June 1971.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was buried at the site alongside Kennedy following her death in May 1994. Senator Edward M. Kennedy was buried about south of Robert Kennedy's memorial between two maple trees shortly after his death on August 25, 2009, from brain cancer.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The 220-year-old "Arlington Oak", which stood off-center within the Kennedy memorial gravesite area was uprooted and killed on August 27, 2011, during Hurricane Irene. The gravesite was closed to the public for two days to remove the tree and stump, but reopened on August 30.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: On Arbor Day, April 27, 2012, a sapling grown from an acorn of the Arlington Oak was planted at the same site. Two other Arlington Oak saplings were planted nearby, while a fourth was planted in Section 26 near Tanner Amphitheater and a fifth in Section 36 near Custis Walk.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Arlington National Cemetery experts said in 2001 that it cost about $200 a month to keep the flame burning. Its original, custom-manufactured ignition system, contained in a box buried a few feet from the grave, controlled the flow of gas and oxygen to the flame and activated a 20,000-volt spark ignition electrode near the gas burner whenever the flame was extinguished.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: In 2012, the automatic ignition system began clicking audibly. In early 2013, a $350,000 contract was awarded for upgrading the system. During the work the permanent flame was extinguished after being transferred to a temporary flame to one side. The refurbishment replaced the original burner with one not requiring a separate oxygen supply, laid new gas lines, relocated gas pressure regulators, added controls to improve energy efficiency, and replaced electrical lines. The flame was returned to the upgraded permanent eternal flame on May 17, 2013, and the temporary flame extinguished.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: In 2010, the carved inscriptions in the low stone wall in front of the site were renewed, which power cleaning and weather had made difficult to read. The Knights of Columbus donated $6,000 to have the letters darkened and more deeply incised in time for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration. Gordon Ponsford, a sculptor who restored several major monuments at Arlington National Cemetery, performed the work.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: On December 10, 1963, a group of Catholic schoolchildren accidentally extinguished the temporary flame while sprinkling it with holy water. A cemetery official quickly relit the flame by hand. In August 1967, an exceptionally heavy rain extinguished the permanent flame and flooding of electrical equipment disabled the spark igniter. In both cases the flame was quickly relit manually.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: In 2013, the eternal flame was shared for the first time in its history. On June 18, a U.S. Army honor guard accompanied Irish Minister of State Paul Kehoe, T.D., in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kennedy grave site. An Irish Army officer, accompanied by an Irish Army honor guard, lit a lamp in a metal burner from the eternal flame. (The lamp and burner were created by the Bullfinch company, which also designed the torches for the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.) The "spark" traveled back to Ireland aboard a special Aer Lingus flight, accompanied by Kehoe, Irish Army personnel, and a delegation from the New Ross Town Council.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The "spark" arrived at Dublin Airport on June 20, where Kehoe transferred the flame to Colonel Brendan Delaney. Delaney transferred the flame to officers of the Irish Naval Service. The flame was taken by the Naval vessel , which traversed the Irish Sea and sailed up the River Barrow to New Ross (the town which John F. Kennedy's great-grandfather emigrated from in 1848). On June 22, several Irish Special Olympians carried the flame from the "Orla" to a ceremony at the Kennedy Homestead. Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Jean Kennedy Smith, and Caroline Kennedy used the burner to jointly light an "Emigrant Flame" in an iron globe to mark the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's trip to Ireland. The Emigrant Flame is now the centerpiece of the expanded homestead visitor center. Four days later, the flame went out, but was reignited with fire from the miner's lamps that were lit at Arlington.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: Immediately after Kennedy's burial, the eternal flame was being visited by 50,000 people per day. More than 16 million people visited the site in its first three years. In 1971, the grave attracted more than 7 million people.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The presence of the grave also boosted attendance at Arlington National Cemetery. Kennedy's funeral had been televised live, with 93 percent of all American homes watching. Satellites beamed the proceedings to another 23 countries, where another 600 million viewers watched. The television coverage transformed Arlington National Cemetery from a quiet veterans' cemetery into one of the Washington area's most popular tourist attractions. Average yearly attendance rose from 1 million people in 1962 to 9 million in the first six months of 1964.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: In 1964, the United States Post Office Department used an image of the eternal flame on an official postage stamp issued to commemorate the assassinated president. The stamp also used the words "And the glow from that fire can truly light the world"—an excerpt from Kennedy's inaugural address.


title: John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

text: The Kennedy eternal flame has also attracted some unwanted attention as well. The leader of a group protesting segregation in housing was nearly arrested at the grave site in August 1967 after attempting to lead a group of protesters in the singing of "America the Beautiful". A mentally ill individual attempted to throw red paint on the grave in August 1971. A 23-year-old Army veteran committed suicide at the grave in 1972 by plunging a knife into his chest. The cross and the headstone marking Robert F. Kennedy's grave were stolen in 1981 and never recovered. In December 1982, an intoxicated Salvadoran immigrant broke into the cemetery at night and knelt before the eternal flame. He experienced a fatal heart attack, and fell into the flame. In 1997, thieves pried loose one of the paving stones from the terrace in front of the eternal flame and attempted to make off with it. They gave up after realizing the stone was too heavy to move.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew, when applied to video games, refers to games produced by hobbyists for proprietary video game consoles which are not intended to be user-programmable. The official documentation is often only available to licensed developers, and these systems may use storage formats that make distribution difficult, such as ROM cartridges or encrypted CD-ROMs. Many consoles have hardware restrictions to prevent unauthorized development. A non-professional developer for a system intended to be user-programmable, like the Commodore 64, is simply called a "hobbyist" (rather than a "homebrew developer").


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Development can use unofficial, community maintained toolchains or official development kits such as Net Yaroze, Linux for PlayStation 2, or Microsoft XNA. Targets for homebrew games are typically those which are no longer commercially relevant or produced, and with lower standards in art quality, such as the Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Genesis, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, and PlayStation 2.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: New games for older systems are typically developed using emulators. Development for newer systems usually involves actual hardware, given the lack of accurate emulators. Efforts have been made to use actual console hardware for many older systems, though. Atari 2600 programmers may burn an EEPROM to plug into a custom cartridge board or use audio transfer via the Starpath Supercharger. Game Boy Advance developers have several ways to use GBA flash cartridges in this regard.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: In 2009, "Odball" became the first game for the Magnavox Odyssey since 1973. It was produced by Robert Vinciguerra who has since written several other Odyssey games. On July 11, 2011, "Dodgeball" was published by Chris Read.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: A handful of games have been programmed for the Fairchild Channel F, the first console to use ROM cartridges. The first known release is Sean Riddle's clone of "Lights Out" which included instructions on how to modify the SABA#20 Chess game into a Multi-Cartridge. There is also a version of "Tetris" and in 2008 "Videocart 27: "Pac-Man"" became the first full production game for the system since it was discontinued.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Several compilers are available for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but like the Atari 2600, most development is done in 6502 assembly language. One impediment to NES homebrew development is the relative difficulty involved with producing physical cartridges, although third-party flash carts do exist, making homebrew possible on original NES hardware. Several varieties of custom processors are used within NES cartridges to expand system capabilities; most are difficult to replicate except by scavenging old cartridges.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: While the original Famicom and its clones can play unlicensed games, the 10NES hardware lock-out mechanism of the original model NES complicates the production of physical cartridges. The 10NES chip can be permanently disabled by performing a minor change to the hardware. The redesigned NES (also known as the New-Style NES or the New Famicom) lacks the 10NES chip.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Sega Genesis has no physical lockout mechanism (instead relying on software encoding), making it easier to release software for the system. "Pier Solar and the Great Architects", "Paprium", and a port of "Teenage Queen" are examples of games that were released as physical cartridges. Other games include "Sacred Line Genesis", "Coffee Crisis", and "Frog Feast" for the Genesis and "Mighty Mighty Missile" for the Sega CD.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The 2018 game "Tanglewood" was notable in that it was developed using original Sega Genesis development hardware.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine has a comparatively small homebrew scene. The first homebrew title was MindRec's "Implode" in 2002, a few years after the system's last official release ("Dead Of The Brain I & II" for the PC Engine in 1999). The title was released on CD-ROM. Two years later, MindRec released "Meteor Blaster DX" on CD-R. Their official word on the change of CD format was that they were unable to be pressed to CD-ROM proper due to the glass mastering software suddenly unable to handle the unorthodox style of CD structure that the system expects. Five years later, Aetherbyte Studios released "Insanity", a Berzerk clone, on pressed CD-ROMs, quelling the notion of unpressable CDs. Aetherbyte later went on to prototype and produce a new HuCard design called ""AbCARD"", which was fully compatible with the console. Aetherbyte celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the PC Engine since its release in 1987.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: There is one C compiler for the console known as HuC, however it has not been officially updated since 2005. The MagicKit assembler is generally considered the de facto assembler for the console, and comes included with HuC. Additional libraries for HuC/MagicKit include Squirrel, a sound engine developed by Aetherbyte Studios, and the SGX/ACD library, developed by Tomatheous, that gives the developer easy access to the SuperGrafx video hardware as well as the Arcade Card.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The cc65 C compiler is compatible with the console, although there is no development library supported for it.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: There are a few original TurboGrafx CD games being made such as "FX Unit Yuki: The Henshin Engine" and a port of "Mysterious Song" in 2012.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Bung Enterprises released the Game Doctor SF hardware series. It allows users to copy games and run new games on SNES hardware. ROMs can be converted into the Game Doctor SF format and put onto a 3 1/2" floppy. Games as large as twelve megabits can be put on floppy disks formatted to 1.6 megabytes.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: An alternative device is the Super Flash, by Tototek, which allows multiple games to be burned onto a flash memory chip in a cartridge. This allows games as large as 48 megabits.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Neo-Geo Home Cart and Arcade Systems can be tough candidates for homebrew development. Neo-Geo AES and MVS cartridges have two separate boards: one for video, and one for sound. If programming a cartridge for the system were to occur, it would involve replacing the old ROM chips with one's newly programmed ones as the cartridges are in a sense, Arcade boards. NGDevTeam who have released "Fast Striker" and "Gunlord" found a workaround with this. What they did was print out their own board, and soldered their own ROM chips into them; this, however, can cause the Universe Bios logo to look corrupted if a custom bios were to be programmed. Programming for the Neo-Geo CD, however is easier than programming for cartridges. The CDs themselves can actually contain both sound and video respectively. Depending on the Megabit count for a game program, load times will vary. A CD game with low Megabit counts will load only one time; whereas a CD game with higher megabit counts could load in between scenes, or rounds. There are now some full games scheduled for release in physical form, such as "Neo Xyx".


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Programmer of the Neo-Geo Universe Bios, Razoola is currently working on a "Skeleton Game Driver" that supports two players. This ROM is meant to remedy the corrupted Universe Bios Screens, as well as work with an unmodified/stock Neo-Geo Multi-Video System (MVS), or Advanced Entertainment System (AES).


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: "Razion" is an example of an original Neo Geo game ported over to modern consoles, in this case the Nintendo Switch.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: There are many toolkits and utilities available to program homebrew on the handheld. ROM hacks of popular games on the handheld are available for the system. There are also unofficial ports and demakes of games from other home consoles and handhelds made for the Game Boy, some examples are a demake of the PlayStation game and a port of Stunt Race FX for the Game Boy.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The first hobbyist-developed Atari Jaguar game was released in 1995: a version of "Tetris" called "JSTetris". It was written using a hacked version of the Alpine Development Kit, one of the pieces of hardware used to program official Jaguar games. After purchasing all the intellectual property assets of Atari Corporation from JTS in 1998, Hasbro Interactive, on May 14, 1999, announced that they have released all rights to the Jaguar, declaring the console an open platform. Following the announcement, a few developers and publishers, such as AtariAge, B&C Computervisions, Piko Interactive, Songbird Productions, Telegames, and Video61, have released both previously unfinished games from the Jaguar's past as well as several brand new games.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Since emulation of the console is still limited, coding uses a real console through either the Skunkboard development cartridge, using a BJL modified Jaguar, or the official Alpine Development Kit. The commercial game "BattleSphere Gold", also contains the JUGS (Jaguar Unmodified Game Server) aid to development.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Games are released in either cartridge, CD–or both–formats. Most developers have published their works either online on forums or in cartridge via independent publishers. Since both systems do not have regional locking, all of the titles are region free. Some of the earliest CD releases were not encrypted, requiring either B&C's Jaguar CD Bypass Cartridge or Reboot's Jagtopia (Freeboot) program burned into a CD in order to run unencrypted CD games, but Curt Vendel of Atari Museum released the binaries and encryption keys for both the cartridge and CD format, making it possible to run games without the need of development hardware. A cracked BIOS of the Jaguar CD can be soldered inside the system.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: There are also ST-to-Jaguar conversions, which involves porting titles from the Atari ST to the Jaguar, which may include some enhancements. While they can be downloaded for free, select titles were sold on August 3, 2016 and others, as of date, are being licensed and sold in festivals dedicated to the system such as E-JagFest, JagFest or online via AtariAge.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: There is only one Homebrew development kit known for the PC-FX, which is based on the GNU Compiler Collection version 2.95.1. The Mednafen author began work on a library for the compiler called pcfxlib but it was discontinued due to lack of interest until trap15 started development of a new library called liberis. The toolchain is designed for a Linux environment, although it can also be used with cygwin. To date, no Homebrew titles for the PC-FX have been released, although Aetherbyte Studios and Eponasoft have both expressed interest in developing new software for the console.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Making games on the PlayStation is possible with any model of the system through the use of a modchip or the double 'Swap Trick'. There is also a softmod/save game exploit called "tonyhax" Requirements consist of a PC, SDK, and a 'Comms Link' device to upload and download files to and from the console.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Another way of starting homebrew on the PlayStation is 'UniROM', which is a Softmod. UniROM works by being installed onto a cheat-device, which is connected via the parallel-port (on old consoles) and allows loading of custom code via burned CDs and the serial port.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew was originally promoted by Sony with the Net Yaroze, which had a large scene for quite some time. However, the official Net Yaroze site was shut down in mid-2009, and Sony stopped supporting the system as well as the users who still owned the console.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: All models of the Sega Saturn can be used for hobbyist development. Modchips for the Saturn Model 1 have been scarce for some time, as it seems that no one has produced any new modchips in years. As such, the only two options left are to either perform the swap trick or extensively modify a Saturn Model 2 modchip.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Running homebrew on the Model 2 can be accomplished by bridging two points on the modchip, soldering a wire from the modchip to the Saturn power supply, and inserting it where the CD-ROM ribbon cable inserts. The swap trick is more difficult to pull off on this Model due to the lack of an access light.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Another method is what is known as the "PseudoSaturn" unlocking method. It is a program created by CyberWarrior2000 that abuses the "Pro Action Replay" cartridge's firmware. It unlocks region, frequency, and CD protection of most Saturn models. Either a modded Saturn or a swap trick is required to run the installer, which loads the code in the FlashROM of the cartridge. Afterwards, the cartridge unlocks everything and most software can be run, from backups to homebrews. There is also now a new engine for development called the Jo-Engine created by Johannes Fetz to allow easy development of 2D games. This engine is currently able to compile 2D games without the Sega Graphic Libraries (SGL). Another engine by XL2, called the Z-Treme engine, led to the creation of a fully 3D Sonic The Hedgehog game called Sonic Z-Treme. Z-Treme uses Sega Basic Libraries (SBL) and Sega Graphic Libraries (SGL).


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Nintendo's Virtual Boy has no region lock, but it wasn't until the flash carts FlashBoy and FlashBoy+ were released that the homebrew scene began to grow. Two previously unreleased games, "Bound High!" and "Niko-Chan Battle" (the Japanese version of "Faceball") have been released.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Nintendo 64 homebrew scene is small, but homebrew can still be played and developed through the use of a Doctor V64 (Acclaim used a Doctor V64 to help develop Turok), the Everdrive 64 or 64drive.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Despite its short commercial lifespan of less than two years in North America, the Dreamcast benefits from an active homebrew scene even ten years after its discontinuation. Due to a flaw in the Dreamcast’s BIOS, which was intended for use with MIL-CD's, the console can run software from a CD-R without the use of a modchip. Sega responded to this by removing MIL-CD support from the BIOS of the later produced Dreamcast consoles manufactured from November 2000 onwards.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The console is especially notable for its commercial homebrew scene. One notable project was the Bleemcast! emulator, which was a series of bootdisks made to play PlayStation games on the system, featuring visual enhancements over the original console. Newer independent releases include "Last Hope", released by RedSpotGames in 2007, and "DUX", both Shoot 'em up style games. These releases were written using the KallistiOS development system. A port of the freeware high-level development language Fenix and BennuGD is available for use in game development; many DIV Games Studio games have been ported and others were originally written for the system.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Early versions of the PlayStation 2 have a buffer overflow bug in the part of the BIOS that handles PS1 game compatibility; hackers found a way to turn this into a loophole called the PS2 Independence Exploit, allowing the use of homebrew software. Other options for homebrew development would be the use of a modchip or the utilization of a PS2 hard drive and an HD Loader. In Europe and Australia, the PS2 came with a free Yabasic interpreter on the bundled demo disc for some time. This allows simple programs to be created for the PS2 by the end-user. This was included in a failed attempt to circumvent a UK tax by defining the console as a "computer" if it contained certain software. A port of the NetBSD project and BlackRhino GNU/Linux, an alternative Debian-based distribution, are also available for the PS2.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Using homebrew programs (e.g. 'SMS Media Player') it is possible to listen to various audio file formats (MP3, OMA, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, FLAC, AC3), and watch various video formats (DivX/XviD, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4-ASP in AVI Container) using the console. Media can be played from any device connected to the console i.e. external USB/FireWire/thumb drive/hard disk drive (FAT32 only), the internal hard disk on early revision consoles, optical CD-R(W)/DVD±R(W) disks (modded systems or patched disks), or network shares (Windows Network or PS2 host: protocol).


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: A more recent development (May 2008) called Free McBoot or FMCB allows homebrew programs to be launched without a trigger disc required by the older exploit. This also allows the use of homebrew on unmodded systems without a functional disc drive. However, installation of the exploit to each individual memory card requires either an already exploited/modded system in order to launch the installer, or a boot image that can load an app that loads ELF files (a Network Adaptor with a hard drive is also required). Simply copying from one memory card to another will not work. This exploit does not work on the latest slimline PS2s (the later SCPH-9000x models with BIOS 2.30) but will work on all models prior to that. The newest versions of Free McBoot (version 1.90 and newer) also have the ability to install and boot from both Sony and non-Sony HDDs when using an original "fat" model PS2 and network adapter. This support is called Free HDBoot or FHDB. With a few minor issues, it is now possible to play games entirely from the HDD, without needing to use the optical disc drive nor a physical memory card.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Unlike the Independence Exploit, which requires a trigger disk, Free McBoot needs only a standard Memory Card, which allows it to be used on systems with broken optical drives. The installation is keyed to the Memory Card and will only be usable on the same version consoles that it was originally installed on, unless a Multi-Install is performed. The drawback of this exploit is that it needs to be installed/compiled on each individual memory card. Simply copying the exploit is not possible. Along with this, an already modded or exploited system is required to install Free McBoot on a Memory Card. After installing an exploit, unsigned executables (Executable and Linkable Format) may be launched from a Memory Card or a USB drive. Such programs include emulators, media players, hard drive management tools, and PC-based or NAS-based file shares. The exploit is also notable for allowing the user to copy PS1/PS2 save files from a Memory Card to a USB drive, a functionality normally only possible with tools such as DexDrive.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Sony released a Linux-based operating system for the PS2 in a package that also includes a keyboard, mouse, Ethernet adapter and HDD. The North American versions went out of stock not too long afterwards, however the European version was still available. The kit boots by installing a proprietary interface (the run-time environment) which is on a region-encoded DVD, meaning that the European and North America kits would only work with a PS2 from their respective regions.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew development on the Nintendo GameCube tended to be difficult, since it uses a proprietary MiniDVD-based drive and media as opposed to the standard DVD drives of the PS2 and Xbox for piracy protection. Also, its connectivity is limited, as it does not feature a USB port or an HDD port like the PlayStation 2.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The barrier to burning Nintendo GameCube discs with a consumer DVD burner is the Burst Cutting Area, a "barcode" in the innermost ring of the disc, an area inaccessible to most burners and writeable only by very expensive disc pressing machines. For a long time the only way to run homebrew software on Nintendo GameCube was through a patching-system exploit of "Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II", requiring users to find the game and a Broadband Adapter. Both of these are difficult to find because a follow-up has been released (under the name "Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus") and thus the original PSO was rarely sold after then, and because the Broadband Adapter was not often carried in stores due to the Nintendo GameCube's very limited selection of online games.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: As of August 2019, the most common method is to use an Action Replay in conjunction with an SD card adapter inserted into the memory card slot, allowing the user to run homebrew from the SD card, or over Ethernet. Another method involves using a modchip to allow the GameCube to run homebrew from a MiniDVD-R via the disc drive. Another method uses a save game exploit which involves transferring modified game save files to a GameCube memory card that triggers arbitrary code execution when loaded by an official game, allowing custom software to be run from a memory card, SD card, or other media. As the Nintendo GameCube's case does not fit a full-size DVD-R, third party replacement cases are available.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew software for the Nintendo GameCube mainly consist of emulators for other systems, as well as several popular homebrew utilities. Swiss is an “all-in-one homebrew utility”, including a file browser, and the ability to force software to use different video modes that aren't officially supported, such as progressive scan or 16:9 widescreen. The Game Boy Interface is a homebrew software frontend for the Game Boy Player peripheral, and is often used for capturing high-quality footage from Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Xbox console uses several measures, including cryptographically signed code to obfuscate firmware. The primary method of executing homebrew code required installing a mod chip which could be flashed with a modified Microsoft BIOS. This BIOS allowed the system to boot unsigned executables (XBEs) and control several hardware variables, such as region coding and video mode. With the leak of Microsoft's official development kit (XDK), homebrew coders were able to write replacement Xbox GUIs (known as dashboards), games and applications for the Xbox.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: A softmod, which uses a commercial game such as "", "Mech Assault", or "Splinter Cell", had been created to execute a persistent softmod installer without modification of the hardware. This method utilizes modified font and sound files to cause the Xbox to cause a stack buffer overflow and load a homebrew dashboard. Once in this condition, the Xbox is able to execute homebrew games and applications upon boot up.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Due to the Xbox using standard PC libraries, writing homebrew games is relatively easy and the vast majority of libraries available for a PC programmer are available to an Xbox homebrew programmer.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: One of the more common type of homebrew games for the Xbox are ports of PC games whose source has been publicly released or leaked. Many classic PC games have been released for Xbox, but most are created with the XDK which limits their availability. The only places to find these ports are through IRC or peer-to-peer browsers.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Xbox system is also very adept at running emulators which have been ported from PC, given its high processing power. The Xbox is able to emulate systems up to the previous generation, including the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation. For this reason, many different emulators have been created for or ported to the Xbox.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew development for the Game Boy Advance handheld has been popular due to the availability of C compilers and ready-made, high-quality code libraries, and debugging features for several Game Boy Advance emulators like VisualBoyAdvance-M, mGBA, NO$GBA, John GBA and My Boy. Adding to the success of homebrew for the system is the immense Pokémon ROM hacking community, the wide availability of Flash ROM cartridges and cartridge writers for the system, as well as nostalgia for the system in general (as with all other game systems).


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Since the release of the Nintendo DS, a great deal of hacking has occurred involving the DS's fully rewritable firmware, Wi-Fi connection, game cards that allow SD storage, and software use. There are now many emulators for the DS, as well as the NES, SNES, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Neo-Geo Pocket, Neo-Geo MVS (arcade), and older handheld consoles like the Game Boy Color.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: There are a number of cards which either have built-in flash memory, or a slot which can accept an SD, or MicroSD (like the DSTT, R4, AceKard and ez-flash V/Vi) cards. These cards typically enable DS console gamers to use their console to play MP3s and videos, and other non-gaming functions traditionally reserved for separate devices.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: In South Korea, many video game consumers exploit illegal copies of video games, including for the Nintendo DS. In 2007, 500,000 copies of DS games were sold, while the sales of the DS hardware units was 800,000.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Another modification device called Action Replay, manufactured by the company Datel, is a device which allows the user to input cheat codes that allows it to hack games, granting the player infinite health, power-ups, access to any part of the game, infinite in game currency, the ability to walk through walls, and various other abilities depending on the game and code used.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Photographer Steve Chapman, looking for other ways to continue his photography work with smaller equipment, created DS-DSLR, an application that allowed him to control his camera without his bulky laptop. When his camera was connected to the DS through the GBA cartridge slot, DS-DSLR allowed him to execute many tasks, including controlled bracketing, custom interval shots, and timed long exposures. DS-DSLR even had a noise-activated shutter control which was activated when the DS mic detected noise.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: With the DSi, it too has some homebrew exploits, some of which use DSiWare apps such as Flipnote Studio (aka ugopwn), sudokuhax, using a game called Sudoku by EA Games, grtpwn, exidiahax, fieldrunhax, 4swordhax, UNO*hax, and an exploit using Petit Computer called petit-compwner. There is also systemflaaw, which uses the DSi-exclusive game System Flaw.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: A user by the name of shutterbug2000 on GBAtemp has released two DSi exploits, one being called Memory Pit, an exploit using the DSi Camera app, and the other known as the Flipnote Lenny exploit (aka ugopwn), using Flipnote Studio.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Microsoft has released a version of its proprietary Software Development Kit (SDK) for free, to would-be homebrew programmers. This SDK, called XNA Game Studio, is a free version of the SDK available to professional development companies and college students. However, to create Xbox 360 games one must pay for a premium membership to the XNA Creators Club. Once the games are verified, the games written with XNA Studio can be made available for 80, 240, or 400 Microsoft Points to all Xbox 360 owners (through Xbox Live). This allows creators of homebrew content access to their target audience of Xbox 360 owners. This content is available under the Indie Games section of the New Xbox Experience.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: On March 20, 2007, it was announced that a hack using the previously discovered hypervisor vulnerability in the Xbox 360 kernel versions 4532 and 4548 had been developed to allow users to run XeLL, a Linux bootloader. The initial hack was beyond the average user and required an Xbox serial cable to be installed and a flashed DVD Drive firmware. Felix Domke, the programmer behind XeLL, has since announced a live bootable Linux CD suitable for novice users, with the capabilities to be installed to the SATA hard drive of the Xbox 360. Despite the availability of such a distribution, the Xbox 360 still isn't considered a popular platform for homebrew development, given the dependence of the exploit on the DVD-ROM being able to load a burnt DVD game, a modified version of the game "King Kong", and two older kernel revisions of the console itself.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: A group independent of Microsoft is working on the means to run homebrew code, as part of the Free60 project.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Note: The hypervisor vulnerability in the Xbox 360 kernel versions 4532 and 4548 was addressed by Microsoft with the release of the NXE system and dashboard update in 2008.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew was since re-enabled on any Xbox 360 with dash 2.0.7371.0 or lower via an exploit referred to as the JTAG / SMC hack but was promptly patched again by Microsoft with the 2.0.8495.0 update.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew has now become available on most Xbox 360 consoles due to the Reset Glitch Hack (excluding the late Winchester revision, which fixed this exploit with mitigations in hardware). It works on all current dashboards. As the Reset Glitch Hack requires a modchip, soldering skills are a necessity when attempting to use this exploit.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The PlayStation 3 was designed to run other operating systems from day one. Very soon after launch, the first users managed to install Fedora Core 5 onto the PlayStation 3 via the 'Install Other OS' option in the PlayStation 3's XMB (Xross Media Bar), which also allows configuring the PlayStation 3 to boot into the other OS installed by default.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: So far, several Linux flavors have been successfully installed to the PlayStation 3, such as Fedora Core 5, Fedora Core 6, Gentoo, Ubuntu and Yellow Dog Linux (YDL). The latter comes installed with the Cell SDK by default, allowing programmers a low cost entry into Cell programming. See also: Linux for PlayStation 3


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Originally, graphics support was limited to framebuffer access only (no access to the PlayStation 3's graphics chip RSX), yet some access to the RSX graphics processor was achieved (but Sony blocked this with firmware release 2.10).


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: As of firmware release 3.21, consumers are no longer able to access the 'Other OS' due to Sony removing the facility from the software in an update. Sony said this was in response to several 'security concerns'.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Homebrew developers do have access to the Cell microprocessor, including 6 of its 7 active Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). The Game OS resides under a hypervisor and prevents users from taking full control of the PlayStation 3's hardware. This is a security measure which helps Sony feel secure enough to allow users to install other operating systems on the PS3.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Sixaxis controller has also been exposed to Linux and Windows, but no driver seems to have been successfully created yet that exposes its accelerometer functionality, except for Motioninjoy. However other drivers have successfully used it as a controller for gaming and other applications.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: In May 2008, a vulnerability was found in the PlayStation 3 allowing users to install a partial debug firmware on a regular console. However, the debug functionality is disabled, so neither homebrew applications nor backup games can be run yet.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Another exploit was found on August 14, 2008, allowing users to boot some backup games from the PlayStation 3's HDD, although the exact instructions on how to do this were not released at that time. However, a different person posted instructions 10 days later, which explained the exploit.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: On January 6, 2009 a hacking ring known as the ""Sh4d0ws"" leaked the jig files needed to launch the PlayStation 3 into service mode. Although the PlayStation 3 can be triggered into service mode, it is not yet of any use because the files needed to make changes to the console have not been leaked.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: On August 31, 2010, PSGroove, an exploit for the PS3 through the USB port, was released and made open source. This exploit works on all of the PS3 models released up until then. A guide for the creation of the PSGroove is available through several online sources.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: George Hotz, better known under his nickname "geohot", appeared on "Attack of the Show" because he released the PlayStation 3's encryption keys, therefore any homebrew or custom firmware can be signed. Once signed, homebrew can be natively run. It would be difficult for Sony to fix this because it would most likely require a voluntary recall and the most expensive parts would have to be replaced. In 2011, Sony, with help from law firm Kilpatrick Stockton, sued Hotz and associates of the group fail0verflow for their jailbreaking activities. Charges included violating the DMCA, CFAA, copyright law, and California's CCDAFA, and for breach of contract (related to the PlayStation Network User Agreement), tortious interference, misappropriation, and trespass.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: In advance of the Wii's release, WiiCade was the first site to host Adobe Flash homebrew games specifically designed for the Wii and its remote, which could be played without any exploits using the Wii's Opera web browser. The Wii was hacked via a custom serial interface in December 2007. The goal of most Wii exploits is to install the Homebrew Channel, a custom channel that lets users run homebrew software on the console. The Homebrew Channel's first full release was in December 2008. Though Nintendo successfully patched various older exploits to install The Homebrew Channel, many exploits to run the channel on current firmware exist. This channel can be installed using exploits in games such as the NTSC version of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", an exploit on the Internet Channel, a DNS exploit with the EULA, or it can be installed via an exploit in the Wii's messaging system. Note that only exploits that use disc games are compatible with installing The Homebrew Channel on the vWii (virtual Wii) mode on a Wii U, with the exception of "wuphax", an exploit that installs the channel via Wii U specific system permission exploits. The Wii Opera software development kit let developers make their own games in JavaScript. The console's controller was also a popular target for modification. On August 9, 2010, Team Twiizers released an exploit called LetterBomb which uses a malformed mail letter (Buffer overflow) to load a boot.elf file into memory, which then installs The Homebrew Channel to run unsigned code.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: In recent years, other methods exploiting the Internet Channel (Flashhax) and the Wii's EULA (str2hax) have been released. In 2019, an exploit using Bluetooth called BlueBomb was released. BlueBomb meant that the Wii Mini was hackable for the first time, as it was previously not possible due to the Wii Mini's Internet, Wii messaging capabilities and SD slot removed.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The first public homebrew exploit for the Nintendo 3DS, ninjhax, originally called ssspwn, allowed the user to scan a QR Code to exploit the game Cubic Ninja. Other ways to run The Homebrew Launcher have been discovered since then, including freakyhax, an exploit in the Deluxe edition of ; Doodlebomb, an exploit in the 1.1.1 and older versions of Swapdoodle;, browserhax and broswerhax-xl, both using the Internet Browser (Nintendo 3DS);, soundhax, using the Nintendo 3DS Sound app, pichaxx, using Pokémon Picross, unSAFE_MODE, which injects a corrupted WiFi profile into the SAFE_MODE firmware, kartdlphax, using Mario Kart 7, ntrboot, using an NDS flash cart, and smashbroshax, a New 3DS exclusive exploit for the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The majority of system updates that have "Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience" in their changelog are simply to patch Homebrew Launcher (userland) exploits that require a specific version of a game or application are often patched in these updates by adding those exploited application versions to the "IsTitleAllowed" blacklist, which prevents outdated applications on the list from launching and forces users to update those applications to the latest version to launch the application. For example, notehax only works on outdated versions of Flipnote Studio 3D. In the 11.6.0-39 system update, all regions of Flipnote Studio version <=1.0.1 in USA, <=1.2.0 in EUR, and <=1.3.1 in JPN were blocked from launching the application, patching the exploit on current firmware.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Unsigned software can be launched from the SD card without having to install custom firmware on the device by using an exploit to run The Homebrew Launcher. The Homebrew Launcher itself can be launched on system versions 9.0-11.16 on any 3DS system. However, without installing custom firmware, the user will need to run the exploit each time they want to access The Homebrew Launcher.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: To directly install custom software onto the 3DS home menu, custom firmware is needed. There are several custom firmware releases available, the most popular being Luma3DS. Requirements to install custom firmware involve using various exploits to run a boot ROM exploit called boot9strap, which executes custom code before boot ROM lockout. As of December 2020, the latest exploit uses an oversight in DSiWare, which can run the custom code from the DSiWare menu in the 3DS settings to install the 3DS hacks.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: In 2016, an exploit for the PlayStation Vita was released named "HENkaku". This exploit used a bug found on the 3.60 system firmware, allowing users to run unsigned software. It was installed by visiting a website and clicking on the install button on the PlayStation Vita web browser. This had to be done every time the user turned the system on. In the 3.61 system update, Sony patched the bug to make it impossible to run unsigned code on the Vita. However, in 2018, computer science student TheFloW (Andy Nguyen) found a kernel bug in firmware versions 3.65, 3.67, and 3.68 that allowed unsigned code to be run. Eventually, he developed an exploit called "h-encore" which allowed one to install the HENkaku hack on later PS Vita versions. The kernel bug was patched in firmware version 3.69, but the userland bug still works. Because HENkaku needs to be reinstalled every time the device is turned on again, an optional flasher program named ensō can be used alongside HENkaku to flash it into the system, making the plugin stay permanently even after shutdown and reboot, until uninstalled through the ensō installer.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: On February 13, 2019, TheFloW released a downgrader tool that can downgrade any Vita console to an older firmware down to its factory firmware.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The most common way to execute code on the Wii U for 5.5.5 and below is through vulnerabilities in the Wii U's built in web browser. There are many different userland and PowerPC kernel exploits in the Wii U internet browser. The earliest userland exploits used C code (on versions 2.0.0-5.3.2) and libstagefright bugs (on versions 5.4.0-5.5.1) to load custom code in the browser, with memory and permission limitations. The first kernel exploit found in the browser, called osdriver, only works on system versions 5.3.2 and lower, but this is no longer used as the 5.5.1 and lower exploit is more reliable. Currently, two different browser kernel exploits are used in the community. The first exploit found works on 5.5.1 and below and is very reliable. The other kernel exploit works on 5.5.2 and below, but due to its unreliability, it is only used on 5.5.2 to install a Wii U software exploit called Haxchi. When installed to a DS VC game, Haxchi launches homebrew directly (such as the Wii U Homebrew Launcher) using an exploit installed in the game's file location. There is also an additional, optional, part of Haxchi called "Coldboot Haxchi" or CBHC. CBHC allows custom firmware to be enabled automatically each time the system is turned on by running the Virtual Console game directly on boot, whereas other exploits have to be run every time manually. However, CBHC has an increased risk of rendering the system inoperable as deleting the Virtual Console game, among other things, will brick the console, rendering it unusable.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Many homebrew applications that run via the Homebrew Launcher have been collected and hosted on wiiubru.com. These hosted applications can be downloaded directly on the Wii U using The Homebrew App Store app in the repository.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Wii U's built-in emulated Wii environment (often nicknamed vWii or Wii Mode) is capable of running Wii homebrew, such as The Homebrew Channel. However, vWii is much more fragile than a real Wii console and has a higher chance of being rendered inoperable if dangerous software is used. Also, due to changes made to the Wii operating system in vWii mode, previous exploits that utilized the Wii Menu itself to load the HackMii Installer, such as Letterbomb, do not work on vWii. The only ways to hack vWii without one of the exploit games is by using applications called wuphax or Compat Installer. Wuphax uses the public Wii U IOSU exploit to temporarily inject the HackMii installer into the Mii Channel so that The Homebrew Channel can be installed without an exploit game. Compat Installer uses the public IOSU exploit to install the Open-Source Homebrew Channel from Wii U Mode.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Nintendo Switch was first exploited by a team called ReSwitched. On March 14, 2017, about 11 days after the console's release, the team released their exploit to the public. This exploit was called PegaSwitch. It did not allow true homebrew to run on the system at the time, but it did let developers look for other security bugs in the system. Later that year on October 1, ReSwitched announced new exploits and tools that allowed homebrew developers to start working on homebrew programs for the system before they could be launched. At the 34th Chaos Communication Congress, hackers Plutoo, Derrek, and Naehrwert announced a kernel exploit for the system (which they said would not be released) and said that a homebrew launcher was coming soon.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: On January 7, 2018, Twitter user fail0verflow uploaded a video showing a simple side-scrolling text program before booting the system, which shows that there was a way to run unsigned code before boot-up, opening up possibilities for new programs focused on development. On March 29, 2018, SciresM, a respected developer in the homebrew community, announced that a custom firmware called "Atmosphere" would be released for all available firmware versions at the time. Firmware above and including 1.0.0 are hackable via a cold boot exploit known as Fusée Gelée, developed by the ReSwitched team. This exploit takes advantage of a bug in the boot ROM on the Tegra X1 chip used by the Nintendo Switch. The exploit was also independently discovered by fail0verflow under the name ShofEL2. Firmware version 1.0.0 is hackable via a TrustZone exploit known as Jamais Vu. Atmosphere released its first public build in October 2018.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: Currently, the Nintendo Switch has both a homebrew launcher and custom firmware. Access to a Japanese copy of Puyo Puyo Tetris is needed to install CFW on version 1.0.0. The ability to install homebrew on the Nintendo Switch is also dependent on the version of the console. As consoles that were released after June 2018 with version 4.1.0 shipped have their boot ROMs patched against the full control TrustZone exploit that would allowed for homebrew to be installed, it is currently not possible to install homebrew to the HAC-001(-01) revision of the Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo Switch Lite, and the Nintendo Switch – OLED Model without the purchase and installation of a specialized modchip which replicates the vulnerability of the Tegra X1 chip.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Xbox One and Series X/S have a Dev Mode which, though intended to be used for retail game development, can be used to run unsigned homebrew software. It can be enabled on any retail Xbox console. Dev Mode disables retail games and software while enabled. Homebrew software can be developed as Universal Windows Platform applications, allowing many programs designed to run on desktop editions of Windows 10 to run on the console including console emulators. In order to activate developer mode, one has to first register for an app developer account, which has a fee of $19.


title: Homebrew (video games)

text: The Xbox One and Series X/S have had limited exploits found, but very few have allowed homebrew, and all known exploits have been patched as of October 2022.


title: Gudrun

text: Gudrun ( ; ) or Kriemhild ( ; ) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two queens of the Merovingian dynasty, Brunhilda of Austrasia and Fredegund.


title: Gudrun

text: In both the Continental (German) and Scandinavian traditions, Gudrun/Kriemhild is the sister of the Burgundian king Gunther/Gunnar and marries the hero Siegfried/Sigurd. Both traditions also feature a major rivalry between Gudrun and Brunhild, Gunther's wife, over their respective ranks. In both traditions, once Sigurd has been murdered, Gudrun is married to Etzel/Atli, the legendary analogue of Attila the Hun. In the Norse tradition, Atli desires the hoard of the Nibelungen, which the Burgundians had taken after murdering Sigurd, and invites them to his court; intending to kill them. Gudrun then avenges her brothers by killing Atli and burning down his hall. The Norse tradition then tells of her further life as mother of Svanhild and enemy of Jormunrekr. In the continental tradition, Kriemhild instead desires revenge for her brothers' murder of Siegfried, and invites them to visit Etzel's court intending to kill them. Her revenge destroys both the Huns and the Burgundians, and in the end she herself is killed.


title: Gudrun

text: In Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", Siegfried's wife is known as Gutrune. As Wagner's cycle ends with Siegfried's funeral and its immediate aftermath, it does not include her marriage to Atli/Etzel or revenge for Siegfried's death.


title: Gudrun

text: Some of the differences and similarities between Gudrun and Kriemhild in the Scandinavian and continental Germanic traditions can be seen in the following two stanzas taken from original sources. The first is Kriemhild's introduction in the "Nibelungenlied":


title: Gudrun

text: The etymology of "Gudrun" ("Guðrún") is straightforward: it consists of two elements. The first is Proto-Germanic "*gunþ-", Old Norse "gunnr", meaning battle; it shows the typical North Sea Germanic loss of a nasal before a dental spirant ("*Gunþrūn" to "Guðrún"). The second element is Old Norse "rún", meaning secret. On the continent, this name is only attested for an apparently unrelated figure (see "Kudrun").


title: Gudrun

text: The etymology of "Kriemhild" is less clear. The second element is clearly "-hild", meaning battle or conflict. There is no consensus about the first element though, and it is also variously spelled "Grim-" and "Crem-". One theory derives it from a root "*Grīm-" (cf. Old English "grīma") meaning mask. Another theory connects it an otherwise unattested root "Krēm-". According to both theories, the form "Grim-" with a short vowel represents an alteration of the original root to be more similar to the word "grim", meaning terrible. Yet another theory derives the first element from a verb similar to Middle High German "grimmen", meaning to rage.


title: Gudrun

text: In the Scandinavian tradition, Gudrun's mother is known as Grimhild ("Grimhildr"), the cognate name to Kriemhild. Victor Millet suggests that the name, along with the mother's wickedness, may derive from the continental tradition.


title: Gudrun

text: Scholarly opinion diverges as to which name is more original: either both names are old, the name "Gudrun" is the original name and the name "Kriemhild" a later invention, or the name "Kriemhild" is the original name and the name "Gudrun" was created to share the same first element as the other Burgundians "Gunther" ("Gunnar") and "Guthorm" (see Gundomar I).


title: Gudrun

text: Gudrun is believed to have her origins in two historical figures who featured in two originally independent oral traditions, one about the death of Sigurd and another about the destruction of the Burgundians by the Huns.


title: Gudrun

text: In the first instance, Gudrun's quarrel with Brunhild, which results in Sigurd's death at the urging of the latter, is widely thought to have its origins in the quarrel between the two historical Frankish queens, Brunhilda of Austrasia and Fredegund, the latter of whom had Brunhild's husband Sigebert I murdered by his brother Chilperic I, her husband. In the oral tradition, Brunhilda's name has become attached to the murderer rather than the wife. The second element of Fredegund's name, meanwhile, corresponds with the first in Gudrun's.


title: Gudrun

text: In the case of the destruction of the Burgundians, Gudrun can be traced to Attila's wife Ildico, who was rumored to have murdered him. The written form Ildico is generally taken to represent the Germanic name "*Hildiko", which would be a diminutive form of the name "Hild" and would thus correspond to the second element in "Kriemhild".


title: Gudrun

text: Kriemhild is the main character of the "Nibelungenlied" (c. 1200): she is the first character to be introduced and the romance ends with her death. The poem is even called "Kriemhild" in at least one manuscript. It has even been argued that the epic represents a sort of "Bildungsroman" for Kriemhild, as she develops from a relatively mild-manner courtly lady into a forceful and ferocious avenger of her dead husband. Various versions of the text judge her actions differently; in the A and B versions, she is condemned as a "vâlendinne" (fiend) for her bloody revenge, but the C version emphasizes her love for her dead husband as her motivation and absolves her of most blame.


title: Gudrun

text: In the "Nibelungenlied", Kriemhild is the daughter of king Dancrat and queen Ute of Burgundy, a kingdom centered around Worms. Her brothers are Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher, with Gunther being the king. The poem opens when Kriemhild has a dream that she raised a falcon only to see it killed by two eagles. Her mother explains to her that this means she will love a man very much, but he will be killed. One day, Siegfried comes to the Burgundian court, intending to woo Kriemhild. The two do not speak for a year, but once Siegfried has helped the Burgundians in a war the two are allowed to see each other for the first time. They fall deeply in love and see each other daily. Once Siegfried has helped Kriemhild's brother king Gunther acquire Brunhild as his bride, Kriemhild and Siegfried are also married. The couple then leaves from Siegfried's own kingdom at Xanten.


title: Gudrun

text: Some years pass, and Kriemhild and Siegfried have a son whom they name Gunther. One day, Brunhild, who had been convinced that Siegfried was Gunther's vassal rather than an equal king, convinces Gunther to invite his sister and Siegfried to stay with them at Worms. Initially, Brunhild and Kriemhild get along, but in the private while they are watching a tournament, they soon argue over which of them has the highest ranking husband. Brunhild accuses Kriemhild of being married to a vassal. The queens part in anger. Later, the two queens encounter each other before entering the cathedral at Worms for mass. Brunhild and Kriemhild each insist that they should be allowed to enter the church before the other. Brunhild repeats her accusation that Kriemhild is married to a vassal publicly. Kriemhild then declares that Siegfried, and not Gunther, has taken Brunhild's virginity, displaying Brunhild apparent proof. Kriemhild then enters the church before Brunhild.


title: Gudrun

text: Siegfried is forced to publicly deny the accusation to Gunther, and beats Kriemhild to punish her. Brunhild is not satisfied, however, and Hagen convinces Gunther to have Siegfried murdered. Under the pretext that he wants to protect Siegfried, Hagen convinces Kriemhild to reveal the only spot where impenetrable Siegfried may be wounded. Once Siegfried is murdered while hunting with Hagen and Gunther, his body is thrown in front of Kriemhild's bedroom door. Kriemhild quickly realizes that Siegfried was murdered by Gunther and Hagen. Kriemhild sees to Siegfried's burial and refuses to return to Xanten with Siegfried's father, instead remaining in Worms near her family and Siegfried's tomb. Eventually, Gunther and his brothers are able to reconcile with Kriemhild, but she refuses to forgive Hagen. Kriemhild has the hoard of the Nibelungen, which she has inherited after Siegfried's death, brought to Worms. She uses the hoard to acquire warriors; Hagen, realizing that she is dangerous, conspires to steal the hoard and sink it in the Rhine.


title: Gudrun

text: Thirteen years later, king Etzel of the Huns seeks Kriemhild's hand in marriage, and she reluctantly agrees. Thirteen years after her arrival in Etzel's kingdom, she convinces Etzel to invite her brothers to a feast. Gunther agrees and the Burgundians and their vassals arrive at Etzel's court. Kriemhild greets her brothers but mockingly asks Hagen whether he has brought her what he stole at Worms. Later, Kriemhild confronts Hagen with a group of Huns, and Hagen provokes her by bragging that he killed Siegfried. None of the Huns is brave enough to attack, and the Burgundians prevent an attack that Kriemhild had planned for that night. The next day, Kriemhild convinces Etzel's brother Bloedelin to attack the Burgundians' supplies; this occurs while Etzel, Kriemhild, and their son Ortlieb are seated in the hall with Burgundians. Upon hearing of the attack, Hagen decapitates the Hunnish prince. Fighting erupts, but Dietrich von Bern arranges for Kriemhild and Etzel to leave the hall. Kriemhild later demands that Gunther surrender Hagen to her, but he refuses: she then has the hall set on fire. Eventually, Dietrich von Bern captures Gunther and Hagen as the last survivors in the hall, handing them over to Kriemhild. Kriemhild separates the two and demands that Hagen give back to her what he has taken from her. Hagen says he cannot tell her where the hoard is as long as his lord Gunther lives; Kriemhild then has Gunther decapitated. Hagen then reveals that the hoard is in the Rhine; Kriemhild takes Siegfried's sword, which Hagen had stolen, and beheads him with it herself. Dietrich's mentor Hildebrand, outraged that a woman has killed a great warrior, then hacks Kriemhild to pieces.


title: Gudrun

text: Although Kriemhild does not appear as a living character in the "Nibelungenklage", the sequel to the "Nibelungenlied", the poem nevertheless goes to great lengths to absolve her of blame for the catastrophe of the "Nibelungenlied". According to the "Nibelungenklage", Kriemhild was acting out of true love for Siegfried and the true treachery was that of Hagen. This is underlined by having Hildebrand specifically blame Hagen for the disaster, calling him a "vâlant" (fiend), the male counterpart to the accusation that Kriemhild is a "vâlandinne" (fiend).


title: Gudrun

text: Although the "Þiðrekssaga" (c. 1250) is written in Old Norse, the majority of the material is translated from German (particularly Low German) oral tales, as well as possibly some from German written sources such as the "Nibelungenlied". Therefore, it is included here.


title: Gudrun

text: In the "Thidrekssaga", Grimhild (Kriemhild) is the daughter of king Aldrian of Niflungaland and Oda, sister of king Gunnar (Gunther), Gisler (Giselher), and Gernoz (Gernot), and half sister of Högni (Hagen). When Sigurd (Siegfried) comes to Gunnar's kingdom one day, he marries Grimhild and suggests that Gunnar marry Brunhild. Some time later, Grimhild and Brunhild argue over precedent in the king's hall. Brunhild accuses Grimhild of not even being married to a man of noble birth, whereupon Grimhild reveals that Sigurd and not Gunnar took Brunhild's virginity, showing a ring that Sigurd had given her as proof. Brunhild then agitates for Sigurd's murder; once Grimhild's brothers have murdered Sigurd, they place his corpse in her bed.


title: Gudrun

text: Some time later, Atli (Etzel) woos Grimhild to be his new wife. Seven years later Grimhild convinces Atli to invite the Burgundians (called Niflungs) to visit her by mentioning the hoard of the Nibelungen which her brothers had stolen from her. Atli is seized by greed for the hoard and agrees. Once the Burgundians arrive, Grimhild demands the hoard from them, but Högni replies that it was left behind. Grimhild attempts to convince Atli's brother Bloedel and Thidrek (Dietrich von Bern) to help her take revenge, but both refuse. Finally, she provokes a fight by bringing her and Atli's son into the hall, seating him across from Högni, and telling the son to hit Högni. Högni reacts to a second blow by cutting off the prince's head, leading to a terrible massacre. After severe fighting, Gunnar is captured, and Grimhild tells Atli to throw him in a tower full of snakes. Högni now leads the Burgundians, who lock themselves in the king's hall. Grimhild orders the hall set on fire, and in the following battle Gisler and Gernoz die. Grimhild sticks a piece of flaming wood into her dead brothers' mouths to see if they are dead, causing an enraged Thidrek to kill her.


title: Gudrun

text: The author of the saga has made a number of changes to create a more or less coherent story out of the many oral and possibly written sources that he used to create the saga. The author mentions alternative Scandinavian versions of many of these same tales, and appears to have changed some details to match the stories known by his Scandinavian audience. The saga's version of the downfall of the Burgundians represents a unique mix of elements known from the Norse and continental traditions.


title: Gudrun

text: In the "Rosengarten zu Worms" (c. 1250), Kriemhild is the daughter of king Gibeche. She possesses a rose garden that is guarded by twelve heroes, including her fiancé, Siegfried. Desiring to see whether Siegfried can beat Dietrich von Bern in combat, she challenges Dietrich to bring twelve of his own heroes for a day of tournaments in the rose garden. The winner will receive a garland and a kiss from her as a reward. Dietrich accepts the challenge, and the heroes come to Worms. Eventually, all of the Burgundian heroes are defeated, including Siegfried, who flees to Kriemhild's lap in fear when Dietrich starts breathing fire. Dietrich's warrior Ilsan, a monk, punishes Kriemhild for her haughtiness in challenging Dietrich by demanding so many kisses from Kriemhild that his rough beard causes her face to bleed. In one version of the poem, Hagen curses Kriemhild for having provoked the combat.


title: Gudrun

text: The poem takes a highly critical judgment of Kriemhild. As in the A and B versions of the "Nibelungenlied", she is called a "vâlandinne" (fiend) and she derives great joy from watching the knights fight in at times brutal combat.


title: Gudrun

text: The name of Kriemhild's father, Gibeche, corresponds to Gjúki in the Scandinavian tradition, and is also found in the "Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid" and Heldenbuch-Prosa (see below); this shows the "Rosengarten's" connection to an oral tradition outside of the "Nibelungenlied", despite the "Rosengarten's" obvious knowledge of the earlier poem.


title: Gudrun

text: The Heldenbuch-Prosa, first found in the 1480 Heldenbuch of Diebolt von Hanowe and afterwards contained in printings until 1590, is considered one of the most important attestations of a continued oral tradition outside of the "Nibelungenlied", with many details agreeing with the "Thidrekssaga".


title: Gudrun

text: In the Heldenbuch-Prosa, Kriemhild is the daughter of king Gibeche and married to Siegfried. She arranges for the disaster at Etzel's hall in order to take vengeance on Dietrich von Bern for having killed Siegfried in the rose garden. She provokes the fighting by having her and Etzel's son brought into the hall and having the child provoke Hagen, who kills him. This leads to an outbreak of hostilities in which many heroes die. When Dietrich takes Gunther and Hagen prisoner, she cuts off their heads, causing Dietrich to cut her to pieces.


title: Gudrun

text: In the late medieval/early modern heroic ballad "Das Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid", Kriemhild is the daughter of king Gybich and sister of Gunther, Gyrnot (Gernot), and Hagen. The name Gybich agrees with the "Rosengarten zu Worms" and corresponds to the Old Norse Gjúki, and the fact that Hagen is one of Kriemhild's brothers accords with the "Thidrekssaga" and the Scandinavian tradition as well. This is taken as evidence that these elements of the tradition existed in oral story-telling into the late Middle Ages.


title: Gudrun

text: In the middle of the ballad, a dragon abducts Kriemhild from her home in Worms. The dragon holds Kriemhild captive for years in his lair of mount Trachenstein (dragon stone), treating her well. One day it lays its head in her lap and transforms into a man, explaining that she needs to stay with him for five years. After that time he will marry her and they will travel to hell together. Kriemhild prays to avoid this fate. Finally, Siegfried (Seyfrid) arrives to save her, but the dragon appears. The dragon forces Siegfried and Kriemhild to flee into the depths of the mountain, where they find the treasure of the Nibelungen and a sword that can cut through the dragon's skin. Siegfried defeats the dragon, and Kriemhild and Siegfried return to Worms, where they are married and Siegfried rules together with Kriemhild's brothers. Her brothers, however, resent how powerful Siegfried has become and after seven years, they murder him.


title: Gudrun

text: It has been suggested that Siegfried's liberation of Kriemhild may be a repurposing of a lost German story about Brunhild, though this is far from certain. The "Nibelungenlied" version m includes a version of Siegfried's freeing of Kriemhild from a dragon, meaning the legend developed by 1400. The earliest surviving copy of the ballad itself is from 1530.


title: Gudrun

text: The ninth-century anonymous Saxon poet known as Poeta Saxo records that Attila's wife killed him to avenge the death of her father.


title: Gudrun

text: The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus records in his "Gesta Danorum" that a Saxon minstrel tried unsuccessfully to warn the Danish prince Canute Lavard of the betrayal of his cousin Magnus the Strong by singing of "the famous treachery of Grimhild against her brothers" ("notissimam Grimildae erga fratres perfidiam").


title: Gudrun

text: The phrase "Kriemhilden hôchzît" (Kriemhild's festival) is attested in other medieval German works to denote an especially bloody battle.


title: Gudrun

text: In a song of the mid-thirteenth-century wandering lyric poet Der Marner, "whom Kriemhild betrayed" ("wen Kriemhilt verriet") is mentioned as a popular story that the German courtly public enjoyed hearing, along with tales of Sigurd's death and the hoard of the Nibelungs.


title: Gudrun

text: The Hungarian chronicler Simon of Kéza (late thirteenth-century) records that Attila the Hun was killed by his wife Kriemhild.


title: Gudrun

text: The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus records a version of the story of Jorumrek (Ermanaric)'s death that includes Gudrun (as Guthruna) in Latin in his "Gesta Danorum" . In this version, in which "Jarmericus" is a Danish king, Gudrun appears as a powerful sorceress who casts spells on the weapons of the brothers coming to avenge Svanhild's death that make them invincible.


title: Gudrun

text: Saxo probably completed his history before 1208, making this the earliest version of the Scandinavian tradition to have survived and roughly contemporary with the "Nibelungenlied". Victor Millet nevertheless believes that Saxo is of little value as a source for authentic heroic traditions, as he appears to have thoroughly altered whatever sources he used.


title: Gudrun

text: The so-called Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson is the earliest attestation of the full Scandinavian version of Gudrun's life, dating to around 1220. Snorri tells the story of Gudrun in several chapters of the section of the poem called "Skáldskaparsmál". His presentation of the story is very similar to that found in the "Völsunga saga" (see below), but is considerably shorter.


title: Gudrun

text: Gudrun is introduced as the daughter of Gjúki and Grimhild, full sister to Gunnar and Högni, and half-sister to Guthorm. Gudrun marries Sigurd when he comes to Gjúki's kingdom. When Sigurd returns from aiding Gunnar in his wooing of Brunhild, Sigurd and Gudrun have two children, a son named Sigmund and a daughter named Svanhild. Some time later, Gudrun and Brunhild have a quarrel while washing their hair in a river: Brunhild says that she cannot have the water that touched Gudrun's hair touch hers, for she is married to the braver husband. The fight leads Gudrun to reveal that it was Sigurd in Gunnar's shape who rode through the flames to woo Brunhild, producing a ring that Sigurd had taken from Brunhild as proof. This knowledge leads Brunhild to agitate for Sigurd's murder, which is performed by Gudrun's half-brother Guthorm, who also kills the young Sigmund.


title: Gudrun

text: Following this, Gudrun is married to king Atli (Attila). When Atli invites Gudrun's brothers and kills them for their gold, Gudrun kills her two sons by Atli. She makes their skulls into drinking goblets and cooks their hearts, giving them to Atli to eat. She then tells Atli what she has done, and later kills Atli together with Högni's son. She then burns down the hall.


title: Gudrun

text: Afterwards, Gudrun tries to drown herself in the sea, but she washes ashore in the land of King Jonak. Jonak marries her and has three sons with her, Sorli, Hamdir, and Erp. Svanhild, Sigurd's daughter, is also raised there, before being married to king Jormunrek. When Jormunrek kills Svanhild for adultery, Gudrun tells her sons to kill him, giving them special weapons that could not be pierced by iron. The sons die in the attempt, leading to the extinction of Gjúki's line.


title: Gudrun

text: The "Poetic Edda", a collection of heroic and mythological Nordic poems, appears to have been compiled around 1270 in Iceland, and assembles mythological and heroic songs of various ages. As elsewhere in the Scandinavian tradition, Gudrun is portrayed as the sister of Gunnar and Högni. Depending on the poem Guthorm is either her full brother, step-brother, or half-brother. A sister Gullrönd also appears in one poem.


title: Gudrun

text: Generally, none of the poems in the collection is thought to be older than 900 and some appear to have been written in the thirteenth century. It is also possible that apparently old poems have been written in an archaicizing style and that apparently recent poems are reworkings of older material, so that reliable dating is impossible.


title: Gudrun

text: In "Grípisspá", a prophecy that Sigurd receives about his future life and deeds, it is mentioned that Gudrun will be his wife, and that Brunhild will feel insulted by this. The prophecy ends shortly after describing Gudrun's grief and blaming her mother Grimhild for the whole debacle.


title: Gudrun

text: "Brot af Sigurðarkviðu" is only preserved fragmentarily: the surviving part of the poem tells the story of Sigurd's murder. The poem briefly shows Gudrun's surprise and grief at Sigurd's death, as well as her hostility to Brunhild. She is portrayed as a less important character than Brunhild. The lost part of the poem probably shows Gudrun to reveal Sigurd and Gunnar's deception in the wooing.


title: Gudrun

text: In "Guðrúnarkviða I", Gudrun lies besides Sigurd's corpse but is unable to weep. Two other women attempt to comfort her by telling of their own grief, but it is only when Gudrun's sister Gullrönd uncovers Sigurd's body and tells her to kiss it that she is able to weep. Gudrun now accuses Gunnar of the murder and denies him any right to Sigurd's treasure. She warns that she will avenge her husband. It is implied that if Gudrun had been unable to weep, she may have died.


title: Gudrun

text: The poem focuses entirely on Gudrun's grief at the death of Sigurd, omitting almost all details surrounding his death. The three women, including Gudrun's sister Gullrönd, are probably inventions of the poet.


title: Gudrun

text: "Sigurðarkviða hin skamma" retells the story of Sigurd's life from his arrival at Gunnar's court to his murder.


title: Gudrun

text: Gudrun plays a passive role in the poem. She is shown to wake up in a pool of blood from the dying Sigurd, who then makes a short speech to her blaming Brunhild, predicting the murder of their son, assuring her that he has not slept with Brunhild, and noting that he brothers still live. After this, she disappears from the poem and is only mentioned by Brunhild.


title: Gudrun

text: The "Dráp Niflunga" is a short prose section connecting the death of Sigurd to the following poems about the Burgundians (Niflungs) and Atli (Attila). Atli, who is Brunhild's brother, blames Gunnar for Brunhild's death, and in order to placate him Gunnar marries Gudrun to Atli. Gudrun must be given a magic potion to make her forget about Sigurd first. Some time later Atli invites Gunnar and Högni intending to betray them and take their gold. Gudrun attempts to warn her brothers, but they come anyway. After they are taken prisoner by Atli, she asks her sons to intervene with their father on Gunnar and Högni's behalf, but they refuse.


title: Gudrun

text: In "Guðrúnarkviða II", Gudrun is at Atli's court. She laments of her fate to Thiodrek (Þjódrekr, i.e. Dietrich von Bern and tells the story of her tribulations leading to her marriage to Atli. She recounts how Sigurd was killed and how she then wandered to Denmark, where she stayed with King Half for three and a half years. Then her family came for her, and her mother Grimhild gave her a potion to forget her sorrow. Then she was forced to marry Atli. One night, Atli awoke and told Gudrun that he had had a dream that she would kill him and cause him to eat his sons. Gudrun interprets the dream in a way that makes it seem harmless.


title: Gudrun

text: The poem is probably one of the most recent in the "Poetic Edda". Its account of Sigurd's death generally follow the account in "Brot af Sigurðarkviðu", but ignores Brunhild and includes the detail that Gudrun went into the woods to mourn over Sigurd's body. The inclusion of the figure of Thiodrek points to continental influence on the poem. The last stanza is incomplete, and scholars debate whether the poem originally also included Gudrun's killing of Atli and his sons.


title: Gudrun

text: Victor Millet notes that the detail of the potion of forgetting helps explain why Gudrun does not seek to avenge Sigurd; he connects this to a possible attempt to discount the continental version of the story, which the poet appears to have known. The use of the name Grimhild for her mother, the cognate name for Kriemhild, and that character's manifest wickedness may also derive from the continental tradition.


title: Gudrun

text: In "Guðrúnarkviða III", Atli's concubine Herkja accuses Gudrun of sleeping with Thiodrek. Gudrun denies the charges and engages in an ordeal of hot water to prove her innocence. To perform the ordeal, she puts her hand into the kettle of boiling water, and because she is innocent, she is unscathed. Herkja is then forced to performed the same ordeal and burns herself. As a punishment, she is killed by being drowned in a bog.


title: Gudrun

text: Like "Guðrúnarkviða II", "Guðrúnarkviða III" shows knowledge of continental traditions with the figure of Thiodrek. In addition, Herkja corresponds to the German Helche (in the "Thidrekssaga", Erka), the first wife of Etzel (Atli) in the continental tradition. She only appears here in the "Poetic Edda". Michael Curschmann argues that the poem is a transformation of a continental Germanic legend in which Dietrich (Thjodrek) is accused of sleeping with Etzel's wife Helche (Herkja), with whom he had a close relationship; an Old Norse poet then made Herkja into a concubine and accuser and made Gudrun into the accused.


title: Gudrun

text: Although the poem is placed before the poems about Atli's death in the codex, references to Gudrun being without kin seem to indicate that it takes place after the death of the Burgundians.


title: Gudrun

text: In "Atlakviða", Atli invites Gudrun's brothers Högni and Gunnar to his hall with the intent of killing them. The brothers come, although Gudrun has sent them a warning. Once Gunnar and Högni are dead, Gudrun offers Atli a drink and invites him and the Huns to a feast. After all are drunk, she reveals that Atli has eaten his sons, kills him, then sets the hall on fire, killing everyone within, including herself.


title: Gudrun

text: "Atlakviða" is commonly supposedly to be one of the oldest poems in the "Poetic Edda", possibly dating from the ninth century. Gudrun feeding Atli his sons may derive from the antique story of Tereus and Procne, however. The poem is particularly notable in that Sigurd is not mentioned at all.


title: Gudrun

text: "Atlamál hin groenlenzku" tells the same story as "Atlakviða" with several important differences. Gudrun tries to warn her brothers of Atli's betrayal, but they decide to come anyway. Gudrun greets her brothers when they arrive and tries to negotiate between them and Atli, but when she sees that this is not possible she fights together with them until she is captured. Gudrun and Atli then accuse each other of causing the slaughter. Atli kills Gunnar and Högni and then tells Gudrun. She curses him, and he offers her some form of compensation, which she refuses. Gudrun pretends to have reconciled herself with the situation, but secretly kills her sons and feeds them to Atli. She tells Atli what he has eaten then kills Atli with the help of Högni's son Hniflung. While he dies, Atli claims to have treated Gudrun well and accuses her of being cruel. Gudrun defends herself and promises to bury Atli appropriately, and tries to kill herself.


title: Gudrun

text: This version of the poem makes the destruction of the Burgundians look like the result of a feud between Atli and Gudrun; Atli is even said to execute Gunnar and Högni to hurt his wife.