Is there any link between Achilles and Sigurd/Siegfried?

Question

The two heroes are invulnerable, Achilles because he was dipped in the river Styx by his mother Thetis, and Siegfried because he took a bath in the dragon's blood.

Both have a weak spot though, Achilles in the heel, where his mother held him, and Siegfried in the back, because a leaf from a tree had fallen on him.

Is there any link between them? Was Siegfried myth influenced by the Achilles story? Do both myths have a common Indoeuropean origin?

I'm curious if there is any other similar story in other mythologies as well.

Answer 1

It would seem that Achilles being dipped in the River refers to an old Smithy tale of Quenching: dipping the red-hot iron/carbon meat, aka steel, in water or oil to harden it. It is known Achilles wore a suit (of apparently steel) armor. The "weak spot" would be where the smithy held the armor during the quenching process.

Regarding "Indo-European" origins of metal-working, I would highly recommend this paper, found at academia.edu:

Tvaṣṭr, Meluhha of Bhāratam Janam (Rigveda) is Tuisto, divine ancestor of Germanic peoples (Tacitus), legacy of Proto-Indo-Aryan superstrate & Mitanni Treaty

This can be seen as a pilgrimage, a journey of Meluhha artisans/sea-faring merchants in Eurasia, during the Bronze Age, along the Maritime Tin Road from Hanoi, Vietnam to Haifa, Israel.

This journey also explains why many Proto-Indo-Aryan words like those present in Mitanni Treaty occur on Indus Script Corpora which is a veritable catalogus catalogurm of metalwork by metalcasters in the tradition of Tvaṣṭr , Tuisto...Tvaṣtṛi is the Vulcan of the Hindu mythology. He had a son named Triśiras...Meluhha of the Indian sprachbund, is the spoken form of chandas, the prosody of Rigveda. Tvaṣṭr is the metal artificer par excellence, who forges the vajra (thunderbolt) weapon for Indra, a narrative celebrated in exquisite metaphors of Rigvedic chandas..."King Shaushtatar (ruled c. 1430) extended the boundaries of Mitanni through the conquest of Alalakh, Nuzi, Assur, and Kizzuwatna. Egypt, under Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BCE), defeated the Mitanni at Aleppo after a long period of contention over control of the region of Syria. Later Egyptian dynasties entered into pacts and treaties with Mitanni and the daughter of the Mitanni King Tushratta, the princess Taduhepa, was given in marriage to Amenhotep III (1391-1353 BCE) as part of a treaty which balanced power between the two nations.This treaty was put to the test during a power struggle in Washukanni between Tushratta and a relative of the previous king, Shuttarna, known as Artatama II.

I am of the opinion that "Tadukhepa" is the same name as the Russian "Dudieva" ("khepa" is pronounced Eva or Eve) and she is none other than "Nefertiti." Further, King Shashtatar reminds strongly of Esua. Further, it seems clear chronology must be re-examined stringently: is this king not a Tartar? "Scratch a Russian and underneath you'll find a Tartar."

Answer 2

Some time ago I thought about the same. And I think there is a connection between many myths of different cultures or maybe even a form of proto-myth if you will. An example would be the Noah and flood story in Christendom and the Deucalion myth in Greek mythology. In the case of Siegfried and Achilles, I think it is somewhat justified to believe that both stories share at least some elements. Besides what you mentioned, there is also the idea that name 'Hagen from Tronje' actually derives from the word Troy (http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/Hagen_(legend)). However, this might be just a coincidence, as it was quite fashionable during the middle ages to claim some heroic heritage. Having said that, I am far from an expert in the field, but I sort of like it to be true.