Arnold von Melchtal, also spelt Melchthal and otherwise Arnold von der Halden, was one of the three Eidgenossen, the legendary founding fathers of Switzerland. He represented the Canton of Unterwalden at the Rütlischwur. Aegidius Tschudi in his Chronicon Helveticum tells Arnold's story as follows: This case, among other similar events, gave the people of Uri, Schwyz and Underwalden ample reasons to form a pact against their cruel overlords. This pact was the Rütlischwur which in the end led to the overthrow of the foreign magistrates, and the independence of the Switzerland.