The Nibelungenlied
Paradis | October 12, 2009
The Nibelungenlied is an epic poem in Middle High German taking Burgundian kings as its subject matter. It is the work of an anonymous 13th century poet from the Danube area. The word Nibelungen has several meanings, referring to the Burgundian kings portrayed in the poem, and to the followers of Siegfried, and to a legendary race of Germanic dwarfs.
No poem in German literature, is more well known than the Nibelungenlied. No poem has been more studied or discussed, reaching way back into German early years of chivalry and of ancient Germanic folklore and probably of Teutonic mythology. Indeed, it has been hailed as the German Illiad. the tale of the struggle between the powers of good and evil, and light and darkness.
Surprisingly, considering it’s popularity, the Nibelungenlied poem almost fell into obscurity in times past. But the old legend was not forgotten, and managed to live on among the people, and was turned into a popular ballad, ‘Das Lied vom Hurnen Segfrid’, which has been preserved in a print of the sixteenth century, although the poem itself is thought to go back at least to the thirteenth century.
The legend was possibly developed by minstrels along the Rhine, until it was taken and worked on by some Austrian poet. Hans Sachs was a poet from Nuremberg, and a local shoemaker, and he dramatized the legend. A young physician by the name of J.H. Obereit had the honour of rediscovering the ‘Nibelungenlied’ and of restoring it to the world of literature, after finding it in a castle in the Tirol in 1755, and Karl Lachmann carried out the scientific study of the poem.
The basis of the poem is the story of Siegfried and his tragic death, and the vengeance upon his slayers , and was known to all nations, not only along the banks of the Rhine and the Danube and Southern Germany, but also the rocky fjords of Norway, among the Angles and Saxons in their new home across the channel, even in the distant Shetland Islands and Iceland.
The story was told around the fires at night and sung to the harp in the banqueting halls of kings and nobles. The legend spread far and wide, and make it difficult to know where its origin lies. It may have been introduced to Scandinavia by German traders, or slaves captured by the Northmen on their marauding expeditions as early as the sixth century.
The language of the ‘Nibelungenlied’ is the so called Middle High German, written and spoken in the period between 1100 and 1500. and written in the Austrian dialect of the close of the twelfth century, but contains many archaisms, which point to the fact of its having undergone a number of revisions.
Synopsis:
Siegfried proposes to Kriemhild, the beautiful sister of Gunther, Gernot and Giselher, three Burgundian kings. He is allowed to marry her after he defeats Brunhild, the queen of Iceland, with the aid of a cloak which lets him become invisible. Brunhild becomes Gunther’s wife. Kriemhild lets slip the secret in a row with Brunhild, and Hagen decides to kill Siegfried. He finds out his most vulnerable spot and kills him while they are hunting.
Attila the Hun now proposes to Kriemhild, and she invites the Burgundians to a feast in Hungary. There is a huge fight, and everyone is killed except Gunther and Hagen who are captured by Dietrich of Bern. Kriemhild demands the return of the Nibelungen treasure, which was stolen by Hagen. When she fails to get it back, she arranges for Gunther to be killed and cuts off Hagen’s head with Siegfried’s sword. She in turn is killed by Hildebrand, Dietrich’s armourer.
The Niebelungenlied served as source material for Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
The Ring of the Nibelung also known as Der Ring des Nibelungen.
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