Reference
- NibelungIn Scandinavian and Germanic mythology, one of a race of dwarves whose hoard of gold is obtained by Sigurd (German Siegfried); in the Nibelungenlied, a member of the line of Burgundian rulers descended from Prince Nibelung...
- Nibelungen Hoard, theDescribed in the Middle High German epic poem Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs) as consisting of one hundred wagonloads of precious gems and many more wagons of red gold, the Nibelungen Hoard was given by Sigurd (Siegfried/Sigmund) to Kriemhild as his bridal gif. It is also associated with the sword Balmung. This treasure appears at key moments in the tale and eventually becomes the focal point as the lust for gold makes men betray their country, king, and principles. Whoever possessed the hoard was known as the Nibelunger...
- NibelungenliedAlthough we know of several heroic epics that were composed in Middle High German before 1200, the anonymous Nibelungenlied is the most famous representative of this genre, sharing many of its monumental, tragic elements with epics like Beowulf and Cantar de Mío Cid. Composed and later copied down around 1200, probably in Passau on behalf of Bishop Wolfger of Erla, the Nibelungenlied reflects historical events dating back to the fifth century when the Huns under Attila attacked western Europe. In a battle against Roman and Hunnish forces around 436/437, the Burgundian kingdom in the Rhine Valley under King Gundahari was destroyed...
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Richard Wagner's "The Ring of the Niebelungen"
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Wagner's theater opens with "The Ring of the Niebelungen." This segment features excerpts from "The Rhinegold," "The Valkyrie," and "Twilight of the Gods." Wagner uses leitmotif to announce or symbolize themes or characters in this long opera.
Online Resources
- Nibelungenlied: BritannicaNibelungenlied, (German: “Song of the Nibelungs”) Middle High German epic poem written about 1200 by an unknown Austrian from the Danube region. It is preserved in three main 13th-century manuscripts, A (now in Munich), B (St. Gall), and C (Donaueschingen); modern scholarship regards B as the most trustworthy. An early Middle High German title of the work is Der Nibelunge Not (“The Nibelung Distress”), from the last line of the poem. The superscription on one of the manuscripts from the early 14th century is “The Book of Kriemhild.”...
- The Nibelungenlied: Project GutenbergThis translation of the Nibelungenlied is published with the simple purpose of placing one of the world's great epic poems within the reach of English readers. Translations are at best but poor substitutes for originals. A new translation of a poem implies also a criticism of those that have preceded it. My apology for presenting this new English version of the Nibelungenlied is that none of those hitherto made has reproduced the metrical form of the original. In the hope of making the outlines of the poem clearer for the modern reader, I have endeavored to supply in the Introduction a historical background by summing up the results of investigation into its origin and growth. The translation itself was begun many years ago, when I studied the original under Zarncke in Leipzig...
- The Song of the Nibelungs: LOCThe Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs) is the most famous heroic poem in Middle High German. It tells the story of the dragon-slayer Siegfried from his childhood and his marriage to Kriemhild to his murder by the evil Hagen and Kriemhild's subsequent revenge, culminating in the annihilation of the Burgundians or Nibelungs at the court of the Huns. Originally based upon an older oral tradition, the poem was written down about or shortly after the year 1200, probably at the court of Wolfger von Erla, Bishop of Passau from 1191 to 1204. Today it is known only in the versions that have come down to the present in 37 manuscripts and fragments dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. In the 19th century, the Nibelungenlied had an enormous influence as a German national epic poem, as reflected in numerous works of visual art and in Richard Wagner's musical dramas. Codex A, which is preserved in the Bavarian State Library, was listed, together with two other primary manuscripts used to establish the text (Codices B and C), on the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2009...
Perspectives
The Nibelungenlied
'In ancient tales many marvels are told us ... now you may hear such marvels told!'The greatest of the heroic epics to emerge from medieval Germany, the Nibelungenlied is a revenge saga of sweeping dimensions. It tells of the dragon-slayer Sivrit, and the mysterious kingdom of the Nibelungs with its priceless treasure-hoard guarded by dwarves and giants, of Prunhilt the Amazonianqueen, fortune-telling water-sprites and a cloak of invisibility. Driven by the conflict between Kriemhilt, the innocent maiden turned she-devil, and her antagonist, the stoic, indomitable Hagen, the story is one of human tragedy, of love, jealousy, murder, and revenge, ending in slaughter on ahorrific scale. The work of an anonymous poet of c.1200, since its rediscovery in the eighteenth century the Nibelungenlied has come to be regarded as the national epic of the Germans. It has inspired countless reworkings and adaptations, including two masterpieces: Fritz Lang's two-part film, andRichard Wagner's Ring cycle.This is the first prose translation for over forty years: accurate and compelling, it is accompanied by a wealth of useful background information.
Nibelungenlied: a literary analysis
In the last fifty or so years there has been a gradual shift of attention in scholarship on the Nibelungenlied from reconstruction of the texts, and tracings of the poem’s multiple and complex antecedents, to interpretation. In spite of this trend, there is still a pressing need for a critical analysis of the Nibelungenlied as a whole that draws together its various literary qualities and examines in detail the epic’s unity, depth, and meaning. Professor Bekker’s study provides this kind of analysis. It takes a fresh approach, viewing the poem as a work of literary merit worthy to be read for its own sake. It traces the new designs which the poet brings to the Nibelungen tradition and provides detailed examinations of the main aspects of technique and structure in the epic. The approach is based on close consultation of the text, with little digression, in an attempt to guide the reader to an understanding and appreciation of the poem as the author intended it to be read...