Nibelungenlied

Nibelungenlied, written around 1200 in the Austro-Bavarian Danube area, developed from a long and complex tradition of legends that basically dealt with one concept, handed down in 35 manuscripts and fragments (newest finds in the library of Melk abbey in 1998). The Nibelungenlied is the most famous Middle High German epic and describes in the first part in 39 "Aventiuren" and about 2,400 stanzas Siegfried´s wooing of Kriemhild, the Princess of Worms, and her quarrel with Brünhild, the wife of her brother Gunther, which in the end leads to the murder of Siegfried by Hagen. The second part gives an account of Etzel´s (Attila's) wooing of the widow and the journey of the Burgundians along the Danube via Passau, Eferding, Enns, Pöchlarn, Traismauer, Tulln and Vienna down to Hungary to Etzel´s court, where they are all killed; Kriemhild revenges herself upon Hagen and is herself killed by Hildebrand. The plot of the second part reflects the history of the Burgundians during the migration of the Germanic peoples, whereas the story around Siegfried cannot be traced to any historical origins and has largely mythological and fairy tale characteristics. It is not clear when, why and how the two strands of the saga were strung together, and it is hardly possible to say what the original text was like. The three oldest preserved manuscripts (A, B, C) contain three differently accentuated versions; the lively wording of the text is as typical for this particular literary genre Epics as the anonymity of the poet or singer. The early and widespread impact of the Nibelungenlied, which began with the "lament" closely linked with version C (a sort of summary of the plot), was also caused by the fact that the epic was written in contemporary courtly style. However, the heroism in the Nibelungenlied has to be understood as a trait of the particular literary genre and there was little justification for using it for nationalist purposes.

Editions: H. de Boor, ²²1988; H. Brackert, 1970-1971 (with translation).

Literature: Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters (lex.); J. Heinzle, Das Nibelungenlied, 1987.