Nibelungenlied

The Nibelungenlied is an epic poem in Middle High German that takes Burgundian kings as its subject matter. It is the work of an anonymous poet from the Danube, dating from about 1190/1200. He re-worked various pre-Christian Teutonic and Nordic heroic motifs and oral traditions into a work of courtly poetry.

Related Topics:
Epic poem - Middle High German - Burgundian - Poet - Danube - 1190 - 1200 - Teutonic - Nordic - Poetry

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An early critic labelled it a German "Iliad", arguing that, like the Greek epic, it goes back to the remotest times and unites the monumental fragments of half-forgotten myths and historical personages into a poem that is essentially national in character. The Nibelungenlied is pervaded by deep tragedies, the tragedy of fate, the inevitable retribution for crime, the unending struggle between the forces of good and evil, of light and darkness.

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There is also a somewhat less modified Old Norse version, known as the Volsunga saga. In this, the adventures of Sigurd, (the Scandinavian equivalent of the Germanic Siegfried, the hero of the Nibelungenlied), and his ancestors are told in detail tracing his ancestry back to Wodan.

Related Topics:
Old Norse - Volsunga saga - Sigurd - Wodan

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The word Nibelung has several meanings, referring to the Burgundian kings portrayed in the poem, to the followers of Siegfried, and to a legendary race of Germanic dwarfs.

Related Topics:
Nibelung - Burgundian - Dwarf

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