The (, or ; or ), translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germanic heroic legend that has some of its origin in historic events and individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries and that spread throughout almost all of Germanic-speaking Europe. Scandinavian parallels to the German poem are found especially in the heroic lays of the Poetic Edda and in the Völsunga saga.
The poem is split into two parts. In the first part, the prince Siegfried comes to Worms to acquire the hand of the Burgundian princess Kriemhild from her brother King Gunther. Gunther agrees to let Siegfried marry Kriemhild if Siegfried helps Gunther acquire the warrior-queen Brünhild as his wife. Siegfried does this and marries Kriemhild; however, Brünhild and Kriemhild become rivals, leading eventually to Siegfried's murder by the Burgundian vassal Hagen with Gunther's involvement.
In the second part, the widow Kriemhild is married to Etzel, king of the Huns. She later invites her brother and his court to visit Etzel's kingdom intending to kill Hagen. Her revenge results in the death of all the Burgundians who came to Etzel's court as well as the destruction of Etzel's kingdom and the death of Kriemhild herself.
The was the first heroic epic put into writing in the German vernacular, helping to found a larger genre of written heroic poetry there. The poem's tragedy appears to have bothered its medieval audience, and very early on a sequel was written, the , which made the tragedy less final. The poem was forgotten after around 1500 but was rediscovered in 1755. Dubbed the "German Iliad", the began a new life as the German national epic. The poem was appropriated for nationalist purposes and was heavily used in anti-democratic, reactionary, and Nazi propaganda before and during the Second World War. Its legacy today is most visible in Richard Wagner's operatic cycle , which, however, is mostly based on Old Norse sources. In 2009, the three main manuscripts of the Designated as A (today in Munich, Bayerische Staatsbiblitohek), B (today in St. Gallen, Stiftsbiblitohek) and C (today in Karlsruhe, Baden State Library) were inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in recognition of their historical significance. It has been called "one of the most impressive, and certainly the most powerful, of the German epics of the Middle Ages".
Versions and manuscripts
There are 37 known manuscripts and manuscript fragments of the Nibelungenlied and its variant versions.See Handschriftencensus Eleven of these manuscripts are essentially complete. Twenty-four manuscripts are in various fragmentary states of completion, including one version in Dutch (manuscript "T").
The text of the different manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied varies considerably from one another, though there is less variance than found in many other Middle High German heroic epics, such as the Dietrich epics. Although the different versions vary in their exact wording and include or exclude stanzas found in other versions, the general order of events, the order of the appearance of characters, their actions, and the content of their speeches are all relatively stable between versions extant before the 1400s. Generally, scholars have proposed that all versions of the Nibelungenlied derive from an original version (the "archetype") via alterations and reworking; instead proposes that the Nibelungenlied has always existed in variant forms, connecting this variance to the transition of the epic's material from orality to literacy.
Using the versions provided by the three oldest complete manuscripts, the Hohenems-Munich manuscript A (c. 1275–1300), the Sankt Gall manuscript B (c. 1233–1266), and the Hohenems-Donaueschingen manuscript C (c. 1225–1250), scholars have traditionally differentiated two versions that existed near the time of the poem's composition; A and B are counted as belonging to a single version *AB, while a version *C is attested by manuscript C and most of the earliest fragments, including the oldest attestation of the Nibelungenlied. Using the final words of the epic, *AB is also called the Not-version, and *C the Lied-version; the *C version is clearly a reworking of an earlier version, but it is not clear if this version was *AB; *AB may also be an expanded version of an earlier text. Most scholars assume that manuscript B is the closest to the original *AB version.
By 1300, the Nibelungenlied was circulating in at least five versions: the Not-version *A; the Not-version *B; the Lied-version *C; in a mixed version *Db; in a mixed version *Jdh (or *J/*d). Most fragments from after 1300 belong to the two mixed versions (), which appear to be based on copies of both the Not and Lied versions. Three later manuscripts provide variant versions: one, m (after 1450), is lost while two are still extant: n (c. 1470/80) and k (c.1480/90). Manuscripts m and n contain a story of Siegfried's youth that more closely resembles that found in the Old Norse Þiðreks saga and early modern German Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid, while k shortens the text and modernizes the language.
Synopsis Opening stanza The famous opening of the Nibelungenlied is actually thought to be an addition by the adaptor of the "*C" version of the Nibelungenlied, as it does not appear in the manuscript of B, which probably represents the earlier version. It may have been inspired by the prologue of the Nibelungenklage.
Original (MS C) Uns ist in alten mæren wunders vil geseit von helden lobebæren, von grôzer arebeit, von fröuden, hôchgezîten, von weinen und von klagen, von küener recken strîten muget ir nu wunder hœren sagen.
Modern German Uns ist in alten Geschichten viel Staunenswertes gesagt von ruhmwürdigen Helden, von großer Mühsal (im Kampf), von Freuden und Festen, von Weinen und Klagen, vom Kampf kühner Helden könnt ihr jetzt viel Staunenswertes sagen hören.
English In ancient tales many marvels are told us: of renowned heroes worthy of praise, of great hardship, of joys, festivities, of weeping and lamenting, of bold warriors' battles—now you may hear such marvels told.
Manuscript B instead begins with the introduction of Kriemhild, the protagonist of the work.
Part 1 Kriemhild grows up as a beautiful woman in Worms, the capital of the Burgundian kingdom, under the protection of her brothers Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher. There she has a dream portending doom, in which she raises a falcon that is killed by two eagles. Her mother explains that this means she will love a man who will be killed; Kriemhild thus swears to remain unmarried.
At the same time, the young Siegfried is receiving his courtly education in the Netherlands; he is dubbed a knight and decides that he will go to Worms to ask for Kriemhild as his wife. The story of how Siegfried slew a dragon, winning a large hoard of gold, and then bathed in the dragon's blood to receive an impenetrable skin is then recounted by Hagen, one of Gunther's vassals, when the Burgundians see Siegfried approaching. Siegfried lives in Worms for a year without seeing Kriemhild before Siegfried helps Gunther fight against attack by the Saxons and Danes. Because of his valor in combat, he is finally allowed to see Kriemhild.
Gunther decides that he wishes to take the Icelandic queen Brünhild as his wife. However, Brünhild is supernaturally strong and challenges those seeking her hand in marriage in various martial and physical contests, killing the losers. Therefore, Gunther wants Siegfried's help; Siegfried tells Gunther he shouldn't marry Brünhild, but is convinced to help by Gunther's promise that he will let him marry Kriemhild in exchange. Arriving in Iceland, Siegfried claims to be Gunther's vassal and uses his magical cloak of invisibility () to secretly help Gunther win in all of the contests and Brünhild agrees to return to Worms and marry Gunther. Once they have returned, Siegfried asks Kriemhild to marry him; this displeases Brünhild, as she believes Siegfried to be a vassal while Kriemhild is the daughter of a king. When Gunther does not explain why he is letting a vassal marry his sister, Brünhild refuses to sleep with him on their wedding night, instead tying him up and hanging him from a hook. The next night, Gunther asks Siegfried to wrestle Brünhild into submission using his ; Siegfried takes Brünhild's belt and ring as a trophy and then lets Gunther take her virginity, causing her to lose her strength.
After the wedding, Siegfried and Kriemhild return to the Netherlands. Before they do, Kriemhild wants to ask for her part of the inheritance from her brothers, but Siegfried advises her not to. Kriemhild wishes to take Hagen with her, but he refuses. Many years pass. In the Netherlands, Siegfried and Kriemhild are crowned; both couples have a son.
Brünhild is unhappy that Siegfried, whom she still believes to be Gunther's vassal, never comes to pay tribute. She convinces Gunther to invite Siegfried and Kriemhild to Worms for a feast. However, she and Kriemhild soon begin arguing about which of their husband's has the higher rank. The conflict peaks when both Kriemhild and Brünhild arrive at the cathedral at the same time; the higher ranking one should enter first. Brünhild repeats her assertion that Siegfried is a vassal, after which Kriemhild claims that Siegfried, not Gunther, took Brünhild's virginity, producing the ring and belt as proof. Siegfried and Gunther afterwards deny this, but Brünhild remains offended. Hagen advises Gunther to have Siegfried murdered.
Hagen goes to Kriemhild and tells her that there is a new war brewing against the Saxons; he would like to know where Siegfried is vulnerable so that he can protect him. Kriemhild agrees to mark the spot between Siegfried's shoulder blades where a leaf had prevented his skin from becoming invulnerable. Rather than a war, however, Gunther invites Siegfried to go hunting. When Siegfried is bent over a spring to drink water, Hagen spears him in the back, killing him. The body is placed in front of Kriemhild's door. Kriemhild immediately suspects Gunther and Hagen and her suspicions are confirmed when Siegfried's corpse bleeds in Hagen's presence. Siegfried is buried and Kriemhild chooses to stay in Worms, eventually officially reconciling with Hagen and her brothers though she stays in mourning. Hagen has Siegfried's hoard taken from her. Kriemhild remains unmarried for 13 years.
Part 2 After the death of his first wife, Helche, Etzel, the king of the Huns, chooses to ask Kriemhild to marry him. All of the Burgundians except for Hagen are in favor of the match. Kriemhild only agrees after Etzel's messenger, Margrave Rüdiger von Bechelaren, swears loyalty to her personally and she realizes she can use the Huns to gain revenge on Siegfried's murderers. Before her departure, she demands Siegfried's treasure but Hagen refuses her. After seven years as Etzel's wife, Kriemhild bears him a son, Ortlieb, and after thirteen years, she convinces Etzel to invite her brothers and Hagen to a feast. In Worms, Hagen advises against traveling to Etzel's castle, but Gunther and his brothers believe that Kriemhild has reconciled with them and decide to go. Nevertheless, they take Hagen's advice to travel with an army.