About This Book
The Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs) is the supreme achievement of medieval German heroic poetry, composed around 1200 by an anonymous Austrian poet. Written in Middle High German across 2,400 stanzas, the first half tells of the dragon-slaying hero Siegfried who wins princess Kriemhild, helps King Gunther win the warrior-queen Brunhild through deception, and is murdered by the treacherous Hagen. The second half follows Kriemhild's patient quest for vengeance — she marries Attila the Hun, bides thirteen years, then lures the Burgundians to a catastrophic bloodbath. Dubbed 'the German Iliad,' it fuses ancient Germanic legend with courtly romance, profoundly influencing Wagner's Ring Cycle and generations of European literature.
Excerpt
To us in olden story are wonders many told, of heroes rich in glory, of trials manifold: of joy and festive greeting, of weeping and of woe, of keenest warriors meeting, shall ye now many a wonder know.— Opening of The Nibelungenlied
Publication Details
| First Published | 1200 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Penguin Classics |
| Pages | 416 |
| ISBN | 9780140441376 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Poetry, Europa, Folklore, Classics |
| Copyright | Public Domain |
| Open Library | View editions |
| Collection | Munsey's Classic & Rare Books |
