Nibelungenlied

The Song of the Nibelungs · The Nibelungenlied · Der Nibelunge liet · Der Nibelunge not

Anonymous · c. 1200 · Middle High German

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What it is

The hero Siegfried comes to the Burgundian court at Worms to win the princess Kriemhild, and earns her by helping her brother, King Gunther, win the formidable Brünhild, queen of Iceland, as his own bride. A quarrel between the two queens ends in murder, and in the second half Kriemhild, now the wife of Etzel, the Hunnish king, waits years for her revenge.

Why it matters

Germany's first written heroic epic, forgotten for centuries and then hailed, after its rediscovery in 1755, as the German Iliad. It became a national myth, later abused by the Nazis, and with the Norse sagas it supplied Wagner's Ring cycle.

Reading it

About 350 pages. Medium difficulty: it asks for steady attention, but stands on its own.

Where to buy

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