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| The Nibelungenlied
| | Anonymous
| Written by an unknown author in the twelfth century, this powerful tale of murder and revenge reaches back to the earliest epochs of German antiquity, transforming centuries-old legend into a masterpiece of chivalric drama. Siegfried, a great prince of the Netherlands, wins the hand of the beautiful princess Kriemhild of Burgundy, by aiding her brother Gunther in his struggle to seduce a powerful Icelandic Queen. But the two women quarrel, and Siegfried is ultimately destroyed by those he trusts the most. Comparable in scope to the Iliad, this skilfully crafted work combines the fragments of half-forgotten myths to create one of the greatest epic poems - the principal version of the heroic legends used by Richard Wagner, in The Ring.
A story of guile, treachery, loyalty and desperate courage
This great German epic poem of murder and revenge recounts with particular strength and directness the progress of Siegfried’s love for the peerless Kriemhild, the wedding of Gunther – her brother – and Brunhild, the quarrel between the two queens, Hagen’s treacherous murder of Siegfried, and Kriemhild’s eventual triumph.
Composed over eight hundred years ago by an unnamed poet, the Nibelungenlied is the principal literary expression of those heroic legends of which Richard Wagner made such free use in The Ring. A. T. Hatto’s translation transforms an old text into a story as readable and exciting as Homer’s Iliad.
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