The NibelungenliedThe Nibelungenlied, considered a masterpiece of the German Middle Ages, is a heroic epic of extraordinary deeds and deep passions. Of unknown authorship, it tells the story of love, hatred, lust for power, and greed. The actors in this powerful drama fight, suffer and perish when elemental passions break through the crust of social conventions and erupt in deeds of horror and brutality. They are distinctive personages out of the legendary past: Siegfried, the invincible hero; Gunther, mighty king of the Burgundians; Etzel, the powerful ruler of the Huns. Nowhere in medieval literature can there be found characters of greater force and individuality. |
Contents
Concerning Kriemhild | 1 |
Concerning Siegfried | 3 |
How Siegfried came to Worms | 5 |
How he fought the Saxons | 15 |
How Siegfried saw Kriemhild for the first time | 28 |
How Gunther journeyed to Iceland to woo Brünhild | 34 |
How Gunther won Brünhild | 40 |
How Siegfried went to fetch his men | 50 |
How Gunther invited Siegfried to the festival | 74 |
How Siegfried journeyed with his wife to the festival | 80 |
How the queens railed at each other | 83 |
How Siegfried was betrayed | 90 |
How Siegfried was killed | 94 |
How Siegfried was mourned and buried | 102 |
How Siegmund journeyed home | 110 |
How the Nibelung treasure was brought to Worms | 113 |
How Siegfried was sent ahead to Worms | 54 |
How Brünhild was received at Worms | 60 |
How Siegfried journeyed home with his wife | 71 |
How King Etzel sent an envoy to Burgundy for Kriemhild | 117 |
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