Details

Subject(s)

• Epic poetry, German—Translations into English [Browse]
• Nibelungen—Poetry [Browse]

Related name

• Edwards, Cyril W. [Browse]

Library of Congress genre(s)

• Poetry [Browse]

Series

• Oxford world's classics (Oxford University Press) [More in this series]
• Oxford world's classics

Summary note

The greatest of the heroic epics to emerge from medieval Germany, the Nibelungenlied is a revenge saga of sweeping dimensions. It tells of the dragon-slayer Sivrit, the mysterious kingdom of the Nibelungs, a priceless treasure guarded by dwarves and giants, an Amazonian queen, fortune-telling water-sprites, and a cloak of invisibility. Driven by the conflict between Kriemhilt, the innocent maiden turned she-devil, and her antagonist, the stoic, indomitable Hagen, the story is one of love, jealousy, murder, and revenge, ending in slaughter on a horrific scale. Since its rediscovery in the eighteenth century, the Nibelungenlied has come to be regarded as the national epic of the Germans, and has inspired countless adaptations, including Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. Cyril Edwards' prose translation, the first in forty years, is more accurate and accessible and captures the poem's epic qualities. Edwards also provides an introduction that discusses the poem's historical background and its status as German national epic. The volume includes an up-to-date bibliography, invaluable notes, a map, and a list of people and places. - Publisher.

Notes

Written down by an anonymous poet c.1200.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references.

Action note

Committed to retain in perpetuity — ReCAP Shared Collection (HUL)

Contents

• Introduction
• Note on the text and translation
• Select bibliography
• Chronology
• The Nibelungenlied
• Appendix I : History and legend
• Appendix II : The Nordic sources and the problem of genesis
• Appendix III : The metre of the Nibelungenlied
• Explanatory notes
• Glossary of people and places
• A map of the Nibelungenlied.

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Other title(s)

Lay of the Nibelungs

ISBN

• 9780199238545 (pbk. : acid-free paper)
• 0199238545 (pbk. : acid-free paper)

LCCN

^^2009024520

OCLC

402542960

RCP

H - S

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