An early critic labelled it a German "Iliad", arguing that, like the Greek epic, it goes back to the remotest times and unites the monumental fragments of half-forgotten myths and historical personages into a poem that is essentially national in character. While beginning with a preface promising to tell of high times and lamenting alike, the Nibelungenlied is mostly pervaded by deep tragedy.
There is also an Old Norse counterpart, known as the Völsunga saga. In this, the adventures of Sigurd, (the Scandinavian equivalent of the Germanic Siegfried, the hero of the Nibelungenlied), and his ancestors are told in detail tracing his ancestry back to Odin.
The word Nibelung has several meanings, referring to the Burgundian kings portrayed in the poem, to the followers of Siegfried, and to a legendary race of Germanic dwarfs.
Time and place
One of the main problems of the Nibelungenlied lies in its transmission of a Germanic subject matter. It has been handed down over a long time in a certain poetic language aiming at an audience that already knew the epics of King Arthur's court by Hartmann von Aue – a completely different kind of literature emphasizing detailed Christian chivalrous ethics. Accordingly, the Nibelungenlied has been inopportune from the beginning. Furthermore, with its long Germanic lines it differs formally from contemporary courtly literature, such as Hartmann von Aue, Gottfried von Strassburg and Wolfram von Eschenbach.
Despite its contradictions, the poet puts the Germanic characters into a Christian noble context. Consequently, Siegfried changes from a dragon killer to a shy courting man who will express his love to Kriemhild explicitly only after he has won the friendship of the Burgundian kings Gunther, Gernot and Giselher. Some situations, which exaggerate the conflict between the Germanic migrations and the chivalrous ethics (such as Gunther's embarrassing wedding night with Brunhild) may be interpreted as irony. The notoriously bloody end that leaves no hope for reconciliation is also far removed from the happy ending of courtly epics.
Despite the inevitable breaks, the merit of the poet of the Nibelungenlied does not only lie in the tradition of the epic. Several scenes testify to a dense atmosphere and psychology of the characters.
While the first half of the saga depicts the world with references to Niflheim and the Land of the Nibelungs, the second half is filled with references to specific European places (Vienna, Bechlaren, Hungary, the Danube). Most of the story takes place in Burgundy, at the capital of Worms, where Kriemhild and her family live. Sigfried comes from Xanten, which is considered in the story to be part of the Netherlands. Attila the Hun (here called Etzel) is said to have resided in Etzelburg (Etzel's land), and is only a general reference to the realms of Attila the Hun.
Synopsis
Siegfried is crown prince of Xanten, and has accomplished many feats, including the slaying of the dragon Fafnir and the taking of a giant hoard of treasure. After killing the dragon, he bathes in its blood, making him invulnerable. Unfortunately for him, while he is bathing, a leaf falls off a linden tree above him and covers part of his skin, making that particular patch his weak spot, as with the story of Achilles's heel.
Siegfried proposes to Kriemhild, the beautiful sister of Gunther, Gernot and Giselher, three Burgundian kings. He is allowed to marry her after he helps Gunther to defeat Brünhild, the queen of Iceland, with his heroic strength and the aid of a cloak which lets him become invisible. Brünhild becomes Gunther's wife when her great strength and unwillingness are overcome, again by Siegfried, who enters her room under cover of darkness to take her virginity, her strength, and her belt as proof of husbandry for Gunther.
Kriemhild lets the secret slip in a row with Brünhild, and Hagen decides to kill Siegfried. He finds Siegfried's vulnerable spot (see earlier) and kills him while they are hunting. Although it is Hagen who does the deed, Gunther and his brothers know of the plan and quietly assent. Surprisingly perhaps, from this moment on, Kriemhild is portrayed as increasingly vindictive and with decreasing sympathy.
Many years later, Attila the Hun (here called Etzel) proposes to Kriemhild, and she invites the Burgundians to a feast in Hungary. Hagen does not want to go, but is taunted until he does: he realises that it is a trick of Kriemhild's and that they will all die, but resigns himself to that. Their fate is confirmed by mermaids as they cross the Rhine. On their arrival, there is a huge fight (precipitated by Hagen decapitating Kriemhild & Etzel's son), and everyone is killed except Gunther and Hagen who are captured by Dietrich of Bern. (The nugget of history embodied in this is the battle between Burgundians and Huns that ended with the Hun victory and the destruction of the capital of Gundahar (Gunther) at Worms in A.D. 437.)
Kriemhild demands the return of the Nibelungen treasure, which has been stolen by Hagen. Hagen refuses to reveal its location as long as Gunther is alive, so Kriemhild arranges for Gunther to be killed. Knowing that he alone knows the location now, Hagen refuses to tell Kriemhild either, so she cuts off his head with Siegfried's sword. Hildebrand, Dietrich's armourer, then kills Kriemhild.
The Nibelungenlied and the Volsunga saga served as source materials for Richard Wagner's "Ring Cycle" (Der Ring des Nibelungen also known as The Ring of the Nibelung), and it has also been said to have served as inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Adaptations to other media
In 1924, the epic was made into a two-film series, namely Die Nibelungen: Siegfrieds Tod and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache, by the German director Fritz Lang. The screenplay was written by Thea von Harbou.
The premise of the Nibelungenlied was made into an acclaimed made-for-TV movie called Ring of the Nibelungs (also, Sword of Xanten) in 2004. While the title is the same as the Wagner Opera, it relates more closely to the original lied itself. On the SciFi Channel it has the title Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King (2006).
The 1999 video game, simply called Ring, was actually inspired by the opera itself.