Lamentation of the Nibelungs

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The Nibelungenklage (also short lament ) is a Middle High German poem that follows the Nibelungenlied in almost all the manuscripts that have survived . She addresses those actions that remain ambiguous in the Nibelungenlied and are worth discussing (for the complaint), and she also reports on the surviving (marginal) figures, how their normality is restored, and on the creation of the poetry.

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In the first part (~ 600 verses) the events are evaluated, the death of Siegfried led, it finds a Beklagung all figures instead and it will put the question of guilt. The lawsuit ties in with the event of the fall of the Burgundian Empire in 436 , recapitulating the plot of the Nibelungenlied, in particular the situation of Kriemhild .

The 2nd part: (~ 2000 verses) emphasizes the grief of the bereaved, especially Rüdiger's death is lamented, who is called the father of all virtues .

In the third part (~ 1900 verses) and the end, the message is delivered to the courts of Vienna , Bechelaren , Passau and Worms before Dietrich von Bern , his vrouwe Herrat and Hildebrand return to their homeland.

The epilogue describes the writing of the mære how ez would have happened (* B vv. 2539-4099) on behalf of the Bishop Pilgrim of Passau . It is believed that this is an honorable reference to a predecessor in office of the alleged sponsor Wolfger von Erla , the holy Bishop Pilgrim of Passau. The Nibelungenklage even ascribes the initiative to this pilgrim to have the legendary events of the Nibelung's end recorded in Latin , from which the German-language Nibelungenlied was later created - but this is in all probability a literary fiction . Finally, the lack of knowledge about Etzel's fate is lamented. This ends version 'B' of 'Lament'.

The 'C' version of 'Klage' ends with the following words: dizze liet haizet 'diu klage' . This is to be distinguished from the version 'C' of the Nibelungenlied, which ends as follows:

Ine sage iv nv not more of the great need
those who were defeated were the lazen leagues dead
how ir dinch an geviengen sit the Hvnen diet
here daz mære has an end daz is the Nibelunge liet

The above-mentioned structure of the Nibelungenklage in three parts is a communication aid created by the modern editors, but is not guaranteed in the work (exception: the version * C, divided into âventiuren )

Dating, origins, form

There are different views on the dating of the 'lament', which vary between 1200 and 1230, current research (e.g. Henkel, see bibliography) assumes an early point in time within this framework, since the traceable written tradition of the lament always refers to the 'song 'was coupled. Today, today's Austria or Eastern Bavaria is generally accepted as the place of origin. In concrete terms, much seems to speak for Passau as the place where both the song and the lament were created. It also appears that the song and the lament were written by two different poets. Both remained anonymous, however. The manner of lamentation suggests that the poet was a cleric . Different versions of the 'Klage' are traditionally side by side, the C versions of the Nibelungenklage and Nibelungenlied were probably the most popular version (cf. Henkel 2005, p. 213).

Although there seems to be a close connection between the Nibelungenlied and lament, it has never found the same interest in modern German studies as the Nibelungenlied. In research, the lawsuit is generally not considered to be as high-ranking and significant as the song, largely because the lawsuit has a greater wealth of detail about people and events.

The lament consists of four-part pair of rhymes and thus makes use of the widespread form of the historical epic and the courtly novel, i.e. H. the read-aloud, while the song is composed in singable four-line stanzas (Sangversepik). It is not possible to clearly classify it as a genre, which led German studies in the 19th century in particular to classify the 'Klage' as inferior literature.

Interpretation offer and testimony value for the 'Nibelungenlied'

One of the current positions of research is the demand for an evaluation of the Nibelungen actions from the perspective of the 'lament', which fills the gaps in the 'song' in a way that constitutes meaning. The downfall of the Burgundians and the credibility of Kriemhild, who is reconciled with her brother Gunter, Sîfrit has been dead for 26 years, is of interest. The 'complaint' has answers: If Kriemhild had been a man, she could have taken revenge with her own hand immediately after the murder of Siegfried (cf. * B vv. 126-131), but because of her social position she had to be Woman proceed differently: Her vengeance is driven by triuwe (love and loyalty to Sîfrit that goes beyond death), not by the sin that incited the Burgundians to murder Sîfrit: their greed (Avaritia) thought about the hoard. But in medieval theology the wrath of God hits those who are guilty of ir übermuot (* B v 1277) and their greed. But whoever ends his earthly life in triuwe , the kingdom of heaven is open to him (cf. * B vv.569-576). Kriemhild is thus an instrument of the punishing and immeasurably good God, but not as a necessary figure, because Pilgrim says to Swämmel in the lawsuit that the Burgundians, because of their avaritia, would have committed mortal sin one way or another and had to die.

This Christian horizon of interpretation, but also the self-classification of the 'lament' in the context of contemporary memorial culture, serve as a foundation of meaning and a spiritual framework, make the Nibelungen event, and above all the end of the Burgundy, plausible in thought categories from around 1200. Henkel describes the complaint as an "throughout the Middle Ages accepted, indeed required interpretation of the 'Nibelungenlied'" (Henkel 2005, p. 230), since it eliminates some of the central components and qualities of the 'song' in today's reception of the Nibelungen: tragedy, heroic and Germanic Vengeance thinking.

literature

  • Christoph Fasbender: Nibelungenlied and Nibelungenklage. New ways of research . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2005. ISBN 3-534-18185-9 , in particular: Nikolaus Henkel: 'Nibelungenlied' and 'Klage' (pp. 210-237).
  • Joachim Bumke: The Nibelungen Lament . de Gruyter Verlag, 1999. ISBN 3-11-016323-3 .
  • Joachim Bumke: The four versions of the Nibelungenklage . de Gruyter Verlag, 1999. ISBN 3-11-015076-X .
  • Monica Deck: The Nibelungen Lament in Research. Report and criticism . 1996. ISBN 3-631-49686-9 .
  • Elisabeth Lienert: The Nibelungen Lament . Schöningh Verlag, 2000. ISBN 3-506-78509-5 .
  • Albrecht Behmel : The Nibelungenlied: a heroic epic in 39 adventures . Ibidem, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 978-389821145-1 .