What do you think?
Rate this book
German Epic Poetry
Heroic poetry from the great epics of German literature. Includes Jungere Hildebrandslied, The Battle of Ravenna, Bitterolf and Dietlieb, and The Rose Garden (Version A).
338 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
3 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 30, 2013
This collection contains the Old High German Hildebrandslied, the Middle high German Nibelungenlied, selections from Biterolf und Deitleib, Die Rabenschlacht, Rosengarten zu Worms and a complete translation of Das jüngere Hildebrandslied.
The Hildebrandslied is written in Old High German and dates from the 7th to 8th century. The action is set in the context of Theodric the Great's dealings with Odovacer in the 5th century Roman Empire and tells the story of Hildebrand's battle with his son Hadubrand. The poem will appeal to readers of Beowulf and Eddic poetry due to its similar formulaic and appositive phrases such as "Ik gihorta ðat seggen" and "Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu." The jüngere Hildebrandslied is a late 15th century version of the same story that is highly reminiscent of the bawdy humour in Das Lied Vom Hurnen Seyfrid and Ermenrichs Tod.
The Middle High German Nibelungenlied is thought to date from around 1180 to 1210 and is preserved in 35 known manuscripts. The poem probably originates from the Austrian Danube region. The poet, after much scholarly work, still remains a mystery, with theories on the poet's identity ranging from a Meister Konrad to the famous Walther von der Vogelweide.
The poem seems to have been popular during the Middle Ages with the vast amount of manuscripts in existence and the story seems to have remained popular and to have inspired the later Das Lied vom Hurnen Seyfred and Hans Sachs version. Although the story was never forgotten the poem itself seems to have disappeared for awhile, only to be rediscovered in the 18th century and then to inspire Wagner's operatic cycle on the legend.
The incidents related in the poem stretch way back into the 5th-6th century Migration Period and the destruction of the Burgundians at the hands of the Huns in 436ad. These incidents are related in numerous Latin chronicles from the period, by far the fullest account is given in Prosper's Epitoma Chronicon. Prosper states that "at the same time Aetius crushed Gundichar, who was king of the Burgundians and living in Gaul. In response to his entreaty, Aetius gave him peace, which the king did not enjoy for long. For the Huns destroyed him and his people root and branch." Alongside the Burgundians, other characters with an historical background are found in the poem such as Theodoric the Great, Attila the Hun and Brunhild the Visigothic princess.
The Blütezeit period in which the Nibelungenlied was written witnessed an explosion of German adaptions from French Arthurian Romance and courtly love poetry. While the Nibelungen poet has one foot in the courtly tradition, the other foot is firmly planted in the old German heroic ethic and blends both traditions to create a superb work of art.
The blend and variation of French courtly romance and Germanic heroic ethic causes tension throughout the poem, with characters such as Siegfried, Hagen, Brunhild and Hildebrand representing the older heroic ethic and characters such as Gunther, Dietrich, Etzel and Ruedegar representing a new courtly ethic. Two of the most interesting features of the poem are Kriemhild's transformation from courtly princess to a devil like villain and Hagen's transformation from treacherous villain to valiant hero. Variation is also noticeable in scenic descriptions of courtly jousts, courtship, feasts and clothing descriptions and then contrasted with scenes from an older heroic world such as Siegfried's dragon slaying episode, Hagen's slaying of the water sprites, the traditional Germanic bridal quest and the catastrophic last battle.
The language also constantly alternates between courtly words like Ritter (knight) and older more heroic words like degan, recke (warrior) helt (hero) and the archaic word, wigant (warrior). The variation techniques constantly remind me of the Beowulf poet's use of pagan and Christian imagery and the Nibelungelied's use of arrival and departure scenes also remind me of Beowulf. Also reminiscent of Beowulf are certain digressive episodes and patterned/formulaic like phrases such as "Dô sprach der helt von Tronege" and "Dô sprach der künec Gunther."
The driving force behind the whole poem are two ethical concepts, triuwe (loyalty) and vriunt (friend, relative, ally, lord-vassal relationship). These two ethical ideas are what the character adhere to, with characters on both sides having these relationships toward one another. The poet uses these conflicting loyalties that are governed by these two concepts to drive the poem to its apocalyptic climax.
The poet is thought to have composed the poem in two sections but working in reverse order and using lost older poems in the task of composing the Nibelungenlied. The second part is thought to be based on an old poem called by German scholars the Altere Not, traces of this poem are thought to be preserved in the Niflunga saga section of the Thidrekssaga af Bern. For the first section of the poem the poet it thought to have used a number of old poems on Siegfried and Brunhild, again, traces of these lost poems are thought by some scholars such as Andreas Heusler and most recently by Theodore Andersson to be preserved in works such as the Thidrekssaga, Hurnen Seyfred, Rosengarten zu Worms, Eddic poetry and Volsunga saga
The other poems in the collection are only selections of various key episodes such as Dietrich's fight with Siegfried from the Rosengarten zu Worms, which by way of a digression tells the story of Siegfried's dragon fight that parallels the episode in the Nibelungenlied.
All translations are in good scholarly prose with explanatory notes. All except the Nibelungenlied, which is given in rhyming verse of Ryder's edition and seems to me to let the whole collection down. The translation also changes the names of important characters, instead of Sivrit and Prünhilt, the translation gives the Wagnerian forms of Siegfried and Brunhild. Ryder also changes the names of Dietrich and Etzel to their historical forms of Theodoric and Atilla. For me, I would've preferred a prose version to match the rest of the collection. If not for this, I would've given this 5 stars.
The Hildebrandslied is written in Old High German and dates from the 7th to 8th century. The action is set in the context of Theodric the Great's dealings with Odovacer in the 5th century Roman Empire and tells the story of Hildebrand's battle with his son Hadubrand. The poem will appeal to readers of Beowulf and Eddic poetry due to its similar formulaic and appositive phrases such as "Ik gihorta ðat seggen" and "Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu." The jüngere Hildebrandslied is a late 15th century version of the same story that is highly reminiscent of the bawdy humour in Das Lied Vom Hurnen Seyfrid and Ermenrichs Tod.
The Middle High German Nibelungenlied is thought to date from around 1180 to 1210 and is preserved in 35 known manuscripts. The poem probably originates from the Austrian Danube region. The poet, after much scholarly work, still remains a mystery, with theories on the poet's identity ranging from a Meister Konrad to the famous Walther von der Vogelweide.
The poem seems to have been popular during the Middle Ages with the vast amount of manuscripts in existence and the story seems to have remained popular and to have inspired the later Das Lied vom Hurnen Seyfred and Hans Sachs version. Although the story was never forgotten the poem itself seems to have disappeared for awhile, only to be rediscovered in the 18th century and then to inspire Wagner's operatic cycle on the legend.
The incidents related in the poem stretch way back into the 5th-6th century Migration Period and the destruction of the Burgundians at the hands of the Huns in 436ad. These incidents are related in numerous Latin chronicles from the period, by far the fullest account is given in Prosper's Epitoma Chronicon. Prosper states that "at the same time Aetius crushed Gundichar, who was king of the Burgundians and living in Gaul. In response to his entreaty, Aetius gave him peace, which the king did not enjoy for long. For the Huns destroyed him and his people root and branch." Alongside the Burgundians, other characters with an historical background are found in the poem such as Theodoric the Great, Attila the Hun and Brunhild the Visigothic princess.
The Blütezeit period in which the Nibelungenlied was written witnessed an explosion of German adaptions from French Arthurian Romance and courtly love poetry. While the Nibelungen poet has one foot in the courtly tradition, the other foot is firmly planted in the old German heroic ethic and blends both traditions to create a superb work of art.
The blend and variation of French courtly romance and Germanic heroic ethic causes tension throughout the poem, with characters such as Siegfried, Hagen, Brunhild and Hildebrand representing the older heroic ethic and characters such as Gunther, Dietrich, Etzel and Ruedegar representing a new courtly ethic. Two of the most interesting features of the poem are Kriemhild's transformation from courtly princess to a devil like villain and Hagen's transformation from treacherous villain to valiant hero. Variation is also noticeable in scenic descriptions of courtly jousts, courtship, feasts and clothing descriptions and then contrasted with scenes from an older heroic world such as Siegfried's dragon slaying episode, Hagen's slaying of the water sprites, the traditional Germanic bridal quest and the catastrophic last battle.
The language also constantly alternates between courtly words like Ritter (knight) and older more heroic words like degan, recke (warrior) helt (hero) and the archaic word, wigant (warrior). The variation techniques constantly remind me of the Beowulf poet's use of pagan and Christian imagery and the Nibelungelied's use of arrival and departure scenes also remind me of Beowulf. Also reminiscent of Beowulf are certain digressive episodes and patterned/formulaic like phrases such as "Dô sprach der helt von Tronege" and "Dô sprach der künec Gunther."
The driving force behind the whole poem are two ethical concepts, triuwe (loyalty) and vriunt (friend, relative, ally, lord-vassal relationship). These two ethical ideas are what the character adhere to, with characters on both sides having these relationships toward one another. The poet uses these conflicting loyalties that are governed by these two concepts to drive the poem to its apocalyptic climax.
The poet is thought to have composed the poem in two sections but working in reverse order and using lost older poems in the task of composing the Nibelungenlied. The second part is thought to be based on an old poem called by German scholars the Altere Not, traces of this poem are thought to be preserved in the Niflunga saga section of the Thidrekssaga af Bern. For the first section of the poem the poet it thought to have used a number of old poems on Siegfried and Brunhild, again, traces of these lost poems are thought by some scholars such as Andreas Heusler and most recently by Theodore Andersson to be preserved in works such as the Thidrekssaga, Hurnen Seyfred, Rosengarten zu Worms, Eddic poetry and Volsunga saga
The other poems in the collection are only selections of various key episodes such as Dietrich's fight with Siegfried from the Rosengarten zu Worms, which by way of a digression tells the story of Siegfried's dragon fight that parallels the episode in the Nibelungenlied.
All translations are in good scholarly prose with explanatory notes. All except the Nibelungenlied, which is given in rhyming verse of Ryder's edition and seems to me to let the whole collection down. The translation also changes the names of important characters, instead of Sivrit and Prünhilt, the translation gives the Wagnerian forms of Siegfried and Brunhild. Ryder also changes the names of Dietrich and Etzel to their historical forms of Theodoric and Atilla. For me, I would've preferred a prose version to match the rest of the collection. If not for this, I would've given this 5 stars.
May 26, 2021
This collection isn’t what I thought it would be. Overall it is still a great book because it includes a complete verse translation of the Nibelungenlied, preserving the meter and rhyme, as well as most of the meaning and style. It loses some of its narrative and descriptive power and a bit of its medieval feel in this translation, but there simply is no way to do a perfect or near perfect rendering of a medieval work in a different language, especially a poem. I won’t be sharing my thoughts on the Nibelungenlied here since I have done that elsewhere. It is an incredible, landmark piece of literature.
My disappointment comes from the incompleteness of the rest of the book’s contents. I bought this because it contains, or was purported to contain, some of the most significant works in the Dietrich von Bern epic cycle, like the two Hildebrandslieds, Rabenschlacht, Biterolf und Dietleib, and Rosengarten. Tracking down English translations of these works still in print and available for purchase under a few hundred dollars is a seemingly impossible task. So I thought I’d hit the jackpot in finding all these works together, which the brief descriptions given online indicate are featured here.
Only the Hildebrandslied works are complete, and this is because they are short. The other three are included here only in fragments, which no description anywhere states. These fragments are translated into prose, and a fine job was done with them, showing the scope of the character and essence of these works. Unfortunately what is here makes up something like 10% of the full version of each.
These fragments, despite not being sizable portions of the full work, are each enjoyable and wonderful glimpses at the content and character of the fuller epics. Since the Nibelungenlied is available in many other places, it would have made more more sense in my mind to exclude it from this collection and to instead print the full versions of each epic.
The notes and introductions are informative and competent, offering insights and context and explanation, but sometimes, except for the case of the Nibelungenlied, this scholarly input is longer than or as long as the actual work being shared, making the German Epic to Scholarly Notes ratio far too low for any serious reader’s liking.
The two complete works, the Older Lay of Hildebrand and the Younger Lay of Hildebrand, are narrative poems that convey an encounter between Hildebrand and his son, named Hadubrand in the older manuscript, Alebrand in the newer, and their exchange of words and combat, in their failure to recognize one another. A variation on this scene is present in the Thidrekssaga, with the back story that Dietrich is returning to Bern to reclaim his kingdom after Ermenrich has passed and left Hildebrand’s son as ruler.
In the older Hildebrand lay, no back story is offered and we don’t know why father and son are confronting one another. The tone and treatment of this conflict is different between both poems, with the former having been written prior to 850 AD, during the times of valor of chivalry and honor and steeped in the warrior ethics these epics deal with. The newer poem was written six centuries later, and its tone is less dramatic, more cheerful, and presents us with some context and background, showing Dietrich and his men returning to Bern, but without stating why.
The contrasts between these two lays is interesting in how they represent the shifting attitudes of the German audiences over the centuries, and how a tragic encounter between father and son can be altered in style and substance for the changing tastes and social norms.
The Battle of Ravenna (Rabenschlacht) is the first of the incomplete poems. We are treated only to some scenes from its beginning, middle, and end, with a lot missing in between. This poem is translated into prose, and tells of Dietrich’s attempts to go win back his kingdom from Ermenrich. Etzel’s sons wish to go along, and their mother earnestly begs them to stay for she predicts their demise. Eventually Etzel and their mother allow them to go as long as Dietrich and his brother watch over them. This episode is also present in Thidrekssaga, but without as much attention given to the lamentations of their mother or their back and forths as they attempt to win permission.
We later see these sons, Scharpf and Ort, getting lost along with Elsan, their guard, and Diether, Dietrich’s brother, and running into the magnificent warrior Widege (Wideke in the Norse versions). They are slain, and later Dietrich is crushed at finding them bloody and dead, and stands off against Widege in brutal combat that ends in a draw, but with the suggestion that with Dietrich’s rage now causing him to spit fire and bleed from his eyes, he might very well have slain Widege if their battle had not been drawn to a premature close.
The parts of this epic that are featured here are excellent, brilliantly conveying the drama, the human emotion and fierceness tied to these events, and describing the tension of battle that we know is doomed to end in tragedy. The rage of vengeance is portrayed very well, and the lack of true closure makes it all the more intense.
Biterolf and Dietlieb is the next poem, which is supposed to be an epic telling of this father and son warrior pair in their service to king Etzel. However, the excerpts shared in this collection barely mention either of these men, and instead presents a part of the poem dealing with sort of impromptu tournament in which Dietrich and his men are participating against the Burgundians: Ermenrich’s men and Sigfrid. Dietlieb has been attacked by the Burgundians and Dietrich gathers his men to march against them in revenge. When no battle occurs, the men lose patience and decide to draw up a truce so that both sides may compete against one another in a tournament.
Most of this fragment shows the grandness of the tournament and the warriors who participate in it, offering commentary by the poet, descriptions of their gear and their qualities as warriors, with a minor drama running through everything as the men reflect on honor and courage what is to be gained from victory in these matches. Real battle eventually ensues and one of Dietrich’s men, Wolfhart, is taken prisoner. This excerpt presents a violent snapshot of valorous warriors in their prime, and it would be great to have the entire thing here.
The final epic in the collection is the Rose Garden, which also centers on a tournament between Dietrich’s men and Sigfrid’s men. The excerpt here starts after Dietrich’s warriors have defeated all of Sigfrid’s warriors, and Dietrich’s men are now attempting to convince Dietrich to engage Sigfrid in single combat, with appeals to his honor and the worthiness of his deeds. Dietrich is wise and knows of Sigfrid’s “horn skin”, his invincibility from bathing in the blood of the dragon. He scolds his men for trying to convince him to go to a battle that will surely be his death, while his men slander Sigfrid and argue that his pride and his character demand that Dietrich stand up against him.
Combat between these two ferocious warriors soon ensues, and carries on through much hacking and slashing and brutality. Sigfrid’s skin makes him unbeatable, so Hildebrand and Wolfhart devise a plan to make Dietrich angry so that he will fight with renewed power. Flame once more blows from his mouth and in his violent rage he inflicted serious wounds on Sigfrid, winning the competition.
Like the rest, the excerpt shows that this is a fantastic piece of work and an important part of Dietrich’s legend. The sensationalism, the humor, the violence, the sense of time and place, the display of custom and drama from ages past makes this yet another story in a larger body of work that is almost as enchanting and stimulating to think about and read about as it is to read.
Unfortunately, my quest for these complete works goes on. I hope to find them someday. This is an excellent book if you want a verse translation of one of the greatest epics in literary history. If you want to explore deep into the rest of the Dietrich von Bern cycle, this will only serve as a fragmentary sampler, not a satisfying, complete treatment of heroic epic and legend.
My disappointment comes from the incompleteness of the rest of the book’s contents. I bought this because it contains, or was purported to contain, some of the most significant works in the Dietrich von Bern epic cycle, like the two Hildebrandslieds, Rabenschlacht, Biterolf und Dietleib, and Rosengarten. Tracking down English translations of these works still in print and available for purchase under a few hundred dollars is a seemingly impossible task. So I thought I’d hit the jackpot in finding all these works together, which the brief descriptions given online indicate are featured here.
Only the Hildebrandslied works are complete, and this is because they are short. The other three are included here only in fragments, which no description anywhere states. These fragments are translated into prose, and a fine job was done with them, showing the scope of the character and essence of these works. Unfortunately what is here makes up something like 10% of the full version of each.
These fragments, despite not being sizable portions of the full work, are each enjoyable and wonderful glimpses at the content and character of the fuller epics. Since the Nibelungenlied is available in many other places, it would have made more more sense in my mind to exclude it from this collection and to instead print the full versions of each epic.
The notes and introductions are informative and competent, offering insights and context and explanation, but sometimes, except for the case of the Nibelungenlied, this scholarly input is longer than or as long as the actual work being shared, making the German Epic to Scholarly Notes ratio far too low for any serious reader’s liking.
The two complete works, the Older Lay of Hildebrand and the Younger Lay of Hildebrand, are narrative poems that convey an encounter between Hildebrand and his son, named Hadubrand in the older manuscript, Alebrand in the newer, and their exchange of words and combat, in their failure to recognize one another. A variation on this scene is present in the Thidrekssaga, with the back story that Dietrich is returning to Bern to reclaim his kingdom after Ermenrich has passed and left Hildebrand’s son as ruler.
In the older Hildebrand lay, no back story is offered and we don’t know why father and son are confronting one another. The tone and treatment of this conflict is different between both poems, with the former having been written prior to 850 AD, during the times of valor of chivalry and honor and steeped in the warrior ethics these epics deal with. The newer poem was written six centuries later, and its tone is less dramatic, more cheerful, and presents us with some context and background, showing Dietrich and his men returning to Bern, but without stating why.
The contrasts between these two lays is interesting in how they represent the shifting attitudes of the German audiences over the centuries, and how a tragic encounter between father and son can be altered in style and substance for the changing tastes and social norms.
The Battle of Ravenna (Rabenschlacht) is the first of the incomplete poems. We are treated only to some scenes from its beginning, middle, and end, with a lot missing in between. This poem is translated into prose, and tells of Dietrich’s attempts to go win back his kingdom from Ermenrich. Etzel’s sons wish to go along, and their mother earnestly begs them to stay for she predicts their demise. Eventually Etzel and their mother allow them to go as long as Dietrich and his brother watch over them. This episode is also present in Thidrekssaga, but without as much attention given to the lamentations of their mother or their back and forths as they attempt to win permission.
We later see these sons, Scharpf and Ort, getting lost along with Elsan, their guard, and Diether, Dietrich’s brother, and running into the magnificent warrior Widege (Wideke in the Norse versions). They are slain, and later Dietrich is crushed at finding them bloody and dead, and stands off against Widege in brutal combat that ends in a draw, but with the suggestion that with Dietrich’s rage now causing him to spit fire and bleed from his eyes, he might very well have slain Widege if their battle had not been drawn to a premature close.
The parts of this epic that are featured here are excellent, brilliantly conveying the drama, the human emotion and fierceness tied to these events, and describing the tension of battle that we know is doomed to end in tragedy. The rage of vengeance is portrayed very well, and the lack of true closure makes it all the more intense.
Biterolf and Dietlieb is the next poem, which is supposed to be an epic telling of this father and son warrior pair in their service to king Etzel. However, the excerpts shared in this collection barely mention either of these men, and instead presents a part of the poem dealing with sort of impromptu tournament in which Dietrich and his men are participating against the Burgundians: Ermenrich’s men and Sigfrid. Dietlieb has been attacked by the Burgundians and Dietrich gathers his men to march against them in revenge. When no battle occurs, the men lose patience and decide to draw up a truce so that both sides may compete against one another in a tournament.
Most of this fragment shows the grandness of the tournament and the warriors who participate in it, offering commentary by the poet, descriptions of their gear and their qualities as warriors, with a minor drama running through everything as the men reflect on honor and courage what is to be gained from victory in these matches. Real battle eventually ensues and one of Dietrich’s men, Wolfhart, is taken prisoner. This excerpt presents a violent snapshot of valorous warriors in their prime, and it would be great to have the entire thing here.
The final epic in the collection is the Rose Garden, which also centers on a tournament between Dietrich’s men and Sigfrid’s men. The excerpt here starts after Dietrich’s warriors have defeated all of Sigfrid’s warriors, and Dietrich’s men are now attempting to convince Dietrich to engage Sigfrid in single combat, with appeals to his honor and the worthiness of his deeds. Dietrich is wise and knows of Sigfrid’s “horn skin”, his invincibility from bathing in the blood of the dragon. He scolds his men for trying to convince him to go to a battle that will surely be his death, while his men slander Sigfrid and argue that his pride and his character demand that Dietrich stand up against him.
Combat between these two ferocious warriors soon ensues, and carries on through much hacking and slashing and brutality. Sigfrid’s skin makes him unbeatable, so Hildebrand and Wolfhart devise a plan to make Dietrich angry so that he will fight with renewed power. Flame once more blows from his mouth and in his violent rage he inflicted serious wounds on Sigfrid, winning the competition.
Like the rest, the excerpt shows that this is a fantastic piece of work and an important part of Dietrich’s legend. The sensationalism, the humor, the violence, the sense of time and place, the display of custom and drama from ages past makes this yet another story in a larger body of work that is almost as enchanting and stimulating to think about and read about as it is to read.
Unfortunately, my quest for these complete works goes on. I hope to find them someday. This is an excellent book if you want a verse translation of one of the greatest epics in literary history. If you want to explore deep into the rest of the Dietrich von Bern cycle, this will only serve as a fragmentary sampler, not a satisfying, complete treatment of heroic epic and legend.
March 28, 2020
This is a stand- in for the fact I read a fragment of the Lay of Hildebrand. Not sure if the fragment was the only thing extant. But it shows the generational tension in Germany during the late Dark Ages and early Middle Ages.
September 8, 2023
read in Medieval German Lit today >:))
Want to read
October 26, 2013HPB find
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews