59 CHAPTER III. THE NIBELUNGENLIED. THE traditional ballad poetry of the German people, the materials out of which their national epic was to be formed, had, as we have seen, been kept alive through the dark centuries by wandering Spielleute. With the awakening of more ideal interests under the influence of the Crusades in the twelfth century, the popular epic entered, however, upon a new phase of development. The position of the Spielmann was improved; his work became more literary in character, an advance which is to be noticed in romances like König Rother and Herzog Ernst. Thus the literature associated with the Spielmann in the Middle High German period falls into two groups. On the one hand, we have the typical epic of the Spielmann, such as the poems already considered in the first chapter of the present part-poems essentially popular in tone, and depending for their interest on rough anecdote, comic incident, and adventure; on the other hand, national epics like the Nibelungenlied, Gudrun, and the best poems of the Heldenbuch. Under the influence of the serious literary tastes of the aristocratic classes, the traditions of Siegfried, of Attila and the Nibelungs, of Dietrich and Ermanarich, were welded into epics of primeval grandeur. Development of the Spielmann's poetry. saga. We have already seen how the mythological saga of Sieg- The Nibefried and the Nibelungs had, in the age subsequent to the lungen Migrations, been grafted upon the events which culminated in the annihilation of the Burgundians by the Huns. Siegfried is the son of a Frankish king, Brünhild a Princess of Iceland, while Hagen the Nibelung has become a kinsman of the Burgundian king Gunther. For a time these epic traditions were only preserved in Saxon lands; then they seem to have Theory of ballad origin. passed over to Austria, In Austria, several new personages were added to the saga, such as Dietrich of Bern (Theodorich of Verona)-who was not, of course, a contemporary of Attila -and Markgraf Rüdeger. At a still later date, Bishop Pilgrim of Passau-the same bishop who is said to have made a Latin version of the Nibelungen saga at the beginning of the tenth Century-was introduced as an uncle of Kriemhild. In 1816, Karl Lachmann published his investigations on the Nibelungentied, in which he applied to the German epic the theory of ballad-origin which Wolf, twenty years earlier, had applied to the Homeric epics. Lachmann distinguished, as the original components of the Nibelungenlied, twenty ballads which, according to his view, had been composed about 1190, while the epic itself had taken its present form about 1210. The comparative study of the epic since Lachmann's time has not weakened his theory, but it has shown that the development from ballad to epic is by no means so simple or so rapid as he supposed. The Nibelungenlied had undoubtedly passed through a long evolution before it crystallised into the earliest form in which it has been preserved, and Lachmann's attempt to discover separable lays or ballads in the existing Middle High German poem has thus small positive value. Of the three principal manuscripts of the poem 1-each of which in turn has been regarded as most nearly approaching the original form-none is as old as the beginning of the thirteenth century. Whatever may have been the earlier history of the Nibelungenlied, it is tolerably certain that in its latest stage the epic was written in Austria about 1200 or a little earlier. The poet of the Nibelungenlied -that is to say, the poet who gave the epic its final form— may possibly have been of noble birth, but it is more likely that he was only a Spielmann,2 schooled in the higher Court poetry and acquainted with courtly life; he was, above all, familiar 1A in Munich, the shortest MS., edited by K. Lachmann, 5th ed., Berlin, 1878; Bin St Gall, edited by K. Bartsch, 6th ed., Leipzig, 1886; Cin Donaueschingen, which approximates most nearly to the Court epic, edited by E. Zarncke, 6th ed., Leipzig, 1887. A and B are entitled Der Nibelunge Nôi; C, Der Nibelunge Liet. Cp. also the edition in D.N.L., by P. Piper, 6, 2 and 3 [1890-91]. Of the many modern translations, that by K. Simrock (1827; 52nd ed., Stuttgart, 1894) enjoys the widest popularity. R. von Muth, Einleitung in das Nibelungenlied, Paderborn, 1877; H. Lichtenberger, Le Poème et la Légende des Nibelungen, Paris, 1891. Cp., however, E. Kettner, Die österreichische Nibolungendichtung, Berlin, 1897, 199 ff. with the revival of lyric poetry, which, as we have seen, began on Austrian soil in the last decades of the twelfth century. 1 In these opening strophes of Der Nibelunge Nôt, the reader is Kriemhild. at once introduced to the central figure of the whole epic, the Burgundian princess Kriemhild, who lives at Worms, under the protection of her mother Ute and her three brothers, Gunther, Gernot, and the youthful Giselher. In the service of these Burgundian kings are faithful vassals Hagen of Troneg, Dankwart, Ortwin, Volker, and many others. At the beginning of the poem, Kriemhild has a dream in which a wild falcon, which she had reared, is torn by two eagles before her eyes. The falcon, her mother tells her, is a noble husband. But Kriemhild will hear nothing of marriage: she knows too well "wie liebe mit leide ze jungest lônen kan." 2 In this line is concentrated the whole tragedy of the epic. In his second "Aventiure" the poet turns aside to Siegfried. tell of Sifrit or Siegfried. The mythological background of the Siegfried saga has grown dim, giving place to a more definite historical setting. Of the young hero's youth in the forest, of his bringing up by the smith, we hear nothing; of 1 "Uns ist in alten Mähren (Sagen) viel Wundersames gesagt, von lobenswerten Helden, von grosser Not, von Freuden, Festlichkeiten, von Weinen und von Klagen; von kühner Helden Streiten könnt ihr nun Wunderbares sagen hören. Es wuchs in Burgunden eine sehr edle Jungfrau, dass in allen Ländern nichts Schöneres mochte sein, Kriemhild (war sie) geheissen; sie wurde ein schönes Weib. Um derentwillen mussten viele Helden das Leben verlieren" (1, 1, 2; Text B). The Nibelungen epic is composed, not in the rhymed couplets of the great mass of Middle High German narrative poetry, but in strophes of four lines-a metrical form which first appears in the lyrics of the Kürenberger. A caesura divides each line into two, and in each half line there are three accented or stress syllables, except in the fourth line, where the second half contains four. 2 "Wie Freude mit Leid zuletzt lohnen kann" (i, 17, 3). Cp. xxxix, 2378, 4 (below, p. 69). his fight with the dragon and the winning of the hoard, little. Siegfried is the son of a king of the Netherlands, a knight of the twelfth century. He has heard of the beauty of Kriemhild, and sets out for Worms accompanied by eleven vassals. He arrives at King Gunther's Court as a stranger; Hagen alone guesses that he can be no other than Siegfried who slew the dragon and bathed himself invulnerable in its blood. Kriemhild sees Siegfried from her window, and the love she would fain avoid takes possession of her heart. Meanwhile a war between the Burgundians and the Kings of Sachsenland and Denmark gives Siegfried an opportunity to do knightly service for his hosts. His victory is celebrated by a festival which lasts twelve days; the captive kings are set free, and Siegfried's Siegfried sees Kriemhild for the first time. Kriemhild's meeting beauty is described by the poet in the lyric tones of the Kriembild. early German Minnesang; and here it may be noted that the lyric element in the Nibelungenlied is still naïvely Germanic; it is but little influenced by the more formal qualities of the Romance lyric. The poet, for instance, compares his heroine coming from the "kemenate or women's apartments of the castle, with the dawn : with "Nu gie diu minnecliche alsô der morgenrôt And again with the moon : "Sam der lichte mâne des scîn só lûterliche dâ sciet von maneger nôt vor den sternen stât, The actual meeting of Siegfried and Kriemhild is described "Do si den hôhgemuoten vor ir stênde sach, diu scone magt sprach: 1 "Nun ging die Liebliche, wie das Morgenrot aus den trüben Wolken thut (.e., geht). Da schied (i.e., wurde frei) von mancher Not der, der sie im Herzen [da] trug und (es) lange gethan hatte; er sah die Liebliche nun sehr herrlich stehen. Gleichwie der lichte Mond vor den Sternen steht, dessen Schein so hell von den Wolken herab geht" (v, 281; 283, 1, 2). Er neig ir flizeclîche: bi der hende si in vie. der herre und ouch diu frouwe: daz wart vil tougenlich getân."1 In silence they enter the minster together, and when mass is over Kriemhild thanks Siegfried for the services he has done her brother. "Daz ist," returns Siegfried, "nâch iuwern hulden, mîn frou Kriemhilt, getân." 2 The festival comes to an end and the guests prepare to depart; Siegfried, however, is persuaded by Giselher to remain in Worms. In the sixth "Aventiure" the mythical Siegfried saga is once Brünhild. more brought into the foreground. A report has reached the Rhine of a beautiful princess, Prünhilt or Brünhild by name, who lives in the sea-girt castle of Isenstein in Iceland. The poet of the Nibelungenlied has done his best to humanise the superhuman Valkyrie of the old saga; but the German Brünhild is still endowed with supernatural strength. He who will win her as his bride must first prove his superiority to her in three feats: in throwing the gêr or spear, in hurling the stone, and in leaping; and who fails must, as in all similar sagas, lose his head. Gunther has set his heart upon this princess, and promises his sister to Siegfried if the latter will help him to woo her. With a few chosen vassals, amidst the tears of the women, they set out for Isenstein, sailing down the Rhine. Siegfried stands at the helm, while Gunther himself takes an oar. They reach the open sea, and after twelve days come within sight of Brünhild's castle. With the aid of the "Tarnkappe," a mantle which he had wrested from the dwarf Alberich, Siegfried stands invisible at Gunther's side and assists him to defeat Brünhild in all three tests of strength; whereupon she commands her men to show their allegiance to Gunther. Meanwhile, however-in an "Aventiure" which is obviously a late addition to the poem-the Burgundians are afraid of betrayal; as a precaution, Siegfried returns to his kingdom, 1 "Da sie den Hochherzigen vor sich stehen sah, [da] entbrannte seine Farbe. Die schöne Maid sprach: 'Seid willkommen, Herr Sivrit, [ein] edler Ritter gut.' Da wurde ihm infolge des Grusses der Mut hoch gehoben. Er verneigte sich vor ihr mit Aufmerksamkeit; sie nahm ihn bei der Hand. Wie recht lieblich er bei der Jungfrau ging! Mit freundlichen [Augen-] Blicken sahen einander an der (edle) Herr und auch die Jungfrau: das wurde sehr heimlich gethan" (v, 292, 293). 2 "Das ist um eure Huld zu erwerben, meine Frau Kriemhild, gethan" (v, 304, 4). |