The Nibelungenlied

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Song of the Nibelungs, a twelfth century German epic, full of blood, violence, fantasy and bleakness. It is a foundational work of medieval literature, drawing on the myths of Scandinavia and central Europe. The poem tells of two couples, Siegfried and Kriemhild and Gunther and Brunhilda, whose lives are destroyed by lies and revenge. It was extremely popular in its time, sometimes rewritten with happier endings, and was rediscovered by German Romantics and has since been drawn from selectively by Wagner, Fritz Lang and, infamously, the Nazis looking to support ideas on German heritage. The image above is of Siegfried seeing Kriemhild for the first time, a miniature from the Hundeshagenschen Code manuscript dating from 15th Century. With Sarah Bowden Reader in German and Medieval Studies at King’s College London Mark Chinca Professor of Medieval German and Comparative Literature at the University of Cambridge And Bettina Bildhauer Professor of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews Producer: Simon Tillotson

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.7	Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:07.4	There's a reading list to go with it on our website and you can get news about our
0:10.7	programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time.
0:14.6	I hope you enjoyed the program.
0:16.4	Hello, the Nebel Longley Lead is a 12th century German epic full of blood, violence,
0:21.7	fantasy and bleakness and it's a foundational work of medieval literature.
0:27.4	Going on a myth of Scandinavia and Central Europe, this song of the Nebel Longs tells
0:32.1	of two couples, Sikh, Freed and Krem Hill and Gunter and Braun Hilder whose lives are
0:37.5	destroyed by lies and revenge.
0:40.5	The poem was extremely popular in its time, was rediscovered by German romantics and has
0:45.0	since been raided selectively by Wagner for its lang and infamously the Nazis looking
0:50.0	to support ideas on German heritage.
0:52.9	When me to discuss the Nebel Longley Lead are Sarah Bowden, reader in German and medieval
0:57.2	studies at King's College London, Mark Kinker, professor of medieval German and comparative
1:02.4	literature at the University of Cambridge and Bettina Bildhauer, professor of modern languages
1:07.0	at the University of St. Andrews.
1:09.0	Bettina, it's worth taking a little time too much to outline what is a very complicated
1:14.4	story but I'm sure you'll do it superbly in exactly the right time.
1:18.4	Yeah, there's a lot of plot.
1:20.6	So it all starts with Krem Hill, the beautiful princess who lives in Worms on the Rhine
1:26.7	in Burgundy.
	...

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