Nibelungenlied

The Nibelungenlied is concerned with the perversion of women’s roles in medieval Germanic culture. How should a woman act according to the poet? In what ways do women in modern Western culture deviate from the medieval Germanic ideal?

Hagen speaks of honor throughout the epic. How would you define the word “honor” based on the text? Who in the epic is truly honorable?

Compare Kriemhild and Brunhild. How are they similar? How are they different?

In Book II, the poet makes a creative decision to portray Etzel as weaker than the historical Attila the Hun. What could have motivated him to do this? Does the poet alter or bend any other historical facts? How does the poet’s “rewriting” of history affect readers’ understanding of history and mythology?

Research the Migration Period/Barbarian Invasions circa 4th-6th centuries AD. What events from this time period appear in or are alluded to in The Nibelungenlied? Why would a 13th-century poet take interest in setting The Nibelungenlied during the Migration Period alongside medieval sensibilities like the chivalric code? Can you spot any other anachronisms?

Trace Kriemhild’s character development. How would you judge her morality? Is she justified in her quest for revenge? Furthermore, is she corrupted by extreme sorrow or is she truly evil?

Siegfried is introduced through hyperbolic language and characterized as larger-than-life. It is his death that catalyzes the epic’s tragedy. Do these facts make him the hero and/or protagonist of the story? Who is the true protagonist and why?

Would you classify The Nibelungenlied as a story meant to entertain or a cautionary tale with a moral? If the story comes with a moral, what is it?