We meet Fridays 11:30 to 12:30 in South College W365.

WEEK 12 Nibelungenlied

Friday 19 April

• READ the Nibelungenlied (free through UMass), first half. (Better translation HERE. Another translation is here.)
Extra fun:
• If you like, Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen (1924). Lang was one of the great silent-movie directors of all time. An article on the sources of Lang's film (S. R. Hauer). And here is the Technicolor epic from Harald Reinl, Die Nibelungen (1966).
• BROWSE the original manuscript if you like; here is transcription of the manuscript in verse form (in OHG)
• The opening strophes sung in German by Eberhard Kummer.
• A German documentary on the Treasure of the Nibelungs. (Part 2 ist hier.) Is it real? Lots of great scenery and pseudo-historical fictions. And a 2-part look at the background of the poem (in German)

 

Topic: Violence, Ambition, and Statecraft

Q. Consider the character of Hagen and of Kreimhild. How are they shaped by circumstances? What does each want? Are they after an ideal—an ideal state, an ideal life, a moral ideal, an ideal love? At what price are their ambitions realized? What purpose does it serve the narrative to have these issues played out in the court of Attila the Hun? Compare to courts of Middle Earth, especially at Gondor. Why is so much time spent on the political machinations of the Steward of Gondor?