The Nibelungenlied

Nov 15, 2025 1:50 PM

Author:A. Hatto

The Nibelungenlied

Written by an unknown author in the twelfth century, this powerful tale of murder and revenge reaches back to the earliest epochs of German antiquity, transforming centuries-old legend into a masterpiece of chivalric drama. Siegfried, a great prince of the Netherlands, wins the hand of the beautiful princess Kriemhild of Burgundy, by aiding her brother Gunther in his struggle to seduce a powerful Icelandic Queen. But the two women quarrel, and Siegfried is ultimately destroyed by those he trusts the most. Comparable in scope to the Iliad, this skilfully crafted work combines the fragments of half-forgotten myths to create one of the greatest epic poems - the principal version of the heroic legends used by Richard Wagner, in The Ring.

Reviews

The plot is a marvel of ingenuity and makes most detective stories look primitive by comparison

—— John Brophy

A fine satire, filled with humorous incidents and much subtle philosophy. It is for intelligent, open-minded people with a sense of humour

—— Yorkshire Post

The author has a wonderful eye for village types, and the village of Clochemerle is built up for us as a shining and integrated whole - he has chosen to employ his great talents in describing a series of people, episoded and conversations that are ribald, exaggerated and bizarre. I must confess that its rollicking grossness pleased me

—— Howard Spring

A full-blooded uproarious farce in the Rabelaisian tradition

—— Times Literary Supplement

Poignant, impeccably written-especially heart-rending because it is so believable

—— Company

A brilliant, bulging historical novel ... Thrillingly accomplished ... Magnificent ... one finishes it already eager to begin the sequel

—— Guardian

His style is spare, that's what is so beautiful. His novels are genuine romans philosophies - novels illustrating ideas

—— Piers Paul Read

In a class by himself...the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man’s consciousness and anxiety

—— William Golding

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