Nibelungenlied

Nibelungenlied

The saga of Siegfried the dragon slayer was considered to be the German national epic in the 19th century. Only a single illuminated manuscript exists in Middle High German, namely the Hundeshagen Manuscript from ca. 1440. The heroic epic tells the story of Siegfried, who helps the Burgundian King Gunther return a wife home and as a reward is allowed to take the beautiful Kriemheld to wife. However his triumph does not last long, treason and intrigue lead to Siegfried’s death and endless calamities. The Hundeshagen Codex contains 384 pages with a total of 37 impressive pen and ink drawings that bring the well-known events to life.

A History Full of Open Questions

Whether or not this illuminated manuscript of the Nibelung Saga from the 15th century was the product of a commission has never been made certain. An author has been similarly sought in vain. Furthermore, nothing more can be said from which of the few previous transcripts still in existence the original version of the epic was based on. What is certain is that around 1200, elements of various Norse myths and real events of the migration period and the reign of the Merovingians were combined with one another to record the manuscript for the Huneshagen Codex, and out of it a massive heroic epic was created in Middle High German.

A German National Epic?

The Song of the Nibelungsfirst reached great fame centuries after its creation. In the Middle Ages the story made little impression next to masterworks such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales or the Divine Comedy of Dante. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the time of emerging German philology and national consciousness, researchers of the time discovered the historical worth of the text and turned it into a quintessential piece of German literature.

In Many Respects an Unusual Edition

A unique detail of the Hundeshagen Codex is the nexus of two plotlines that was undertaken. There are two different versions of the epic. In the first version the story ends with the words “that is the song of the Nibelung” and in the second version with “that is the misery of the Nibelung”. The work of the Hundeshagen edition combines the versions. The codex originates from around 1440 and was named after its owner, the librarian Helfrich Bernhard Hundeshagen. He allegedly acquired the work in 1816 from an antiquarian in Mainz, he disclosed little more about his purchase.

Unique Illustrations

The decoration of the book is as excellent as its history is mysterious: 37 magnificent book paintings in the late medieval style, which are still splendid to this day decorate the script and constitute a comprehensive pictorial cycle in their own right. A talented miniature painter executed the pen and ink drawings with assured strokes and a loving attention to detail. He used no gold decoration for his pictures, but he was successful in delighting with a great variety of colors. Fascinating depictions of knightly and courtly festivals, tournaments, hunts, intimate glimpses of the royal bedchamber, and paintings of travelling companies on water and land take the beholder to the long bygone time of the Nibelungs.