Reviews for Glv1, Vol. 1

The average rating for Glv1, Vol. 1 based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-12-30 00:00:00 Mario Leggs This collection contains the Old High German Hildebrandslied, the Middle high German Nibelungenlied, selections from Biterolf und Deitleib, Die Rabenschlacht, Rosengarten zu Worms and a complete translation of Das jüngere Hildebrandslied. The Hildebrandslied is written in Old High German and dates from the 7th to 8th century. The action is set in the context of Theodric the Great's dealings with Odovacer in the 5th century Roman Empire and tells the story of Hildebrand's battle with his son Hadubrand. The poem will appeal to readers of Beowulf and Eddic poetry due to its similar formulaic and appositive phrases such as "Ik gihorta ðat seggen" and "Hadubrant gimahalta, Hiltibrantes sunu." The jüngere Hildebrandslied is a late 15th century version of the same story that is highly reminiscent of the bawdy humour in Das Lied Vom Hurnen Seyfrid and Ermenrichs Tod. The Middle High German Nibelungenlied is thought to date from around 1180 to 1210 and is preserved in 35 known manuscripts. The poem probably originates from the Austrian Danube region. The poet, after much scholarly work, still remains a mystery, with theories on the poet's identity ranging from a Meister Konrad to the famous Walther von der Vogelweide. The poem seems to have been popular during the Middle Ages with the vast amount of manuscripts in existence and the story seems to have remained popular and to have inspired the later Das Lied vom Hurnen Seyfred and Hans Sachs version. Although the story was never forgotten the poem itself seems to have disappeared for awhile, only to be rediscovered in the 18th century and then to inspire Wagner's operatic cycle on the legend. The incidents related in the poem stretch way back into the 5th-6th century Migration Period and the destruction of the Burgundians at the hands of the Huns in 436ad. These incidents are related in numerous Latin chronicles from the period, by far the fullest account is given in Prosper's Epitoma Chronicon. Prosper states that "at the same time Aetius crushed Gundichar, who was king of the Burgundians and living in Gaul. In response to his entreaty, Aetius gave him peace, which the king did not enjoy for long. For the Huns destroyed him and his people root and branch." Alongside the Burgundians, other characters with an historical background are found in the poem such as Theodoric the Great, Attila the Hun and Brunhild the Visigothic princess. The Blütezeit period in which the Nibelungenlied was written witnessed an explosion of German adaptions from French Arthurian Romance and courtly love poetry. While the Nibelungen poet has one foot in the courtly tradition, the other foot is firmly planted in the old German heroic ethic and blends both traditions to create a superb work of art. The blend and variation of French courtly romance and Germanic heroic ethic causes tension throughout the poem, with characters such as Siegfried, Hagen, Brunhild and Hildebrand representing the older heroic ethic and characters such as Gunther, Dietrich, Etzel and Ruedegar representing a new courtly ethic. Two of the most interesting features of the poem are Kriemhild's transformation from courtly princess to a devil like villain and Hagen's transformation from treacherous villain to valiant hero. Variation is also noticeable in scenic descriptions of courtly jousts, courtship, feasts and clothing descriptions and then contrasted with scenes from an older heroic world such as Siegfried's dragon slaying episode, Hagen's slaying of the water sprites, the traditional Germanic bridal quest and the catastrophic last battle. The language also constantly alternates between courtly words like Ritter (knight) and older more heroic words like degan, recke (warrior) helt (hero) and the archaic word, wigant (warrior). The variation techniques constantly remind me of the Beowulf poet's use of pagan and Christian imagery and the Nibelungelied's use of arrival and departure scenes also remind me of Beowulf. Also reminiscent of Beowulf are certain digressive episodes and patterned/formulaic like phrases such as "Dô sprach der helt von Tronege" and "Dô sprach der künec Gunther." The driving force behind the whole poem are two ethical concepts, triuwe (loyalty) and vriunt (friend, relative, ally, lord-vassal relationship). These two ethical ideas are what the character adhere to, with characters on both sides having these relationships toward one another. The poet uses these conflicting loyalties that are governed by these two concepts to drive the poem to its apocalyptic climax. The poet is thought to have composed the poem in two sections but working in reverse order and using lost older poems in the task of composing the Nibelungenlied. The second part is thought to be based on an old poem called by German scholars the Altere Not, traces of this poem are thought to be preserved in the Niflunga saga section of the Thidrekssaga af Bern. For the first section of the poem the poet it thought to have used a number of old poems on Siegfried and Brunhild, again, traces of these lost poems are thought by some scholars such as Andreas Heusler and most recently by Theodore Andersson to be preserved in works such as the Thidrekssaga, Hurnen Seyfred, Rosengarten zu Worms, Eddic poetry and Volsunga saga The other poems in the collection are only selections of various key episodes such as Dietrich's fight with Siegfried from the Rosengarten zu Worms, which by way of a digression tells the story of Siegfried's dragon fight that parallels the episode in the Nibelungenlied. All translations are in good scholarly prose with explanatory notes. All except the Nibelungenlied, which is given in rhyming verse of Ryder's edition and seems to me to let the whole collection down. The translation also changes the names of important characters, instead of Sivrit and Prünhilt, the translation gives the Wagnerian forms of Siegfried and Brunhild. Ryder also changes the names of Dietrich and Etzel to their historical forms of Theodoric and Atilla. For me, I would've preferred a prose version to match the rest of the collection. If not for this, I would've given this 5 stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-03-28 00:00:00 Gian-franco Vecchiola This is a stand- in for the fact I read a fragment of the Lay of Hildebrand. Not sure if the fragment was the only thing extant. But it shows the generational tension in Germany during the late Dark Ages and early Middle Ages.