Customer Reviews

The Song of the Nibelungs: A Verse Translation from the Middle High German Nibelungenlied (Refiguring English Studies)

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While some translations of the Nibelungenlied are distorted into sentences, Ryder does a fine job in bringing this critical work to us in its original form, strophes - in groups of verse of about 4 lines each. The Nibelungenlied is almost essential for those traveling to Germany, for many streets and places are named after places and people in the lied. One will have a hard time understanding Germany if they have not read the country's national epic.

Frank G. Ryder's translation of the Nibelungenlied is the best that I have come across. I first became interested in this epic poem after seeing Fritz Lang's silent movie version. I loved the movie, but there were various aspects of the story which I did not fully understand. I turned to the poem for clarification and I'm glad I did, not merely because it aided my appreciation of the film, but more importantly because I thereby discovered one of the greatest works of literature. The story which the poem tells is exciting and has great depth. The characters are unforgettable. They are neither wholly good nor wholly bad. Even the villain of the piece, Hagen, eventually wins the reader's sympathy, while the heroine, Kriemhild, develops from virtuous maiden, to victim, to avenging harpy. This is a tale which shows what happens when the values of medieval times are taken to their extreme. It explores the consequences of fealty to a liege lord when such loyalty is given without question and upheld whatever the cost. It shows that honour and duty when held to rigidly, can lead to the destruction of all. For if two opposing sides remain unyielding, neither willing to lose face, each determined to maintain their reputations as bold, courageous heroes, then the result is catastrophe. Thus the poem while celebrating the virtues of medieval chivalry, at the same time implicitly criticises them.

I have read, in part or in whole, various prose translations of the Nibelungelied, but found them tough going. Some mistakenly used archaic language to try to reproduce the Middle High German of the original, but worst of all, none of these translations made the epic poem seem like a poem. The Nibelungenlied does not work when turned into a sort of prose novel. It comes across as stilted and stiff. The story remains but not much else. Ryder's verse translation, on the other hand, reproduces the form of the original. He translates the epic into four line stanzas, with the fourth line slightly longer than the other three. His skill as a poet is clear, as there are over 2000 stanzas to translate and he almost always makes each verse conform to the rhythmic structure. Occasionally his rhymes can by a little forced, but this is inevitable in an English translation which attempts to faithfully reproduce the meaning of the original. At times there are just not enough rhymes in English. Ryder's Song of the Nibelungs can be beautiful in its use of language, but is above all entertaining, telling a good story well. He uses simple, everyday language which makes the book a relatively easy read. It has a useful and detailed introduction, running to some 40 pages, which is scholarly, but not exclusively for those who study medieval German. Anyone interested in the Nibelungelied, who cannot read the original, should get this translation.

The Nibelungenlied offers a "courtly" version of the barbaric stories found in the Norse Volsung Saga. In this version, supernatural elements are toned down and the action takes place under a highly developed feudal system where lords command armies of thousands and great men act according the the laws of chivalry. In my opinion, this "courtly" version has a more coherent plot and characters who are much more fleshed-out than the Norse "heroic" version. The characters have actual personalities, motivations, and dilemmas that make you like, pity, and/or loathe them. That being said, the Nibelungenlied's more chivalric air and extended descriptions of of courtly life lack some of the raw passion of the Norse version. Both offer a fascinating (often in a can't-look-away-from-the-impending-gruesome-car-crash kind of way) tale of revenge, counter-revenge, and tragedy during a dark brutal time.

This translation is in a verse form with a meter and rhyme scheme that was fairly similar to the original, which is one of the main things I look for in a translation of epic poetry. This may mean some loss of precise "word-for-word" translation, but I prefer a slightly loose translation to reading prose when the original is poetry. Aside from some awkward run-on lines, the cadence and rhyme were enjoyable and easy to follow. Loved it!

This is a classic work of Western literature that I somehow had never read. This version was highly readable - I don't know how true it is to the original, but it has a cadence that gives the sense of an epic narrative poem. When I ordered the book, I thought it might have a German/English format; I would have enjoyed comparing the German and English versions. However, this edition worked fine for me and I now have a fuller appreciation of the cultural context of Germanic folklore.

I have read pretty much every translation out there, and this one is by far the best at capturing both the meter and meaning for a modern audience. This even trumps most sections of Modern High German translations.

Ryder captures the key scenes with a mastery that visually allows the reader to both imagine the action play out before them as well as hear the soundscape of a poet/bard reciting it for a courtly audience.

If you are familiar with the Saga of the Volsungs, this would also be of interest because it is primarily an adaptation for a courtly audience. If you are interested in seeing what German medieval courtly life was like, this is the "source" for that information. Nowhere else can be found a description of courtly life in an epic as it is here - to an excess.

The work is truly a classic to be cherished, and I would definitely recommend this translation over any other, because up until now, it alone allows the modern English reader to fully appreciate just how magnificient a work of literature it is.