The Nibelungenlied

<p>The <em>Nibelungenlied</em> translated as <em>The Song of the Nibelungs</em> is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians how he was murdered and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge.</p><p><br></p><p>The <em>Nibelungenlied</em> is based on pre-Christian Germanic heroic motifs (the Nibelungensaga) which include oral traditions and reports based on historic events and individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries. Old Norse parallels of the legend survive in the <em>Völsunga saga</em> the <em>Prose Edda</em> the <em>Poetic Edda</em> the <em>Legend of Norna-Gest</em> and the <em>Þiðrekssaga</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>In 2009 the three main manuscripts of the <em>Nibelungenlied</em> were inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in recognition of their historical significance.</p>