The Nibelungenlied: With the Klage

Description

Filled with portrayals of deception, love, murder, and revenge-yet defying traditional medieval epic conventions for representing character-the Nibelungenlied is the greatest and most unique epic in Middle High German. The Klage, its consistent companion text in the manuscript tradition, continues the story, detailing the devastating aftermath of the Burgundians' bloody slaughter. William Whobrey's new volume offers both-together for the first time in English-in a prose version informed by recent scholarship that brilliantly conveys to modern readers not only the sense but also the tenor of the originals. "To say that the translations of both works read well is an understatement. . . . A very significant contribution to medieval literary studies in general and an essential addendum to Nibelungenlied studies in particular. . . . Deserves-and is likely destined-to become the standard translation into English of both the Nibelungenlied and the Klage for decades to come." -Winder McConnell, Emeritus, University of California, Davis

William Whobrey is former lecturer in Germanic Languages and Literatures, Yale University.

"To say that the translations of both works read well is an understatement. . . . A very significant contribution to medieval literary studies in general and an essential addendum to Nibelungenlied studies in particular. . . . Deservesand is likely destinedto become the standard translation into English of both the Nibelungenlied and the Klage for decades to come ." Winder McConnell, Emeritus, University of California, Davis " Whobrey's masterful translation of this pair of thirteenth-century texts brings the entire Middle High German story to life for contemporary English-speaking audiences . His Introduction and notes guide the reader's understanding of the texts and provide an overview of scholarly approaches to them. Scholars will be particularly grateful to Whobrey for providing manuscript variants from the three oldest manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied , allowing modern readers access to medieval interpretations of the story for the first time in English, and showcasing the dynamic nature of medieval storytelling." Kathryn Starkey, Stanford University