The Nibelungenlied Translated into Rhymed English Verse in the Metre of the Original — Context and Discussion

Ritualized Grief and the Body

The excerpts dwell on the physical aftermath of Siegfried's death. Kriemhild's mourning is described in stark bodily terms: she kisses the lifeless knight, and weeps so that “ran blood from out her eyes so bright.” The warriors who accompanied Siegmund are said to be “beyond all measure sad,” and for three days many “did nor drink nor eat.” The poem lingers on the opening of the casket and the act of bearing the body to the grave. These details are not merely decorative; they establish grief as a public, ritualized performance that binds the community. Yet the narrator also notes that “for food they turned from mourning / as people still are wont to do,” a pragmatic observation that undercuts the ideal of perpetual sorrow.

Contested Loyalties and the Language of Kinship

Kriemhild's decision to stay with her brothers rather than return with Siegmund is negotiated through a series of appeals that reveal the competing claims of kinship. Siegmund offers her “all the power to hold” and the service of Siegfried's warriors, invoking her status as his son's widow. Her mother Ute and brothers Gernot and Giselher urge her to remain, with Gernot reminding her that “to thee they all are strangers” in Siegfried's country. Giselher's promise to “help to still thy sorrow” and to keep her from seeing Hagen tips the balance. The language of these exchanges is formal and repetitive, each speaker reiterating their offer or plea. This verbal patterning mirrors the structural repetition of the poem's adventures, where characters often restate positions before action unfolds.

The Weight of the Past: Allusions and Foreknowledge

Even in these excerpts, the poem's narrative voice carries a sense of impending doom. When Siegmund speaks of Siegfried's death as the work of a “foul traitor's hand,” the reader knows that Hagen is that traitor, and that Kriemhild's refusal to return will set the stage for further bloodshed. The mention of the Nibelungen hoard, which appears in the adventure titles (Adventure XIX: “How the Nibelungen Hoard was Brought to Worms”), hints at the treasure that will become a tool of vengeance. The poem's structure—its numbered adventures and repeated formulas—creates a rhythm of expectation. The translator's decision to retain the original meter reinforces this sense of a story already known, where the interest lies not in surprise but in the unfolding of fate.

Readers approaching Needler's translation should attend to the interplay between the poem's formal constraints and its emotional content. The rhymed couplets and consistent meter can feel repetitive, but they also mirror the ritualistic nature of the society depicted. Pay particular attention to how characters use formal speech to mask or advance their intentions, and to the way the narrator's asides—like the comment on eating after mourning—puncture the epic solemnity. The excerpts here are from the second half of the poem; the first half establishes the relationships and grievances that make these scenes resonate.

There’s something in Needler’s old verse that lingers—those measured lines of Kriemhild’s grief, how loyalty and vengeance blur. I found myself thinking of it again while turning through The Years Between — Themes and Context, which carries that same quiet ache of time passing between choices and their consequences. A familiar sadness, really.