Das Nibelungenlied und die Klage, Handschrift D (sog. Prunner Codex) - BSB Cgm 31

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Description

The most important Middle High German heroic epic was written around 1200 by an anonymous poet in Passau at the court of Bishop Wolfger von Erla (c. 1140-1218) on the basis of older legends. The life and death of the hero Siegfried and Kriemhild's revenge are sung about in 39 Aventiuren (adventures) and around 2,400 verses. The historical core of the saga is the defeat of the people's migratory Burgundian empire against Hun auxiliary troops in 436. With 35 manuscripts and fragments, the "Nibelungenlied" is one of the best preserved texts of the German-speaking Middle Ages. This parchment manuscript from Prunn Castle on the Altmühl (manuscript D) dates from the first half of the 14th century. It contains the Nibelungenlied (1v-144r) and part of the "Klage" (lament) (114r-168v). While the verses are continuous in the song part and there are at least eight to nine small initials per page, there are usually only one or two initials on each page in the lament part, whose verses are separated. The "Klage" is a continuation of the "Nibelungenlied" in rhyming couplets, which deals with the post history of the Burgundian decline and interprets it as Christian. Datum: 2016

Author

Peter Czoik

Rights Statement Description

CC0