Monday 11 April 2011

Niebelungenlied, Chapter 21

Entitled: Twenty-First Adventure - How Kriemhild fared to the Huns:

Verse one:Following is the story of how Kriemhild went to the huns.
Verse two-four: Long tearful goodbyes with her youngest brothers. Lots of kissing.
Verse five:  Everyone was very pretty while they rode to the huns.
Verse six-end: They arrive in the land of the Huns (which is near Vienna)  and party with a bishop and Ruedigar's wife and assorted others, stopping and visiting and distributing gifts many times along the way (no wonder travel in medieval times took so long), and finally arriving at king Etzel.

That's a whole lotta verses to say not very much. I'm wondering when we will run out of ways to say "Kriemhild gave out treasure" and "the men jousted."

If you ever wanted an example of what can happen in an epic when you kill off the main character, this is it. The answer is: not a helluva lot.

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