The Nibelungenlied: Finding Value in Ancient Works

Analyzing the way that the epic poem has made its way into pop culture and what we can learn by reading it

I have recently stumbled into the corner of YouTube video creators that have found a way to make a pretty penny off book reviews. Critics are not a new concept to me, but I am envious of their position that I thought had been made obsolete with the rise in “must-see” TV and movies. I cannot hide my desire to take such a place, but at the same time I think that that ship sailed a while ago when I took the road less traveled (that road being ancient literature). Instead, what I can do (and readers can see the development of this idea where I have criticized the so-called western canon) is give recommendations not on new pulp but rather forgotten treasures. Much in the same way I covered the major themes of the Odyssey, I can look at ancient works and explain how they have resurfaced in our modern forms of entertainment. The first of these that comes to mind is the Nibelungenlied. 

Few high school students are given the opportunity to learn about the heroic poetry of the Middle Ages: at the turn of the millennium, feudal lords reintroduced fine arts into the world and started commissioning poetry of their and their kings’ deeds. Chief among them,¹ the Nibelungenlied has survived to this day where similar works have been forgotten. Not only does it provide literary value to the modern author, but also keen insight to the modern scholar. The general outline of the story was brought to the stage by Richard Wagner in the late 19th century, and the creative instrumentation and copious use of leitmotif² has allowed the music to survive well into the modern era. Film buffs will know the “Ride of the Valkyries” song from the film Apocalypse Now, and the “What’s Opera, Doc?” episode of Looney Tunes is chiefly based on the Ring cycle (with borrowed elements from a few other Wagner works)³. Fans of Robert Pattinson may be interested to know that his earliest film work was on a German television adaptation of the Nibelungenlied called “Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King.”