Kudrun

by Winder McConnell

Prose translation with scholarly apparatus, of German epic c.1230, comparable with Nibelungenlied.

Kudrun is an heroic epic written around 1230 second in importance only to the Nibelungenlied; it is characterized by its greater focus on female characters and a tone gentler than that of the brutal Nibelungenlied. For his translation Professor McConnell has gone back to the sole (a later and problematic) existing manuscript, found in the Ambraser Handschrift in the holdings of the Austrian National Library at Vienna.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readers of Norse mythology will be familiar with the legends of Hilde, Hedin, Hogni and the Hjaðningavíg. Readers of Old English and Chaucer will have encountered the enigmatic names of Deor, Heodenings, Heorrenda, Hagena, Heoden and Wada. In this Middle High German version, you will find those same characters but under the names of Hagen, Hilde, Wate, Horand, Hetel and the Danish Hegelings. This 13th century epic poem is essential reading for anyone interested in Norse myth,anglo Saxon poetry and female roles in medieval epic. Fans of the Nibelungenlied will also love this, often called Kudrun, the German Odyssey, in much the same way that the Nibelungenlied is called the German Illiad.  Like all Winder McConnell's books, the translation is excellent and comes with a useful introduction, the translator also did a good companion study called Kudrun, a critical commentary, this is well worth reading in conjunction with this volume.