Das Nibelungenlied. Versuch Einer Deutung by Walter Johannes SchröderReview by: Gerard F. SchmidtModern Language Notes, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan., 1960), pp. 86-87Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3040584 .

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Walter Johannes Schroder, Das Nibelungenlied. Versuch einer Deutung (Halle: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1954. 94 pp.). THE essay, a reprint from vol. 76 (1954) of the Beitrtige zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache unrd Literatur, does not concern itself, except marginally, with the genesis of the epic, its sources, and preceding stages of development: problems which are still very much under discussion. The author offers an interpretation of the poem arising from answers to questions of his own which are neither as obvious as inquiries into the origins of the NL nor perhaps entirely neces- sary: Why did a poet around 1200 take the trouble to compose such an enormous work as the NL, why was it so well received in courtly circles, and what is the meaning of the NL? The answer: that the poem, apart from other considerations, is more than sufficiently heroic, and courtly enough, to have appealed to a medieval public (and evi- dently sufficiently interesting and agelessly human, or inhuman, for audiences of any period), seems to be too simple an answer to even be mentioned. The question requires deeper probing, a Deutung, which can perhaps be summarized by means of a few quotations: " Die Sage erfasst diese Verhiiltnisse [conditions in the Merovingian kingdom of the 6th/7th centuries] mit der Konzeption des schwachen Fiirsten, der vom Ratgeber (Hagen) und Helfer (Siegfried) abhiingig ist und schliesslich durch Familienzwistigkeiten (Gunther-Kriemhild) mit seinem ganzen Hause untergeht " (p. 55). " Der Dichter des NL (oder sein Vorganger) dichtete in seinem ersten Teil eine Sagenquelle aus, die als Inhalt den unfiihigen Herrscher hatte, der, auf Ratgeber und Helfer angewiesen, sich auf Rat des ersteren des letzteren bedient und ihn dann, da er zu Ansehen kommt, beseitigen lasst. Es bedurfte nur der Interpretation unfiihig gleich hofisch, um dem Sagenproblem seine fur 1200 zeitgemasse Fiillung und damit wieder seine Aktualitat zu geben " (p. 56). " Das ' Urlied ' deutet den geschichtlichen Real- befund durch Gegenilberstellung zweier Seiten, einer alten und der Gegenwart. Diese Deutung iibernimmt das NL. Seine Neuerung besteht vor allem darin, dass es das Bild der Gegenwart aus der eigenen Zeit nimmt. Damit erscheinen die vielbesprochenen ' Schich- ten' des NL.s in einem ganz neuen Lichte. Sie gehoren bereits den altesten Quellen an und sind das Mittel, den realgeschichtlichen Tat- sachenbestand deutend zu erhellen " (p. 57). " So kann die Erhellung der Gegenwart nicht besser geschehen als durch die Erziihlung von Urzeitgeschichten" (p. 61). And so it goes. This reviewer feels that he is not alone in his disagreement with the view that the poet

86 Modern Langusage Notes

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of the NL is a philosophizing historian who has assigned himself the task of "sich und seinem Publikum die geschichtlichen Ereignisse mit Hilfe einfacher menschlicher Verhaltnisse und Beziehungen ver- standlich zu machen " (p. 52).

He who disagrees with the thesis will equally naturally object to the argumentation. " Es hat doch offenbar den Anschein, als ob der Dichter die Handlung in zwei verschiedenen historischen Zeiten verlaufen lassen wolle " (p. 23): this is by no means evident. Another example may suffice: Could the fall of the Burgundians, asks the author, have been prevented if they had followed iagen's warning not to accept Etzel's invitation? The answer is 'no': "die Kata- strophe wiire ebenfalls eingetreten, freilich auf andere Weise. Denn da Siegfried tot ist, fehlt den Wormsern die Kraft, durch die sie sich bisher behauptet haben" (p. 49). This is idle and erroneous speculation.

The essay concludes with a very readable and stimulating chapter on the relationship between the heroic and courtly epic, exemplified by the NL and Wolfram's Parzival, and an interpretation of Die Klage. This chapter is quite independent, and to some extent un- related to Chapter I, but it somehow compensates for the irritation caused by the latter. Not to the point, however, of generating a pardoning mood for what is wanting in the main and obviously more important part of the essay.

Harvard Univer8ity GERARD F. SCHMIDT

Maria Bindschedler, Gottfried von Strassburg und die hopfsche Ethik (Halle: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1955. 42 pp.). THE essay is a reprint, now augmented by a two-page preface, of an article which appeared in vol. 76 (1954) of the Beitrige zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (Halle). It is an interesting and worthwhile attempt at a new interpretation of the Grundauffassung of Gottfried's Tristan., and at the same time a justified revision of other interpretations; it is short, but admirably clear, and the author's arguments are well supported by textual evidence from Gottfried's work as well as from other medieval writers. While presenting her own views toward a solution-if solution there can be-of this most important Tristan problem, the author cannot, and does not wish to,

voL. =v, January 1960 87

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