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St. Gall Nibelung manuscript B (Nibelungenlied, Klage, Parzival, Willehalm)

c. 1260

Held by Abbey Library of St Gall, Cod. Sang. 857read here

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This volume, called the St Gall epic manuscript, is a Middle High German collection written in two columns on parchment. It holds Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and Willehalm, the Nibelungenlied in version B with its Klage, the Stricker's Karl der Grosse, and five verses by Friedrich von Sonnenburg. The Nibelungenlied tells how Siegfried wins Kriemhild at Worms and is murdered through Hagen's plot, and how Kriemhild later marries Etzel, king of the Huns, and brings about the death of the Burgundians.

Where it happens

  1. Worms Capital of the Burgundian kingdom, where Kriemhild grows up and Siegfried comes to woo her.2
  2. Passau Region the anonymous poet most likely came from.2
  3. Salzburg Possible place of origin of the manuscript, together with South Tyrol.1
  4. Padua Its painting school is the source of the 78 initials.1
  5. Glarus Home of Aegidius Tschudi, the first named owner.1
  6. St Gallen The abbey bought the manuscript in 1768 and still holds it.1

Through time

  1. 1200The anonymous poet composes the Nibelungenlied around this date.2
  2. 1260Manuscript B is copied, probably around this year.1
  3. 1508The Nibelungenlied is last copied in manuscript, in the Ambraser Heldenbuch.2
  4. 1755Manuscript C of the poem is rediscovered and the work returns to notice.2
  5. 1768The abbey of St Gall buys the Tschudi manuscripts, including this volume.1
  6. 1924Fritz Lang's film Die Nibelungen brings the story to cinema.2

Who is in it, and behind it

Wolfram von Eschenbach author

Author of Parzival and Willehalm, both copied in this volume.1

Der Stricker author

Poet of Karl der Grosse, which fills pages 452 to 558.1

Friedrich von Sonnenburg author

Five of his sung gnomic verses close the volume on page 693.1

Aegidius Tschudi subject

Swiss scholar from Glarus, the first known owner of the manuscript.1

Siegfried character

Prince who wins Kriemhild with Gunther's help and is killed through Hagen's plot.2

Kriemhild character

Burgundian princess, widowed, who marries Etzel and takes revenge on the Burgundians.2

Hagen character

Burgundian warrior who learns Siegfried's weak spot and is finally killed by Kriemhild.2

Etzel character

King of the Huns, Kriemhild's second husband, at whose court the slaughter takes place.2

What it is about

First written German hero epic

The Nibelungenlied was the first heroic epic put into writing in German and began a whole genre.2

Courtly and heroic poems together

One book holds knightly romance and heroic song, showing what a wealthy reader of the 1260s wanted.1

Revenge ends in total ruin

Kriemhild's revenge kills all the Burgundians who come to Etzel's court; medieval audiences found this troubling and wrote the Klage in answer.2

Versions B and C differ

The manuscripts vary, and version B begins with Kriemhild rather than the famous opening of version C.2

Pages worth stopping at

  1. V2Page 5 opens Wolfram's Parzival, which runs to page 288.1
  2. Page 290Page 291 opens the Nibelungenlied in version B, which runs to page 416.1
  3. Page 415Page 416 is where the Nibelungenlied ends and the Klage begins.1
  4. Page 451Page 452 begins the Stricker's Karl der Grosse.1
  5. Page 560Page 561 begins Wolfram's Willehalm.1
  6. Page 692Page 693 carries five verses by Friedrich von Sonnenburg.1

How it came to be here

Three main scribes and four helpers copied the manuscript in the third quarter of the 13th century, probably around 1260, perhaps in South Tyrol or Salzburg. A wealthy patron interested in German epics likely ordered it, and its 78 initials come from painters of the Padua school. Its first named owner was the Swiss scholar Aegidius Tschudi, and the abbey of St Gall bought his manuscripts in 1768. Of the 37 known Nibelungenlied manuscripts, this is one of the three oldest complete ones.

Sources

  1. e-codices IIIF manifest and summary, Cod. Sang. 857
  2. Nibelungenlied (Wikipedia)

Images: e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland. CC BY-NC 4.0.

Holder's record · IIIF manifest

Also from Abbey Library of St Gall