Quotes from The Nibelungenlied
11 notable lines from Unknown · c. 1200
We have been told in ancient tales many marvels of famous heroes, of mighty toil, joys, and high festivities, of weeping and wailing, and the fighting of bold warriors – of such things you can now hear wonders unending!
Quotations follow the A.T. Hatto translation (Penguin Classics, 2004) — our recommended edition.
This story ends here: such was the Nibelungs' Last Stand.
Closing line, Thirty-Ninth Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto In the midst of their joy, sorrow came to them, as in the end it always must.
The Nibelungenlied Living in such magnificence, Kriemhild dreamed she reared a falcon, strong, handsome and wild, but that two eagles rent it while she perforce looked on, the most grievous thing that could ever befall her.
Kriemhild's prophetic dream, First Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto You vile cowards, he said as he lay dying. What good has my service done me now that you have slain me?
The dying Siegfried, Sixteenth Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto I call you one. My dear husband Siegfried was the first to enjoy your lovely body, since it was not my brother who took your maidenhead.
Kriemhild to Brunhild, the queens' quarrel, Fourteenth Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto You have repaid me in base coin, she said, but Siegfried's sword I shall have and hold!
Kriemhild to the captive Hagen before beheading him, Thirty-Ninth Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto We must all go the way that is appointed for us.
The Nibelungenlied What terrible vengeance she took on her nearest kinsmen for slaying him in days to come! For his one life there died many a mother's child.
Narrator foreshadowing Kriemhild's revenge, First Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto I intend to stay free of a warrior's love all my life. I mean to keep my beauty till I die, and never be made wretched by the love of any man.
Kriemhild, First Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto Death's sword ever was too sharp.
Narrator, Sixteenth Adventure · trans. A. T. Hatto