SOURCE: “On Irony and Symbolism in the Nibelunglied: Two Preliminary Notes,” German Life & Letters, New Series Vol. XIV, No. 4, July, 1961, pp. 271-81.

In the following essay, Sacker examines examples of irony in the Nibelungenlied and points out some previously overlooked uses of symbolism.

I. Irony

It has always been recognized that irony plays some part in the Nibelungenlied,¹ but so far as I know attention has been concentrated on those instances which make the person or deed appear more heroic and not upon those which tend to undermine the heroic appearance. That this latter possibility also exists is perhaps most easily proved from an incident in the second half, where Kriemhilt tries to persuade her knights to attack the two men Hagen and Volker. Four hundred of them arm themselves and accompany her in threatening fashion; they see and hear their queen defied and insulted, and she calls...