Within the English-speaking world, no work of the German High Middle Ages is better known than the Nibelungenlied, which has stirred the imagination of artists and readers far beyond its land of origin. Its international influence extends from literature to music, art, film, politics and propaganda, psychology, archeology, and military history. Now for the first time all references to the vast Nibelungen tradition have been catalogued in this comprehensive encyclopedia containing nearly 1000 entries by several dozen international contributors, including the most distinguished scholars in the field. Readers will find illuminating passages on a variety of topics, including literary and extra-literary references, characters and place names, significant motifs and concepts, historical background, and cultural reception through the centuries. This monumental work is an invaluable guide to a fascinating, age-old tradition.

Contents:
Literary authors and works; Medieval characters and places; Themes, motifs, objects, key words; Sources: history, legend, archaeology, manuscript collections; Scholars and scholarship; Reception of the Nibelungen theme in German-speaking countries: literary authors and works; Reception of the Nibelungen theme outside German-speaking countries (including translations); Music and composers; Art, artists, films, filmmakers, sculpture, sculptors; Miscellaneous (education, historians, politics, psychology, military).

This is the first scholarly edition of the High German prose rendering of the French source text by Renaud de Montauban in the 1535 Simmern version. The anonymous author is Johann II of Simmern. A postface gives detailed information on the origins, dissemination, historical transmission and reception of the narrative material in European art, music and literature.