Correct way of reading The Nibelungenlied

Question

I'm trying to read "The Nibelungenlied" in metrical English translation by George Henry Needler (http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/niebn10h.htm). However, I've got certain difficulties with doing this. The translator explicitly notes in the preface that the strophes of the poem have this structure: three regular lines with two half-lines each with three accented syllables and a caesura in the middle, then fourth line with three and four accented syllables in each half respectevily, so that the last line of strophe is lengthened.

I was unable to read it aloud keeping the rhythm, because after reading three regular lines, fourth isn't getting into my mind no matter how I try. For example, take the first strophe:

To us in olden story / are wonders many told
Of heroes rich in glory, / of trials manifold:
Of joy and festive greeting, / of weeping and of woe,
Of keenest warriors meeting, / shall ye now many a wonder know.

So, my first question is: how are the accents placed in the last half line (shall ye now many a wonder know, for example)?

Moreover, the poem has many "strange" rhymes, that do not sound rhyming at all, like "die — misery" (strophe 70) and "war — afar" (strophe 83). Can someone give me pointers on how to interpret them? Maybe I should look for pronunciation of the corresponding word in Middle English (the author is trying to make the language look archaic)?

Answer 1

Perhaps you should have as a second source the German Reclam edition that has the original text of the Nibelungenlied and a translation in modern German and an audiobook then you can hear how the original text is read.

The Reclam edition is good, reliable and inexpensive. At amazon.de you can have a look inside.

I would read it in this way:

To ús in ólden stóry / are wónders mány tóld

Of héroes rích in glóry, / of tríals mánifóld:

Of jóy and féstive gréeting, / of wéeping ánd of wóe,

Of kéenest wárriors méeting, / sháll ye nów - mány a wónder knów.

Answer 2

The strophe structure you are talking about is the so called “Nibelungen stanza” (“Nibelungenstrophe” in German) which has had a major influence on medieval German epic poetry. The last half-line is emphasized through an additional syllable, so keeping the rhythm is in fact an issue here.

However, don't forget that the Nibelungenlied is a song in the first place. Unfortunately, the corresponding melody was not retained. I recommend that you take a look at the Middle High German version, whose structure was obviously adapted by the translator.

To make a long story short, the solution is to improvise the last half-line (e.g. in a simple spoken-word manner) and to intentionally break the rhythm. I found some interesting interpretations on YouTube by Knud Seckel and Eberhard Kummer. Both are in Middle High German, but there should be no problem in catching the rhythm. Hopefully this will help you along.

While reading the Nibelungenlied, I always imagine a minnesinger or a vagrant musician with a lute/gitter/harp singing the song while sitting by the fire and playing a chord every two seconds. While singing the last half-line the musician takes a long look at the audience. So maybe interpreting it that way will help you, too.