What is "nibelungenlied"

Nibelungenlied \Ni"be*lung`en*lied`\, n. [G. See Nibelungs; Lied.] A great medieval German epic of unknown authorship containing traditions which refer to the Burgundians at the time of Attila (called Etzel in the poem) and mythological elements pointing to heathen times.

German epic poem of 13c., literally "song of the Nibelungs," a race of dwarves who lived in Norway and owned a hoard of gold and a magic ring, literally "children of the mist," related to Old High German nebul "mist, darkness," Old English nifol (see nebula).

The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge.

The Nibelungenlied is based on pre-Christian Germanic heroic motifs (the " Nibelungensaga"), which include oral traditions and reports based on historic events and individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries. Old Norse parallels of the legend survive in the Völsunga saga, the Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda, the Legend of Norna-Gest, and the Þiðrekssaga.

In 2009, the three main manuscripts of the Nibelungenlied were inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in recognition of their historical significance.