How Women are Portrayed in The Nibelungenlied

A detailed Summary of How Women are Portrayed in The Nibelungenlied

How Women are portrayed in The Nibelungenlied

When you begin reading The Nibelungenlied, the first chapter is about the main woman character. Unlike the other stories we've read, the women usually aren't introduced until the "important men" are, or after the men fight. Kriemhild is introduced as a beautiful maiden that all nobles desired (p. 17). The author could not, however, go beyond Kriemhild's beauty. No matter what they were talking about in the book, Kriemhild always had a word describing her beauty when she was being referred to. Her beauty was known throughout the kingdoms surrounding Burgundy, and she seemed to be the only reason knights and nobles traveled there. At least that's how it was for Sigfried (p. 23).

Unfortunately, Kriemhild's brothers took full advantage of her flawless beauty. They knew they could use her to receive almost anything they wanted. In an example where Kriemhild didn't quite mind as much, Sigfried had to fight and conquer Br

unhild for Gunther, in order to have Kriemhild's hand in marriage (pp. 67-68). Kriemhild was merely an object to the men. She seemed to only be seen for her beauty, her feelings were never taken into consideration, until after she had suffered. You are able to see this is true when she has the fight with Brunhild (pp. 111-112). Although both husbands are loyal to their wives, Gunther is not very loyal to his sister. Instead of letting things settle themselves, he shows his weakness as a king by letting Hagen score revenge on Sigfried and Kriemhild. Sigfried's murder and Gunther's involvement eventually will help Kriemhild get past family ties to seek her own revenge (p. 140).

Brunhild, the other main woman character was very much opposite to Kriemhild. Brunhild came across as strong, independent, fearless, jealous, "manly", and second in appearance to Kriemhild. Brunhild seemed to be the woman in the shadows. You knew she was there only when she was fighting or an

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Approximate Word count = 660
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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