Anonymous, Kudrun

Marion E. Gibbs
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

There is only one manuscript of

Kudrun

, in the collection known as the

Ambraser Heldenbuch

of the early 16th century, but it is now accepted that this anonymous poem, which raises many problems of provenance and source, was composed between 1230 and 1240, a whole generation after the

Nibelungenlied

, with which it is frequently compared. The comparison is misleading for, although there is some justification for the belief that the later poem was inspired by the earlier one, they are actually very different. It is also likely that the very difference of

Kudrun

from its clearly very popular predecessor accounted for the fact that for three centuries it seems to have disappeared, until it was taken up in the

Ambraser Heldenbuch

, where it is placed alongside the

Nibelungenlied

. The relative…

1308 words

Citation: Gibbs, Marion E.. "Kudrun". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 July 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16327, accessed 19 March 2024.]

16327 Kudrun 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.