Obeležja junačkog epa na primeru pesme o Nibelunzima i pesme o Gudrun

Abstract

Names such as Goethe, Hesse and literary writers alike are, to the reading public, synonymous for German literature. It is discouraging to see how German heroic epics have not achieved world wide acclaim and popularization, yet their quality precedes that of many bestsellers. Many experts even consider the Nibelungenlied the German equivalent of Homer's Iliad. In this work we will discuss the most significant characteristics of heroic epic by analysing, what we might consider two of the most popular heroic epics in German literature, the Nibelungenlied and the Gudrunlied. These medieval epics are subjects of much scholarly research around the world. For a better understanding of the topic, we will at the very beginning discuss the concepts of epic and heroic prose, their major characteristics as well as their significance in German literature. As the term hero certainly holds a key position in this literary genre we are obligated to hindsight it, and talk through the heroes of the Nibelungenlied and the Gudrunlied. Furthermore, for a better comprehension of the topic it is inevitable to take a closer look at the historical context of these two epics. At the very end we will review their similarities and differences.