The Nibelungenlied in 19th Century American Periodicals

Abstract

The interest displayed by both the scholar and the dilettante of young America in the best-known of the German epics is enlightening as a reflection of the extent of German-American cultural relations during the 19th century. It is gratifying to discover in the 19th century American journals not only a generally receptive attitude towards the epic and an awareness of the main currents of European criticism, but also at the close of the century a significant original contribution to the progress of Nibelungen study. Before the Romantic interest in medieval culture the Nibelungenlied was sadly neglected by literary criticism in the land of its origin. Furthermore, although Nibelungen study flourished among Romantic critics, the Romantic misconception of the epic as a collection of folk songs, products of automatic growth among the people, held German criticism under its spell throughout the 19th century.