Bettina Bildhauer on BBC Radio 4

Sarah Bowden (KCL), Mark Chinca (Cambridge) and Bettina Bildhauer spoke with host Melvyn Bragg about The Nibelungenlied, a twelfth-century German epic full of blood, violence, fantasy and bleakness. 

It is a foundational work of medieval literature, drawing on the myths of Scandinavia and central Europe. The poem tells of two couples – Siegfried and Kriemhild, and Gunther and Brunhilde – whose lives are destroyed by lies and revenge. It was extremely popular in its time, sometimes rewritten with happier endings, and was rediscovered by German Romantics and has since been drawn from selectively by Wagner, Fritz Lang and, infamously, the Nazis looking to support ideas on German heritage.

Photo: Bettina Bildhauer (right) with co-guests Sarah Bowden (on the left), Mark Chinca (middle) outside the recording studio.