Nibelungenlied

A tale of love so fierce it remakes the world in fire. Siegfried, dragon-slayer and wielder of a cloak of invisibility, wins the treasure of the Nibelungs and the heart of the beautiful Kriemhild. But at the court of the Burgundian kings, loyalty curdles into betrayal. Hagen murders Siegfried for reasons woven from jealousy, fear, and older, darker magic. Kriemhild's grief becomes a weapon. She marries the Hun king Etzel. Years later, she extends an invitation that no one can refuse, and the great halls run red with the blood of kings. This is the Germanic Iliad: an epic of heroes and horror, where honor demands terrible prices and revenge becomes a kind of love. Written in Middle High German around 1200, it preserves pre-Christian tales told long before Christianity came to the Rhine. The world it depicts is one of feasting and murder, of treasures cursed and fates sealed. For readers who feel the pull of ancient stories.