<p>Written around the year 1200 by an unknown Middle High German poet, probably an Austrian knight-cleric, The Song of the Nibelungs is composed of thirty-nine adventures and is divided into two major parts. Two great complexes of epic action are joined together: the life and death of Sigfrid, his glory, fault, and betrayal, and the massive destruction of those who betrayed him, engineered by Kriemhild, Sigfrid&#39;s wife.</p><p>The translator has reproduced the principal characteristics of style and language, in a verse form approximating that of the original. This modern translation, with its naturalness of language, will appeal to the general reader and scholar alike.</p>