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This is Snowflake Challenge #5, "In your own space, promote a canon/talk about a part of canon that you love. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so."

Promote a canon? Sure. Not enough people read medieval poetry! So I simply have to promote the Nibelungenlied. I mean, what's not to love?

- Very nice Middle High German poetry
- Mythology / folk tale themed
- Interesting characters
- Even: interesting female characters
- Snark! Medieval snark!
- Hagen. I love the guy. (Also, I totally ship Volker/Hagen. LOL)

If you want a look, here is my translation of Kriemhild's character introduction, with a bit of analysis on the side. :) Maybe that will give you an impression regarding the style and tone.

What I love about this canon... Eh. It's difficult to explain. This has been my favorite poem since I was a child*, though! Probably because, unlike the children's books I was forced to read at school, there's no clear morality, no good and evil. Everyone is just being themselves, and dealing with things as good as they can... (Which, usually, isn't all that good. Also, not-too-much-of-a-spoiler: no happy end. For anyone.) I like the characters. ~~I like the unapologetic violence. I like the occasional dark humor with which the tragedy is treated.~~ And the plot is just a good story of sex and crime. ;)

Also: Hagen. I mean, if I were asked to name the ultimate anti-hero? That would be Hagen. ~~And I happen to like anti-hero characters.~~ I've read the poem hundreds of times by now, and I still can't decide whether Hagen is the most loyal man imaginable or the ultimate traitor... His loyalty is a special brand, that's for sure.

Also: the famous vigil scene towards the end, right before the slaughter starts. Music. The mood! It's amazing: there are so many dramatic events going on, but the most striking scene is a quiet one...

*no, my parents did not care about child-appropriate reading.

[Note: I think some people have been scared off by the ways this canon has been used for... unsavory political purposes. I can assure you the original isn't a propaganda piece.]