Legendary Swords and The Nibelungenlied

I am currently crawling my way through The Nibelungenlied (The Lay of the Nibelungs), the German Medieval romance that tells the story of the great hero Sivrit.  These days, the story is probably best known for its connections to Wagner’s Ring Operas and the story of Siegfried. 

For the most part, it is really dull.  There seems to be endless descriptions of clothing, the making of clothing, the acquisition of clothing, the giving of clothing, and, of course the comparisons of clothing.  I take it that clothing was a big deal back in those days.  Still, I persevere mainly because it is an important primary source for medieval myth and legend, and for the occasional mention of some strange, fantastical or otherworldly something.

One of the little details that made me smile was the name of Sivrit’s sword.  As mentioned before on this blog, I have an interested in named swords.  So much so, that I really ought to write them down somewhere. That somewhere, I’ve decided is here.  So I’ve created a new page on the blog for legendary swords, which can be accessed by the tab on the top.

Sivrit’s sword is called ‘Bulmunc’ and it is described as follows. ‘an elegant broadsword, which was so sharp that it never missed its mark when it struck upon a helmet – its edges were of fine quality’.