Kudrun: with The Book of King Otnit and The Book of Wolf Dietrich

"I am a huge fan of Whobrey’s translations. These new English translations of Kudrun, Wolf Dietrich, and Otnit uphold the quality to which I’ve grown accustomed in his work. They do an excellent job of capturing the language and cadence of the texts, and are as accurate, readable, and fluent as the original texts allow them to be. I especially love the texts Wolf Dietrich and Otnit, and I’m thrilled they are now available for the first time in English translation. They are such fun to read, and I hope that students find their hapless heroes as entertaining and humorous as I do. In short, it is a delight to read Whobrey’s English translations of these tales, and I’m excited to teach with them." —Kathryn Starkey, Stanford University "Whobrey''s precise and robust translation renders these three lesser-known Middle High German heroic epics accessible to scholars and students of medieval studies, as well as any reader generally interested in myth and legends. Featuring an extensive Introduction and clear notes—offering linguistic details and manuscript history as well as general background in medieval literature—this book will be an excellent resource, particularly for undergraduates. Whobrey’s deep understanding of Germanic literatures and cultures here combines with his linguistic expertise to create an ''honest'' translation, bringing the forms and features of Germanic oral storytelling (characteristic of these older epics) into an updated translation for a wide variety of contemporary readers to learn from and enjoy."
—Alexandra Sterling-Hellenbrand, Appalachian State University

“This book is an impressive collection of English versions of three post-Nibelungenlied medieval German heroic (or epic) narratives, meticulously edited and masterfully translated, including a concise, thorough introduction. Whobrey''s rendering of the Middle High German texts is accurate and lively, with detailed textual notes on all relevant issues (transmission, semantics, style). Kudrun, the longest of the three tales, is—like Wolf Dietrich A—only preserved in the famous Ambraser Heldenbuch, a collection of 25 medieval tales once kept in Castle Ambras (near Innsbruck), now at the Austrian National Library. Whobrey (Yale Univ.) has included 100 strophes from another manuscript containing the ending to Wolf DietrichA. Otinit, often transmitted with Wolf Dietrich, also exists in a 14th-century manuscript. Together, these texts represent stellar examples of tales of intrigue, conflict, and adventure (especially noteworthy: bridal quests). Stylistically, the three stories present variants on the strophic meter found in the Nibelungenlied, no small hurdle for a translator. Consultation with the original German versions is easy, as each four-verse strophe is numbered throughout. Welcome appendixes include helpful personal and place names, a composite family tree (for Kudrun), manuscripts, and a fine bibliography. This volume stands proudly alongside Whobrey''s renditions of Gottfried von Strassburg, Ulrich von Türheim, the Nibelungenlied, and Klage.” 
—J. M. Jeep, Miami University, in CHOICE

"I am a huge fan of Whobrey’s translations. These new English translations of Kudrun, Wolf Dietrich, and Otnit uphold the quality to which I’ve grown accustomed in his work. They do an excellent job of capturing the language and cadence of the texts, and are as accurate, readable, and fluent as the original texts allow them to be. I especially love the texts Wolf Dietrich and Otnit, and I’m thrilled they are now available for the first time in English translation. They are such fun to read, and I hope that students find their hapless heroes as entertaining and humorous as I do. In short, it is a delight to read Whobrey’s English translations of these tales, and I’m excited to teach with them."
—Kathryn Starkey, Stanford University

• | Author: NA
• | Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc
• | Publication Date: Feb 21, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781647922108
• | ISBN-10: 1647922100