BRUNHILDS CINEMATIC EVOLUTION IN GERMAN FILM by ULLA KASPRZYK HELD (Under the Direction of Christine Haase) ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the portrayal of Brunhild in three major films that retell the Norse and Germanic variations of the legends of Brunhild and Siegfried: Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen (1924), Harald Reinl’s Die Nibelungen (1966), and Uli Edel’s Die Nibelungen – Der Fluch des Drachen (2004) (English title Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, 2006). The emphasis will be on whether Brunhild is portrayed in keeping with the spirit of the Norse tradition, i.e. that of a strong woman with agency, by examining the decade the film was shot in, to include gender relations, the director and production team, the literary and other sources used for the film, and finally the plot of the film itself, coupled with the portrayal of the character by the respective actress. I will argue the portrayal of this epic figure does not correspond to the most successful and emancipated representation of Brunhild in the Norse tradition in Lang’s and Reinl’s films, whereas it does in Edel’s film. An overview of the legend and sagas that have served as sources for these films will be required in order to support my analyses. A connection between the making of these films and the directors’ choice of which literary Brunhild to portray will also be examined. INDEX WORDS: Fritz Lang, Harald Reinl, Uli Edel, German Cinema, Fantasy, Brunhild, Brynhild, Siegfried, Sigurd, Die Nibelungen, Die Nibelungen – Der Fluch des Drachen, The Ring of the Nibelungs, Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, The Nibelungenlied, Völsunga Saga, Feminism, Nationalism BRUNHILDS CINEMATIC EVOLUTION IN GERMAN FILM by ULLA KASPRZYK HELD B.S., Florida International University, 1990 B.A., The University of Georgia, 2006 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2008 © 2008 Ulla Kasprzyk Held All Rights Reserved BRUNHILDS CINEMATIC EVOLUTION IN GERMAN FILM by ULLA KASPRZYK HELD Major Professor: Christine Haase Committee: Alexander Sager Max Reinhart Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2008 DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to the most important people in my life who have had to patiently stand by while I pursued my Master of Arts degree in German - my husband, Bradley (a.k.a. BrunnHeld) and my parents. Without my husband’s emotional support throughout this period, I don’t believe I would have accomplished my goal; he has unwaveringly supported me in all my endeavors, never limiting my aspirations and dreams, and his love and dedication are priceless. He has patiently endured my constant pondering and discussing of Brunhild, The Nibelungenlied, and the Völsunga saga over the course of the last six months. I would like to particularly thank my wonderful parents, without whom I never would have known the joy of learning foreign languages. Their dreams of exploring new horizons have given me the opportunity to live on three continents, learn five languages and truly understand the meaning of immersing oneself into other cultures. I would finally like to thank Frau Keulers of the Antonius Kolleg Gymnasium in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, for untiringly helping me relearn the grammar of my native language, many years ago. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the entire faculty of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, as they have broadened my horizons in so many different areas of German studies. My thesis committee has been involved in both my undergraduate and graduate studies at the university, and I have had the pleasure of taking several classes with Dr. Christine Haase, Dr. Alexander Sager and Dr. Max Reinhart. Not only has it been thrilling to learn about the world of 20th century German film and literature in Dr. Haase’s class, but I now have a love and passion for the German cinema of the Weimar Republic thanks to her excellent teaching style and expert knowledge of the subject. The films of directors Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau have left an indelible impression on me. I have enjoyed Dr. Sager’s medieval courtly literature courses, which included learning a form of my own native tongue that proved very challenging! I will never be able to forget Parzival, Tristan or Siegfried, to name just a few heroes from medieval times. Dr. Reinhart first introduced me to Walter Benjamin and Heinrich Böll, but then fascinated me with German mysticism, the Reformation and early modern German poetry, which included pattern poetry and Johann Hellwig’s Eine Sanduhr. I owe each of these professors my gratitude for believing in me and providing me with encouragement throughout my time at the university, especially during the course of writing my thesis. Without their guidance and support, I would not have been able to produce this work. Many special thanks to Dr. Inge DiBella for her mentorship and friendship over the last several years. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 THE ORAL AND LITERARY SOURCES OF THE BRUNHILD LEGEND .............5 A. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................5 B. MAIN LITERARY SOURCES ............................................................................5 C. ADDITIONAL SOURCES ..................................................................................8 D. MAIN QUESTIONS CONCERNING BRUNHILD ...........................................9 E. THE VARIANTS OF THE BRUNHILD LEGEND: NORTH AND SOUTH ..11 F. THE VÖLSUNGA SAGA ..................................................................................12 G. THE NIBELUNGENLIED ................................................................................14 H. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ON BRUNHILD IN LITERARY AND OTHER SOURCES .........................................................................................................18 3 THE FILMIC REPRESENTATION OF BRUNHILD................................................21 A. FRITZ LANG’S ‘BRUNHILD’ .........................................................................22 B. HARALD REINL’S ‘BRUNHILD’ ...................................................................38 C. ULI EDEL’S ‘BRUNHILD’ ...............................................................................50 4 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................62 WORKS CITED ............................................................................................................................66 vi SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................68 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................69 A Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen – Film Summary............................................................69 B Harald Reinl’s Die Nibelungen – Film Summary ........................................................83 C Uli Edel’s Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King – Film Summary ..................................97 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Literary Sources of Brynhild - Interrelation .....................................................................7 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The literary treatment of Brynhild in both the Norse and German tradition has received close analysis over past decades and centuries (Andersson 6). The German Nibelungenlied, the Norse Völsunga Saga, and the Norse Poetic Edda, in addition to further lays and sagas, portray diverse forms of this character. Andersson claims Brynhild is the “paramount figure of Germanic legend, but she has been subordinated more often than not to the male object of her passion. Her story is thus normally referred to as the legend of Sigurd, or, in German circles, the legend of Siegfried” (5). Despite this fact, Andersson feels strongly that “no more important key exists to our understanding of Germanic literature than the legend of Brynhild” (19). Who was Brunhild? Was she a mythical figure or a real person who inspired legends? Hoffmann attempted to answer this question in his research on the Nibelungenlied. A historical basis for the first part of the Nibelungenlied and for Brunhild in general is “much more difficult to ascertain” (Hoffmann 42) than it is for the second part of the epic, which concerns Kriemhild’s revenge and the downfall of the Burgundians. Hoffman believes the existence of a Siegfried-Brunhild story may be found in the Merovingian history of the 5th century (42). According to Hoffmann, Brunhild (Brunichildis), the daughter of the Westgothic King Athanagild, married the Austrasian King Sigibert I in 566 or 567 (42-43). Brunhild was a Visigothic princess and Sigibert was the King of the Franks (Gentry 58). Sigibert’s half-brother Chilperic was married to Brunhild’s sister, Gailswintha (58). Chilperic’s concubine Fredegund instigated the strangling death of Gailswintha and then also the murder of King Sigibert in 575 1 (58). Gentry states that Brunhild is actually a source for Kriemhild (58). Brunhild was at odds with Chilperic after her husband’s death; she became the