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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dancwart announce to Hagen at the beginning of Adventure 33?

2. Who escapes from Hagen and the other men that engage the ferryman's overlord?

3. What does Kriemhild ask her warriors to bring her after the battle in the feast hall?

4. What does Etzel order his men to bring Gunther's men?

5. What incenses Wolfhart and makes him rush into the fight?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After the Burgundians kill the Hunnish knights at the hall, the Burgundians prepare for the next battle by throwing the dead into a heap at the bottom of the stairs, thereby showing disrespect for the dead and for rules and custom. Write an essay that explains three reasons why the Burgundians would intentionally treat the dead and wounded in this manner. What do they accomplish? Provide examples from the poem to support your assertions.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the importance of hospitality and clemency in the Nibelungenlied. Cite three instances where someone is allowed to survive a battle, and describe the benefits that accrued to the person who let them go.

Essay Topic 3

When Kriemhild and Gunther are readying to leave Burgundy, she is invited to take one thousand warriors with her. She asks Hagen and Ortwin to be her liegemen, but Hagen refuses. Gunther does not involve himself in this issue and, in the end, she does not take them. Write an essay that explains the significance of Hagen's refusal and Gunther's lack of commitment with Hagen's response to his sister? How does this foreshadow events that occur in later in the poem?

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This section contains 313 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample