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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Hagen answer in response to Kriemhild's question?

2. What alerts Kriemhild's knights, who are approaching the sleeping King Gunther and his noble companions?

3. After a night of guarding Gunther and the nobles, when Volker says that his chain-mail has "grown cool on me," what does he mean?

4. Where do Gunther, his brothers, and the other nobles sleep after the Midsummer's Eve festivities?

5. Who first notices the armed men at the front of the hall in which Gunther is sleeping after the Midsummer Eve's festivities?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The relationship between Siegfried and Gunther is central to the poem. Upon what is the relationship of Siegfried and Gunther based? What are the circumstances surrounding its beginning? How and why does it change and evolve? What is the motivation of each king to maintain the relationship, and how does that change over time? Write an essay that compares and contrasts the way Gunther and Siegfried relate to each other over time, until their queens quarrel.

Essay Topic 2

Describe the importance of the Nibelungers' in the Nibelungenlied. How does their gold affect the plot? How do the other gifts and things they supply affect the plot?

Essay Topic 3

Is the bloodshed that takes place in the Hungarian hall Kriemhild's doing, or does she bring about something that the men have created themselves? Is she driving the men with her grief, or is she just a catalyst for the justice that should have been enacted in the first place?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 350 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample