Helmut Krausser

Written entirely from the point of view of Hagen von Tronje, this is Krausser's version of the Song of the Nibelungs. Hagen, renowned for his unwavering fidelity to the Burgundian court as a henchman of King Gunther, makes himself the center of the action by dictating his version of events in the spring to the minstrel Volker von Alzey.

Krausser narrates the story as a decisive struggle between paganism, with Hagen as its hidden agent, and Christian monotheism, represented by Gunther. Before the real action of the Song of the Nibelungs begins, Hagen kills his father, who had given him away in childhood, and joins the Christian king. He takes up the singer Volker von Alzey as his propagandist. In dialogue with Volker, Hagen differentiates between the truth and the official, politically useful version of an event, emerging as a power-conscious strategist. As King Gunther's influential guide, Hagen becomes the mastermind behind the action in Krausser’s version of the play…

The national mythos of the Nibelungs has been used over the centuries by various political movements, most recently by the National Socialists in Germany. This changing history is present as a subtext in Krausser’s play. The author has been able to take up the imagery of the original language, and, for his version, has created a catchy, unpretentious poetic verse.