Starting with the observation that the architecture of the Nibelungenlied is solid in terms of its content but linguistically very variable, this study asserts that this work is neither the product of oral epic nor the result of processes of copying an "original." Instead, its transmission history must be reestablished and, for each new production of the text, the argument made for the interplay between orality and writtenness.

Jan-Dirk Müller, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Germany.