Title: Als die Götter noch jung waren
First published: 2003
Description: Since the Nibelungenlied-manuscripts were re-discovered, at the end of the 18th century, there were made many attempts during the centuries, to fit the historical background of the subject matter of the legend.The (re)search is beginning with the migration-time of the (mostly) Germanic tribes and ending with the production-period of the "Lied" (Nibelungenlied) round about 1200 p. C. The search for the "historical core" of the Nibelungen-saga (Matthias Schulz, Spiegel Nr. 20; 14. Mai 2005) has made a contribution to discussion which has been published under the title: "Forscher suchen nach dem historischen Kern der Nibelungensage" (mediaevalists are looking for the historical core of the Nibelungen-saga). This article acknowledges this thesis a broad space. Norbert Loennendonker, chemist, is deputising a completely oppositional thesis in his publications.For Loennendonker too the Nibelungen-saga is no exclusive-literary fiction, but he is collecting evidence for that the basis of the Nibelungen-saga is the germanic saga of the gods. As an answere to the book of Ritter-Schaumburg "Die Nibelungen zogen nordwaerts", which is dealing with the numerous place names in the Thidrekssaga, he has done some own work with the result of a cohesive toponymy which involves surprising results. The place-name Babilonia f.i. was interpreted by Ritter as an poetic name for Cologne. Loennendonker found the name "Babilonia in" the "Toponymic woordenboek" of Maurits Gysseling as a name for the little town Babilonienbroek in the Netherlands, and argues, that a toponymy which does not contain Cologne must descend from a time when Cologne was'nt founded. Similar results he has for Zuelpich (Tolbiacum), Koblenz (Confluentes) and Aachen (Aix la Chapelle).Basically he agrees Ritter-Schaumburgs thesis, that the Nibelungs (as literaric persons) round about Siegfried, Gunther und Etzel, which are playing a big role in the Thidrekssaga too, must have been moving in a much smaller area than hitherto accepted, that is to say from the Eichsfeld in the east to the Boerde-landscapes of Soest, Warburg und Zuelpich as well as westward to Trier and the Netherlands and Belgium (result of the place-names of the Thidrekssaga). That the numerous toponyms of the Thidrekssaga(more than 100) were misinterpreted by the narrators, taletellers and editors - primarily by ignorance -(Irland = Eire, Ungarn = Hungary, Spanien = Spain etc.), he is ironising as "megalomania of the era of the german emperor". Ritter-Schaumburg made numerous mistakes which were shown by Loennendonkers investigations in manuscripts and other literature; those mistakes did not demoralize Loennendonker, but led him to further remarkable results: the quintessence of the saga is not emerging during the migration period, but is belonging more precisely into the pre-roman iron-time, within the 5. century b. C. or likewise. (The well known teacher for 'celtic archeology' Raimund Karl - Prof. at the university of Vienna, in 2005 published an article named: "Warum nennen wir ihn nicht einfach Dietrich" (in: Interpretierte Eisenzeiten, ISBN 3-85474-137-5, S. 191 f.), mentioning a 'celtic (?)' god named "Apollo toutiorix" (Wiesbaden-Schuetzenhof) and is postulizing the divinisation of the leader of a socalled 'theuta', which makes Loennendonker's results more plausible.) A comparison of the deities attributes and the attributes of the "heroes" of the Nibelungen-saga (based on descriptions of the Thidrekssaga, which Loennendonker believes to be "die alten Maeren" of the Nibelungenlied)gave rise to a row of perplexing similarities. Consequentially Norbert Loennendonker has named his book "Als die Goetter noch jung waren" (when the gods were young);(Rhombos Verlag, Berlin 2003 (ISBN 3-930894-92-0).Loennendonker is arguing extensively with the invulnerability-legend of Siegfrieds horny skin and connects this with the hereditary disease "X-chromosomal recessive ichthyosis" and with the kelto-germanic cult of the boar. He also has legends for "speaking birds" and "dragons" which is interesting but convincing only by second view. Loennendonkers opus is definitely rich source for new approaches; the soft spot - if one wants to call it soft spot - is, that the reading of Ritter-Schaumburgs book is to be presumed. Subsumptions might been helpful and the lack of maps is remarkable. (Loennendonker promises maps in his projected new book, which may pay compensation to the readers). For the well informed people and readers thirsty for knowledge, the reading of this book is a bonanza.Dr. Norbert Loennendonker"Thidrekssaga and Nibelungenlied and their precursors are the possibly puny rests of a "key poetry", which is dealing with a conflict amongst the germanic deity families.""The small-space interpretation of the toponymic statements of the Thidrekssaga gave strong evidence, that the origin of the sagas, to whome belongs of course the "Nibelungenlied", the "Waltharius" and the "Kudrunlied", has to be to searched after an area, which is nearly congruent with that area, within that Prof. J. Udolph has localised the origin of the germanic languages based on onomastic studies (Namenkundliche Studien zum Germanenproblem). Insofar that, what I have named simplified "die Nibelungensage", is not only the national epos of the Germans, but of all nations speaking a germanic language. The consequence of that is, that the proposition must be resolutely contradicted, that the saga should have its origin within the migration-period."Introduction of the cited book:Some of the readers, who read my book "Als die Goetter noch jung waren - Namenkundliche Untersuchungen zur Nibelungensage" (Rhombos-Verlag, Berlin, 2003), will blame me definitely, that I have adopted a very selective selection procedure for he citing of literature. That's right. I could'nt go another way. Presuppositions are conditions sine qua non one is reading all books after the first book. Some people will ignore it, but it definitely is so.The imagination which is to bee seen in the mind's eye is working with for ever. What we have learnt in school does'nt let loose us usually. Only a very small number of people are able to loosen in rare moments our implanted prejudice. When I read the article about the 50th jubilee of the Suhrkamp publishing house, I did'nt trust my eyes hardly. The redacters had interchanged the first four lines of the Nibelungenlied which were even cited by the Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier in middle-high-german language and made of the lines:Uns ist in alten maeren wunders vil geseitvon helden lobebaeren von grozer arebeitthe permuted lines:Uns ist in alten maerenvon helden lobebaerenwunders vil geseit von grozer arebeitIt may be that the functions of Word have done the mistake, but I wrote a letter to the editor and recieved an answere, that gave many thanks for my letter but gave the comment, that one was not able to print all of them. I just was writing my first book, which Carpentier has admonished his counterpart Siegfried Unseld, by asking him: "Your name is Siegfried! Tell me, why the Germans do'nt appreciate their famous literature little, f. i. the story about Siegfried in the Nibelungenlied"? He might have been right, then the book I was writing at that time was'nt dealing with the Nibelungelied but with the Nibelungen-saga. This article was the reason for me to incorporate passages of the Nibelungenlied into my book.Now - four years later - my debut feature is completed (but not perfect) and I know surely that this book by means of its themes was not compatible with Suhrkamps program. Anyhow I did not want to fail to ask for Unselds mercy to pass this anecdote to the public. He should be the first person, who was informed by me, what his Christian name was really meaning.His name "Siegfried" is'nt an unspeakable construction of the components "Sieg" and "Frieden" which might have been pleasing to the Nazis as much, but of an fundamentally different meaning. Indeed Siegfried Unseld has been answering on the eve of his death. For my career the following lines has to be written: I am a chemist, 59 years old and has been promoted at the university of Cologne. Afterwards I had a fixed-term-contract at the Max-Planck-Institute for breeding-research in Cologne and nowadays in the industry for more than 25 years. Some of my friends claim, that i am so engaged with names, because I are not able to memorise names.My book is following a consequently onomastic approach. Prof. Udolph, who holds the only chair of onomastis in Germany is always saying, that "onomastic" is sounding somehow indecent. A second famous citation of him is: "Names are the cemeteries of words, and the endings (suffixes) are the gravestones within the cemeteries." I am believing now, that I have been finding some surprising facts about the selected theme.Bergneustadt, den 23.3.2004 Norbert Loennendonker
Subjects: Geographical Names, Germanic Names, Gods, Heroes, Mythology, Names, Names, Geographical, Names, Germanic, Nibelungenlied, Onomastics
LC classification: P323 .L56 2003