About the work
“hildensaga. ein königinnendrama” (hildensaga. a drama of queens) is a play by the Austrian dramatist Ferdinand Schmalz that retells the Nibelung legend from the perspective of its female characters. Schmalz wrote it in 2020 as a commission for the Nibelungen-Festspiele Worms; the planned performances were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The play premiered on 15 July 2022 in front of Worms Cathedral, directed by Roger Vontobel. Besides the Nibelungenlied, Schmalz draws on figures from Norse mythology found in the Edda, and his language works with wordplay, repetition and broken-off sentences.
Plot
Three Norns steer and comment on the action, starting as early as Siegfried's first visit to Iceland. Siegfried defeats Brünhild in combat on King Gunther's behalf and overpowers her by force on the wedding night in Gunther's place. Instead of becoming rivals as in the Nibelungenlied, Kriemhild and the betrayed Brünhild become allies: Kriemhild gives back to Brünhild the magic belt that had been stolen from her, together they deliver Siegfried to Hagen and take revenge on the men who deceived them. In the end Kriemhild falls at Hagen's hand, the remaining men die at Brünhild's, and she is the only one left alive.
Cultural significance
Schmalz turns the heroic epic into an epic of heroines and asks whether women act differently from men within the cycle of revenge. After its premiere the play was taken up by numerous theatres in Germany and Austria. In 2024 it earned Schmalz a nomination for the Nestroy Theatre Prize in the category Best Play – Author's Prize.