Abstract

A defining aspect of the “Nibelungenlied” lies in its emotional intensity, to which none of the main characters are immune. One of the dominant emotions that permeates the work from beginning to end is undoubtedly sorrow, an inner emotion expressed through both language and body. This brief analysis aims to identify words – such as arebeit, leit, ungebære, and nôt – and expressions that describe sorrow in their verbal and non-verbal dimensions. First, the present investigation evaluates the frequency, context, meaning, and motivation attributed to this vocabulary in Middle High German. Second, it provides an in-depth analysis of some modern German, Italian, and English translations. The idea is that comparing versions in different languages through the example of specific loci critici, also from a textual-critical perspective, can provide insights for a future new translation of the “Nibelungenlied” into Italian.