Abstract

The quarrel between the queens in the “Nibelungenlied” is undoubtedly one of the most iconic scenes in Medieval German literature. Here, Kriemhild addresses Brünhilt as a kebse (‘whore’), a lexeme that has sparked much controversy among philologists and translators over the last eighty years. The present contribution deals with the possible translation of this insult into Italian, also considering to which extent previously employed terms are still suitable for the linguistic sensitivity. While considering Laura Mancinelli’s rendering of this expression (“La canzone dei Nibelunghi”, 1972), the author compares four different translations in German, English, French, and Spanish of the lines where the term occurs (Brackert 1970; Edwards 2010; Colleville-Tonnelat 1944; Criado 2005), triggering a debate over the criteria for conveying foul expressions from the Medieval glossa to the contemporary one. He eventually suggests an alternative version that might satisfy both philological rigour and clarity to ensure the text’s enjoyability from the contemporary public.