W.B. Macdougall – Illustrations for The Fall of the Nibelungs 1897

W.B. Macdougall – The Fall of the Nibelungs 1897

William Brown Macdougall (1868-1936), British illustrator. His first books, the Book of Ruth and the Book to Job, first published in 1896 is clearly his best works. His decorated borders showed a clear influence by Aubrey Beardsley (La Morte d’Arthur) and William Morris and his Kelmscott Press.

W.B. Macdougall ‘s career as an illustrator is particularly short and prolific (1896-1898). During that period, he illustrated and decorated eight books. Some of his best works includes Christina Rossetti’s The Blessed Damozel and Keats’s Isabella. Although the decorations of Nibelungs are less elaborated than ‘Isabella’ or ‘Job’, his inventive handling of the natural form is present and clearly marked. We’ll be adding more works by this great illustrator in the near future.

The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The Nibelungenlied is based on an oral tradition that has some of its origin in historic events and individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries and that spread throughout almost all of Germanic-speaking Europe.

The poem is split into two parts: in the first part, Siegfried comes to Worms to acquire the hand of the Burgundian princess Kriemhild from her brother King Gunther. Gunther agrees to let Siegfried marry Kriemhild if Siegfried helps Gunther acquire the warrior-queen Brünhild as his wife. Siegfried does this and marries Kriemhild; however Brünhild and Kriemhild become rivals, leading eventually to Siegfried’s murder by the Burgundian vassal Hagen with Gunther’s involvement.

In the second part, the widow Kriemhild is married to Etzel, king of the Huns. She later invites her brother and his court to visit Etzel’s kingdom intending to kill Hagen. Her revenge results in the death of all the Burgundians who came to Etzel’s court as well as the destruction of Etzel’s kingdom and the death of Kriemhild herself.

Presenting the illustrations from the First British edition of The Fall of the Nibelungs, illustrated by W.B. Macdougall , published by J.M. Dent, London 1897.

Art Gallery: W.B. Macdougall – The Fall of the Nibelungs 1897