20. Siegfried and the Nibelungenlied

One of the commonest patterns in the history of children’s literature is the way in which traditional tales, medieval epics and romances become part of children’s reading. Some of them then survive principally as children’s books, though they started out as entertainment for the whole community. This was how British children became the primary consumers of the tales of Guy of Warwick, Robin Hood and Valentine and Orson. The same was true in Germany, as Goethe attests in a well-known passage i..