Sognare la fine: la simbologia degli uccelli morti nel Nibelungenlied

This article examines the symbolic and narrative function of dead birds in the Nibelungenlied, focusing on Queen Ute’s prophetic dream before the Burgundians’ departure for Etzel’s court. Unlike Kriemhild’s better-known dreams, Ute’s vision of all the birds in the kingdom lying dead has received limited scholarly attention. The study analyses this dream within the broader system of prophetic visions in the poem and investigates the symbolic value of birds as omens of death. Through a comparative analysis of medieval German literature, biblical passages, dreambooks such as the Somniale Danielis, and Old Norse tradition, the article argues that the image of dead birds is not a fixed literary topos inherited from a specific source. Rather, it emerges from the creative reworking of widespread symbolic associations linking birds, warfare, collective death, and prophecy. The Nibelungenlied thus transforms a traditional imagery into a highly effective poetic anticipation of the Burgundians’ doom.