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<p>Numerous sources and analogues for the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s <i>Macbeth</i> have been identified in the poem’s scholarly literature. The present article augments and modifies this critical tradition by arguing that Hagen’s encounter with prophetic mermaids in the <i>Nibelungenlied</i> is an unrecognized analogue to Macbeth’s encounter with the Weird Sisters. Similarities are identified not only between the two episodes featuring prophetic women, but also between the broader legendary traditions that developed around the figures of Hagen and Macbeth. A tentative explanation for the genesis of these striking analogues is offered by championing Nora Chadwick’s argument that the legend of Macbeth developed under the influence of Germanic narrative traditions circulating in medieval Scotland.</p>

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Macbeth in literary history: The Weird Sisters and the mermaids of the Nibelungenlied

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年9月8日

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  • Leonard Neidorf

摘要

Numerous sources and analogues for the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare’s Macbeth have been identified in the poem’s scholarly literature. The present article augments and modifies this critical tradition by arguing that Hagen’s encounter with prophetic mermaids in the Nibelungenlied is an unrecognized analogue to Macbeth’s encounter with the Weird Sisters. Similarities are identified not only between the two episodes featuring prophetic women, but also between the broader legendary traditions that developed around the figures of Hagen and Macbeth. A tentative explanation for the genesis of these striking analogues is offered by championing Nora Chadwick’s argument that the legend of Macbeth developed under the influence of Germanic narrative traditions circulating in medieval Scotland.