Using the versions provided by the three oldest complete manuscripts, the Hohenems-Munich manuscript A (c. 1275-1300), the Sankt Gall manuscript B (c. 1233-1266), and the Hohenems-Donaueschingen manuscript C (c. 1225-1250), scholars have traditionally differentiated two versions that existed near the time of the poem's composition; A and B are counted as belonging to a single version *AB, while a version *C is attested by manuscript C and most of the earliest fragments, including the oldest attestation of the Nibelungenlied. Using the final words of the epic, *AB is also called the Not-version, and *C the Lied-version; the *C version is clearly a reworking of an earlier version, but it is not clear if this version was *AB; *AB may also be an expanded version of an earlier text. Most scholars assume that manuscript B is the closest to the original *AB version.
Using the versions provided by the three oldest complete manuscripts, the Hohenems-Munich manuscript A (c. 1275-1300), the Sankt Gall manuscript B (c 1233-1266), and the Hohenems-Donaueschingen manuscript C (c. 1225-1250), scholars have traditionally differentiated two versions that existed near the time of the poem's. composition; A and B are counted as belonging to a single version *AB, while a version *C is attested by manuscript C and most of the earliest fragments, including the oldest attestation of the Nibelungenlied. Using the final words of the epic *AB is also called the Not-version and *C the Lied-version; the *C version is clearly a reworking of an earlier version, but it is not clear if this version was *AB; *AB may also be an expanded version of an earlier text. Most scholars assume that manuscript B is the closest to the original *AB version.