From the Nibelungenlied:
“The hunting fellowship gave Siegfried thanks. Thereafter he speedily slew a bison and an elk [moose], four strong ure-oxen [aurochsen], and a savage shelk (?)My first question is what is a shelk or “Schelch” as it was known in Middle High German. The text I have suggests that it is some species of large wild deer.
All of the other animals in that text are known to have been native to Germany, at least at some point. Moose are extirpated from German with the last one killed in West Prussia in 1830. Aurochsen are extinct, although they have been recreated and their descendants live on in European domestic cattle. European bison exist in very limited herds in Eastern Europe. There are, however, plans to stock two herds in Northern Germany and the Netherlands.
As far as I know, though, no one has mention what a “shelk” is.
The animal most often suggested is what we English speakers call an Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus), which is not exactly an accurate name. This animal had a wide range in Eurasia, and it was neither a member of the genus Cervus or a moose. It is possible that some of these animals could have lived on in remote areas of Eurasia until the late Middle Ages, although the last accepted remains of Irish elk lived 7,700 year ago. In Irish, this animal was called a selg. In fact, one legend suggests that the Irish wolfhound once coursed these animals. Probably not.
Now, just before this hunt of ungulates, a lion is killed. Lions (cave lions) once did live in Europe, but at this time, lions were not native to Europe. They were offered as a menagerie species. So maybe the narrative wishes to embellish a bit.
However, there are these artifacts. It is very possible that these animals worked their way into German and Irish folklore through contact with the people to the east. This folklore carried through the generations, eventually appearing in old literature of the German-speaking peoples.
However, it is possible that a relict population of these animals lived in Europe much later than we previously thought. It might explain why this animal is mentioned as a common game species, along with elk (moose), aurochsen, and bison. It is possible, and I would be delighted if someone found the remains of one of these animals that dates to an even later date.
