This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/
Title: The Nibelungenlied
Revised Edition
Author: Unknown
Release Date: January 2, 2012 [eBook #38468]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NIBELUNGENLIED***
REVISED EDITION
NEW YORK
P.F. COLLIER & SON
Copyright, 1901
By
THE COLONIAL PRESS
The "Nibelungenlied," as the great national epic of Germany, is not only one of the most important literary monuments that the German mind has produced in all periods of its history, but, in reality beyond this, it is also in its matter and its manner one of the world's great classics. It is this inherently because of the universal intelligibility of its story, for the broad human sympathy which must be felt with its characters and their motives of action, and for the sustained poetic treatment of the whole in the long poem. In all these respects the "Nibelungenlied," although German in its spirit and its environment, rises inevitably above the confines of nationality, and becomes, like other works that are in a true sense great, by virtue of its universality an integral part of that cosmopolitan body that we call the literature of the world.
Like the "Iliad," or any other popular epic whatever, the "Nibelungenlied" is, however, first and foremost a picture of the national life and the national soul. Its characters in this way are, consequently, both fundamentally and of necessity a part of their own special environment into which each, according to his individuality, fits; and the manners and customs, the religion and ethics, are first of all essentially German in order to embody them and to motive their actions to the public for which the poem was originally intended. What we are given in the "Nibelungenlied" is primarily then, at least in its exterior, a picture of German life in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The customs are those of the courts and castles of the place and time, the men and women are the knights and ladies who inhabit them; and if the real mainsprings of motive and action sometimes go back beyond theiv poet's own day and generation for reasons that shall presently be told, the thoughts and feelings of the characters under his hand betray on the surface no trace of it.
To an English reader there is astonishingly little in the "Nibelungenlied" in motive that is unintelligible or hopelessly remote. It is not that its manners of thought are our manners of thought, or its ethics our ethics. Its deeds, since the real story is an ancient inheritance, are tragic with battle, murder, and sudden death; but, in spite of all this, there is in us an innate appreciation of it and of its spirit that it is utterly impossible to feel in much literature that is not our own. This of course arises from the fact that it is, in a sense, our own, as, in part, at the beginning in very truth it was. The difference in its whole environment from us is still, in reality, not great, and we realize, consciously or unconsciously, that it is in many ways our own ancient past that is chronicled in the German poem.
For all these reasons it comes readily about that, in the light of the poet's master touch, the characters of the "Nibelungenlied" that he has left in such actuality in his verses are to us neither vague nor shadowy, but are real persons who live and act before us. This is in fact truer of the "Nibelungenlied" than of almost any other great poem of the kind, whatever its time and place of origin. Siegfried and Kriemhild, Hagen and Rudeger are not the mere creations and impersonations of a poet's imagination; they are to us real men and women who lived their lives and died their deaths as the poet has described them. That he has told his tale with wonderful literary skill as a whole and at times with marvellous appreciation of the value of the moment, is also to be stated. Because no doubt in part from the way in which the poem has come down to us, there is at times superfluous material that had better been left away, but in this fact, too, the poem differs but little from other popular epics.
As a whole, the "Nibelungenlied" is characterized by a literary unity of treatment by no means inconsiderable, and greater, in point of fact, than its origin would ordinarily promise. Its unity, however, is dramatic, rather than epic in the ordinary sense. This character it never loses throughout the whole long action. Deed follows deed, stroke upon stroke,v until the final catastrophe is inevitably reached and the story is ended.
That this story in its origin is not narrowly German, but is Germanic property, should be borne in mind by its reader, since many of its episodes acquire thereby a broader significance, and the whole poem assumes a wider interest.
The earliest versions of the story of the Volsungs and Nibelungs, the Germanic "tale of Troy," that have come down to us are not from German territory, but from the Scandinavian North, although here, too, the scene of the principal action is on the Rhine and in the land of the Huns, which is vaguely conceived to be a part of the German country. Sigmund, the father of Sigurd, is a King in the land of the Franks; Sigurd is slain to the south of the Rhine, and in the Rhine is forever hidden the fateful hoard of the Nibelungs. The story in reality wandered out twice into the North from its original home in Germany: once apparently in the Viking age when the Northmen for the first time came into close contact with the other Germanic people on the continent and in the British Islands, a period long antecedent to the "Nibelungenlied;" and again five hundred years later, after the German poem had arisen, since it can be readily shown that this has been used as a source of a part of the material.
The very first of these Northern versions is that contained in the "Elder Edda," a collection of mythological and legendary poems in the Old Norse language, of unknown authorship, whose time and place of origin are alike matters of varying supposition. The subject was the theme of poets for centuries in the North. The oldest of the poems in the "Edda" that has to do with the story of the "Nibelungenlied," from internal evidence, was made as early as the year 900; the latest is from a time not far from 1200. These poems and fragments of poems, some of them even in prose rescript and most of them interspersed here and there with bits of prose, do not make in any sense a connected story. Their unknown collector arranged them as well as might be in connected sequence, but even then their action is not consecutive; they overlap each other, parts of the story are told and retold and not seldom with an inconsistency of detail. There is, accordingly, in the "Elder Edda" no thought of an epicvi either in matter or manner. There is the material for an epic in the rough, but without an idea in the mind of any poet of the time of actual epical treatment.
The story as contained in the Old Norse poems is by no means identical with the "Nibelungenlied." First and foremost, it is infinitely older in its whole conception, and much more nearly approaches original conditions as they existed in the mode of thought and in the manner of living of the early Germanic people. It is a story, here, of the days when the world was young; when the gods still walked the earth and mixed themselves in with human affairs in which they had an active interest; when motives were clearer and action was more direct; when human passions burned even fiercer than in the "Nibelungenlied," and love and hate together knew no boundaries until they had worked themselves out in the utter destruction of their object. Of the first of these conditions, the "Nibelungenlied" in its character of an epic of the Middle Ages has not kept a trace. In the Eddic poems it is the ring cursed by the gods to all its possessors that motives the entire action; that leads with the certainty of fate to the death of Sigurd, the Siegfried of the "Edda," to all the woes that follow, and to the ultimate utter destruction of the entire race of the Nibelungs.
As most critics have pointed out, the fundamental difference in the treatment of the story consists in the fact that the principal epic interest in the Eddic poems is the relation of Sigurd to Brynhild, the Valkyrie, who is here a heroic figure, who rises immeasurably not only above the other women of the tale, but above most of the other characters in importance of personality. In the "Nibelungenlied" it is Kriemhild, Gudrun in the "Edda," and Hagen who are the principal figures in the action. In the Northern version, Gudrun does not avenge herself upon her brothers as does Kriemhild in the "Nibelungenlied," but Atli, her husband after Sigurd, slays them, and Gudrun then takes vengeance upon him. In the "Edda," too, other saga cycles are brought into connection with this, viz., the Northern legend of Helgi, at the beginning, and the Gothic legend of Ermanrich, at the end.
The Eddic poems are not the only versions in Old Norse literature. An epitome of the story based upon the poemsvii is contained in the "Snorra Edda," a work written by the Icelander Snorri Sturluson, who lived from 1178 to 1241, to serve as a handbook for poets and which contains in this way the myths and legends of the North.
Next to the Eddic songs the most important of the Northern versions, however, is the long "V�nga Saga" from the second half of the thirteenth century, which, again, is based upon the Eddic poems and upon others in addition that have now been lost. Like most of the Old Norse sagas, it is prose with the occasional inclusion of verse cited to justify or to embellish its statements. It gives with extraordinary wealth of detail the whole old story in connected form and desires to be called, as it has been called, a prose epic. William Morris, in his superb translation, has deservedly characterized it as "the most complete and dramatic form of the Great Epic of the North." The story is further contained, in some of its details only, in the strange tale of "Nornagest," which has again made use of the Eddic songs and quotes one of them entire.
The Old Norse story is so important for its bearing on the intelligibility of the "Nibelungenlied" that it is absolutely necessary to take it actively into consideration in any discussion of the German poem. The epitome contained in the "Snorra Edda," since it gives the whole story from beginning to end in a form as short as may be, is here given in its entirety:
"Three gods, Odin, Hœnir, and Loki, once went out to explore the whole world. They came to a certain river, and went along the river to a waterfall, and at the waterfall there was an otter that had taken a salmon out of the fall and ate it, half asleep. Then Loki took up a stone and cast it at the otter and struck him in the head. Loki thereupon boasted of his catch that he had got at a blow both the otter and the salmon. They took the salmon and the otter and carried them along with them until they came to a farmstead, where they went in. The head of the household that dwelt there was named Hreidmar; he was a mighty man and much skilled in magic. He invited the gods to lodge there for the night, and they told him that they had with them provisions in plenty and showed him their booty. But when Hreidmar saw theviii otter he called his sons Fafnir and Regin and said that Otter, their brother, had been killed, and told them who had done it. Thereupon, the father and his sons fell upon the gods and took them and bound them, saying that the otter was the son of Hreidmar. The gods offered as a ransom as much money as Hreidmar himself should determine, and that was agreed upon as a reconciliation and was bound with oaths.
"Then the otter was flayed, and Hreidmar took the otter's skin and said that they should fill it with red gold and should then cover it wholly up with gold, and that should be their atonement. Odin then sent Loki into the land of the black elves and he came to the dwarf who is called Andvari; he was a fish in the water, and Loki took him and laid upon him as a ransom all the gold that he had in his stone. And when they came into the stone where he dwelt, the dwarf brought out all the gold that he owned and that was a very great treasure. Then the dwarf slipped under his hand a little gold ring. That Loki, however, saw and bade him produce the ring. The dwarf begged him not to take the ring from him, and said that he could breed treasure out of it if he kept it. Loki told him that he should not keep back a penny, and took the ring from him and went out. The dwarf said that the ring should be the death of everyone who owned it. Loki replied that that suited him well, and that the condition should be held good, since he would bring it to the ears of them who might get possession of it. He then went away to Hreidmar's and showed Odin the gold; but when he saw the ring, it seemed to him very beautiful and he took it out of the treasure, but paid over to Hreidmar the gold.
"Then Hreidmar filled the otter's skin as full as he could and set it up on its feet when it was full; Odin then went up to cover the skin with gold and said to Hreidmar that he should see whether the skin were wholly covered. Hreidmar looked at it and considered it carefully and saw a whisker, and bade him cover that, also, or else their atonement were at an end. Then Odin brought out the ring and covered the whisker and said that they now were freed from the otter ransom. When, however, Odin had taken his spear and Loki his shoes, and they needed no longer to fear, then said Loki that what Andvari had spoken, that the ring should be theix death of him who owned it, should hold good, and it did hold good thereafter.
"Hreidmar took the gold as ransom for his son, but Fafnir and Regin demanded some of it as a ransom for their brother. Hreidmar, however, would not grant them a single penny of the gold. That was the ill-advised deed of the brothers that they killed their father for the gold. Then Regin demanded that Fafnir divide the gold in halves between them. Fafnir replied that there was little chance that he would share the gold with his brother when he had killed his father for the sake of it, and bade Regin to begone or he would fare as had Hreidmar. Fafnir had then taken the helmet which Hreidmar had owned, which was called the Helmet of Awe and which all living things feared that saw it, and set it upon his head, and he took the sword which is called Hrotti. Regin had the sword that is called Refil and he fled away; but Fafnir went up upon the Glittering Heath and made him there a lair, and he took upon himself the shape of a serpent and lay upon the gold.
"Regin then went to King Hjalprek, at Thy, in Denmark, and there set up a smithy, and he took to foster Sigurd, the son of Sigmund (the son of Volsung) and of Hjordis, the daughter of Eylimi. Sigurd was the most glorious of all war kings in lineage and strength. Regin told him where Fafnir lay upon the gold, and egged him on to seek it. Then Regin made the sword that is called Gram, which was so sharp that Sigurd thrust it in the water and it cut asunder a lock of wool that drove before the current against the edge of the sword. Afterward, Sigurd clove in two Regin's anvil down to the stock with the sword. After that, Sigurd and Regin went out upon the Glittering Heath. Then Sigurd dug a pit in Fafnir's path and got into it; and when Fafnir crept to the water and came over the pit, then Sigurd thrust the sword up against him and that was his death. Regin then came up and said that Sigurd had killed his brother and offered him as a reconciliation that he should take the heart of Fafnir and roast it at the fire; but Regin himself got down and drank the blood of Fafnir and then lay down to sleep. And when Sigurd had roasted the heart and thought that it must be done, he touched it with his finger to see how hard it was.x And when the juice ran out of the heart upon his finger, he burnt himself and thrust his finger into his mouth. And when the heart's blood came upon his tongue, then he knew the speech of birds and understood what the nuthatches said that sat in the tree above him.
"Then said one:
"Then said the other:
"Then Sigurd went up to Regin and killed him, and took his horse, which was named Grani, and rode until he came to the lair of Fafnir. There he took the gold and bound it up in packs and laid it on the back of Grani, and then mounted and rode on his way. Sigurd rode until he found a house upon the fell. Within it slept a woman who had on a helmet and a coat of mail. He drew his sword and cut her coat of mail off her. Then she awoke and named herself Hild. She is called Brynhild and was a Valkyrie. Sigurd rode thence and came to the King who is named Gjuki; his wife is named Grimhild; their children were Gunnar, H�, Gudrun, Gudny; Gotthorm was a step-son of Gjuki. There Sigurd dwelt for a long time; and he took to wife Gudrun, the daughter of Gjuki, and Gunnar and H� swore with him oaths of brotherhood. Afterward, Sigurd and the sons of Gjuki went to Atli, the son of Budli, to ask as a wife forxi Gunnar Brynhild, his sister. She dwelt upon Hind Fell, and about her hall was a flaming fire, and she had made a vow to have as a husband that man, only, who dared to ride through the flame.
"Then Sigurd and the Gjukings (who are also called Niflungs) rode up upon the fell, and Gunnar was minded to ride through the flame. He had the horse that was named Goti, but the horse did not dare to leap into the fire. Then Sigurd and Gunnar changed their shapes and also their names, since Grani would not go under any man except Sigurd. Then Sigurd leaped upon Grani and rode through the flaming fire. That night he held a wedding with Brynhild, and when they came to bed he drew the sword Gram out of its scabbard and laid it between them. And in the morning, when he awoke and dressed himself, then he gave Brynhild as a bridal gift the gold ring which he had taken on the Glittering Heath, and Loki had taken from Andvari, and he took from her another ring as a remembrance. Sigurd then leaped upon his horse and rode to his companions; Gunnar and he again changed their shapes and they went back to Gjuki with Brynhild. Sigurd had two children with Gudrun: Sigmund and Swanhild.
"It was once upon a time that Brynhild and Gudrun went to the water to bleach their hair. When they came to the river, Brynhild waded out into the water away from the land and said that she would not have on her head the water that ran out of Gudrun's hair, since she had the more noble husband. Then Gudrun went out into the river after Brynhild and said that she should wash her hair in the river above, because she had the husband who was braver than anyone else in the world, since he slew Fafnir and Regin and gained the inheritance of them both. Then Brynhild replied: 'It was of still greater renown that Gunnar rode the flaming fire and Sigurd dared not.' Then Gudrun laughed and said: 'Do you think that Gunnar rode through the flaming fire? Him I deem to have gone to bed with you, who gave me this gold ring. But the ring that you have on your hand, and that you received as a bridal gift, that is called the Ring of Andvari, and I deem that it was not Gunnar who sought it on the Glittering Heath.' Then Brynhild was silent and went home.xii After that she egged on Gunnar and H� to kill Sigurd, but because they had sworn oaths with him they egged on Gotthorm, their brother, to kill him. Gotthorm laid sword on him while he slept, and when he felt the wound he hurled the sword Gram after his slayer so that it cut the man asunder. Then Sigurd fell and his three-year old son, who was named Sigmund, whom they killed. After that, Brynhild turned sword upon herself and she was burned with Sigurd. And Gunnar and H� took the treasure of Fafnir and the Ring of Andvari and ruled all the land.
"King Atli, the son of Budli, the brother of Brynhild, then took to wife Gudrun, whom Sigurd had had, and they had children together. King Atli bade Gunnar and H� to visit him, and they went at his invitation, but before they went away from home they hid the gold, the Treasure of Andvari, in the river Rhine, and it has never since been found. And King Atli had assembled a great force and fought with Gunnar and H� and they were taken prisoners. And Atli had the heart cut out of H� while he lived, and that was his death. Gunnar he caused to be cast into a serpent pit, and a harp was brought to him secretly and he struck it with his toes, since his hands were bound, so that all the serpents slept except one adder, which sprang at him, and struck in through his breast so that she thrust in her head and hung upon his liver until he died. Gunnar and H� are called Niflungs and Gjukungs, and for this reason the gold is called the Treasure of the Niflungs, or their inheritance. A little while after, Gudrun killed her two sons, and with gold and silver had beakers made out of their skulls and then was celebrated the funeral feast of the Niflungs.
"At this banquet Gudrun had King Atli served with mead from the beakers, and there was mixed with it the blood of the boys, and their hearts she caused to be roasted and brought to the King to eat. And when that was done she told him these things herself with many ugly words. There was no lack there of intoxicating mead, so that most people slept where they sat. And in the night she went to the King where he was sleeping, and with her the son of H�, and they fell upon him, and that was his death. Then they hurled fire into the hall and the people were burned that were within. Afterxiii that she went to the sea and leaped in and wished to destroy herself, but she drifted over the fjord and came to the land of King Jonakr. And when he saw her, he took her to him and wedded her. They had three sons, who were called S�, Hamdir, and Erp; they were all as black as ravens in the color of their hair, like Gunnar and H� and the other Niflungs.
"There grew up Swanhild, the daughter of Sigurd; she was the most beautiful of all women. That J�nrek the Mighty learned and sent his son Randver to ask her hand. And when he came to Jonakr, Swanhild was given over to him that he might bring her to J�nrek. Then said Bikki that it had fallen out better if Randver had Swanhild, since he was young, as were they both, and J�nrek was old. This counsel pleased the young people well; and thereupon Bikki told it to the King. Then J�nrek had his son taken and brought to the gallows, but Randver took his falcon and plucked off the feathers and bade that it be sent to his father; then he was hanged. But when King J�nrek saw the falcon, it came into his mind that just as the falcon was incapable of flight and featherless, so was also his kingdom disabled, since he was old and without a son.
"It was once upon a time when King J�nrek rode out of the forest from hunting with his men that Swanhild the Queen sat bleaching her hair. Then they rode upon her and trod her to death under the horses' hoofs. And when Gudrun learned this, she egged on her sons to avenge Swanhild. And when they made ready for the journey, she got them mail, and helmets so strong that iron would not take hold upon it. She said the plan for them to follow was that when they came to King J�nrek they should fall upon him at night while he slept; S� and Hamdir should then hew off his hands and feet, and Erp his head. When, however, they came on the way, they asked Erp what assistance they might have of him if they met King J�nrek. He replied that he would give them such aid as the hand gave the foot. They replied that naught at all did the foot depend upon the hand. They were so angry at their mother that she had led them out with words of hatred, that they desired to do that which should be the worst thing of all to her and they killed Erp, since she lovedxiv him most. A little while after, as S� walked along he slipped with both feet, but held himself up with his hand. Then he said: 'The hand does now help the foot; better it were that Erp were alive!' And when they came to King J�nrek's at night, and went in where he slept and hewed off his hands and feet, he awoke and called upon his men and bade them awaken. Then said Hamdir: 'Off were now his head, if Erp were alive!' Then the men-at-arms arose and attacked them, but could not overcome them with weapons. J�nrek then called out that stones should be hurled at them, and this was done. Then S� and Hamdir fell, and then were dead all the race and descendants of the Gjukings."
The Eddic poems and the "V�nga Saga" give us even much more fully in detail than does this epitome the deeds of Sigurd's youth of which the "Nibelungenlied" knows so little. The latter, too, has forgotten the early relationship of Sigurd to Brynhild and her whole early history, although her superhuman character is still remembered and obscure reference is made to their previous acquaintance. There is no longer a reason why Siegfried and Brunhild should die together, as in the "Edda." That the ultimate catastrophe falls out differently in the two versions of the story is due to this very fact of the loss of original detail. In that her brothers who had murdered Sigurd live in triumph afterward and no true reconciliation can be possible between them, Kriemhild must of necessity avenge herself upon them, instead of upon Atli, as in the earlier form of the story. And, as has already been remarked, the real significance to the action of the fateful "Ring of the Nibelungs" and the accursed hoard has wholly vanished to give place to reasons that have much more affinity with human motives of conduct.
The "Nibelungenlied," like the Northern poems before it, is legendary, with only here and there a historical fact as a nucleus about which has gathered in the course of the centuries material for many times and places. The destruction of the Burgundians, under their King Gunther, by the Huns, which occurred in the year 437, has undoubtedly furnished the ultimate catastrophe. It is not known, however, that Attila, the Atli of the "Edda" and the Etzel of the "Nibelungenlied," was the leader of the Huns on this occasion, although[xv] the event did take place during his lifetime. Attila's brother Bleda appears in the poem as Blœdelin. Giselher, the brother of Gunther, is also mentioned in the old Burgundian law-code, the Lex Burgundionum. Of Siegfried and Brunhild history knows no trace, although an attempt has been made to connect the one with Arminius and the other with Br�d of Austrasia. The appearance in the poem of Dietrich of Bern, Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic conqueror of Italy, who lived from 475 to 526, is an example of the absorption of material from another cycle into the original legend, material which, in its turn, clusters about a historical character. The Bishop Pilgrin, of Passau, represented in the poem as the uncle of the Burgundian kings and of Kriemhild, has a historical prototype in an actual Pilgrin who held the see of Passau from 971 to 991 and has, it may be, been here introduced by the poet to honor him. As for the rest, facts that may have been ultimately historical have been freely used by the poet of the "Nibelungenlied" and his predecessors until it is no longer possible to tell where legend begins and history ends.
That Siegfried and Brunhild are at the end mythical, rather than at all historical, has been surmised, rather than proved. It has been attempted, in point of fact, to show that the whole story has arisen in its earliest form through a union of an old myth of Siegfried with the historical materials that have been indicated and others whose real significance has subsequently been obliterated and lost. The believers of this theory have pointed to the thoroughly mythical character of the version of the story in the "Edda" and particularly of its earliest part as plausible evidence, and they would see in the whole the union of a Frankish myth of Siegfried, originally independent, with a Burgundian historical narrative. Siegfried and Brunhild, in this way, have been thought to embody, at the beginning, the nature-myth of the awakening earth-goddess from the sleep of winter at the reanimating touch of summer. Lachmann makes the fundamental fact at the outset a myth of the death of Balder, and Wilhelm M�a myth of Freyr, both light-gods of the old mythology. It is, nevertheless, impossible to follow the upholders of these theories into the details of their interpretation, and the whole main assumptionxvi of a mythical origin is a matter of doubt. That Siegfried and Brunhild, however, have mythical characteristics that they have retained after all memory of the ancient mythology as such has been absolutely forgotten, no reader of the story can deny, and in this respect the "Nibelungenlied" is no different from the legendary literature of all the nations of the world.
Early German poems on the story of the Nibelungs, although it is altogether likely that they once existed, have not been preserved. The "Nibelungenlied" itself it is not possible to follow back of the twelfth century, by the middle of which it seems to have already had the form in which it has come down to us. The internal evidence of metre, rhyme, and language shows, too, beyond a doubt, that it could not have arisen at a much earlier time.
The author of the poem is unknown. The most plausible hypothesis as to his actual personality makes him an Austrian knight of about 1140, possibly a member of the K�rg family, who lived in the neighborhood of Linz, on the Danube. A K�rg of the twelfth century is the oldest court poet who used in his lyrics the same strophic form that is characteristic of the "Nibelungenlied," but that the two poets are identical is by no manner of means a certainty. In the same way, the place of origin of the poem is a matter of supposition. In all probability, however, it arose in southeastern German territory in Austria. Although the poet knows the region on the Rhine about Worms, he has an infinitely wider acquaintance with Austrian localities of which he makes specific mention. It was in Austria, too, at this time that the beginnings arose of the court lyric poetry, that Minnesangs Fr�, as the Germans strikingly characterize the period, that presently blossomed out into one of the fullest expressions in all its history of German life and thought.
Bartsch, in the introduction to his edition of the "Nibelungenlied," has most admirably summarized this whole matter. According to him, it was an Austrian poet who, before the middle of the twelfth century, united songs sung at his time and oral tradition, known to him as well as to everybody else, into a single whole. How far folk-song and tradition had anticipated him in this is no longer to be ascertained, but it may be inferred from the Northern form of the legendxvii that it had long since taken place. It remained to him, however, to arrange the whole in its details of sequence of action, to fill out the gaps left by popular song and story, and to give it the impress of his own day, which it so unmistakably bears. That this is not in accord with other ideas of authorship and origin must nevertheless be stated. Karl Lachmann, one of the most astute, if not one of the most mistaken, critics of the poem, taking Wolf's Prolegomena to Homer for his model, set up the theory that has since played an important part in the discussion of the genesis of the "Nibelungenlied."
According to the Lachmann theory, the poem consists of no less than twenty distinct lays, each differing inherently from the rest, and each, with the exception of the Eighth and Ninth, by different authors. To arrive at this result, more than a third of the entire number of stanzas has, for one reason or another, been rejected as not genuine. As Lettsom has cleverly put it in the original preface to his translation, where this whole matter is presented with some detail: "He [Lachmann] has in fact put every stanza and every verse on its trial. Some have been condemned by him to italics, as interpolations; others to brackets, as continuations by different hands; others again, which he supposes to be the latest additions, so far from being pitied for their youth, have been visited with both kinds of punishment. He has not, however, sentenced any of the delinquents to transportation from the text; or, perhaps it would be more correct to say that he has sentenced them, but has not carried the sentence into execution. The result of the whole assize has been that out of the 2,316 stanzas 1,437 have been honorably acquitted; the rest have been italicised, bracketed, or both.... The twenty lays," he continues, "which had already suffered from the interpolations and corruptions incident to oral tradition, were first collected, committed to writing, and patched together into one poem about the year 1210 by some unknown compiler, whose handiwork was afterward corrected or depraved by two separate but equally unknown revisers. It is his opinion that scarcely a stanza of what we possess is older than 1190, while even the latest additions are not more recent than 1225. The whole poem, therefore, is, according to Professor Lachmann, the work of contemporary authors, whether wexviii call their compositions spurious or genuine; and the task undertaken is neither more nor less than to distribute a mass of unowned literary property among nineteen or twenty poets and an indefinite number of poetasters, of whom nothing, not even their existence, is known except by conjecture, and of whose distinguishing characteristics we are of course completely ignorant, except as far as we may guess at them from the internal evidence, real or imagined, of the poem itself."
Lachmann's theory of separate authorship of portions of the poem has not maintained itself against the critics. That there are contradictions in its statements and different values in its parts cannot be denied, but they are not explained on the grounds here set forth. The attempted restoration of the poem by elimination and rearrangement has not left twenty or any number of lays that have actually the air of being separate poems. "It is just here," continues Lettsom, "that the failure of the hypothesis is most conspicuous.... Some of the lays are not ill-adapted, from the nature of their contents, to form separate poems, but they are by no means out of place as episodes in a long work, and are, besides, connected with the rest, while the latter, from the insignificance of their contents alone, from their reference to one another, from their allusions to the past and anticipations of the future, from their abrupt commencements and still more abrupt conclusions, and from their general fragmentary nature, could never have been independent lays.... The dream of Kriemhild forms a strange opening for a lay that just brings Siegfried to Worms, and there leaves him. Nobody, in fact, would have composed a separate poem on so insignificant a matter. The dream, however, is beyond all doubt the introduction, the fit and appropriate introduction, to a poem that must go on at least to the marriage of Kriemhild and the death of her husband.
"Professor Lachmann himself seems to be in doubt whether this First Lay be complete; he talks of 'this lay, or what has been preserved of it;' he tells us that 'it several times indicates a continuation, and might have deserved a better than that which follows;' but though he expresses a doubt, he gives no reasons for entertaining one. It certainly would require far less ingenuity to assign cogent reasons for a doubt,xix and indeed for much more than a doubt, on this point; the lay, as it stands, is a 'passage that leads to nothing,' a mountain in labor that does not produce even so much as a mouse; but it is not singular in this respect; its brethren for the most part keep it in countenance; or, if they contain matter of interest, they too often try the temper of the reader by disappointing his expectations at the most critical moment, and coming to an abrupt conclusion in the midst of an action. Thus the Eighteenth Lay ends just after the battle between Huns and Burgundians has begun; the Nineteenth stops short just at the moment when Etzel has brought up 20,000 fresh men and commenced another attack on Gunther and his followers.
"It really is a waste of words to dwell on the peculiarities of such whimsical arrangements as these. I will merely add a word or two on the Fourteenth Lay, which, inasmuch as it is an introduction to what follows, bears some resemblance to the First. The dream of Uta, the prophecy of the mermaids, and all the gloomy forebodings which give a peculiar character to this lay, are ludicrously out of place as component parts of a short poem, which merely conducts the Burgundians to Rudeger's castle, where, so far from being destroyed, they do not even run any risk whatever, except that of being killed with kindness; but in fact the whole tenor of the lay (one might almost say, every line, every word of it) proves beyond dispute that we are there in the midst of an extensive poem, which can end only with the destruction of the last Burgundian. An attentive examination of the three or four lays just noticed, would, I think, convince every unprejudiced reader that the hypothesis of twenty separate lays by different authors is utterly untenable.... The wisest course," he concludes, and it is easy to concur with him, "is, in such uncertainty, to take the poem as we find it, and to prefer the authority, however occasionally unsatisfactory, of manuscripts to the speculations of the most ingenious critics."
The metre of the "Nibelungenlied" needs a word of explanation. The characteristic strophe in which it is written consists of four verses, the first three of equal length, the fourth somewhat longer, rhymed in couplets on the final syllable. The rhythmical system is dependent, not upon measure,xx but upon accent, with considerable freedom in the addition or suppression of unaccented syllables. Every verse, with the exception of the last, is made up of two half-verses each containing three accented syllables and separated by a ringing cå²µra, that is, a cå²µra on an unaccented syllable. The last half-verse contains an additional accent, or four, instead of three, as in the others. A strophe in the original Middle High German, the second of the poem, will make this analysis clear:
The metre of the present translation follows the original, except for the lengthening of the fourth line of the stanza which the author only occasionally differentiates in this respect from the rest.
The "Nibelungenlied," like other poems of the Middle Ages that were widely read and widely copied, was subjected all along its career of transmission to additions and alterations, and has consequently come down to us not in a single form, but in a number of different versions that deviate to a greater or less extent from the original poem and from each other. Whole or in part there are no less than twenty-eight MSS. Ten of these are complete: three of them, usually cited A, B, C, are parchment MSS. of the thirteenth century, two are parchments of the fourteenth century, four are paper MSS. of the fifteenth century, and one is a parchment of the sixteenth century. Of all these manuscripts it is commonly conceded that only A, B, C have independent authenticity. It is not necessary here to go into the details of the long discussion as to the relative value of the MSS. with regard to the age and original condition of the particular text which each contains. Each one has by different critics been given the preference over the others.
Zarncke, who is one of the most rational and impartial of the critics of the poem in all its bearings, makes C, a beautifully written MS. from the dividing line between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, preserved in the court library of Donaueschingen, the nearest in every essential way to thexxi original form of the poem. Subsequently, the whole, according to him, was subjected to a revision which brought it more into accord with contemporary taste. The text is amplified by the introduction of new episodes into the narrative, although some of the older strophes are omitted, and, unfortunately, the old dignity and simplicity of the diction is frequently sacrificed in favor of a more pronounced effect. This stage of the poem in its full form is not represented in either of the oldest MSS. B, a manuscript from the middle of the thirteenth century, in the monastery of St. Gallen, occupied an intermediate position in length. It is made by Bartsch, who regards it "as relatively the most faithful picture of the original form of the lost poem," the basis of his edition of the "Nibelungenlied." A, a carelessly written MS. in the Munich Library, is the shortest form of the poem, but is, nevertheless, in its turn regarded by Lachmann as inherently the oldest and best version that we possess. Lettsom's translation, in that it follows the text and modern German version of Braunfels, published in 1846, is based upon A, but with the inclusion of other strophes, particularly from C.
The "Nibelungenlied" was first published at Zurich, by Bodmer, in 1757, and since then has appeared in many editions and modernized versions at home, and in numerous translations abroad, among them Low German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Hungarian.
In English, the first translations of parts of the "Nibelungenlied" are contained in the "Illustrations of Northern Antiquities," by Weber, published in 1814, in Edinburgh. The version here given consists in part only of a metrical translation, in part of prose. Lockhart, in his biography of Sir Walter Scott, states that he has no doubt but that the rhymed versions came from that poet's pen, although of this there is no more direct proof. The second attempt in this direction is not less notable. This is from 1831, when Thomas Carlyle wrote in the "Westminster Review" an essay on the "Nibelungenlied" as a review of Karl Simrock's German translation of the poem, in which are contained a number of strophes given with characteristic vigor and a genuine appreciation of the real spirit of the original. The next translation, that of Gostik, in his "Spirit of German Poetry," 1846, is metrical, but, like itsxxii predecessors, consists only of parts of the poem. The first translation to lay claim to any degree of completeness was that of Jonathan Birch, published in 1848. It is a metrical version, as its title states, of Lachmann's text, and, like it, divides the poem into twenty lays. The first complete edition of the poem in English does not, however, appear until this of Lettsom's, which has admirably retained the form of the original and much of its spirit, and which for the first time gave to English readers an adequate idea of the real work as it is.
For those who care to pursue the subject further than these pages it may be stated that the best editions of the "Nibelungenlied" in the original are those of Friedrich Zarncke, "Das Nibelungenlied," originally published in 1856 and since then in several editions, and of Karl Bartsch, "Das Nibelungenlied," originally published in 1866, both of which have abundant critical apparatus. The "Nibelungenlied" is not yet sufficiently well known among us, for it is, in the way that has been indicated, not alone the great epic of Germany, but in its widest sense an epic of the Germanic race.
Columbia University, May 1, 1901.
First
Adventure: Kriemhild's Dream |
page 1 |
Second Adventure: Of Siegfried |
4 |
Third
Adventure: How Siegfried Went to Worms |
8 |
Fourth
Adventure: How Siegfried Fought with the Saxons |
23 |
Fifth
Adventure: How Siegfried First Saw Kriemhild |
44 |
Sixth
Adventure: How Gunther Went to Woo Brunhild |
53 |
Seventh
Adventure: How Gunther Won Brunhild |
64 |
Eighth
Adventure: How Siegfried Came to the Nibelungers |
78 |
Ninth
Adventure: How Siegfried was Sent to Worms |
86 |
Tenth
Adventure: How Brunhild was Received at Worms |
94 |
Eleventh
Adventure: How Siegfried Brought his Wife Home |
111 |
Twelfth
Adventure: How Gunther Invited Siegfried to the Festival |
117 |
Thirteenth
Adventure: How They Went to the Festival |
126 |
Fourteenth
Adventure: How the Two Queens Reviled One Another |
131 |
Fifteenth
Adventure: How Siegfried was Betrayed |
141 |
Sixteenth
Adventurexxiv: How Siegfried was Slain |
147 |
Seventeenth
Adventure: How Siegfried was Bewailed and Buried |
161 |
Eighteenth
Adventure: How Siegmund Returned Home |
173 |
Nineteenth
Adventure: How the Treasure of the Nibelungers was Brought to Worms |
177 |
Twentieth
Adventure: How King Etzel Proposed for Kriemhild |
185 |
Twenty-first
Adventure: How Kriemhild Departed |
207 |
Twenty-second
Adventure: How the Huns Received Kriemhild |
215 |
Twenty-third
Adventure: How Kriemhild Thought of Revenging her Injuries |
222 |
Twenty-fourth
Adventure: How Werbel and Swemmeline Delivered the Message |
228 |
Twenty-fifth
Adventure: How the Lords all Came into Hungary |
241 |
Twenty-sixth
Adventure: How Dankwart Slew Gelfrat |
254 |
Twenty-seventh
Adventure: Rudeger's Hospitality |
264 |
Twenty-eighth
Adventure: How Kriemhild Received Hagan |
275 |
Twenty-ninth
Adventure: How Hagan Refused to Rise to Kriemhild |
281 |
Thirtieth
Adventure: How the Knights Kept Watch |
291 |
Thirty-first
Adventure: How the Knights Went to Church |
296 |
Thirty-second
Adventure: How Blœdel was Slain |
309 |
Thirty-third
Adventure: How the Burgundians Fought with the Huns |
314 |
Thirty-fourth
Adventure: How They Threw Down the Dead |
323 |
Thirty-fifth
Adventurexxv: How Iring was Slain |
327 |
Thirty-sixth
Adventure: How the Queen Gave Orders to Burn Down the Hall |
335 |
Thirty-seventh
Adventure: How Margrave Rudeger was Slain |
344 |
Thirty-eighth
Adventure: How Sir Dietrich's Men were all Slain |
360 |
Thirty-ninth
Adventure: How Gunther and Hagan and Kriemhild were Slain |
374 |
Notes | 383 |
I
In stories of our fathers high marvels we are told
Of
champions well approved in perils manifold.
Of feasts and merry meetings, of
weeping and of wail,
And deeds of gallant daring I'll tell you in my
tale.
II
In Burgundy there flourish'd a maid so fair to see,
That in
all the world together a fairer could not be.
This maiden's name was
Kriemhild; through her in dismal strife
Full many a prowest warrior
thereafter lost his life.
III
Many a fearless champion, as such well became,
Woo'd the
lovely lady; she from none had blame.
Matchless was her person, matchless was
her mind.
This one maiden's virtue grac'd all womankind.
IV
Three puissant Kings her guarded with all the care they
might,
Gunther and eke Gernot, each a redoubted knight,
And Giselher the
youthful, a chosen champion he;
This lady was their sister, well lov'd of all
the three.
V
They were high of lineage, thereto mild of mood,
But in
field and foray champions fierce and rude.
They rul'd a mighty kingdom,
Burgundy by name;
They wrought in Etzel's country deeds of deathless
fame.2
At Worms was their proud dwelling, the fair Rhine flowing
by,
There had they suit and service from haughtiest chivalry,
For broad
lands and lordships, and glorious was their state,
Till wretchedly they
perish'd by two noble ladies' hate.
VII
Dame Uta was their mother, a queen both rich and sage;
Their
father hight Dancrat, who the fair heritage
Left to his noble children when
he his course had run;
He too by deeds of knighthood in youth had worship
won.
VIII
Each of these three princes, as you have heard me say,
Were
men of mighty puissance. They had beneath their sway
The noblest knights for
liegemen that ever dwelt on ground;
For hardihood and prowess were none so
high renown'd.
IX
There was Hagan of Trony of a noble line,
His brother nimble
Dankwart, and the knight of Metz, Ortwine,
Eckewart and Gary, the margraves
stout in fight,
Folker of Alzeia, full of manly might.
X
Rumolt the steward (a chosen knight was he),
Sindolt, and
Hunolt; these serv'd the brethren three,
At their court discharging their
several duties well;
Besides, knights had they many whom now I cannot
tell.
XI
Dankwart was marshal to the king his lord,
Ortwine of Metz,
his nephew, was carver at the board,
Sindolt, he was butler, a champion
choice and true,
The chamberlain was Hunolt; they well their duties
knew.
XII
The gorgeous pomp and splendor, wherein these brethren
reign'd,
How well they tended knighthood, what worship they attain'd,
How
they thro' life were merry, and mock'd at woe and bale—
Who'd seek all this
to tell you, would never end his tale.3
A dream was dreamt by Kriemhild the virtuous and the gay,
How a wild young falcon she train'd for many a day,
Till two fierce eagles
tore it; to her there could not be
In all the world such sorrow at this
perforce to see.
XIV
To her mother Uta at once the dream she told,
But she the
threatening future could only thus unfold;
"The falcon that thou trainedst is
sure a noble mate;
God shield him in his mercy, or thou must lose him
straight."
XV
"A mate for me? what say'st thou, dearest mother mine?
Ne'er
to love, assure thee, my heart will I resign.
I'll live and die a maiden, and
end as I began,
Nor (let what else befall me) will suffer woe for
man."
XVI
"Nay," said her anxious mother, "renounce not marriage so;
Would'st thou true heartfelt pleasure taste ever here below,
Man's love alone
can give it. Thou 'rt fair as eye can see,
A fitting mate God send thee, and
naught will wanting be."
"No more," the maiden answer'd, "no more, dear mother, say;
From many a woman's fortune this truth is clear as day,
That falsely smiling
Pleasure with Pain requites us ever.
I from both will keep me, and thus will
sorrow never."
XVIII
So in her lofty virtues, fancy-free and gay,
Liv'd the noble
maiden many a happy day,
Nor one more than another found favor in her
sight;
Still at the last she wedded a far-renowned knight.
XIX
He was the self-same falcon she in her dream had seen,
Foretold by her wise mother. What vengeance took the queen
On her nearest
kinsmen who him to death had done!
That single death atoning died many a
mother's son.4
I
In Netherland then flourished a prince of lofty kind,
(Whose
father was called Siegmund, his mother Siegelind)
In a sumptuous castle down
by the Rhine's fair side;
Men did call it Xanten; 't was famous far and
wide.
II
I tell you of this warrior, how fair he was to see;
From
shame and from dishonor liv'd he ever free.
Forthwith fierce and famous wax'd
the mighty man.
Ah! what height of worship in this world he wan!
III
Siegfried men did call him, that same champion good;
Many a
kingdom sought he in his manly mood,
And through strength of body in many a
land rode he.
Ah! what men of valor he found in Burgundy!
IV
Before this noble champion grew up to man's estate,
His hand
had mighty wonders achieved in war's debate,
Whereof the voice of rumor will
ever sing and say,
Though much must pass in silence in this our later
day.
V
In his freshest season, in his youthful days,
One might full
many a marvel tell in Siegfried's praise,
What lofty honors grac'd him, and
how fair his fame,
How he charm'd to love him many a noble dame.
VI
As did well befit him, he was bred with care,
And his own
lofty nature gave him virtues rare,
From him his father's country grace and
honor drew,
To see him prov'd in all things so noble and so true.5
VII
He now, grown up to youthhood, at court his duty paid;
The
people saw him gladly; many a wife and many a maid
Wish'd he would often
thither, and bide forever there;
They view'd him all with favor, whereof he
well was ware.
VIII
The child by his fond parents was deck'd with weeds of
pride,
And but with guards about him they seldom let him ride.
Uptrain'd
was he by sages, who what was honor knew,
So might he win full lightly broad
lands and liegemen too.
IX
Now had he strength and stature that weapons well he bore;
Whatever thereto needed, he had of it full store.
He began fair ladies to his
love to woo,
And they inclin'd to Siegfried with faith and honor
true.
X
Then bade his father Siegmund all his liegemen tell,
With
his dear friends to revel it would please him well.
Where other kings were
dwelling the tidings took their course.
To friends and eke to strangers he
gave both weed and horse.
XI
Whosoe'er was worthy to become a knight
For his lofty
lineage, did they each invite,
High-born youths and valiant to the feastful
board;
With the young king Siegfried took they then the sword.
XII
Of that proud feast royal wonders one might say;
King
Siegmund and Queen Siegelind well might that day
Win honor for the bounty
they shower'd with lavish hand,
For which full many a stranger came flocking
through their land.
Sworded squires four hundred rich raiment had to wear
With
the noble Siegfried. Full many a maiden fair
Ceaseless plied the needle to
please the warrior bold;
Precious stones unnumber'd the women set in
gold,6
XIV
(For gold was there in plenty), and as each could best
For
the love of Siegfried they work'd the jewel'd vest.
The Host rais'd seats
unnumber'd for many a martial wight
On the fair midsummer when his heir was
dubb'd a knight.
XV
Forthwith to the high minster flock'd many a squire along,
And many a knight of worship. To fitly train the young
The old should lend
that service which once to them was lent.
They pass'd the hours in pastime
and gentle merriment.
XVI
But first to God's due honor a holy mass they sung,
And then
a press and struggle arose the crowd among,
And then with pomp befitting each
youth was dubb'd a knight.
In sooth, before was never seen so fair a
sight.
XVII
All ran at once, where saddled many a war-horse stood.
In
the court of Siegmund the tourney was so rude,
That both hall and palace
echoed far around,
As those high-mettled champions shock'd with thundering
sound.
XVIII
Old and young together fiercely hurtling flew,
That the
shiver'd lances swept the welkin through;
Splinters e'en to the palace went
whizzing many a one
From hands of mighty champions; all there was deftly
done.
XIX
The Host bade cease the tourney; the steeds were led away;
Then might you see, all shatter'd how many a shield there lay,
And store of
stones full precious from bucklers beaming sheen
In those fierce shocks were
scatter'd upon the trampled green.
XX
Thence went the guests in order, and sat around the board;
Many dainty dishes their wearied strength restor'd,
And wine, of all the
richest, their burning thirst allay'd:
To friends alike and strangers was
fitting honor pay'd.7
XXI
Albeit in ceaseless pastime they sent the livelong day,
The
mummers and the minstrels never ceas'd their play.
They flock'd to golden
largess, a roving frolic band,
And pour'd a flood of praises on Siegmund's
fertile land.
XXII
The king, too, as his father to him before had done,
Enfeoff'd with lands and castles Siegfried his youthful son;
Gifts to his
sword-companions he gave with liberal hand,
So glad was he, it pleased them
to come into his land.
XXIII
The gorgeous feast it lasted till the seventh day was o'er;
Siegelind the wealthy did as they did of yore;
She won for valiant Siegfried
the hearts of young and old,
When for his sake among them she shower'd the
ruddy gold.
XXIV
You scarce could find one needy in all the minstrel band;
Horses and robes were scatter'd with ever open hand.
They gave as though they
had not another day to live,
None were to take so ready, as they inclin'd to
give.
XXV
So was dissolv'd with honor the mighty festival:
The
high-descended Barons assembled there in hall,
That youth were well contented
as lord to serve and sue,
But that desir'd not Siegfried, the champion stout
and true.
XXVI
While Siegelind and Siegmund yet liv'd and flourished
there,
Full little reck'd their offspring the royal crown to wear.
He only
would be master and exercise command,
'Gainst those whose pride o'erweening
disturb'd the peaceful land.
XXVII
None ventur'd to defy him; since weapons first he took,
The
bed of sloth but seldom the noble knight could brook.
He only sought for
battles; his prowess-gifted hand
Won him renown eternal in every foreign
strand.8
I
'Twas seldom teen or sorrow the warrior's heart assay'd;
At
length he heard the rumor, how a lovely maid
In Burgundy was dwelling, the
fairest of the fair.
From her he won much pleasure, but dash'd with toil and
care.
II
By fame her peerless beauty was bruited far and wide,
Nor
less her lofty virtue, and her pure virgin pride
Was day by day reported
among the martial band.
This drew guests every flocking to good King
Gunther's land.
III
For all the host of suitors that sought to bend her will,
True to her own coy promise remain'd fair Kriemhild still,
That she, for all
their wooing, would love vouchsafe to none.
He was a distant stranger, who at
last her favor won.
IV
Then sought the son of Siegelind to gain the haughty fair;
The vows of other suitors to his were light as air.
Such knight deserv'd to
vanquish the coyest maiden's pride;
Ere long the noble Kriemhild became bold
Siegfried's bride.
His kinsmen and his liegemen then gave him counsel true,
That now, if he in honor were inclin'd to woo,
He should be bound in wedlock
to no unequal make:
Then said the noble Siegfried, "Sure will I fair
Kriemhild take,
VI
"The bright Burgundian maiden, best gem of Gunther's
throne,
Whose far-renowned beauty stands unapproach'd, alone;
On earth nor
king nor kaiser lives there so proud, I ween,
But he might deem him happy to
win so fair a queen."9
VII
Forthwith were the tidings to Siegmund's ear preferr'd;
His
anxious liegemen told him; from them his father heard
The high design of
Siegfried; it much to heart he laid,
That he aspir'd so boldly to win so fair
a maid.
VIII
The news came eke to Siegelind, the noble monarch's wife;
Full sore the mother trembled for her darling's life,
For well she knew
fierce Gunther and his vassals stern;
So strove they both the champion from
his high emprise to turn.
IX
Then spake the valiant Siegfried, "Dearest father mine,
The
love of high-born women forever I'll resign,
Rather than play the wooer but
where my heart is set."
Howe'er they sought to move him, but small success
they met.
X
"Since naught can then dissuade thee," outspake his royal
sire,
"Glad am I, blood of Siegmund should to such height aspire,
And so
thy hopes to forward I'll do the best I can;
Yet in his court has Gunther
many a proud o'erweening man.
XI
"E'en were there none but Hagan, that redoubted knight
In
pride can match the proudest, the mightiest in might;
So that, my son, I fear
me, this hour we both may rue,
If our minds are settled the stately maid to
woo."
XII
"What can ill befall us?" Siegfried made reply;
"If that
misproud Burgundian my friendly suit deny,
Be sure, as much and more, too,
I'll seize by strength of hand;
In this I trust to strip him of liegemen and
of land."
XIII
"Little thy words content me," the hoary prince replied,
"In
the land of King Gunther thou sure durst never ride,
If, on the Rhine, young
Siegfried, this tale were only told.
Gunther and eke Gernot I know them both
of old.10
XIV
"By force, fair son, assure thee, can none the maiden woo,"
Resum'd the princely Siegmund, "this I have heard for true;
But if with
knights to back thee, thou'lt ride to Gunther's land,
We've friends enough,
and forthwith I'll summon all the band."
XV
"'Tis not to me well pleasing," the fiery youth replied,
"That I the Rhine should visit with warriors by my side,
As in array of
battle, and 'twould my honor stain,
If I should need assistance the peerless
maid to gain.
XVI
"I little care to win her save by my own good hand;
With
comrades but eleven I'll hence to Gunther's land.
Thus far, father Siegmund,
of you help I pray."
Then his friends, to trim their garments, receiv'd
striped furs and gray.
XVII
To his mother Siegelind the heavy news they bore;
The queen
straight for her Siegfried began to sorrow sore.
She shudder'd lest the lov'd
one should all untimely die
By the fierce knights of Gunther, and wept full
bitterly.
XVIII
Then in haste went Siegfried where she her moan did make,
And thus his sobbing mother tenderly bespake,
"Weep not for me, dear mother,
in better hope repose,
Count me forever scathless e'en 'midst a thousand
foes.
XIX
"So give me all that's needful through Burgundy to ride,
That I and mine may journey with such fair weeds supplied
As best becomes
companions of high degree to wear,
And from my heart I'll thank thee for all
thy love and care."
XX
"Since naught avails to stay thee," so spake his mother
mild,
"I'll equip thee for the journey, my dear, my only child,
Thee and
thy bold companions, and send thee richly dight
With weeds the best and
fairest that e'er were worn by knight."11
XXI
Then to the queen young Siegfried in duty bent him low,
And
said, "Upon this journey I would not that we go
More than twelve together, so
these with robes provide.
Full fain am I to witness how stands it with my
bride."
XXII
Fair women at the needle were sitting night and day;
Scarcely could a seamstress her head on pillow lay,
Till robes were work'd
for Siegfried and all his company.
The youth was ever yearning to start for
Burgundy.
XXIII
His sire prepar'd his armor, and nothing left undone,
That
he might leave his country as fitted Siegmund's son;
Well temper'd were their
breast-plates that flash'd against the light,
Of proof were their morions,
their bucklers broad and bright.
XXIV
Their way they now were ready to Burgundy to take;
Then man
and wife were heavy with sorrow for their sake,
Lest evil should befall them,
and bar their homeward road,
With weapons and apparel the heroes bad the
sumpters load.
XXV
High-mettled were their chargers, gold-bright their riding
weed,
None ever rode more proudly (little were there need)
Than then did
noble Siegfried, and that fair company
That with him leave were taking, all
bound for Burgundy.
XXVI
The king and queen, each weeping, gave him leave to part,
And he to both gave comfort all with a loving heart.
"Weep not," said he,
"dear parents, of better courage be,
I'm safe where'er I travel, so take no
thought for me."12
Ah! woe were then the warriors, and wept, too, many a maid,
Their hearts, I ween, the future in deepest gloom array'd,
And told them from
that journey many a dear friend would bleed.
Full cause had they for sorrow,
it brought them woe indeed.
XXVIII
On the seventh fair morning by Worms along the strand
In
knightly guise were pricking the death-defying band.
The ruddy gold fair
glitter'd on every riding vest;
Their steeds they meetly govern'd, all pacing
soft abreast.
XXIX
Their shields were new and massy and like flame they
glow'd,
As bright too shone their helmets, while bold Siegfried rode
Straight to the court of Gunther to woo the stately maid;
Eye never look'd on
champions so gorgeously array'd.
XXX
Down to their spurs loud clanging reach'd the swords they
wore;
Sharp and well temper'd lances the chosen champions bore.
One, two
spans broad or better, did Siegfried sternly shake,
With keen and cutting
edges grim and ghastly wounds to make.
XXXI
Their golden-color'd bridles firm they held in hand;
Silken
were their p�els; so rode they through the land.
On all sides the people
to gaze on them began;
Then many of Gunther's liegemen swift to meet them
ran.
XXXII
Many a haughty warrior, stout squire, and hardy knight,
Went
to receive the strangers as fitting was and right,
And, as to guests high
honor'd, did courteous service yield,
Their steeds held as they lighted, and
took from each his shield.13
XXXIII
They were in act the chargers to lead away to stall,
When
the redoubted Siegfried quick to them did call,
"Nay, leave us here the
horses, we look not long to stay,
Anon with my companions I shall wend upon
my way.
XXXIV
"Affairs of high concernment this squadron hither bring,
So,
whoso knows, straight tell me where I may find your king,
The wide-renowned
Gunther, who reigns in Burgundy."
Then one who near was standing thus
answer'd courteously,
XXXV
"If you would find the monarch, you need not long to wait;
In yonder hall at leisure myself I left him late
Begirt with all his
warriors; there you may feast your sight:
In sooth you'll find about him full
many a stately knight."
XXXVI
Now to great King Gunther were the tidings told,
That there
had journey'd thither hardy knights and bold,
Yclad in flashing armor and
glittering vesture gay,
But who and whence the strangers, could no Burgundian
say.
XXXVII
Much wonder'd the monarch, whence came the gallant band,
That with so fair equipment had reach'd Burgundian land,
And with so massy
bucklers; that none could tidings bring
Of those heroic strangers, but little
pleas'd the king.
XXXVIII
To Gunther then made answer the knight of Metz, Ortwine,
A
warrior bold and mighty, and of the loftiest line,
"Since none of us can tell
you who these same knights may be,
Send for my uncle Hagan; let him strangers
see.
XXXIX
"He knows the proud and puissant of every foreign land;
So
we, what now we guess not, from him shall understand."
Him and his warlike
vassals the impatient king bade call,
And soon redoubted Hagan strode
tow'ring through the hall.14
XL
"What would the king with Hagan?" the warrior made demand.
"Here in my house are wand'rers from some far-distant land,
Unknown to all
around me; observe the strangers well,
And if thou e'er hast seen them, the
truth, good Hagan, tell."
XLI
"That will I straight," said Hagan; to a window then he
went,
And his eyes attentive on the strangers bent.
Well pleas'd him their
fair vesture, and well their armor sheen,
Yet sure the like he never in
Burgundy had seen.
XLII
"Whencever come these champions whom chance to Rhineland
brings,
Kings might they be," said Hagan, "or messengers of kings.
How
highly bred their chargers! how gorgeous their array!
Wherever lies their
country, high-mettled lords are they."
XLIII
And thereto added Hagan, "This too I'll vouch for yet;
Albeit on noble Siegfried I never eyes have set;
Still to aver I'll venture,
that (let whate'er befall)
'Tis he that's stalking yonder, so stately and so
tall.
XLIV
"He brings some new adventure to our Burgundian land;
The
valiant Nibelungers he slew by strength of hand,
Nibelung and Shilbung the
princes stern in fight,
And since has many a wonder achiev'd with
all-surpassing might.
XLV
"As all alone and aidless he was riding once at will,
As I
have heard reported, he found beside a hill
With Nibelung's hoarded treasure
full many a man of might;
Strange seem'd they to the champion, till he came
to know them right.15
XLVI
"They had brought the treasure, as just then befell,
Forth
from a yawning cavern; now hear a wonder tell,
How those fierce Nibelungers
the treasure would divide;
The noble Siegfried eyed them, and wonder'd as he
eyed.
XLVII
"He nearer came and nearer, close watching still the clan,
Till they got sight of him too, when one of them began,
'Here comes the
stalwart Siegfried, the chief of Netherland.'
A strange adventure met he with
that Nibelungers' band.
XLVIII
"Him well receiv'd the brethren Shilbung and Nibelung.
With
one accord they begg'd him, those noble princes young,
To part the hoard
betwixt them, and ever pressing bent
The hero's wavering purpose till he
yielded full consent.
XLIX
"He saw of gems such plenty, drawn from that dark abode,
That not a hundred wagons could bear the costly load,
Still more of gold so
ruddy from the Nibelungers' land.
All this was to be parted by noble
Siegfried's hand.
L
"So Nibelung's sword they gave him to recompense his pain,
But ill was done the service, which they had sought so fain,
And he so hard
had granted; Siegfried, the hero good,
Fail'd the long task to finish; this
stirr'd their angry mood.
"The treasure undivided he needs must let remain,
When the
two kings indignant set on him with their train,
But Siegfried gripp'd sharp
Balmung (so hight their father's sword),
And took from them their country and
the beaming precious hoard.16
LII
"For friends had they twelve champions, each, as avers my
tale,
A strong and sturdy giant, but what could all avail?
All twelve to
death successive smote Siegfried's mastering hand,
And vanquish'd chiefs
seven hundred of the Nibelungers' land.
LIII
"With that good weapon Balmung; by sudden fear dismay'd
Both
of the forceful swordsman and of the sword he sway'd,
Unnumber'd youthful
heroes to Siegfried bent that hour,
Themselves, their lands, their castles,
submitting to his power.
LIV
"Those two fierce kings together he there depriv'd of life,
Then wag'd with puissant Albric a stern and dubious strife,
Who thought to
take full vengeance for both his masters slain,
But found his might and
manhood with Siegfried's match'd in vain.
"The mighty dwarf successless strove with the mightier man;
Like to wild mountain lions to th' hollow hill they ran;
He ravish'd there
the cloud-cloak from struggling Albric's hold,
And then became the master of
th' hoarded gems and gold.
LVI
"Whoever dar'd resist him, all by his sword lay slain,
Then
bade he bring the treasure back to the cave again,
Whence the men of Nibelung
the same before had stirr'd;
On Albric last the office of keeper he
conferr'd.
LVII
"He took an oath to serve him, as his liegeman true,
In all
that to a master from his man is due.
Such deeds," said he of Trony, "has
conqu'ring Siegfried done;
Be sure, such mighty puissance, knight has never
won.17
LVIII
"Yet more I know of Siegfried, that well your ear may hold;
A poison-spitting dragon he slew with courage bold,
And in the blood then
bath'd him; this turn'd to horn his skin.
And now no weapons harm him, as
often proved has been.
LIX
"Receive then this young hero with all becoming state;
'Twere ill advis'd to merit so fierce a champion's hate.
So lovely is his
presence, at once all hearts are won,
And then his strength and courage such
wondrous deeds have done."
LX
Then spake the mighty monarch, "Thou counsellest aright.
See
how stands full knightly, prepar'd for fiercest fight,
He and his hardy
comrades, the death-defying man!
Straight we'll descend to meet him as
courteous as we can."
LXI
"That be assur'd," said Hagan, "with honor may be done;
Of
lofty kin is Siegfried, a mighty monarch's son.
Me seemeth, if to purpose his
bearing I have eyed,
By heaven, 'tis no light matter hath bidd'n him thither
ride."
LXII
Then spake the country's ruler, "He shall be welcome here,
Bold is the knight and noble, that I discover clear,
And much shall it avail
him on our Burgundian ground."
Then thither went King Gunther where he
Siegfried found.
LXIII
The host and his companions so well receiv'd the guest,
That
nothing there was wanting that courtesy express'd;
And low inclin'd the
warrior to all in presence there,
Since they had giv'n him greeting so
friendly and so fair.
LXIV
"I wonder much," said Gunther, "and fain would understand,
Whence comes the noble Siegfried to this Burgundian land,
And what he here is
seeking at Worms upon the Rhine."
The guest to the king made answer,
"Concealment is no art of mine.18
LXV
"Afar I heard the tidings, e'en in my father's land,
That
here with you were dwelling (fain would I know the band)
The best and prowest
champions so voic'd by all and some,
That ever king surrounded; I'm therefore
hither come.
LXVI
"Your own renown I've heard, too, through all this country
ring,
That never eye of mortal has seen so bold a king.
Your prowess and
your knighthood are vouch'd by high and low,
Now ne'er will I turn homeward
till this by proof I know.
LXVII
"I too am a warrior, and shall a sceptre sway,
And I would
fain bring all men perforce of me to say,
That I both land and liegemen have
nobly merited.
This to maintain I'll freely pledge, my honor and my
head.
LXVIII
"Now since you are so famous for manhood and for skill,
Naught reck I, if my purpose be taken well or ill,
But all that's own'd by
Gunther I'll win by strength of hand,
And force to my obedience his castles
and his land."
LXIX
The king was lost in wonder, and with him all the rest,
At
such a strange pretension from that o'erweening guest,
Who claim'd his whole
possessions that stretch'd so wide around.
His vassals heard the challenge,
and for anger sternly frown'd.
LXX
"How," cried the valiant Gunther, "have I deserv'd this
wrong,
That what my noble father with honor rul'd so long,
I now should
yield to any, o'ermaster'd by his might?
Ill should I show, that I too can
bear me like a knight!"19
LXXI
"I'll ne'er renounce my purpose," the fiery youth replied;
"If through thy might thy country cannot in peace abide,
I'll take on me to
rule it, and what I hold in fee,
If thou by strength canst take it, shall
alike submit to thee.
LXXII
"Let thy broad lands and mine too be laid in equal scale,
And whichsoe'er in battle o'er th' other shall prevail,
To him let all be
subject, the liegemen and the land."
But Hagan sought, and Gernot, such
purpose to withstand.
LXXIII
"To us 'tis little pleasing," Gernot made reply,
"That we
should lands be seizing, whose lords should slaughter'd lie
That we may win
unjustly; our lands are fair and wide;
We are their rightful masters, and
none they need beside."
LXXIV
Grim glar'd King Gunther's warriors (of gathering wrath the
sign!)
Among them lower'd the darkest the knight of Metz, Ortwine.
"It
irks me much," exclaim'd he, "to hear these words of pride.
Sir King! by
haughty Siegfried thou'rt wrongfully defied.
LXXV
"Were thou and thy brave brethren stript of those arms you
boast,
While he to back his quarrel should bring a royal host,
E'en then
I'd trust to teach him a humbler pitch to fly,
And cower as low before us, as
now he mounteth high."
LXXVI
Wroth was at this defiance the chief of Netherland.
He
cried, "Thou durst not venture 'gainst me to lift thy hand.
I am a mighty
monarch, a monarch's man art thou;
Should twelve like thee resist me, twelve
such to one should bow."20
LXXVII
Then 'gan for swords call loudly the knight of Metz,
Ortwine,
The sister's son of Hagan, pride of his lofty line.
It irk'd him
that his uncle so long had silent stood.
Bold Gernot interposing thus cool'd
his fiery mood.
LXXVIII
"Ortwine!" said he, "be calmer; why thus to weapons run?
To
us the valiant stranger no such offence has done.
We yet may part in
kindness; I rede thee, wrath give o'er,
And make a friend of Siegfried; this
still were to our credit more."
LXXIX
"It well may irk," said Hagan, "all us good knights of
thine,
That this imperious wanderer e'er rode unto the Rhine.
Such
strife-producing journey were better ne'er begun.
Ne'er had the kings my
masters by him so evil done."
LXXX
Thereto straight answer'd Siegfried, fiercely frowning
still,
"If these my words, Sir Hagan, have chanc'd to please you ill,
Be
sure, high deeds of valor, you at these hands shall see,
Deeds, that e'en
less may please you here in Burgundy."
LXXXI
"This I alone," said Gernot, "can turn from evil end;"
So
all his warriors bade he the stranger not offend
With words that breath'd
defiance, and thus the turmoil stay'd;
And Siegfried too was thinking upon
the stately maid.
LXXXII
"How suits this strife with either?" the prudent warrior
said,
"How many chiefs soever should in this broil lie dead,
By us would
little honor, by you small gain be won."
Thereto gave answer Siegfried, King
Siegmund's haughty son:21
LXXXIII
"But wherefore lingereth Hagan, and wherefore proud
Ortwine,
That, with their friends thus swarming upon the banks of Rhine,
Nor one, nor other ventures a stranger's arm to brave?"
Both kept unwilling
silence, such counsel Gernot gave.
LXXXIV
"You shall to us be welcome," resum'd Queen Uta's son,
"You
and your faithful comrades, all and every one.
We shall be proud to serve
you, I and all kin of mine,"
Then for the guests 'twas order'd to pour King
Gunther's wine.
LXXXV
Then spoke the sov'reign ruler, "Whatever ours we call,
Should you in honor claim it, is at your service all—
Our persons—our
possessions—if so it seems you good."
Thereat became Sir Siegfried of
somewhat milder mood.
LXXXVI
Forthwith their whole equipment down from their beasts was
brought;
For Siegfried and his fellows with fitting zeal were sought
Of
all convenient chambers the choicest and the best.
At length the bold
Burgundians look'd friendly on their guest.
LXXXVII
Thenceforth were fitting honors paid him many a day,
A
thousand-fold, be certain more than I can say.
This earn'd his strength and
valor; so gracious was his state,
'Twas rare that any mortal could look on
him with hate.
LXXXVIII
Their hours they spent in pastime—the kings and all the
rest—
Whate'er the sport that pleas'd them, 'twas Siegfried play'd it
best.
Such was his skill and puissance, that none could come him near
To
hurl the stone tempestuous or dart the whizzing spear.22
LXXXIX
Whene'er before the ladies, all in courtly guise,
Plied the
contending champions their knightly exercise,
Then all look'd on delighted as
noble Siegfried strove;
But he his thoughts kept ever fix'd on his lofty
love.
XC
At court the lovely ladies were asking evermore,
Who was the
stately stranger that so rich vesture wore,
At once so fair of presence and
so strong of hand.
Then many a one gave answer, "'Tis the King of
Netherland."
XCI
He ever was the foremost, whate'er the game they play'd.
Still in his inmost bosom he bore one lovely maid,
Whom he beheld had never,
and yet to all preferr'd;
She too of him in secret spoke many a kindly
word.
XCII
When in the court contending fierce squire and hardy
knight,
As fits the young and noble, wag'd the mimic fight,
Oft Kriemhild
through her window would look, herself unseen:
Then no other pleasure needed
the gentle queen.
XCIII
What then had been his rapture, could he have only guess'd,
That on him she was looking, who reign'd within his breast!
Could he but once
have seen her, I ween, not all the bliss,
That all the world can lavish,
would he have ta'en for this.
XCIV
Whene'er, as is the custom at intervals of sport,
He midst
the crowd of heroes was standing in the court,
So graceful was the bearing of
Siegelind's matchless son,
That the heart of every lady that look'd on him he
won.
XCV
Oft too would he be thinking, "How now can it be,
That I the
noble maiden with mine eyes may see,
Whom I in heart love dearly, and so long
have done?
And she's an utter stranger! Ah! Woe is me, unhappy one!"23
XCVI
Whene'er the kings it needed through their land to ride,
Then kept their faithful liegemen attendance by their side,
And with them
forth must Siegfried; this irk'd his lady sore;
He through her love was
pining the while as much or more.
XCVII
So with those kings, high honor'd Siegmund's noble son
In
Gunther's land was dwelling till full a year was run,
Nor, all that weary
season, a single glimpse could gain
Of her, who after brought him such
pleasure and such pain.
Now strange and stirring tidings were brought to Gunther's
throne
By messengers commissioned from foreign chiefs unknown,
Who bore
the brethren malice, and whom they well might fear.
When they receiv'd the
message, right heavy was their cheer.
II
The same I now will tell you; King Ludeger the bold,
From
the land of the Saxons (a mightier ne'er was told)
Was leagued with him of
Denmark, King Ludegast the strong,
And many a famous warrior both brought
with them along.
III
Their messengers, hard riding, came to King Gunther's land,
As his far-distant foemen had given them in command;
Then ask'd the crowd,
what tidings the unknown guests might bring.
To court they straight were
hurried, and set before the king.24
IV
Them well the monarch greeted: "You're welcome; never fear;
From whom you come, I know not, but willingly would hear,
And it is yours to
tell me." So spake the monarch good.
Then 'gan they sore to tremble at
Gunther's angry mood.
V
"Since you, O king! permit us to utter plain and true
This
our high commission, naught will we hide from you.
Our masters we will tell
you, who gave us this command.
King Ludegast and King Ludeger will visit you
in this land.
VI
"You have deserved their anger; for truth can I relate,
That
both our puissant masters bear you deadly hate.
They'll lead a host
unnumber'd to Worms unto the Rhine.
Of this be warn'd for certain; fix'd is
their proud design.
VII
"Within twelve weeks at farthest their camp will onward go;
If you've good friends to aid you, 'twill soon be time to show.
Their best
will sure be needed to guard both fort and field,
Soon shall we here be
shiv'ring many a helm and many a shield.
VIII
"Or would you seek a treaty, let it at once be said,
Ere
their prevailing myriads, one wasteful ruin spread
Through all your wide
dominions with their consuming might,
And Death unsated feast him on many a
gallant knight."
IX
"Now wait awhile, ye strangers," thus spake the noble king,
"I must think, ere I answer the message that you bring.
I've friends and
faithful liegemen, whose sage advice I use,
And with them I must counsel take
on this heavy news."
X
The nigh approaching danger irk'd King Gunther sore,
And the
proud defiance deep in heart he bore;
He sent for valiant Hagan and many
another knight,
And Gernot, too, bade hasten with all the speed he
might.25
XI
At once they flock'd around him, a stern and stately band;
Then spake the king, "Proud strangers, here, in our own good land,
Have sent
to bid us battle; weigh well such tidings told."
Thereto straight answer'd
Gernot, a hardy knight and bold.
XII
"Then with our swords we'll meet them; defiance we'll defy;
None but the death-doom'd perish, so bravely let them die;
I'll ne'er forget
my honor for all they choose to send.
So fierce a foe to Gernot is welcome as
a friend."
XIII
"Rash hold I such hot counsel," said Hagan, Trony's knight,
"Both Ludegast and Ludeger are men of mickle might:
In so few days our
vassals we scarce can muster well."
He paused a space, then added, "The news
to Siegfried tell."
XIV
Meanwhile they lodg'd the strangers within the city fair;
Though all were foes around them, King Gunther bade them share
All courteous
entertainment; so fitly dealt the king,
Till he had learn'd, what forces he
might together bring.
XV
Right ill at ease was Gunther; his brow was clouded o'er;
A
gallant knight, who mark'd him what heavy cheer he bore,
Who had not heard
the tidings, nor thus the truth could guess,
With friendly will thus mov'd
him his sorrow to confess.
XVI
"I wonder much," said Siegfried, "why I of late have seen
With care so overshadow'd that frank and merry mien,
That gave a zest to
pleasure, and heighten'd each delight."
Whereto gave answer Gunther the
far-renowned knight;26
XVII
"To all the world I cannot my bitter bale impart;
Bear it I
must, and wrap it close in my inmost heart.
Bosom woes can only to bosom
friends be said."
Thereat the hue of Siegfried wax'd both white and
red.
XVIII
He thus bespake the monarch, "I ne'er denied you aught,
And
now will serve you truly, whate'er be in your thought.
Need you friends, King
Gunther? no firmer friend than I.
Is it a deed of danger? I'll do it, or I'll
die."
XIX
"Now God reward you, Siegfried; your words they please me
well;
E'en should your strength avail not this danger to repel,
There's
comfort in such friendship as you have shown to-day.
Let me live a little
longer, well will I all repay.
XX
"And now my source of sorrow, Sir Siegfried, you shall
know;
It comes of two proud princes, each my deadly foe,
Who me with war
would visit, and all my lands o'errun,
A deed that here by warrior before was
never done."
XXI
"Take little thought," said Siegfried, "of them and their
emprise;
Calm but your anxious spirit, and do as I advise.
Let me for you
advantage as well as honor win,
And bid at once to aid you your warriors
hasten in.
XXII
"If your o'erweening foemen can together call
Thirty
thousand champions, I'll stand against them all
With but a single thousand;
for that rely on me."
"For this," replied King Gunther, "I'm ever bound to
thee."27
XXIII
"So from your army give me a thousand men at most,
Since I,
who well could muster at home a gallant host,
Have here twelve comrades only;
thus will I guard your land.
Count on true service ever from Siegfried's
faithful hand.
XXIV
"And Hagan too shall help us, and with him stout Ortwine,
Dankwart and Sindolt those loving lords of thine,
And fear-defying Folker
shall our companion be;
He shall bear our banner; better none than
he."
XXV
And forthwith did the envoys back to their lords return:
"Tell them they soon shall see us, and to their cost shall learn
How we
devise protection for castle and for town."
Straight call'd the king his
kinsmen and the suitors of his crown.
XXVI
The messengers of Ludeger before th' assembly went;
They
heard with joy and gladness that home they would be sent.
With costly
presents Gunther their parting steps pursued,
And with them sent an escort;
this rais'd full high their mood.
XXVII
"Ye messengers," said Gunther, "thus to your masters say,
They'd best be pricking homeward as quickly as they may;
Or, should they
please to seek us among our liegemen true,
Let but our friends be faithful,
we'll find them work to do."
XXVIII
Then forth the costly presents to the messengers they bore;
Enough, be sure, and more, too, King Gunther had in store.
King Ludeger's men
to take them in sooth were nothing coy;
Then leave they took of Gunther, and
parted thence with joy.28
XXIX
Now when back to Denmark were come the envoys bold,
And to
the stout King Ludegast had the tidings told,
How they of Rhine were coming,
fierce war themselves to bring,
To hear of their high courage troubled sore
the king.
XXX
Said they, "Yon proud Burgundian has many a man of might,
But for the first and foremost we mark'd a matchless knight,
One that men
call Siegfried, a chief of Netherland."
Ill foreboded Ludegast from such a
foe at hand.
XXXI
When to them of Denmark were these tidings told,
The more
their friends they summon'd to muster manifold,
Nor press nor hasty message
did stout Sir Ludegast slack,
Till twenty thousand champions were marching at
his back.
XXXII
Alike to brave Sir Ludeger did his Saxons throng,
Till they
in arms had gather'd full forty thousand strong,
Ready at his bidding through
Burgundy to ride,
Nor less at home did Gunther his men at arms
provide.
XXXIII
His kinsmen and his brethren he begg'd at once to speed,
And
to the war that dar'd them their muster'd vassals lead,
And death-defying
Hagan; they gather'd far and nigh.
Full many a chief thereafter that journey
brought to die.
XXXIV
They one and all were stirring; no loiterer was there;
The
danger-daring Folker the standard was to bear.
To cross the Rhine they
purpos'd and leave their native land.
Hagan the knight of Trony was marshal
of the band.
XXXV
With them, too, rode Sindolt, and with them Hunolt bold,
Both resolv'd by service to earn King Gunther's gold,
And Dankwart, Hagan's
brother, and the brave Ortwine,
Alike would seek for honor in the march
beyond the Rhine.29
XXXVI
"Sir King," said noble Siegfried, "here sit at home and
play,
While I and your vassals are fighting far away;
Here frolic with the
ladies and many a merry mate,
And trust to me for guarding your honor and
estate.
XXXVII
"Those foes of yours, that threaten'd as far as Worms to
roam,
I will be their surety, that they shall bide at home.
So deep within
their country we are resolv'd to ride,
To wail shall turn their vaunting, to
penitence their pride."
XXXVIII
From Rhine through Hesse advancing they rode upon their
way,
Toward the Saxon country, where after happ'd the fray.
Far and wide
they ravag'd, and fiery brands they toss'd,
Till both the princes heard it
and felt it to their cost.
XXXIX
They now were on the borders; then hasten'd every man,
When
the stalwart Siegfried thus to ask began:
"Who shall be appointed to guard
our company?
Sure ne'er was raid that threaten'd such ill to Saxony."
XL
They answered, "Let to Dankwart the charge committed be
To
guard the young and heedless; more nimble none than he.
We thus the less
shall suffer from aught our foes design.
To him commit the rearward, and with
him too Ortwine."
XLI
"Myself alone," said Siegfried, "will ever forward ride,
Till I have found our foemen and all their strength espied.
Keep watch and
ward unceasing till I this task have done."
Then donn'd at once his armor
fair Siegelind's martial son.
XLII
At parting he his people in charge to Hagan gave,
And with
him eke to Gernot the prudent and the brave;
Then all alone went riding
through the wide Saxon realm;
And soon that day he shatter'd the band of many
a helm.30
XLIII
That mighty host next spied he, as wide encamp'd it lay.
It
might his single puissance a hundred-fold outweigh.
Better than forty
thousand were muster'd there for fight,
Sir Siegfried mark'd their numbers,
and gladden'd at the sight.
Before the camp he noted a knight, that on his ground
Strong
watch and ward kept heedful, and peer'd on all around.
At once of him was
Siegfried, and he of Siegfried ware,
And each began on the other angrily to
glare.
XLV
Who was this watchful warder, now you shall be told.
At hand
by him lay ready a flashing shield of gold.
Twas e'en the stout King
Ludegast, that watch'd his gather'd might.
Fiercely upon the monarch sprung
the stranger knight.
XLVI
As fiercely too against him the fiery monarch sped;
In the
flank of the war-horse each dash'd the rowels red:
The lance with all his
puissance each level'd at the shield.
Ill chance befell King Ludegast in that
disastrous field.
XLVII
Beneath the spur blood-dripping the steeds together flew;
Champion clos'd with champion as though a tempest blew.
Then wheel'd they
round full knightly; each well the bridle sway'd
Again they met unsated, and
with blade encounter'd blade.
XLVIII
Such strokes there struck Sir Siegfried, that all the field it
rang;
At each, as e'en from torches, the fire-red sparkles sprang
From
Ludegast's batter'd helmet. So strive they all they can
And either stormy
champion in th' other finds his man.31
XLIX
At Siegfried too Sir Ludegast struck many a sturdy stroke;
Each on his foeman's buckler his gather'd fury broke.
Full thirty men of
Ludegast's meanwhile had spied the fray,
But, ere they up could hasten,
Siegfried had won the day.
L
Thrice smote he the bright breast-plate, and pierc'd it through
and through;
Thrice the blood in torrents from the king he drew,
Those
three strokes have ended that encounter keen.
Down sunk woful Ludegast
grovelling on the green.
LI
He straight for life sued humbly, and yielded up his claim
To all his lands, and told him that Ludegast was his name.
On this up came
his warriors, who from afar had seen
The fight, that at the ward-post so
fiercely fought had been.
LII
Thence Siegfried thought to bring him, when sudden all the
band
Of thirty set upon him; well then the hero's hand
Maintain'd his
royal captive with many a mighty blow.
The peerless champion wrought them yet
heavier loss and woe.
LIII
He fought with all the thirty till all but one were slain;
To him his life he granted; he trembling rode amain,
And told the truth
disastrous to all the gaping crew;
On his bloody helmet they might see it
written, too.
LIV
Woe were the men of Denmark to hear the deadly tale;
Their
king too was a captive; this added bale to bale.
They told it to his brother;
he straight to storm began.
Wroth was he to have suffered such loss by arm of
man.32
LV
So by the might of Siegfried was Ludegast led away
To where
the men of Gunther in watchful leaguer lay,
And given in charge to Hagan;
when they came to hear
The prisoner was King Ludegast, they scarcely shed a
tear.
LVI
Now rear they bade the banner the bold Burgundian crew.
"Up!" cried the son of Siegelind, "more will be yet to do,
If there be life
in Siegfried, and that ere day be done.
Woe to the Saxon mothers! they'll
weep for many a son.
LVII
"Ye hardy knights of Rhineland, take of me good heed.
Right
through the ranks of Ludeger your valor will I lead.
You'll see by hands of
heroes helmets cleft amain.
Shame shall they learn and sorrow ere we ride
home again."
LVIII
At once to horse good Gernot and all his meiny sprung,
At
once the glittering banner to the breeze was flung
By the bold minstrel
Folker riding in the van;
So moved they on to battle, war-breathing every
man.
LIX
No more than e'en a thousand went on the hard emprise;
With
them twelve stranger champions. Now 'gan the dust arise
Along the paths they
trampled; they rode by copse and field
And startled all the country with the
flash of many a shield.
LX
Against them with their myriads came on the Saxons bold.
Their swords they well were sharpen'd, as I have since been told.
Keen cut
the temper'd weapons in their well-practised hands,
To guard from those
fierce strangers their castles and their lands.33
LXI
The war-directing marshal led on the troop amain,
And
thither too fierce Siegfried brought up the scanty train,
That had his
fortunes follow'd from distant Netherland.
Busied that day in battle was many
a bloody hand.
LXII
Sindolt and Hunolt and noble Gernot too
In the fierce
encounter many a champion slew,
Who, ere they felt their puissance, little
thought to quail;
Many a noble lady then had cause to wail.
LXIII
Folker and Hagan, and eke the fierce Ortwine,
Death-defying
champions, dimm'd many a helmet's shine
With bloody streaming torrents that
down began to run;
There too were by Dankwart mighty marvels done.
LXIV
Every man of Denmark frankly tried his hand;
You might have
heard a clatter ring throughout the land
Of shiver'd shields and
sword-blades; 'sooth the work was rough,
And the hurtling Saxons damage did
enough.
LXV
Where the stern Burgundians plung'd into the strife,
Many a
wound was given, and let out many a life.
The blood from that red slaughter
above the saddles stood;
Woo'd as a bride was honor by heroes bold and
good.
LXVI
But louder still and louder in every hero's hand
Clash'd the
keen-ground weapons, when those of Netherland
Behind their charging master
rush'd into the fight.
On they came with Siegfried; each bore him as a
knight.34
Not a lord of Rhineland could follow where he flew.
You
might see red spouting the riven helmets through
Sudden streams of slaughter
where Siegfried smote around,
Till he at last King Ludeger before his
comrades found.
LXVIII
Thrice pierc'd he through the Saxons, and thrice return'd
again,
From van to utmost rear-guard still trampling down the slain;
Nor
was it long, ere Hagan came up his part to bear.
Down then must proudest
champions before th' unconquer'd pair.
When the stalwart Ludeger saw noble Siegfried nigh,
Who in
his hand wide-wasting ever heav'd on high
The storm-descending Balmung, and
slew him many a slain,
Grimly frown'd the monarch, and burn'd with wrath
amain.
LXX
Dire was the storm and struggle, and loud the sword-blades
clash'd,
When both the thick battalions each on the other dash'd,
Each
angry leader panting to meet in stern debate.
The crowd began to scatter;
then fiercer rose their hate.
LXXI
Well the Saxon ruler that day perform'd his part;
To know
his brother taken cut him to the heart.
He heard it first reported, Gernot
the deed had done,
But now he knew for certain, 'twas Siegelind's conqu'ring
son.
LXXII
So burly were the buffets which Ludeger dealt in field,
That
Siegfried's panting charger under the saddle reel'd.
Soon as the steed
recover'd, a fiercer passion stirr'd
His angry lord, and hotter through the
red press he spurr'd.35
LXXIII
Then up to help him Hagan, and up good Gernot sped,
Dankwart
and Folker; round lay in heaps the dead;
And Sindolt came, and Hunolt, and
the good knight Ortwine.
Down sunk the Saxons trampled by the warriors of the
Rhine.
LXXIV
Close fought the chiefs, unsever'd 'spite of the hurtling
bands
Then might you see the lances from mightiest heroes' hands
Fly o'er
the nodding helmets, and pierce the bucklers through;
Many a glittering armor
was dyed a bloody hue.
LXXV
In the fierce encounter many a mighty man
Tumbled from the
saddle; each on th' other ran
Ludeger and Siegfried, each the other's
peer;
Many a shaft was flying, whizzing many a spear.
LXXVI
Off flew Ludeger's shield-plate by dint of Siegfried's
hand.
Then look'd at last for conquest the knight of Netherland
Over the
struggling Saxons, such force was in that stroke.
Then too how many a
breast-plate the strong-arm'd Dankwart broke!
LXXVII
Just then it chanc'd King Ludeger had a crown espied
Painted
upon the buckler that guarded Siegfried's side.
Straight knew the astonish'd
Saxon, 'twas he, the mighty man,
And to his friends the hero to call aloud
began.
LXXVIII
"Stop! stop! enough of fighting, my merry men each one!
Here
in this bloody battle I've met with Siegmund's son.
The chief-destroying
Siegfried for certain seen have I.
The devil has sent him hither to harry
Saxony."36
LXXIX
He bade them lower the banners; forthwith they lower'd them
all;
And peace he then demanded; 'twas granted at his call;
But go he must
a pris'ner to good King Gunther's land;
This was from him extorted by
Siegfried's conqu'ring hand.
LXXX
With one accord agreeing the bloody strife they left;
The
shining shields all shiver'd, the helmets hack'd and cleft
They laid aside
o'er-wearied; whatever down they threw
Bore from Burgundian falchions a stain
of bloody hue.
LXXXI
They took whome'er it pleas'd them, none could their will
gainsay.
Gernot and valiant Hagan at once bade bear away
The faint and
feeble wounded, and with them carried then
Off to the Rhine as captives five
hundred chosen men.
LXXXII
With wailing back to Denmark the bootless warriors came;
The
late o'erweening Saxons bore off but loss and shame
From that disastrous
struggle; each hung his pensive head.
They last their friends remember'd, and
sorrow'd for the dead.
LXXXIII
Anon they bade the sumpters be loaded for the Rhine;
And
thus victorious Siegfried his perilous design
Had brought to full
performance; well had he done in fight;
This every man of Gunther allow'd him
as of right.
LXXXIV
To Worms straight did a message from good Sir Gernot come,
To tell throughout the country to all his friends at home
Whate'er in that
encounter to him and his befell,
And how they all their duty had knightly
done and well.37
LXXXV
The youths they ran their swiftest, and nois'd abroad the
whole.
Then laugh'd who late lamented; delight succeeded dole.
All bosoms
straight were beating to learn the news they bore,
And every noble lady would
ask them o'er and o'er,
LXXXVI
How the knights of Gunther in Saxony had sped.
Then too the
lovelorn Kriemhild had one in secret led
(For publicly she durst not) to a
distant bower apart,
For she would learn how far'd it with the chosen of her
heart.
LXXXVII
Soon as to the chamber the melancholy maid
Saw the youth
approaching, sweetly thus she said,
"Now tell me happy tidings, and I'll give
thee gold in store,
And if 'tis truth thou tell'st me, I'll befriend thee
evermore.
LXXXVIII
"Tell me how in battle my brother Gernot sped,
And all our
friends around him; is any of them dead?
Who prov'd the best and bravest?
this thou must tell me true."
"No coward," the youth made answer, "had we in
all the crew;
LXXXIX
"But sure to fight or foray (the simple truth to tell)
Fair
and noble princess! rode never knight so well
As the noble stranger from
distant Netherland.
Wonders that mock believing were wrought by Siegfried's
hand.
XC
"However well the others have borne them in the fight,
Dankwart and Hagan, and all our men of might,
Howe'er deserv'd the honor,
that other swords have won,
'Tis a puff of wind to Siegfried, King Siegmund's
glorious son.38
XCI
"Well plied the rest the falchion, and wielded well the
spear,
But ne'er from tongue of mortal expect at full to hear
What feats
were done by Siegfried, when he broke the squadrons through;
Those feats the
weeping sisters of slaughter'd brethren rue.
XCII
"There lay the heart's-beloved of many a mourning bride;
Beneath his sounding sword-strokes cleft morions, gaping wide,
Let out the
ruddy life-blood gushing fearfully.
Sir Siegfried is in all things the flower
of chivalry.
XCIII
"There too won no small worship the knight of Metz,
Ortwine;
Whomever reach'd the warrior with keen-edg'd falchion fine,
Down
went they from the war-horse, some wounded, others dead.
There too your
valiant brother as wide the slaughter spread,
XCIV
"As e'er was done, believe me, since armies met in fight;
So
much must all men witness of that redoubted knight.
There too the proud
Burgundians so nobly strove for fame,
That well they have assur'd them from
every taint of blame.
XCV
"Before their level'd lances was many a saddle void;
Around
the field re-echoed when they the sword employ'd.
The noble knights of
Rhineland fought so well that day,
Their foes had sure done wiser at once to
flee away.
XCVI
"The gallant men of Trony did deeds they well may boast
When
with united squadrons to battle rode the host.
What numbers fell by Hagan and
Hagan's chivalry!
Long shall their glory flourish here in broad
Burgundy.39
XCVII
"Sindolt and Hunolt, each Gernot's liegemen true,
And
never-daunted Rumolt so rush'd the foemen through,
That ever will King
Ludeger repent his vain design
To meet your royal brethren on the banks of
Rhine.
XCVIII
"But of all feats, the fairest, that in that field befell,
From first to last most glorious, as all who saw can tell,
Were those
achiev'd full knightly by Siegfried's deadly hand.
Now many a wealthy captive
brings he to Gunther's land.
XCIX
"Beneath his arm, submission the brother kings have
learn'd;
Proud Dane and haughty Saxon alike defeat have earn'd;
Dead lie
their loving vassals wide o'er the bloody green.
Now to my tale yet listen,
high and noble queen!
C
"Now both are hither wending, the thralls of Siegfried's
hand;
Chief ne'er such countless captives brought to Burgundian land,
As
now to Rhine are coming, o'ermastered by his might."
Ne'er heard the royal
maiden a tale of such delight.
CI
"More than five hundred prisoners, for truth, high lady!
know,
Unhurt, are hither coming; full eighty biers, I trow,
Trail on the
deadly wounded: you soon will see them here;
The most bear bloody witness of
Siegfried's sword and spear.
CII
"Those kings, who late so haughty would dare us on the
Rhine,
Must now to Gunther's pleasure their lives, their all resign.
Our
shouts salute their coming, our joy is on the gale."
She brighten'd into
blushes to hear the happy tale.40
CIII
Her cheek, late pale as lily, now glow'd with rosy red,
To
hear how youthful Siegfried so gloriously had sped,
Rais'd from the depth of
peril to loftiest height of fame.
She joy'd too for her kinsmen as maiden
well became.
CIV
Then spake she midst her blushes, "Well hast thou earn'd thy
meed,
Well hast thou told thy story, so take thee costliest weed,
Now
straight I'll bid be brought thee ten marks of ruddy gold."
No wonder, to
rich ladies glad news are gladly told.
CV
Straightforth was brought the vesture, and down the gold was
paid;
Then hurried to the windows full many a lovely maid,
And look'd out
on the highway, nor long delay'd to spy
The high-descended victors return'd
to Burgundy.
CVI
The safe and sound came forward; the wounded did the same;
Merry was the meeting; none fear'd reproach or blame.
Forth rode the host to
meet them; his mirth had no alloy;
The woe, that long had worn him, was now
shut up in joy.
CVII
His own full well receiv'd he, and well the strangers too;
Sure nothing so befitting could wealthy monarch do,
Than kindly greet such
victors as now his court had sought
With gain of such clear honor from field
so sternly fought.
CVIII
Then ask'd the noble Gunther of the conquering train,
How
many of his warriors had in the strife been slain.
There had been lost but
sixty in the fight they won.
They were mourn'd and forgotten, as with many
has since been done.41
CIX
Th' unwounded bore exulting, grim trophies of the field,
Full many a batter'd morion, full many a shiver'd shield.
Before the hall of
Gunther from horse the champions sprung;
Around from joyful thousands one
shout of welcome rung.
CX
The warriors in the city were lodg'd as might be best;
The
king with courteous service bade wait on every guest.
He found the hurt fit
chambers for tendance and repose,
And prov'd his noble nature in the
treatment of his foes.
CXI
Thus he said to Ludegast, "King Ludegast, welcome here.
Much
at your hands I've suffer'd, and more had cause to fear
But all's at full
repaid me, if smooth my fortune run.
God requite my warriors! they well for
me have done."
CXII
"Ay, you may gladly thank them," said Ludeger, "'tis their
due;
King ne'er had such high captives as they have won for you.
Meanwhile, for courteous treatment, good store of gold we'll bring,
And look
for such reception as king may claim from king."
CXIII
"Take what you ask," said Gunther, "both set I gladly free.
Still must I have assurance that here awhile with me
My foes consent to
tarry, and do not leave my land
Till peace be made between us." To that King
Ludeger gave his hand.
CXIV
So now the kings to rest them were to their chambers led.
With tender care the wounded were softly laid a-bed,
While for the whole and
hearty were pour'd the mead and wine.
Never were men so merry as these beside
the Rhine.42
CXV
Attendants to safe keeping the batter'd bucklers bore,
The
blood-bespatter'd saddles, whereof was plenteous store,
They hid, lest sight
so sorry should make the women weep.
Many a good knight o'erwearied home was
glad to creep.
CXVI
The guests from good King Gunther all noble treatment
found.
With friends as well as strangers his country swarm'd around.
He
bade for the sore wounded all needful aid be sought.
Where was their haughty
courage? how low it now was brought!
CXVII
Whoe'er had skill in leechcraft was offer'd coin untold,
Silver without measure as well as glittering gold,
To cure the fainting
champions by wounds of war oppress'd.
The bounteous monarch sent, too, rich
gifts to every guest.
CXVIII
Those who, of feasting weary, homeward sought to wend,
Were
press'd to tarry longer, as friend will deal with friend.
King Gunther call'd
a council; he would his men requite,
Who for his sake so nobly had won that
gallant fight.
CXIX
Then spake the good Sir Gernot, "At present bid them go.
When full six weeks are over, we'll let the warriors know,
We here shall need
their presence at feasting rich and high;
Then will restor'd be many, who yet
sore wounded lie."
CXX
And now would noble Siegfried to Gunther bid adieu;
Soon as
the friendly monarch the warrior's purpose knew
He lovingly besought him a
longer stay to make.
He ne'er had so consented but for his sister's
sake.
CXXI
Besides, he was too wealthy to stoop to soldier's pay,
Albeit he well deserv'd it; him lov'd the more each day,
The king and all his
kinsmen, who on the battle plain,
Had seen him deal destruction on Saxon and
on Dane,43
CXXII
For the sake of that fair lady he yet would linger there,
If
he perchance might see her; and soon was eas'd his care.
He came to know the
maiden to his utmost heart's desire,
Then home he rode rejoicing to the
kingdom of his sire.
CXXIII
The king bade practise knighthood and joust from day to
day,
Well did his youthful warriors and willingly obey.
Seats too before
the city he rais'd along the strand
For those who were to visit the fam'd
Burgundian land.
CXXIV
So bade the royal Gunther, and now the time was near,
Ere
came the joyful tidings to his fair sister's ear,
That he with his dear
comrades high festival would hold.
Then were fair women stirring; their toil
was manifold.
CXXV
With kirtles, and with head-gear, and all that each should
wear,
Uta, the rich and noble, amidst her maidens fair
Heard of coming
warriors, a bold and haughty train;
Straight was from out the wrappers store
of rich vesture ta'en.
CXXVI
For the sake of her dear children the garments forth were
laid,
Wherewith array'd were richly many a wife and many a maid,
And many
a youthful champion of warlike Burgundy;
She bade, too, many a stranger be
rob'd as gorgeously.44
Now might you ever daily see riding toward the Rhine
Troops
of good knights ambitious at that proud feast to shine.
Whoe'er for love of
Gunther to Gunther's court would speed,
Was at his hands provided with
vesture and with steed.
II
Assign'd were seats befitting to every high-born guest.
Thither, as has been told us, the noblest and the best
Came two and thirty
princes to that high festal tide.
In gawds and gems the women each with her
neighbor vied.
III
Now here, now there was busy the youthful Giselher;
He and
his brother Gernot each with his meiny there
Right hospitable welcome to
friend and stranger made,
And every fitting honor to every warrior
paid.
IV
Full many a gold-red saddle, full many a sparkling shield,
With store of sumptuous vesture for that high festal field,
Were then
convey'd to Rhineland; many an ailing wight
Grew merry again and gladsome to
see so fair a sight.
V
Each, who in bed lay wounded, though like to yield his
breath,
Could now no more remember the bitterness of death.
By the sick
the healthy could now no longer stay;
Comrade laugh'd with comrade against
the festal day
VI
On the good entertainment prepar'd for young and old;
Measureless contentment, enjoyment manifold
Enliven'd all the people, and
spread from band to band.
The note of pleasure echoed through all King
Gunther's land45
VII
'Twas on a Whitsun' morning the warriors you might see,
Five
thousand men or better, fair pricking o'er the lea,
Yclad in courtly raiment,
to that high festival,
In jollity and pastime were vying one and all.
VIII
Right well had mark'd King Gunther, who love could
understand,
What heartfelt love impassion'd the knight of Netherland,
E'en
though he ne'er had seen her, his peerless sister bare,
The maid proclaim'd
by all men the fairest of the fair.
IX
Said he, "Now all advise me, kinsmen and men of mine,
How
best of this high tourney to perfect the design,
So that our earnest efforts
henceforth none may blame.
'Tis but on deeds deserving that rests enduring
fame."
X
He scarce had thus address'd them, when answer'd bold
Ortwine,
"Would you, O King! full honor to this high feast assign,
Bring
forth our choicest treasures to this proud chivalry,
The matrons and the
maidens of our fair Burgundy.
XI
"What more the heart enraptures, or courage more inflames
Than to look on lovely damsels, on high and stately dames?
Bid too come forth
your sister to feast each stranger's sight."
Well was approv'd the counsel by
each surrounding knight.
XII
"'Tis well advis'd," said Gunther, "I straight will do my
part."
Whoever heard his answer was inly glad at heart.
Then bade he Lady
Uta and her fair daughter call
To grace the court and tourney, them and their
maidens all.
XIII
In haste through all the presses for rich attire they
sought,
What lay in wrappers folded alike to light was brought,
Bracelets
and clasps and brooches all ready forth were laid.
Soon deck'd in all her
choicest was every noble maid.46
XIV
Many a young knight that morning, within his flutt'ring
breast,
Long'd, that on him, contented, bright beauty's glance might
rest;
Such glance he would not barter for all a king can own.
Each look'd
on each full gladly, albeit before unknown.
XV
Then bade the wealthy monarch with royal pomp and state
Of
his men a hundred on his sister wait,
His and the maiden's kinsmen; each
carried sword in hand.
These were the chosen courtiers of Burgundy's fair
land.
XVI
With her the wealthy Uta there coming too was seen;
She had
with her in waiting of fair and stately mien,
A hundred dames or better, all
gorgeously array'd.
Her daughter, too, was followed by many a noble
maid.
XVII
On from bower advancing they came in fair array;
Much press
was there of heroes along the crowded way
Through anxious glad expectance to
see that beauty rare,
The fairest and the noblest of the noble and the
fair.
XVIII
Now went she forth, the loveliest, as forth the morning
goes
From misty clouds out-beaming; then all his weary woes
Left him, in
heart who bore her, and so, long time, had done.
He saw there stately
standing the fair, the peerless one.
XIX
Many a stone full precious flash'd from her vesture bright;
Her rosy blushes darted a softer, milder light.
Whate'er might be his wishes,
each could not but confess,
He ne'er on earth had witness'd such perfect
loveliness.
As the moon arising outglitters every star
That through the
clouds so purely glimmers from afar,
E'en so love-breathing Kriemhild dimm'd
every beauty nigh.
Well might at such a vision many a bold heart beat
high.47
XXI
Rich chamberlains before them march'd on in order due;
Around th' high-mettled champions close and closer drew,
Each pressing each,
and struggling to see the matchless maid.
Then inly was Sir Siegfried both
well and ill apaid.
XXII
Within himself thus thought he: "How could I thus misdeem
That I should dare to woo thee? sure 'twas an idle dream!
Yet, rather than
forsake thee, far better were I dead."
Thus thinking, thus impassion'd, wax'd
he ever white and red.
So stood the son of Siegelind in matchless grace array'd,
As
though upon a parchment in glowing hues portray'd
By some good master's
cunning; all own'd, and could no less,
Eye had not seen a pattern of such
fair manliness.
XXIV
Those, who the dames attended, bade all around make way;
Straight did the gentle warriors, as such became, obey.
There many a knight,
enraptur'd, saw many a dame in place
Shine forth in bright perfection of
courtliness and grace.
XXV
Then the bold Burgundian, Sir Gernot, spoke his thought,
"Him, who in hour of peril his aid so frankly brought,
Requite, dear brother
Gunther, as fits both him and you,
Before this fair assembly; th' advice I
give, I ne'er shall rue.
XXVI
"Bid Siegfried come to Kriemhild; let each the other meet;
'Twill sure be to our profit, if she the warrior greet.
'Twill make him ours
forever, this man of matchless might,
If she but give him greeting, who never
greeted knight."
XXVII
Then went King Gunther's kinsmen, a high-born haughty band,
And found, and fair saluted the knight of Netherland.
"The king to court
invites you; such favor have you won;
His sister there will greet you; this
to honor you is done."48
Glad man was then Sir Siegfried at this unlook'd-for gain;
His heart was full of pleasure without alloy of pain,
To see and meet so
friendly fair Uta's fairer child.
Then greeted she the warrior maidenly and
mild.
XXIX
There stood he, the high-minded, beneath her star-bright
eye,
His cheek as fire all glowing; then said she modestly,
"Sir
Siegfried, you are welcome, noble knight and good!"
Yet loftier at that
greeting rose his lofty mood.
XXX
He bow'd with soft emotion, and thank'd the blushing fair;
Love's strong constraint together impelled th' enamour'd pair;
Their longing
eyes encountered, their glances, every one,
Bound knight and maid for ever,
yet all by stealth was done.
XXXI
That in the warmth of passion he press'd her lily hand,
I do
not know for certain, but well can understand.
'Twere surely past believing
they ventur'd not on this;
Two loving hearts, so meeting, else had done
amiss.
XXXII
No more in pride of summer nor in bloom of May
Knew he such
heart-felt pleasure as on this happy day,
When she, than May more blooming,
more bright than summer's pride,
His own, a dream no longer, was standing by
his side.
XXXIII
Then thought full many a champion, "Would this had happ'd to
me
To be with lovely Kriemhild as Siegfried now I see,
Or closer e'en than
Siegfried; well were I then, I ween."
Never yet was champion who so deserv'd
a queen.49
XXXIV
Whate'er the king or country of the guests assembled there,
All could look on nothing save on that gentle pair.
Now 'twas allow'd that
Kriemhild the peerless knight should kiss.
Ne'er in the world had drain'd he
so full a draught of bliss.
XXXV
Then spake the King of Denmark the gather'd crowd before,
"Because of this high greeting lie many wounded sore,
As I know to my sorrow,
by Siegfried's might and main.
God grant, he ne'er to Denmark may find his
way again."
XXXVI
Then 'twas proclaim'd on all sides to make for Kriemhild
way;
Straight went to church the maiden in royal rich array
With a bold
train of warriors, a fair and courtly sight.
There soon from her was parted
the lofty-minded knight.
XXXVII
She now the minster enter'd; her follow'd many a dame;
There
so her stately beauty her rich attire became,
That droop'd each high
aspiring, born but at once to die.
Sure was that maid created to ravish every
eye.
XXXVIII
Scarce could wait Sir Siegfried till the mass was sung.
Well
might he thank his fortune, that, all those knights among,
To him inclined
the maiden whom still in heart he bore,
While he to her, as fitted, return'd
as much or more.
XXXIX
When now before the minster after the mass she stood,
Again
to come beside her was call'd the champion good.
Then first by that sweet
maiden thanks to the knight were given,
That he before his comrades so
warrior-like had striven.
"God you reward, Sir Siegfried!" said the noble child,
"For
all your high deservings in honor's beadroll fil'd,
The which I know from all
men have won you fame and grace."
Sir Siegfried, love-bewilder'd, look'd
Kriemhild in the face.50
XLI
"Ever," said he, "your brethren I'll serve as best I may,
Nor once, while I have being, will head on pillow lay,
Till I have done to
please them whate'er they bid me do,
And this, my lady Kriemhild, is all for
love of you."
XLII
For twelve days the maiden each successive day
With the
knight beside her took to court her way,
While, as they pass'd together,
their friends were looking on.
Out of love to Siegfried was this fair service
done.
XLIII
From morn was there to evening and day by day withal
Shouting and merry-making about King Gunther's hall,
Within, without, from
joyance of many a mighty man.
Ortwine and valiant Hagan high wonders there
began.
XLIV
Whatever sports they wish'd for were ready at their will;
Of
each, as each had liking, each might take his fill.
Thus proved were
Gunther's warriors by stranger chivalry,
Whence fame accrued and honor to all
broad Burgundy.
XLV
They too, who lay sore wounded, crept forth to the free
air;
They long'd with loving comrades the gentle sports to share,
To
skirmish with the buckler, and hurl the spear amain;
And most through such
fair pastime came to full strength again.
XLVI
The host of that high festal all and some had cheer
With
meats and drinks the choicest; he kept him ever clear
From blame or ought
unkingly in action or intent;
And now with friendly purpose to his guests he
went.
XLVII
Said he, "Good knights and noble, ere you hence retire,
Receive the gifts I offer, as proofs of my desire
In all I can to serve you,
this I'm resolv'd to do;
Disdain not now the riches I'd gladly share with
you."51
XLVIII
Straight the men of Denmark to the king replied,
"Ere hence
we part and homeward to our own country ride,
A lasting peace assure us; such
peace must captives need,
Who have seen their dearest comrades beneath your
champions bleed."
XLIX
Now whole again was Ludegast and all his gashes heal'd,
The
Saxon too recover'd after that luckless field.
Some dead they left behind
them entomb'd in Rhenish ground
Then thither went King Gunther where he Sir
Siegfried found.
L
To the good knight thus said he, "Now tell me what to do;
Early to-morrow morning ride home the Danish crew;
With me and mine from
henceforth they seek to be at one;
Therefore advise me, Siegfried, what best
is to be done.
LI
"What these two monarchs offer, I'll to you declare;
As much
as steeds five hundred of shining gold can bear,
That will they gladly give
me to set them free at will."
Then answer'd noble Siegfried, "You then would
do but ill.
LII
"Better hence unfetter'd let both together go,
And that
neither warrior henceforth as a foe
Venture to make entry on Burgundian
land,
For this in full assurance let either give his hand."
LIII
"Your counsel I will follow, thus let them home return."
His
captive foes his message were not slow to learn,
No one their gold demanded
which they had offer'd late.
Meanwhile their friends in Denmark mourn'd for
their lost estate.
LIV
Many a shield heap'd with treasure was brought at Gunther's
call;
Among the friends around him unweigh'd he shar'd it all;
Five
hundred marks or better each warrior home might bring;
This frank and liberal
counsel bold Gernot gave the king.52
LV
Leave soon the guests were taking; their minds were homeward
bent;
Then might you see how each one before fair Kriemhild went,
And eke
where Lady Uta sat like a queen in place.
Never yet were warriors dismiss'd
with so much grace.
LVI
Empty was left each chamber as thence the strangers rode,
Yet still in royal splendor the king at home abode
With many a noble warrior
and vassal of his court,
Whom you might see to Kriemhild day by day
resort.
LVII
And now the noble Siegfried leave to take was fain.
What he
so deeply yearn'd for he little hop'd to gain.
It was told King Gunther that
he would hence away.
'Twas Giselher the youthful that won the chief to
stay.
LVIII
"Why would you leave us, Siegfried, noble friend and true?
Tarry here among us (what I entreat you, do)
With Gunther and his liegemen,
warriors frank and free.
Here are store of lovely ladies, whom you may gladly
see."
LIX
Then spake the valiant Siegfried, "Lead in the steeds
again;
Forthwith to ride I purpos'd, but now will here remain;
And back,
too, bear the bucklers; indeed I homeward yearn'd,
But Giselher with honor my
fix'd intent has turn'd."
LX
So stay'd the bold Sir Siegfried for love and friendship's
sake;
Nor surely could he elsewhere so gladly tarriance make
As at the
court of Gunther, for there throughout his stay
The love-devoted warrior saw
Kriemhild every day.
LXI
Through her unmeasur'd beauty Sir Siegfried linger'd there;
His friends with many a pastime charm'd from him every care,
Save longing
love for Kriemhild; this mov'd him oft to sigh,
This too thereafter brought
him most miserably to die.53
I
Beyond the Rhine high tidings again were nois'd around.
There many a maid was dwelling for beauty wide renown'd,
And one of these
King Gunther, 'twas said, design'd to woo:
Well pleas'd the monarch's purpose
his knights and liegemen true.
There was a queen high seated afar beyond the sea;
Never
wielded sceptre a mightier than she;
For beauty she was matchless, for
strength without a peer;
Her love to him she offer'd who could pass her at
the spear.
III
She threw the stone, and bounded behind it to the mark;
At
three games each suitor with sinews stiff and stark
Must conquer the fierce
maiden whom he sought to wed,
Or, if in one successless, straight must lose
his head.
IV
E'en thus for the stern virgin had many a suitor died.
This
heard a noble warrior who dwelt the Rhine beside,
And forthwith resolv'd he
to win her for his wife.
Thereby full many a hero thereafter lost his
life.
V
Once on a day together sat with his men the king,
Talking
each with the other, and deeply pondering,
What maiden 'twas most fitting for
their lord to woo,
One who him might comfort, and grace the country
too.
VI
Then spake the lord of Rhineland: "Straight will I hence to
sea,
And seek the fiery Brunhild howe'er it go with me.
For love of the
stern maiden I'll frankly risk my life;
Ready am I to lose it, if I win her
not to wife."54
VII
"That would I fain dissuade you," Sir Siegfried made reply,
"Whoe'er would woo fair Brunhild, plays a stake too high;
So cruel is her
custom, and she so fierce a foe.
Take good advice, King Gunther, nor on such
a journey go."
VIII
Then answer'd thus King Gunther: "Ne'er yet was woman born
So bold and eke so stalwart, but I should think it scorn
Were not this hand
sufficient to force a female foe."
"Be still," replied Sir Siegfried, "her
strength you little know.
IX
"E'en were you four together, nought could all four devise
'Gainst her remorseless fury; hear then what I advise
From true and steadfast
friendship, and, as you value life,
Tempt not for love of Brunhild a vain, a
hopeless strife."
X
"How strong she be soever, the journey will I take,
Whatever
chance befall me, for lovely Brunhild's sake;
For her unmeasur'd beauty I'll
hazard all that's mine.
Who knows, but God may bring her to follow me to the
Rhine?"
XI
"Since you're resolv'd," said Hagan, "this would I chief
advise;
Request of noble Siegfried in this dread enterprise
To take his
part among us; thus 'twould be best, I ween,
For none so well as Siegfried
knows this redoubted queen."
XII
Said Gunther, "Wilt thou help me, Siegfried tried and true?
To win the lovely maiden? What I entreat thee, do,
And if I only gain her to
my wedded wife,
For thee I'll gladly venture honor, limb and life."
XIII
Thereto answer'd Siegfried, Siegmund's matchless son,
"Give
me but thy sister, and the thing is done.
The stately queen fair Kriemhild
let me only gain,
I ask no other guerdon for whatever toil and pain."55
XIV
"I promise it," said Gunther, "and take in pledge thy hand,
And soon as lovely Brunhild shall come into this land,
To thee to wife my
sister surely will I give,
And may you both together long time and happy
live."
XV
Then each they swore to th' other, the high-born champions
bold,
Which wrought them toil and trouble thereafter manifold,
Ere to full
completion they brought their high design,
And led at last the lady to the
banks of Rhine.
I have heard strange stories of wild dwarfs, how they fare;
They dwell in hollow mountains, and for protection wear
A vesture that high
cloud-cloak, marvellous to tell;
Whoever has it on him may keep him safe and
well.
XVII
From cuts and stabs of foemen; him none can hear or see
As
soon as he is in it, but see and hear can he
Whatever he will around him, and
thus must needs prevail;
He grows besides far stronger; so goes the wond'rous
tale.
XVIII
And now with him the cloud-cloak took fair Sieglind's son;
The same th' unconquer'd warrior with labor hard had won
From the stout dwarf
Albric in successful fray.
The bold and wealthy champions made ready for the
way.
XIX
So, as I said, bold Siegfried the cloud-cloak bore along.
When he but put it on him, he felt him wond'rous strong.
Twelve men's
strength then had he in his single body laid.
By trains and close devices he
woo'd the haughty maid.
XX
Besides, in that strange cloud-cloak was such deep virtue
found,
That whosoever wore it, though thousands stood around,
Might do
whatever pleas'd him unseen of friend or foe.
Thus Siegfried won fair
Brunhild, which brought him bitterest woe.56
XXI
"Before we start, bold Siegfried, tell me what best would
be;
Shall we lead an army across the sounding sea,
And travel thus to
Brunhild as fits a royal king?
Straight could we together thirty thousand
warriors bring."
XXII
"Whatever our band," said Siegfried, "the same would still
ensue;
So savage and so cruel is the queen you woo,
All would together
perish by her o'ermastering might;
But I'll advise you better, high and noble
knight.
XXIII
"As simple knights we'll travel a-down the Rhine's fair
tide,
Two to us two added, and followers none beside.
We four will make
the voyage, true comrades one and all,
And thus shall win the lady, whatever
thence befall.
XXIV
"I will be one companion, thou shalt the second be,
The
third shall be Sir Hagan, in sooth a goodly three!
The fourth shall be Sir
Dankwart that redoubted knight.
Trust me, no thousand champions will dare us
four to fight."
XXV
"Fain would I learn," said Gunther, "ere we hence depart
On
the hard adventure, that so inflames my heart,
Before the royal Brunhild what
vesture we should wear,
That may best become us; this, Siegfried, thou
declare."
XXVI
"Garments the best and richest that ever warriors wore
Robe
in the land of Brunhild her lieges evermore;
And we should meet the lady
array'd at least as well;
So shame will ne'er await us, when men our tale
shall tell."
XXVII
Then answer'd good King Gunther, "I'll to my mother dear,
That she and her fair maidens ere we for Issland steer,
May furnish us with
raiment in full and copious store,
Which we may wear with honor the stately
queen before."57
XXVIII
Hagan, the Knight of Trony, then spake in courtly wise,
"Why
would you ask your mother such service to devise?
If only your fair sister
our purpose understood,
She's in all arts so skilful, the clothes would needs
be good."
XXIX
Then sent he to his sister, that he'd to her repair,
And
with him only Siegfried; ere they could thither fare,
Kriemhild in choicest
vesture her beauty had array'd;
Little did their coming displease the gentle
maid.
XXX
And deck'd too were her women as them best became.
Now were
at hand the princess; straight the queenly dame,
As she beheld them coming,
rose stately from her seat,
And went the noble stranger and her brother, too,
to greet.
XXXI
"Welcome to my brother and to his comrade dear,"
Said the
graceful maiden, "your news I fain would hear.
Tell me what brings you
hither, what deeds are now to do;
Let me know how fares it, noble knights,
with you."
XXXII
Then spake the royal Gunther, "Dame, I will tell my care.
We
must with lofty courage a proud adventure dare.
We would hence a-wooing far
over seas away;
For such a journey need we apparel rich and gay."
XXXIII
"Now sit thee down, dear brother, and tell me frank and
free,"
Said the royal maiden, "who these dames may be,
Whom you would go
a-courting in a distant land."
Both the chosen warriors then took she by the
hand.
XXXIV
Anon she both led thither where before she sat
On rich
embroider'd cushions (I can vouch for that),
O'erwrought with goodly figures
well rais'd in glitt'ring gold.
There they with the fair lady might gentle
converse hold.58
XXXV
Many a glance of rapture, many a longing look,
As there
talk'd the lovers, either gave and took.
He in his heart enshrin'd her; she
was to him as life.
Thereafter lovely Kriemhild became bold Siegfried's
wife.
XXXVI
Then said to her King Gunther, "Right noble sister mine,
What I wish can never be but with help of thine.
We'll to the land of
Brunhild to take our pastime there,
And must before the lady princely apparel
wear."
XXXVII
Then spake the queen in answer, "Right loving brother mine,
If ought I can will profit whatever end of thine,
Depend on me to do it;
thou'lt find me ready still.
If any aught denied thee, 'twould please thy
Kriemhild ill.
"Noble knight, thou should'st not, as doubting, ask and
pray,
But, as my lord and master, command, and I'll obey.
Thou'lt find me,
whatsoever thou hast in heart to do,
Not more a loving sister than a servant
true."
XXXIX
"Dearest sister Kriemhild, we must wear costly weed,
And
therewith to equip us thy snowy hand we need,
And let thy maids their utmost
upon the same bestow,
For sure my purpos'd journey never will I
forego."
XL
Then spoke the noble virgin, "Mark now what I say;
I've silk
myself in plenty; on shields, as best you may,
Precious stones bid bring us
to work the clothes withal.
Gunther and eke Siegfried bade bring them at her
call.
XLI
"And who are the companions," ask'd the royal maid,
"Who you
to court will follow thus gorgeously array'd?"
"We're four in all," he
answer'd; "two of my men beside,
Dankwart and Hagan, with us to court will
ride.59
XLII
"And, dame, mark well, I pray thee, what I have yet to say.
Let each be well provided three changes every day,
And for four days
successive, and all be of the best;
So back shall I wend homeward no scorn'd,
dishonor'd guest."
XLIII
So with kind dismissal away the warriors strode.
Then quick
the fair queen summon'd from bowers where they abode
Thirty maids, her
brother's purpose to fulfil,
Who in works of the needle were the chief for
craft and skill.
XLIV
Silks from far Arabia, white as driven snow,
And others from
Zazamanc, green as grass doth grow,
They deck'd with stones full precious;
Kriemhild the garments plann'd,
And cut them to just measure with her own
lily hand.
Of the hides of foreign fishes were linings finely wrought;
Such then were seen but rarely, and choice and precious thought;
Fine silk
was sewn above them to suit the wearers well.
Now of the rich apparel hear me
fresh marvels tell.
From the land of Morocco and from the Libyan coast
The best
silk and the finest e'er worn and valued most
By kin of mightiest princes, of
such had they good store.
Well Kriemhild show'd the favor that she the
wearers bore.
XLVII
E'er since the chiefs were purpos'd the martial queen to
win,
In their sight was precious the goodly ermelin
With coal-black spots
besprinkled on whiter ground than snow,
E'en now the pride of warriors at
every festal show.60
XLVIII
Many a stone full precious gleam'd from Arabian gold;
That
the women were not idle, scarcely need be told.
Within seven weeks, now ready
was the vesture bright,
Ready too the weapons of each death-daring
knight.
XLIX
Now when all was ready, by the Rhine you might mark
Built
with skill and labor a stout though little bark,
Wherein a-down the river to
sea they were to go.
To the noble maidens their toil brought mickle
woe.
L
When now 'twas told the champions, that the vesture gay,
Which they should carry with them, was ready for the way,
And that nought
impeded their firmly-fixed design,
No longer would they tarry by the banks of
Rhine.
LI
So to their loving comrades a messenger was sent,
That they
the goodly vesture might see before they went,
If it for the warriors too
short were or too long.
Much thanks they gave the women when found was
nothing wrong.
Whomever met the warriors, all could not but admire;
In all
the world not any had seen such fair attire;
At Brunhild's court 'twould
surely become the wearers well.
Of better knightly garments not a tongue
could tell.
LIII
Much thank'd was each fair seamstress for her successful
toil.
Meanwhile, on point of parting for a far and dangerous soil,
The
warriors would of Kriemhild take leave in knightly wise,
Whereat moist clouds
of sorrow bedimm'd her sunbright eyes.
LIV
Said she, "Why thus, dear brother, to foreign regions run?
Stay here and woo another; that were far better done,
Than on so dire a
venture to set your fame and life.
You'll find among our neighbors a fairer,
nobler wife."61
LV
Their hearts, I ween, foreboded what thence was to befall.
How spake they ever boldly, sore wept they one and all.
Their tears the gold
o'ermoisten'd that on their breasts they wore;
So thick they from their
eyelids stream'd down upon the floor.
LVI
"To you," said she, "Sir Siegfried, at least may I resign,
To your faith, to your honor, this brother dear of mine,
That no mischance
beset him in Brunhild's fatal land."
Straight promis'd he the maiden, and
clasp'd her clay-cold hand.
LVII
Then spake the loving champion, "Long as I have life,
Dismiss the cares, fair lady, that in your breast are rife.
I'll bring you
back your brother safe and well a-pay'd;
Take that for sure and certain." Low
bow'd the thankful maid.
LVIII
Their golden-color'd bucklers were borne down to the
strand,
With all their costly vesture, and softly led in hand
Were their
high-mettled chargers; they now would straight depart.
Then many an eye was
weeping, and throbbing many a heart.
LIX
Fair maids stood at the windows as they hoisted sail;
The
bark rock'd, and the canvas flapp'd with the fresh'ning gale.
So on the Rhine
were seated the comrades frank and free;
Then said good King Gunther, "Who
shall our steersman be?"
LX
"I will," said noble Siegfried; "well all our course I
know,
Well the tides and currents how they shift and flow.
Trust me, good
knight, to pilot you and your company."
So from Worms and Rhineland they
parted joyously.62
LXI
With that straight seiz'd Sir Siegfried a pole that lay at
hand,
And with strong effort straining 'gan push off from the strand;
Gunther himself as ready took in hand an oar;
So fell off the vessel and
parted from the shore.
LXII
They had on board rich viands, thereto good store of wine,
The best that could be met with e'en on the banks of Rhine.
Their steeds in
easy quarters stood tractable and still;
The level bark ran smoothly; nothing
with them went ill.
Their sail swell'd to the breezes, the ropes were stretch'd and
tight;
Miles they ran full twenty ere the fall of night.
With a fair wind
to seaward down dropp'd the gallant crew.
Their dames had cause long after
their high emprise to rue.
LXIV
By the twelfth bright morning, as we have heard it told,
The
winds the bark had wafted with the warriors bold
Towards Isenstein, a
fortress in the martial maiden's land;
'Twas only known to Siegfried of all
th' adventurous band.
LXV
Soon as saw King Gunther, wondering as well he might,
The
far-stretch'd coast, and castles frowning from every height,
"Look! friend,"
said he, "Sir Siegfried, if thou know'st, declare,
Whose are all these fair
castles, and all this land as fair.
LXVI
"In all my life, assure thee, the simple truth to tell,
I
never met with castles plann'd and built so well,
Anywhere soever, as here
before us stand.
He must needs be mighty who took such work in hand."63
LXVII
Thereto made answer Siegfried: "Well what you ask I know.
Brunhild's are all these castles, this land, so fair a show,
And Isenstein
this fortress; 'tis true what now I say.
Here will you meet, Sir Gunther,
many a fair dame to-day.
LXVIII
"I'll give you counsel, heroes! e'en as it seems me good;
Keep in one tale together; be this well understood.
To-day we must, as fits
us, at Brunhild's court be seen;
We must be wise and wary when we stand
before the queen.
LXIX
"When we behold the fair one and all her train around,
Let
but this single story in all your mouths be found.
That Gunther is my master,
and I am but his man;
To give him all his longing you'll find no surer
plan.
LXX
"'Tis not so much for thy sake, I own, such part I bear,
As
for thy sister Kriemhild's, the fairest of the fair.
She to me is ever as my
own soul and life.
Fain do I such low service to win her for my
wife."
LXXI
With one accord they promis'd to do as he desir'd;
None
through pride or envy to thwart his wish aspir'd.
So all took Siegfried's
counsel, and sure it brought them good
Soon after, when King Gunther before
Queen Brunhild stood.64
I
Meanwhile the bark had drifted unto the shore so high
Beneath the high-tower'd castle, that the king could spy
Many a maiden
standing at every window there;
That all to him were strangers, was what he
ill could bear.
II
Forthwith he ask'd of Siegfried, his valiant friend and
true,
"Know you ought of these maidens, whom here we have in view
Down
upon us looking, though not, methinks, in scorn?
Whoe'er their lord they're
surely high-minded and high-born."
III
Him answer'd Siegfried smiling, "Now you may closely spy,
And tell me of these damsels which pleases best your eye,
And which, if you
could win her, you for your own would hold."
"So will I," answer'd Gunther
the hardy knight and bold.
IV
"One see I at a window stand in a snow-white vest;
Around
her all are lovely, but she's far loveliest.
Her have mine eyes selected; Sir
Siegfried, on my life,
If I can only gain her, that maid shall be my
wife."
V
"In all this world of beauty thine eyes have chosen well;
That maid's the noble Brunhild, at once so fair and fell,
She, who thy heart
bewilders, she, who enchants thy sight."
Her every act and gesture to Gunther
was delight.
VI
Then bade the queen her maidens from the windows go;
Them it
ill befitted to stand a sight and show
For the rude eyes of strangers; they
bow'd to her behest,
But what next did the ladies, we since have heard
confest.65
VII
They rob'd them in their richest to meet the strangers'
gaze;
Such, ever since were women, were ever women's ways.
Through every
chink and loophole was levelled many an eye
At the unweeting champions,
through love to peep and pry.
VIII
There were but four together who came into the land.
The
far-renowned Siegfried led a horse in hand.
This Brunhild at a window mark'd
with heedful eye.
As lord of such a liegeman was Gunther valued high.
IX
Then humbly by the bridle he held the monarch's steed,
Huge
of limb and puissant and of the purest breed,
Till in the royal saddle King
Gunther proudly sat;
So serv'd him noble Siegfried, which he too soon
forgat.
X
Then his own the warrior led from ship to shore;
He of a
truth such service hath seldom done before,
As to stand at the stirrup, when
another mounted steed.
Of all, close at the windows, the women took good
heed.
XI
To look upon these champions was sure a glorious sight;
Their horses and their garments were both of snowy white,
And both match'd
well together; each bore a polished shield,
Which, still as it was shaken,
flash'd around the field.
So forward rode they lordly to Brunhild's gorgeous hall:
Rich stones beset their saddles, their p�als, light and small,
Had golden
bells down-hanging that tinkled as they went.
On mov'd the proud companions
led by their bold intent.
XIII
Their spears were newly sharpen'd as if to meet a foe;
Their
swords of choicest temper down to the spur hung low;
Keen of edge was each
one, and thereto broad of blade.
All this was mark'd by Brunhild, the
chief-defying maid.66
XIV
With them together Dankwart and Hagan came ashore
'Tis told
us in old stories that these two warriors wore
Apparel of the richest, but
raven-black of hue;
Ponderous were their bucklers, broad and bright and
new.
XV
Stones from the land of India display'd each gorgeous
guest,
That ever gleam'd and glittered in the flutt'ring vest.
They left
their bark unguarded beside the dashing wave,
And straight on to the fortress
rode the champions brave.
Six and eighty turrets saw they there in all,
Three palaces
wide-stretching, and the fairest hall
Of the purest marble (never was grass
so green),
Where with her fair damsels sat the fairer queen.
XVII
Unlock'd was straight the castle, the gates flew open wide;
Up in haste to meet them Brunhild's liegemen hied,
And bade the strangers
welcome to their lady's land,
And took his horse from each one and the shield
from every hand.
XVIII
A chamberlain then bespoke them: "Be pleas'd to give us now
Your swords and glitt'ring breastplates." "That can we ne'er allow,"
Hagan of
Trony answer'd, "our arms ourselves will bear."
The custom of the castle then
Siegfried 'gan declare.
XIX
"'Tis the use of this castle, as I can well attest,
That
never warlike weapons should there be borne by guest.
'Twere best to keep the
custom; let th' arms aside be laid."
Hagan, Gunther's liegeman, unwillingly
obey'd.
XX
Wine to the guests they offer'd, and goodly welcome gave;
Then might you see apparel'd in princely raiment brave
Many a stately
warrior, on to court that pass'd,
And many a glance of wonder upon the
strangers cast.67
XXI
Meanwhile to fair Queen Brunhild one came and made report,
That certain foreign warriors had come unto her court
In sumptuous apparel,
wafted upon the flood.
Then thus began to question the maiden fair and
good:
"Now tell me," said the princess, "and let the truth be
shown,
Who are these haughty champions from foreign shores unknown,
Whom
there I see so stately standing in rich array,
And on what hard adventure
have they hither found their way?"
XXIII
One of her court then answer'd, "I can aver, fair queen,
Of
this stout troop of warriors none have I ever seen,
Save one, who's much like
Siegfried, if I may trust my eyes.
Him well receive and welcome; this is what
I advise.
XXIV
"The next of the companions, he of the lofty mien,
If his
power match his person, is some great king, I ween,
And rules with mighty
sceptre broad and princely lands.
See, how among his comrades so lordly there
he stands!
XXV
"The third of the companions—a low'ring brow has he,
And
yet, fair queen, you rarely a manlier form may see.
Note but his fiery
glances, how quick around they dart!
Firm is, I ween, his courage, and
pitiless his heart.
XXVI
"The fourth knight is the youngest, he with the downy
cheek,
So maidenly in manner, so modest and so meek.
How gentle all his
bearing! how soft his lovely cheer!
Yet we all should rue it, should wrong be
done him here.
XXVII
"How mild soe'er his manner, how fair soe'er his frame,
Cause would he give for weeping to many a high-born dame,
Were he once
stirr'd to anger; sure he's a warrior grim,
Train'd in all knightly practice,
bold of heart and strong of limb."68
XXVIII
Then spake the royal Brunhild, "Bring me my vesture
straight,
If far-renowned Siegfried aspire to be my mate,
And is hither
come to woo me, on the cast is set his life;
I fear him not so deeply, as to
yield me for his wife."
XXIX
Soon was the lovely Brunhild in her robes array'd.
With
their lovely mistress went many a lovely maid,
Better than a hundred, and all
were richly dight;
For the noble strangers, I trow, a goodly sight.
XXX
With them of Brunhild's warriors advanc'd a chosen band,
Better than five hundred, each bearing sword in hand,
The very flower of
Issland; 'twas a fair yet fearful scene.
The strangers rose undaunted as near
them came the queen.
XXXI
Soon as the noble Siegfried met the fair Brunhild's sight,
In her modest manner she thus bespoke the knight.
"You're welcome, good Sir
Siegfried; now, if it please you, show
What cause has brought you hither;
that I would gladly know."
XXXII
"A thousand thanks, Dame Brunhild," the warrior made reply,
"That thou hast deign'd to greet me before my better nigh,
Before this noble
hero, to whom I must give place.
He is my lord and master; his rather be the
grace.
XXXIII
"On the Rhine is his kingdom; what should I further say?
Through love of thee, fair lady, we've sail'd this weary way.
He is resolv'd
to woo thee whatever thence betide;
So now betimes bethink thee; he'll ne'er
renounce his bride.
"The monarch's name is Gunther, a rich and mighty king;
This
will alone content him, thee to the Rhine to bring.
For thee above the
billows with him I've hither run;
Had he not been my master, this would I
ne'er have done."69
XXXV
Said she, "If he's thy master, and thou, it seems, his man,
Let him my games encounter, and win me if he can.
If he in all be victor, his
wedded wife am I.
If I in one surpass him, he and you all shall die."
XXXVI
Then spake the Knight of Trony, "Come, lady, let us see
The
games that you propose us; ere you the conqueress be,
Of my good lord King
Gunther, hard must you toil, I ween.
He trusts with full assurance to win so
fair a queen."
XXXVII
"He must cast the stone beyond me, and after it must leap,
Then with me shoot the javelin; too quick a pace you keep;
Stop, and awhile
consider, and reckon well the cost,"
The warrioress made answer, "ere life
and fame be lost."
XXXVIII
Siegfried in a moment to the monarch went;
To the queen he
bade him tell his whole intent.
"Never fear the future, cast all cares
away;
My trains shall keep you harmless, do Brunhild what she may."
XXXIX
Then spake the royal Gunther, "Fair queen, all queens
before,
Now say what you command us, and, were it yet e'en more,
For the
sake of your beauty, be sure, I'd all abide.
My head I'll lose, and willing,
if you be not my bride."
XL
These words of good King Gunther when heard the royal dame,
She bade bring on the contest as her well became.
Straight call'd she for her
harness, wherewith she fought in field,
And her golden breastplate, and her
mighty shield.70
XLI
Then a silken surcoat on the stern maiden drew,
Which in all
her battles steel had cut never through,
Of stuff from furthest Lybia; fair
on her limbs it lay;
With richest lace 'twas border'd, that cast a gleaming
ray.
XLII
Meanwhile upon the strangers her threatening eyes were
bent;
Hagan there stood with Dankwart in anxious discontent,
How it might
fall their master in silence pondering still.
Thought they, "This fatal
journey will bring us all to ill."
The while, ere yet observer his absence could remark,
Sudden
the nimble Siegfried stepp'd to the little bark,
Where from a secret corner
his cloud-cloak forth he took.
And slipp'd into it deftly while none was
there to look.
XLIV
Back in haste return'd he; there many a knight he saw,
Where
for the sports Queen Brunhild was laying down the law.
So went he on in
secret, and mov'd among the crowd,
Himself unseen, all-seeing, such power was
in his shroud!
XLV
The ring was mark'd out ready for the deadly fray,
And many
a chief selected as umpires of the day,
Seven hundred all in harness with
order'd weapons fair,
To judge with truth the contest which they should note
with care.
There too was come fair Brunhild; arm'd might you see her
stand,
As though resolv'd to champion all kings for all their land.
She
bore on her silk surcoat gold spangles light and thin,
That quivering gave
sweet glimpses of her fair snowy skin.
XLVII
Then came on her followers, and forward to the field
Of
ruddy gold far-sparkling bore a mighty shield,
Thick, and broad, and weighty,
with studs of steel o'erlaid,
The which was wont in battle to wield the
martial maid.71
XLVIII
As thong to that huge buckler a gorgeous band there lay;
Precious stones beset it as green as grass in May;
With varying hues it
glitter'd against the glittering gold.
Who would woo its wielder must be
boldest of the bold.
XLIX
Beneath its folds enormous three spans thick was the
shield,
If all be true they tell us, that Brunhild bore in field.
Of steel
and gold compacted all gorgeously it glow'd.
Four chamberlains, that bore it,
stagger'd beneath the load.
L
Grimly smil'd Sir Hagan, Trony's champion strong,
And
mutter'd as he mark'd it trail'd heavily along,
"How now, my lord King
Gunther? who thinks to 'scape with life?
This love of yours and lady—'faith
she's the devil's wife."
LI
Hear yet more of the vesture worn by the haughty dame;
From
Azagouc resplendent her silken surcoat came
Of all-surpassing richness, that
from about her shone
The eye-bedimming lustre of many a precious
stone.
LII
Then to the maid was carried heavily and slow
A strong
well-sharpen'd jav'lin, which she ever us'd to throw,
Huge and of weight
enormous, fit for so strong a queen,
Cutting deep and deadly with its edges
keen.
LIII
To form the mighty spear-head a wondrous work was done;
Three weights of iron and better were welded into one;
The same three men of
Brunhild's scarcely along could bring;
Whereat deeply ponder'd the stout
Burgundian king.
LIV
To himself thus thought he, "What have I not to fear?
The
devil himself could scarcely 'scape from such danger clear.
In sooth, if I
were only in safety by the Rhine,
Long might remain this maiden free from all
suit of mine."72
LV
So thinking luckless Gunther his love repented sore;
Forthwith to him only his weapons pages bore,
And now stood clad the monarch
in arms of mighty cost.
Hagan through sheer vexation, his wits had nearly
lost.
LVI
On this Hagan's brother undaunted Dankwart spake,
"Would we
had ne'er sail'd hither for this fell maiden's sake!
Once we pass'd for
warriors; sure we have cause to rue,
Ingloriously thus dying, and by a woman
too;
LVII
"Full bitterly it irks me to have come into this land.
Had
but my brother Hagan his weapons in his hand,
And I with mine were by him,
proud Brunhild's chivalry,
For all their overweening, would hold their heads
less high.
LVIII
"Ay, by my faith, no longer should their pride be borne;
Had
I oaths a thousand to peace and friendship sworn,
Ere I'd see thus before me
my dearest master die,
Fair as she is, this maiden a dreary corse should
lie."
LIX
"Ay," said his brother Hagan, "we well could quit this land
As free as we came hither, were but our arms at hand.
Each with his breast in
harness, his good sword by his side,
Sure we should lower a little this
gentle lady's pride."
LX
Well heard the noble maiden the warrior's words the while,
And looking o'er her shoulder said with a scornful smile,
"As he thinks
himself so mighty, I'll not deny a guest;
Take they their arms and armor, and
do as seems them best."
LXI
"Be they naked and defenceless, or sheath'd in armor sheen,
To me it nothing matters," said the haughty queen.
"Fear'd yet I never
mortal, and, spite of yon stern brow
And all the strength of Gunther, I fear
as little now."73
LXII
Soon as their swords were giv'n them, and arm'd was either
knight,
The cheek of dauntless Dankwart redden'd with delight.
"Now let
them sport as likes them, nothing," said he, "care I;
Safe is noble Gunther
with us in armor by."
LXIII
Then was the strength of Brunhild to each beholder shown.
Into the ring by th' effort of panting knights a stone
Was borne of weight
enormous, massy and large and round.
It strain'd twelve brawny champions to
heave it to the ground.
LXIV
This would she cast at all times when she had hurl'd the
spear;
The sight of bold Burgundians fill'd with care and fear.
Quoth
Hagan, "She's a darling to lie by Gunther's side.
Better the foul fiend take
her to serve him as a bride."
LXV
Her sleeve back turn'd the maiden, and bar'd her arm of
snow,
Her heavy shield she handled, and brandished to and fro
High o'er
her head the jav'lin; thus began the strife.
Bold as they were, the strangers
each trembled for his life;
LXVI
And had not then to help him come Siegfried to his side,
At
once by that grim maiden had good King Gunther died.
Unseen up went he to
him, unseen he touch'd his hand.
His trains bewilder'd Gunther was slow to
understand.
LXVII
"Who was it just now touch'd me?" thought he and star'd
around
To see who could be near him; not a soul he found.
Said th' other,
"I am Siegfried, thy trusty friend and true;
Be not in fear a moment for all
the queen can do."74
LXVIII
Said he, "Off with the buckler and give it me to bear;
Now,
what I shall advise thee, mark with thy closest care.
Be it thine to make the
gestures, and mine the work to do."
Glad man was then King Gunther, when he
his helpmate knew.
LXIX
"But all my trains keep secret; thus for us both 'twere
best;
Else this o'erweening maiden, be sure, will never rest,
Till her
grudge against thee to full effect she bring.
See where she stands to face
thee so sternly in the ring!"
With all her strength the jav'lin the forceful maiden
threw.
It came upon the buckler massy, broad and new,
That in his hand
unshaken, the son of Sieglind bore.
Sparks from the steel came streaming, as
if the breeze before.
LXXI
Right through the groaning buckler the spear tempestuous
broke;
Fire from the mail-links sparkled beneath the thund'ring stroke.
Those two mighty champions stagger'd from side to side;
But for the wondrous
cloud-cloak both on the spot had died.
LXXII
From the mouth of Siegfried burst the gushing blood;
Soon he
again sprung forward; straight snatch'd the hero good
The spear that through
his buckler she just had hurl'd amain,
And sent it at its mistress in thunder
back again.
LXXIII
Thought he "'Twere sure a pity so fair a maid to slay;"
So
he revers'd the jav'lin, and turn'd the point away;
Yet, with the butt-end
foremost, so forceful was the throw,
That the sore-smitten damsel totter'd to
and fro.75
LXXIV
From her mail fire sparkled as driven before the blast;
With
such huge strength the jav'lin by Sieglind's son was cast,
That 'gainst the
furious impulse she could no longer stand.
A stroke so sturdy never could
come from Gunther's hand.
LXXV
Up in a trice she started, and straight her silence broke,
"Noble knight, Sir Gunther, thank thee for the stroke."
She thought 'twas
Gunther's manhood had laid her on the lea;
No! 'twas not he had fell'd her,
but a mightier far than he.
LXXVI
Then turn'd aside the maiden; angry was her mood;
On high
the stone she lifted rugged and round and rude,
And brandish'd it with fury,
and far before her flung,
Then bounded quick behind it, that loud her armor
rung.
LXXVII
Twelve fathoms' length or better the mighty mass was
thrown,
But the maiden bounded further than the stone.
To where the stone
was lying Siegfried fleetly flew;
Gunther did but lift it, th' Unseen it was,
who threw.
LXXVIII
Bold, tall and strong was Siegfried, the first all knights
among;
He threw the stone far further, behind it further sprung.
His
wondrous arts had made him so more than mortal strong,
That with him as he
bounded, he bore the king along.
LXXIX
The leap was seen of all men, there lay as plain the stone,
But seen was no one near it, save Gunther all alone.
Brunhild was red with
anger, quick came her panting breath
Siegfried had rescued Gunther that day
from certain death.
LXXX
Then all aloud fair Brunhild bespake her courtier band,
Seeing in the ring at distance unharm'd her wooer stand,
"Hither, my men and
kinsmen: low to my better bow;
I am no more your mistress; you're Gunther's
liegemen now."76
LXXXI
Down cast the noble warriors their weapons hastily,
And
lowly kneel'd to Gunther the King of Burgundy.
To him as to their sovran was
kingly homage done,
Whose manhood, as they fancied, the mighty match had
won.
LXXXII
He fair the chiefs saluted bending with gracious look;
Then
by the hand the maiden her conquering suitor took,
And granted him to govern
the land with sovran sway;
Whereat the warlike nobles were joyous all and
gay.
LXXXIII
Forthwith the noble Gunther she begg'd with her to go
Into
her royal palace; soon as 'twas ordered so,
To his knights her servants such
friendly court 'gan make,
That Hagan e'en and Dankwart could it but kindly
take.
LXXXIV
Wise was the nimble Siegfried; he left them there a space,
And slily took the cloud-cloak back to its hiding-place,
Return'd then in an
instant, where sat the ladies fair,
And straight, his fraud to cover, bespoke
King Gunther there.
LXXXV
"Why dally, gracious master? why not the games begin,
Which
by the queen, to prove you, have here appointed been?
Come, let us see the
contest, and mark each knightly stroke."
As though he had seen nothing, the
crafty warrior spoke.
LXXXVI
"Why how can this have happened," said the o'ermaster'd
queen,
"That, as it seems, Sir Siegfried, the games you have not seen,
Which 'gainst me good King Gunther has gain'd with wondrous might?"
The word
then up took Hagan, the stern Burgundian knight;77
LXXXVII
"Our minds indeed you troubled, our hopes o'er-clouded
dark;
Meanwhile the good Knight Siegfried was busy at the bark,
While the
Lord of Rhineland the game against you won;
Thus," said King Gunther's
liegeman, "he knows not what was done."
"Well pleas'd am I," said Siegfried, "that one so proud and
bold
At length has found a master in one of mortal mold,
And has been
taught submission by this good lord of mine.
Now must you, noble maiden,
hence follow us to the Rhine."
LXXXIX
Thereto replied the damsel, "It cannot yet be so;
First must
my men and kinsmen th' intended journey know;
To bring my friends together,
besides, 't were surely fit.
T' were wrong, methinks, so lightly my lands and
all to quit."
XC
So messengers in hurry through all the country went;
To
liegemen, and to kinsmen, and all her friends she sent.
To Isenstein she
begg'd them to come without delay.
And bade give all in plenty rich gifts and
garments gay.
XCI
Daily to Brunhild's castle early they rode and late,
In
troops from all sides flocking, and all in martial state.
"Ay! ay!" said
frowning Hagan, "ill have we done, I fear;
Surely 't will be our ruin to wait
this gathering here.
XCII
"Let her strength be only here together brought
(And of the
queen's intentions we little know or naught),
If so her passion wills it,
we're lost at once, I trow.
In sooth this dainty damsel was born to work us
woe."78
XCIII
Then spoke the valiant Siegfried, "I'll undertake for all;
Trust me, what now you look for, that shall ne'er befall.
Safe and sound to
keep you, I'll hither bring a crew
Of fierce, selected champions, of whom ye
never knew.
XCIV
"Inquire not of my journey; I hence must instant fare;
The
little while I'm absent God have you in his care.
Again here will I quickly
with a thousand men be found,
The bravest and the boldest that ever moved on
ground,"
XCV
"Be sure then not to linger," the anxious Gunther said,
"For
we meanwhile shall ever be longing for your aid."
"In a few days you'll see
me at hand for your defence,
And tell," said he, "fair Brunhild, that you
have sent me hence."
Thence in his cloud-cloak Siegfried descended to the
strand;
There he found a shallop, that close lay to the land;
Unseen the
bark he boarded, that from the harbor pass'd
Moved by the son of Siegmund, as
though before the blast.
II
The steersman could see no man; yet the vessel flew
Beneath
the strokes of Siegfried the yielding water through.
'T was a tempest thought
they, that drove it furious on.
No! 't was the strength of Siegfried, fair
Sieglind's peerless son.79
III
All that day they were running, and all the night the same,
Then to a famous country of mighty power they came,
Days' journey full a
hundred stretching far away,
The Nibelungers' country, where his hard-won
treasure lay.
IV
Alone the champion landed in a meadow wide;
Straight to the
shore securely the little bark he tied,
And then went to a castle seated upon
a hill,
To ask for food and shelter as weary travellers will.
V
All found he barr'd and bolted as near the walls he drew;
Men both life and honor kept then as now they do.
The stranger all impatient
began a thundering din
At the well fasten'd portal. There found he close
within
VI
A huge earth-shaking giant, the castle set to guard,
Who
with his weapons by him kept ever watch and ward.
"Who beats the gate so
stoutly?" the yawning monster ask'd;
His voice, as he gave answer, the crafty
hero mask'd,
VII
And said, "I am a warrior; open me the gate;
I'm wroth with
lazy losels who make their betters wait,
While they on down are snoring as if
they'd never wake."
It irk'd the burly porter that thus the stranger
spake.
VIII
Now had the fearless giant all his weapons donn'd,
Bound on
his head his helmet, and in his monstrous hond
A shield unmeasur'd taken;
open the gate he threw,
And his teeth grimly gnashing at Siegfried fiercely
flew.
IX
"How could he dare to call up men of mettle so?"
With that
he let fly at him many a wind-swift blow,
That the noble stranger put back
with wary fence.
At last upheav'd the giant an iron bar immense,80
X
And his firm shield-band shatter'd; scarce could the warrior
stand,
He fear'd, though for a moment, grim death was close at hand,
With
his enormous weapon the porter smote so sore,
Yet for his dauntless bearing
he lov'd him all the more.
XI
With the mighty conflict the castle rung around;
To th' hall
of the Nibelungers reach'd the stunning sound.
At length the vanquish'd
porter he bound with conquering hand.
Far and wide flew the tidings through
the Nibelungers' land.
XII
While in the dubious combat they both were struggling
still,
Albric the wild dwarf heard it far through the hollow hill.
Straight he donn'd his armor, and thither running found
The noble guest
victorious, and the panting giant bound.
XIII
A stout dwarf was Albric, and bold as well as stout;
With
helm and mail securely he was arm'd throughout;
A golden scourge full heavy
in his hand he swung.
Straight ran he to the rescue, and fierce on Siegfried
sprung.
XIV
Seven ponderous knobs from th' handle hung, each one by its
thong;
With these the dwarf kept pounding so sturdy and so strong,
That he
split the shield of Siegfried to the centre from the rim,
And put the
dauntless champion in care for life or limb.
XV
Away he threw his buckler broken all and smash'd;
His long
well-temper'd weapon into its sheath he dash'd,
To spare his own dependents
his virtue mov'd him still,
And to his heart sore went it his chamberlain to
kill.81
XVI
With mighty hands undaunted in on the dwarf he ran;
By the
beard he caught him, that age-hoary man,
He dragg'd him, and he shook him,
his rage on him he wreak'd,
And handled him so roughly, that loud for pain he
shriek'd.
XVII
Loud cries the dwarf o'ermaster'd, "Spare me and leave me
free,
And could I ever servant save to one hero be,
To whom I've sworn
allegiance as long as I have breath,"
Said the crafty Albric, "you would I
serve to death."
Then bound was writhing Albric as the giant just before;
The
nervous grasp of Siegfried pinch'd him and pain'd him sore.
Then thus the
dwarf address'd him; "Be pleas'd your name to tell."
Said he, "My name is
Siegfried; I thought you knew me well."
XIX
"Well's me for these good tidings," Albric the dwarf
replied.
"Now know I all your merit, which I by proof have tried.
High
rule o'er all this country well you deserve to bear;
I'll do whate'er you bid
me; the vanquish'd only spare."
XX
Then said the noble Siegfried: "You must hence with speed,
And bring me, of the warriors that best we have at need,
A thousand
Nibelungers; them I here must view;
No evil shall befall you, if this you
truly do."
XXI
The dwarf and eke the giant the champion straight unbound;
Then ran at once swift Albric where he the warriors found.
The slumbering
Nibelungers he wak'd with eager care,
Saying, "Up, up, ye heroes! ye must to
Siegfried fare."82
XXII
Up from their beds they started, and instant ready made,
Nimble knights a thousand richly all array'd.
So flock'd they quick, where
waiting they saw Sir Siegfried stand;
Then was there goodly greeting with
word of mouth and clasp of hand.
Straight lit was many a taper; then the spiced draught he
drank;
His friends, who came so quickly, he did not spare to thank.
He
said, "You hence must instant far o'er the wave with me."
He found them for
th' adventure as ready as could be.
XXIV
Full thirty hundred warriors were come at his request;
From
these he chose a thousand the bravest and the best.
Helmets and other armor
were brought for all the band,
For he resolv'd to lead them e'en to Queen
Brunhild's land.
XXV
He said, "Good knights adventurous, to my words give heed.
At the proud court of Brunhild our richest robes will need.
There many a
lovely lady will look on every guest,
So we must all array us in our choicest
and our best."
XXVI
"How?" said a beardless novice, "that sure can never be.
How
can be lodg'd together so many knights as we?
Where could they find them
victual? where could they find them vests?
Never could thirty kingdoms keep
such a crowd of guests."
XXVII
You've heard of Siegfried's riches; well could he all
afford
With a kingdom to supply him, and Niblung's endless hoard.
Rich
gifts were in profusion to all his knights assign'd.
Much as he drain'd the
treasure, as much remain'd behind.83
XXVIII
Early upon a morning in haste they parted thence.
What
prowest warriors Siegfried brought to his friend's defence!
Their armor
darted radiance, their horses toss'd the foam.
Well equipp'd and knightly
came they to Brunhild's home.
XXIX
At the windows standing look'd out the maidens gay.
Then
cried their royal mistress, "Can any of you say,
What strangers there
far-floating over the billows go?
Their canvas they are spreading whiter far
than snow."
XXX
Then spake the king of Rhineland, "They're men of mine, fair
dame,
Whom I left not distant, when late I hither came;
Since, I have bid
them join me, and now you see them here."
The noble guests receiv'd them with
good and friendly cheer.
XXXI
Then might they see bold Siegfried, array'd in robes of
pride,
Aboard a bark high standing, and many a chief beside.
Then said the
queen to Gunther, "Sir king, what now shall I?
Greet the guests advancing, or
that grace deny?"
XXXII
Said he, "To meet them, lady, forth from your palace go,
That, if you're glad to see them, the same they well may know."
Then did the
queen, as Gunther had said him seem'd the best,
And Siegfried in her greeting
distinguish'd from the rest.
XXXIII
They found them fitting quarters, and took their arms in
charge;
The guests were now so many, that they were ill at large,
Such
troops of friends and strangers flock'd in on every side.
So the bold
Burgundians now would homeward ride.84
XXXIV
Then said the fair Queen Brunhild, "Him for my friend I'd
hold,
Who'd help me to distribute my silver and my gold
Among my guests
and Gunther's; no little store have I."
Bold Giselher's bold liegeman
Dankwart straight made reply:
XXXV
"Right noble queen and gracious, trust but your keys with
me;
Your wealth I'll so distribute, all shall contented be,
And as to
blame or damage, let that be mine alone."
That he was free and liberal, that
made he clearly shown.
XXXVI
Soon as Hagan's brother had the keys in hand,
Gold began and
silver to run away like sand.
If one a mark requested, gifts had he shower'd
so rife,
That home might go the poorest merry and rich for life.
XXXVII
By th' hundred pounds together he gave uncounted out.
Crowds
in gorgeous vesture were stalking all about,
Who ne'er had worn such
splendor, and scarce so much as seen.
They told the tale to Brunhild; it
fretted sore the queen.
XXXVIII
Straight she spoke to Gunther, "Sir king, I've cause to
grieve.
Your treasurer, I fear me, scarce a rag will leave
Of all my
choice apparel, my last gold piece he'll spend.
Would somebody would stop it!
I'd ever be his friend.
XXXIX
"He wastes so, he must fancy in his wayward will
I've sent
for death to fetch me, but wealth I can use still,
And what my father left me
can waste myself, I ween."
Treasurer so free-handed never yet had queen.85
XL
Then spake the knight of Trony, "Lady, you must be told,
The
king of Rhine has plenty of raiment and of gold,
And can of both so lavish,
that we may well dispense
With all fair Brunhild's vesture, nor need bring
any hence."
XLI
"Nay, for my love," said Brunhild, "with gold and silken
vests
Let me from all my treasure fill twenty travelling chests,
That when
we come together in Burgundy to live,
This hand may still have something
royally to give."
XLII
Forthwith her chests were loaded with many a precious
stone.
She o'er the work appointed a treasurer of her own.
She would not
trust to Dankwart, Giselher's thriftless man.
Gunther thereat and Hagan both
to laugh began.
XLIII
Then spake the martial maiden, "Whom shall I leave my
lands?
This first must here be settled by our united hands."
The noble
monarch answer'd, "Who most is in your grace,
Him will we leave behind us to
govern in our place."
XLIV
One of her near relations was standing by the maid;
He was
her mother's brother; to him she turn'd and said,
"Take to your charge my
castles, and with them all my land,
Till I or else King Gunther give
otherwise command."
She chose a thousand heroes from all her chivalry
To the
Rhine's distand borders to bear her company,
With the thousand champions from
the Nibelungers' land.
They bown'd them for their journey, and hastened to
the strand.
XLVI
Six-and-eighty women, a hundred maidens too
She took with
her from Issland; fair were they all to view.
They now no longer tarried;
they ready were to go.
From those they left behind them what tears began to
flow!86
XLVII
In manner as became her she left her native ground;
She
kiss'd her nearest kindred who weeping stood around.
So with fair dismissal
they came down to the shore.
To her father's country the maid return'd no
more.
XLVIII
With sound of all sweet music they floated on their way;
From morn to eve was nothing but change of sport and play;
The soft
sea-breeze they wish'd for was fluttering in their sail;
Yet for that voyage
how many were yet to weep and wail!
XLIX
But still her lord deferring with maidenly delay
Brunhild
reserv'd one pleasure to the fair wedding-day,
When home to Worms together
the king and queenly dame,
Full flown with mirth and rapture, with all their
heroes came.
Nine days had now the travellers been faring on their way,
When spake the knight of Trony, "Give ear to what I say.
We're slow to send
the tidings of our adventure home;
Your messengers already should to Burgundy
have come."
II
To him replied King Gunther, "What you have said, is true,
And none should be so ready this very task to do,
As e'en yourself, friend
Hagan; so ride unto my land;
None, I am sure, can better proclaim that we're
at hand."
Thereto gave answer Hagan, "Such duty suits not me;
Let me
tend the chambers, and linger still at sea;
Or I'll stay with the women, and
their wardrobe keep,
Till to the Rhine we bring them safe from the blustering
deep.87
IV
"From Siegfried ask a journey of such a weary length,
For he
can well perform it with his surpassing strength,
And, should he e'en refuse
it, him to consent you'll move,
If you but beseech him for your sister's
love."
V
Straight sent he for the warrior; he came as soon as found;
Said Gunther, "Now we're coming home to my native ground,
Fain would I give
quick notice by some sure friend of mine
To my sister and my mother that we
approach the Rhine.
VI
"This I entreat you, Siegfried; now do what I desire,
And
I'll in full requite you, whatever you require."
But ne'er consented
Siegfried, the never-conquer'd man,
Till in another fashion the king to ask
began.
VII
Said he, "Nay, gentle Siegfried, do but this journey take,
Not for my sake only, but for my sister's sake.
You'll oblige fair Kriemhild
in this as well as me."
When so implor'd was Siegfried, ready at once was
he.
VIII
"Whate'er you will, command me; let naught be left unsaid;
I
will gladly do it for the lovely maid.
How can I refuse her who my heart has
won?
For her, whate'er your pleasure, tell it, and it is done."
IX
"Tell then my mother Uta, the rich and mighty queen,
We in
our dangerous journey right fortunate have been.
Inform my loving brothers,
we have succeeded well;
And to my court and kindred the same glad tidings
tell.
X
"From my gentle sister nothing conceal'd must be;
Bear her
the kindest greeting from Brunhild and from me.
Proclaim to every liegeman
and every anxious friend,
That my heart's lingering longing I've brought to
happy end.88
XI
"And tell my loving nephew, the knight of Metz, Ortwine,
That seats he bid in order be rais'd along the Rhine.
And do my other kinsmen
to wit, both most and least,
That I will hold with Brunhild a gorgeous
marriage-feast.
XII
"Fail not to tell my sister, that soon as she shall hear
That I, returning homeward, with all my guests are near,
She well receive so
kindly the lady of my heart,
And love and service ever shall be her's on
Gunther's part."
XIII
Leave then took Sir Siegfried of Gunther's haughty dame,
And
of her fair attendants, as him well became,
And for the Rhine departed; never
could there be
In all this world a better messenger than he.
XIV
With four-and-twenty warriors to Worms he hotly sped;
King
Gunther came not with him, when this abroad was spread,
The hearts of all his
servants were wrung with mortal pain;
They fear'd, the might of Brunhild
their noble king had slain.
XV
Down sprang all from their horses; their thoughts were proud
and high;
Straight the good young King Giselher ran to them hastily,
And
Gernot his bold brother, soon spoke he, having eyed
The troop, and miss'd
King Gunther from noble Siegfried's side,
XVI
"Welcome to Worms, Sir Siegfried; tell us what news you
bring,
What have you done with Gunther, our brother and our king?
I fear
me, we have lost him, fierce Brunhild was too strong;
So has his lofty
passion brought us but loss and wrong."89
XVII
"Away with fear and sorrow! to you and all his kin
My
comrade sends his greeting; a conqu'ror he has been,
And safe and sound I
left him; from him despatch'd I come
To bring the gladsome tidings to all his
friends at home.
XVIII
"You also must contrive it, for your's the task should be,
How I may straight your mother and your fair sister see,
To carry them the
message that I receiv'd so late
From Gunther and from Brunhild; both are in
best estate."
XIX
Young Giselher then answer'd; "Go straight to them and tell
The tale you're charg'd to carry; 'twill please my sister well.
Fear for the
fate of Gunther is heavy on her breast.
I'll vouch, that with the maiden
you'll prove a welcome guest."
XX
Then spake the noble Siegfried, "Whatever I can do
To serve
her, she shall find me a willing friend and true.
Who now will tell the
ladies, that I an audience crave?"
Giselher took the message, the high-born
youth and brave.
XXI
To the lovely maiden and the stately dame
Spoke the youthful
warrior, when to their sight he came,
"Siegfried is come with tidings for our
hearing meant;
Him my brother Gunther hither to the Rhine has sent.
XXII
"By him he's charged to tell us, how stands it with the
king;
Permit him then his message hither to court to bring;
Whate'er
befell in Issland from him you'll truly know."
E'en thus the noble ladies
still harbor'd fear and woe.
XXIII
Up for their robes they started, and each herself array'd,
Then bade Sir Siegfried enter; he willingly obey'd,
For much he long'd to see
them; then, ere the warrior spoke,
Silence the blushing Kriemhild with
friendly accents broke.90
XXIV
"Welcome, Sir Siegfried, hither, boldest of the bold!
Where
is my brother Gunther? straight be your tidings told.
I fear me, we have lost
him, and here are left forlorn.
Woe's me unhappy maiden, that ever I was
born!"
XXV
Then spake the warrior, "Give me the guerdon of good news;
You weep for sake of weeping; so you fair ladies use.
I left him safe and
hearty; of this assure you well.
He to you both has sent me the joyful tale
to tell.
XXVI
"To you, as best beseems him, with gracious kind intent
He
and his bride their service, right noble queen, have sent.
And soon will both
come hither, so dry your idle tears."
For many a day such gladness had never
bless'd her ears.
Straight with her snow-white apron she wip'd her tears
away,
And dried her eyes from weeping; then, once more fresh and gay
Began
to thank the envoy for his happy tale,
That ended her deep sorrow and
heart-consuming wail.
XXVIII
She bade the knight be seated; nothing loth was he;
Then
spake the lovely maiden; "'Twere no small joy for me,
Could I with gold
reward you for what you just have said;
But you're for that too wealthy; take
my good will instead."
XXIX
"Were I," replied the champion, "the lord of thirty lands
Still would I take with pleasure a gift from your fair hands."
Straight said
the modest damsel, "Then you shall be content."
So for the costly guerdon her
treasurer she sent.
XXX
Four and twenty bracelets she gave him for his fee,
Each set
with stones full precious; yet so proud was he,
That he would not keep them,
but gave the jewels rare
To her lovely maidens, whom he found in waiting
there.91
XXXI
And then her mother greeted the noble warrior well.
"To both
of you," replied he, "I yet have more to tell,
Whereof the king entreats you,
and, if you but attend
To what he asks so dearly, he'll ever be your
friend.
XXXII
"His noble guests, he begs you, and his beauteous bride
Receive with kindly welcome, and forth to meet them ride
On the strand before
the city. To you has sent the king
This true and gracious message, which I as
truly bring."
XXXIII
"I'm ready at his bidding," the lovely maid replied,
"Whatever I can to serve him shall never be denied,
So heartily and truly his
pleasure will I do."
Then her love-kindled blushes glow'd a deeper
hue.
XXXIV
Never prince's envoy a heartier welcome won;
Had she dar'd
to kiss him, fain would she so have done.
In loving wise he parted from th'
unwilling maid.
Forthwith the bold Burgundians did as the warrior
bade.
XXXV
Sindolt and Hunoldt and Rumolt the good knight
Early and
late were stirring as briskly as they might;
They rais'd the seats in order,
such duty well they knew;
From side to side unwearied the royal servant
flew.
XXXVI
Ortwine of Metz and Gary, King Gunther's liegemen bold,
The
marriage feast, that forthwith their master was to hold,
Proclaim'd to
friends and neighbors; against the festal day
Every noble maiden prepar'd her
best array.
XXXVII
Adorn'd was all the palace, and richly every wall
Bedeck'd
to grace the strangers; King Gunther's spacious hall
By the skill was
furbish'd of many a foreign man;
With merriment and pastime the royal feast
began.92
XXXVIII
By every road advancing with ceaseless press and din
Flock'd
all to Worms together the royal brethren's kin,
Summon'd by hasty message to
meet th' expected guests.
Then from the folded wrappers were ta'en the
well-stor'd vests.
XXXIX
Sudden spread the tidings, that now one might espy
Brunhild's friends advancing; straight rose a press and cry
'Mong the
Burgundian thousands, that waiting stood around.
Ah! what men of valor on
either side were found!
XL
Then spake the lovely Kriemhild, "My maidens fair and free,
Who at this reception must bear your part with me,
Let each her choice
apparel search out from secret chest;
The matrons too I'd counsel to prank
them in their best."
XLI
Then forward came the warriors, and straight th' attendants
told
To bring forth sumptuous saddles o'erlaid with ruddy gold,
Whereon
might ride the ladies from Worms unto the Rhine.
Never was better horse-gear
beheld, nor work so fine.
XLII
What store of gold resplendent about the palfreys shone!
From their gorgeous bridles gleam'd many a precious stone.
Richly gilt
side-saddles with trappings of bright hue
Were brought forth for the ladies,
who gladden'd at the view.
XLIII
Caparison'd all richly with silken housings rare
Was led a
gentle palfrey for every lady there.
Each steed a silken p�al (the silk
was of the best
That e'er was spun or fashion'd) had hanging at his
breast.
XLIV
Six and eighty ladies, each a married dame,
With hairy
bounds in fillets to lovely Kriemhild came,
Each radiant in her beauty, each
in rich garb array'd;
Thither too in full adornment came many a blooming
maid.93
XLV
Fifty and four, the fairest and of the best report
Of all,
whose beauty honor'd the proud Burgundian court,
Went forth with glittering
laces above their flaxen hair.
What Gunther had requested, all did with all
their care.
XLVI
The best stuffs and the richest, that e'er were found, they
bore
To meet the stranger heroes; every robe they wore
With care and skill
was chosen to suit their lovely hue.
He were a fool, who'd murmur at one of
that fair crew.
XLVII
Of sable and of ermine many a robe was there,
And many a
sparkling bracelet o'er silken raiment fair
The wrists and arms encircled of
many a lady gay.
The care, the taste, the splendor none might at full
display.
Many a glittering girdle, that rich and long down hung,
By
many a snowy finger o'er gorgeous weed was flung
To bind the far-brought
garment of stuff from Araby.
Each noble damsel's bosom swell'd high and
joyfully.
XLIX
In the tighten'd bodice many a smiling maid
Had laced
herself full deftly; each were ill appaid
Did not her bright complexion
outshine her vesture sheen.
A train so fair and graceful now has ne'er a
queen.
L
Soon as the lovely ladies for the joyful day
Had donn'd
their rich apparel, forthwith, in meet array,
Of bold high-mettled warriors a
mighty force drew near,
With many a shield bright-beaming and many an ashen
spear.94
I
Beyond the Rhine King Gunther, with many a well-arm'd rank
And all his guests about him, rode toward the river's bank;
You might see by
the bridle led forward many a maid.
Those, who were to receive them, were
ready all array'd.
II
Soon as the men of Issland came to the shallops down,
And
eke the Nibelungers, lieges of Siegfried's crown,
To th' other shore they
hasten'd (busy was ever hand)
Where them the friends of Gunther awaited on
the strand.
III
Now hear, by wealthy Uta what a device was wrought.
Down
with her from the castle a virgin train she brought,
That rode where she was
riding in that procession bright;
So many a maid acquainted became with many
a knight.
IV
Kriemhild by the bridle the Margrave Gary led.
But only from
the castle; then forward Siegfried sped,
And did that gentle service; fair
was the blushing maid;
Full well for that thereafter the warrior she
repaid.
V
Ortwine, the fearless champion, rode by Dame Uta's rein;
Knights and maids together followed, a social train.
At such a stately
meeting, all must confess, I ween,
So many lovely ladies were ne'er together
seen.
VI
Full many a famous champion careering you might spy
(Ill
there were sloth and idless) beneath fair Kriemhild's eye
E'en to the place
of landing; by knights of fair renown
There many a high-born lady from steed
was lifted down.95
VII
The king was now come over, and many a worthy guest.
Ah!
before the ladies what spears were laid in rest!
How many went in shivers at
every hurtling close!
Buckler clashed with buckler; ah! what a din
arose!
VIII
Now might you see the ladies fast by the haven stand.
With
his guests King Gunther debark'd upon the strand,
In his hand soft leading
the martial maiden fair.
Then each on each flash'd radiance, rich robes and
jewels rare.
IX
With that the smiling Kriemhild forth stepp'd a little
space,
And Brunhild and her meiny greeted with gentle grace.
Each with
snowy fingers back her headband drew,
And either kiss'd the other lovingly
and true.
X
Then spoke in courteous manner Kriemhild the fair and free,
"In this our land, dear Brunhild, ever welcome be
To me and to my mother and
all by us allow'd
For faithful friends and liegemen," Then each to th' other
bow'd.
XI
Next to greet Dame Brunhild approach'd Dame Uta too;
Oft she
and oft her daughter their arms around her threw,
And on her sweet mouth
lavish'd many a loving kiss.
Never was known a welcome so kind and frank as
this.
XII
Soon as Brunhild's women were all come to the strand,
Many a
courtly warrior took by her lily hand
A lady fair, and gently her mincing
steps upstay'd.
Now before Dame Brunhild stood many a noble maid.
XIII
'Twas long before the greeting had gone through all the
list.
On either part in plenty rosy mouths were kiss'd.
Still the two fair
princesses were standing side by side,
A pair with love and rapture by
longing warriors ey'd.96
XIV
What erst had been but rumor, was now made clear to sight,
That naught had yet been witness'd so beautiful and bright
As those two
lovely damsels; 'twas plain to every eye;
None the slightest blemish in
either form could spy.
XV
Whoever look'd on women with but the sight for guide,
Such
for her faultless beauty prais'd Gunther's stately bride;
But those, whose
thoughts went deeper, and div'd into the mind,
Maintained that gentle
Kriemhild left Brunhild far behind.
XVI
Now met the dames and damsels in friendly converse free;
Fair robes and fairer beauties were there in store to see;
Many a silk
pavilion and many a gorgous tent
The plain before the city fill'd in its
whole extent.
XVII
King Gunther's kinsmen ceas'd not to press to that fair
show.
And now was begg'd each princess from the sun to go
Close by, with
their attendants, where shade was overhead.
By bold Burgundian warriors
thither were they led.
XVIII
Then clomb to horse the heroes, and scour'd the sounding
field;
Many a joust was practised with order'd spear and shield;
Right
well were prov'd the champions, and o'er the trampled plain,
As though the
land were burning, the dust curl'd up amain.
XIX
So all before the ladies display'd their skill and force.
Nor doubt I that Sir Siegfried rode many a knightly course
Before the rich
pavilions, and, ever as he sped,
His thousand Nibelungers, a stately
squadron, led.
XX
Then came the knight of Trony by the good king's command;
In
friendly wise he parted the jousters on the strand,
For fear the dust, now
thick'ning, the ladies might molest.
Him with ready reverence obey'd each
gentle guest.97
XXI
Then spake the noble Gernot, "Let each now rest his steed
Till the air be cooler, 't will then be our's to lead
These lovely ladies
homeward e'en to the palace wide.
So keep yourselves all ready till it please
the king to ride."
XXII
Thus ended was the tourney, and now the warriors went
To
join the dames and damsels beneath each lofty tent,
And there in gentle
converse their grace and favor sought;
So flew the hours in pastime till of
riding home they thought.
XXIII
Now as drew on the twilight, when cooler grew the air
And
the sun was setting, they would not linger there,
But up rose lords and
ladies to seek the castle high;
Many a fair dame was cherish'd by many a
love-lit eye.
XXIV
So on the fair they waited as from good knights is due.
Then
hardy squires, hot-spurring before the nobles' view,
After the country's
custom rode for the prize of weed
As far as to the palace, where sprung the
king from steed.
XXV
There too the proud queens parted, each taking thence her
way.
Dame Uta and her daughter with their handmaids gay
Into a spacious
chamber both together went.
There might you hear on all sides the sound of
merriment.
XXVI
In hall the seats were order'd; the king would instant hie
With all his guests to table; beside him you might spy
His lovely bride,
Queen Brunhild; her royal crown she wore
There in King Gunther's country; so
rich was none before.
XXVII
Seats were there plac'd unnumber'd with tables broad and
good,
As is to us reported, full heap'd with costly food.
How little there
was wanted that passes for the best!
There with the king was seated full many
a noble guest.98
XXVIII
The chamberlains of Gunther in ewers of ruddy gold
Brought
to the guests the water; should you be ever told
That at a prince's table
service was better done,
'Twere labor lost to say so, 't would be believ'd by
none.
XXIX
Then, ere the Lord of Rhineland touch'd the water bright,
Up
to him, as befitted, went Siegfried the good knight,
And brought to him
remembrance the promise made him there,
Ere yet afar in Issland he look'd on
Brunhild fair.
XXX
Said he, "You must remember what swore to me your hand,
That, soon as Lady Brunhild were come into this land,
To me you'd give your
sister; your oaths now where are they?
On me throughout your journey much
toil and travail lay."
XXXI
"Well did you to remind me," the noble king replied,
"By
what my hand has promis'd, I ever will abide,
And in this thing to serve you
will do my best, my all."
Then sent he to beg Kriemhild to come into the
hall.
XXXII
Straight to the hall came Kriemhild begirt with many a
maid,
When from the lofty staircase young Giselher thus said,
"Send back
your maidens, Kriemhild, this business is your own;
On this the king our
brother would speak with you alone."
XXXIII
Then forward led was Kriemhild, as Gunther gave command,
Where stood the king, and round him from many a prince's land
Were noble
knights unnumber'd; at once all silence kept;
At that same instant Brunhild
had just to table stepp'd.
XXXIV
Thence came it, she knew nothing of what was to be done.
Then to his gather'd kinsmen spoke Dankrat's royal son,
"Help me to move my
sister Siegfried for lord to take."
"Such match," they all gave answer, "with
honor she may make."99
XXXV
Then spoke the king to Kriemhild, "Sister, I ask of thee
From an oath to set me by thy kindness free.
Thee to a knight I promised; if
thou become his bride,
Thou'lt do the will of Gunther, and show thy love
beside."
XXXVI
Then spake the noble maiden, "Dearest brother mine,
It
needed not to ask me; whate'er command be thine,
I'll willingly perform it;
so now, for thy sake,
Whom thou for husband giv'st me, fain I, my lord, will
take."
XXXVII
With love and eke with pleasure redden'd Siegfried's hue;
At
once to lady Kriemhild he pledg'd his service true.
They bade them stand
together in the courtly circle bright.
And ask'd her if for husband she took
that lofty knight.
XXXVIII
In modest maiden fashion she blush'd a little space,
But
such was Siegfried's fortune and his earnest grace,
That not altogether could
she deny her hand.
Then her for wife acknowledg'd the noble King of
Netherland.
XXXIX
He thus to her affianc'd, and to him the maid,
Straight
round the long-sought damsel in blushing grace array'd
His arms with soft
emotion th' enamour'd warrior threw,
And kiss'd the high-born princess before
that glitt'ring crew.
XL
On this up broke the circle, and to the feast they came;
There high-advanc'd Sir Siegfried sat with his spoused dame
Right opposite to
Gunther; him many a vassal true
Serv'd at the board, and near him his
Nibelungers drew.
High at the feast sat Gunther and Brunhild by his side,
But
woe was then the maiden, when Kriemhild she espied
Sitting by valiant
Siegfried; she straight began to weep,
And her bright visage darken'd with
shame and passion deep.100
XLII
Then spake the king of Rhineland, "What ails you, lady
mine,
That your fair eyes are clouded, and dimm'd their beamy shine?
You
rather should be merry, now that my liegemen true,
My country and my castles
are subject all to you."
XLIII
"Good cause have I for weeping," return'd the angry fair;
"My very heart is bleeding to see your sister there
Beside your lowly vassal
sitting so content;
Never shall I cease weeping for such
disparagement."
XLIV
Then spake the noble Gunther, "No more of this, I pray;
You
shall be told the reason on some other day,
Wherefore I to Siegfried my
sister gave for wife.
May she with him ever lead a happy life!"
XLV
Quoth she, "I sorrow ever for her grace and beauty's sake;
Had I a place to fly to, my flight I hence would take,
For lie will I never,
King Gunther, by your side,
Ere I know why Kriemhild is given for Siegfried's
bride."
XLVI
Thereto made answer Gunther, "That will I tell you
straight.
Know, I have given my sister to no unequal mate:
A mighty king
is Siegfried, and unto him belong,
As to their rightful sovran, broad lands
and castles strong."
XLVII
Whatever he could tell her, her gloomy mood she kept.
Then
from the board to tilting many a warrior stepp'd.
The noise of their tourney
made all the castle ring.
His guests and their amusements wearied sore the
king.
XLVIII
Thought he, 't were softer lying in a marriage bed.
Then, to
beguile annoyance, his longing heart he fed
With thought of future pleasure
from love of such a bride,
And ever Lady Brunhild tenderly he ey'd.101
XLIX
The guests were bid give over the tourney, as was meet.
The
king with his fair lady would now to bed retreat.
Before the hall's grand
staircase Kriemhild and Brunhild met;
Bitterness or rancor on neither side
was yet.
L
Then came th' attendant courtiers; they lingered now for
nought;
Chamberlains well-apparel'd the tapers to them brought.
The
followers then divided of the rulers twain;
Then might you see with Siegfried
go forth a num'rous train.
LI
And now the royal bridegrooms both to their chambers came;
Each thought with fond caresses to woo his gentle dame,
That both might, as
befitted, in love's soft bonds agree.
The night to noble Siegfried was sweet
as sweet might be.
LII
There lay he so delighted by lovely Kriemhild's side,
And
found such modest graces in his virgin bride,
That he came to love her more
than his proper life.
Well she deserv'd his passion as a virtuous
wife.
LIII
What more ensued between them it needs not here to say.
Now
you must hear the story, how King Gunther lay
By the fair Lady Brunhild. Many
a loving swain
By his loving helpmate with more content has lain.
LIV
The crowd had now all vanish'd, that tended them before;
Of
the marriage chamber fast was made the door.
He deem'd he now was shortly to
win his lovely mate,
But for that happy moment he yet had long to
wait.
LV
In robe of whitest linen to the bed she pass'd;
Then thought
the noble Gunther, "Now all is mine at last,
That I ever long'd for before in
all my life."
Needs must be blest a husband in such a charming wife.102
LVI
And now with trembling fingers 'gan he shroud the light,
Then went with glad expectance where lay his lady bright,
And laid him down
beside her, nor small the joy he knew,
When his arms around her tenderly he
threw.
LVII
Fain would he have caress'd her as gentle love inspires,
Had
but the wayward maiden granted his desires;
But there he sore was troubled,
so fiercely storm'd his mate.
He look'd for fond affection, and met with
deadly hate.
LVIII
"Sir knight," said she, "it suits not—you'd better leave me
free
From all your present purpose—it must and shall not be.
A maid still
will I keep me (think well the matter o'er)
Till I am told that story." This
fretted Gunther sore.
LIX
Then for her love he struggled e'en till her robe he rent;
With that, up caught the maiden a cord with fell intent
(About her waist she
wore it, strong was the same and tough),
And wrought her lord and master
shame and wrong enough.
LX
The feet and hands of Gunther she tied together all,
Then to
a nail she bore him, and hung him 'gainst the wall,
And bade him not disturb
her, nor breathe of love a breath.
Sure from the doughty damsel he all but
met his death.
LXI
Humbly to beg began he, who master should have been,
"Untie
me, I beseech you, right fair and noble queen
For your love will I never
against your pleasure try,
And ne'er again will venture so close to you to
lie."
LXII
How he far'd she reck'd not, while soft herself she lay;
So
all night long he dangled perforce till break of day,
When through the
chamber window the light began to peep.
That night was Gunther's pleasure as
little as his sleep.103
LXIII
"Now tell me, good Sir Gunther," began the froward fair,
"Would you like your servants to find you hanging there
The bondsman of a
woman? that were a royal view!"
The noble knight made answer, "No credit
'twere to you;
LXIV
"And in good sooth," he added, "'twere honor none to me;
So
of your kindness, lady, be pleas'd to set me free;
Since my love's so
distasteful, fear neither harm nor hurt.
Not so much as a finger of mine
shall touch your skirt."
LXV
With that the maid unbound him; free stood he, but half
dead;
Then all aghast and trembling back totter'd to the bed,
And there
lay down so distant that her night-dress fair
He seldom touch'd, if ever;
e'en that she well could spare.
LXVI
Now in came their attendants; by these in hand were borne
New gaudy robes in plenty to suit the marriage morn.
Downcast he stood and
moody amidst the smiling band.
Their mirth seem'd out of season to the
monarch of the land.
LXVII
After the good old custom that in that land was kept,
King
Gunther and Queen Brunhild forth from the chamber stepp'd,
And hied them to
the minster, where the mass was sung.
Thither too came Sir Siegfried; then
rose a press the crowd among.
LXVIII
Each circumstance of honor for monarch and his mate
Was
there in order ready, both crown and robe of state.
Then consecrated were
they, and, soon as that was o'er,
With jewel'd crowns conspicuous stood all
the goodly four.
Bold squires with sword were girded six hundred at the
least
In honor of the rulers at that high marriage feast.
Was nought but
mirth and joyance in Burgundy to hear,
And swashing of the buckler, and
clattering of the spear.104
LXX
There too at many a window sat many a laughing maid,
To view
in mimic terror far-flashing arms display'd;
But still, whate'er was toward,
kept the sad king apart,
With gloom upon his visage and anguish at his
heart.
LXXI
'Twixt him and good Sir Siegfried what difference of mood!
Well guess'd what so him fretted that noble knight and good.
To the king he
betook him, and ask'd in accents low,
"Last night how far'd it with you? this
be pleas'd to let me know."
Then to his guest said Gunther, "Shame, alas! and strife,
My
friend, I home have brought me in my wayward wife.
No sooner came I near her,
what did she do, but tie
My feet and hands together, and hang me up on
high?
LXXIII
"There like a ball I dangled all night till break of day
Before she would unbind me;—how soft the while she lay!
I breathe my plaint
in friendship to thy secret ear."
Then spake the noble Siegfried; "It irks
me, what I hear;
LXXIV
"Yet you shall soon be master; lay fear and sorrow by;
This
night I'll so contrive it, that close to you she'll lie.
And never more your
pleasure with froward freaks delay."
At this from all his troubles wax'd
Gunther blithe and gay.
LXXV
"Look at my wrists and fingers swoln with her cursed bands;
She squeez'd them so, I felt me a baby in her hands.
Under each nail forth
started the blood beneath her grasp.
As for my life, I thought it e'en then
at the last gasp."
LXXVI
Thereto replied Sir Siegfried, "All will again come right;
We two were most unequal in fortune yesternight.
To me thy sister Kriemhild
is dear as is my life.
Now must Dame Brunhild also be made a loving
wife.105
LXXVII
"I will this night," he added, "into your chamber creep,
Envelop'd in my cloud-cloak, in silence still and deep,
That no man may have
cunning to guess the trick I'll play;
So send, each to his lodging, your
chamberlains away.
LXXVIII
"The tapers I'll extinguish that your pages bear,
And this
shall give you notice that I have enter'd there,
Ready and glad to serve you;
I'll force her to obey
This night her lord and master, or down my life will
lay."
LXXIX
"Spare but to act the husband, and do whate'er thy will
With
my loving helpmate, I shall not take it ill,"
Replied the angry monarch;
"e'en shouldst thou take her life,
I should not die of sorrow; sooth she's a
fearful wife."
LXXX
"Trust me in this," said Siegfried, "my word I'll pledge to
thee
That I'll ne'er seek to woo her; thy sister is to me
Beyond all other
women that ever met my view."
The king with full affiance took Siegfried's
words for true.
The knights were busy tilting with good success or ill;
Straight 'twas bidd'n the tourney should all be hush'd and still,
For to the
hall was coming either royal bride.
Then chamberlains advancing bade stand
the crowd aside.
LXXXII
The court was clear'd of horses, the crowd no longer seen;
Then forth a reverend bishop led either lofty queen
To where the kings were
seated, and tables richly stor'd.
Them many a man of worship follow'd to the
board.
LXXXIII
There by his stately consort sat Gunther well appaid,
Musing
upon the promise to him by Siegfried made.
That single day to Gunther seem'd
thirty days at least.
On the love of Brunhild he thought throughout the
feast.106
LXXXIV
Scarcely could wait the monarch till from the board they
rose;
Brunhild and lovely Kriemhild were summon'd to repose,
Each in her
several chamber; ah! what a crowd was seen
Of young and active warriors
before each stately queen!
Siegfried was fondly seated by his gentle bride;
Her slender
snowy fingers, as leant they side by side
With his were softly toying; in
midst of her caress
Suddenly he vanish'd—how, she could not guess.
LXXXVI
As with him she was playing, she miss'd him quite and
clean.
"Ha!" to his wilder'd courtiers cried out the wilder'd queen,
"Where's the king? what portent is this? what semblance fine?
He was but now
beside me—who snatch'd his hand from mine?"
LXXXVII
She stopp'd in speechless wonder; he quick had slipp'd away
To where with lights th' attendants stood ranged in meet array,
And straight
'gan dout the tapers held by the pages there;
Full well that it was Siegfried
was Gunther then aware.
LXXXVIII
He knew what was to follow, so sent forth every one,
Maid
and dame, from the chamber; then soon as this was done,
With his own hand
impatient the king lock'd fast the door,
And two strong bolts of iron shot
for assurance more.
LXXXIX
Behind the flowing hangings the lights he huddled all;
Forthwith began a pastime (as could not but befall)
Betwixt the sinewy
Siegfried and the maiden fair.
At once with joy and sorrow stood Gunther
trembling there.
XC
Adown Sir Siegfried laid him close by the damsel bright.
Said she, "Beware, Sir Gunther, remember yesternight;
Be pleas'd not to
disturb me; wake not my wrath anew,
Or at my hands your folly you bitterly
shall rue."107
XCI
He breath'd no breath in answer, but still was as could be.
Well by the ear knew Gunther, although he could not see,
That nothing pass'd
between them the jealous to displease.
Never in couch or chamber dwelt there
so little ease.
XCII
Like Gunther he demean'd him, false mimic of the true;
Around th' unloving damsel his loveless arms he threw.
Him from the bed with
fury against a bench she flung.
His head fell on a footstool so hard, that
loud it rung.
XCIII
With all his might upstarted again th' undaunted man;
He'd
try his fortune better; a struggle stern began,
When he essay'd to quell her;
long was his toil and sore;
Such strife, I ween, will never be waged by woman
more.
XCIV
As still he would not quit her, up sprung the frenzied
fair;
"Sir knight, it ill becomes you a lady's dress to tear.
These are
Burgundian manners! but dear it shall be paid;
I'll bring you soon to smart
for it," exclaim'd the stormy maid.
XCV
Her arms around the warrior she scrupled not to fling,
And
forthwith thought to bind him as though it were the king,
That of the bed
sole mistress in quiet she might sleep.
For her injur'd night-dress took she
vengeance deep.
XCVI
What booted then his manhood well prov'd in many a fight,
When that heroic maiden put forth her mastering might?
Him by main force she
lifted in spite of all he tried,
And 'gainst a press she jamm'd him that
stood the bed beside.
XCVII
"Ah!" thought the panting champion, "should I now lose my
life
By this outrageous damsel, hereafter every wife
Will claim at home
the mastery, and, scorning meek accord
And womanly submission, will lord it
o'er her lord."108
XCVIII
The king with fear and trembling heard all that there
befell.
Shame gave fresh strength to Siegfried; furious he wax'd and
fell.
He with redoubled puissance once more the maid oppos'd.
Fearful was
the struggle as he with Brunhild clos'd.
XCIX
Down still she strove to keep him, but wrath and natural
might
Combin'd so wrought within him, that soon in her despite
His feet
the knight recovered; sore was his toil, I trow;
In the darken'd chamber they
hurtled to and fro.
C
Ill too at ease was Gunther between the struggling pair.
Full oft to shift he needed as strove they here and there.
A wonder 'twas (so
fiercely wrestled the mighty foes)
That either 'scap'd uninjured from that
tempestuous close.
CI
Sore rued his fate the monarch beset with twofold care;
Still fear'd he most lest Siegfried should chance to perish there,
For now
the puissant damsel had all but ta'en his life.
Had he but dar'd, he'd gladly
have help'd him in the strife.
CII
Long time endur'd the contest, nor ever seem'd to slack,
Till 'gainst the bed with fury he dash'd the maiden back.
How fierce soe'er
she struggled, faint and more faint she grew;
Then many a shrewd suspicion
shot Gunther's bosom through.
CIII
Still ever as he listen'd, he thought 'twas wondrous long.
Just then the hands of Siegfried she squeez'd so fierce and strong,
That
blood from the nails started; the warrior tingled sore;
But soon he brought
the damsel to give her frenzy o'er,109
CIV
And change her furious passions for love and duty meek.
Whatever pass'd heard Gunther, though daring not to speak
Against the bed he
drove her, that loud she shriek'd for pain.
Cruel was her torture from
Siegfried's mastering main.
CV
Then grasp'd she at her girdle, and strove to bind her foe,
When down the warrior hurl'd her with such a forceful throw,
That crack'd
each bone and sinew; that clos'd at once the strife;
The fainting maid
submitted to live King Gunther's wife.
CVI
Said she, "Right noble ruler, vouchsafe my life to spare;
Whatever I've offended, my duty shall repair.
I'll meet thy noble passion; my
love with thine shall vie.
That thou canst tame a woman, none better knows
than I."
CVII
Then up arose Sir Siegfried from where Dame Brunhild lay;
Upon the floor he left her, and noiseless went his way;
But first from her
fine finger a golden ring he drew
So gently, that the maiden nothing felt or
knew.
CVIII
He took, besides her girdle, with which her lord she tied;
I
know not if he did so from triumph and from pride;
To his wife he gave it, a
gift that mischief wrought.
Meanwhile the maid and monarch love both together
brought.
CIX
They met with mutual passion as man and wife became;
Her
stormy rage was soften'd; she was no more the same;
Weak she grew and feeble
as in his arms she lay;
All her former puissance flitted straight away.110
And now was she no stronger than any dame beside.
Fearless,
unfear'd, her husband caress'd his duteous bride.
Why act again the rebel?
what boot could thus be won?
So much with alter'd Brunhild King Gunther's
love had done.
CXI
How lovingly and fondly he by his lady lay
Till the rosy
morning led on the laughing day!
Sir Siegfried thence departed, and back in
silence came,
Where tenderly receiv'd him a fair and gentle dame.
CXII
Her questions he evaded, though much to know she sought;
Long time too kept he from her the gifts that he had brought,
Till, crown'd,
in his own country she reign'd, his royal bride;
Of all, he else could grant
her, how little he denied!
CXIII
Far merrier in the morning than he before had been
Appear'd
the good King Gunther; the change with joy was seen
By every faithful vassal,
and every foreign guest,
Whom he had home invited and feasted with the
best.
CXIV
The sumptuous festal lasted e'en to the fourteenth day,
The
while was heard unceasing the sound of mirth and play,
That in the crowd of
pleasures the wilder'd guests were lost.
Unmatch'd was Gunther's splendor and
boundless was his cost.
CXV
By the good king's order, to many a warrior bold
His kinsmen
in his honor gave robes and ruddy gold,
And steeds and store of silver, and
so their wants supplied,
That not a stranger was there but parted
satisfied.111
CXVI
As well good King Siegfried, the knight of Netherland,
And
his thousand champions their robes, with liberal hand,
And all they had
brought thither alike were pleas'd to give,
Fair steeds and costly trappings;
like nobles they knew how to live.
CXVII
To those, whose thoughts were homeward, the hours seem'd all
too long,
Ere the rich gifts were lavish'd among the gladsome throng.
Never before was party dismiss'd in merrier plight.
So the high feast
concluded; thence off rode many a knight.
I
The festal hall was silent, and parted every guest,
When
thus the son of Siegmund his loving friends address'd.
"We too must make us
ready, and forthwith home return."
Glad was his noble consort her lord's
resolve to learn.
II
She thus bespake the warrior, "Since we are home to fare,
Of
over-haste in parting, I beg thee, well beware.
First should of right my
brethren with me the lands divide."
Sir Siegfried heard with sorrow these
words from his fair bride.
III
Then came to him the princes, and thus spake all the three,
"Know that for you, King Siegfried, shall ever ready be
Our true and loving
service, that e'en of death is vow'd."
To them for their fair promise the
stately warrior bow'd.
IV
"With you too we are anxious," said Giselher the young,
"To
part the lands and castles that to us all belong.
Of all the broad
possessions, o'er which the rule we bear,
We'll yield to you and Kriemhild a
good and ample share."112
V
Soon as the son of Siegmund their loving offer heard,
To the
noble princes this answer he preferr'd.
"God grant you long enjoyment of your
possessions fair;
For me and my dear consort, our part we well can
spare.
VI
"The right that you allow her my wife may well lay down;
Henceforth in my country she'll wear the queenly crown,
And, should I live,
be richer than any living wight.
In all things else, your bidding I'll do
with all my might."
VII
"In th' heritage," said Kriemhild, "though you renounce our
rights,
Not of so little value are our Burgundian knights;
Them might a
king be happy to bring into his land,
And I my portion in them claim at each
brother's hand."
VIII
"Take whom thou wilt, fair sister," Sir Gernot straight
replied,
"No doubt you'll find abundance, who long with you to ride.
From
thirty hundred vassals, each one a chosen man,
Take for thy train a
thousand." Kriemhild to send began
IX
First for Ortwine and Hagan, the noble knights and true,
If
they and their bold kinsmen would Kriemhild serve and sue.
Thereat wax'd
Hagan wrathful, and frowning thus 'gan say,
"Nor right nor power has Gunther
to give us thus away.
X
"For followers and companions seek elsewhere if you will.
As
for our Trony customs, sure you must know them still.
At court we guard our
princes, nor from this duty swerve.
Thus here we serv'd them ever, thus will
we ever serve."113
XI
Thereto was made no answer; all on their journey thought.
Her noble train together the lady Kriemhild brought,
Two and thirty maidens
and five hundred men.
Eckewart the Margrave follow'd Kriemhild then.
XII
Leave last by all was taken, both by squire and knight
And
by dame and damsel, as fitting was and right.
With many a kiss they parted,
and many a grasp of hand,
And so not ill contented they left King Gunther's
land.
XIII
Far rode their loving kinsmen to bring them on their way;
Each night they found them quarters where'er it pleas'd them stay,
While they
upon their journey through Gunther's country went
Then messengers were
forthwith to old King Siegmund sent,
To him and to Dame Sieglind the hasty news to bear,
That his
son was coming, and with him Kriemhild fair,
The daughter of Dame Uta, from
Worms beyond the Rhine.
Ne'er to such welcome tidings did they their ears
incline.
XV
"Ah! well is me," cried Siegmund, "that I this day have
seen,
That here the lovely Kriemhild should move a crowned queen
My
heritage high worship shall hence and honor gain;
Here too my son Siegfried
himself a king shall reign."
Then gave the Lady Sieglind good store of velvet red;
Full
weight of gold and silver shower'd she for newsman's bread.
Much at the
gladsome tidings rejoic'd the royal dame.
Her train themselves apparel'd as
nobles well became.114
XVII
'Twas told her, who was coming with him into the land.
Then
rais'd in haste were sittings, as Sieglind gave command,
Whither crown'd
should march Sir Siegfried in front of all his train.
Then forth to meet the
strangers rode Siegmund's knights amain.
XVIII
If e'er was heartier welcome than was receiv'd that day
In
good King Siegmund's country, is more than I can say.
To meet the lovely
Kriemhild the royal Sieglind came
With many a lovely lady and many a knight
of fame.
XIX
A whole day's journey's distance, till came the guests in
view.
Then no small toil and trouble both friends and strangers knew
To
reach a spacious fortress (Xanten the name it bore),
Where royal crowns
thereafter the bride and bridegroom wore.
XX
Sieglind and Siegmund wecom'd fair Kriemhild lovingly;
With
laughing mouth full often they kiss'd her tenderly,
And did as much to
Siegfried; far flown was all their care.
All the train of followers were
warmly greeted there.
XXI
Straight were brought the strangers to Siegmund's royal
hall.
Down there the lovely maidens from horse were lifted all
By knights
and squires officious, and many a high-born man
To wait on beauteous ladies
with courtly zeal began.
XXII
How great soe'er the splendor of Gunther's marriage day,
Yet
here were fairer garments profusely given away
Than ever yet at festals had
deck'd the warriors bold;
Of their surpassing richness marvels might be
told.115
XXIII
As sat they in high honor with all delights in store,
What
bright gold-color'd raiment their joyful followers wore,
Laces and stones
full precious fair work'd in vesture sheen!
Well were the guests entreated by
the rich and noble queen.
XXIV
Then spake the good Sir Siegmund before his friends in
hall,
"This my resolve declare I to Siegfried's kinsmen all,
That he
before these warriors my royal crown shall wear."
The news gave full
contentment to the Netherlanders there.
XXV
His crown and power he gave him and seisin of his land;
Their master then became he; zealous was every hand
To execute his judgments;
his mouth pronounc'd the law.
To th' husband of fair Kriemhild all look'd
with fear and awe.
XXVI
So liv'd he in high honor, a rightful monarch crown'd,
And
giving righteous judgment till the tenth year came round,
When the fair queen
his consort bore him at last an heir.
Glad were thereat his kinsmen, glad too
the royal pair.
XXVII
Forthwith the babe was christen'd, and given him was a name
After his uncle Gunther; it could not bring him shame.
If he his kin
resembled, in worth he would excel;
His parents, as became them, train'd up
the infant well.
XXVIII
About the self-same season the Lady Sieglind died;
The child
of noble Uta her vacant place supplied,
And to the power succeeded that
Sieglind held before.
The people deeply sorrow'd that Sieglind was no
more.116
XXIX
Next messengers came posting the joyful news to bring,
How
by the Rhine to Gunther, the stout Burgundian king,
A son was borne by
Brunhild the once relentless dame;
He for the love of Siegfried receiv'd the
hero's name.
XXX
With every care they train'd him; Gunther his father dear
Bade tutors the young infant in every virtue rear,
That, nurtur'd so to
manhood, all worship he might win.
Ah! by mishap thereafter how lost he all
his kin!
Thenceforward at all seasons full many a tale was told,
How
nobly and how knightly the wariors fierce and bold
Liv'd in the land of
Siegmund; fame voiced their praises loud.
Like them lived good King Gunther
and his noble kinsmen proud.
XXXII
Their land the Nibelungers of Siegfried held in fee;
None
e'er of all his kindred so wealthy was as he.
His were the knights of
Schilbung and both the brethren's store.
Through this the bold Sir Siegfried
himself the loftier bore.
XXXIII
The richest of all treasures, that e'er was gain'd by
knight,
Save by its former masters, he held by conqueror's right.
The same
before a mountain by dint of sword he won.
To win it, many a champion his
hand to death had done.
XXXIV
Huge was his wealth and worship; yet, had he naught
possess'd
Whoever look'd upon him could not but have confess'd,
He was the
prowest champion that e'er in saddle sat.
All trembled at his manhood; good
cause had they for that.117
I
Still Gunther's consort ever thought with deep-musing care,
Why should the Lady Kriemhild herself so proudly bear?
And yet her husband
Siegfried—what but our man is he?
And late but little service has yielded for
his fee.
II
In her heart his thought she foster'd deep in its inmost
core;
That still they kept such distance, a secret grudge she bore.
How
came it that their vassal to court declin'd to go,
Nor for his land did
homage, she inly yearn'd to know.
III
She made request of Gunther, and begg'd it so might be,
That
she the absent Kriemhild yet once again might see,
And told him too, in
secret, whereon her thoughts were bent.
With the words she utter'd her lord
was scarce content.
IV
"How could we bring them hither," the king in turn began,
"Such a length of journey? 'twere past the power of man.
I could not ask it
of them, they dwell from us so wide."
Thereto in haughty fashion the frowning
queen replied,
V
"How rich soe'er a vassal, how broad soe'er his lands,
Obedience is his duty, whate'er his lord commands."
Sure could but smile Sir
Gunther when thus he heard her fret.
'Twas not for suit and service that he
and Siegfried met.
VI
Said she, "Dear lord, for my sake thy efforts join with
mine,
That Siegfried and thy sister once more may seek the Rhine,
That we
again may see them, and all in love unite.
Nothing, I well assure thee, could
give me more delight.118
VII
"What soft emotion soothes me, whene'er I call to mind
Thy
sister's noble graces, her accent soft and kind,
And how, when both were
married, we both sat side by side!
No doubt may she with honor be Siegfried's
loving bride."
VIII
She press'd so long, that Gunther replied with alter'd
cheer,
"Now know that guests so welcome never saw I here.
Much pressing
little needed; so messengers of mine
I'll send to bid them hasten hither to
the Rhine."
IX
Thereto the queen made answer, "Tell me now, I pray,
When
you will send to ask them, and about what day
We may expect the travellers to
both of us so dear;
And who will bear your message, I willingly would
hear."
X
"So will I do," replied he; "thirty of my men
Shall be
commission'd thither." Forthwith he summon'd them
Those by whom his message
to Siegfried's land he sent,
Brunhild sumptuous vesture gave them to their
full content.
XI
Then spake the king, "Ye warriors, from me this message
bear
(That you keep back nothing I bid you well beware),
Which I to
valiant Siegfried and to my sister send,
That in this world can no man to
both be more a friend;
XII
"And beg them hasten hither us on the Rhine to see;
It shall
be well requited both by my wife and me.
By the next midsummer he and his men
shall find
From every one among us high honor, welcome kind.
XIII
"Unto the good King Siegmund my service, too, commend;
Say,
I and mine shall ever hold him as our friend.
Bid too my sister hasten to
meet her kinsmen dear.
Ne'er graced she royal festal like that which waits
her here."119
XIV
Brunhild and Uta and every lady there
Into the land of
Siegfried their greeting bade them bear
To many a noble warrior and many a
lady gay.
So with the king's commission the couriers went their way.
XV
To start they now were ready; to each of all the band
Was
brought both steed and vesture; so rode they from the land.
With happy haste
they journey'd, and ever prick'd they hard;
The king had sent an escort his
messengers to guard.
XVI
In the weary journey three toilsome weeks they spent.
At
last in Niblung's castle, whither they had been sent,
E'en in the march of
Norway, they found king Siegmund's son.
Horses alike and riders were
travel-tainted and fordone.
XVII
To Siegfried and to Kriemhild forthwith the tidings came,
That knights had journey'd thither, whose venture was the same
As what by men
of worship was born in Burgundy.
From her day-bed Kriemhild up sprung
hastily.
XVIII
Sudden to a window she bade a damsel go,
Who saw bold Gary
standing in the court below,
Him, and his valiant comrades on the same errand
bound.
For her long-brooded sorrow what rapture then she found!
XIX
Loud call'd she to her husband, "See you, where they stand
Down in the court there waiting, stout Gary and his band,
Whom my good
brother Gunther has sent us down the Rhine?"
"Welcome are they," said
Siegfried, "welcome to me and mine."120
XX
Where they saw them standing, all the household ran;
They
kindly then saluted, as man encounter'd man,
And, as they best could please
them, spoke many a friendly word,
With no small joy King Siegmund of their
arrival heard.
XXI
Straight were allotted quarters to Gary and his men,
And
charge ta'en of their courses; the messengers went then
To where sat bold Sir
Siegfried by gentle Kriemhild's side;
They were to court invited, and so they
thither hied.
XXII
Uprose, as in they enter'd, the host and his fair dame.
Full
well receiv'd was Gary, and all who with him came
His followers, Gunther's
liegemen from distant Burgundy.
To a seat the warrior was motion'd
courteously.
XXIII
"Nay, deign," said he, "our message to hear before we sit,
And us, way-wearied wanderers, the while to stand permit.
We have to tell you
tidings to us committed late
By Gunther and by Brunhild, who are both in best
estate;
XXIV
"And from the Lady Uta we come, your mother dear,
And from
the good Sir Gernot and youthful Giselher,
And from your choicest kinsmen,
who all with kind intent
By us to you their service from Burgundy have
sent."
XXV
"Now God then quit!" said Siegfried, "that they're sincere and
true,
I trust with full assurance, as men with friends should do.
The same
too feels their sister. Now further to us tell,
Whether our friends in
Rhineland are hearty all and well.121
XXVI
"Since we from them departed, has any neighboring foe
Harried my consort's kindred? this let me surely know.
To them by me shall
ever such friendly aid be lent,
That their wrong the doers shall bitterly
repent."
XXVII
Thereto the Margrave Gary, the good knight, made reply,
"Fraught with all manly virtues they bear them proud and high.
They bid you
to a festal, which they at home prepare.
You need not doubt, your kinsmen
would gladly see you there.
XXVIII
"They also beg my lady thither with you to wend,
Soon as the
blustering winter shall come at length to end,
You both ere next midsummer
they all expect to see."
Then said the valiant Siegfried, "That can hardly
be."
XXIX
But straight the bold Burgundian Gary gave this reply,
"Surely your mother Uta you never can deny,
Nor Giselher, nor Gernot, who all
would meet you fain.
That you dwell so far distant, I hear them daily
plain.
XXX
"Brunhild, my noble lady, and all her maidens fair,
Are glad
to think that forthwith you thither will repair.
That they once more may see
you, fills every heart with glee."
His words to lovely Kriemhild seem'd full
good to be.
XXXI
Gary was her kinsman; him begg'd the host to sit,
And
straight bade fill the goblets to pledge them, as was fit;
Then too, to meet
the envoys, King Siegmund join'd the rest,
And to the bold Burgundians these
friendly words address'd:
XXXII
"Welcome, ye men of Gunther! since Siegfried, my good son,
Your noble lady Kriemhild for his wife has won,
You at our court more
frequent we should have gladly seen.
Your presence of our friendship the
surest bond had been."122
XXXIII
They said, whene'er he wish'd it, they willingly would
come.
Their toil and teen through gladness forgot they all and some.
Siegfried bade all be seated, and viands of the best,
And in full abundance,
be brought to every guest.
XXXIV
Nine days in mirth and feasting the envoys needs must stay.
At length the active warriors could brook no more delay.
Again would they
ride homeward; on that their minds were bent
In th' interval King Siegfried
for his friends had sent.
XXXV
He ask'd them what they counsel'd; he needs must to the
Rhine;
"I bidden am by Gunther that dear friend of mine.
At a high feast
my presence he and his kinsmen pray.
Fain would I ride thither, were't not so
far away.
XXXVI
"They beg moreover, Kriemhild the journey too may share.
Now, my good friends, advise me; what's best to do, declare.
Should they for
them request me to harry thirty lands,
Well they such warlike service might
claim at Siegfried's hands."
XXXVII
Thereto his knights thus answer'd, "As you desire to speed,
If you this feast will visit, hearken to our rede.
Take of your best warriors
a thousand by your side.
So 'midst the bold Burgundians in honor you'll
abide."
XXXVIII
Then spake the lord of Netherland, Siegmund the frank and
free,
"If you're for this high festal, why say not so to me?
I, if it not
displease you, will with you to the Rhine,
And bring, to swell your squadron,
a hundred knights of mine."123
XXXIX
"Will you too journey with us, my father ever dear?"
Exclaim'd the bold Sir Siegfried; "it glads me this to hear.
Within twelve
days at furthest we'll wend upon our way."
To all, who ask'd, then gave he
good steeds and garments gay.
XL
When now to take the journey fix'd was the king's design,
He
bade the knights of Gunther ride back unto the Rhine,
And sent by them a
message to Kriemhild's kinsmen there,
That to the feast, they purpos'd, full
fain would he repair.
XLI
Siegfried and Kriemhild (so says the tale) bestow'd
More
gifts upon the envoys, than o'er such length of road
Their horses home could
carry; a wealthy man was he.
They drove their strong-back'd sumpters merrily
o'er the lea.
XLII
Siegfried and eke Siegmund their people cloth'd anew;
Eckewart the Margrave all Siegfried's country through
Bade seek out women's
raiment, whate'er was stored in chest
Or could be bought for money, the
choicest and the best.
XLIII
Rich saddles were made ready, and shields of glittering
pride.
To the knights and ladies, that should with Siegfried ride,
Whate'er they wish'd was granted; none wanted there for ought.
To his friends
in Rhineland many a lordly guest he brought.
XLIV
Meanwhile homeward speeding prick'd the envoys fast.
Back
came the noble Gary to Burgundy at last.
He met with hearty welcome; straight
they dismounted all
From war-horse and from palfrey before King Gunther's
hall.124
XLV
Old and young (as the use is) ran up from every side,
And
ask'd what news they brought them? the noble knights replied,
"When I the
king have told it, 'twill spread to all around."
Then went he with his
comrades to where the king he found.
XLVI
From sheer pleasure Gunther started from his seat
At the
happy tidings; that they had come so fleet,
Much thanks had they from
Brunhild. Gunther straight begun,
"How fares it with Siegfried, who so much
for me has done?"
XLVII
"To hear of you," said Gary, "he redden'd with delight,
Both
he, and eke your sister; never living wight
Sent his friends a message so
tender and so true,
As by me Sir Siegfried and his father have to
you."
Then to the valiant margrave the noble queen 'gan say,
"Tell
me, is Kriemhild coming? does still her form display
The beauty and soft
graces, she well to foster knew?"
The good knight, Gary, answer'd, "She's
surely coming too."
XLIX
Then before Dame Uta the messengers were brought;
Well
without her asking could Gary guess her thought,
So, ere she put the
question, "How did Kriemhild fare?"
He said, how he had found her, and that
she'd soon be there.
L
Of all the gorgeous presents nothing was left untold,
Given
them by good Sir Siegfried; the raiment and the gold,
That the three
brethren's lieges might view them forth were laid.
With thanks the gracious
giver was by them all repaid.125
LI
"Ay! of his own," said Hagan, "full lightly he may give;
'Tis past his power to spend it, should he forever live.
The Nibelungers'
treasure holds he by strength of hand.
Ah! would it were brought hither to
our Burgundian land!"
LII
The court, both knights and ladies, were all with joy elate
To hear that they were coming. Early forthwith and late
The friends of the
three brethren were busied every man;
Seats with sumptuous trappings to raise
they straight began.
LIII
Hunolt and eke Sindolt, the hardy knights and true,
Had not
a moment's leisure; full work had they to do
The while, as sewer and butler,
and many a bench to raise.
Ortwine for th' aid he gave them had Gunther's
thanks and praise.
Sore toil'd the chief cook, Rumolt; ah! how his orders ran
Among his understrappers! how many a pot and pan,
How many a mighty cauldron
rattled and rang again!
They dress'd a world of dishes for all th' expected
train.
LV
Nor less was then the labor to the fair ladies known,
As
they prepar'd their garments; many a precious stone
They set in gold
far-beaming, and glitter'd both so bright,
And with such grace they wore
them, as ravish'd every sight.126
I
Now we awhile must leave them on household toils intent,
And
tell how Lady Kriemhild and her maidens went
From the Nibelungers' country to
the Rhine's fair shore.
Such plenty of rich vesture never sumpters
bore.
Dispatch'd were travelling cases well fraught with precious
load;
Then with his queen and comrades Sir Siegfried forward rode.
Her
heart with pleasure's promise was ready to o'erflow;
All was chang'd
thereafter to wail and mortal woe.
III
At home, since so it needed, they left their infant heir,
The son that valiant Siegfried begot on Kriemhild fair.
To the poor boy
misfortune that fatal journey bore;
His father and his mother saw he never
more.
IV
And with them good Sir Siegmund prick'd forth in merry
mood.
Had he but once foreboded the woes that thence ensued,
At that
disastrous festal he ne'er had sat a guest,
Ne'er had he seen the ruin of
those he loved the best.
V
Dispatch'd before were couriers to say they were at hand
Straight rode out to meet them a royal vested band,
Many a friend of Uta's,
of Gunther's many a knight.
The host himself was stirring to welcome them
aright.
VI
Forthwith he sought out Brunhild, where sat the stately
dame.
"How did my sister greet you when first you hither came?
So greet
the wife of Siegfried, take care to fail in nought."
"So will I," said she,
"gladly; I love her as I ought."127
VII
"To-morrow they'll be with us," said he, "by early day,
So,
if you mean to greet them, be stirring while you may.
We must not, sure, be
lurking within the castle here.
Never had I the fortune to welcome guests so
dear."
VIII
She bade her dames and damsels look out their choicest
vests,
The same they wore at festals before high-honor'd guests,
Such were
to be expected with to-morrow's sun,
I need not say her bidding right
willingly was done.
IX
Then too, to do their service the men of Gunther sped.
With
him all his warriors the host in squadron led.
Next the queen came pacing
full royally array'd.
To guests belov'd so dearly was goodliest welcome
made.
X
With what joy and gladness welcom'd were they there!
It
seem'd, when came Dame Brunhild to Burgundy whilere,
Her welcome by Dame
Kriemhild less tender was and true;
The heart of each beholder beat higher at
the view.
XI
Now too was come Sir Siegfried with all his men around.
You
might see the warriors careering o'er the ground,
Now hither and now thither,
with fire-sparkling hoof.
From the dust and tumult none could keep
aloof.
XII
When Siegfried and eke Siegmund met King Gunther's eyes,
The
host both son and father bespoke in loving wise.
"To me you are right
welcome, to all my friends as dear.
It is our pride and pleasure as guests to
have you here."
XIII
"Now God you quit!" said Siegmund, the grave and reverend
man;
"Ever since my Siegfried you for his comrade wan,
My wish had it been
always to see you and to know."
"Right glad I am," said Gunther, "it now has
happen'd so."128
XIV
Receiv'd was bold Sir Siegfried, as fitted well his state,
With the highest honors; no man bore him hate.
Young Giselher and Gernot
proffer'd all courtly care;
Never met friend or kinsman reception half so
fair.
XV
Now either king's fair consort nigh to the other came;
Emptied were store of saddles; many a smiling dame
To the grass by stalwart
champions down was lifted light.
In the ladies' service how busy was many a
knight!
XVI
And now the lovely ladies each to the other went.
Thereat
was many a chieftain full well at heart content,
When both a welcome offer'd
so friendly and so fair.
Meanwhile the warriors ceas'd not to tend the ladies
there.
XVII
Chieftain now to chieftain held out the cordial hand;
Low
bows were made in plenty by either courtly band.
Amongst the high-born ladies
pass'd many a loving kiss.
Both Gunther's men and Siegfried's were fain to
look on this.
XVIII
They linger'd there no longer, but toward the city rode.
To
his guests King Gunther by every action show'd
How welcome was their presence
to all in Burgundy.
Young knights before young maidens ran tilting
joyously.
XIX
The power of mighty Hagan and eke of bold Ortwine
Well there
might each beholder from what he saw divine.
Whate'er they pleas'd to order,
from all obedience won;
To the lov'd guests by either was courtly service
done.
XX
The shields they clang'd and clatter'd before the castle
gate
With fencing and with foining; long time had there to wait
His guests
and good King Gunther ere they could enter in.
They pass'd the time right
joyous amidst the press and din.129
XXI
So to the spacious palace on rode they merrily.
You might
see rich foot-cloths, well cut and artfully,
Down hang from o'er the saddle
of many a high-born dame.
Forward to receive them King Gunther's servants
came.
Then to their several chambers the guests were led aside.
From time to time Queen Brunhild with searching glances eyed
The
love-enkindling Kriemhild; lovely she was indeed;
Her hue the gold
outsparkled that glitter'd in her weed.
At Worms through all the city rang the mirthsome shout
Of
the rejoicing followers; Gunther the noisy rout
Commended to his marshal, and
bade him treat them fair;
Dankwart sought out good quarters and fitly lodg'd
them there.
XXIV
Without, within, was feasting; unbounded was the store.
Sure
stranger guests were never treated so well before.
It only needed asking, and
all was straight supplied;
So rich a king was Gunther that nothing was
denied.
XXV
With friendly zeal they serv'd them, with hearts devoid of
hate;
Amidst his guests at table the host exulting sate.
To sit was bidden
Siegfried where he of yore had done.
With him strode to the banquet proud
warriors many a one.
XXVI
Twelve hundred stalwart champions in circle there were seen
With him at table sitting; Brunhild, the watchful queen,
Thought to herself,
no vassal could ever wealthier be.
Still him she so far favor'd, that from
harm she left him free.
All that feastful evening, as sat the king to dine,
Store of
the richest vesture was wetted by the wine,
That in hasty hurry the butlers
ever pour'd.
Sore toil'd they in their service at that o'ercrowded
board.130
XXVIII
Then, as is still the custom at each well-order'd feast,
To
rest the dames and damsels were in good time releas'd.
All guests with gifts
and honors, from whenceso'er they came,
The noble host entreated as well
beseem'd his fame.
XXIX
When now the night was over, and reappear'd the dawn,
By the
fair hands of ladies was many a jewel drawn,
Sparkling in goodly raiment,
from many a travelling chest,
And out was sought and hurried many a lordly
vest.
XXX
Ere 'twas full day, came flocking the palace hall around
Knights and squires in plenty; then arose the sound
Of matins sung to
Gunther, and, when this was done,
So well rode youthful warriors, that the
king's thanks they won.
XXXI
Shrill fifes and loud-voic'd clarions and blaring
trumpet-clang
Mix'd with the shouts of thousands, that all the city rang,
And through the startled welkin th' alarum spread around.
Proud knights on
strong-hoof'd chargers rode thund'ring o'er the ground.
At once without the city a tourney they began.
There his
career exulting many a young warrior ran,
Whom his fresh boiling courage
impell'd to honor's field.
Many a knight of prowess was there seen under
shield.
XXXIII
Many a stately matron and many a smiling maid
Sat at the
castle windows in costly robes array'd,
And look'd on while the warriors
display'd their skill and force;
The good host with his comrades himself
would run a course.
XXXIV
The time seem'd not to linger, so merrily it pass'd.
Pealing
from the minster they heard the bells at last.
Then up were led the palfreys;
forth rode each lady bright;
The noble queens were follow'd by many a valiant
knight.131
XXXV
Down before the minster they lighted on the green.
Still to
her guests was gracious King Gunther's haughty queen.
Both crown'd, into the
minster they stepp'd with royal state.
Too soon their love was sunder'd and
all through jealous hate!
XXXVI
Soon as the mass was over, with regal pomp and pride
Thence
came they to the palace, and straight exulting hied
To the joyous banquet,
and neither stop nor stay
Was put to the high festal until th' eleventh
day.
XXXVII
Then thought Queen Brunhild, "Silent no longer I'll remain.
Howe'er to pass I bring it, Kriemhild shall explain,
Wherefore so long her
husband, who holds of us in fee,
Has left undone his service; this sure shall
answer'd be."
XXXVIII
So still she brooded mischief, and conn'd her devil's lore,
Till she broke off in sorrow the feast so blithe before.
Ever at her heart
lay closely what came perforce to light.
Many a land she startled with horror
and affright.
I
One day at th' hour of vespers a loud alarum rose
From
certain lusty champions that for their pastime chose
To prove themselves at
tilting in the castle court;
Then many a knight and lady ran thither to see
the sport.
II
There were the proud queens sitting together, as befell,
Each on a good knight thinking that either lov'd full well.
Then thus began
fair Kriemhild, "My husband's of such might,
That surely o'er these kingdoms
he ought to rule by right."132
III
Then answer'd Lady Brunhild, "Nay, how can that be shown?
Were there none other living but thou and he alone,
Then might, no doubt, the
kingdoms be rul'd by him and thee,
But, long as Gunther's living, that sure
can never be."
Thereto rejoin'd fair Kriemhild, "See'st thou how proud he
stands,
How proud he stalks, conspicuous among those warrior bands,
As
doth the moon far-beaming the glimmering stars outshine?
Sure have I cause to
pride me when such a knight is mine."
V
Thereto replied Queen Brunhild, "How brave soe'er he be,
How
stout soe'er or stately, one greater is than he.
Gunther, thy noble brother,
a higher place may claim,
Of knights and kings the foremost in merit and in
fame."
VI
Thereto rejoin'd fair Kriemhild, "So worthy is my mate,
All
praise that I can give him can ne'er be term'd too great.
In all he does how
matchless? in honor too how clear!
Believ'st thou this, Queen Brunhild? at
least he's Gunther's peer."
VII
"Thou should'st not so perversely, Kriemhild, my meaning
take.
What I said, assure thee, with ample cause I spake.
I heard them
both allow it, then when both first I saw,
And the stout king in battle
compell'd me to his law.
VIII
"E'en then, when my affection he so knightly won,
'Twas
fairly own'd by Siegfried that he was Gunther's man.
Myself I heard him own
it, and such I hold him still."
"Forsooth," replied fair Kriemhild, "they
must have used me ill.133
IX
"How could my noble brethren their power have so applied,
As
to make me, their sister, a lowly vassal's bride?
For manners' sake then,
Brunhild, this idle talk give o'er,
And, by our common friendship, let me
hear no more."
X
"Give o'er will I never," the queen replied again;
"Shall I
renounce the service of all the knightly train
That hold of him, our vassal,
and are our vassals too?"
Into sudden anger at this fair Kriemhild
flew.
XI
"Ay! but thou must renounce it, for never will he grace
Thee
with his vassal service: he fills a higher place
Than e'en my brother
Gunther, noble though be his strain.
Henceforth thou should'st be wiser, nor
hold such talk again.
XII
"I wonder, too, since Siegfried thy vassal is by right,
Since both of us thou rulest with so much power and might,
Why to thee his
service so long he has denied.
Nay! I can brook no longer thy insolence and
pride."
XIII
"Thyself too high thou bearest," Brunhild answer made;
"Fain
would I see this instant whether to thee be paid
Public respect and honor
such as waits on me."
Then both the dames with anger lowering you might
see.
XIV
"So shall it be," said Kriemhild, "to meet thee I'm
prepar'd
Since thou my noble husband a vassal hast declar'd,
By the men of
both our consorts to-day it shall be seen,
That I the church dare enter
before King Gunther's queen.
XV
"To-day by proof thou'lt witness, what lofty birth is mine,
And that my noble husband worthier is than thine;
Nor for this with
presumption shall I be tax'd I trow;
To-day thou'lt see moreover thy lowly
vassal go134
XVI
"To court before the warriors here in Burgundy.
Assure thee,
thou'lt behold me honor'd more royally
Than the proudest princess that ever
here wore crown."
The dames their spite attested with many a scowl and
frown.
XVII
"Since thou wilt be no vassal," Brunhild rejoin'd again,
"Then thou with thy women must apart remain
From my dames and damsels, as to
the church we go."
Thereto Kriemhild answer'd, "Trust me it shall be
so.
XVIII
"Array ye now, my maidens," said Siegfried's haughty dame,
"You must not let your mistress here be put to shame.
That you have gorgeous
raiment make plain to every eye.
What she has just asserted, she soon shall
fain deny."
XIX
They needed not much bidding; all sought out their best;
Matrons alike and maidens each donn'd a glittering vest.
Queen Brunhild with
her meiny was now upon her way.
By this was deck'd fair Kriemhild in royal
rich array,
XX
With three and forty maidens, whom she to Rhine had
brought;
Bright stuffs were their apparel in far Arabia wrought.
So
towards the minster march'd the maidens fair;
All the men of Siegfried were
waiting for them there.
XXI
Strange thought it each beholder, what there by all was
seen,
How with their trains far-sunder'd pass'd either noble queen,
Not
walking both together as was their wont before,
Full many a prowest warrior
thereafter rued it sore.
XXII
Now before the minster the wife of Gunther stood;
Meanwhile
by way of pastime many a warrior good
Held light and pleasant converse with
many a smiling dame;
When up the lovely Kriemhild with her radiant meiny
came.135
All that the noblest maiden had ever donn'd before
Was as
wind to the splendor her dazzling ladies wore.
So rich her own apparel in
gold and precious things,
She alone might out-glitter the wives of thirty
kings.
XXIV
Howe'er he might be willing, yet none could dare deny
That
such resplendent vesture never met mortal eye
As on that fair retinue then
sparkled to the sun.
Except to anger Brunhild, Kriemhild had not so
done.
XXV
Both met before the minster in all the people's sight;
There
at once the hostess let out her deadly spite.
Bitterly and proudly she bade
fair Kriemhild stand;
"No vassalless precedeth the lady of the land."
XXVI
Out then spake fair Kriemhild (full of wrath was she),
"Could'st thou still be silent, better 'twere for thee.
Thou'st made thy
beauteous body a dishonor'd thing.
How can a vassal's leman be consort of a
king?"
XXVII
"Whom here call'st thou leman?" said the queen again;
"So
call I thee," said Kriemhild; "thy maidenly disdain
Yielded first to
Siegfried, my husband, Siegmund's son;
Ay! 'was not my brother that first thy
favors won.
XXVIII
"Why, where were then thy senses? sure 'twas a crafty
train,
To take a lowly lover, to ease a vassal's pain!
Complaints from
thee," said Kriemhild, "methinks are much amiss."
"Verily," said Brunhild,
"Gunther shall hear of this."
XXIX
"And why should that disturb me? thy pride hath thee
betray'd.
Why didst thou me, thy equal, with vassalship upbraid?
Know this
for sure and certain (to speak it gives me pain)
Never can I meet thee in
cordial love again."
Then bitterly wept Brunhild; Kriemhild no longer stay'd;
Straight with all her followers before the queen she made
Her way into the
minster; then deadly hate 'gan rise;
And starting tears o'erclouded the shine
of brightest eyes.
XXXI
For all the solemn service, for all the chanted song,
Still
it seemed to Brunhild they linger'd all too long.
Both on her mind and body a
load like lead there lay.
Many a high-born hero for her sorrow was to
pay.
XXXII
Brunhild stopp'd with her ladies without the minster door.
Thought she, "This wordy woman shall tell me something more
Of her charge
against me spread so loud and rife.
If he has but so boasted, let him look to
his life!"
XXXIII
Now came the noble Kriemhild begirt with many a knight;
Then
spake the noble Brunhild, "Stop and do me right.
You've voic'd me for a
wanton; prove it ere you go.
You and your foul speeches have wrought me pain
and woe."
XXXIV
Then spake the Lady Kriemhild, "'Twere wiser to forbear;
E'en with the gold I'll prove it that on my hand I wear;
'Twas this that
Siegfried brought me from where by you he lay."
Never liv'd Queen Brunhild so
sorrowful a day.
XXXV
Said she, "That ring was stolen from me who held it dear,
And mischievously hidden has since been many a year.
But now I've met with
something by which the thief to guess."
Both the dames were frenzied with
passion masterless.
XXXVI
"Thief?" made answer Kriemhild, "I will not brook the name.
Thou would'st have kept silence, hadst thou a sense of shame.
By the girdle
here about me prove full well I can
That I am ne'er a liar; Siegfried was
indeed thy man."
XXXVII
'Twas of silk of Nineveh the girdle that she brought,
With
precious stones well garnish'd; a better ne'er was wrought;
When Brunhild but
beheld it, her tears she could not hold.
The tale must needs to Gunther and
all his men be told.
XXXVIII
Then outspake Queen Brunhild; "Go some one straight and
call
Hither the Prince of Rhineland; sure will I tell him all,
What infamy
his sister has forc'd me to endure,
And how his wife she voices for
Siegfried's paramour."
XXXIX
The king with his chieftains up came hastily;
There saw he
his beloved weeping bitterly.
"Dearest heart!" soft said he, "who has serv'd
you so?"
With many a sob she answer'd, "Deep cause have I for woe.
"Of my good name and honor than life more dear would fain
Thy cruel sister rob me; to thee I needs must plain.
She says her husband
Siegfried my virgin favors won."
Thereto replied King Gunther, "Then she foul
wrong has done."
"Besides, my long-lost girdle she weareth as in scorn,
My
gold adorns her finger;—would I had ne'er been born!
Is not all this an
outrage to sting and wound me sore?
King! if thou dost not clear me, I'll
never love thee more."
XLII
Thereto return'd King Gunther, "I will do no less;
If
Siegfried so has boasted, he shall the same confess,
Or frankly disavow it."
Then turn'd he to his band,
And bade them summon forthwith the Chief of
Netherland.
XLIII
No sooner had Sir Siegfried seen them so ill appaid
(He knew
not what had happen'd), suddenly he said,
"Why are these women weeping? the
cause, I pray you, show,
And why I'm hither summon'd, I should be glad to
know."
XLIV
Thereto replied King Gunther, "With anguish I'm oppress'd.
My wife has told me something that's poison in my breast.
She says, thou hast
been boasting her virgin love to have won;
So thy wife Kriemhild told her.
Hast thou, Sir Knight, so done?"
XLV
"Not I," made answer Siegfried, "and if she so did say,
Ere
I rest, she surely shall for her folly pay,
And before all thy liegemen my
solemn oath I'll take,
That not to her nor others such words I ever
spake."
XLVI
Then said the King of Rhineland, "Make this at once appear;
The oath, which thou hast proffer'd, take before us here,
And of all idle
charges at once I'll set thee free."
In circle the Burgundians all standing
you might see.
XLVII
Straight the noble Siegfried swore with uplifted hand,
"'Tis
enough," said Gunther, "so well I understand
Thy innocence, that freely all
doubts I here remit,
My sister did accuse thee, and I with joy
acquit."
XLVIII
Then answer'd noble Siegfried, "If it avail her aught
To
have griev'd thy gentle consort, and set her thus at naught,
Such gain of
her's assure thee, I deeply shall lament."
Then the bold knights fix'd
glances each on the other bent.
XLIX
"Women must be instructed," said Siegfried the good knight,
"To leave off idle talking, and rule their tongues aright.
Keep thy fair wife
in order, I'll do by mine the same.
Such overweening folly puts me indeed to
shame."
Hasty words have often sunder'd fair dames before.
Then went
on sad Brunhild to weep and wail so sore,
That Gunther's warriors could not
but pity such deep grief.
Then to his sovran lady came Hagan, Trony's
chief.
LI
He ask'd her, what had happen'd—wherefore he saw her weep
She told him all the story; he vow'd to her full deep,
That reap should
Kriemhild's husband as he had dar'd to sow,
Or that himself thereafter
content should never know.
LII
Ortwine of Metz and Gernot both came to the debate,
Where
the collected chieftains advis'd on Siegfried's fate.
Fair Uta's son, young
Giselher, alike the council sought;
He, when he heard the question, thus
spoke his honest thought.
LIII
"Ye good knights and noble, why would you do this?
Never
sure has Siegfried done so much amiss,
Or merited such hatred, that he should
lose his life.
Sure 'tis but a trifle to stir an angry wife."
LIV
"Shall we bring up bastards?" said Hagan furiously;
"That
were little honor for knights of our degree.
He hath slander'd my dear lady
in his boastful fit.
Die will I in this quarrel, or his life shall answer
it."
LV
Then spake himself King Gunther, "Naught has he done but
give
To us all love and honor; we needs must let him live.
How can it be
fitting that I should do him ill?
True was he to us ever alike in deed and
will."
LVI
The Knight of Metz in answer, Ortwine, then sternly said,
"That strength of his, so matchless, shall stand him in no stead.
Let but my
lord permit me, myself will do the deed."
Against him then the chieftains
unrighteous doom decreed.
LVII
None urged the matter further, except that Hagan still,
Kept
ever prompting Gunther the guiltless blood to spill;
Saying, that, if
Siegfried perish'd, his death to him would bring
The sway o'er many a
kingdom. Sore mourn'd the wavering king.
LVIII
Still shrunk they from performance; fair sports meanwhile were
plied.
Ah! what spears were shiver'd between the palace wide
And the lofty
minster Siegfried's fair dame before!
This with angry murmurs the men of
Gunther bore.
LIX
Then said the king, "Ye warriors, refrain your murderous
hate;
Born was he for the safety and honor of our state.
Besides, so stout
of body is he, and so strong of hand;
That, should he come to know it, none
durst his fury stand."
LX
"Nay, my good lord," said Hagan, "take comfort and good
cheer.
The weeping of fair Brunhild, be sure, shall cost him dear.
Trust
to my secret practice to guide this matter right.
Ever shall he find in Hagan
a fatal opposite."
LXI
Thereto replied King Gunther, "But how can this befall?"
To
him straight answer'd Hagan, "List, and I'll tell you all.
Let messengers
ride hither, whom here no person knows,
And bid you open battle as if from
foreign foes.
LXII
"Before your guests make public, that you and all your men
Must forthwith hence to battle; he will not dally then,
But proffer you his
service, and thus will lose his life;
I'll worm us out his secret from his
loquacious wife."
LXIII
The king took to his ruin, th' advice his liegeman gave.
The
chiefs their horrid treason 'gainst th' innocent and brave
Carried with such
close practice, that none the train could spy.
Thus brought two women's
quarrel many a good knight to die.
I
From thence 'twas the fourth morning, when two and thirty
men
To the court came riding; 'twas told King Gunther then,
That him and
his Burgundians their task was to defy.
Woe were the fearful women from this
foul-framed lie.
II
At once they got permission before the king to go,
And told
him that from Ludeger they came, his former foe,
Of old o'ercome in battle by
Siegfried's conquering hand,
And brought by him a captive into Gunther's
land.
III
The messengers he greeted and each bade choose a seat.
Then
one among them answer'd "To stand, my lord, is meet,
Till we have told our
message, and all our duty done.
Know, that you have for foemen many a
mother's son.
IV
"Ludegast and Ludeger you to the death defy,
The kings whom
you entreated so hard in years gone by.
In arms into your country they are
resolv'd to ride."
Full of wrath seem'd Gunther to hear himself
defied.
V
Then were the false pretenders led to guest-chambers fair.
Ah! how could noble Siegfried, or any else beware
The trains of that vile
treason, which, for the guiltless spread,
Soon brought down death and ruin on
each contriver's head?
VI
The king about went whisp'ring with the friends he loved the
best.
Hagan, the knight of Trony, never let him rest.
Many of the king's
companions to stop the treason tried,
But Hagan from his counsel not once
would turn aside.
VII
One day it fell that Siegfried close whisp'ring found the
band,
When thus began to ask them the Knight of Netherland,
"Why creep the
king and chieftains so sorrowful along?
I'll help you to revenge it, if you
have suffer'd wrong."
VIII
"Good cause have I for sorrow," Gunther straight replied,
"Ludegast and Ludeger both have me defied.
With open force they threaten to
ravage all my land."
Then spake the dauntless champion, "Their pride shall
Siegfried's hand,
IX
"Both to your boot and honor, bring lower, and once more
I'll do unto those boasters e'en as I did before.
Ere I end, o'er castles,
o'er lands, o'er all I'll spread
Wide waste and desolation, or fortfeit else
my head.
X
"Do you and your good warriors sit by the chimney side;
With
my knights here about me thither let me ride.
How willingly I serve you, my
acts and deeds shall show,
And every one shall feel it who boasts himself
your foe."
XI
"Ah! how this promise cheers me!" the king dissembling
said,
As though rejoic'd in earnest at that free-proffer'd aid.
Low bow'd
to him the false one with fawning semblance fair.
Then return'd Sir
Siegfried, "Take now no further care."
XII
For the march the Burgundians prepar'd in show the while,
Yet Siegfried and his warriors 'twas done but to beguile.
Then bade he
straight make ready each Netherlandish knight.
They sought out the best
harness and surest arms they might.
XIII
Then spake the valiant Siegfried, "Sir Siegmund, father
mine,
Best tarry here in quiet till we return to Rhine.
Conquest, if God
befriend us, we shortly back shall bring.
Meanwhile live blithe and merry
with our good host the king."
XIV
The flags anon were hoisted, and forward all would fare;
Among the men of Gunther many a one was there
Who knew not his lord's secret,
and thought no treachery.
There might you see with Siegfried a mighty
company.
XV
Their helms and eke their mailcoats upon their steeds were
tied.
Many a knight of prowess ready was to ride.
Then Hagan, Lord of
Trony, as had before been plann'd,
Went to take leave of Kriemhild ere yet
they left the land.
XVI
"Ah! well is me," said Kriemhild, "that I've a lord who
lends
Such firm assistance ever to back my dearest friends,
As now does my
brave Siegfried for my brethren's sake;
Therefore," said the fair lady, "good
courage will I take.
XVII
"My good friend, Sir Hagan, bear in remembrance still
How
much I love my kinsmen, nor ever wish'd them ill.
For this requite my
husband, nor let me vainly long;
He should not pay the forfeit, if I did
Brunhild wrong.
"My fault," pursued she sadly, "good cause had I to rue.
For
it I have far'd badly; he beat me black and blue;
Such mischief-making tattle
his patience could not brook,
And for it ample vengeance on my poor limbs he
took."
XIX
"You'll be friends together," said he, "some other day.
But,
Kriemhild, my dear lady, tell me now, I pray,
At my hands to your husband
what service can be done,
Fain would I do it, lady, better love I
none."
XX
The noble dame made answer, "Fear should I not at all,
That
by the sword of any my lord in fight would fall,
But that he rashly follows
his fiery martial mood.
Else could no harm befall him the noble knight and
good."
XXI
"Lady," then answer'd Hagan, "since thus you harbor fear
Lest hostile force should slay him, let me yet further hear,
What best may
serve our purpose the warrior to defend.
On foot, on horse, I'll watch him,
his guardian and his friend."
XXII
Said she, "Thou art my cousin, and I alike am thine;
To thy
good faith commend I this dearest lord of mine.
That thou wilt tend his
welfare, assurance firm I hold."
Then told she him the secret far better left
untold.
XXIII
Said she, "My husband's daring, and thereto stout of limb
Of
old, when on the mountain he slew the dragon grim,
In its blood he bath'd
him, and thence no more can feel
In his charmed person the deadly dint of
steel.
"Still am I ever anxious, whene'er in fight he stands,
And
keen-edg'd darts are hailing from strong heroic hands,
Lest I by one should
lose him, my own beloved make.
Ah! how my heart is beating still for my
Siegfried's sake!
XXV
"So now I'll tell the secret, dear friend, alone to thee
(For thou, I doubt not, cousin, will keep thy faith with me),
Where sword may
pierce my darling, and death sit on the thrust.
See, in thy truth and honor
how full, how firm my trust!
XXVI
"As from the dragon's death-wounds gush'd out the crimson
gore,
With the smoking torrent the warrior wash'd him o'er.
A leaf then
'twixt his shoulders fell from the linden bough.
There only steel can harm
him; for that I tremble now."
XXVII
Then said the Chief of Trony, "A little token sew
Upon his
outer garment; thus shall I surer know
The spot that needs protection as in
the fight we stand."
She thought his life to lengthen, the while his death
was plann'd.
XXVIII
Said she, "Upon his vesture with a fine silken thread
I'll
sew a secret crosslet; by this small token led
Thy hand shall guard my
husband, as through the press he goes,
And in the shock of battle confronts
his swarming foes."
XXIX
"So will I do," said Hagan, "my honor'd lady dear."
She
thought her lord to profit, and keep from danger clear,
But all she did to
aid him serv'd but to betray.
Leave then took Sir Hagan, and joyous strode
away.
XXX
What he had learn'd from Kriemhild his lord then bade him
show
"Put off this march," said Hagan, "and let us hunting go;
Now have I
all the secret; now in my hand is he;
Could you but contrive it?" "For that,"
said Gunther, "trust to me."
XXXI
The false king and his courtiers to hear his words were
fain.
I ween, so base a treason knight ne'er will do again,
As then was
done by Hagan, when to his faith for aid
So fair a lady trusted, and so
foully was betrayed.
XXXII
Next morning on his journey in haste Sir Siegfried sped.
Of
his men a thousand merrily he led.
He thought his foes to punish who had his
friends defied.
Next him rode Sir Hagan, and close his vesture eyed.
XXXIII
Soon as the mark he noted, he bade in secret go
Two of his
men some distance, and come as from the foe,
Saying, that only friendship to
Burgundy was meant,
And that they to King Gunther from Ludeger were
sent.
XXXIV
How then it irk'd Sir Siegfried to turn at once the rein,
Ere he in his friend's quarrel had battled once again!
Scarce could the men
of Gunther divert him from his way.
So to the king back rode he, who thus his
thanks 'gan pay.
XXXV
"Now God requite you, Siegfried, of all my friends the
best!
Since you are always ready to do what I request,
I'll ever do my
utmost to merit such good will.
Many are the friends I trust in, but you're
the surest still.
"Now that we're free from foemen, and in firm peace abide,
Hence to the Wask forest a-hunting let us ride,
To chase the bears and wild
swine, as oft I've done of yore."
The faithless, murderous Hagan had
counsell'd this before.
XXXVII
"To all my guests and kinsmen it straight announc'd shall
be,
I mean to start full early; whoe'er would ride with me,
Must forthwith
make him ready; whoe'er would here abide,
Let him amuse the ladies; with both
I'm satisfied."
XXXVIII
Then courteously made answer Siegfried the stout and
strong,
"If you're inclined for hunting, gladly will I along.
So lend me
but a huntsman and a good brach or two,
And I into the forest will find my
way like you."
XXXIX
"If one will not suffice you," the fraudful king replied,
"I'll lend you four good huntsmen, who know the forest wide,
And every track
soever where the wild beasts roam.
You'll never, with their guidance, come
empty-handed home."
XL
Thence to his gentle lady rode off the warrior bold.
Quick
to the king had Hagan the baleful tidings told,
How he would surely trap him,
the champion frank and free.
Never was such foul treason, nor ever more will
be.
XLI
When now was laid the death-plot by that base traitor pair,
The rest then all consented. Gernot and Giselher
Neither would join the
hunting; I know not through what fear
Or spite they warn'd not Siegfried;
soon paid they for it dear.
Gunther and Hagan, the warriors fierce and bold,
To execute
their treason, resolv'd to scour the wold,
The bear, the boar, the wild bull,
by hill or dale or fen,
To hunt with keen-edg'd javelins; what fitter sport
for valiant men?
II
In lordly pomp rode with them Siegfried the champion
strong.
Good store of costly viands they brought with them along.
Anon by
a cool runnel he lost his guiltless life.
'Twas so devis'd by Brunhild, King
Gunther's moody wife.
III
But first he sought the chamber where he his lady found.
He
and his friends already had on the sumpters bound
Their gorgeous hunting
raiment; they o'er the Rhine would go.
Never before was Kriemhild sunk so
deep in woe.
IV
On her mouth of roses he kiss'd his lady dear;
"God grant
me, dame, returning in health to see thee here;
So may those eyes see me,
too; meanwhile be blithe and gay
Among the gentle kinsmen; I must hence
away."
V
Then thought she on the secret (the truth she durst not
tell)
How she had told it Hagan; then the poor lady fell
To wailing and
lamenting that ever she was born.
Then wept she without measure, sobbing and
sorrow-worn.
VI
She thus bespake her husband, "Give up that chase of thine.
I dreamt last night of evil, how two fierce forest swine
Over the heath
pursued thee; the flowers turn'd bloody red.
I cannot help thus weeping; I'm
chill'd with mortal dread.
VII
"I fear some secret treason, and cannot lose thee hence,
Lest malice should be borne thee for misconceiv'd offence.
Stay, my beloved
Siegfried, take not my words amiss.
'Tis the true love I bear thee that bids
me counsel this."
VIII
"Back shall I be shortly, my own beloved mate.
Not a soul in
Rhineland know I, who bears me hate.
I'm well with all thy kinsmen; they're
all my firm allies;
Nor have I from any e'er deserved otherwise."
IX
"Nay! do not, dearest Siegfried! 'tis e'en thy death I
dread.
Last night I dreamt, two mountains fell thundering on thy head,
And
I no more beheld thee; if thou from me wilt go,
My heart will sure be
breaking with bitterness of woe."
X
Round her peerless body his clasping arms he threw.
Lovingly
he kiss'd her, that faithful wife and true;
Then took his leave, and
parted;—in a moment all was o'er—
Living, alas poor lady! she saw him never
more.
XI
Then rode they thence, and hasten'd to a wildering forest
drear.
Many a bold knight, on pastime intent and merry cheer,
In the train
of Gunther and Siegfried took his way.
Stout Gernot and young Giselher at
home preferr'd to stay.
XII
Many a well-laden sumpter before them cross'd the Rhine,
That for the fellow-hunters carried bread and wine.
And flesh and fish in
plenty, with every dainty thing
That might become the table of such a mighty
king.
XIII
Their course the noble hunters check'd in an open glade,
Where the wild beasts, that haunted the neighboring greenwood shade,
Pass'd
to and fro by custom; the hunt they here would hold.
Thither at length came
Siegfried; straight to the king 'twas told.
XIV
Now every path and outlet the huntsmen had beset,
When thus
bespake Sir Siegfried the chiefs who there were met.
"Ye bold and dauntless
warriors! who will the honor claim
To enter first the forest, and bring us to
the game?"
XV
"Ere we begin our pastime," Sir Hagan straight replied,
"Here in this glade together, 'twere better first divide.
We then shall see
more clearly, my lords as well as I,
Who's the most cunning sportsman of this
fair company.
XVI
"Let us divide among us the huntsmen and the hounds,
Then
each, where'er he pleases, beat all these woody bounds,
And who excels his
comrades, shall thanks have from the rest."
Not long the hunters linger'd,
but started on their quest.
XVII
Then said the good Sir Siegfried, "I do not need a pack;
One
well-train'd hound will serve me the lurking beasts to track,
And the close
scent to follow through every bush and brake.
We'll now begin our hunting."
So Kriemhild's husband spake.
XVIII
With that an aged huntsman a watchful limehound took,
And
shortly brought the champion into a shady nook,
Where store of beasts were
couching; as each sprung from his lair,
The warriors, like good hunters, fell
on and caught them there.
XIX
All, that the limehound started, anon with mighty hand
Were
slain by noble Siegfried, the Chief of Netherland.
No beast could there
outrun him, so swift his steed could race;
He won from all high praises for
mastery in the chase.
XX
Whatever he attempted, he went the best before.
The first
beast he encounter'd was a fierce half-bred boar.
Him with a mighty
death-stroke he stretch'd upon the ground;
Just after in a thicket a lion
huge he found.
XXI
Him the limehound started; his bow Sir Siegfried drew;
With
a keen-headed arrow he shot the lion through.
But three faint bounds
thereafter the dying monster made.
His wond'ring fellow-huntsmen thanks to
Sir Siegfried paid.
Then one upon another a buffalo, an elk
He slew, four strong
ure-oxen, and last a savage shelk.
No beast, how swift soever, could leave
his steed behind;
Scarcely their speed could profit the flying hart or
hind.
Next the sagacious limer a monstrous wild boar trac'd;
Just
then the master-hunter came sudden up in haste,
And cross'd his path
undaunted as he to fly began.
Straight the churning monster at his opponent
ran.
XXIV
Then forward sprung Sir Siegfried, and with his sword him
slew;
Such feat, I ween, no hunter besides had dared to do.
Then leash'd
they the good limehound, and from the thicket led,
And told all the
Burgundians how Siegfried's chase had sped.
XXV
Then said his merry huntsmen, "Sir Siegfried, be so kind
As
not our wood to empty, but leave some game behind.
There'll else be nothing
living on mountain or on wold."
The champion at their jesting his laughter
scarce could hold.
XXVI
They heard then all about them, throughout those forest
grounds,
Such shouting and such baying of huntsmen and of hounds,
That
hill and wood re-echoed with the wild uproar.
Th' attendants had uncoupled
four and twenty dogs or more.
Then full many a monster was doom'd his last to groan.
They
thought with glad expectance to challenge for their own
The praise for the
best hunting; but lower sunk their pride,
When to the tryst-fire shortly they
saw Sir Siegfried ride.
XXVIII
The hunting now was over for the most part at least;
Game
was brought in plenty and skins of many a beast
To the place of meeting, and
laid the hearth before.
Ah! to the busy kitchen what full supplies they
bore!
XXIX
Then bade Gunther summon the noble hunting crew
To the royal
breakfast; a horn a huntsman blew
That far and wide re-echoed, and told to
all around
That by the tryst-fire ready the king was to be found.
XXX
Said one of Siegfried's huntsmen, "I heard a warning blast,
That thrilling horn assures me our hunting time is past;
We must back to our
fellows; answer it will I."
So through the wood resounding rang question and
reply.
XXXI
Then spake the good Sir Siegfried, "Well! let us leave the
wood."
His courser bore him smoothly, fast prick'd his comrades good.
With
their noise they rous'd a monster, a wild bear fierce and grim.
Said
Siegfried o'er his shoulder to those who follow'd him,
XXXII
"Now, comrades, look for pastime! see you yon thicket
there?
Slip the dog directly; I spy a monstrous bear.
The same shall
instant with us hence to the trysting-place.
To get off in safety swift he
indeed must pace."
XXXIII
Straight they slipp'd the limer; off leapt the bear with
speed;
Sir Siegfried thought to catch him through swiftness of his steed.
He came on fallen timber, so thus it could not be;
Then deem'd himself the
monster from his fierce hunter free.
XXXIV
Down sprang from horse Sir Siegfried, and plied on foot the
chase;
Naught then could aid the monster o'ermaster'd in the race.
Sir
Siegfried strongly seized him, and cast a rope around,
And, ere he once could
wound him, the struggling bear he bound.
XXXV
So fast the warrior bound him, he could nor scratch nor
bite,
Then tied him to the saddle, and after mounted light.
So to the
tryst-fire laughing with his snorting load,
By way of sport and pastime, the
fearless warrior rode.
XXXVI
In his state how lordly thither he came along!
Huge was his
mighty boar-spear, weighty and broad and strong;
To his spur descended the
good sword that he wore;
Of ruddy gold fair glittering a hunting horn he
bore.
XXXVII
Of better hunting-vesture never heard I tell.
His coat of
darkest samite became the warrior well.
His cap of richest sable sat with a
careless grace,
And his death-fraught quiver was bound with many a
lace.
With the skin of a panther the same was cover'd o'er
For its
balmy sweetness; a strong bow too he bore,
Which none but with a windlass
could draw, howe'er he strove,
Unless himself was present at the mark to
rove.
All his outer garment was of a lynx's hide,
From head to
foot with cunning 'twas speckled all and pied.
On either side descending of
the master-hunter bold
From the rich fur there glitter'd many a bright thread
of gold.
Girded he was with Balmung, a broad and mighty blade,
With
such keen cutting edges, that straight its way it made
Where'er it smote on
helmet, and thousands did to die.
'Sooth was the lordly hunter of bearing
proud and high.
XLI
Besides (of this my story to tell you every part)
Fraught
was his splendid quiver with many a dreary dart;
The shaft of each was
gilded, a hand's-breadth was the steel.
'Twas death of those grim arrows a
single wound to feel.
XLII
So stately from the forest rode on the noble knights;
The
men of Gunther mark'd him soon as he came in sight,
And ran, and held his
courser, and gave him tendance fair.
Meanwhile close to the saddle lay bound
the groaning bear.
XLIII
The knight, from horse alighting, soft the band untied
That
bound his paws and muzzle; straight when the bear they spied,
All the pack of
yelpers open'd on him loud.
The beast made for the forest, scattering the
startled crowd.
XLIV
Scared by the din and uproar he through the kitchen rac'd.
Ah! how the cooks and scullions from round the fire he chas'd!
Upset were
pans and kettles, and store of savory hashes,
Roast, boil'd, and stew'd
together were hissing in the ashes.
XLV
From their seats upstarted the lords and all the band;
The
bear flew into fury; straight gave the king command
The hounds to uncouple,
and slip them on the prey.
Had it all thus ended, it had been a merry
day.
XLVI
With bows and mighty boar-spears (no more was quiet there)
Upsprung the light-foot warriors and chas'd the flying bear.
The dogs there
were so many, none dar'd a dart to fling.
With shouting and hallooing they
made the mountains ring.
XLVII
Before the dogs he scamper'd; they follow'd where he led;
But 'twas the swift-foot Siegfried that caught him as he fled.
Once with his
sword he smote him; he wallow'd in his gore.
Back to the scatter'd tryst-fire
his friends the monster bore.
XLVIII
Loud shouted each beholder that 'twas a matchless blow.
Now
the high-born hunters were bidden to table go.
Down in a flowery meadow sat
they right merrily.
Ah! what dainty viands cheer'd that proud
company!
XLIX
Still delay'd the attendants the ruddy wine to pour.
Never
else were warriors better serv'd before.
But for the heinous treason with
which they fram'd their plot,
All that choice band of champions were free
from blame or blot.
L
Then said the noble Siegfried, "I needs must wonder here,
That joyous wine is wanting with such abundant cheer.
When so o'erflows the
kitchen, how is't the cellar's dry?
Treat merry hunters better, or hunt no
more will I.
LI
"I have deserv'd in Rhineland more hospitable care."
Then
answering from the table spoke Gunther false and fair.
"This fault shall soon
be mended, and reason done you first.
For this we may thank Hagan, who makes
us die of thirst."
LII
Then said the Chief of Trony, "My lord and master dear,
I
thought that this day's hunting was not to be held here,
But in the wood of
Spessart, so thither sent the wine.
The like shall never happen again by
fault of mine."
LIII
Then said the Netherlander, "Little thank I such care.
I
look'd for seven good sumpters to mend our thirsty fare
With mead and wine of
spices; if so we could not dine,
Better by far have placed us close beside
the Rhine."
Then spake the Chief of Trony, "Ye noble knights and bold,
I
know just to our wishes a runnel clear and cold
Close by, so be not angry,
but thither let us go."
Th' advice brought many a champion sorrow and mortal
woe.
LV
Yet could not then his danger the death-doom'd hero spy.
Little thought he so foully by seeming friends to die.
His heart knew naught
of falsehood; 'twas open, frank and plain.
For his death dear paid thereafter
who fondly hop'd to gain.
LVI
The noble knight Sir Siegfried with thirst was sore
opprest,
So earlier rose from table, and could no longer rest,
But
straight would to the mountain the running brook to find,
And so advanc'd the
treason his faithless foes design'd.
LVII
Meanwhile were slowly lifted on many a groaning wain
The
beasts in that wild forest by Siegfried's manhood slain.
Each witness gave
him honor, and loud his praises spoke.
Alas! that with him Hagan his faith so
foully broke.
Now when to the broad linden they all would take their way,
Thus spake the fraudful Hagan, "Full oft have I heard say,
That none a match
in swiftness for Kriemhild's lord can be,
Whene'er to race he pleases; would
he grant us this to see?"
LIX
Then spake the Netherlander, Siegfried with open heart,
"Well then! let's make the trial! together we will start
From hence to yonder
runnel; let us at once begin,
And he shall pass for winner who shall be seen
to win."
LX
"Agreed!" said treacherous Hagan, "let us each other try."
Thereto rejoin'd stout Siegfried, "And if you pass me by,
Down at your feet
I'll lay me humbled on the grass."
When these words heard Gunther, what joy
could his surpass?
LXI
Then said the fearless champion, "And this I tell you more,
I'll carry all th' equipment that in the chase I wore,
My spear, my shield,
my vesture—leave will I nothing out."
His sword then and his quiver he girt
him quick about.
King Gunther and Sir Hagan to strip were nothing slow;
Both
for the race stood ready in shirts as white as snow.
Long bounds, like two
wild panthers, o'er the grass they took,
But seen was noble Siegfried before
them at the brook.
LXIII
Whate'er he did, the warrior high o'er his fellows soar'd.
Now laid he down his quiver, and quick ungirt his sword.
Against the
spreading linden he lean'd his mighty spear.
So by the brook stood waiting
the chief without a peer.
In every lofty virtue none with Sir Siegfried vied.
Down he
laid his buckler by the water's side.
For all the thirst that parch'd him,
one drop he never drank
Till the king had finish'd; he had full evil
thank.
LXV
Cool was the little runnel, and sparkled clear as glass.
O'er the rill King Gunther knelt down upon the grass.
When he his draught had
taken he rose and stepp'd aside.
Full fain alike would Siegfried his thirst
have satisfied.
LXVI
Dear paid he for his courtesy; his bow, his matchless
blade,
His weapons all, Sir Hagan far from their lord convey'd,
Then back
sprung to the linden to seize his ashen spear,
And to find out the token
survey'd his vesture near;
LXVII
Then, as to drink Sir Siegfried down kneeling there he
found,
He pierc'd him through the crosslet, that sudden from the wound
Forth the life-blood spouted e'en o'er his murderer's weed.
Never more will
warrior dare so foul a deed.
LXVIII
Between his shoulders sticking he left the deadly spear.
Never before Sir Hagan so fled for ghastly fear,
As from the matchless
champion whom he had butcher'd there.
Soon as was Sir Siegfried of the mortal
wound aware,
LXIX
Up he from the runnel started as he were wood.
Out from
betwixt his shoulders his own huge boar-spear stood.
He thought to find his
quiver or his broadsword true.
The traitor for his treason had then receiv'd
his due.
LXX
But, ah! the deadly wounded nor sword nor quiver found;
His
shield alone beside him lay there upon the ground.
This from the bank he
lifted and straight at Hagan ran;
Him could not then by fleetness escape King
Gunther's man.
LXXI
E'en to the death though wounded, he hurl'd it with such
power,
That the whirling buckler scatter'd wide a shower
Of the most
precious jewels, then straight in shivers broke.
Full gladly had the warrior
ta'en vengeance with that stroke.
LXXII
E'en as it was, his manhood fierce Hagan level'd low.
Loud,
all around, the meadow rang with the wondrous blow.
Had he in hand good
Balmung, the murderer he had slain.
His wound was sore upon him; he writh'd
in mortal pain.
LXXIII
His lively color faded; a cloud came o'er his sight;
He
could stand no longer; melted all his might;
In his paling visage the mark of
death he bore.
Soon many a lovely lady sorrow'd for him sore.
LXXIV
So the lord of Kriemhild among the flowerets fell.
From the
wound fresh gushing his heart's blood fast did well.
Then thus amidst his
tortures, e'en with his failing breath,
The false friends he upbraided who
had contriv'd his death.
LXXV
Thus spake the deadly wounded, "Ay! cowards false as hell!
To you I still was faithful; I serv'd you long and well;—
But what boots
all?—for guerdon treason and death I've won,
By your friends vile traitors!
foully have you done.
LXXVI
"Whoever shall hereafter from your loins be born,
Shall take
from such vile fathers a heritage of scorn.
On me you have wreak'd malice
where gratitude was due.
With shame shall you be banish'd by all good knights
and true."
LXXVII
Thither ran all the warriors where in his blood he lay.
To
many of that party sure 'twas a joyless day.
Whoe'er were true and faithful,
they sorrow'd for his fall.
So much the peerless champion had merited of
all.
LXXVIII
With them the false King Gunther bewept his timeless end.
Then spake the deadly wounded, "Little it boots your friend
Yourself to plot
his murder, and then the deed deplore.
Such is a shameful sorrow; better at
once 'twere o'er."
LXXIX
Then spake the low'ring Hagan, "I know not why you moan.
Our
cares all and suspicions are now for ever flown.
Who now are left, against us
who'll dare to make defence?
Well's me, for all this weeping, that I have rid
him hence."
LXXX
"Small cause hast thou," said Siegfried, "to glory in my
fate.
Had I ween'd, thy friendship cloak'd such murderous hate,
From such
as thou full lightly could I have kept my life.
Now grieve I but for
Kriemhild, my dear, my widow'd wife.
LXXXI
"Now may God take pity, that e'er I had a son,
Who this
reproach must suffer from deed so foully done,
That by his murderous kinsmen
his father thus was slain.
Had I but time to finish, of this I well might
plain.
LXXXII
"Surely so base a murder the world did never see,"
Said he,
and turn'd to Gunther, "as you have done on me.
I sav'd your life and honor
from shame and danger fell,
And thus am I requited by you I serv'd so
well."
LXXXIII
Then further spake the dying, and speaking sigh'd full
deep,
"Oh king! if thou a promise with anyone wilt keep,
Let me in this
last moment thy grace and favor find
For my dear love and lady, the wife I
leave behind.
LXXXIV
"Remember, she's thy sister, yield her a sister's right,
Guard her with faith and honor, as thou'rt a king and knight.
My father and
my followers for me they long must wait,
Comrade ne'er found from comrade so
sorrowful a fate."
LXXXV
In his mortal anguish he writh'd him to and fro,
And then
said, deadly groaning, "This foul and murderous blow
Deep will ye rue
hereafter; this for sure truth retain,
That in slaying Siegfried you
yourselves have slain."
LXXXVI
With blood were all bedabbled the flowerets of the field.
Some time with death he struggled, as though he scorn'd to yield
E'en to the
foe, whose weapon strikes down the loftiest head.
At last prone in the meadow
lay mighty Siegfried dead.
LXXXVII
When now the chiefs were certain that dead was the good
knight,
They laid him on a buckler with gold all richly dight,
Then
counsel took together the general to mislead,
And keep the shameful secret
that Hagan did the deed.
LXXXVIII
Then many said, repenting, "This deed will prove our bale;
Still let us shroud the secret, and all keep in one tale,
That the good lord
of Kriemhild to hunt alone preferr'd,
And so was slain by robbers as through
the wood he spurr'd."
LXXXIX
"I'll bring him home, and gladly," said Hagan, frowning
stern;
"As to his wife, I reck not whether the truth she learn,
Who
slander'd gentle Brunhild, and wrought her so much ill.
I care not for her
weeping, do she whate'er she will."
XC
Of that same little runnel where Siegfried murder'd fell,
The true and rightful story you now shall hear me tell.
In th' Odenwald is a
village, Odenheim is its name.
There still the brook is running; doubt not it
is the same.
I
Till nightfall there they tarried, and then the Rhine
recross'd;
Never yet hunted warriors at such a grievous cost.
Many a fair
lady sorrow'd for a hart they slew that day;
The life of many a champion must
for that hunting pay.
Of overweening outrage now must tell my strain,
And dire
revenge remorseless; the dead, thus foully slain,
As though athirst for
horrors, Hagan bade bear away,
And cast before the chamber where unweeting
Kriemhild lay.
III
He bade his followers darkling down lay him at the door,
That she might surely find him, as she stepp'd the threshold o'er.
Going
forth to matins ere the dawn of day,
For from a single service she seldom
kept away.
IV
The minster bells were ringing at th' early 'custom'd hour.
Upstarted then fair Kriemhild, and wak'd each maid in bower.
For light she
call'd and vesture that she might straight be gown'd.
A chamberlain hasten'd
thither, and there Sir Siegfried found.
V
He saw him blood-bespatter'd, with weed all dabbled o'er;
He
knew not 'twas his master stretch'd on the reeking floor;
In went he to the
chamber; with him the light he took,
By which on such deep horror sad
Kriemhild was to look.
VI
As she now with her maidens to church would take her way,
The chamberlain bespoke her; "Lady, a little stay;
A murder'd knight is lying
close before the sill."
"O woe!" cried fearful Kriemhild, "what means this
tale of ill?"
VII
Ere yet she could see clearly 'twas her lord who lay there lay
slain,
The question put by Hagan rush'd to her mind again,
How he could
guard her husband; then anguish first she felt.
From his death for ever with
lingering grief she dwelt.
VIII
To earth down sank she senseless, that not a word she
spoke.
There lay the fair, the friendless, beneath that mortal stroke.
Then, from her swoon reviving, up from the ground she sprang,
And shriek'd so
shrill and sudden, that all the chamber rang.
Then said her trembling maidens, "What stranger here lies
slain?"
From her mouth a bloody torrent burst through heart-quelling
pain.
"No, no!" said she, "'tis Siegfried, my love, that there lies low.
'Twas Brunhild gave the counsel, and Hagan struck the blow."
X
Thither where the corpse was lying, her maids their lady
led;
With her lily hand, all trembling, she raised his languish'd head;
Howe'er with blood 'twas dabbled, her lord at once she knew.
There lay the
Chief of Netherland, a piteous sight to view.
Then weeping thus and wailing the queen her sorrows pour'd;
"Woe's me, woe's me for ever! sure no fair foeman's sword
Shiver'd thy
failing buckler; 'twas murder stopp'd thy breath;
O that I knew who did it!
death I'd requite with death."
XII
Then wept and wail'd full shrilly her gentle maidens all
With their beloved mistress; woe were they for the fall
Of their noble master
there in his blood embrued.
Hagan the wrath of Brunhild had wreak'd with
deadly feud.
XIII
Then spake the sorrow-laden, "Go hence with your best
speed,
Quick call up Siegfried's liegemen, his warriors good at need;
To
Siegmund, too, let tidings of my deep loss be borne,
That he may help his
daughter his murder'd son to mourn."
XIV
A messenger ran quickly, and came where slept the band
Of
Siegfried's chosen champions from the Nibelunger's land.
Their merry cheer
his tidings chang'd to sorrow deep.
His tale they would not credit until they
saw him weep.
XV
Thence quickly came he running where aged Siegmund lay
From
the king's aching eyelids sweet sleep was far away.
His heart, I ween,
foreboded the deed that had been done,
And that the childless father no more
should see his son.
XVI
"Wake, wake! Sir King! Sir Siegmund! Kriemhild, my lady
dear,
In haste hath sent me hither; she's plung'd in doleful drear;
Woe,
that all woe surpasses, wrings her inmost heart.
Help her to mourn the
misery, whereof you own a part."
XVII
Then said the king, half-rising, "What has happ'd of woe
To
the fair Lady Kriemhild, which here thou com'st to show?"
"Alas!" replied he
weeping, "concealment here is vain;
The noble Netherlander, Siegfried, thy
son, is slain."
XVIII
Then said the good King Siegmund, "Leave off such idle
sport;
For my sake spread no further this mischievous report.
Were't true
indeed that Siegfried my son were made away,
Ne'er could I cease from wailing
e'en to my dying day."
XIX
"If me you will not credit, but still will doubt my tale,
Hark then yourself to Kriemhild, hear her so wildly wail,
Her and her band of
maidens, for noble Siegfried dead."
Then sorely shudder'd Siegmund; deep
cause had he for dread.
XX
Straight from his bed up sprang he, and his hundred warriors
too;
Their long sharp-edged weapons with hasty hand they drew.
Where they
heard the wailing, headlong they thither ran;
Thither too Siegfried's
thousand, each a chosen man,
Led by the shrieks of horror, ran with like eager speed.
Some of the household fancied, they came for funeral weed.
Well might they be
confounded, and from their senses start.
The sting of deadly sorrow was deep
in every heart.
XXII
Then said the good King Siegmund, when Kriemhild he had
seen,
"Woe worth our journey hither! would it had never been!
'Midst such
good friends and kinsmen, who has this murder done,
Which thee hath cost thy
husband, and me, alas! my son?"
XXIII
The noble lady answer'd, "Could I the murderer find,
I'd
wreak on him such vengeance with all my heart and mind,
That all his friends
should sorrow at the woful tale,
While they had eyes for weeping, while they
had tongues to wail."
XXIV
His arms round the dead champion Sir Siegmund trembling
threw;
Thereat so loud the sorrow of each beholder grew,
That the proud
hall of Gunther and the palace high
And Worms, through all his quarters, rung
to the thrilling cry.
XXV
But none there could bring comfort to Siegfried's lady
true.
Out from his bloodied vesture his comely limbs they drew,
And wash'd
his wound wide-gaping, and laid him on the bier.
Woe were his weeping
followers through heart-consuming drear.
XXVI
Out then spake his warriors from the Nibelungers' land;
"Revenge will we our master each with his own good hand
This very house must
harbor him who has done the deed."
Then hasten'd Siegfried's meiny to don
their warlike weed.
XXVII
Now did the chosen squadron each with his buckler stand,
Eleven hundred champions; at head of all the band
Was seen the reverend
Siegmund; to faith and honor true
Fain would he take vengeance on those who
Siegfried slew.
XXVIII
With whom they were to battle they could not yet discern,
Unless it were with Gunther and his Burgundians stern,
For with them did
Siegfried to the fatal hunting go.
When Kriemhild saw them weapon'd, 'twas
ill on ill, 'twas woe on woe.
XXIX
However deep her anguish, however great her need,
She fear'd
to see her followers the Nibelungers bleed
Beneath her brother's numbers; so,
their stout minds to bend,
She gave them gentle counsel, as friend should
deal with friend.
XXX
Thus said the mournful lady, "Siegmund, my lord, give ear.
What is it you are doing? some rash resolve I fear.
King Gunther has about
him full many a man of might;
You and all must perish in such unequal
fight."
XXXI
Each had bound on his buckler; each held his sword in hand;
They yearn'd for blood and vengeance; with prayer and with command
She
press'd th' impatient warriors to choose the milder part;
They call'd for
instant battle; that cut her to the heart.
XXXII
She spake, "My good lord Siegmund, lay thoughts of vengeance
by
Till some more fitting season; then with you fain will I
Revenge my
murder'd husband; could I but come to know
Who has made me thus a widow, woe
should be his for woe.
XXXIII
"Many are the haughty warriors here on the banks of Rhine,
So keep peace for the present; such sure advice is mine;
The match is too
unequal, thirty at least to one;
God do to them hereafter as they to us have
done.
XXXIV
"Stay here, and in my sorrow be pleas'd a part to take,
Mine
and my lord's revengers, till day begin to break,
And help me then to coffin
my lord who there lies low."
Then all the warriors answer'd, "Dear lady, be
it so."
XXXV
In sooth it was a wonder that none can tell aright,
How wept
and loud lamented many a dame and many a knight,
That e'en unto the city the
rueful wail was borne;
In haste the noble burghers came when they heard them
mourn.
XXXVI
They with the guests lamented, for sore they griev'd as
well.
What was the offence of Siegfried, none of them could tell,
For
which by stroke so sudden the chief had lost his life.
There with the
high-born ladies wept each good burgher's wife.
XXXVII
Joiners and smiths were summon'd to frame a coffin strong,
Beset with gold and silver, massy and broad and long,
And braced with bars of
iron to guard the frailer wood.
Then all the crowd about it in dreary sorrow
stood.
XXXVIII
And now the night was over; forth peep'd the morning fair;
Straight bade the noble lady thence to the minster bear
The matchless
champion Siegfried, her husband lov'd so dear.
All her friends close follow'd
with many a sigh and tear.
XXXIX
When they the minster enter'd, how many a bell was rung!
How
many a priest on all sides the mournful requiem sung!
Then thither with his
meiny came Dankrat's haughty son,
And thither too grim Hagan; it had been
better left undone.
XL
Then spoke the king, "Dear sister, woe worth this loss of
thine!
Alas that such misfortune has happ'd to me and mine!
For sure the
death of Siegfried we ever both must rue."
"Nay," said the mournful lady, "so
without cause you do,
XLI
"For if you really rued it, never had it been.
I know you
have your sister forgotten quite and clean,
So I and my beloved were parted
as you see.
Good God! would he had granted the stroke had fall'n on
me!"
XLII
Firmly they made denial; Kriemhild at once replied,
"Whoe'er
in this is guiltless, let him this proof abide.
In sight of all the people
let him approach the bier,
And so to each beholder shall the plain truth
appear."
It is a mighty marvel, which oft e'en now we spy,
That, when
the blood-stain'd murderer comes to the murder'd nigh,
The wounds break out
a-bleeding; then to the same befell,
And thus could each beholder the guilt
of Hagan tell.
XLIV
The wounds at once burst streaming fast as they did before;
Those, who then sorrow'd deeply, now yet lamented more.
Then outspake King
Gunther, "I give you here to know,
He was slain by robbers; Hagan struck
ne'er a blow."
XLV
"Ay! well know I those robbers," his widow'd sister said;
"By the hands of his true comrades may God revenge the dead!
False Gunther,
and false Hagan! 'twas you, your friend that slew."
Thereat the knights of
Siegfried gripp'd to their swords anew.
XLVI
This more distracted Kriemhild; when in her anxious pain
Two
friends she saw approaching to seek and mourn the slain,
Gernot her good
brother, and Giselher the young.
Their eyes were blind with weeping; true
grief their bosoms wrung.
XLVII
They wept for Kriemhild's husband, and inly sorrowed too.
Mass now all would be singing; the doors they open threw,
And straight into
the minster both men and women press'd.
Those, who could well spare
Siegfried, mourn'd for him with the rest.
XLVIII
Gernot then and Giselher thus spake, "My sister dear!
For
this sad death take comfort, all must have sorrow here.
We'll do our best to
help thee as long as we have life."
Yet could not they nor others console the
widow'd wife.
XLIX
His coffin now was ready; it was about midday;
From the bier
he was lifted whereon till now he lay.
Yet would not his pale lady have him
laid at once in ground.
His friends and faithful followers to further toil
were bound.
L
In richest stuff, deep sighing, they wrapp'd the clay-cold
dead.
Not one, I ween, was present, but bitter tears he shed.
Then wail'd
the high-born Uta; deep teen in heart she bore;
And all her dames lamented
that Siegfried was no more.
LI
Soon as 'twas heard, the murder'd had now been laid in
chest,
And that the mass was singing, to church the people press'd.
For
his soul what offerings were brought in all men's view!
E'en 'midst foes so
deadly, friends had he firm and true.
LII
Then the wretched Kriemhild her chamberlains bespake,
"Now
must you toil and trouble suffer for my sake.
To those who honor'd Siegfried,
and dear his widow hold,
For the soul of the departed deal out his treasur'd
gold."
LIII
No child, howe'er so little, just knowing wrong from right,
But brought an offering thither; ere buried was the knight,
At least a
hundred masses they sang the whole day long;
Thither all friends of
Siegfried's flock'd in, a numerous throng.
LIV
When now the chants were over, the crowd would wend away.
Then spake the sobbing Kriemhild, "Ah! leave me not, I pray,
This night alone
to sorrow, and watch th' unheeding dead.
With him, my own beloved, all my
joys lie withered.
LV
"Three nights, three days, I'll keep him, and gaze upon him
still,
Till of the dearly dear one I thus have had my fill.
What if God be
willing that me, too, death should seize?
Then well at once were ended poor
Kriemhild's miseries."
LVI
The people of the city went home as darkness fell;
The
priests and monks attendant, and all the train, who well
Had serv'd the
champion living, fair Kriemhild begg'd to stay.
Their night was full of
sorrow, of dreariment their day.
LVII
Many of the woful mourners nor meat nor drink would taste,
But for all such as needed at hand was ready plac'd
Good store of each
provision; this Siegmund took in hand.
There mickle toil awaited the
Nibelungers' band.
LVIII
For three whole days together, as we have heard men say,
Whoe'er had skill in singing, on them hard labor lay.
Sore were their hearts
afflicted, as for the soul they pray'd
Of that redoubted champion, who there
a corpse was laid.
LIX
There, too, the poor and needy, who of his own had nought,
In hand, by Kriemhild furnish'd, a golden offering brought
From Siegfried's
proper treasure; when his body lifeless lay,
Marks full many a thousand for
his soul were given away.
LX
Landed rents and revenues she scatter'd wide around,
Wherever sacred convents and holy men were found,
And to the poor gave silver
and clothes in plenteous store.
She proved by all her actions what love to
him she bore.
LXI
On the third morn when duly the mass was to be sung,
With
country folk all weeping (such grief their bosoms wrung)
The churchyard of
the minster was fill'd from end to end.
Each wail'd the dead, each sorrow'd
as for his dearest friend.
LXII
In four days successive were scattered 'mongst the poor
Marks some thirty thousand for Siegfried's soul, or more.
To the good knight
such honor his friends desir'd to pay,
When his life was brought to nothing,
and his beauty passed away.
LXIII
The singing now was over, God had been serv'd as due;
Then
with o'ermastering sorrow strove that empassion'd crew.
Next to the grave
they brought him from out the minster near.
One weeping, one wild wailing was
then alone to hear.
LXIV
Loud shrieking, mov'd the people around the bearers slow;
None there, nor man nor woman, but wore one face of woe.
'Twas sung; 'twas
said, as fitted, ere he in ground was laid.
Ah! what good priests to
Siegfried the last sad duties paid!
LXV
Ere to the grave advancing his own true lady came,
Her
sense-o'erpowering sorrow so shook her wasted frame,
That oft was need to
sprinkle her from the cool-springing well.
Boundless was her distraction; the
like no tongue can tell.
LXVI
'Twas strange, such utter anguish dislodged not the frail
life.
With eager haste to help her flock'd many a wailing wife.
Then spake
the queen, "Ye warriors! My murder'd Siegfried's best,
By your love to your
master grant me this last request.
LXVII
"Let me have one small pleasure 'mid pains so manifold;
The
stately head of Siegfried I would once more behold."
She begg'd so long, so
wailful, that less they could not do
Than force the coffin open, and give the
corpse to view.
LXVIII
So thither they led the lady, where lay the clay-cold dead.
With her fine snowy fingers she rais'd his stately head,
And kiss'd him
lifeless lying; long bending there she stood;
Her fair eyes for anguish wept
o'er him tears of blood.
LXIX
How woful was their parting! Borne was she thence away,
Walk
she could no longer; insensible she lay
Through bitterness of sorrow, so
lovely and so still,
As if Death would have smitten, yet wanted heart to
kill.
LXX
When now the noble champion was duly laid in ground,
O'erwhelm'd with boundless sorrow the valiant chiefs were found,
That from
the land of Nibelung had come with him erewhile;
King Siegmund too thereafter
was seldom seen to smile.
LXXI
Many were there among them who made unceasing moan,
Nor ate
nor drank for anguish till three whole days were gone.
Then hard constraint
compell'ed them to life against their will,
And they from grief recovered, as
haps to thousands still.
LXXII
In deadly swoon unconscious the widow'd Kriemhild lay,
Both
day and night unalter'd e'en to the second day,
Nor heard whate'er was
spoken, nor mark'd what pass'd around;
In like unheeding sorrow was eke King
Siegmund drown'd.
LXXIII
With pain back to his senses return'd the childless chief;
Shrunk were his powers, and weaken'd through the strong dint of grief,
Nor
was there ground for wonder. Then said his liegemen near
"My lord, best
travel homeward; we must not tarry here."
The father-in-law of Kriemhild to the pale mourner went,
And
kindly thus bespake her, "Our thoughts are homeward bent;
Unwelcome guests in
Rhineland I ween we needs must be,
So, Kriemhild, dearest lady, ride to my
land with me.
II
"Thou must not here dwell helpless among thy foemen left,
Where both of us of Siegfried foul treason hath bereft.
I'll guard thee with
firm friendship and honor undefil'd
For love of thy good husband and of his
noble child.
III
"All power, beloved lady, shall be thine again,
And, as thy
lord intended, royally shalt thou reign.
The land, the crown, thou ownedst,
thou both, as erst, shall sway.
To thee shall Siegfried's liegeman a willing
service pay."
IV
Forthwith 'twas told his followers that they must hence with
speed;
Each straight to the stable hurried for his steed.
To dwell with
deadly foemen scorn and shame they thought;
Matrons and maids were stirring,
and out their vesture sought.
V
When now the good King Siegmund ready was to ride,
Her
mother sued to Kriemhild among her kin to bide,
That still her only daughter
her aged eyes might see.
The joy-bereft made answer, "Nay, that can hardly
be.
VI
"With my eyes could I ever the fawning friend behold,
Who
wrought me, wretched woman, sorrows so manifold?"
Then spake the youthful
Giselher, "Dear sister, why away?
For love's sake and for duty's, here with
thy mother stay.
VII
"Who have weigh'd thee down with sorrow and wreak'd on thee
their hate,
Of them thou need'st no service; live from my sole estate."
She answer'd thus the warior, "No! no! it cannot be.
Die should I straight of
horror, if I should Hagan see."
VIII
"From that thou may'st be certain I'll shield thee, sister
dear,
With me shalt thou dwell ever, thy brother Giselher,
Who, if love
can bring comfort, will thy sad loss supply."
"Ah!" said the heaven-forsaken,
"Of that sore need have I."
IX
Soon as this gentle proffer the youthful knight had made,
Next Uta and good Gernot and their true cousins pray'd
The joy-deserted
mourner among them there to stay.
Her kin 'mong Siegfried's followers were
few and far away.
X
"To you they all are strangers," said Gernot, drawing nigh;
"No man there lives so mighty but he must some time die;
Consider this, fair
sister, and comfort to you take;
Here with your friends 'twere better your
fix'd abode to make."
XI
At last she promised Giselher that she would there abide.
Meanwhile the knights of Siegmund ready were to ride
To the Nibelunger's
country; their steeds were led from stall,
And on the sturdy sumpters was
laid their raiment all.
XII
The venerable Siegmund went up to Kriemhild then,
And with
these words address'd her: "Lady, Siegfried's men
Are waiting with the
horses; part must we instantly;
It irks me every moment we stay in
Burgundy."
XIII
Then answer'd Lady Kriemhild, "Such friends as wish me well
And bear me love, advise me among them here to dwell,
Since in the land of
Nibelung nor kith nor kin have I."
Woe was the noble Siegmund at hearing her
reply.
XIV
"In this at least," return'd he, "trust not their offers
fair.
Thou before all my kindred the royal crown shalt wear
With the same
pride and puissance as ere our joys were crost,
Nor want of aught remind thee
that Siegfried we have lost.
XV
"Come then, return among us for thy fair infant's sake;
Desert not the young orphan; a mother's duty take.
When he grows up to
manhood, he'll comfort thy sad cheer;
Meanwhile good knights shall serve
thee, who held thy husband dear."
XVI
Said she, "My good lord Siegmund, from home I cannot ride.
Whatever hence befall me, here must I still abide
Among my proper kinsmen,
who'll help me to lament."
Her words gave the good warriors sorrow and
discontent.
XVII
With one accord they answer'd, "We must in truth confess,
That never till this moment we felt true bitterness,
If thou persist to tarry
among our foemen here.
Sure for a peaceful journey knights never paid so
dear."
XVIII
"Hence without thought of danger ride home with God to
friend,
Your steps a fitting escort shall through this land attend
E'en to
your native country. Farewell, good knights and true;
My dear, my orphan'd
infant I trust, my friends, to you."
XIX
When they perceiv'd for certain that she her purpose kept,
The warriors of King Siegmund with one accord they wept.
With what
heart-rending sorrow the reverend Siegmund, too,
Parted from Lady Kriemhild!
then what was grief he knew.
XX
"Woe worth this dreary festal!" the hoary monarch cried,
"To
kings nor to their kinsmen shall never more betide
From merriment and
pleasure such heart-devouring teen.
In Burgundy shall Siegmund never more be
seen."
Then said and frown'd indignant the knights of Siegfried's
train,
"Nay, into this same country we well may come again
To seek and
find the traitor who laid our master low.
Among the kin of Siegfried they
have many a mortal foe."
XXII
Lovingly kiss'd he Kriemhild, and sadly thus 'gan say,
When
he could see too clearly that she was fix'd to stay,
"Now home, bereav'd and
joyless, a weary way we go.
'Tis only now I'm feeling the fulness of my
woe."
XXIII
They rode without an escort from Worms beyond the Rhine.
Sorrowful and silent they mov'd in lengthen'd line,
Nor fear'd assault or
ambush by lurking foemen plann'd;
Secure each Nibelunger felt in his own
right hand.
XXIV
From all they kept disdainful, leave of none they took;
Giselher and Gernot such parting could not brook.
But lovingly approach'd
them; woe were they for their woe;
That for their loss they sorrow'd, they
gave their guest to know.
XXV
Then gently spoke Prince Gernot, and heav'd full many a
sigh,
"God in heaven is my witness, nor part the guilt had I
In the death
of Siegfried, nor had I heard before
That any him bore malice; I sorrow for
him sore."
To them was given good escort by Giselher the young.
Deep-sorrowing altogether he brought them safe along,
Both king and loyal
liegemen, home to Netherland.
There met they all their kindred; small joy was
in the band.
XXVII
What happ'd to them thereafter is more than I can say.
At
Worms still heard was Kriemhild complaining, day by day.
That none her sorrow
pitied, or brought her comfort due,
Save Giselher her brother; he still was
good and true.
XXVIII
Meanwhile sat misproud Brunhild in haughtiness uncheck'd;
Of
Kriemhild's tears and sorrows her it nothing reck'd.
She pitied not the
mourner; she stoop'd not to the low.
Soon Kriemhild took full vengeance, and
woe repaid with woe.
I
While thus the mourning Kriemhild remain'd in widow'd
state,
Count Eckewart upon her did ever constant wait
With all his men
about him; he serv'd her without fail,
And help'd his weeping lady his
murdered lord to wail.
II
At Worms fast by the minster was fram'd for her to dwell
A
building high and spacious, and thereto furnish'd well,
Where sat she joyless
ever among her joyless train.
To church she oft betook her, and there would
linger fain.
III
How oft, weigh'd with sorrow (she seldom miss'd a day),
Thither would she go faintly where her beloved lay,
And God for grace and
mercy upon his soul implore,
And with true love unfailing beweep him
evermore!
IV
Queen Uta and her ladies to sooth the mourner sought,
But
still take could she never the comfort that they brought;
The sting of deadly
sorrow had pierc'd her heart too deep;
Nor love had she, nor longing, but for
her lord to weep.
V
Such grief as Kriemhild's never wife for her husband knew;
Thence might be seen how faithful her heart was, and how true.
E'en to her
day of dying her life in woe she pass'd.
She took for her slain Siegfried a
dread revenge at last.
VI
So after her bereavement she sat, for three long years
And
half another, ever in sorrow and in tears,
Nor once spoke word to Gunther,
albeit in blood so nigh,
Nor on her foeman Hagan ever once set eye.
VII
Then said the Knight of Trony, "Your best attention bend,
How you may hereafter your sister make your friend.
So might the wondrous
treasure come to this land, I ween.
'Twould much be to your profit, could we
appease the queen."
VIII
"We'll try," replied King Gunther, "my brothers with her
bide
Perhaps by their persuasion she may be pacified,
And e'en in our
possession the hoard contented see."
"I can't believe," said Hagan, "that
that can ever be."
IX
Then to the Margrave Gary in haste King Gunther sent;
Ortwine to court was summon'd to further their intent,
And Gernot and young
Giselher were both together brought.
The boon from Lady Kriemhild with
friendly prayer they sought.
X
Then first the good Burgundian the valiant Gernot spake.
"Lady, too long you're wailing for your lost husband's sake.
Sure proof the
king will give you, he ne'er the warrior slew;
Why then with such deep
passion his death forever rue?"
XI
Said she, "Who charges Gunther? 'twas Hagan struck the
blow.
He gain'd from me the secret, where steel could lay him low.
Could I
suspect, that treason lurk'd such fair words among?
Else, be sure, had
silence sat ever on my tongue.
XII
"Ah! had I ne'er betrayed him, but still his secret kept,
I
had not now, poor widow! thus lamentably wept.
But ne'er will I forgive them,
who this foul deed have done."
Then the stout knight, young Giselher, to
intercede begun.
XIII
"Ay," said she, "I must greet him, you press and urge me
so;
The more your fault and folly; such bitterness of woe
Hath the king
brought upon me with no guilt on my part;
My mouth it may forgive him, but
never will my heart."
XIV
"Matters may mend hereafter," her kin said with one voice,
"What if his future kindness should make her yet rejoice?"
"Needs must he,"
said good Gernot, "make up for former ill."
"See!" said the sorrow-laden,
"I'll do what'er you will.
XV
"Yes! I will greet King Gunther." She scarce had given
consent
When with his best friends Gunther unto his sister went.
Yet durst
not stern Hagan before the mourner go.
He knew himself blood-guilty, he had
wrought her mortal woe.
XVI
When she had pardon'd Gunther all that had pass'd amiss,
He
thought it fitting kindness the gentle dame to kiss.
Had he the deed not
counselled which all that ill had wrought,
With freedom oft and boldness her
presence he had sought.
XVII
Sure ne'er was reconcilement 'twixt friends too long apart
By such full tears cemented; her loss she took to heart,
Yet all concern'd
she pardon'd, all, save only one.
Never had been the murder, if not by Hagan
done.
'Twas no long time thereafter when this device they
wrought,
That from the land of Nibelung should to the Rhine be brought
By
the command of Kriemhild the wondrous treasure bright;
'Twas her morning-gift
at marriage and so was hers by right.
XIX
For it the youthful Giselher and eke good Gernot went;
Eighty hundred warriors with them their sister sent,
To bring it from the
mountain, where close conceal'd it lay,
Watch'd by the stout dwarf Albric and
his best friends alway.
XX
When now came the Burgundians the precious hoard to take,
Albric, the faithful keeper, thus his friends bespake:
"This far renowned
treasure we can't withhold, I ween,
The marriage-morning present claim'd by
the noble queen.
"Yet should they have it never, nor should we thus be
cross'd,
Had we not the good cloud-cloak to our misfortune lost
Together
with Sir Siegfried, who gain'd it here of yore;
For Kriemhild's noble husband
the same at all times wore.
XXII
"Now ill, alas! has happ'd it to Siegfried the good knight,
That from us the cloud-cloak he took by conquering might,
And all this land
to serve him as lord and master bound."
Then went the chamberlain sadly,
where soon the keys he found.
XXIII
And now the men of Kriemhild before the mountain stood,
And
some, too, of her kinsmen; the hoard, as best they could,
Down to the sea
they carried; there in good barks 'twas laid,
Thence o'er the waves, and
lastly up the Rhine convey'd.
XXIV
The tale of that same treasure might well your wonder
raise;
'Twas much as twelve huge wagons in four whole nights and days
Could carry from the mountain down to the salt-sea bay,
If to and fro each
wagon thrice journey'd every day.
XXV
It was made up of nothing but precious stones and gold;
Were
all the world bought from it, and down the value told,
Not a mark the less
thereafter were left, than erst was scor'd.
Good reason sure had Hagan to
covet such a hoard.
XXVI
And there among was lying the wishing-rod of gold,
Which
whoso could discover, might in subjection hold
All this wide world as master,
with all that dwell therein.
There came to Worms with Gernot full many of
Albric's kin.
XXVII
When Gernot and young Giselher had thus possession gain'd
Of
that power-giving treasure, the rule they straight obtain'd
Of the country
and the castles and many a warlike knight;
All was constrained to serve them
through terror of their might.
XXVIII
When they had brought the treasure thence to King Gunther's
land,
And had their charge delivered into fair Kriemhild's hand,
Cramm'd
were the towers and chambers wherein the same they stor'd.
Ne'er told was
tale of riches to match this boundless hoard.
XXIX
Yet had she found the treasure a thousand-fold as great,
Could she have seen but Siegfried restored to life's estate,
Bare as her hand
had Kriemhild preferr'd with him to live,
Renouncing all the puissance which
all that hoard could give.
XXX
Now she had gain'd possession, so liberal was the dame,
That
foreign knights unnumber'd into the country came.
All prais'd her generous
virtues, and own'd they ne'er had seen
Lady so open-handed as this fair
widow'd queen.
XXXI
To rich and poor together began she now to give;
Thereat
observed Sir Hagan, "If she should chance to live
Some little season longer,
so many should we see
Won over to her service, that ill for us 'twould
be."
XXXII
Thereto made answer Gunther, "The hoard is hers alone;
How
can I check her giving? She gives but from her own.
Scarce could I gain
forgiveness for my offence of old.
I care not how she scatters her jewels and
ruddy gold."
XXXIII
"A prudent man," said Hagan, "not for a single hour
Would
such a mass of treasure leave in a woman's power.
She'll hatch with all this
largess to her outlandish crew
Something that hereafter all Burgundy may
rue."
XXXIV
Thereto replied King Gunther, "An oath to her I swore,
That
I would ne'er offend her nor harm her any more;
And I'm resolv'd to keep it;
my sister too is she."
At once Sir Hagan answer'd, "Then lay the blame on
me."
XXXV
Too many of the chieftains their plighted faith forsook;
The
powerful hoard the perjur'd from the poor widow took;
Sir Hagan straight made
seizure at once of every key.
When her brother Gernot heard it, bitterly
wroth was he.
XXXVI
Then spake the young Sir Giselher, "Hagan the fierce and
rude
Hath foully wrong'd my sister; this I should have withstood;
But that
he is my kinsman, it should cost his life."
Then afresh all vainly wept noble
Siegfried's wife.
XXXVII
Then said the good Sir Gernot, "Ere this pernicious mine
Confound us any further, better beneath the Rhine
Sink it altogether, and
tell no mortal where."
Then sadly went fair Kriemhild to her brother
Giselher.
XXXVIII
She wept and said, "Dear brother, pray take some thought of
me;
Of my person and possessions thou should'st the guardian be."
Then
spake he to his sister, "I will, whate'er betide,
Soon as we come back
hither, for now we hence must ride."
XXXIX
King Gunther and his kinsmen they forthwith left the land.
The very best among them he took to form his band.
There stay'd behind but
Hagan; fierce hate and malice still
He bore the weeping Kriemhild, and sought
to work her ill.
XL
Ere back the king came thither, impatient of delay
Hagan
seiz'd the treasure, and bore it thence away.
Into the Rhine at Lochheim the
whole at once threw he!
Henceforth he thought t' enjoy it, but that was ne'er
to be.
XLI
He never more could get it for all his vain desire;
So
fortune of the traitor cheats of his treason's hire.
Alone he hop'd to use it
as long as he should live,
But neither himself could profit, nor to another
give.
XLII
Once more return'd the princess, and with them all their
train.
Forthwith began sad Kriemhild her heavy loss to plain
With ladies
and with maidens; their grief indeed was strong.
In all good faith was
Giselher ready to venge her wrong.
XLIII
Then said they altogether, "Much evil hath he done."
So for
a time Sir Hagan retir'd their wrath to shun,
Till he regain'd their favor;
at last they look'd it o'er.
Thereat to him fair Kriemhild yet deadlier
hatred bore.
XLIV
Ere thus the Knight of Trony had hidd'n the wondrous hoard,
They all an oath together had sworn with one accord
To keep it in concealment
while one of them should live,
So none himself could take it, nor to another
give.
XLV
With this new weight of anguish surcharg'd was Kriemhild
left,
Of her bold husband widow'd, and of the hoard bereft
By such
o'erweening outrage; in tears the mourner lay,
Nor ever ceas'd to sorrow e'en
till her dying day.
XLVI
From the death of Siegfried for thirteen years she dwelt
On
her wrongs ever brooding, nor joy one moment felt.
The murder of her husband
she could not once forget.
To him she still was faithful; that praise is
Kriemhild's yet.
XLVII
The wealthy Lady Uta, when death took Dankrat hence,
A
sumptuous monastery rais'd at her own expense,
Endowed with rich revenues,
which yet its coffers fill;
The abbey of Lorsch they call it; 'tis high in
honor still.
XLVIII
Thereto the mourning Kriemhild no little part supplied
Both
for the soul of Siegfried and for all souls beside.
She gave both gold and
jewels; a wife more chaste and true,
And a more liberal giver man surely
never knew.
XLIX
Since Kriemhild had King Gunther once to her grace
restor'd,
And yet by his connivance next lost the precious hoard,
A
thousand-fold more sorrow at her heart there lay.
The proud and high-born
lady would gladly thence away.
L
Meanwhile for Lady Uta was built with skill and care
At
Lorsch, fast by her abbey, a sumptuous palace fair.
The widow left her
children, and there seclusion found.
Still lies she in her coffin deep in
that hollow'd ground.
LI
Then said the queen to Kriemhild, "List to me, daughter
dear,
Come to Lorsch, to my palace, thou canst not linger here;
And dwell
with me thy mother, and cease to weep and grieve."
"To whom then," answer'd
Kriemhild, "Shall I my husband leave?"
LII
The Lady Uta answer'd, "Here let him still abide."
"Now God
in heaven forbid it!" the faithful wife replied;
"No! my beloved mother, I
must not have it so;
If Kriemhild hence must journey, with her must Siegfried
go."
LIII
Then gave command the mourner up to take the dead;
His noble
bones were forthwith transferred to their last bed
At Lorsch beside the
minster in many-honor'd guise.
There yet in a long coffin the stately warrior
lies.
LIV
Just then, when sorrowing Kriemhild was ready to depart,
And
hop'd with her fond mother to ease her aching heart,
She yet was forc'd to
tarry and that last hope resign.
'Twas caus'd by sudden tidings, that cross'd
from far the Rhine.
'Twas of yore, in the season when Dame Helca died,
And the
stout King Etzel would take another bride,
His friends all gave him counsel
his marriage troth to plight
To a proud Burgundian widow, that Lady Kriemhild
hight.
II
His courtiers thus, when Helca had ended now her life,
Bespoke him, "Would you ever take a noble wife,
The best with whom a monarch
could share his royal state,
Make choice of this fair lady; bold Siegfried
was her mate."
III
Then answer'd stout King Etzel, "How can succeed the plan,
For me, that am a heathen, and not a christen'd man,
To woo a Christian
woman? never consent will she;
Sure 'twere a very marvel if this could ever
be."
IV
Thereto his knights made answer, "What if she yet consent
Mov'd by your name so glorious and potent regiment?
'Twere well to make the
trial whatever thence accrue;
For such a fair companion a king might gladly
sue."
The noble king then question'd, "Who among you knows
The
people and the country where Rhine's fair current flows?"
Said Rudeger of
Bechlaren, "For that trust me alone;
I from earliest childhood the noble
kings have known.
VI
"Gunther and Gernot, good knights as e'er can be;
The third
is the young Giselher; each of the brethren three
Does all, whereby clear
honor and high repute are won,
Just as their brave forefathers down to our
times have done."
VII
Thereto gave answer Etzel, "Friend, do to me declare,
If she
indeed be worthy here the proud crown to wear;
And, if she be so lovely as by
report is borne,
My best friends may be certain, they'll have no cause to
mourn.
VIII
"For peerless grace and beauty with Helca she may vie,
My
lady ever-honor'd; saw yet never eye
In all this world a fairer; she's of all
queens the best;
The lord of such a lady must be supremely blest."
IX
"Then, as thou lov'st me, Rudeger, go, court her for my
bride,
And if I should come ever to lie by Kriemhild's side,
Assure thee,
to my utmost I will thy pains requite;
Well thou hast ever serv'd me, and
done my will aright.
X
"Out of my treasure-chamber whate'er thou wilt I'll give,
That thou and thy companions merrily may live.
Clothes, horses, all thou
needest, I'll willingly defray.
Of such make full provision, and speed thee
on thy way."
XI
Thereto in answer Rudeger, the wealthy margrave, spake,
"Surely 'twould ill beseem me ought from the stores to take.
Fain will I bear
thy message to the Rhenish brethren bold
From my own rich possessions, that
of thee I have and hold."
XII
Then spake the mighty monarch, "Now when will you ride
To
seek my love and lady? God be your guard and guide,
And keep you both in
safety through all the paths you trace,
And fortune speed my wooing, that I
may win my lady's grace."
XIII
Then Rudeger made answer, "Ere this land we quit,
With
weapons and with raiment our band we out must fit,
That we before the princes
in splendor due may shine.
Five hundred stately warriors I'll lead unto the
Rhine;
XIV
"That, when the stout Burgundians me and mine shall see,
It
by all beholders at once confess'd shall be,
That ne'er despatch'd a monarch,
on distant wooing bent,
A band more choice and numerous than thou to Rhine
hast sent.
XV
"And, noble king, remember whom thou desir'st to wed;
The
first of martial champions, Sir Siegfried, shar'd her bed,
The son of royal
Siegmund; thou hast seen him here before;
From all, the highest honors, and
well deserv'd, he bore."
XVI
Then replied King Etzel, "If she was Siegfried's wife,
So
honor'd was her husband, while he was yet in life,
That at my hands his
consort will meet true love and care.
Heaven grant that I may find her as
gracious as she's fair!"
XVII
Then spake the noble margrave, "Thus then at once I say,
We'll fix for our departure the four and twentieth day.
Straight to my dear
wife Gotelind I'll send to let her know,
That on this quest for Kriemhild I
must in person go."
XVIII
Rudeger to Bechlaren bade a courier speed amain;
The
margravine his message fill'd both with joy and pain.
He told her he was
going for the king to woo;
Fair Helca she remembered with tender love and
true.
XIX
Glad was she from her husband such tidings to receive,
And
yet in part she sorrow'd; she could not choose but grieve,
In doubt to find a
mistress so gracious as before,
And when she thought on Helca, her very heart
was sore.
Seven days Sir Rudeger in Hungary abode;
Well pleas'd was
stout King Etzel when forth his envoy rode.
In the city of Vienna was ordered
all their weed.
The margrave would not tarry, but ever on would
speed.
XXI
Right gladly at Bechlaren he and his men were seen;
Him
waited there Dame Gotelind and the young margravine
Rudeger's gentle
daughter, and many a noble dame
Was there with fitting welcome as home the
warriors came.
XXII
Ere the noble Rudeger to Bechlaren took his way
From the
city of Vienna, the raiment rich and gay
Had safe arriv'd to meet them, full
many a sumpter's load;
So strong they march'd, that little was robb'd upon
the road.
XXIII
When they came to Bechlaren, to his companions brave
A warm
and hearty welcome, the host, as fitted, gave,
And in commodious chambers
lodg'd them all and some.
Dame Gotelind the wealthy rejoic'd to see him
come.
XXIV
And so did his dear daughter, the fair young margravine.
Never were guests so welcome as these to her, I ween.
The chiefs that came
from Hungary how gladly she survey'd!
Then thus with smiling aspect spake the
noble maid.
XXV
"Welcome home, dear father, welcome thy comrades too!"
Fair
thanks were paid the damsel by all that knightly crew,
As them and her
befitted, for her reception kind.
Well to Lady Gotelind was known her
husband's mind.
XXVI
As by the side of Rudeger that night awake she lay,
Thus in
soft accents asking the margravine 'gan say,
"Whither have you been order'd
by the King of Hungary?"
Said he, "My Lady Gotelind, I'll tell you
willingly.
XXVII
"Our king again would marry now that fair Helca's dead,
And
I must go a-wooing in royal Etzel's stead.
To ask the hand of Kriemhild hence
to the Rhine I ride.
Here will she rule as lady with queenly power and
pride."
XXVIII
"God grant it!" answered Gotelind, "So 'twill be surely
best.
We hear her praise and honor by every tongue confess'd.
She'll be to
us hereafter what Helca was whilere.
We the proud crown of Hungary may gladly
see her wear."
XXIX
Then said the noble margrave, "Love and lady mine,
To the
good knights, that with me prick hence unto the Rhine,
Give friendly gifts in
plenty from our abundant store.
Fair robes and rich equipments the bold
embolden more."
XXX
"Whoe'er will take a present," she answer'd, "not a guest
Shall go by me unguerdon'd of what may suit him best.
Whoever poor
dismounted, rich shall return to selle."
Thereto replied the margrave, "Your
words content me well."
Ah! what rich stuffs the warriors then from her chamber
bore!
'Mong the good knights were mantles shar'd out in copious store,
Each with the patient needle well sewn from throat to spur.
Therefrom
whatever pleas'd him chose out Sir Rudeger.
XXXII
'Twas on the seventh fair morning that from Bechlaren rode
The host and his companions; they through Bavaria yode
With store of arms and
raiment, yet such was their array,
That robbers rarely ventur'd to assail
them on their way.
XXXIII
Within twelve days of journey by Rhine they drew the rein.
The news of their arrival no secret could remain.
To the king and his
liegemen at once the tidings ran,
That come were certain strangers; the host
to ask began,
XXXIV
If they were known to any; who knew, should say so straight
'Twas seen their sturdy sumpters bore many a heavy weight;
So, that they were
wealthy, each took at once for known.
Forthwith were they to chambers in the
wide city shown.
XXXV
Since no man knew the strangers who to the land were come,
Narrowly was each chieftain observ'd by all and some.
They wonder'd wherefore
came they, and from what distant coast.
The same of stout Sir Hagan inquir'd
the anxious host.
XXXVI
Then said the Knight of Trony, "I have not seen them yet;
I
can inform you better when I and they have met.
Whatever be their country,
how far soe'er it be,
They must indeed be strangers, if they're unknown to
me."
XXXVII
Now were in fitting chambers bestow'd the noble guests.
The
margrave and his comrades all donn'd their choicest vests,
And rode to court
attended; all gaz'd on them their fill;
Right gorgeous was their raiment, and
cut with curious skill.
XXXVIII
Straight cried the nimble Hagan, "If I conjecture right,
(Though now 'tis many a summer since last I saw the knight),
So moves yon
gallant squadron, that we must needs have here
The mighty Hunnish margrave
redoubted Rudeger."
XXXIX
"Nay! how can I believe it," said Gunther instantly,
"That
he of Bechlaren has come to Burgundy?"
The king had scarce well ended, when
they had drawn so nigh,
That Hagan could for certain good Rudeger
descry.
XL
He and his friends ran forward, and flock'd the guests
around.
Five hundred knights together sprung from horse to ground.
The
valiant chiefs of Hungary were welcom'd o'er and o'er.
Messengers yet never
such goodly raiment wore.
XLI
Then the stout Knight of Trony spoke these fair words
aloud,
"Now in God's name welcome all ye champions proud,
The Lord of
Bechlaren and his followers bold."
The warlike Huns were greeted with honors
manifold.
XLII
King Gunther's nearest kinsmen to see them forward press'd.
Ortwine of Metz thus friendly Sir Rudeger address'd,
"We ne'er have seen so
gladly on any former day
Guests in the bounds of Rhineland; this can I truly
say."
XLIII
Much thanks for their fair welcome return'd the warriors
all.
Thence forthwith stepp'd they forward into the spacious hall,
Where
the king was seated amidst his chivalry.
He rose as in they enter'd, such was
his courtesy.
XLIV
With what kind condescension to the messengers he went!
Gunther and Gernot welcom'd with friendly warm intent
Their guest and his
companions, and made them fitting cheer.
By the hand then took King Gunther
the noble Rudeger.
XLV
To the seat he brought him whereon himself he sat.
Then bade
he hand the strangers (a joyful task was that)
Cups of his best metheglin and
of the choicest wine
That ere was made from vineyards in the land all round
the Rhine.
XLVI
Giselher and Gary had both arriv'd at court,
Dankwart too
and Folker had heard the glad report
Of such fair guests come thither; before
the king they stood,
And joyously saluted the noble knights and good.
Then to his lord Sir Hagan the Knight of Trony spake,
"These
chiefs to Gotelind's husband a fit return should make
For all the friendly
service he did to us of yore.
We should at full requite him, and love him
still the more."
XLVIII
Then thus began King Gunther, "This now I needs must ask
How
are they both who sent you (to tell me be your task),
King Etzel and Queen
Helca, who reign in Hungary?"
The noble margrave answer'd, "I'll tell you
willingly."
XLIX
Then from his seat the warrior uprose with all his train,
And thus bespake King Gunther, "If you, Sir King, are fain
To grant me
gracious audience, nothing will I withhold.
The message, that I bring you, it
shall be freely told."
L
Said he, "Whate'er the message that Etzel by you sends,
I
give you leave to speak it without consulting friends.
At once then let me
hear it, and these my comrades too.
All power you have with honor your
business here to do."
LI
Then spake the noble envoy, "My mighty sovran sends
His love
sincere and service to you and all your friends.
Here in distant Rhineland,
and I in honor bring
A true and faithful greeting from a true and faithful
king.
LII
"The noble king entreats you his sorrow to deplore;
His
vassals all are mourning; my lady is no more,
Helca the fair and virtuous,
who shar'd his royal bed.
Many a young maid is orphan'd now the good queen is
dead.
LIII
"Children of noble princes she train'd with fostering care;
Whom have they now, so truly a mother's charge to bear?
The land is all in
sorrow, the king can nought but plain;
'Twill be long time, I fear me, ere he
be blithe again."
LIV
"Now heaven him quit," said Gunther, "that with so fair
intent
To me and mine so distant his service he hath sent.
I take his
greeting kindly; henceforth, as best they may,
My kinsmen and my servants his
favor shall repay."
LV
Then spake the bold Burgundian, Gernot the stout and true,
"The death of fair Queen Helca the world may ever rue.
Beauty and worth
together are buried in her grave."
To the words of Sir Gernot assent Sir
Hagan gave.
LVI
Thereon the high-born envoy his message freely told,
"King,
since you have permitted, I'll to your ears unfold,
Wherefore my royal master
me to your court has sent,
Plung'd as he is in sorrow and doleful
dreariment.
LVII
"It has been told my master, Sir Siegfried now is dead,
And
Kriemhild left a widow; if thus they both have sped,
Would you but permit
her, she the crown shall wear
Before the knights of Etzel, this bids me my
good lord declare."
LVIII
Thereto the king made answer, with courteous kind intent,
"She will perform my pleasure if she to this consent.
Within three days I'll
tell you whether her mind be so.
How can I promise Etzel; till first her will
I know?"
Meanwhile the guests were feasted and furnish'd with the
best,
And all so well entreated, that Rudeger confess'd
That among
Gunther's vassals true friends he sure had won.
With zeal him serv'd Sir
Hagan, as he once to him had done.
LX
So to the third day rested Sir Rudeger and his crew.
Meanwhile the king took counsel ('twas wisdom so to do),
And ask'd, what
thought his kinsmen, if 'twere a fitting thing,
That Kriemhild for her
husband should take the noble king.
LXI
All with one voice advis'd it; Hagan alone said nay;
Then to
the bold knight Gunther thus 'gan the warrior say,
"If you are in your
senses, beware what I foresee.
E'en with consent of Kriemhild ne'er let this
marriage be."
LXII
"Wherefore," returned King Gunther, "should I oppose her
will?
Whate'er may please fair Kriemhild, I'll grant it freely still.
Remember, she's my sister; let her this crown obtain.
Ourselves should seek
th' alliance, if honor thence she gain."
LXIII
Thereto replied Sir Hagan, "Let this no farther go;
If you
knew King Etzel as I King Etzel know,
You ne'er would let him wed her as now
I hear you say,
But rather look for ruin from this same marriage
day."
"What should I fear?" said Gunther, "Safe can I keep me
still.
I dwell from him so distant, he ne'er can work me ill.
E'en though
he wed my sister, I'll never come him nigh."
Once more rejoin'd Sir Hagan,
"This ne'er advise will I."
LXV
For Gernot and young Giselher in haste King Gunther sent,
To
learn of both the brethren whether they were content
That their fair sister
Kriemhild should be King Etzel's bride.
Still gainsaid Sir Hagan, and not a
soul beside.
LXVI
Then spake the bold Burgundian, Giselher the good knight.
"Now may you, friend Hagan, do what is just and right.
Make her full
atonement, whom you have caus'd such pain,
Nor of the gift of fortune deprive
her once again.
LXVII
"Yes, you have cost my sister so many a bitter tear,"
Thus
further spoke the warrior redoubted Giselher,
"That she has cause to hate
you; this must yourself confess,
For ne'er by man was woman spoil'd of such
happiness."
LXVIII
"What I foresee for certain, that give I you to know.
If she
but wed King Etzel and to his country go,
Some way she'll work us mischief,
and bring revenge to bear.
She'll have all at her service many a good warrior
there."
LXIX
Thereto the bold Sir Gernot thus in answer said,
"All then
may rest in quiet e'en till they both are dead.
For wherefore should we ever
set foot on Etzel's ground?
But yet to serve her truly we're all in honor
bound."
LXX
Thereto thus answer'd Hagan, "For that I little care;
Let
but the noble Kriemhild the crown of Helca wear,
Howe'er she plot our ruin,
'twill sure and sudden fall.
So let alone this matter; 'twere better so for
all."
LXXI
Then spake in wrath Sir Giselher, fair Uta's youngest son,
"We must not sure like traitors demean us every one.
Her good should make us
happy, her hopes we should fulfil.
Howe'er you murmur, Hagan, I'll serve her
truly still."
LXXII
Ill pleas'd thereat was Hagan, and darkly frowning stood.
Gernot straight and Giselher, the noble knights and good,
And the rich King
Gunther in this conclusion met,
T' assent, if Kriemhild wish'd it, and all
ill will forget.
LXXIII
"I'll go and tell my lady," said Gary there in place,
"That
forthwith to King Etzel she may accord her grace.
He holds such countless
warriors beneath his awful sway;
Full well may he requite her for many a
mournful day."
LXXIV
Swift went the chief to Kriemhild, exulting for her sake;
Gladly she receiv'd him; how quickly then he spake!
"Well may you greet me,
lady; my newsman's guerdon give;
You and your woes are parted—henceforth with
pleasure live.
LXXV
"One of the mightiest monarchs that ever sceptre bore
Of
far-extended kingdoms, or crown imperial wore,
Now for your love is suing;
noble knights, his friends,
Are hither come to woo you; this news your
brother sends."
LXXVI
Then spake the sorrow-laden, "Now God in heaven forfend
That
you, or any other that calls himself my friend,
Should mock a lonely widow!
Who once has gain'd the free
And virgin love of woman, how can he think of
me?"
LXXVII
Firmly she made denial; together came to her
Next her two
faithful brethren, Gernot and Giselher.
With loving words they cheer'd her,
and kindly urg'd her, too,
To take the king for husband; right well she thus
would do.
LXXVIII
Yet could not all persuasion the faithful mourner bring
To
choose a second lover, and yield unto the king.
Then begg'd the noble
warriors, "If nothing more can be,
Consent at least a moment the messengers
to see."
LXXIX
"I'll not deny," soft sighing the noble dame replied,
"But
that I'd fain see Rudeger renown'd so far and wide
For all his many virtues:
'tis due to him alone;
Were't any other envoy, to him I'd ne'er be
known.
LXXX
"So beg him," said she further, "to let me see him here
In
my bower to-morrow; then I'll acquaint his ear
Myself with all my wishes and
tell him all my tale."
Then bitterly began she once more to weep and
wail.
LXXXI
Nothing the noble Rudeger had more desir'd, I ween,
Than to
obtain an audience of that fair widow'd queen.
Such he well knew his wisdom
and smooth persuasive skill,
He doubted not, to reason he'd bend her stubborn
will.
LXXXII
So early on the morrow, about the matin song,
Forth came the
noble envoys; there was a mighty throng;
To court with the good margrave
there went a gorgeous crowd,
In glittering weed accoutred, of high-born
knights and proud.
LXXXIII
Kriemhild, the fair, the spotless, amidst her ladies stood,
Waiting for Sir Rudeger the noble envoy good.
He found her in the vesture
that every day she wore;
Her dames stood by in raiment all work'd and
broider'd o'er.
LXXXIV
To the door to meet him with stately step she went,
And well
and warmly welcom'd the chief from Etzel sent.
Eleven good knights were with
him, himself the twelfth was there.
Ne'er came such high-born suitors to woo
a queen so fair.
LXXXV
They bade the chief be seated, and with him all his band.
There the two noble margraves were seen before her stand,
Eckewart and Gary;
none there was blithe or glad;
All wore one face of mourning, e'en as their
lady sad.
LXXXVI
Before her meekly seated many a fair maid was seen,
Pale
sorrowful companions of that woe-wither'd queen.
The cloth, that veil'd her
bosom, with scalding tears was wet.
Well saw the noble margrave, her grief
was lively yet.
LXXXVII
Then spake the high-born envoy, "Fair child of mightiest
kings,
To me and to my comrades after our wanderings,
Vouchsafe now your
permission before you here to stand,
And tell what brought us hither from our
far-distant land."
LXXXVIII
"Now take my full permission," the queen said with a sigh,
"And speak your wishes freely; not ill inclin'd am I
To hear you, honored
margrave! You are an envoy good."
Thereby her firm reluctance the rest well
understood.
LXXXIX
Then the Prince of Bechlaren, Sir Rudeger, thus spake,
"The
mighty monarch Etzel, lady! for your fair sake
Has bidd'n me journey hither,
and many a good knight too
Has sent with me to Rhineland all for your hand to
sue.
XC
"True love to you he proffers, pleasure unmix'd with pain,
A
firm unswerving friendship, that shall to death remain;
Such love he bore
Dame Helca; deep in his heart she lay;
He now for her lost virtues leads many
a joyless day."
XCI
Then thus the queen made answer, "Margrave Rudeger,
If man
could feel my sorrows, no suit would vex my ear,
Again to take a husband, and
be again undone.
More have I lost already than woman ever won."
XCII
"What more amends for anguish," the warrior answer'd kind,
"Than faithful love unchanging, could one the blessing find,
Choosing the
heart's beloved and choosing not amiss?
For life-consuming sorrow what
sweeter balm than this?
XCIII
"To love my noble master should you consenting deign,
You
o'er twelve mighty kingdoms a crownè¢ queen shall reign.
And more than thirty
princedoms he at your feet will lay,
Won by his matchless puissance in many a
bloody fray.
XCIV
"To you, besides, obedience many a good knight shall do,
That to my Lady Helca were wont to serve and sue.
And all the dames and
damsels, that once swell'd Helca's state.
Daughters of high-born princes,
shall now on Kriemhild wait.
XCV
"Thereto my lord will give you (this bade he me declare),
If
you vouchsafe beside him the queenly crown to wear,
The highest rights and
honors that once were Helca's due;
All these before his liegemen shall be
transferred to you."
XCVI
"How can I feel contented," the mourning queen replied,
"To
wed another hero, a widow and a bride?
Grim Death in one already has wounded
me so sore,
That nought can now await me, but sorrow evermore."
XCVII
"Fair queen," the Huns made answer, "if only you consent,
Your days will with King Etzel so royally be spent,
That each will, as it
passes, some varied pleasure bring;
Such store of courtly warriors has our
redoubted king.
XCVIII
"Together Helca's damsels and your fair maids will vie
In
zeal to do you service, one blooming company;
Good knights will there be
merry amid so bright a train;
Be well advis'd, high lady! in sooth 'twill be
your gain."
XCIX
"Well," said she, soft and courteous, "this converse now give
o'er
Until to-morrow morning, then hither come once more,
And then your
monarch's message I'll answer as I may."
The high-descended warriors could
not but obey.
C
So to their several chambers the lofty strangers went.
Straight to her brother Giselher the noble lady sent,
And eke to her good
mother; to both them 'gan she say,
That nothing now became her but to weep
her life away.
CI
Then spake her brother Giselher, "Sister, I have been told,
And I would fain believe it, that all thy griefs of old,
Etzel will turn to
joyance if thou with him wilt dwell.
Whatever others counsel, I like this
marriage well.
CII
"Thee will he sure," he added, "for all the past repay,
For
there reigns ne'er a monarch of such redoubted sway
From Rhone to Rhine,
believe me, from th' Elbe to the salt sea.
With such a king for husband needs
must thou happy be."
CIII
"Ah! why," said she, "dear brother, advise me to my bale?
Sure it befits me better ever to weep and wail.
How could I ever venture to
yonder court to go?
If I once had beauty, 'tis withered all with
woe."
CIV
Thereat to her dear daughter, the Lady Uta spake,
"Give ear
unto thy brethren, dear child, their counsel take;
Do what thy friends advise
thee, 'twill to thy profit be.
Thy never-ending sorrow it has griev'd my
heart to see."
CV
Full oft she God entreated, nor ceas'd for wealth to pray,
That she might give to others gold, silver, garments gay,
As erst, ere noble
Siegfried, her warlike lord, was slain,
Yet never liv'd the mourner such
happy hours again.
CVI
Then to herself thus thought she, "How can I Etzel wed?
I, a
Christian woman, share a heathen's bed?
Throughout the world dishonor would
surely be my due.
No—not for all his kingdoms thus could I ever do."
CVII
So let she rest the matter. All night till break of day
With
troublous thoughts companion'd on her weary couch she lay,
Nor ceas'd the
tears a moment from her fair eyes to flow,
Till early dawn to matins bade the
pale mourner go.
CVIII
Just at mass time returning the kings her brethren came;
To
their reluctant sister their suit was still the same;
To wed the King of
Hungary they urg'd her o'er and o'er,
But not a whit more yielding they found
her than before.
CIX
Then summon'd were the warriors that came on Etzel's part;
They sought a farewell audience ere they should home depart,
Successful or
successless, as it might chance to fall.
To court straight came Sir Rudeger
and his valiant comrades all.
CX
These press'd their noble leader ever by the way
To learn
the mind of Gunther, and that without delay,
For they had far to travel back
to their homes, they said.
Straight was good Sir Rudeger to Kriemhild's
presence led.
CXI
With soft persuasive accents the knight began to pray
The
fair and high-born lady, that she to him would say,
What answer to King Etzel
she to return would deign.
Naught, ween I, but denial he from her lips could
gain.
CXII
"She'd take no second husband, love she could feel for
none."
"Nay," said the noble margrave, "that were unwisely done.
Why such
surpassing beauty waste in a mourning bed?
'Twould sure be to your honor a
loving lord to wed."
CXIII
In vain they her entreated, in vain to her they pray'd,
Till
to the queen the margrave this secret promise made,
"He'd full amends procure
her for past or future ill."
Those words her storm-toss'd bosom had power in
part to still.
CXIV
Then spoke he to the princess, "Cease now to weep and moan;
Among the Huns to friend you had you but me alone,
And my fearless vassals,
and eke my kinsmen true,
No one should work you mischief, but he should
dearly rue."
CXV
That still the more attemper'd her coy reluctant mood.
"Swear then, whoe'er may wrong me," the lofty dame pursued,
"You will be
first and foremost revenge on him to take."
"Fain will I," said the margrave,
"high lady, for your sake."
CXVI
Then swore to her Sir Rudeger and all his knightly train
To
serve her ever truly, and all her rights maintain,
Nor e'er of her due honors
scant her in Etzel's land.
Thereto gave the good margrave th' assurance of
his hand.
CXVII
Then thought the faithful mourner, "With such a host of
friends,
Now the poor lonely widow may work her secret ends,
Nor care for
what reflections the world on her may cast.
What if my lost beloved I may
revenge at last?"
CXVIII
Thought she, "The halls of Etzel such countless heroes
fill,
That I if I should rule them, may do whate'er I will.
Beside, the
king's so wealthy, to give I shall have store,
As though injurious Hagan had
robb'd me ne'er before."
CXIX
So thus she spake to Rudeger, "If I only knew
That he was
not a heathen, I'd go, and gladly too,
Wherever he requested, and be his
faithful bride."
"Nay, lady," said the margrave, "such scruples cast
aside.
"He is not quite a heathen, this take for truth you may;
My
good lord was converted, as I have heard him say,
And then the faith
abandon'd he had awhile profess'd.
This, if you love him, lady, may be with
ease redress'd.
CXXI
"Of Christian faith moreover so many knights has he,
That at
his court you'll ever be blithe and sorrow-free.
Perhaps, if you desire it,
he may be christened too.
For this then scorn not Etzel, nor let him vainly
woo."
CXXII
Soon as ceas'd the margrave, once more her brethren sued,
"Grant us this favor, sister, cheer up thy mournful mood."
So long they
begg'd and pray'd her, that in the end they sped,
And, sighing soft, she
promis'd that she would Etzel wed.
CXXIII
She said, "You will I follow, poor, widow'd, lonely queen!
I'll to the Huns betake me, and here no more be seen,
If I've but friends to
guide me hence to King Etzel's land."
Thereto before the heroes fair
Kriemhild gave her hand.
CXXIV
Then spake the noble margrave, "If you have but two men,
I
have more to join them; 'twere well advisè¢ then
Over the Rhine to bring you
attended honorably;
You must not, lady, longer tarry here in
Burgundy.
CXXV
"Men have I five hundred, and kinsmen not a few,
All at your
service, lady, both here and yonder too,
Whatever you command them; myself
will foremost be;
If aught you will henceforward, speak but the word to
me.
CXXVI
"Now bid your steeds be saddled, fair dame, and quickly too
(Ne'er shall Rudeger's counsels give you cause to rue),
And tell the gentle
damsels who bear you company,
On the road good knights will meet us, the
flower of chivalry."
CXXVII
Still had they many a trinket, in Siegfried's time uplaid
To
guerdon the best rider; thus could she many a maid
Lead forth in fitting
splendor, when hence to fare she sought;
Ah! what goodly saddles for the fair
dames were brought!
CXXVIII
If ever they had prank'd them in gay apparel dress'd,
Sure
for the present journey her maids prepar'd their best;
They had heard of
Etzel's splendor such tales as credence mock'd.
Every chest flew open, before
kept closely lock'd.
CXXIX
They rested not a moment for four whole days and more.
Forth
from the veiling wrappers the gorgeous vests they bore.
Kriemhild her
treasure-chamber now to unlock began.
She long'd t' enrich the comrades of
Rudeger, every man.
CXXX
Gold had she yet remaining from the Nibelungers' land;
All
wish'd she to th' Hungarians to give with lavish hand;
Sturdy mules a hundred
could not have borne the same.
But the tale of this huge treasure to th' ear
of Hagan came.
CXXXI
Said he, "She'll ne'er forgive me, that need I not be told;
So safe with us Burgundians shall stay Sir Siegfried's gold.
Why should I let
such treasure to deadly foes accrue?
I know full well what Kriemhild with all
this wealth will do.
CXXXII
"If once she hence could fetch it, I guess her whole
intent;
I doubt not, every farthing would to my hurt be spent.
Besides,
they have not horses such weight to undergo;
So Hagan here will keep it, and
that shall Kriemhild know."
CXXXIII
When she heard the tidings, she felt it grievous bale;
To
the three kings together full soon was told the tale.
They wish'd they could
avert it, but nothing hence ensued.
Then thus the noble Rudeger spoke in
right merry mood.
CXXXIV
"Rich and noble princess, why sorrow for the gold?
Let but
the eyes of Etzel your peerless fair behold,
So much the king adores you (for
this on me depend)
He'll give you far more treasure than you can ever
spend."
CXXXV
Thereto the queen made answer, "Right noble Rudeger,
More
wealth had never princess in kingdom far or near,
Than this outrageous Hagan
has foully reft from me."
Then came her brother Gernot to her chamber
hastily.
CXXXVI
The king's key in a moment he dash'd into the door.
The gold
of Lady Kriemhild, thirty thousand marks or more,
Out was laid in order from
the secret cell.
He bade the strangers take it; that pleas'd King Gunther
well.
CXXXVII
Then he of Bechlaren, fair Gotelind's husband, spake:
"If my
Lady Kriemhild had power with her to take
All that from Nibelung's country
was ever brought to Rhine,
Yet touch'd should it be never by her hand or by
mine.
CXXXVIII
"So let it here be treasur'd, for none of it will I.
From
home I have hither brought such a large supply,
That on the road full lightly
we can with this dispense,
So amply are we furnish'd for all the journey
hence."
CXXXIX
Twelve chests of gold, the choicest that e'er was seen of
eye,
Her maidens had kept ever in close reserve laid by.
Now with them, as
they parted, they took the precious load,
With store of women's trinkets, to
serve them on the road.
CXL
Still she look'd for violence from Hagan bad and bold.
She
had yet for pious uses a thousand marks of gold.
These for the soul of
Siegfried, her dearest lord, she gave.
"Her love," thought noble Rudeger,
"lives e'en beyond the grave."
CXLI
Then spake again the mourner: "Where are my friends," said
she,
"Who will a life of exile endure for love of me?
They with the
banish'd widow to Hungary must ride;
Let them take of my treasures, and
clothes and steeds provide."
CXLII
Then spake to the sad princess the Margrave Eckewart,
"Since
of your royal household first I form'd a part,
I've done you loyal service;
this can I truly say,
And will the like do ever e'en to my dying day.
CXLIII
"Of my men, too, five hundred to guard you I will lead,
All
at your disposal, faithful and good at need.
Us from the side of Kriemhild
death alone shall part."
She bow'd to him in silence; his words went to her
heart.
CXLIV
Then forth were led their horses; start must they
presently;
There all around them flocking their friends wept bitterly.
Surely did wealthy Uta with her fair maidens show
How deeply they lamented
that Kriemhild was to go.
A hundred high-born damsels begirt the parting queen,
All
clad, as well became them, in robes of glittering sheen.
Full many a tear of
sorrow from their bright eyes was shed.
At Etzel's court soon after a joyous
life they led.
CXLVI
Then in place young Giselher and Gernot you might view;
They
came, through love to Kriemhild, with all their followers true.
On her way
the brethren to bring their sister sought,
And with them well accoutred a
thousand warriors brought.
CXLVII
Then came the active Gary, Ortwine was present too,
And
there the steward Rumold his duty had to do.
These found them fitting
quarters e'en to the Danube's shore.
A little from the city rode Gunther, and
no more.
CXLVIII
Ere from the Rhine for ever their eastward steps they bent,
They to the Huns beforehand swift messengers had sent,
To tell the stout King
Etzel what Rudeger had done,
And how he peerless Kriemhild for his lord had
woo'd and won.
CXLIX
The messengers spurr'd hotly; no time had they to lose;
They
rode at once for honor and the guerdon of good news.
When home they brought
the tidings, and all the truth made clear,
Word surely never sounded so sweet
in Etzel's ear.
CL
For joy of such fair tidings the king was pleas'd to give
The messengers such presents, that thenceforth each might live
Merrily for
ever, e'en to his dying day.
Through love the king's long sorrow vanish'd at
once away.
I
Enough now of the messengers; we'll tell you, as we may,
How
the queen through the country went riding on her way,
And where Gernot and
Giselher, who forth with her had passed,
And serv'd her well and truly, took
leave of her at last.
II
On rode they to the Danube, and Vergen now was near
When
leave they took, lamenting of the queen their sister dear,
For to the Rhine
together they would retrace their road.
As such nigh kindred parted, many a
sad tear there flow'd.
As leave took Sir Giselher, to his sister thus said he,
"Lady, if hereafter thou e'er have need of me,
Whatever be thy danger, if
thou but let me know,
Straight to the land of Etzel to serve thee will I
go."
IV
All those, who were her kinsmen, kiss'd on her mouth the
queen.
That day a loving farewell 'twixt Kriemhild's friends was seen
And
the good margrave's vassals; they thence asunder sped.
The high-born queen
right onward many a fair maiden led.
V
Fivescore and four together, a richly vested throng
In
stuffs of divers colors; many a buckler strong
Follow'd the lovely lady,
while many a knight of pride,
At length from her departing, turn'd rein and
homeward hied.
VI
Thence down the stream advancing, they rode Bavaria
through;
Then all around spread tidings, that with hot haste a crew
Of
strangers on were coming. Where now an abbey stands,
And where to reach the
Danube the swift Inn scours the lands,
There sat in Passau city a bishop of good report.
Straight
empty was each chamber, and eke the prince's court.
All were forthwith
pricking to Bavarian ground,
Where the good Bishop Pilgrin the Lady Kriemhild
found.
VIII
The good knights of the country were not ill pleas'd, I
ween,
To see so many a beauty about the stately queen.
With loving looks
they courted the maids of lofty race.
Then led was every stranger to seemly
resting-place.
IX
They there at Pledelingen were lodg'd as best might be.
On
all sides all came flocking the noble guests to see.
Whome'er they met, were
ready alike to give or do
Whate'er was to their honor, both there and
elsewhere too.
X
With his niece, the bishop straight to Passau sped.
Forthwith the merry tidings among the burghers spread,
Kriemhild was thither
coming, their prince's sister's child;
The merchants well receiv'd her, the
queenly lady mild.
XI
Much desir'd the bishop that they awhile would stay;
Then
said the good Sir Eckewart, "No, we must hence away
(Howe'er well pleas'd to
linger), down to Rudeger's land.
His knights await our coming, and think us
close at hand."
XII
Already had fair Gotelind the joyful tidings heard;
She and
her noble daughter quick themselves bestirr'd.
She had been advis'd by
Rudeger, her lord and master dear,
It seem'd him right and fitting, that, the
sad queen to cheer,
XIII
She should ride and meet her with his vassals every one,
Up
to the Ems advancing. This was no sooner done,
Than, afoot or in saddle, all
together ran;
The roads throughout the country were alive with horse and
man.
To Efferding fair Kriemhild had now her journey made;
Many a
Bavarian pricker his hands had gladly laid
On the costly baggage as is their
custom still,
And thus the noble travellers would have suffer'd loss and
ill,
XV
But those light-finger'd rovers the margrave could not
brook.
A thousand knights and better to guard his march he took;
Thither,
too, his consort fair Gotelind had come,
And in bright array around her his
vassals all and some.
XVI
Thence o'er the Traun they hasten'd, and forthwith all
around
With tents and huts bespotted the plain of Ems they found.
There
the noble travellers that night their lodging made.
The bands of knights
their charges by Rudeger were paid.
XVII
No longer in her quarters fair Gotelind abode;
Many a wanton
palfrey pranc'd in the crowded road,
Every bridle jingling, and glittering
every selle.
Right hearty was the welcome; it pleas'd the margrave
well.
XVIII
Now on both sides advancing the gorgeous trains drew near.
Many a good knight between them forth prick'd in full career,
And waged the
mimic battle; their knightly sports, I ween,
Drew many a damsel's glances,
nor irk'd the stately queen.
XIX
When met the noble strangers and Rudeger's vassals true,
Up
in the air, loud crashing, many a splinter flew
From the hands of heroes in
knightly exercise.
Well before the ladies rode they for the prize.
XX
Soon was o'er the tourney; the knights together sped,
Each
friendly greeting other; then Gotelind forth was led,
Her duty to Queen
Kriemhild in humble guise to pay.
The skill'd in ladies' service, scant
leisure sure had they.
XXI
To meet his wife, the margrave rode forward from the queen.
Not ill pleas'd was surely the noble margravine,
That back from Rhine so
hearty had come her own good knight.
Her long-brooded sorrows vanish'd in
delight.
XXII
When now had pass'd the welcome the loving pair between,
He
bade her with her ladies alight upon the green.
None then was idle standing
among the nobles there;
All busily bestirr'd them in the service of the
fair.
XXIII
Soon as the Lady Kriemhild beheld the margravine
There with
the ladies standing, rode on a space the queen;
Then sudden check'd her
palfrey (the bit he answer'd well)
And instant bade her servants lift her
down from selle.
XXIV
Then might you see the bishop, already sprung from steed,
Him and good Sir Eckewart, his niece to Gotelind lead.
All there made way
before them as softly on they came.
Then on the mouth the wanderer kiss'd the
good margrave's dame.
XXV
Then said the wife of Rudeger, with tender love and true,
"Now well is me, dear lady, that one so fair as you
Here at last in our
country I with my eyes have seen.
Ne'er in these times, be certain, so happy
have I been."
"Now heaven you quit," said Kriemhild, "for all that you have
done.
Should we live, noble Gotelind, both I and Botlung's son,
You may
indeed be thankful that you have look'd on me."
'Twas all unknown to either
what after was to be.
XXVII
Courteously one to another went many a blooming maid;
Young
knights to yield them service with ready zeal essay'd;
So after kindly
greeting (though erst unknown I ween)
They soon came friends together close
sitting on the green.
XXVIII
With wine were serv'd the ladies; by this 'twas height of
noon;
The noble knights and damsels again were moving soon.
Thence rode
they to a meadow where spacious tents were pight,
And all within made ready
for solace and delight.
XXIX
There through the dark they rested till morn began to
smile.
They of Bechlaren bestirr'd themselves the while,
For such guests
and so many fittingly to prepare.
The margrave so had order'd, little was
wanting there.
XXX
There might you see wide open every window in every wall;
The gates of Bechlaren were back thrown one and all;
In rode the guests; loud
shouted the townsmen least and most;
Choice quarters were prepar'd them by
the care of the noble host.
XXXI
Sir Rudeger's fair daughter with her maidens went
Where the
queen she greeted with loving kind intent;
There found she, too, her mother,
who had with Kriemhild stay'd.
Meanwhile to each fair damsel was joyous
welcome made.
XXXII
So either party mingled, and each went hand in hand
Into a
spacious palace with curious cunning plann'd;
Beneath it roll'd the Danube;
there took they all their ease,
In gentle pastime sitting, fann'd by the
river breeze.
XXXIII
What further pass'd among them is more than I can say.
Sore
murmur'd Kriemhild's followers that they must hence away,
And leave the
pleasant city where such kind friends abode.
Ah! what good warriors with them
from Bechlaren rode!
XXXIV
To them much loving service the noble margrave paid;
Then to
fair Gotelind's daughter the queen a present made;
She gave her twelve red
armlets, and robes so richly wrought,
That with her nothing better to Etzel's
land she brought.
XXXV
Albeit the wondrous treasure now was hers no more,
Still,
from the small remainder of her once boundless store,
Whome'er she saw, her
bounty made every one content,
And now to Rudeger's household right precious
gifts she sent.
XXXVI
In turn, as well befitted her state and lofty line,
So well
Dame Gotelind treated the strangers from the Rhine,
That few were there among
them, but from her copious store
Precious stones in plenty or gorgeous
raiment bore.
XXXVII
When they their fast had broken, and ready were to part,
Then the noble hostess with true and faithful heart
Proffer'd her constant
service to Etzel's stately queen,
Who much caress'd and fondly the fair young
margravine.
XXXVIII
To the queen said the damsel, "If it seem you well,
Of the
mind of my father this I can truly tell,
That he would gladly send me among
the Huns to you."
That the young maiden lov'd her, how well fair Kriemhild
knew!
XXXIX
Their horses now were saddled, and brought before the town.
Thither the noble Kriemhild came from the castle down,
And bade farewell to
Gotelind and to her daughter dear.
Many a maid of many a maiden took leave
with many a tear.
They look'd on one another but seldom from that day.
At
Medilich to the strangers were handed on the way
Rich golden cups, well
fashion'd, and thereto, as a sign
Of free and hearty welcome, fill'd to the
brim with wine.
XLI
Here held his wary station a host that Astolt hight;
From
him the road to Austria the travellers learn'd aright,
Toward Mautern down
the Danube; all anxious there were seen
To meet with zealous service King
Etzel's gracious queen.
XLII
There lovingly the bishop parted from his niece,
How
strongly he advis'd her to live in joy and peace,
And gain fair fame and
credit as Helca did of yore!
Ah! what high honors thenceforth among the Huns
she bore!
XLIII
Thence their way to the Traisem the noble strangers made.
The men of the good margrave all fair attendance paid,
Till the Huns to meet
them came riding o'er the green.
Then with royal honors was welcomed the fair
queen.
XLIV
Fast beside the Traisem the King of Hungary
Possess'd a
famous castle kept well and warily;
It's name was Zeissenmauer; there Helca
once did dwell,
Displaying such high virtues, that none could her
excel,
XLV
Save only peerless Kriemhild, who well knew how to give;
Sure, after all her sorrows, she might contented live,
Such crowds of Etzel's
warriors were proud on her to wait,
Adorers of her beauty and vassals of her
state.
XLVI
Wide was the rule of Etzel, and wider his renown;
The most
redoubted champions from castle and from town
Were at his court assembled;
together, all and some,
Christian knights and Paynim, they now with him were
come.
XLVII
With him at every season was many a prowest chief
Alike of
heathen doctrine and of the true belief.
Whate'er his faith, each warrior was
prompt at Etzel's call,
And the king was so gracious, he gave enough to
all.
I
Kriemhild at Zeissenmauer remain'd till the fourth day;
On
the roads, while there she rested, the dust no moment lay.
It seem'd the land
was burning, so smok'd each hoof-beat plain,
As Etzel's men through Austria
came trampling on amain.
II
When to the monarch's hearing the joyful tidings came.
How
stately through his country rode the Burgundian dame,
All sorrow in a moment
was from his heart effac'd;
To meet his love and lady he spurred with burning
haste.
III
Good knights of many a region and many a foreign tongue
Prick'd before King Etzel, that all the champaign rung;
Christian and heathen
squadrons, careering wide around,
Advanc'd in dazzling splendor to where the
queen they found.
IV
Chiefs from Greece and Russia in crowds were there to meet;
Polacks and Wallachians there were spurring fleet.
Each his fiery charger had
in due command;
Each display'd the customs of his own native land.
V
From Kiev came many a champion, each in fair array,
And
savage Petchenegers, that ever on their way
Kept shooting from the saddle at
wild birds as they flew;
The arrow-head full strongly to the bend of the bow
they drew.
VI
Fast by the flowing Danube there stands on Austrian ground
A
city that hight Tulna; there first fair Kriemhild found
Many an outlandish
custom, and was with welcome sought
By many a knight, whom after to doom and
death she brought.
VII
Before King Etzel riding his household forward came,
Four
and twenty princes of loftiest birth and name,
Merry, and rich, and courtly,
and glittering all with gold,
Who long'd for nothing better than their lady
to behold.
VIII
Duke Ramung of Wallachia rode trampling o'er the plain;
Seven hundred chosen warriors behind him held the rein;
You might see them
speeding like wild birds in their flight.
Thither came Prince Gibek with many
a squadron bright.
IX
Swift Hornbog, with a thousand trampling the dusty green,
Left the side of the monarch, and gallop'd toward the queen.
After their
country's fashion they shouted shrill and loud.
Hotly was also ridden by
Etzel's kinsmen proud.
X
Hawart was there of Denmark (a champion bold was he),
And
the nimble Iring from falsehood ever free,
And Irnfried of Th�a, a stern
and stately knight.
These receiv'd fair Kriemhild with all the pomp they
might.
XI
With men at arms twelve hundred advanc'd they o'er the lea.
Thither too from Hungary rode on with thousands three
Sir Blœdel, Etzel's
brother, for knightly deeds renown'd;
He mov'd with princely splendor to
where the queen he found.
XII
Last the great King Etzel and eke Sir Dietrich came
With all
his brave companions; there many a knight of fame
And proud descent was
present, prudent, and bold, and true,
High beat the heart of Kriemhild their
wide array to view.
Then to the queen beside him thus spoke Sir Rudeger;
"Lady,
with your permission the king I'll welcome here.
Whome'er to kiss I bid you,
let it straight be done.
It fits not, such a favor be granted every
one."
XIV
Straight from her sleek palfrey the queen was lifted down;
No longer dallied Etzel, the king of wide renown;
From horse with many a
warrior he lighted on the green,
And merrily went forward to meet the noble
queen.
XV
Two great and mighty princes, as has to us been told,
Advanc'd with the fair lady in raiment rich with gold,
As the wide-ruling
Etzel approached his bride to meet,
When she deign'd the monarch with a
loving kiss to greet.
XVI
With that her veil back threw she; forth beam'd her rosy
hue
From the gold around it; many were there to view;
All own'd Dame
Helca's beauty scarce with hers could vie.
There the king's brother Blœdel
close was standing by.
XVII
Him the first kiss'd Kriemhild as bade the margrave good,
And next to him King Gibek; there too Sir Dietrich stood.
Twelve, the chief
and noblest, were kiss'd by Etzel's bride.
With courteous grace she welcom'd
many a good knight beside.
XVIII
All the while that Etzel talk'd with his lady true,
The
young knights were doing as young knights now will do.
They tried their skill
in tilting as best they could devise,
Christian alike and heathen each in his
country's guise.
In Dietrich's men bold bearing and knightly you might spy.
How high above the bucklers they made the splinters fly
(So mighty was their
puissance) and deafen'd all the field!
By the German strangers pierc'd
through was many a shield.
XX
The crash of spears resounded as band encounter'd band.
Thither were come from all sides the warriors of the land,
And the king's
guests together, nobles in proud array;
Thence now with Lady Kriemhild King
Etzel went his way.
XXI
Close by, a rich pavilion for their retreat they found;
Crowded with tents and cabins was all the field around.
There, after all
their labors, their languid limbs they laid.
Many a good warrior thither led
many a gentle maid,
XXII
Where on a cushion'd sofa rich beyond compare
The stately
queen was seated: the margrave's anxious care
For all things most convenient
to pomp and ease had sent,
And so at once serv'd Kriemhild, and gave the king
content.
The tale then told by Etzel is more than I can say;
Soft in
his hand reposing her snowy fingers lay.
So sat they gentle toying, for
Rudeger, I ween,
Left not the king a moment in secret with the queen.
XXIV
Then o'er the spacious meadow they bade the tourney cease;
With honor all that tumult now was hush'd in peace.
Then Etzel's men betook
them to cabin, booth, or tent;
Fit and convenient harbor they found where'er
they went.
XXV
The day at last was ended, then took they their repose,
Till, at her hour returning, the cheerful dawn arose.
Then hasten'd many a
warrior to horse at once to spring.
Ah! what pastimes plied they in honor of
the king!
XXVI
The king his Huns exhorted to do as honor bade.
From Tulna
to Vienna their journey then they made.
There found they many a lady adorn'd
in all her pride
To welcome with due honor King Etzel's noble bride.
XXVII
In overflowing fulness all, that could each delight,
To his
wish was ready; exulting many a knight
Look'd forward to the revels; joy
smil'd on most and least;
With mirth and gladness open'd King Etzel's
marriage-feast.
XXVIII
The numbers now assembled the city could not hold,
So all,
who were not strangers, the noble margrave told
To seek convenient quarters
in all the country round.
Still constant in attendance on the fair queen were
found
XXIX
The valiant chief, Sir Dietrich, and many a knight besides;
Needful rest and solace each himself denied
To cheer the noble strangers and
give them full content.
Sir Rudeger and his comrades had heartiest
merriment.
XXX
Held was the marriage festal on a Whitsuntide;
'Twas then
that royal Etzel embrac'd his high-born bride
In the city of Vienna; I ween
she ne'er had found,
When first she wed, such myriads all to her service
bound.
XXXI
With gifts she made acquaintance of those she ne'er had
seen;
"Kriemhild," said many a stranger, "is sure a royal queen;
She had
lost, we thought, the treasures that she before had won;
Yet here with her
rich presents what wonders she had done!"
XXXII
For seventeen days did Etzel his marriage festal hold;
Never
to us of monarch, I ween, before was told,
Who so proudly feasted, in old or
modern lore.
The guests, who there were present, all their new raiment
wore.
XXXIII
Of old, I ween, in Netherland she ne'er at board had sat
With such a host of warriors; well can I vouch for that;
For ne'er so many
champions had Siegfried at command,
With all his wealth, as Kriemhild saw
before Etzel stand.
XXXIV
Never king before him so many mantles brave,
For length and
breadth conspicuous, at his own wedding gave,
Nor such store of rich vesture,
enough for each to take;
All this was freely lavish'd for lovely Kriemhild's
sake.
XXXV
There of a mind together were friends and strangers too;
Neither their goods nor chattels kept that free-handed crew.
Whatever was
ask'd, was granted; they gave till they were bare.
Many a one, through
kindness, not a coat had left to wear.
XXXVI
How once by Rhine she tarried, the bride a moment thought,
With her first noble husband; to her eyes the tears it brought;
Yet she so
well conceal'd it, the feasters mark'd her not;
Now, after all her sorrows,
what glory was her lot!
XXXVII
All was but a trifle, that by the rest was done,
To the
liberal deeds of Dietrich; whatever Botlung's son
In former days had giv'n
him, went scatter'd through the land;
Marvels too of bounty were wrought by
Rudeger's hand.
XXXVIII
Prince Blœdel, too, of Hungary vied nobly with the best;
He
bade his comrades empty full many a travelling chest
Cramm'd with gold and
silver; the whole was giv'n away;
The warriors of King Etzel a merry life led
they.
XXXIX
Werbel as well as Swemmeline, the minstrels of the king,
To
them no little profit did this fair marriage bring.
They gain'd, I ween, in
largess a thousand marks or more,
When Kriemhild fair with Etzel the crown
imperial wore.
'Twas on the eighteenth morning, they from Vienna rode;
Pierc'd was many a buckler in tilting on the road
By spears which valiant
champions level'd dexterously.
So back return'd King Etzel to the land of
Hungary.
The walls of ancient Haimburg they reach'd by fall of
night,
So that scarce 'twas easy to estimate by sight
How huge a strength
of warriors the country round beset;
Ah! what fair troops of ladies each,
home returning, met!
XLII
At Misenburg the wealthy, on shipboard went the band;
From
bank to bank the river, as though 'twere firm dry land,
With man and horse
was cover'd that floated as it flow'd;
Rest had the way-worn ladies, borne on
their liquid road.
XLIII
Many a good ship together was lash'd and firmly bound,
Lest
the damp spray should harm them from billows dashing round;
Many a good tent
above them kept off the sun and breeze,
As if they in a meadow were sitting
at their ease.
When to King Etzel's castle the joyful tidings came,
Right
merry were to hear it many a knight and many a dame.
The courtly train,
accustom'd Queen Helca to obey,
In after time with Kriemhild led many a happy
day.
XLV
In anxious doubt there waiting stood many a noble maid,
All,
since the death of Helca, down by deep sorrow weigh'd
Seven, of proud kings
the daughters, Kriemhild found there in place,
Of all King Etzel's country
the ornament and grace.
XLVI
Of this fair train of damsels Dame Herrat had the care,
Helca's sister's daughter, renown'd for virtues rare,
Wife of good Sir
Dietrich, daughter of King Nentwine;
Her after honors suited well with her
lofty line.
XLVII
That the high guests were coming, it joy'd her much to
hear;
Straight she bade make ready good store of choicest cheer.
How then
King Etzel feasted, no tongue may hope to tell.
E'en in the days of Helca
they scarcely far'd so well.
XLVIII
As from the shore with Kriemhild rode on King Etzel bold,
Who forward led each damsel, straight to the queen was told,
And thus each
lord and lady she welcomed as was meet;
Ah! with what power thereafter she
sat in Helca's seat!
XLIX
Their true and loyal service all vow'd to her alone;
Silver,
and gold, and raiment, and many a precious stone,
She freely shar'd among
them; on that auspicious day,
All she had brought from Rhineland was giv'n at
once away.
L
To her, as to their mistress, whoe'er the king obey'd,
His
kinsmen and his vassals, true liegemen's service paid,
That never Lady Helca
ruled with such mighty sway.
Such service held Queen Kriemhild e'en to her
dying day.
LI
So court and country flourish'd with such high honors
crown'd,
And all at every season fresh joy and pastime found.
Every heart
was merry, smiles on each face were seen;
So kind the king was ever, so
liberal the queen.
I
King Etzel and Queen Kriemhild in proudest honor dwelt
For
seven whole years together, nor woe nor sorrow felt;
Meanwhile to her fond
husband the queen produced a boy;
Never before did Etzel exult so high with
joy.
II
She never ceas'd entreating till her good lord she won
To
have the right of baptism giv'n to her infant son
After the Christian custom;
Ortlieb call'd was he;
Thereat all Etzel's kingdoms were fill'd with mirth
and glee.
Whatever queenly virtues had fame to Helca brought,
Dame
Kriemhild daily practis'd, and love, like Helca, sought.
From the foreign
maiden Herrat, who still in secret yearn'd
For Helca's loss, the customs of
all the land she learn'd.
IV
Her praise both friends and strangers alike were glad to
tell;
'Twas own'd that never kingdom so graciously and well
By queen had
e'er been governed; so much to all was clear.
This fame she bore in Hungary
e'en to the thirteenth year.
V
When now she knew for certain that none would thwart her
will
(So deal with wives of princes their husbands' vassals still),
And
saw twelve kings for ever standing her before,
Her home-bred wrongs and
sorrows again she brooded o'er.
VI
She thought how all the honors of the Nibelungers' land,
That once were her possession, fierce Hagan's rugged hand,
After the death of
Siegfried, had torn from her away,
And how the proud wrong-doer with wrong
she might repay.
VII
"'Twere done, if I could only lure him to this land!"
Still
would she dream, that often she wander'd hand in hand
With Giselher her
brother, and often on the mouth
Kiss'd him in her slumber; too soon came bale
on both.
VIII
Sure the foul fiend possess'd her, and lurking in her heart
Prompted her from King Gunther so lovingly to part,
Kissing, but not
forgiving, close harboring still the feud.
Hot tears of wrath and malice once
more her vesture dew'd.
IX
At her heart for ever early and late it lay,
How, guiltless,
from her country she had been driven away,
And forc'd to take for husband a
man of heathen creed.
Gunther and bloody Hagan had brought her to such
need.
X
One long and dreary yearning she foster'd hour by hour;
She
thought, "I am so wealthy and hold such boundless power,
That I with ease a
mischief can bring on all my foes,
But most on him of Trony, the deadliest
far of those.
XI
"Full oft for its beloved my heart is mourning still;
Them
could I but meet with, who wrought me so much ill,
Revenge should strike at
murder, and life atone for life;
Wait can I no longer." So murmur'd Etzel's
wife.
XII
All the great king's vassals much love unto her bore,
And to
do her service were ready evermore.
Her chamberlain was Eckewart, who thus
made hosts of friends;
So none could thwart her pleasure, whate'er might be
her ends.
XIII
Ever was she thinking, "I'll ask the king a boon,
Which he,
I know, will grant me readily and soon,
To bid my friends and kinsmen hither
to Hunnish ground,"
None guess'd her secret malice, or harm in Kriemhild
found.
XIV
So on a night reposing, as by the king she lay
(He in his
arms embrac'd her, and bless'd the happy day,
That gave him such a consort,
dear to him as his life;
She on her foes was thinking and th' old intestine
strife),
XV
Thus spake she to the monarch, "Dear lord, full fain would
I
Entreat of thee a favor, which thou wilt not deny
If thou think'st I
deserve it, to let me see aright
If my friends in good earnest have favor in
thy sight."
XVI
Then spake the mighty monarch (kind was his heart and
true),
"Of that can I assure thee; whatever good accrue
To those bold
knights, be certain to me content it lends;
Never through love of woman
acquir'd I better friends."
XVII
Then thus made Kriemhild answer, "'Tis true, as thou dost
know,
Right noble are my kinsmen, yet ever am I woe
That still they keep
so distant nor I by them am seen.
I'm told, for a mere outcast people report
your queen."
XVIII
Then answer'd thus King Etzel, "Dear love and lady mine,
If
they regard not distance, I'll send beyond the Rhine.
And hither bid whomever
thou here to see art fain."
Much joy'd the vengeful lady thus his consent to
gain.
XIX
Said she, "Would'st thou but please me, dear lord and master
mine,
Despatch from hence thy envoys to Worms beyond the Rhine.
Such
friends as most I long for, I hither will invite,
And straight will come
among us full many a noble knight."
XX
Said he, "As thou would'st have it, so let the matter be;
Assure thee, thou wilt never thy friends so gladly see
As I shall gladly see
them, noble Uta's children dear;
It irks me much and deeply, they've been
such strangers here.
XXI
"So, if it thus content thee, dear love and lady mine,
I'll
gladly send my minstrels for those good friends of thine.
They this very
morning shall start for Burgundy."
With that, the king his minstrels bade
summon instantly.
XXII
They hasten'd at the summons where, newly ris'n from bed,
The king sat with his consort; thus to both he said,
"Hence you with a
message to Burgundy must ride."
With that, the richest vesture, he bade for
them provide.
XXIII
For four and twenty warriors fit raiment was prepar'd.
Moreover to his envoys his will the king declar'd,
How they should to Hungary
bid Gunther and his folk.
But what the queen enjoin'd them close apart she
spoke.
XXIV
Thus them address'd King Etzel, "I'll tell you what to do;
To my good friends go tender my love and service true,
And bid them deign
ride hither, and taste our Hunnish cheer.
Guests have I none other whom I
hold so dear.
XXV
"So if they will do me the favor which I pray,
Entreat them
not to linger; speed makes the surest way.
At my high feast this summer I
trust to see my friends,
And on my wife's fair kinsmen much of my joy
depends."
XXVI
Thereto replied the minstrel, the haughty Swemmeline,
"When
in this land of Hungary your feast do you design?
That to your friends
exactly your purpose we may say."
"About," replied King Etzel, "next
midsummer day."
XXVII
"We'll surely do your bidding," Werbel made reply.
Into her
inmost chamber the queen bade by and by
In secret bring the envoys, and there
her will 'gan tell,
Whence death and grim destruction many a good knight
befell.
XXVIII
She said to both the envoys, "Now only serve me true,
And as
I command you my will discreetly do,
And, when you come to Rhineland, speak
but my bidding there,
And I'll give you gold and raiment plenty and to
spare.
XXIX
"To my friends, whomever you meet with, more or less,
At
Worms, as there you tarry, be sure you ne'er confess
That ever you beheld me
moody or sorrow-worn;
Only let my service to the good knights be
borne.
XXX
"Beg them to grant the favor for which the king hath sent,
And so at once will vanish my only discontent.
I here am fancied friendless,
and scarce esteem'd aright.
I'd go myself to visit them if I but were a
knight.
XXXI
"And also to Sir Gernot, my noble brother, say,
That none
can love him better than his sister far away,
And bid him bring me hither our
friends most prov'd and true,
That all may here accord us the honor that's
our due.
XXXII
"And say, too, to young Giselher that he should bear in
mind,
That he never wrong'd me, but still was good and kind.
My eyes are
ever yearning to look upon him here,
For dearly do I love him, as I to him am
dear.
XXXIII
"And tell my noble mother what honors here I bear.
Then, if
Hagan of Trony resolve to tarry there,
Who will there be to guide them
through lands so waste and lone?
But he the roads to Hungary e'en from a
child has known."
XXXIV
Not a whit the envoys could guess her deep design
In keeping
him of Trony from tarrying by the Rhine.
It irk'd them sore thereafter, when
their unconscious breath
With him had drawn the guiltless into the toils of
death.
XXXV
Letters and goodly greetings the king was prompt to give;
And riches bore they with them right sumptuously to live.
So leave they took
of Etzel, and of his noble queen;
Adorn'd were they with raiment as rich as
e'er was seen.
When Etzel had his envoys for the Rhenish border bown'd,
From land to land the tidings at once flew wide around.
He pray'd and eke
commanded by many a nimble post
Guests to his gorgeous festal; 'twas the doom
of death to most.
II
So from the realm of Hungary forth the envoys went
To the
bold Burgundians; thither were they sent
To three royal brethren and their
warriors wight
To bid them come to Etzel; fast prick'd they as they
might.
III
Thence came they to Bechlaren as on the spur they rode;
There all were glad to tend them, and naught but kindness show'd.
Rudeger and
Gotelind by them their service true
Sent to their friends in Rhineland, so
did their daughter too.
IV
Thence without many a present they would not let them part,
So that the men of Etzel might go with merrier heart.
Rudeger bade tell Uta
and her children three,
That sure no other margrave lov'd them so well as
he.
V
And eke they sent to Brunhild their service and best will,
Their loyalty devoted, and love enduring still.
So, thus at full
commission'd, the envoys sprung to selle;
The margravine at parting pray'd
God to guard them well.
VI
Ere the despatchful minstrels had ridd'n Bavaria through,
Swift Werbel found the bishop, Queen Kriemhild's uncle true.
What to his
Rhenish kinsmen by their mouths he said
Came never to my knowledge; but th'
envoys gold so red
VII
He gave for a remembrance ere he let them part;
But first
thus spake good Pilgrin, "'Twould gladden sure my heart
To see them in
Bavaria, these sister's sons of mine,
Since I can hope so seldom to seek them
by the Rhine."
VIII
What roads they took yet further, as to the Rhine they
far'd,
Is more than I can utter; none sure to pilfer dar'd
Their silver or
their raiment; Etzel all had dread;
His majesty and puissance so wide around
were spread.
IX
Within twelve days, so riding, they came unto the Rhine,
E'en to Worms, the minstrels Werbel and Swemmeline.
To the kings and their
liegemen forthwith the tidings ran,
That come were foreign envoys. Gunther to
ask began.
X
Thus said the Lord of Rhineland, "I fain would understand,
Whence have the strangers journey'd who thus have sought our land."
Not one
to his inquiry could satisfaction bring,
Till they were seen by Hagan, who
thus bespake the king;
XI
"These must be weighty tidings; that can I vouch for true;
Sure they are Etzel's minstrels whom here I have in view.
Your sister sends
them hither unless I much mistake;
Let's give them hearty welcome for their
great master's sake."
XII
At once up to the palace in fair array they rode;
Never
prince's minstrels before so lordly show'd.
Forth stepp'd King Gunther's
servants with courteous act and look,
And led them to fit chambers, and in
charge their raiment took.
XIII
So rich and so well fashion'd were the riding-vests they
wore,
That in them they with honor might go the king before;
Still they
resolv'd no longer the same at court to wear,
But ask'd, "Who would accept
them?" of those who loiter'd there.
XIV
It chanced that there were many, who were right well
content
To take their proffer'd bounty; to these they straight were sent.
Then robes of such rare splendor put on the lofty guests,
That well might
royal envoys keep state in meaner vests.
XV
Straightway, with leave accorded, Etzel's servants went
To
where the king was sitting; kind looks were on them bent.
To them in
courteous fashion up stepp'd Sir Hagan brave,
And warmly bade them welcome;
due thanks in turn they gave.
XVI
Much after news inquir'd he, much after great and small,
How
it was with Etzel, how with his warriors all.
The minstrel thus made answer,
"The land was ne'er so well,
The people ne'er so happy; this I for truth can
tell."
XVII
To the host then went the envoys; throng'd was the palace
wide;
They met right courteous greeting from knights on every side,
Such
as in distant countries to noble guests is due.
Werbel there found with
Gunther many a champion bold and true.
XVIII
Courteously King Gunther greeted them as they stood;
"Welcome to Worms, both welcome, ye Hunnish minstrels good,
You and your
worthy comrades; wherefore from Hungary
Has noble Etzel sent you so far to
Burgundy?"
XIX
Low bow'd they to King Gunther, then Werbel spake, "By me
My
good king and thy sister their service send to thee,
And their fraternal
greeting with kind sincere intent.
We to you knights of Rhineland in love and
truth are sent."
XX
Then said the puissant Gunther, "This news I'm glad to
hear;
And how," asked he, "is Etzel, whom long I've held so dear,
And my
fair sister Kriemhild, who reigns in Hungary?"
Then answer'd thus the
minstrel, "I'll tell you faithfully.
XXI
"This take for true and certain, that never yet were seen
People so blithe and merry as our good king and queen,
Their vassals, and
their kinsmen, and knights in bower and hall;
The tidings of our journey
rejoic'd them one and all."
XXII
"Thanks for his friendly message, which you so far have
brought,
And also for my sister's; it glads my inmost thought
To find they
all live happy, both king and liegemen bold.
I ask'd with fear and trembling
before your tale was told."
XXIII
The two young kings together alike the presence sought.
But
just before, the tidings had to their ears been brought.
Right glad to see
the envoys for his dear sister's sake
Was the young knight Giselher, and
friendly them bespake.
XXIV
"Welcome, ye noble envoys, welcome to me and mine;
Should
you be pleas'd more frequent to travel to the Rhine,
Friends you would meet
with ever who'd see you still with joy,
And little you'd encounter to cause
you here annoy."
XXV
"For that we freely trust you," straight answer'd
Swemmeline;
"Express ne'er could I fitly by wit or words of mine
What kind
and friendly greetings I from King Etzel bear,
And from your noble sister,
who reigns so proudly there.
XXVI
"Your love and old affection she bids you keep in mind,
And
how to her you ever in heart and soul were kind.
But first to the king and
foremost we come by high command,
To beg you'd deign to travel hence into
Etzel's land.
XXVII
"In strictest charge 'twas given us by our redoubted king,
Unto you all this message on his account to bring,
If you your loving sister
are so resolv'd to shun,
Yet fain would learn King Etzel, what he to you has
done,
XXVIII
"That you to him such strangers and to his land have been;
E'en were you distant aliens, nor kinsmen of his queen,
He at your hands
might merit that you his guests should be,
And if this e'er should happen,
right well content were he."
XXIX
Thereto replied King Gunther, "Before this sennight's end,
I'll tell you, after counsel first ta'en with many a friend.
What I shall
have determin'd; meanwhile for you 'twere best
To go back to your quarters
and there in pleasure rest."
XXX
Then said the minstrel Werbel, "And might it also be,
That
you would permit us a little space to see
My gracious Lady Uta ere we retire
to rest?"
Thereto assent Sir Giselher thus courteously express'd.
XXXI
"That no one will refuse you, and, would you thither go,
Full well you'd please my mother, that for a truth I know;
Surely for my
sister the Lady Kriemhild's sake
She will behold you gladly, and friendly
welcome make."
XXXII
Giselher then led them where he the lady found;
Full gladly
she beheld them, the chiefs from Hunnish ground.
She gave them friendly
greeting, for she was good and wise;
They then their charge deliver'd in
grave and courtly guise.
XXXIII
"To you the queen my lady," thus noble Swemmeline spake,
"Commends her love and duty; this you for truth may take,
That if your royal
daughter her mother oft could see,
In all the world no pleasure more dear to
her would be."
XXXIV
Thereto the queen made answer, "That cannot be, I fear;
Much
as 'twould glad me, often to see my daughter dear,
She dwells from hence too
distant, the noble Etzel's wife.
May she and he together ever lead a happy
life!
XXXV
"I pray you, give me notice, e'er you from Rhineland go,
When you begin your journey; this too for certain know,
That I never envoys
with more content have seen."
The squires to do her pleasure made promise to
the queen.
XXXVI
The messengers from Hungary thence to their chambers went;
Meanwhile in haste King Gunther round to his friends had sent,
And, when all
were assembled, inquir'd of every man,
What thought they of the message; many
then to speak began.
XXXVII
That into Etzel's country be might in safety ride,
This all
the best advis'd him, who stood there by his side,
Save only stern Sir Hagan;
he drew the king apart,
And grimly frowning mutter'd, "You strike at your own
heart.
XXXVIII
"You sure must still remember what we ere now have done.
We
must beware of Kriemhild for ever, every one.
To the death her husband I
smote with this good hand;
How then can we with prudence set foot in Etzel's
land?"
XXXIX
Then spake the mighty monarch, "She thinks no more of this;
At parting she forgave us, with many a loving kiss,
All we had done against
her; her wrath is overblown.
If she bear malice, Hagan, 'tis sure 'gainst you
alone."
XL
"Trust not, Sir King," said Hagan, "how smooth soe'er they
be,
The messengers from Hungary; if Kriemhild you will see,
You put upon
the venture your honor and your life.
A nurse of ling'ring vengeance is
Etzel's moody wife."
XLI
Then took the word Prince Gernot, and in the council spake,
"Because you with good reason believe your life at stake
In yonder Hunnish
kingdoms, must we too Kriemhild shun,
And visit not our sister? that sure
were wrongly done."
XLII
Then to the frowning warrior Prince Giselher turn'd his
rede,
"Since you know yourself guilty, friend Hagan, in this deed,
Better
stay here in safety, and of your life take care,
And with us to our sister
let journey those who dare."
XLIII
Thereat the Knight of Trony to kindle wrath began,
"Never
shall you, never, lead with you hence a man
That with you dare ride readier
to visit your worst foe;
Since you will not hear counsel, this I ere long
will show."
XLIV
Then spake the steward Rumolt, a hardy knight and true;
"You
can dispose in Rhineland of friends and strangers too
After your own good
pleasure; abundance have you here;
No one, I ween, in Hungary has bound you
to appear.
XLV
"Since you will not hear Hagan, to my advice attend;
This is
what Rumolt counsels, your firm and faithful friend;
Stay here in peace and
plenty; let those who need it roam,
And let the great King Etzel cheer his
fair queen at home.
XLVI
"Where can you be better for pleasure or repose?
Where more
with friends surrounded, and more secure from foes?
So be wise and merry, the
richest raiment wear,
Drink the best wine in Rhineland, and woo the fairest
fair.
XLVII
"Store have you too of dainties, the best and most to prize
That ever feasted monarch, and, if 'twere otherwise,
At home you still should
tarry for love of your fair wife,
Nor in such childish fashion expose your
precious life.
XLVIII
"Stay here then, I beseech you; rich are your lawns and
leas,
Here every pledge of pleasure you may redeem with ease,
Far better
than in Hungary; who knows what there may rise?
Stay here, my lord, and stir
not; this is what I advise."
XLIX
"Stay will we not, assure thee," Prince Gernot answer'd
straight;
"How can we, when my sister and the great king, her mate,
Have
bidd'n us by a message so loving and so kind?
Who will not freely with us may
safely stay behind."
L
Thereto made Hagan answer, "Be not displeas'd at all
With
what I now shall counsel, whatever hence befall.
In faith and truth I warn
you; would you in safety go,
Ride well array'd to Hungary, and arm'd from top
to toe.
LI
"Since you still will forward, for all your warriors send,
For every valiant stranger and every trusted friend.
From all I'll choose a
thousand, each a well-proved knight;
Thus you may rest in safety from moody
Kriemhild's spite."
LII
"I gladly take thy counsel," the king at once replied;
Throughout his lands despatch'd he his messengers far and wide.
Three
thousand knights or better came on with proud intent.
Little thought they to
purchase such doleful dreariment.
LIII
With jollity and joyance to Gunther's land they rode;
On
all, that proffer'd service, was horse and weed bestow'd,
For soon were they
to travel far from Burgundian ground.
Many a good knight to join him the king
right willing found.
LIV
Then Hagan told Sir Dankwart, his brother good at need,
Eighty of their warriors forth to the Rhine to lead.
Thither they came full
knightly; the well-appointed band
Harness with them, and raiment, brought
into Gunther's land.
LV
Folker, a noble minstrel, and eke a hardy knight,
Came to
partake their journey with thirty men of might,
All clad in such apparel as
well a king might wear;
He bade announce to Gunther, to Hungary he'd
fare.
LVI
Now, who was this same Folker, I'll tell you faithfully.
He
was a high-born warrior, and had in Burgundy
Many good knights for vassals of
honor undefil'd.
For playing on the viol the minstrel he was styl'd.
LVII
Hagan chose out a thousand whom well before he knew
In stern
assaults and forays for valiant men and true,
And in all forms of battle
their worth he oft had tried.
Their well-approved prowess by none could be
denied.
LVIII
Sore irk'd it Kriemhild's envoys to make so long a stay;
They fear'd their lord's displeasure, and fain would speed away.
They daily
were entreating for leave at once to part,
But Hagan still refus'd it through
subtlety of heart.
LIX
To his lords he thus gave warning, "We must well beware
Of
letting these ride homeward, unless ourselves we fare
Within a sennight after
straight into Etzel's land.
We shall be thus the safer if any fraud be
plann'd.
LX
"With all her thirst for vengeance, Kriemhild will want the
time
To weave a web of mischief, and muster strength for crime,
Or, if she
strike too early, she'll be the sufferer then,
Since we shall bring to
Hungary such a host of chosen men."
LXI
Forthwith for many a champion, who thence would soon away,
Prepar'd were shields and saddles and all the proud array
That to the land of
Etzel each was with him to bring;
Meanwhile Queen Kriemhild's envoys were
call'd before the king.
LXII
Then thus began Sir Gernot to th' envoys there in place,
"The king will do the bidding of royal Etzel's grace.
Fain will we seek his
festal, which it were ill to miss,
And see once more our sister; she may
depend on this."
Then spake to them King Gunther, "Could you to us declare
The time of this high festal, and when we should be there
With all our
following present?" then Swemmeline made reply,
"For the next midsummer is
fix'd the festal high."
LXIV
The king then gave permission, not granted till that hour,
If they wish'd to visit Dame Brunhild in her bower,
With his free allowance
thither at once to go,
Then interpos'd Sir Folker (the queen would have it
so).
LXV
"Just now my Lady Brunhild is not so well of cheer,"
Said
the good knight, "that strangers before her can appear.
Wait until to-morrow;
then you the queen may see."
Much wish'd they to behold her, yet never could
it be.
LXVI
Then in his gracious fashion commanded straight the king
Through kindnes to the envoys forth his gold to bring
Spread out on massy
bucklers; good store thereof had he.
Rich gifts his friends too gave them
with liberal hand and free.
LXVII
Gernot alike and Giselher and Gary and Ortwine
Show'd, they
as well could lavish the treasures of the mine.
Such rich gifts on the envoys
were shower'd with one accord,
That they durst not accept them through terror
of their lord.
LXVIII
On this the messenger Swemmeline thus to the king 'gan say,
"Sir King, needs must your presents here in your country stay;
We cannot take
them with us; our king has so decreed,
And strictly that forbidden; besides,
we've little need."
LXIX
Not little wonder'd Gunther, and felt displeasure more,
That
they refus'd such presents given from his royal store.
Still he at last
constrain'd them his gold and weed to take,
And to the land of Etzel to bear
them for his sake.
LXX
An audience of Queen Uta, ere they set out, they sought.
Young Giselher the minstrels before his mother brought.
The lady to her
daughter by them this message sent,
To hear of all her honors, it gave her
full content.
LXXI
Girdles and gold she lavish'd, sure more than I can tell,
Both for the sake of Kriemhild (for her she lov'd full well)
And also of King
Etzel, on those same minstrels brave;
They willingly accepted what she
sincerely gave.
LXXII
Their leave then took the envoys, well-gifted as might be,
Of every noble warrior and every lady free.
Thence on they rode to Swabia;
Sir Gernot sent along
So far his knights to guard them, that none should do
them wrong.
LXXIII
When from the friends they parted, who had assur'd their
way,
In peace they went thenceforward, safe under Etzel's sway,
That no
man dar'd to pilfer their horses or their weed.
So to the land of Etzel they
prick'd with fiery speed.
LXXIV
Whom true they found and friendly, them told they all and
some,
That the bold Burgundians would shortly thither come
From the Rhine
into Hungary, as Etzel them had pray'd.
Also to Bishop Pilgrin like tidings
were convey'd.
LXXV
As they nigh to Bechlaren came riding down the road,
Twas
told to good Sir Rudeger, who there in peace abode,
And to the Lady Gotelind,
the noble margravine.
To hear she soon would see them, right glad was she, I
ween.
LXXVI
On went they with the tidings, fast sped they horse and
man;
The minstrels found King Etzel in his good town of Gran.
Greetings
upon greetings were sent from Rhine, they said,
All there were at his
service; for joy he glow'd a merry red.
LXXVII
When the queen heard for certain (what she so long had
plann'd)
That her long absent brethren would come into the land,
She swam
in joy and rapture; richly for service done
The minstrels she requited; high
honor thus she won.
LXXVIII
Then thus she spake, "Now tell me, Werbel and Swemmeline,
Who to our feast are coming of kin and friends of mine,
Into this land
invited with many a friendly word;
And tell, too, what said Hagan, when he
the tidings heard."
LXXIX
"Early upon a morning to the council-board he came;
Little
there he utter'd but words of gloom and blame;
And when the jaunt to Hungary
was voted in a breath,
He grimly smil'd and mutter'd, 'This jaunt's a jaunt
to death.'
LXXX
"There are your brethren coming, the noble kings all three,
In lofty mood and joyous; who there besides may be,
We could not learn for
certain, else would we nothing hide.
The valiant gleeman Folker agreed with
them to ride."
LXXXI
"I could have spar'd full lightly the minstrel's presence
here,"
Replied the wife of Etzel; "this gives me little cheer;
I'm well
inclin'd to Hagan; he is of courage high;
To have him here among us right
well content am I."
LXXXII
Then in haste went Kriemhild where sat King Etzel near;
How
kindly she bespake him! "My lord and husband dear,
What thinks't thou of
these tidings, thou, who this feast hast will'd?
My heart's long lingering
wishes shall now be all fulfill'd."
LXXXIII
"Thy wishes are my pleasure," the smiling king replied,
"Ne'er with my own good kinsmen was I so satisfied,
Whene'er into my country
they have been pleas'd to fare;
Through love of thy brave brethren has
vanish'd all my care."
LXXXIV
The officers of Etzel forthwith bestirr'd them all,
With
fitting seats to furnish palace as well as hall
For the dear guests,
approaching the merry feast to keep.
They gave him cause thereafter full
bitterly to weep.
I
But let us tell no further how there the work they plied.
Never to a king's country were known before to ride
Such well-appointed
squadrons as thither were to speed.
They had whate'er they wanted, both
weapons and eke weed.
The King of Rhine apparel gave to his liegemen bold,
To
threescore and a thousand, as I have heard it told,
Beside nine thousand
yeomen, on mirth and revel bent.
Those, whom they left behind them, soon rued
that e'er they went.
III
In Worms, as their equipment was carrying through the
court,
From Spire an aged bishop, of reverend report,
Thus bespake fair
Uta, "Our worthy friends prepare
To yonder feast to travel; God watch and
ward them there!"
IV
Thereon the noble Uta bespake her children dear,
"Far better
stay, good heroes, and tend your safety here.
I had last night, my children,
a dream of ghastly dread,
How all the birds, that flutter throughout this
land, were dead."
V
"Who cares for dreams," said Hagan, "and thinks by them to
walk,
Ne'er in the path of honor with sturdy steps can stalk,
Or breathe
the voice of reason, but wavers to and fro.
I rede, my noble master take
leave and forward go.
VI
"Yes, we shall ride full gladly hence into Etzel's land.
There kings need for their service many a good hero's hand,
And this fair
feast of Kriemhild's awaits us there to view."
So Hagan urg'd the journey,
which soon he came to rue.
VII
He ne'er had giv'n such counsel but for what late had
pass'd,
When scorn on him Sir Gernot had so unseemly cast,
Reminding him
of Siegfried, and what had erst been done,
As though for that dislik'd him
the journey to the Hun.
VIII
Then answer'd he of Trony, "Fear prompts not what I rede.
If
so you'll have it, heroes, fall to the work and speed;
You'll find me not the
hindmost to ride to Etzel's realm."
Soon shatter'd he thereafter many a
shield and many a helm.
IX
The boats were waiting ready, the band was muster'd there;
Thither his choice apparel each one made haste to bear.
Their toil was scarce
well over ere eve fell on the lea;
So from their homes they parted as merry
as might be.
X
Beyond the Rhine's fair current their hasty camp was seen;
There tents and proud pavilions bespotted all the green.
The lovely queen her
husband detain'd for that one night,
The last they spent together, dole
mingling with delight.
XI
At early dawn there sounded sweet flute and trumpet-clang;
'Twas the hour of parting; to work the warriors sprang.
With a hasty kiss
fond lovers were then constrain'd to sever.
With woe and death fell Kriemhild
soon sunder'd them for ever.
XII
The children of fair Uta a man had at their court,
Bold
alike and faithful, in all of best report.
The same, as they were going, drew
the king aside.
"Woe's me," said he, "dear master, you to this feast will
ride."
XIII
The good knight's name was Rumolt, a tall man of his hands.
Said he, "To whom commit you your people and your lands?
Would one could turn
your warriors to do what best you should;
This message of your sister's it
never seem'd me good."
XIV
"This is my will and pleasure; to thee my infant heir,
To
thee I trust my country; of the women take good care;
Whomever thou see'st
weeping, his woe with comfort charm.
Sure at the hands of Kriemhild we ne'er
can come to harm."
XV
For the kings and for their liegemen the steeds were ready
ranged;
How many then, with kisses of true love interchanged,
Full flown
with lively vigor, athirst for bold emprise,
Left each a stately lady to
droop in tears and sighs.
XVI
When light into their saddles up sprang the warriors good,
Then might you see the women how sorrowful they stood.
All felt, they did for
ever, and to their doom, depart,
A dreary, dark foreboding, that shakes the
firmest heart!
XVII
As the bold Burgundians rode forth in gallant show,
To see
them all the country ran hurrying to and fro.
On either side the mountains
both men and women wept.
Little reck'd they the weepers; their joyous course
they kept.
In habergeons a thousand the knights of Nibelung's reign,
Who many a lovely lady they ne'er should see again
Had left at home in
sorrow, rode gaily with the rest.
The wounds of Siegfried fester'd in
Kriemhild's throbbing breast.
So went they ever onward until the Main they spied,
Thence
up through Eastern Frankland the men of Gunther hied.
Well knew the roads Sir
Hagan, who led their steps aright;
Their marshal was Sir Dankwart, the stout
Burgundian knight.
XX
As on from Eastern Frankland to Schwanfeld still they rode,
Their grace and stately courtesy and knightly bearing show'd,
The princes and
their kindred deserv'd their lofty fame.
The king on the twelfth morning unto
the Danube came.
XXI
A space the Knight of Trony rode on before the host;
He
still the Nibelungers best cheer'd and aided most.
The fear-defying champion
alighted on the lea,
And fast beside the river his horse tied to a
tree.
XXII
Swoln was the roaring river, bark was there none to spy;
Every bold Nibelunger look'd on with wistful eye
In doubt how to pass over,
the surges spread so wide.
Many a good knight from saddle down sprung the
stream beside.
"Good Lord of Rhine," said Hagan, "much mischief here may
be,
Much may'st thou have to suffer, as thou thyself may'st see.
Strong is
the flood and furious, the stream can ill be cross'd.
Many a good knight, I
fear me, will here to-day be lost."
XXIV
"Why dost thou check me, Hagan?" the troubled king 'gan
say;
"Do not, as thou are valiant, the daunted more dismay.
Look out a
ford up higher, above these lower meads,
Where we may pass in safety our
baggage and our steeds."
XXV
"I never," answer'd Hagan, "my life so weary found,
But in these burly
billows 'twould irk me to be drown'd.
Many a knight of Etzel's, ere yet my
day be o'er,
By this good hand shall perish; that, 'faith, would please me
more.
XXVI
"So here beside the water, ye noble knights, abide;
Myself
will seek the ferrymen along the river side,
And bid them bring us over hence
into Gelfrat's land."
With that the sturdy Hagan took his good shield in
hand.
XXVII
Well arm'd was the stern champion; he bore a shield of
might;
Strongly lac'd was his helmet, well-temper'd, burnish'd bright;
His
broadsword in a baldric hung o'er his armor sheen;
Wounds could it cut full
ghastly with both its edges keen.
XXVIII
As there and here for boatmen look'd out the warrior good,
He heard a splash of water; listening awhile he stood.
The sound came from
wise women, who took their pleasure near,
Bathing for refreshment in a
fountain cool and clear.
'Ware of them was Hagan; nigh he closely crept;
Sudden they
espied him,—how away they swept!
That they had so escap'd him, their bosoms
swell'd with joy;
He seiz'd upon their raiment, nor wrought them more
annoy.
XXX
Then one of them bespake him (Hadburg was her name),
"Noble
knight, Sir Hagan, go seek a worthier game.
Give us back our raiment, and we
will tell thee all
That from this march to Hungary shall thee and thine
befall."
XXXI
Like water-hens they floated before him on the wave.
Him
seem'd, their well-known wisdom of truth assurance gave;
Hence what they
chose to tell him, he took with more belief.
Then thus they of the future
resolv'd the listening chief.
XXXII
Said th' one, "To Etzel's country (doubt not what Hadburg
saith)
You well may ride and safely, for that I pledge my faith,
And never
band of heroes sought kingdom far or near
To win such height of honor; 'tis
true as we are here."
XXXIII
Well pleas'd her speech Sir Hagan, his heart wax'd light and
gay;
He gave them back their vesture, and would no longer stay;
But when
again the mermaids had donn'd their wondrous weed,
They told in truth, how
Gunther in Hungary should speed.
XXXIV
And then the other mermaid, that Sieglind hight, began,
"I
will warn thee, Hagan, thou son of Aldrian;
My aunt has lied unto thee her
raiment back to get;
If once thou coms't to Hungary, thou'rt taken in the
net.
XXXV
"Turn, while there's time for safety, turn, warriors most and
least;
For this, and for this only, you're bidden to the feast,
That you
perforce may perish in Etzel's bloody land.
Whoever rideth thither, Death has
he close at hand."
XXXVI
Thereto gave answer Hagan, "In vain you cheat and lie,
How
can it ever happen that there we all shall die,
However fierce the hatred
that one to us may bear?"
They then began the future more fully to
declare.
XXXVII
Then thus the first bespake him, "Yet so it needs must be;
Not one of you his country again shall ever see,
Not one but the king's
chaplain; this well to us is known;
To Gunther's land in safety return shall
he alone."
XXXVIII
Then angrily Sir Hagan bespake her, frowning stern,
"'Twere
ill to tell my masters what they'd disdain and spurn,
That we should all in
Hungary death and destruction find.
Now show us o'er the water, wisest of
womankind."
XXXIX
Said she, "Since from this journey, it seems, thou wilt not
turn,
Up yonder by the river an inn thou may'st discern.
A ferryman there
dwelleth; no others here abide."
The knight believ'd her answer, and took her
words for guide.
XL
Him then the first call'd after as gloomily he went,
"Stay
yet awhile, Sir Hagan, why so on haste intent?
Hear better our instructions
to reach the farther strand.
A margrave, that hight Elsy, is lord of all this
land.
XLI
"He has a valiant brother (Sir Gelfrat men him call),
A
great lord in Bavaria; ill might it you befall,
If through his march you
travel; your course with caution plan,
And smoothly deal and gently with
yonder ferryman.
XLII
"He scarce will leave you scathless (so fierce is he and
rude),
Unless with sound discretion you temper his rough mood.
Would you
he'd put you over, pay down at once the fare.
He is a friend of Gelfrat's and
of this land has care.
XLIII
"And, should the ferryman tarry, across the river shout,
And
say your name is Amelrich, whom late a feud drove out
Perforce from this, his
country, a knight of birth and fame.
Good speed will make the ferryman when
once he hears the name."
XLIV
For all reply Sir Hagan to the wise ladies bow'd;
Then in
his gloomy silence strode off the warrior proud.
Still higher up the river
along the shore he hied,
Until a lonely hostel on th' other bank he
spied.
XLV
He straight across the water 'gan call with all his might,
"Come, carry me over, ferryman," shouted the lusty knight.
"Of ruddy gold an
armlet I'll give thee for thy meed.
Come, carry me, well thou knowest how
pressing is my need."
XLVI
The ferryman was wealthy, to serve he scarce could bear,
And
hence it seldom happened he deign'd to take a fare.
His men were like their
master, as moody and misproud.
Still on this side Sir Hagan stood ever
shouting loud.
XLVII
So loud and strong he shouted, that all the water rung,
While the deep-chested warrior thus thunder'd from his tongue,
"Come, put me
o'er, I'm Amelrich, who Elsy serv'd and sued,
The same who from this country
fled for a mortal feud."
High on his sword an armlet held out the champion bold
(Bright was it and glittering and ruddy all with gold)
That he might be put
over thence into Gelfrat's land.
Then took the burly boatman himself an oar
in hand.
XLIX
He was in sooth, that boatman, an ill-condition'd elf.
Nothing leads men to ruin like hankering after pelf.
He thought by ferrying
Hagan his ruddy gold to get;
A sword-stroke for an armlet, and death for gain
he met.
L
With sinewy might the boatman row'd o'er to yonder strand,
But not the man he heard of sprung to the boat from land.
The ferryman wax'd
furious when Hagan there he found;
Thus he bespake the hero, and speaking
darkly frown'd.
LI
"Your name it may be Amelrich for ought I know," said he,
"But you're like him I look'd for as little as can be.
In sooth he was my
brother, by father and mother's side
You've put a trick upon me, so on this
bank shall bide."
LII
"Nay, think again, for heaven's sake," Sir Hagan made
reply,
"In pain for sundry comrades a foreign knight am I;
So take my fare
contented, and kindly put me o'er;
You'll bind me to your service, your
friend for evermore."
LIII
"No, no," replied the ferryman, "it must not, faith, be so;
My good lords all around them have many a deadly foe;
For this, I ne'er put
over strangers into this land,
So, as your life you value, out with you to
the strand."
LIV
"Nay, speak not so," said Hagan, "you see my drooping
cheer;
Take of me, and welcome, the gold I hand you here,
And ferry a
thousand horses and as many knights of pride."
"That will I do never," the
ferryman grim replied.
LV
With the word up caught he an oar both broad and long,
And
lent the knight a buffet so sturdy and so strong,
That in the boat he brought
him at once upon his knee.
Such a boisterous boatman never before met
he.
LVI
Yet more the haughty stranger to wrath would he provoke,
So
on the head of Hagan a boat-pole next he broke,
The ferryman of Elsy was sure
a lusty wight,
Yet naught but loss and ruin got he by all his might.
LVII
The grim knight up starting ended soon the fray;
To the
sheath quick gripp'd he wherein his weapon lay.
Off he his head has smitten,
and to the bottom thrown.
Soon were the glad tidings to the bold Burgundians
known.
LVIII
The boat meanwhile, ere Hagan its master yet had slain,
Had
dropp'd into the current; this wrought him mickle pain,
For ere he round
could bring it, faint he to wax began,
Yet strongly row'd and stoutly King
Gunther's large-limb'd man.
LIX
The brawny stranger turn'd it with many a sturdy stroke,
Till in his grasp o'ermaster'd the oar asunder broke.
He long'd to reach his
comrades at a near landing-place,
But oar had ne'er another, so this he
join'd apace.
LX
With a shield-thong together (poor cord, but workman good!)
And then adown the river made for a neighboring wood.
There his good lords
the warrior found waiting on the strand;
Many a bold knight ran toward him as
he drew nigh the land.
LXI
Him well his comrades greeted beside the foamy flood,
But
when they saw the shallop reeking all with blood
From that grim wound, that
sudden the ferryman did to death,
They put a thousand questions to Hagan in a
breath.
LXII
When beheld King Gunther the hot blood, how it ran
About the
heaving ferry, thus he straight began.
"Here's a boat, Sir Hagan, but where's
the boatman left?
Your sturdy strength, I fear me, the wretch's life hath
reft."
LXIII
With lying tongue he answer'd, "The shallop I espied
Fast by
a desert meadow, myself the same untied.
I have seen no boatman; this I can
truly say;
And harm to none has happen'd by fault of mine to-day."
LXIV
Thereto the bold Burgundian Sir Gernot made reply,
"To-day
deep care besets me; many a dear friend must die.
With not a boatman ready to
put our people o'er,
'Twere hard to cross the river; this I must needs
deplore."
LXV
Loud then shouted Hagan, "Lay down upon the grass
Our
riding-gear, ye yeomen! I recollect I was
On Rhine the best of ferrymen that
e'er took oar in hand.
Trust me, I'll put you over safe into Gelfrat's
land."
XLVI
To make their passage quicker, the horses in a throng
They
drove into the river; these swam so well and strong,
That by the forceful
current the warriors lost not one;
A few down lower landed with weary toil
foredone.
Long and broad and massy was that huge ferry-boat.
Five
hundred men and better it all at once could float
With their food and weapons
from sounding shore to shore.
That day many a good warrior perforce strain'd
at the oar.
LXVIII
Aboard then plac'd the heroes their gold and eke their
weed.
The goal of dark destruction they sought with fatal speed.
Hagan was
master-boatman; his luckless skill alone
Full many a gallant champion brought
to that land unknown.
LXIX
Noble knights a thousand first he ferried o'er,
Thereto his
own stout followers; behind still tarried more.
Nine thousand lusty varlets
he after brought away.
The hand of him of Trony had little rest that
day.
LXX
As the good knight thus deftly was putting o'er his
freight,
He thought on the strange warning he had receiv'd so late
From
those wise river-ladies with their prophetic breath;
It brought King
Gunther's chaplain within a hair of death.
LXXI
By his holy things close seated he found the priest at
rest,
With one hand gently leaning above a relique-chest;
But in the grasp
of Hagan that help'd him not the least.
Sore wrong perforce he suffer'd, that
heaven-forsaken priest.
LXXII
He caught and cast him over sooner than can be told.
Many a
voice loud shouted, "Hold, hold, Sir Hagan, hold!"
Wroth at the deed was
Giselher, Dame Uta's youngest son,
But hold would not Sir Hagan till the
mischief he had done.
LXXIII
Then the bold Burgundian the good Sir Gernot spake,
"What
can it boot you, Hagan, the chaplain's life to take?
Had any other done it,
he should have rued it straight.
What can thus have mov'd you the holy man to
hate?"
LXXIV
Stoutly swam the chaplain; to 'scape ne'er doubted he,
Would
any but assist him, but that was not to be;
Stern Hagan, fierce and furious,
as close he swam along,
Dash'd him to the bottom, wrong heaping still on
wrong.
LXXV
None there but thought it outrage, yet none came to his
aid,
Which when he saw, back turning for th' other bank he made;
Though
fail'd his strength o'erwearied, yet God's almighty hand
Back bore him
through the billows, and brought him safe to land.
LXXVI
There stood the poor clerk shivering, and shook his dripping
weed.
By this well knew Sir Hagan that their dark doom decreed,
As those
wild mermaids warn'd him, 'twas all in vain to shun.
Thought he, "These
hopeful champions must perish every one."
LXXVII
Soon as the bark was emptied, and all the goods it bore
By
the three brethren's vassals were safely brought to shore,
Stern Hagan broke
it piecemeal and down the current cast;
The good knights star'd upon him,
with wonder all aghast.
LXXVIII
"What are you doing, brother?" Dankwart sudden cried,
"How
shall we cross the river, when back we have to ride
To the Rhine from Hungary
our homes again to see?"
Thereafter Hagan told him, that that was ne'er to
be.
LXXIX
Then said the Knight of Trony, "I do it to this end,
That,
should a coward among us upon this journey wend,
Who would perchance desert
us through heart-appalling fear,
A shameful death may meet him in the wild
waters here."
LXXX
Then when the priest saw Hagan the bark in pieces break,
Far
o'er the boiling billows to the stern knight he spake.
"What did I to you
ever, base murderer," he began,
"That you this day attempted to drown a
guiltless man?"
LXXXI
Then answer gave Sir Hagan, "Now of this no more;
I tell you
on my honor, Sir Priest, it irks me sore
That thus you have escap'd me; I
neither jest nor feign."
"For this God prais'd be ever!" said the poor
chaplain.
LXXXII
"I fear you not, assure you, though brought to death so
nigh.
Now on with you to Hungary; over the Rhine will I.
God grant you
never thither come back, you knight untrue!
So hence with my worst wishes,
for what you could not do!"
LXXXIII
With those undaunted squadrons from Burgundy there came
A
bold quick-handed champion; Folker was his name.
Whate'er he thought,
out-spake he with ready wit and light.
All that was done by Hagan, the
minstrel held for right.
LXXXIV
Their steeds were ready saddled; their sumpters loaded too;
Not yet, throughout the journey, had one had cause to rue,
Save only the
king's chaplain, the nearly drown'd divine;
He plod must weary homeward, and
foot it to the Rhine.
I
When now were all the warriors debark'd upon the strand,
The
king began to question, "Who now can through the land
Direct us, lest we
wander through wildering ways unknown?"
Then answer'd valiant Folker, "That
task be mine alone."
II
"Now guard you well," said Hagan, "yeoman as well as
knight,
And follow friendly counsel, for thus it seems me right;
News know
I, sad to utter, and sad alike to learn;
Not one of us shall ever to Burgundy
return.
III
"'Twas told me by two mermaids this morn without disguise,
That back should we come never; now hear what I advise.
Take to your arms, ye
heroes, and wend your wary way
(Since here we have stout foemen) in
battailous array.
IV
"I thought to prove the mermaids, and catch them in a lie,
Who said that we in Hungary were surely doom'd to die,
And that alone the
chaplain should come to Rhenish ground,
So him in yonder river I gladly would
have drown'd."
The woe-denouncing tidings flew quick from rank to rank;
With ashen cheeks the warriors astonied sat and blank,
As on their death they
ponder'd by dismal doom decreed,
From that disastrous journey; each shudder'd
on his steed.
VI
'Twas near the town of Mœring that they the stream had
cross'd;
'Twas there that Elsy's boatman his luckless life had lost.
Then
thus bespake them Hagan, "This morning by the flood
I made me certain
enemies, so look for wounds and blood.
VII
"I slew that self-same boatman at early dawn to-day;
By
this, all know the story; so buckle to the fray;
If Gelfrat here and Elsy our
onward journey cross,
Let it be, Burgundians, to their disgrace and
loss.
VIII
"I know them for so valiant that they will ne'er abstain,
So
let us pace our horses the slower o'er the plain,
That nobody may fancy we
rather flee than ride."
"That counsel will I follow," young Giselher
replied.
IX
"But who shall guide our party? This country's strange and
lone."
All shouted, "That shall Folker (for well to him are known
The
highways and the byways), the hardy minstrel good."
They scarce had breath'd
their wishes, when in his armor stood
X
The ever-ready gleeman; his helmet on he bound;
He donn'd in
haste his hauberk that brightly flash'd around,
And to his spear-shaft
fasten'd a pennon bloody red.
Soon with the kings his masters to a dismal
doom he sped.
XI
By this, to valiant Gelfrat his boatman's death was known;
Swift-wing'd are evil tidings; the news as soon had flown
To the redoubted
Elsy; sore griev'd thereat were both.
Straight summon'd they their vassals;
all gather'd nothing loth;
XII
And I can well assure you, that scarce few hours were past,
Ere, to find the wrong-doers, were pricking fiery fast
A sturdy troop of
warriors long prov'd in war before;
In aid of noble Gelfrat seven hundred
came or more.
XIII
All for revenge were thirsting, all eager for th' attack,
Their warlike lords were foremost; too hotly in the track
They follow'd of
those strangers, and learnt it to their cost.
Many a good friend soon after
their valiant leaders lost.
XIV
Hagan the cautious Tronian their hasty counsels marr'd;
How
could a warrior better his friends and kinsmen guard?
He took in charge the
rearward, and there his men array'd
With his brave brother Dankwart; all with
one soul obey'd.
XV
The day had sunk and vanish'd; 'twas gloom and darkness
all.
He fear'd lest harm or danger his comrades should befall.
Well
marshall'd through Bavaria beneath their shields went they;
Yet in short time
their foemen assail'd them by the way.
XVI
On either side the highway, though nothing met their view,
Hoofs heard they frequent trample, and close behind them too.
Then out spoke
fearless Dankwart, "Upon us is the foe;
Bind fast your helmets, warriors;
prudence would have it so."
XVII
Upon their march they halted, for now they were so nigh,
That bucklers faintly glimmering they through the dark could spy,
Nor longer
wish'd Sir Hagan in silence to abide.
"Who hunts us on the highway?" the
deep-voiced warrior cried.
XVIII
The stern Bavarian Margrave Gelfrat gave answer back,
"We're
seeking out our foemen, and close are on their track.
I know not who among
you this morn my boatman slew;
He was a knight of prowess; his loss I surely
rue."
XIX
Then answer'd he of Trony, "Was that same ferryman thine?
He
would not put us over; the guilt, if guilt, is mine.
I slew him, I confess
it, but what besides could I?
Myself first by his fury was all but done to
die.
XX
"I offer'd gold and raiment for meed (what could I more?)
Into thy land, Sir Gelfrat, if he'd but put us o'er.
He flew into a fury, and
caught me o'er the crown
With a heavy boat-pole, and knock'd me roughly
down.
XXI
"I snatch'd my sword in anger; from his wrath I kept my
life;
A mortal wound I gave him; this clos'd at once the strife.
Yet such
amends I offer as you think just and right."
They hearken'd but to vengeance,
burning with scorn and spite.
XXII
"I knew full well," said Gelfrat, "if Gunther pass'd along
This country with his meiny, that we should suffer wrong
At the hands of
Hagan; 'scape shall he not to-day;
He did to death the ferryman, and for the
deed shall pay."
XXIII
To smite above the bucklers they couch'd their lances
straight.
Gelfrat and Hagan both clos'd with eager hate.
Elsy too and
Dankwart each bore him like a knight;
Each prov'd the other's manhood; stern
and stubborn was the fight.
XXIV
Who better could defend them? who better could assail?
Borne
was the stalwart Hagan clean o'er his horse's tail,
And on the grass lay
floundering by Gelfrat's sturdy stroke.
In the shock asunder his charger's
p�al broke.
XXV
Then knew he what was fighting; all round the lances
crash'd;
From the green Sir Hagan upstarted, unabash'd,
Or rather kindling
courage from overthrow so rude.
He turn'd, I ween, on Gelfrat, not in the
mildest mood.
XXVI
Who held them both their horses, is more than I can tell.
To
the ground the champions were both brought down from selle.
They rush'd upon
each other; they mingled sword and shield.
Their comrades to the rescue
flock'd round from all the field.
XXVII
However fiercely Hagan on noble Gelfrat sprung,
A huge piece
from his buckler (loud with the stroke it rung)
Was hewn by the stout
margrave; fire forth in sparkles flew;
The ferryman like to follow was
Gunther's liegeman true.
XXVIII
To the valiant Dankwart he shouted loud and high,
"Help,
help me, dearest brother, I've just been like to die
By a stout-handed
champion; he'll let me ne'er go free."
Thereto replied bold Dankwart, "Then
I'll your umpire be."
XXIX
Close to them leapt the hero; nothing more he said;
Once his
sword he lifted, down dropp'd Gelfrat dead.
Elsy had fain reveng'd him, but
forc'd was he to yield.
He and his fear-struck comrades fled that disastrous
field.
XXX
Slain was his valiant brother, himself was wounded sore,
Of
his war-practis'd champions eighty the best, or more,
Lay with grim Death
companion'd; what then beside could he
But from the men of Gunther with loss
and anguish flee?
XXXI
Soon as they of Bavaria gave way through ghastly fear,
Behind them deadly sword-strokes loud ringing you might hear.
So the bold men
of Trony held their foes in chase,
Who sought to 'scape the forfeit and ever
fled apace.
XXXII
Then Dankwart thus behind them loud shouted o'er the plain,
"Forthwith must we be wending back on our steps again;
So let them fly
unfollow'd, each bleeding as he flies,
While we rejoin our comrades; this I
in truth advise."
XXXIII
When back had come the warriors to where the fight had
been,
Thus spoke the Knight of Trony, "Chiefs, now 'twere fit, I ween,
To
reckon up the missing, and learn whom we to-night
Have lost through Gelfrat's
anger in this sharp sudden fight."
XXXIV
Four of their friends had perish'd, slight cause had they to
plain,
For they had well aveng'd them; on th' other hand were slain
Of the
repuls'd Bavarians a hundred men or more,
The shields of the stout Tronians
were dimm'd and soak'd with gore.
XXXV
From the clouds a moment broke out the gleaming moon;
"We
shall overtake," said Hagan, "our friends and comrades soon;
But none to my
good masters speak of this hasty fray;
Let them without suspicion remain till
dawn of day."
XXXVI
When those who fought the battle had now rejoin'd the rest,
They found them with long travail exhausted and oppress'd.
"How long have we
to journey?" asked many a champion brave.
"Here's neither host nor hostel,"
was th' answer Dankwart gave,
XXXVII
"You all must until morning ride on as best you can."
Next
sent the nimble Folker, the leader of the van,
To ask the noble marshal,
"Where shall we lodge the crew
To-night? Where rest the horses and our good
masters too?"
XXXVIII
Then answer gave bold Dankwart, "That's more than I can
say;
Rest must we ne'er a moment before the dawn of day,
And, wheresoe'er
we meet it, lie down upon the green."
To most of those who heard him 'twas
heavy news, I ween.
XXXIX
Long time remain'd unnotic'd the stains of bloody red,
Till
the fair sun, up rising, his glittering radiance spread
At morn above the
mountains; at once the king espied
That they had just been fighting, and full
of anger cried,
XL
"How now, friend Hagan? so you, it seems, disdain'd
To have
me for your comrade, when thus with blood was stain'd
And dabbled all your
hauberks; who put you in that plight?"
Said he, "'Twas done by Elsy; he fell
on us last night.
XLI
"To revenge his ferryman this fierce assault he plann'd
There slain was sturdy Gelfrat by my good brother's hand,
And Elsy scarce
escap'd us; 'faith he was ill bestead.
We lost but four companions, and he a
hundred dead."
XLII
We know not, where that morning the warriors laid them
down,
Straight learn'd all the people in country and in town,
That noble
Uta's children to court were on their road.
On them a hearty welcome was at
Passau soon bestow'd.
XLIII
Well pleas'd was Bishop Pilgrin, the uncle of the queen.
That with so many champions, all cas'd in armor sheen,
His proud Burgundian
nephews had come into the land.
Soon, what good will he bore them, he made
them understand.
XLIV
Along the roads to lodge them their friends all did their
best.
At Passau room was wanting to harbor every guest;
They cross'd
perforce the water, where on an open ground
Were hasty tents erected, and
rich pavilions pitch'd around.
XLV
They there were forc'd to tarry the space of one whole day,
And eke the night till morning; how well receiv'd were they!
Thence to the
land of Rudeger they were to ride anew.
Swift to him the tidings of their
coming flew.
XLVI
When the way-weary warriors had ta'en some needful rest,
And
now were close approaching the country of their quest,
They found upon the
border a man that sleeping lay;
Sir Hagan sprung upon him, and took his sword
away.
XLVII
He was call'd Sir Eckewart, that sleep-oppressed knight;
Sore griev'd was he and downcast at his defenceless plight,
Stripp'd of so
strong a weapon, and at a stranger's will.
They found the march of Rudeger
watch'd and warded ill.
XLVIII
"Woe's me for this dishonor!" the grief-struck warrior
cried,
"Alas that the Burgundians e'er hither thought to ride!
Sure, since
I lost Sir Siegfried, all joy is flown from me.
Oh, well away, Sir Rudeger,
how have I injur'd thee!"
XLIX
Sir Hagan scarcely waited to hear his sorrows through;
He
gave him back his weapon, and six red armlets too.
"Take these, Sir Knight,
as tokens that thou my friend wilt be:
Thou'rt a bold chief to slumber thus
lonely on the lea."
L
"God quit you for your armlets!" Sir Eckewart replied;
"Yet
much, I own, it grieves me that to the Huns you ride.
You took the life of
Siegfried, all hate you deadly here;
As your true friend I warn you; watch
well, and wisely fear."
LI
"Now God watch well and ward us," Hagan gave answer back;
"No care have these good warriors, save for what now they lack,
Fit and
convenient quarters; fain would we learn aright
Where we, both kings and
subjects, may hope to lodge to-night.
LII
"Our steeds by this long journey are ruin'd past a doubt,"
Said the bold warrior Hagan, "our stores are all run out;
Naught's to be had
for money; we need (or else we're sped),
Some host, who of his goodness
to-night would give us bread."
LIII
Straight Eckewart made answer, "I'll show you such a host,
That scarcely could a better be found in any coast,
Than he, who here, assure
ye, your coming fain will greet,
If you be pleas'd, bold strangers, Sir
Rudeger to meet.
"He dwells fast by the highway, and never yet on earth
Was
there a host more liberal; his heart gives virtues birth,
As meadows grass
and flowerets in the sweet month of May,
To do good knights good service he
waxes blithe and gay."
LV
Straight answer'd then King Gunther, "Will you a message
take,
So ask my dear friend Rudeger, if he will for my sake
Me and my
kinsmen shelter and all this numerous clan?
To serve him ever after I'll do
the best I can."
LVI
"Fain will I do your bidding," Eckewart replied.
With good
will off he started; well his spurs he plied,
And what he brought to Rudeger
he told without delay.
To him no such glad tidings had come for many a
day.
A knight toward Bechlaren spurr'd fast as fast might be;
Rudeger himself discerned him; "On yonder road," said he,
"'Tis Kriemhild's
liegeman Eckewart, that rides so hot a pace."
He thought his foes had harm'd
him, and held him still in chase.
LVIII
To the gate he hurried; the knight there saw he stand,
Who
straight his sword ungirded, and laid it from his hand.
The news that he
brought with him he car'd not to withhold
From the host and those about him,
but straight his story told.
LIX
He thus bespake the margrave, "A message you I bring
From my
good master Gunther, the stout Burgundian king,
And Giselher his brother and
noble Gernot too;
Every one of the warriors sends you his service
true.
LX
"The same does also Hagan and Folker bold, as well,
With
firm entire devotion, and I beside must tell
What from the king's marshal I
have too in command,
That need have the good yeomen of lodging at your
hand."
LXI
Merrily laugh'd Sir Rudeger as thus he made reply,
"I joy to
hear these tidings, that kings so great and high
Deign to request my service;
my zeal they soon shall see;
If they my dwelling enter, right happy shall I
be."
LXII
"Dankwart the marshal also by me the number sends
Of those,
who seek your homestead with your Burgundian friends;
Sixty nimble champions,
good knights a thousand too,
And yeomen full nine thousand." Right glad the
margrave grew.
LXIII
"In truth I shall be happy," said noble Rudeger,
"To see
guests of such worship in my poor dwelling here,
To whom I have but rarely
yet render'd service due.
Now ride ye forth to meet them, good friends and
kinsmen true."
LXIV
With that in haste they mounted: forth flew squire and
knight,
Whate'er their lord commanded, that pass'd with all for right;
The
better thus their duties they did when need requir'd.
Yet nothing knew Dame
Gotelind, who sat in power retir'd.
I
There lingered not the margrave, but straight the ladies
sought,
His wife and his fair daughter, and what good news he brought,
By
Eckewart deliver'd, told with exulting glee,
How their good lady's brethren
their guests were soon to be.
II
"My dearest love and lady," his tale he thus 'gan tell,
"The
noble kings approaching receive, as fits them, well,
Since hither they are
passing to court with all their clan;
Accord, too, like fair greeting to
Hagan, Gunther's man.
III
"With them besides on duty comes one that Dankwart hight;
And yet a third call'd Folker, a well-train'd courtly knight.
These six must
you, Dame Gotelind, and you, fair daughter, kiss.
Nor at your hands let any
of fitting kindness miss."
IV
That promis'd straight the ladies, and ready all things
made.
Large store of goodly raiment forth from the chests they laid,
That
they such noble warriors might meet in fit array;
Many a lovely lady
bestirr'd herself that day.
V
How little spurious colors on their fresh cheeks were
found!
Far-glittering golden fillets about their heads they wound,
And in
such gorgeous bondage confin'd their radiant hair,
Lest the light frolic
breezes should work disorder there.
VI
So let us leave the ladies in no unpleasing toil.
Meanwhile
the friends of Rudeger swift scour'd the sounding soil,
Till, where they
found the princes, they made a sudden stand.
The guests were warmly welcom'd
to the good margrave's land.
VII
When to his home the margrave saw the Burgundians come,
Exulting thus bespoke he the strangers all and some,
"Welcome, ye lords!
right welcome, you and your vassals too.
Here in my land full gladly I see
such friends as you."
VIII
The brethren to his greeting their stately heads inclin'd,
To the loving love returning, and kindness to the kind.
Apart he greeted
Hagan, whom he had known of old;
The same did he to Folker the minstrel
blithe and bold.
IX
Last welcom'd he Sir Dankwart, who thus his host bespake,
"Since you will give us shelter, pray who in charge will take
The train we
have brought hither, all in such weary plight?"
Then answer'd him the
margrave, "Well will you rest to-night.
X
"My people shall keep safely all you have hither brought,
Silver and steeds and raiment; you need not think of aught.
Be sure, I'll
take such order, that loss shall none occur.
You'll not miss all among you as
much as half a spur.
XI
"So pitch your tents, ye yeomen, in the field apace;
Whatever here is missing, I'll willingly replace;
Off with bit and
saddle—turn loose your weary steeds."
Such a host had rarely supplied the
wanderer's needs.
XII
Well pleased were the Burgundians; when all was brought to
pass,
The lords rode on together; the yeomen on the grass
Laid them down
in clusters; there to repose they fell;
I ween, in all their journey they
ne'er had far'd so well.
XIII
And now from forth the castle the noble margravine
Had gone
with her fair daughter; beside them there was seen
Many a lovely lady, and
many a smiling maid,
All deck'd with store of bracelets, and in bright robes
array'd.
XIV
Precious stones were sparkling ever and anon
About their
gorgeous raiment; themselves yet brighter shone.
Thither rode up the
strangers and lighted instantly.
Ah! what high bearing had they, those chiefs
of Burgundy!
XV
Six and thirty maidens and thereto many a dame,
Each fair as
wish could sigh for, or busy fancy fame,
Stepp'd forth to greet the strangers
with warriors many a one;
Their task by those high ladies with comely grace
was done.
XVI
The margravine went forward, and kiss'd the kings all
three;
The like too did her daughter; Hagan, the next was he.
Her father
bade her kiss him; a glance on him she cast,
And thought he look'd so
dreadful, that him she fain had pass'd.
XVII
At length perforce she did it, since so her father said,
Yet
could not but change color, now waxing white, now red.
She kiss'd, too, noble
Dankwart, and Folker last in place.
For his strength and valor the minstrel
gain'd such grace.
XVIII
This done, with gentle gesture the damsel meek and mild
By
the hand, yet trembling, took Giselher the child,
Her mother took King
Gunther, the bold Burgundian lord.
So with the knights the ladies mov'd
thence in blithe accord.
XIX
The host went with Sir Gernot into a spacious hall;
There
both chiefs and ladies down sat together all.
Straight to his guests the
margrave bade hand good wine around.
Better entertainment knights yet never
found.
XX
There many a longing eye-glance from all sides might you
see
Bent on the margrave's daughter, so fresh and fair was she.
Many a
good knight was breathing for her the secret sigh;
In truth she well deserv'd
it; her thoughts were pure and high.
XXI
They mus'd just as it pleas'd them, yet naught could thence
befall.
Alike meanwhile were glances cast by the knights in hall
On other
dames and damsels, whereof there sat good store.
Soon show'd the noble
minstrel what love the host he bore.
XXII
And now at last they sever'd, as custom there requir'd;
Ladies and knights, as fitted, to separate rooms retir'd.
In the broad hall
the tables in order straight were set;
There soon the noble strangers all
lordly service met.
XXIII
To grace her guests, at table the noble hostess kind
Took
place, but left her daughter, as fitted best, behind
Among her blooming
maidens, with whom retir'd she sat.
The guests, who joy'd to see her, were
little pleas'd with that.
With meats and drinks abundant their fill had feasted all;
Then back the lovely ladies were usher'd to the hall;
Nor comely mirth there
wanted, nor merriment, nor jest.
The gentle knight Sir Folker there shone
above the rest.
XXV
Then out spake to Sir Rudeger that minstrel bold and true,
"High and puissant margrave, God sure has dealt with you
As one whom most He
favors, since he so fair a wife
Has given you for a helpmate, and bless'd
with joy your life.
XXVI
"If I were a monarch and if a crown I wore,"
Said the good
knight, "no maiden should be my queen before
Your fair and gentle daughter;
my heart's desire I tell;
Lovely is she to look on, high-born and nurtur'd
well."
XXVII
Then spake the noble margrave, "What chance could ever
bring
To woo my child beloved a proud and puissant king?
My wife and I are
exiles, both worn with age and care,
And can give her nothing; what boots
then all her fair?"
XXVIII
Thereat the courteous Gernot took up the word and spake,
"If
I desir'd a helpmate after my heart to take
None would I ask more gladly than
this same modest maid."
Thereupon Sir Hagan in courtly fashion said,
XXIX
"Now fits it my lord Giselher to take a bride, I ween,
And
sure so high-descended is the young margravine,
That I and all his vassals
would do her homage fain,
If crown'd we were to see her in our Burgundian
reign."
XXX
Well pleas'd was good Sir Rudeger Sir Hagan's words to
hear,
So, too, was Lady Gotelind; right joyous was her cheer.
Soon so the
chiefs contriv'd it, that Giselher, nothing loth,
To wife took the fair
maiden, as well beseem'd them both.
When once a thing is settled, who further can gainsay?
Forthwith they bade the damsel to court to take her way.
Then for his wife to
give him the lovely maid they swore,
Then he too vow'd to cherish and love
her evermore.
XXXII
Next dower'd was the fair maiden with castles and with
land;
With an oath assurance was giv'n by Gunther's hand,
As well as by
Lord Gernot's, that so it should be done.
Then said the noble margrave,
"Since castles I have none,
XXXIII
"With you will I forever a faithful friendship hold;
A
hundred sumpters' burden of silver and of gold
(No unbefitting portion) I'll
give the gentle bride,
So that the bridegroom's warriors may well be
satisfied."
XXXIV
Then had the bride and bridegroom within a ring to stand,
For such was then the custom; a merry stripling band
Encircled the fair
couple, and gaz'd on them their fill,
And thought the while as idly as think
young people still.
XXXV
Now when was ask'd the damsel in homely phrase and plain,
If
she would have the warrior, she felt a moment's pain;
Not that she was
unwilling to take the stately one;
She blush'd but at the question, as many a
maid has done.
XXXVI
Her father Rudeger told her at once to answer, "Yes,"
And
that she fain would take him. In a trice with tenderness
Young Giselher
around her, the shrinking and the coy,
Lock'd his white hands together; alas!
how fleeting was their joy!
XXXVII
Then spake again the margrave, "Ye rich and noble kings,
When you, as is the custom, after your revellings
Return by us to Rhineland,
I'll give my child to you,
To take her in your party." They promis'd so to
do.
XXXVIII
The merry sound of revel was hush'd perforce at last.
With
mincing step the maidens forth to their chambers pass'd,
And eke in rest the
strangers slept on till break of day.
Then the first meal was ready; none
better far'd than they.
XXXIX
Their fast they scarce had broken, when they at once would
start
For the realm of Hungary; "You must not thus depart,"
Said the good
host Sir Rudeger; "awhile here tarry yet,
Such guests and so beloved but
seldom have I met."
XL
"That must not be," said Dankwart, "your ruin you design,
Where can you find provisions, bread as well as wine,
If day by day an army
is eating up your store?"
Soon as the host had heard him, he said, "Talk thus
no more.
XLI
"Nay, thus to refuse me, my dear lords, do not think;
For
fourteen days together I'll find you meat and drink,
You and all those about
you, your well-appointed train.
Full little of my substance has yet King
Etzel ta'en."
XLII
Whate'er excuse they offer'd, there perforce they stay'd
Feasting till the fourth morning; then well their host display'd
His
far-renowned bounty, and to his parting guests
Gave without stint for
presents proud steeds and gorgeous vests.
XLIII
This now could last no longer; thence must they forward
fare.
Little his custom'd bounty did then the margrave spare.
All then was
had for asking; that morn denied was none;
All kindness and all honor to
every guest was done.
And now their noble meiny brought up before the gate
Store
of good chargers saddled; thither to swell their state
Flock'd troops of
foreign champions, all bearing shield in hand,
All with the Rhenish brethren
bound to King Etzel's land.
XLV
The noble host in plenty proffer'd his gifts to all
Before
the noble strangers came outside the hall.
With open hand liv'd Rudeger,
stout heart, and honor clear;
He now his lovely daughter had given to
Giselher.
XLVI
Then gave he valiant Gernot a sword full sharp and bright,
Which soon the bold Burgundian bore manfully in fight.
That so her husband
gave it, well pleased the margrave's wife.
Alas! the fatal present cost
Rudeger his life.
XLVII
Then to the great King Gunther he gave from out his store
A
mailcoat, that with honor the sturdy champion wore.
But seldom could the
monarch to take a present brook,
Yet at the hand of Rudeger this with warm
thanks he took.
XLVIII
Then Gotelind, as was fitting, offer'd with fair accord
A
parting gift to Hagan, that, like the king his lord,
He, too, not
empty-handed, to Etzel court might ride,
But he declin'd the present, and to
the dame replied,
XLIX
"I ne'er saw ought, fair lady, however rich and rare,
That
it would more content me hence as my own to bear,
Than yonder well-form'd
buckler that hangs on yonder wall.
To take that shield to Hungary would
please me most of all."
Soon as the Lady Gotelind heard Hagan's accents deep,
They
brought to mind her sorrow; she could not choose but weep.
Then thought she
on bold Nudung, by mightier Wittich slain,
And to her wounded bosom the smart
return'd again.
LI
Thus she bespake Sir Hagan, "That shield I freely give,
And
would to God the warrior among us still did live,
Who bore it erst in battle;
dead on the field he lay;
Him must I weep for ever, mourning my life
away."
LII
Then from her seat she totter'd; her limbs with anguish
shook;
The shield of her lamented in her white hands she took,
And carried
it to Hagan; he grasp'd the gift she gave,
Giv'n and receiv'd in honor, and
fitting well the brave.
LIII
A veil of glittering samite its varied hues conceal'd;
Never
had the daylight shone on a better shield.
With precious stones far-beaming
'twas richly deck'd all o'er.
It could not have been purchas'd for a thousand
marks or more.
LIV
So by command of Hagan the shield away was ta'en.
Then came
to court Sir Dankwart among the parting train.
To him gave Rudeger's daughter
robes richly broider'd o'er,
Which 'midst the Huns thereafter in joyous mood
he wore.
LV
Of all the gifts that morning bestow'd on every guest,
Not
one by those Burgundians had ever been possess'd,
But by the margrave's
bounty, which so by proof they knew.
Soon they became such foemen, that they
the giver slew.
LVI
And now the valiant Folker with high-bred courtly grace
Stepp'd forth before Dame Gotelind, and, standing there in place,
His
sweetest tones attemper'd and sang his choicest lay,
Ere he from Bechlaren
took leave and went his way.
LVII
With that the gentle hostess bade bring a casket near
(Of
friendly gifts and bounty and kindness you must hear);
From this she took
twelve bracelets, and drew them o'er his hand;
"These you must take, and with
you bear hence to Etzel's land,
LVIII
"And for the sake of Gotelind the same at court must wear,
That I may learn, when hither again you all repair,
What service you have
done me in yon assembly bright."
The lady's wish thereafter full well
perform'd the knight.
LIX
Then the noble margrave his parting guests bespake,
"That
you may ride the safer, myself the charge will take
To guide you, lest from
robbers you suffer by the road."
With that upon his sumpters in haste was
laid their load.
LX
The host he soon was ready with full five hundred men
Well
horsed and well apparell'd; them led he merrily then
To the proud feast of
Etzel, and they him follow'd fain;
Not one of them came living to Bechlaren
back again.
LXI
The host from home departed with many a loving kiss:
The
like did also Giselher; his honor counsell'd this.
Each to his beating bosom
his trembling lady press'd.
That parting planted sorrow in many a virgin
breast.
LXII
All windows in Bechlaren now flew open wide.
Straight would
to horse the margrave, and with his warriors ride
I ween, their hearts that
moment their coming doom forbode.
Many a dame and many a damsel loud sobb'd
as forth they rode.
LXIII
E'en for their best beloved in heart they sorrow'd sore,
For
those, whom at Bechlaren they were to see no more.
Yet merrily the champions
prick'd along the strand
Downward beside the Danube to reach the Hunnish
land.
LXIV
Then thus to the Burgundians out spake the stately knight.
"Rudeger the noble, methinks, it were but right
We should announce we're
coming e'en now to Hunnish ground;
More pleasantly no tidings in Etzel's ear
will sound."
LXV
Straight adown through Austria he bade a courier ride;
At
once among the people 'twas publish'd far and wide,
That coming were the
heroes from Worms beyond the Rhine.
Right glad were Etzel's vassals, and
those of Etzel's line.
With the news the couriers forth gallop'd hastily,
That the
Nibelungers were now in Hungary.
"Well should'st thou receive them,
Kriemhild, lady mine!
They come to do thee honor, these brethren dear of
thine."
LXVII
Dame Kriemhild at a window was standing there to view;
She
look'd out for her kinsmen as friend for friends will do.
From her native
country saw she many a man.
The king too heard the tidings and for joy to
laugh began.
LXVIII
"Now I at last am happy," exclaim'd th' exulting queen;
"Hither are come my kinsmen with many a mailcoat sheen,
And many a new-made
buckler; who would for gold endeavor,
Let him my wrongs remember, and I'll
befriend him ever.
LXIX
"Yes! I will so contrive it, to take revenge for all
At this
same feast of Etzel's (whatever thereafter fall)
On his abhorred body, who so
the traitor play'd,
And all my joy so blasted.—I shall be now
repaid."
When now the bold Burgundians had come into the land,
He of
Bern soon heard it, the aged Hildebrand;
He told his lord the tidings; sore
griev'd it the good knight;
He begged him the stout strangers receive as best
they might.
II
Straight to bring up the horses quick Wolfhart order gave;
Then forward prick'd with Dietrich full many a champion brave.
Thence to the
field to greet them; as friends to friends they went.
There had they pitch'd
all ready full many a gorgeous tent.
III
Them riding thus at distance soon as Sir Hagan spied,
Thus
he his courteous counsel unto his lords applied.
"Now every one, ye warriors,
down instant from his seat,
And these, who'd bid you welcome, go forth
yourselves to meet.
"Well know I yon bright meiny, whom here we have at hand;
They are the choicest warriors; of th' Amelungers' land.
The Lord of Bern
rides foremost; high-mettled chiefs are they,
So scorn not what fair service
they proffer you to-day."
Then down from horse alighted, as fitting was and right,
With the redoubted Dietrich many a good squire and knight.
All to the noble
strangers went forward hastily,
And courteously saluted the lords of
Burgundy.
VI
Soon as discern'd Sir Dietrich how they to meet him came,
Now you would hear full gladly what words that chief of fame
Spoke to the
sons of Uta; their journey griev'd him sore;
The truth, he thought, Sir
Rudeger had known and told before.
VII
"Welcome, ye lords, right welcome, Gunther and Gernot true,
And Giselher and Hagan, the like to Folker too,
And ever-ready Dankwart. Do
you not understand
That Kriemhild still mourns deeply the Chief of
Niblungland?"
VIII
"Why, she will weep forever," Sir Hagan made reply,
"'Tis
many a year, Sir Dietrich, since he was done to die.
She now has got King
Etzel; of love she cannot lack;
Siegfried is dead and buried, and never can
come back."
IX
"Just now let us, I prithee, leave Siegfried's wounds
alone,"
The Lord of Bern, Sir Dietrich, replied in earnest tone,
"As long
as lives Dame Kriemhild there's fear of mortal ill.
Trust of the Nibelungers!
watch and be wary still."
X
"Why watch, and why be wary?" the lofty king replied.
"Etzel
sent us envoys (what should I ask beside?)
To say, that with our visit he
would be well content;
And by them many a message my sister Kriemhild
sent."
XI
"To my advice," said Hagan, "I pray you, now give ear.
Entreat our friend Sir Dietrich and his good warriors here,
Of their
suspicious tidings the utmost scope to show,
That we may come more fully Dame
Kriemhild's mind to know."
XII
Then the three kings, retiring, to separate converse drew,
Gunther and Gernot and good Sir Dietrich, too.
"Now tell us, we beseech thee,
right noble Knight of Bern,
How thou hast been able Queen Kriemhild's mind to
learn."
XIII
The Lord of Bern thus answer'd, "What have I now to say?
I
hear the wife of Etzel every break of day
To the great God of heaven sob out
her dreary tale,
And for the loss of Siegfried yet ever weep and
wail."
XIV
"What's done can ne'er be undone," spoke out the minstrel
bold,
The death-defying Folker, "for all we've just been told.
So to court
let's onward, and manfully abide
Whate'er may us stout champions among the
Huns betide."
XV
So the bold Burgundians to court thence took their way
After
their country's fashion in pomp and proud array.
Many a stout knight of
Hungary among the gazers came
To look on Tronian Hagan, and mark his warrior
frame.
XVI
Of him among the courtiers were rumors not a few,
That he it
was who Siegfried, the Netherlander, slew,
The strongest of all champions,
Dame Kriemhild's husband bold.
Hence much was there among them of Hagan ask'd
and told.
XVII
Well grown and well compacted was that redoubted guest;
Long
were his legs and sinewy, and deep and broad his chest.
His hair, that once
was sable, with gray was dash'd of late,
And terrible his visage, and lordly
was his gait.
XVIII
And now the bold Burgundians with shelter were supplied.
The
knights were lodg'd together, the rest were sunder'd wide.
Through
Kriemhild's hate to Gunther was plann'd this subtle train,
That easier in
their quarters the yeomen might be slain.
XIX
Dankwart was the marshal, Hagan's brother brave;
The charge
of the stout yeomen to him King Gunther gave,
That all might well be tended,
and each might have his fill.
The Chief of the Burgundians bore all his train
good will.
Kriemhild the lovely with all her meiny went,
Where she the
Nibelungers receiv'd with false intent.
She took her brother Giselher and
took him by the hand.
That seeing drew Sir Hagan more tight his helmet's
band.
"Sure after such a welcome," thus Hagan sternly spake,
"Methinks for men of action 'twere fitting, thought to take.
Greeting kings
and subjects in such a different guise!—
I fear our journey hither will
hardly pass for wise."
XXII
"To those who fain would see you," said Kriemhild, "welcome
be;
Look not for friendly greeting for your own sake from me.
But tell me
what you've brought me from Worms beyond the Rhine,
That you so warm a
welcome should find from me or mine."
XXIII
"Why these words, my lady?" said Hagan, "what's their
drift?
That all these knights from Rhineland should bring you each a
gift?
I knew you were so wealthy, and liv'd so royally,
I need not bring
you presents as far as Hungary.
XXIV
"Then with this one plain question your memory I must goad.
The Nibelungers' treasure—where have you that bestow'd?
That was my own
possession as well you understand.
'Twas that you should have brought me
hither to Etzel's land."
XXV
"I' faith, my lady Kriemhild, 'tis now full many a day
Since
in my power the treasure of the Nibelungers lay.
In the Rhine my lords bade
sink it; I did their bidding fain,
And in the Rhine, I warrant, till doomsday
'twill remain."
Then thus the queen made answer, "That was just what I
thought.
Little of it, ay, little have you hither brought,
Though 'twas my
own, unquestion'd to keep or give away.
I've had for it much sorrow and many
a dreary day."
"The devil a hoard I bring you," said Hagan, the stern
knight;
"I've quite enough to carry in my mailcoat bright
And in my trusty
buckler; my hand must wield the sword,
My head support the helmet;—how could
I bring your hoard?"
"Think not I stir this matter because for gold I care;
To
give have I such plenty, your gifts I well can spare.
One murder and two
robberies! I have been beggar'd thrice
For these to the last farthing poor I
demand the price."
XXIX
Then the Queen of Hungary bespake the warriors all;
"No
weapons may be carried, ye knights, into the hall.
I'll have them kept in
safety, so give them up to me."
"In truth," replied Sir Hagan, "that shall
never be.
XXX
"I long not for the honor that a queen so great and fair
My
shield and other armor should to my quarters bear.
Not so my father taught
me; ever of old said he,
Let none but thou, son Hagan, thy armor-bearer
be."
XXXI
"Oh! woe is me unhappy," burst Dame Kriemhild out,
"My
brethren here and Hagan, why should they shrink and doubt?
Not trust me with
their bucklers?—they have been warn'd, I see;
If I but knew who did it, death
should be his fee."
XXXII
Thereto, inflam'd with anger, return'd Sir Dietrich brave,
"'Twas I that the warning to the noble princes gave,
And to their liegeman
Hagan, to whom such hate thou bear'st.
Now up, she-fiend! be doing, and harm
me if thou dar'st!"
XXXIII
Deep blush'd the wife of Etzel for anger and for shame;
Much
she fear'd Sir Dietrich, that vengeance-breathing dame;
Nor word she spake,
but, turning, with many a sharp, quick glance
Ever as thence she parted
glared on her foes askance.
Then two clasp'd hands as frankly as brother does with
brother;
The one was good Sir Dietrich, Sir Hagan was the other.
Then
spoke the lofty Berner with courteous words and true;
"In sooth your coming
hither right bitterly I rue,
XXXV
"Through that which with such malice the vengeful queen let
fall."
Straight answered he of Trony, "'Faith, there's a cure for all."
Such words unto his fellow spoke either mighty man.
King Etzel had observ'd
them, and thus to ask began.
XXXVI
"Fain would I learn," said Etzel, "if any here can tell,
Who
is that champion yonder, whom Dietrich greets so well.
He is a man of mettle
as I can guess by sight;
Whoever is his father, sure he's a peerless
knight."
XXXVII
Then spake a man of Kriemhild's, "I'll tell you all I can.
That knight was born at Trony, his sire was Aldrian.
Though now he plays the
courtier, he is a champion stern.
That I've not lied unto you, Sir King, you
soon may learn."
XXXVIII
"That he's so stern a champion, how can I ever see?"
Of all
the craft and cunning nothing yet knew he,
Wherewith about her kinsmen the
queen her toils had wound,
That not a soul among them came back from Hunnish
ground.
XXXIX
"Well knew I once good Aldrian; my man was he of yore.
With
me much praise and honor obtain'd he heretofore;
'Twas I, a knight who dubb'd
him, and gave him of my gold.
I could not but befriend him for true was he
and bold.
XL
"So all that touches Hagan, I've known for many a year.
Of
old two noble children my hostages were here,
He and the Spaniard Walter;
here each grew up to man.
At last I sent home Hagan; Walter off with Hildgund
ran."
XLI
So thought the king with pleasure on what had happ'd of
yore.
His former friend of Trony he gladly saw once more,
Who with high
deeds of knighthood in youth had serv'd his ends,
But in age spread wide
destruction among his dearest friends.
Then parted the bold couple, both hardy knights and stern,
Hagan the chief of Trony, and Dietrich lord of Bern.
Then, looking o'er his
shoulder, King Gunther's liegeman eyed
The crowd to find a comrade, whom in a
trice he spied.
II
Folker, the skilful minstrel, he saw by Giselher stand,
And
pray'd him to come with him apart from all the band,
For well he knew his
fierceness and danger-daring mood.
He was a knight in all things of dauntless
hardihood.
III
They left the lords assembled where in the court they
stood;
Alone retir'd this couple of hardy knights and good,
And cross'd
the court far distant, and reach'd a palace fair.
Of hostile spite or outrage
naught reck'd the peerless pair.
IV
Before the house down sat they upon a bench hard by,
Facing
a hall of Kriemhild's; a fairer ne'er met eye.
Bright from their stately
persons their glittering armor shone.
Each knight would fain have known them
of all who there look'd on.
V
As on wild beasts, grim rangers of wood or dreary wold,
The
whispering Huns at distance gaz'd on the champions bold.
Queen Kriemhild from
a window espied them thus apart,
And a frown o'ercast her beauty, and passion
shook her heart.
VI
She thought on all her sorrows, and straight began to weep.
There many a man of Etzel's stood lost in wonder deep.
All ask'd, what so
disturb'd her, and chang'd her cheer anew.
"Hagan," she answer'd, "Hagan, ye
warriors bold and true!"
VII
Thus they bespake their lady, "How can this have been?
But
now we saw you merry and blithe of mood, fair queen.
How bold soe'er the
warrior who has wrong'd King Etzel's wife,
Give but the word of vengeance and
cost shall it his life."
VIII
"Thanks, warriors, thanks for ever! on him who wreaks my
woe,
All that he can ask for straight will I bestow.
At your feet I throw
me," sobbing thus she spake,
"Revenge me on this Hagan, and slay him for my
sake."
IX
Straight ready made for mischief sixty men of might;
Instant
would they have hasten'd in fair Kriemhild's right
To take the life of Hagan,
that redoubted one,
And of the fearless gleeman; with forethought all was
done.
X
But when the queen survey'd them, and found the band so
few,
Thus she, amidst her fury, bespake her friends anew.
"Be still
awhile, ye warriors! your martial mood restrain;
Ne'er can a troop so scanty
stern Hagan's might sustain.
XI
"Strong is the Knight of Trony, and oft in battle tried,
But
stronger yet the warrior who sits him there beside,
Folker, the valiant
gleeman; he is a dangerous man.
Attack them not so rashly; first muster all
you can."
XII
They hearken'd to her warning; then many more came on,
Till
round her knights four hundred in burnish'd armor shone.
The furious queen
was longing her rage on both to sate;
Thence came the chiefs soon after to
stand in deadly strait.
XIII
When so she saw her meiny each in his harness stand,
Thus
she sternly smiling bespake th' impatient band.
"Wait yet, my friends, a
moment, ere with yon pair you close;
My crown upon my temples will I confront
my foes.
XIV
"First hear, and from the doer, whose hand my heart has
torn,
The wrongs, that I from Hagan, my brother's man, have borne,
I know
him for so haughty, that out he'll speak them all;
And I too care as little
what thence on him may fall."
XV
When that redoubted minstrel, who kept good watch, I ween,
Descending swift a staircase beheld the noble queen,
And thence beyond the
threshold—when he this espied
In a trice bespake he his comrade by his
side.
XVI
"Look there! look there! friend Hagan! how hither there she
hies,
Who to this land has drawn us with friendly seeming lies!
Queen yet
saw I never begirt with such a band,
Each marching as to battle with naked
sword in hand.
XVII
"Know you that here, friend Hagan, you're hated bitterly?
So
keep you all the better from force or treachery;
Look to your life and honor;
this is what I advise;
They're coming on in anger if rightly I
surmise.
XVIII
"And many there are among them so broad across the chest—
If
we are to defend us, 'tis time to do our best.
Each about his body a shining
mailcoat wears,
But whom therewith they threaten, not a tongue
declares."
XIX
Thereto in wrath Sir Hagan gave answer stern and proud,
"Well know I wherefore musters yon armor-bearing crowd;
'Gainst me they gird
the hauberk and wave the sword on high,
Yet back again to Rhineland in spite
of them will I.
XX
"Tell me now, friend Folker, will you stand me by,
If these
men of Kriemhild's would my mettle try?
Show me, if you love me, faithful
friend and true!
And when you need my service I'll do as much for
you."
XXI
"To death will I stand by you," the minstrel answer made,
"Though came the king against us with all his knights to aid.
As long as life
is in me, to fight I will not slack,
Nor from your side for terror one foot
will I give back."
XXII
"Now God in heaven requite you, good friend in danger
tried!
Let them come on, and welcome; what can I need beside!
If Folker is
my second, as I rejoice to hear.
Yon knights, methinks, will ponder before
they venture near."
XXIII
"To rise would now become us," the gleeman straight
replied,
"She is a king's companion, and nobly born beside.
As a queen and
a lady, such honor is her due.
By fitly doing honor we both shall gain it
too."
XXIV
"Nay, as you love me, Folker," said Hagan, "do not so.
Were
we to rise an instant in face of yonder foe,
They'd fancy we were flinching,
and that through fear 'twere done.
Here will I sit before them, and rise will
I for none.
XXV
"Sure it becomes us better here as we are to wait.
How can I
ever honor who bears me deadly hate?
That will I do never as long as I have
life.
I care not, I, a tittle for the wrath of Etzel's wife."
XXVI
Across his legs his broadsword o'erweening Hagan laid,
A
keen well-temper'd weapon; on the pummel fair display'd
A beaming precious
jasper, greener than grass, it bore.
At a glance did Kriemhild know it for
that which Siegfried wore.
XXVII
At the sight she started; nigh her senses fled;
Golden was
the handle, the scabbard trimm'd with red;
It brought back all her sorrow;
her tears began to flow.
For that, I ween, had Hagan laid out the weapon
so.
On the bench beside him Folker the swift and strong
A
fiddlestick grasp'd closer, massy and broad and long,
As sharp as any razor,
much like a battle-blade.
There sat the lofty couple unmov'd and
undismay'd.
XXIX
So proud they felt together that pair of champions bold,
That rise would they never for one of mortal mould.
Straight up to them went
Kriemhild, scarce deigning to bestow
The stern contemptuous greeting that foe
accords to foe.
XXX
Said she, "Now say, Sir Hagan, who has sent for you,
That
you have dar'd hither to come with yonder crew?
And yet you must remember all
you have done to me.
Had you been in your senses, you'd sure have let it
be."
XXXI
"'Tis true," straight answer'd Hagan, "no one sent for me.
To this land were invited royal brethren three;
My lords are those three
brethren, and their man am I,
And courts they seldom visit but Hagan must be
by."
XXXII
Said she, "Now tell me further, why did you that ill deed,
That my undying hatred has won you, fitting meed?
'Twas you that did Sir
Siegfried, my noble husband, slay,
For whom must I for ever weep to my dying
day."
XXXIII
Said he, "Why question further? That were a waste of
breath.
In a word, I am e'en Hagan, who Siegfried did to death.
How dearly
paid the warrior, the best good knights among,
For all fair Brunhild suffer'd
from Lady Kriemhild's tongue!
XXXIV
"What I have done, proud princess, I never will deny.
The
cause of all the mischief, the wrong, the loss, am I.
So now, or man, or
woman, revenge it who so will;
I scorn to speak a falsehood, I've done you
grievous ill."
XXXV
Said she, "You hear it, warriors, how he confesses all,
All
the wrong he did me; what thence may him befall,
To me it nothing matters, ye
knights, King Etzel's best!"
The haughty Huns stood doubting, and each look'd
on the rest.
XXXVI
Whate'er had then befallen, had once the strife begun,
Sure
had those two companions the palm of knighthood won;
Well had they prov'd
their valor in many a field before.
The Huns their high adventure perforce
through fear gave o'er.
XXXVII
Thus spake one of the warriors, "Why look ye so on me?
From
this foolish promise at once I'll set me free.
No gifts shall ever move me to
lose my precious life.
The queen misleads us merely; trust not King Etzel's
wife."
XXXVIII
"Ay, friend!" rejoin'd another, "I'm in the self-same case;
Yonder large-lim'b minstrel never would I face,
No, not if one would give me
whole towers of good red gold.
Mark his sharp, quick glances; he's wary as
he's bold.
XXXIX
"Well know I, too, Sir Hagan, e'en from his youthful days,
And so can well give credence when others speak his praise.
In two and twenty
battles I've seen him sway the strife;
That arm of his, believe me, has
widow'd many a wife.
"He and the valiant Spaniard many an adventure sought
While
here they dwelt with Etzel, and many a battle fought
To the king's boot and
glory; full oft they prov'd their might;
All tongues must so much honor yield
Hagan as his right.
XLI
"Yet then the hardy warrior in years was but a child;
Now
are they grave and grizzled who then were raw and wild.
Now is he proved in
counsel, a champion stern and strong,
And eke wears trusty Balmung, which
erst he gain'd by wrong."
XLII
Thus 'twas at once decided, and struck was not a blow.
Sore
irk'd it angry Kriemhild; her heart was wrung with woe.
Thence back the
knights departed, each fearing to be sped
By that redoubted couple; good
cause had they for dread.
XLIII
Then spoke the valiant gleeman, "We now have seen too
clear,
As we were told by Dietrich, that foes beset us here.
Best to court
hence hurry, and with the kings unite;
Then none against our masters will
dare provoke the fight."
XLIV
How oft does the faint waverer let slip the lucky hour,
While friend by friend firm standing confronts the deadliest store.
Be they
but bold and ready! no charm 'gainst sword and dart
Like that which smith
ne'er temper'd, wise head and fearless heart.
XLV
"Lead on then," answer'd Hagan, "I'll follow close behind."
They went, where yet the warriors they were in time to find
In the court
still waiting, girt by a glittering crowd.
Thereat the dauntless Folker cried
to his lords aloud,
XLVI
"Noble Burgundian princes! how long here will you stay
In
all this crowd and pressure? better to court away,
And learn the mind of
Etzel from his own proper tongue."
Then each chose his companion the
well-prov'd knights among.
The Prince of Bern, Sir Dietrich, took friendly by the hand
Gunther the puissant ruler of Burgundy's fair land,
Irnfried went pair'd with
Gernot the knight devoid of fear,
And to court strode Rudeger with youthful
Giselher.
Howe'er the rest were coupled, as mov'd to court the train,
Folker and Hagan they parted ne'er again,
Save in one mortal struggle, e'en
to their dying hour.
That strife high dames lamented each in her widow'd
bower.
XLIX
So on to court mov'd slowly the kings in royal state,
Their
train a thousand nobles proud on such lords to wait;
With them were sixty
champions, the flower of all contest,
Whom in his land Sir Hagan had chosen
for the best.
L
Hawart and Iring, of knighthood each the pride,
With the
royal brethren mov'd softly side by side;
Dankwart and Wolfhart, a valiant
hardy knight,
Display'd their courteous bearing in each beholder's
sight.
LI
Soon as the Lord of Rhineland had come within the door,
The
mighty monarch Etzel could keep his seat no more.
At the first glimpse of
Gunther up you might see him spring,
And welcome him as warmly as king did
ever king.
LII
"Sir Gunther, welcome hither! welcome Sir Gernot too,
And
your fair brother Giselher; my faithful service true
I sent you, as befitted,
to Worms beyond the Rhine.
Your friends, too, all are welcome alike to me and
mine.
LIII
"And you, bold pair, trice welcome, whom I together view,
Danger-defying Folker, and peerless Hagan too,
To me and to my lady; she'll
see you nothing loath.
She many a friendly message to Rhine has sent for
both."
LIV
Then said the Knight of Trony, "Such oft have reach'd my
ear
And, had I not come hither to serve my lieges dear,
I fain, to do you
honor, had ridd'n into this land."
His guests then noble Etzel took friendly
by the hand.
Straight to the seat he led them where he had just been
sitting;
Then to the guests were handed with grave and zeal befitting
Mead, morat, wine, successive, in golden goblets bright,
And each the noble
strangers welcom'd as best he might.
LVI
Then thus resum'd King Etzel, "I will confess to all,
That
in this world could nothing so to my wish befall
As your arrival hither;
besides, this happy day
Has to my queen giv'n comfort, and charm'd her griefs
away.
LVII
"Before, I own, I wonder'd what wrong I could have wrought,
That, while in crowds my table guests of high lineage sought,
You ne'er had
ridden hither, as though from some annoy,
But now that here I see you my
wonder's lost in joy."
LVIII
The lofty-minded Rudeger thereto this answer gave,
"Well may
you joy to see them; they're good and true as brave.
The kinsmen of my lady
all honor's lore are taught;
They many a stately warrior have to your
dwelling brought."
LIX
'Twas an eve of fair midsummer when the lords of Rhineland
came
To the court of mighty Etzel, and seldom chiefs of fame
Met so warm a
welcome as was on these bestow'd.
'Twas now the hour of revel: the king with
them to table strode.
LX
Host with guest together ne'er merrier took his seat.
They
gave them in abundance alike of drink and meat.
Whate'er they wish'd or
fancied was brought in plenteous store.
Great wonders of the warriors had oft
been told before.
LXI
Etzel, the mighty monarch, had on th' Hungarian soil
Uprais'd a spacious fabric with mickle cost and toil,
Palaces and turrets
within a fortress wide,
And chambers without number, and a splendid hall
beside.
LXII
Long, high and wide had Etzel uprear'd this gorgeous frame,
For that to him such numbers of trooping champions came;
Beside his other
courtiers, twelve kings that sceptres bore;
And crowds of worthy warriors had
he at all times more
LXIII
Than king had e'er assembled, as I for truth have found.
He
lived in mirth and honor with his kin and men around.
The shouting and the
pressing of knights from far and wide
Had the good prince ever about him; he
thus the world defied.
I
The day it now was ended, the night was near at hand;
Deep
care was now besetting the travel-tainted band,
When they should take their
slumber; for rest they sorely yearn'd.
That question put Sir Hagan, and
answer soon return'd.
II
To th' host thus spake King Gunther, "God grant, you long may
live!
Fain would we now repose us; such leave, I pray you, give.
If so you
wish, to-morrow we'll come at break of day."
The host dismiss'd them gladly,
and all went each his way.
III
Sore throng'd were then the strangers, such crowds to see them
ran;
Thereat the valiant Folker thus to the Huns began.
"How dare you
crowd and press us, ill-train'd, unnurtur'd crew?
Give place, or you'll
discover 'twill be the worse for you.
IV
"My fiddlestick's no feather; on whom I let it fall,
If he
has friends that love him, 'twill set them weeping all.
Make way then for us
warriors, for so it seems me right.
We're equals all in knighthood, not so in
mood and might."
V
While thus in wrath the minstrel reprov'd the jostling
crowd,
Hagan, who had gone forward, look'd back and cried aloud,
"List to
the valiant gleeman; he gives you good advice;
To your quarters, knights of
Kriemhild! Let us not warn you twice.
VI
"Your malice lacks performance; e'en now, methinks, you
doubt;
So, if you would aught with us, by daylight seek us out,
And, for
this night, to slumber leave us wayfarers free.
Never, I ween, did warriors
so long for it as we."
VII
Then led were the bold strangers thence to a spacious hall.
For rest as for convenience they found it furnish'd all
With beds, long,
broad and sumptuous, arrang'd throughout the room,
Dame Kriemhild still was
plotting their bale and deadly doom.
VIII
Many a fine quilt from Arras you might see glittering there
Of stuff most rich and precious, and many a tester fair
Of silk from far
Arabia the best that could be found,
And thereupon were borders that bright
shone wide around.
IX
And coverlets in order were laid of ermine white,
And others
of dark sable, whereunder every knight
Should pass the hours in slumber e'en
to the dawning day.
A king with his attendants ne'er in such splendor
lay.
X
"Alas for these night quarters!" the youthful Giselher
cried!
"Alas for our good comrades who 'midst the Huns abide!
However kind
the message that from my sister sped,
I fear, through her devices we all
shall soon lie dead."
XI
"Now think not of such danger," the dauntless Hagan spake,
"Myself this night about you the sentry's charge will take.
I'll keep you
safe, believe me, e'en to the dawn of day.
For so long fear for nothing; then
turn his doom who may."
XII
They bow'd to the good champion, and thank'd him, as was
due,
Then to the beds betook them, nor many moments flew
Ere stretch'd
upon his pallet was every mighty man.
Hagan the wakeful sentry to don his
arms began.
XIII
Thereat the good Knight Folker, the valiant minstrel,
spake,
"If you'll not scorn it, Hagan, I'd fain your watch partake
This
night, till early morning bring us both relief."
Right cordially Sir Hagan
thus thank'd the friendly chief:
XIV
"Now God in heaven reward you, Folker, dear friend and
true.
For ne'er another comrade I long, but only you,
What strait soe'er
beset me; I'm yours to my last breath,
And well will I requite you, if
hinder'd not by death."
XV
With that his glittering hauberk each girt his waist about,
Each grasp'd in hand his buckler, and straight, with courage stout
From the
house forth issuing, took post outside the door,
And there with faith and
manhood still watch'd their comrades o'er.
XVI
The swift-footed minstrel scarce had he left the hall,
Ere
he his good buckler set down against the wall,
And back hurried thither; his
viol he took in hand,
And with it as became him charm'd the way-wearied
band.
XVII
Upon the stone he sat him beneath the palace door;
Minstrel
more undaunted viol ne'er struck before;
He struck the strings so sweetly
ever as he play'd,
That the meed of thanks to Folker each haughty stranger
paid.
The house it all re-echoed, he struck so loud and shrill;
The minstrel's strength was matchless, nor less the minstrel's skill.
Sweeter
anon and softer when he to play began,
On the beds he steep'd in slumber many
a care-harrow'd man.
When they in sleep were buried, and this by proof he knew,
Once more in hand his buckler grasp'd the champion true,
And, from the room
forth stalking, before the tower he stepp'd,
And so the slumbering strangers
from the men of Kriemhild kept.
XX
'Twas of the night the middle, or something earlier yet,
When the bright gleam of helmets the glance of Folker met
At distance through
the darkness; 'twas Kriemhild's street-clad train,
To do the guests a
mischief all hastening on amain.
Ere thither had Queen Kriemhild these warriors darkling
sent,
She said, "For heaven's sake listen to this my fix'd intent.
Harm
none of yonder sleepers, but one whom I detest,
The faithless murderer Hagan;
slay him and spare the rest."
XXII
Then spake the fearless gleeman, "Friend Hagan, we must
bear
(As fits us) like true comrades the wakeful warder's care.
Before the
house discern I a band of men in mail,
Who, as I think, will instant our wary
watch assail."
XXIII
"Hush, hush," quick answer'd Hagan, "let them yet nearer
steal;
Before they can espy us, they shall our weapons feel.
Our hands
thus many a headpiece shall sudden split in twain,
And send them hence with
sorrow to Kriemhild back again."
XXIV
One of the Hunnish champions in a trice espied
That the door
was guarded; how at once he cried,
"This plan of ours, my comrades, we must
straight give o'er;
I see the minstrel standing on guard the hall
before.
XXV
"Look how his helmet glitters! 'tis not more bright than
stout,
To dint of steel impassive, and temper'd well throughout;
His mail
like fire is glowing; by him stands Hagan too;
The guests may sleep in safety
with guards so stout and true."
XXVI
Back at once they hasted; when Folker this espied,
To his
valiant partner in sudden wrath he cried,
"Now let me hence, friend Hagan,
after yonder crew.
Fain would I to the skulkers a question put or
two."
XXVII
"No! for my sake," said Hagan, "'twould to our loss
redound;
If but this post you quitted, they all would flock you round,
And
bring you to such peril if once they hemm'd you in,
That I should fly to help
you; then ill would fare my kin;
XXVIII
"For while we two were fighting, and both in dubious case,
Three or four of yonder cowards might in a moment's space
Rush into the
chamber, and on the sleepers set,
And do them all such mischief as we could
ne'er forget."
XXIX
"Yet this at least allow me," the minstrel-knight replied,
"Let's show the men of Kriemhild, we have their steps espied,
That this
to-morrow morning may be denied by none,
That they a shameful treason would
willingly have done."
XXX
With that behind them Folker sent forth a lusty shout,
"How
now, ye men of Kriemhild? Why walk ye, arm'd, about?
For murder or for
robbery is it that ye ride?
My friend and I would help you, come take us on
your side."
XXXI
Not a tongue gave answer; wroth was the good knight;
"Fie!
Ye bloody dastards!" he cried with all his might.
"So you would us have
murder'd, sleeping, every one!
On such good knights has rarely so foul a deed
been done."
XXXII
Full soon unto Queen Kriemhild the sorry tidings came,
That
her men had compass'd nothing; it set her heart on flame.
Another course she
ventur'd, festering with fell despite,
That brought death and destruction on
many a hapless knight.
"So cold I feel my hauberk," the minstrel said at last,
"The
night, I ween, friend Hagan, must needs be waning fast.
The nipping air
assures me that close at hand is day."
Then wak'd they of their comrades who
yet in slumber lay.
II
Then broke the gleam of morning on those within the hall.
Straight began Sir Hagan to rouse the warriors all,
If they would to the
minster the early mass to hear.
Meanwhile in Christian fashion the bells were
ringing clear.
III
The chants were so discordant, thereby you well might see,
That Christian men and heathen together ill agree.
The valiant men of Gunther
would thence to church away.
From their beds they started; little linger'd
they.
IV
With that at once they laced them all in such gorgeous
vests,
That into no king's country had ever knightly guests
Brought weed
more fair and costly; ill did it Hagan please;
"Here," said he, "are fitting
for other clothes than these.
V
"My friends, what toils beset us, you all well understand;
So for the rose, ye warriors, take the good sword in hand,
And for the cap of
jewels the morion beaming bright.
Remember what fell Kriemhild devis'd but
yesternight.
VI
"To-day must we do battle, so I bid you well beware;
For the
soft silken tunic the clashing hauberk wear,
And for the sumptuous mantle the
buckler stout and wide,
That, when they rage against ye, the brunt you well
may bide.
VII
"Give ear, my dearest masters, my kin and comrades too,
Go
to the church, and welcome, it fits you so to do,
And wail to God in heaven
your need, while you have breath,
And know ye this for certain, that at our
heels is death.
VIII
"Forget not then, moreover, if aught ye ill have done,
And
fervently for pardon pray, every mother's son;
For this I warn you, warriors,
nor hold these words for vain,
Ne'er, but God show you mercy, mass will ye
hear again."
IX
Then went they to the minster, the princes and their band.
Just at the holy churchyard bold Hagan bade them stand,
And keep all well
together, and thus bespake the crew.
"Who knows, to us Burgundians what
yonder Huns may do?
"Take heed, my friends, your bucklers bring down before your
feet,
And, if a soul our party in hostile guise should greet,
Requite him
with a death-stroke; so seems to Hagan right,
So doing, will each among us be
found as fits a knight."
XI
Folker then and Hagan both together went
And stood before
the minster; 'twas done with this intent,
That they might see if Kriemhild
would stir the slumbering feud
Passing contemptuous by them; right stern were
both of mood.
And now came on King Etzel and eke his lady fair,
Both, as
their state befitted, in garments rich and rare,
With crowds of knights all
ready to do their high commands.
Uprose the dust to heaven from Kriemhild's
trampling bands;
XIII
When the king, advancing, so arm'd to point espied
The kings
and their bold vassals, how quick to them he cried,
"What's this? my friends
in armor marching thus along?
In sooth, 'twould sore afflict me if they have
suffer'd wrong.
XIV
"Amends I'll make, and gladly, as shall to them seem right;
If any have put on them affront or foul despite,
I'll show them, that such
outrage I also inly rue,
And all that they demand me, I ready am to
do."
XV
Then Hagan thus made answer, "Naught has to us been done;
But my lords have a custom, till three whole days be run,
When royal feasts
they visit, their warlike arms to wear;
All wrong that may be done us, to
Etzel we'll declare."
XVI
Right well heard Lady Kriemhild what Trony's knight
replied.
How bitterly the warrior under her lids she eyed!
Yet, though the
truth well knowing as a Burgundian dame,
She would not to her husband her
country's use proclaim.
XVII
How deep soe'er and deadly the hate she bore her kin
Still,
had the truth by any disclos'd to Etzel been,
He had at once prevented what
afterward befell.
Through proud contemptuous courage they scorn'd their
wrongs to tell.
XVIII
Then on went haughty Kriemhild girt with a mighty crowd,
Yet
swerve would not before her that pair of champions proud
So much as e'en two
hands'-breadth; that gall'd th' Hungarians sore.
Perforce they press'd and
jostled with the warriors through the door.
XIX
The chamberlains of Etzel therewith were ill content;
They
had straight the haughty strangers defied as in they went;
But that they
fear'd to do so their monarch's eyes before;
Pressing enough and jostling
there was, but nothing more.
XX
When serv'd was God as fitted, and thence would every one,
Straight into the saddle leapt many a warlike Hun;
The while around fair
Kriemhild many a bright maid was seen,
And full seven thousand champions
begirt the stately queen.
XXI
Queen Kriemhild and her ladies now at the windows sat
With
the wide-ruling Etzel; well pleas'd was he with that.
They would survey the
tourney where knights their prowess show'd
Ah! what stranger warriors in the
court before them rode!
XXII
Thither too the marshal was with the yeomen come;
The
redoubted Dankwart had muster'd, all and some,
The followers of his master,
the flower of Rhenish ground.
For the bold Nibelungers well-saddled steeds
were found.
Thither the kings came riding and with them many a man,
When
the good minstrel Folker to counsel this began,
That they should joust
together each in his country's mode.
Thereafter in the tourney the chiefs
full knightly rode.
XXIV
What so the warrior counsell'd gave all who heard content.
A
mighty press and clatter uprose incontinent.
Into the court's broad circuit
prick'd many a mighty man.
King Etzel and Queen Kriemhild now to look on
began.
XXV
There came into the tourney six hundred warriors fleet,
Retainers of Sir Dietrich, the stranger knights to meet.
With the bold
Burgundians they long'd a course to run.
Had Dietrich but permitted fain
would they so have done.
XXVI
Ah! what good knights among them rein'd the proud
battle-steed!
To their good lord Sir Dietrich the news was brought with
speed
With Gunther's knights forbade he his knights a lance to cross,
Naught from such game forboding but grief and deadly loss.
XXVII
When now from out the tilt-yard the men of Bern were gone,
Sir Rudeger's retainers before the hall came on,
Five hundred from Bechlaren
with shields and armor gay.
Well had it pleas'd the margrave had they been
far away.
XXVIII
Then he rode in his wisdom up to the muster'd band,
And
earnestly bespake them, and gave to understand,
That Gunther's men were
sullen and all on mischief bent;
If they would quit the tourney, 'twould give
him much content.
XXIX
When thence were now departed the margrave's warriors bold,
Then came the men of Th�n, as has to us been told,
And from the realm of
Denmark a thousand proud and high.
Then from the crashing lances were seen
the shivers fly.
XXX
Irnfried then and Hawart into the tourney rode.
Proudly the
bold Burgundians their sturdy brunt abode.
The noble knights of Th�n
they met in many a joust,
And many a glittering buckler pierc'd through with
many a thrust.
XXXI
Sir Blœdel with three thousand rode forward frank and free;
By Etzel and by Kriemhild full well observ'd was he;
Before them both, his
tilting perform'd each gallant knight;
Through hate to the Burgundians it
gave the queen delight.
XXXII
She ponder'd thus in secret (as nigh to pass it came),
"Should they by chance hurt any, at once this gentle game
Would turn to
bloody earnest; then I on these my foes
Should be reveng'd for ever, and quit
of all my woes."
XXXIII
Schrutan and stout Gibek into the tourney rode,
And Ramung
and swift Hornbog after the Hunnish mode.
Against the bold Burgundians they
knightly bore them all;
High flew the whizzing splinters o'er the king's
mighty hall.
XXXIV
And yet all their performance was but an empty sound.
Hall
might you hear and palace with clashing shields resound,
Where rode the men
of Gunther: by them proud deeds were done.
His train of that fair tourney the
highest honors won.
XXXV
So great was then the pastime when front to front they met,
That through the reeking foot-cloths forth burst the frothy sweat
From the
high-mettled coursers which the good knights bestrode,
As 'gainst the lords
of Hungary in haughty wise they rode.
XXXVI
Then spake the noble minstrel Folker with scornful glance,
"These knights, methinks, will never confront us lance to lance.
I hear it
loudly rumor'd they bear us mortal spite;
Surely can they never find better
time to fight.
XXXVII
"So let us to our quarters," the fearless warrior cried,
"Send hence our weary horses; back we can hither ride,
If there be time,
toward evening; 'twere fitter then than now;
What if to us Burgundians the
queen should praise allow?"
XXXVIII
Just then there rode so proudly into the lists a Hun,
That
so no knight among them the general gaze had won.
Perchance e'en then in
secret for some fair maid he sigh'd.
He wore as rich apparel as any noble
bride.
XXXIX
At once outspake Sir Folker, "I needs must spoil his cheer;
Yonder ladies' darling must feel a push of spear.
No one shall prevent it—let
him guard his life.
I reck not, though it kindle the wrath of Etzel's
wife."
XL
"No! as you love me, Folker," straight the king 'gan say,
"The people all will blame us if we commence the fray.
Let the Huns begin it:
'twere better so, I ween."
Still was King Etzel sitting beside his moody
queen.
XLI
"I'll join you in the tourney," fierce Hagan sternly cried;
"Let's show both knights and ladies how we Burgundians ride.
'Twere well, by
proof they knew it; they'd rate us higher then.
Now they deny all credit to
good King Gunther's men."
XLII
Back into the tourney swift Folker hotly spurr'd;
Thereby
was many a lady to grievous sorrow stirr'd.
Right through that proud Hun's
body he drove the griding spear.
That stroke both dames and damsels cost many
a bitter tear.
XLIII
That saw at once Sir Hagan, nor dallying there abode;
With
sixty of his champions, all thundering as they rode,
'Gainst th' Huns he
hotly hurtled fast by the gleeman's side.
King Etzel and Queen Kriemhild the
tourney closely eyed.
XLIV
Nor would the three kings basely in dastard sloth repose,
And leave the minstrel aidless among unnumber'd foes,
With them came to the
rescue a thousand warriors good;
Haughty and overweening they did whate'er
they would.
XLV
Soon as by Sir Folker the wealthy Hun was slain,
You might
hear his kinsmen cry out and loudly plain.
All in a breath were asking, "Who
has this outrage done?"
"Folker the bold minstrel," gave answer many a
one.
XLVI
Straight for swords and bucklers were calling all the band
Akin to the young margrave of the Hunnish land;
The fearless minstrel Folker
they thought at once to slay.
The host down from a window took in haste his
way.
XLVII
From the Huns on all sides a cry arose amain.
Before the
hall alighted the kings and all their train.
Every bold Burgundian sent his
steed away;
Up in haste came Etzel and parted straight the fray.
XLVIII
He found one of the kinsmen with his sword drawn in his
hand;
From him in an instant he snatch'd the naked brand,
And beat the
brawlers backward, chafing and raging sore.
"In sooth with these good
warriors my favor all were o'er,"
XLIX
Said Etzel, "If among us this minstrel here ye slew;
'Twas
by mere misadventure he ran your kinsman through.
I had my eye upon him just
as he struck the blow.
It was his steed that stumbled; 'twas heaven would
have it so.
L
"Then leave my friends in quiet, and from the tilt-yard
speed."
Himself then gave them escort; meanwhile each battle-steed
Was led
thence to their quarters, for those Burgurdian guests
Had many a zealous
varlet to tend their high behests.
LI
Then with his friends King Etzel into his palace went;
He
bade all cease from anger, and calm'd their fierce intent.
Ready were set the
tables; for all was water brought.
The lives of the Burgundians many a stout
foeman sought.
LII
However irk'd it Etzel, still many an armed knight
Press'd
close behind the princes, e'en in the king's despite,
Lowering with hateful
glances as they to table went,
Each to revenge his kinsman on those proud
strangers bent.
LIII
"'Tis an ill use," said Etzel, "and one I scarce can bear,
At the feastful table the weeds of war to wear.
But whosoe'er his vengeance
on these my guests shall wreak,
His head shall pay the forfeit; this to you
Huns I speak."
LIV
'Twas long before was seated every lordly guest.
Fell care
and deep disquiet wrung Kriemhild's laboring breast.
"Prince of Bern," she
murmur'd, "thy counsel, aid and grace
I seek in sore affliction; pity my
mournful case."
LV
Then answer'd her Sir Hildebrand, a warrior frank and free,
"Who'd slay the Nibelungers shall have no help from me,
No, not for countless
treasure; th' attempt he well may rue;
The good knights ne'er were conquer'd,
with whom he'll have to do."
LVI
Said she, "Yet surely Hagan has done me cruel wrong;
He
murder'd my beloved, the strongest of the strong.
Who'd lure him from the
others, should have my gold for meed.
'Twould inly discontent me should one
but Hagan bleed."
LVII
Then answer'd Master Hildebrand, "How can that ever be?
Slay
him among his fellows? Why surely you must see,
That, if we strike at Hagan,
to battle straight will all,
And rich and poor together must in one slaughter
fall."
LVIII
Then in his courteous fashion thereto Sir Dietrich spake,
"Great queen, this talk give over, and better counsel take.
Me never wrong'd
your kinsmen, nor is there cause that I
Should warriors, whom I value, to
mortal strife defy.
LIX
"It does you little honor, the simple truth to say,
Against
your trusting kinsmen such deadly plots to lay.
'Twas under a safe-conduct
they enter'd Etzel's land.
Revenge for Siegfried never expect from Dietrich's
hand."
LX
When she no spark of treason found in the Berner brave,
Of a
wide march to Blœdel the promise straight she gave.
It once belong'd to
Nudung; a gift 'twas for a queen;
Yet a stroke of Dankwart's made him forget
it quite and clean.
LXI
"To give me help, Sir Blœdel," said she, "the task be
thine;
Harbor'd within this palace are mortal foes of mine,
The same, who
my dear husband Sir Siegfried did to die;
Who helps me to revenge it, to him
for ever bound am I."
LXII
Thus answer'd her Sir Blœdel, "Lady, to truth give ear;
I
dare not wreak your vengeance, for Etzel's wrath I fear.
He's glad to see
your kinsmen and all their vassals throng,
And never would forgive me if I
should do them wrong."
"Nay, say not so, Sir Blœdel, I'll stand thy friend at
need;
Silver and gold in plenty I'll give thee for thy meed,
Besides a
beauteous damsel, whom Nudung had to wife.
Lapp'd in her soft caresses
thou'lt lead a loving life.
LXIV
"The lands and eke the castles to thee I'll freely give;
So
may'st thou, noble warrior, with joy for ever live,
If thou but win the
lordships where Nudung once held sway.
I'll truly keep the promise I've given
you here to-day."
LXV
No sooner heard Sir Blœdel of such a guerdon tell,
Beside
that for her beauty the lady pleas'd him well,
Than he resolv'd by battle to
win the lovely bride.
He miss'd, alas! the damsel, and lost his life
besides.
LXVI
He thus bespake Queen Kriemhild, "To th' hall back haste
away;
Ere one can take precaution, I'll stir a bloody fray.
Hagan, who
sow'd in murder, shall reap a harvest meet.
I'll bring the man of Gunther in
fetters to your feet.
LXVII
"Now arm ye straight," said Blœdel, "my merry men one and
all!
Hence to the strangers' quarters upon our foes to fall.
So wills our
royal lady, King Etzel's noble wife.
Ye heroes! at her bidding each boldly
risk his life."
LXVIII
When Kriemhild thus found Blœdel to work her will intent,
And eager to do battle, to table straight she went
With the redoubted Etzel
and eke with all his train,
Against the guests from Rhineland fell counsel
had she ta'en.
LXIX
How they went all to table, I now at full must say.
First
went the king attended, crown'd and in rich array;
Many a proud prince behind
them, many a good knight was seen,
And all display'd their courtship before
the noble queen.
LXX
The good host at the tables found place for every guest;
He
seated close beside him the highest and the best.
The Christian knights and
heathen there feasted nothing loath.
Their food indeed was different, but
there was store for both.
LXXI
The yeomen in their quarters the time in feasting spent.
Servers were by good King Etzel to do their bidding sent,
Who gave them all
they ask'd for, and serv'd both high and low.
Their merriment and revel were
soon outweigh'd by woe.
Still her old grudge lay rankling in Kriemhild's poison'd
heart;
When else 'twere hard a quarrel to stir on either part,
To table
'mid the feasters she sent for Etzel's son.
When for revenge by woman was
deed so fearful done?
LXXIII
With that four men of Etzel's went out at her command;
They
brought the young King Ortlieb and led him by the hand
Up to the princes'
table, where sat fierce Hagan by,
Doom'd all too soon, poor infant! by his
fell hate to die.
LXXIV
Soon as the proud King Etzel his little son espied,
Graciously his wife's kinsmen bespake he at his side,
"See, friends, my boy
and Kriemhild's, our only son and heir.
To you may henceforth profit come
from this child so fair.
LXXV
"If he grow up like his kinsmen, he'll prove a man of
might,
Of noble mind and lineage, a strong and fearless knight.
Should I
live some time longer, I'll give him twelve broad lands,
So look for useful
service at this fair infant's hands.
LXXVI
"Now therefore I beseech you, ye dearest friends of mine,
When hence you make your journey back to your native Rhine,
To take with you
this infant, your loving sister's son,
And treat him well and kindly as
should by kin be done;
LXXVII
"And bring him up in honor, till to a man he grow,
And,
should your land be harried by force of any foe,
He'll help you to avenge it,
when he his arms can wield."
All this was heard by Kriemhild; her lips stern
silence seal'd.
LXXVIII
"He well may help these warriors," Sir Hagan straight
began,
"If ever by good fortune he come to be a man;
Yet seems the young
king's aspect no long life to foreshow.
Methinks I shall have seldom to
Ortlieb's court to go."
LXXIX
Sore irk'd the speech King Etzel; the knight he sternly
eyed
Though not a word in answer the haughty prince replied,
Down it
weigh'd his spirits, and overcast his heart.
Unfit was Hagan's nature in joy
to bear a part.
LXXX
Woe was the low'ring monarch, and all his chiefs as well,
When such dark words from Hagan on that fair infant fell.
That they should
bear it longer, deep murmur'd all the crew.
Little thought the warriors what
he was yet to do.
LXXXI
Many, who there had heard him, and bore him mortal hate,
Had
gladly set upon him; the king had done it straight
But for his word of honor;
then ill had Hagan sped;
Soon worse did he to Ortlieb; in Etzel's sight he
struck him dead.
I
All the knights of Blœdel were ready in array;
With a
thousand hauberks to the hall they took their way,
Where Dankwart at the
table sat with the yeomen tall.
Straight among the warriors uprose a deadly
brawl.
II
At once up to the tables Sir Blœdel fiercely strode,
When
Dankwart this fair greeting on the stern knight bestow'd.
"Welcome, my lord,
Sir Blœdel, you here are gladly seen.
We look'd not for your presence; what
may this meeting mean?"
III
"Greet me not," said Blœdel, "'tis a waste of breath;
Know,
my coming hither to thee must needs be death.
Thank thy brother Hagan who
noble Siegfried slew.
Thou now shalt pay the Huns for it, thou and many
another too."
"Nay, say not so, Lord Blœdel," Sir Dankwart answer made,
"So should we rue this visit in faith and honor paid.
I was a little infant
when Siegfrid lost his life;
How could I have offended King Etzel's moody
wife?"
V
"I know not, and I care not, if this be false or true.
'Twas
done by your base kinsmen, Gunther and Hagan too.
So ward ye well, ye
strangers! 'tis all in vain to fly;
Your lives are pledg'd to Kriemhild, and
take them now will I."
VI
"So you are fix'd," said Dankwart, "for murder all
prepar'd!
Would I had ne'er besought you! that had been better spar'd."
Upstarted from the table the warrior swift and strong;
Out he drew a
broadsword heavy and sharp and long.
Straight at luckless Blœdel he struck a blow so fleet,
That
his head in an instant lay before his feet.
"Take that, thou thriving wooer!"
victorious Dankwart cried,
"For a marriage-morning's present to Nudung's
mincing bride.
VIII
"Another mate to-morrow may wed the widow'd dame;
I'll pay
him with like measure, should he the dowry claim."
(A faithful Hun that
morning had told him underhand,
That deadly fraud against them the vengeful
queen had plann'd.)
IX
When Blœdel's men their master saw dead upon the floor,
Such
loss from the fierce strangers they could endure no more.
On squires at once
and yeomen with high rais'd swords they flew
In deadly wrath; full many that
hour had cause to rue.
X
To his train shouted Dankwart, loud o'er the crash and din,
"Ye see, bold squires and yeomen, what danger hems us in.
Fight for your
lives, ye friendless! in sooth we're foully shent,
For all the loving
greetings that fraudful Kriemhild sent."
XI
They, who had not their broadswords, benches asunder tore,
Or many a chair and footstool snatch'd up from the floor.
The bold
Burgundians stay'd not, but all for weapons used;
Heads with heavy settles
were pummel'd sore and bruis'd.
XII
How fiercely the lorn strangers themselves defended there!
Out they drove their foemen all weapon'd as they were;
Yet, within, five
hundred were lifeless left or more.
Dankwart's men pursued them dripping red
with gore.
XIII
Straight the sorry tidings to every Hunnish chief
Were borne
by hasty rumor (it gave them mortal grief)
That slaughter'd with his warriors
was Blœdel good at need,
That Dankwart and the yeomen had done the bloody
deed.
XIV
Before King Etzel knew it, inflam'd with deadly hate
Two
thousand Huns or better donn'd their armor straight.
They march'd against the
yeomen to deal them mortal dole,
And living of the party let not escape a
soul.
XV
Before the house they muster'd, an army deep and dense;
Though succorless, the strangers stood well on their defence;
Yet what
avail'd their valor? Dead perforce they lay.
Thence arose soon after a yet
more horrid fray.
XVI
Now you must hear a wonder as never yet was told,
Within the
hall lay lifeless nine thousands yeomen bold,
Thereto of Dankwart's followers
twelve hardy knights and good,
And now among his foemen alone the warrior
stood.
XVII
Hush'd was the din of battle, laid was the wild uproar;
He
sternly o'er his shoulder survey'd the horrid floor,
And spake, "Alas, brave
comrades! what? not a dying groan?
Then stand, must Dankwart aidless among
his foes alone."
XVIII
Upon his single person fell thund'ring sword-strokes rife,
Yet cause gave he for weeping to many a hero's wife.
He rais'd his buckler
higher and lower brought the thong.
Blood stream'd beneath his buffets
through many a hauberk strong.
XIX
"Woe's me! I'm faint and stifled," the son of Aldrian
cried;
"Now, ye knights of Hungary! stand a little wide;
Let the air
refresh me—I'm wearied with the fight."
Then manfully among them stepp'd
forth the stately knight.
XX
As faint and exhausted from the house he sprang,
What
redoubled sword-strokes on his morion rang!
Those, who had not yet witness'd
what wonders wrought his hand,
Forward leapt upon him, the knight from
Gunther's land.
XXI
"Now would to God," said Dankwart, "a messenger would go
To
let my brother Hagan my fearful peril know,
Among this band of traitors how
sore beset am I!
He'd come and hence would help me, or by my side would
die."
XXII
"Nay, do thyself thy message," the fierce Hungarians said,
"When we unto thy brother bring thee cold and dead
Then shall the man of
Gunther the smart of sorrow know.
Thou here hast wrought King Etzel such
grievous loss and woe."
XXIII
Said he, "Your threats give over, stand from me farther
yet,
Or I will make your hauberks with blood all dripping wet.
Myself the
heavy tidings will bring to yonder court,
And to my lords with wailing our
deadly wrongs report."
XXIV
So much the knights of Etzel his matchless strength
dismay'd,
That not a man amongst them durst meet him blade to blade,
But
darts into his buckler they shot so thick around,
That, by the weight
o'ermaster'd he dropp'd it on the ground.
XXV
Seeing him thus unshielded, they fiercer forward drove;
How
then with deadly gashes the shields and helms he clove!
Down perforce before
him stoop'd many a lofty knight.
What praise was then Sir Dankwart's, alone
to sway the fight!
XXVI
They rush'd at him from both sides; none then would keep
aloof;
But, match'd with him, found many most speed was least behoof.
Right through his foes the champion made his red passage good
As through the
dogs the wild-boar amidst the echoing wood.
XXVII
Ever the ground beneath him with smoking gore was wet.
When
better fought a champion with countless foes beset?
So to court before them,
along his bloody road,
Unconquer'd still and stately fierce Hagan's brother
strode.
XXVIII
Cupbearers and servers heard sword-strokes clashing nigh.
Dainty drinks and dishes they threw in hurry by,
The which they in were
bringing upon the board to set.
A crowd of sturdy foemen e'en on the stairs
he met.
XXIX
"How now, ye servers?" said Dankwart with bloody toil
oppress'd,
"'Tis your's to feed the hungry, and cheer the thirsty guest,
And store of savory viands to feasting knights to bear;
Give place, for I
would something to my good lords declare."
XXX
All, who dar'd confront him as up the stairs he flew,
Met
with such fearful slashes, that soon at distance due
From that weighty
broadsword stood trembling every one.
Such surpassing wonders by Dankwart's
strength were done.
I
Soon as the fearless warrior beneath the lintel hied,
He
bade the men of Etzel keep distance yet more wide.
The blood from that fierce
combat down all his armor pour'd,
And in his hand uplifted he held his naked
sword.
II
Just at the very moment that in burst Dankwart so,
It
chanc'd the young Prince Ortlieb was carried to and fro
From table unto
table; the news of that fell strife,
So sudden brought among them, cost the
fair child his life.
III
To a good knight then Dankwart shouted loud and strong,
"Be
stirring, brother Hagan, you're sitting all too long.
To you and God in
heaven our deadly strait I plain;
Yeomen and knights together lie in their
quarters slain."
IV
"Tell me who has done it?" Hagan fiercely cried.
"Sir Blœdel
and his meiny," Dankwart straight replied,
"And paid too has he dearly; he's
dead among the dead;
This hand from off his shoulders smote at a stroke his
head."
V
"Small is the loss," said Hagan, "whenever one can tell
That
a vanquish'd hero by hands heroic fell.
Thus it still befitteth a knight to
yield his breath;
So much the less fair ladies should sorrow for his
death.
VI
"Now tell me, brother Dankwart, why are you so red?
Your
wounds, methinks, oppress you; they must have sorely bled.
If he's yet in
this country who has harm'd you thus in strife,
But the foul fiend aid him,
it shall cost his life."
VII
"You see me whole and hearty; my weed with blood is wet,
But
'tis from wounds of others whom sword to sword I met,
Of whom I slew so many,
though furious all and fell,
That, if I had to swear it, th' amount I ne'er
could tell."
VIII
Said th' other, "Brother Dankwart, keep guard upon the
door;
Let not one Hungarian step the threshold o'er.
Straight, as need
impels us, converse with them will I.
Our friends by their devices were
guiltless done to die."
IX
"Since I'm to be door-keeper," replied the champion true
"(And well to such great monarchs such service I can do),
As fits me, 'gainst
all comers the staircase I'll maintain."
Naught could be more distasteful to
Kriemhild's knightly train.
X
"In sooth," resum'd Sir Hagan, "I can't but wonder here,
What now these Huns are whisp'ring each in his fellow's ear.
I ween, they
well could spare him, who keeps the door so bold,
Him, who to us Burgundians
his courtly tale has told.
XI
"Long have I heard and often of moody Kriemhild tell,
That
still her heart's deep sorrow she harbors fierce and fell;
Now then let's
drink to friendship! king's wine shall quench our thirst,
And the young
Prince of Hungary himself shall pledge us first."
XII
With that the good Knight Hagan smote Ortlieb the young
child;
The gushing blood, down flowing, both sword and hand defil'd;
Into
the lap of Kriemhild bounded the ghastly head.
At once among the warriors a
fearful butchery spread.
XIII
Then with both hands uplifted he dealt a stroke at large
'Gainst the grave-visag'd tutor, who had the child in charge;
His sever'd
head down falling, before the table lay.
For all his learned lessons t' faith
'twas sorry pay.
XIV
Just then at Etzel's table a minstrel met his view;
Upon him
in an instant in wrath Sir Hagan flew.
His right hand on his viol off lopp'd
he suddenly;
"Take that for the kind message thou brought'st to
Burgundy."
XV
"Alas! my hands!" cried Werbel frantic with pain and woe,
"What have I done, Sir Hagan, that you should serve me so?
I came in faith
and honor into your master's land.
How can I now make music since I have lost
my hand?"
XVI
Little reck'd Sir Hagan if ne'er he fiddled more;
Then round
his death-strokes dealing he stretch'd upon the floor
Many a good knight of
Etzel's, and wide the slaughter spread,
Turning to bale the banquet, and
heap'd the hall with dead.
XVII
Up the ready Folker leapt from table quick;
In his hand loud
clatter'd his deadly fiddlestick.
Harsh crashing notes discordant King
Gunther's minstrel play'd.
Ah! what a host of foemen among the Huns he
made!
XVIII
Up, too, leapt from table the royal brethren three;
They
thought to part the battle ere mischief more should be.
But lost was all
their labor, vain was all help of man;
When Folker and stern Hagan once so to
rage began.
XIX
When saw the Lord of Rhineland no power could stint the
strife,
He too dealt dole about him with wounds that let out life,
Through
the shining hauberks cutting deadly way.
A prowest knight was Gunther, as
clear he show'd that day.
XX
At once into the battle the sturdy Gernot flew;
Thick as
they flock'd around him the clustering Huns he slew
With his sword, the gift
of Rudeger, the which he wielded so,
That many a knight of Etzel's he laid
for ever low.
XXI
The third too of the brethren rush'd into the fray;
Through
th' helms of Etzel's warriors his swords made bloody way;
Death follow'd
every buffet; right wondrous deeds were done
That hour by youthful Giselher,
Dame Uta's youngest son.
Well fought that day the brethren, well too their men of
might,
But ever valiant Folker stood foremost in the fight,
Against his
foes so knightly himself the warrior bore.
Many brought he among them to
wallow in their gore.
XXIII
On their defence, too, stoutly stood Etzel's champions all.
Then might you see the strangers through the kingly hall
With their
glittering broadswords slashing and hewing go.
Loud thrill'd throughout the
palace wild screams of wail and woe.
XXIV
Then those without in hurried to aid their friends within,
But found upon the staircase more was to lose than win;
Out fain would rush
the others, and through the doorway fare.
To none gave Dankwart passage, nor
up nor down the stair.
XXV
To force the guarded portal throng'd the Huns amain.
With
the clattering sword-strokes the morions rang again.
Then stood the valiant
Dankwart in deadly peril there;
Of that his loving brother took heed with
timely care.
XXVI
Straight to dauntless Folker, Hagan shouted loud,
"See you
there my brother beset by yonder crowd,
Batter'd by blades unnumber'd, by
countless bucklers cross'd?
Up, and save him, comrade! or the good knight is
lost."
XXVII
"Fear not," replied the minstrel, "I'll do your bidding
soon."
Straight strode he through the palace playing his harshest tune.
Oft clash'd the keen-edg'd broadsword that in his hand he bore.
The noble
chiefs of Rhineland thank'd him o'er and o'er.
XXVIII
Then to the fearless Dankwart the minstrel-knight 'gan say,
"You must have surely suffered sore press and toil to-day.
Sent hither by
your brother to aid you I have been.
If you'll without be warder, I'll keep
the door within."
XXIX
Firm the nimble Dankwart stood outside the door;
All who the
stairs were mounting down drove he evermore;
In the grasp of the warriors
their swords clash'd fearfully.
The like within did stoutly Folker of
Burgundy.
Loud the valiant minstrel shouted o'er the throng,
"The hall
is shut, friend Hagan! the locks are firm and strong.
The hands of two stout
warriors King Etzel's door secure;
A thousand bolts, believe me, would not be
half so sure."
When Hagan saw the portal secur'd against attack,
By the
thong his buckler the fiery chief threw back,
And whirl'd his sword for
vengeance with huge two-handed sway;
No hope had then his foemen with life to
come away.
XXXII
When good Sir Dietrich noted how with each swashing stroke
The furious Lord of Trony a Hunnish morion broke,
On to a bench straight
leapt he, to see the knights of Rhine.
Said he, "Sure Hagan's serving the
very worst of wine."
XXXIII
The host was sore bewilder'd with horror and surprise;
What
crowds of friends and subjects were slain before his eyes!
Scarce 'midst the
bloody turmoil himself from danger free,
He sat in mortal anguish; what boot
was his a king to be?
XXXIV
Proud Kriemhild cried to Dietrich in ghastly drear
affright,
"Help me with thy valor, good and noble knight
By the worth of
all the princes of th' Amelungers' land.
If Hagan only reach me, Death have I
close at hand."
XXXV
"Fair queen," replied Sir Dietrich, "how can I help you
here?
Or how protect another when for myself I fear?
So wroth are these
Burgundians, so high their passions run,
That I in such a moment can promise
peace to none."
XXXVI
"Nay, say not so, Sir Dietrich, renown'd and noble knight!
Show forth this day amongst us thy high heroic might
To bring me hence in
safety; else, I shall surely die.
Dole and dismay beset me; in mortal strait
am I."
XXXVII
"At least I'll make the trial, if boot you yet I can,
For
ne'er before beheld I many a mighty man,
To sudden wrath enkindl'd, so fierce
to battle rush.
Blood see I through the helmets at every sword-stroke
gush."
XXXVIII
So the fair queen's entreaty he would no longer scorn;
Up
his voice he lifted like a blast on a buffalo's horn,
That all the echoing
castle rung through its breadth and length;
So loud the voice of Dietrich, so
wondrous was his strength!
XXXIX
Soon as heard King Gunther the voice of such a man
Peal o'er
the clash and tumult, to listen he began.
Said he, "The voice of Dietrich
sounds in my ears amain;
I fear our eager champions some friend of his have
slain.
XL
"I see him on the table beckoning with his hand.—
Loving
friends and kinsmen of Burgundy's fair land,
Hold a little season! let us
hear and see
What we have done to Dietrich, or what his wish may be."
XLI
Soon as thus King Gunther begg'd and commanded too,
In th'
heat of that dire struggle back their swords they drew;
Yet more his power
effected, that still they stood and stern;
Then thus the King of Rhineland
bespake the Lord of Bern.
XLII
Said he, "Right noble Dietrich, has any of my friends
Done
you here an injury? I'll make you full amends.
Be sure, the satisfaction
shall with the fault along.
In sooth, 'twould inly grieve me, were you to
suffer wrong."
XLIII
Him answer'd good Sir Dietrich, "No cause have I to grieve.
Let me with your safe-conduct this hall of Etzel's leave,
And quit this
bloody banquet with those who follow me,
And for this grave for ever I'll at
your service be."
XLIV
"Why beg instead of bidding?" fierce Wolfhart interpos'd,
"The door, methinks, yon minstrel has not so firmly clos'd,
But we can set it
open, and go where'er we will."
"Silence!" return'd Sir Dietrich, "the devil
prompts thee ill.
"I give you full permission," thus noble Gunther spake,
"Hence whom you will, Sir Dietrich, or few or many, take,
Except my mortal
foeman; in Hungary have they
Done deadly wrong to Gunther, and here behind
must stay."
XLVI
Then lingered not the Berner; under his arm he took
The
noble queen all trembling; fear-stricken was her look.
On the other side King
Etzel away with him he led,
Eke many a stately champion forth with Sir
Dietrich sped.
XLVII
The noble Margrave Rudeger then cried, "If any more
May quit
this house uninjur'd, and pass yon reeking door,
Tell us, who ever lov'd you,
and now would serve your ends,
So peace will last for ever with true and
faithful friends."
XLVIII
Thereto made answer Giselher, the knight of Burgundy,
"Let
there be peace betwixt us and constant amity,
For you were ever faithful, you
and your warriors tried,
So part ye hence in safety, and all your friends
besides."
XLIX
Soon as the good Sir Rudeger left the blood-reeking hall,
There follow'd him stout champions five hundred or more in all.
In this the
lords of Rhineland did faithfully and well,
Yet ruin and destruction King
Gunther thence befell.
L
Just then a knight of Hungary, who saw King Etzel take
His
way beside Sir Dietrich, came nigh for safety's sake,
When him the furious
minstrel with such a sword-stroke sped,
That at the feet of Etzel straight
lay his sever'd head.
LI
Soon as the Lord of Hungary from th' house had come at
last,
He turn'd, and on fierce Folker as fierce a glance he cast.
"Woe's
me for these fell strangers! Oh, grievous strait," he said,
"That all my
faithful warriors should lie before them dead!
LII
"Ah! woe for this sad meeting! woe for this festal-fight!
There spreads, within, destruction one that Folker hight;
Like a wild boar he
rages, yet but a minstrel he.
Thank heaven! 'tis well in safety from such a
fiend to be.
LIII
"In sooth, ill sound his measures; his strokes are bloody
red;
His oft-repeated quavers lay many a hero dead.
I know not why this
gleeman should spite us o'er the rest;
Never had I for certain so troublesome
a guest."
LIV
Thereat straight to their quarters the noble knights
withdrew,
The lord of Bern, Sir Dietrich, and the good margrave too.
To
mix in that fierce struggle neither had desire,
And from it, too, their
followers they bade in peace retire.
LV
But had the bold Burgundians foreseen the deadly woe
That
they from those two champions were soon to undergo,
Ne'er from the hall had
either so quietly been sent,
But at their hands had suffer'd a bloody
chastisement.
LVI
They, whom they pleas'd, permitted to leave that hall of
ill;
Then rose within, redoubled, the death-cry wild and shrill.
The
guests 'gainst their wrong-doers for deadly vengeance strove;
Folker the
valiant minstrel, ah! how the helms he clove!
LVII
At the clash King Gunther turn'd, and to Hagan cried,
"Hear
you what a measure Folker, the door beside,
Plays with each poor Hungarian
who down the stairs would go;
See! what a deep vermilion has dyed his
fiddle-bow!"
"I own, it much repents me," Hagan straight replied,
"That I
sat here at table from the good knight so wide.
We still were constant
comrades, not wont before to sever.
If we again see Rhineland, no chance
shall part us ever.
LIX
"Now see, great king! right loyal to thee is Folker bold;
Well deserves the warrior thy silver and thy gold.
His fiddlestick,
sharp-cutting, can hardest steel divide,
And at a stroke can shiver the
morion's beamy pride.
LX
"Never yet saw I minstrel so high and lordly stand,
As did
to-day Sir Folker among the hostile band.
On helms and clattering bucklers
his lays make music rare.
Ride should he good war-horses, and gorgeous
raiment wear."
LXI
Of all the fierce Hungarians that at the board had been,
Now
not a single champion remain'd alive within.
Then first was hush'd the
tumult, when none was left to fight.
Then down his sword laid reeking each
bold Burgundian knight.
I
Then after all their labor the lords sat down at last.
Before the hall together Folker and Hagan pass'd.
The pair of haughty
champions upon their bucklers leant,
And each the time with th' other in
gentle converse spent.
II
Then the youthful Giselher thus his mind express'd,
"Ye must
not yet, dear comrades, think of ease or rest;
From out the house first
hasten to bear the dead away.
Once more shall we do battle; that I can truly
say.
III
"Beneath our feet 'twere better they should no longer lie.
Ere these proud Huns subdue us, and we o'ermaster'd die,
Hewn will be many a
hauberk, and blood in torrents flow;
No sight can please me better than a
bleeding foe."
IV
"I'm proud of such a master," cried Hagan with delight;
"Who
could e'er give such counsel save a redoubted knight?
When words so wise and
valiant from our young lord you hear,
Needs must ye, bold Burgundians! be all
of lively cheer."
V
The counsel straight they follow'd, and carried through the
door,
And cast out from among them, seven thousand dead or more.
Adown the
stairs they tumbled and lay in heaps below.
Then burst forth from their
kinsmen a thrilling scream of woe.
VI
'Mongst these was many a warrior, though wounded and in
pain,
Who yet with milder treatment might have wax'd whole again.
Crush'd
by the fall they perish'd, who half had 'scap'd the sword.
Their friends with
moans of sorrow their fatal doom deplor'd.
VII
Then spake the minstrel Folker, the warrior void of fear,
"I
oft have heard reported, and now behold I clear,
That Huns are vile and
worthless; they like weak women wail,
When they should tend the wounded, and
soothe their dreary bale."
VIII
Then ween'd a Hunnish margrave, he thus through kindness
spake;
He saw a luckless kinsman fall'n in a bloody lake;
So threw his
arms about him, and hoped away to bear.
Him shot to death the minstrel; down
fell he dying there.
IX
When this was seen by th' others, they took at once to
flight;
That same redoubted gleeman all curs'd with all their might.
He
brandish'd high a javelin, well-temper'd, bright, and keen,
Which by a Hun
against him before had darted been.
X
This through the echoing castle he sent with mastering main
Far o'er the crowd of tremblers; that shot to Etzel's train
Gave another
station more distant from the hall.
The matchless strength of Folker dismay'd
their leaders all.
Before the house assembled were many thousand men;
Sir
Folker and Sir Hagan both together then
Began unto King Etzel all their mind
to tell,
Whence grievous ill thereafter both the good knights befell.
"The trembling crowd to hearten," said Hagan, "sure 'tis
right
That kings and leaders ever be foremost in the fight;
E'en so do
here among us my own redoubted lords,
And, when they cleave the morions,
blood spouts beneath their swords."
XIII
A valiant knight was Etzel; his shield in hand he took.
"Be
wary," cried Dame Kriemhild: "to your good liegemen look;
Fill shields with
gold, to move them yon stranger to defy.
Death must be needs your neighbor if
Hagan comes you nigh."
XIV
The king he was so fearless, he would not budge an inch;
Seldom are such great princes so disinclin'd to flinch.
By his shield's thong
his warriors then drew him back perforce.
Hagan went on to mock him in
accents loud and coarse.
XV
"I' faith the kin was distant," he cried with scornful
sound,
"That Etzel and Sir Siegfried in one alliance bound.
He cheer'd
fair Lady Kriemhild long ere she look'd on thee.
Dishonor'd king and
worthless! why knit thy brow at me?"
XVI
His proud disdainful mockery the wrath of Kriemhild
stirr'd;
To be revil'd of Hagan, while Etzel's warriors heard,
And jeer'd
before the many, was more than she could brook,
So now yet deadlier counsel
against the guests she took.
XVII
"Who Hagan, Lord of Trony, shall slay," she fiercely said,
"And bring unto me hither his abhorred head,
For him the shields of Etzel
I'll heap with ruddy gold,
And give him, too, for guerdon lands and castles
manifold."
XVIII
"I know not," said the minstrel, "what now can keep them
back;
Sure never saw I warriors so heartless stand and slack,
When a fair
dame had promis'd such rich and ample pay.
Etzel can trust them never if they
should flinch to-day.
"Those who the bread of Etzel have eaten many a year,
And,
when his need is greatest, like cowards fail him here,
These see I stand
fear-troubled; they dare not move a jot,
And yet would pass for warriors!
shame ever be their lot!"
XX
Thus with distress and sorrow was Etzel ill bestead,
Right
bitterly bewailing his kin and subjects dead.
Good knights of many a country
stood round, a mournful ring,
And for that bloody banquet wept with their
weeping king.
XXI
Then thought the best among them, "Sure Folker tells us
true."
But none so inly sorrow'd of all that wavering crew,
As the bold
Margrave Iring, the fearless Danish knight;
This soon he prov'd before them
by deeds of manly might.
I
Then loudly shouted Iring the Danish margrave strong,
"I've
shap'd my course in honor, and aim'd at glory long,
And ever have in battle
borne me like a knight,
So bring me now my harness, and I'll with Hagan
fight."
II
"That I scarce would counsel," in scorn Sir Hagan cried.
"Bid the knights of Hungary stand farther yet aside,
Let two or three
together then leap into the hall,
Back wounded down the staircase I'll dash
them one and all."
III
"I'll not renounce my challenge," Iring stern replied,
"Ere
now have I, and often, such hard adventures tried.
Now sword to sword I'll
meet thee; let ruth aside be flung!
What boots thy haughty passion, and valor
of the tongue?"
IV
Then at once Sir Iring arm'd him for the fight,
And Irnfried
or Th�a, a young and lusty knight,
And the large-limb'd Hawart with a
thousand in his train;
All sought to vouch the quarrel of that redoubted
Dane.
V
Soon as the dauntless minstrel so huge a troop espied
Forth
all in armor coming on the fierce margrave's side,
Each with his glittering
helmet laced ready for the fray,
Somewhat the wrath of Folker kindled at
their array.
VI
"See you now, friend Hagan, how comes Sir Iring nigh?
Sure I
must condemn him—ill fits a knight to lie.
To stand against thee singly he
promis'd just before,
And now he brings in armor a thousand chiefs or
more."
VII
"Call me not a liar," Hawart's liegeman cried.
"Yes! I have
given a promise; I'd fain my words abide.
I'll ne'er renounce th' adventure;
fear is to me unknown;
How fierce soe'er be Hagan, I'll meet him here
alone."
VIII
He begg'd his friends and kinsmen, down falling at their
feet,
That they would let him singly the stern Burgundian meet.
Fain would
they have denied him, for all too well they knew
How stout a knight was
Hagan, and how remorseless too.
IX
So long he still entreated, at last they gave consent;
When
him on that fierce battle they saw so wildly bent
And so athirst for honor,
with grief they let him go.
A deadly strife then follow'd 'twixt either
frowning foe.
X
The valiant knight of Denmark bore high his quivering
spear,
And crouch'd beneath his buckler through caution, not through
fear,
Then, to the hall swift mounting, with Hagan sought to close.
From
the death-doing champions a deafening din arose.
XI
Each cast his spear at th' other with such o'ermastering
might,
Piercing through the strong bucklers e'en to the harness bright,
That the shafts, high whirling, to a distance flew;
Their swords then,
sternly frowning, the rival champions drew.
XII
Huge was the strength of Hagan, his heart and hand were
stout,
Yet on him smote Sir Iring, that rang the hall throughout.
Wall and
tower re-echoed at every thundering blow.
Still could not he his purpose work
on his burly foe.
XIII
So Iring there let Hagan as yet unwounded stand,
And on the
warlike minstrel, turn'd at once his hand;
He thought to bring him under with
buffets fierce and fell,
But the long-practis'd gleeman his blows all warded
well.
XIV
Then Folker, kindling passion, smote Iring's buckler so,
That the steel plates which bound it flew off at every blow.
Then turn'd he
from the minstrel (he struck too boisterously),
And fell at once on Gunther
the King of Burgundy.
XV
Then 'twixt the valiant couple a furious strife arose;
King
Gunther and Sir Iring, like hail they bandied blows.
Yet the red blood could
neither with all his buffets draw,
So goodly was their harness without a
fault or flaw.
XVI
With that he left King Gunther, and straight at Gernot ran;
The fire from out his mailcoat to hammer he began.
But then to him King
Gernot made such a fierce reply,
That the redoubted Iring he all but did to
die.
XVII
From the prince he bounded; swift the warrior flew;
Four of
the Burgundians in a trice he slew,
All high-descended courtiers from Worms
across the Rhine;
Well might the youthful Giselher at such a loss
repine.
XVIII
"Now by heaven, Sir Iring!" in his wrath he said,
"Thy life
shall pay the forfeit for those who here lie dead
Through thy remorseless
fury."—He ran at him full fleet,
And smote the Dane so sternly, he could not
keep his feet.
XIX
Down he dropp'd before him grovelling in the gore;
Sure then
ween'd each beholder that he never more
Blow would give or parry on a
battle-day;
Yet Iring all unwounded before his foeman lay.
So deep his morion sounded, so loud the sword-stroke
clash'd,
His senses were confounded as to the ground he dash'd,
And like a
corpse, though living, he lay unconscious there;
So wondrous was the prowess
of strong-arm'd Giselher!
XXI
When from his brain bewilder'd the swoon had parted slow,
Which had his wits confounded from that o'er mastering blow,
Thought he, "I
yet am living, and all unwounded, too.
Now know I Giselher's manhood, and
feel what he can do."
XXII
He heard his foes about him as there he lay o'erthrown;
Worse would he have to suffer if once the truth were known
Well, too, the
youthful Giselher perceiv'd he standing by.
Then thought he, from amongst
them, by what device to fly.
XXIII
From the blood he started; pressing was his need;
Sure for
his good fortune he might thank his speed.
From the house he darted just
where Hagan stood,
And struck at him in passing with all the force he
could.
XXIV
Then thought the Knight of Trony, "Thou'rt in the clutch of
death;
Sure, but the devil guard thee, thou canst not 'scape with
breath."
Yet with a wound through th' head-piece he straight Sir Hagan
paid;
That did the knight with Wasky, his sharp and peerless blade.
XXV
Soon as fierce Sir Hagan felt the gash and pain,
With his
sword uplifted he rush'd upon the Dane.
No more against his fury could
Hawart's man make head;
Swift down the stairs Sir Hagan pursued him as he
fled.
XXVI
Above his head bold Iring held up his buckler strong;
Had
that same scanty staircase been full trice as long,
No time had Hagan left
him to strike a single stroke.
Ah! what a shower of sparkles red from his
morion broke!
XXVII
Yet safe and sound Sir Iring came to his friends again.
Soon
then were told to Kriemhild th' achievements of the Dane,
And what he unto
Hagan had done with his good blade.
Thus unto the warrior her fervent thanks
she paid.
XXVIII
"Now God reward thee, Iring! a noble knight thou art;
Thou
hast reviv'd my courage and comforted my heart.
On Hagan's blood-stain'd
armor, through thy bold deed, I look."
With her own hand then from him his
shield for joy she took.
XXIX
"Your thanks you'd better husband," said Hagan stern and
high,
"'Twould well befit a warrior his chance once more to try.
If then
he came back scathless, he'd be indeed a knight.
This scratch will boot you
little; so e'en a child could smite.
XXX
"The blood you see so gladly, which streaks my mail with
red,
It but the more provokes me to heap this land with dead.
My strength
is undiminish'd, my wrath is now begun;
You'll feel how little mischief to me
has Iring done."
XXXI
Iring the Knight of Denmark there stood against the breeze,
Cooling him in his mailcoat, with helm unlaced for ease.
Loud said those
about him how bold he was and brave.
Their praise to the good champion the
loftiest courage gave.
XXXII
Then thus outspoke Sir Iring, "Friends! this for certain
know;
Arm me, and delay not; once more I'll prove my foe.
His fierce and
haughty bearing I can no longer brook."
His shield was hewn and shatter'd; a
better straight he took.
XXXIII
Soon was arm'd the warrior, and better than before;
He shook
in wrath and fury the weighty spear he bore;
With this against his foeman
with sturdy strides he went.
Hate-sparkling eyes upon him the fierce Sir
Hagan bent.
XXXIV
Th' attack of bold Sir Iring he would not there await;
Down
the stairs he bounded, and ran upon him straight,
Now darting, and now
smiting; his wrath was at the height;
Little then his prowess avail'd the
Danish knight.
XXXV
The champions smote so fiercely, that fire-red blasts began
To burn from either buckler; then Hawart's luckless man
So grievously was
wounded by Hagan's monstrous main
Through sever'd shield and morion, he ne'er
was whole again.
XXXVI
That wound dash'd Iring's courage; he felt him ill bestead;
He rais'd his shield yet higher to guard his bleeding head;
He deem'd it
grievous mischief, the wound it was so sore;
Yet at the hand of Hagan had he
to suffer more.
XXXVII
A spear the man of Gunther found lying at his feet;
This at
the head of Iring he darted sure and fleet,
So that the shaft outjutted,
quivering, from his brow.
A fatal end has Hagan made of his foeman
now!
XXXVIII
Back to his Danes Sir Iring recoil'd with faltering pace;
Ere from his head his comrades the helmet could unlace,
They broke from it
the javelin; then close was death at hand.
His kindred wept around him, a
sorrow-laden band.
XXXIX
Anon the queen came thither; she o'er the dying bent,
Bewailing dauntless Iring with ghastly dreariment,
And for his wounds sore
weeping, and mourning for his sake.
Then thus among his kinsmen the hero
faintly spake.
XL
"Fair and noble lady! cease for me to grieve.
What avails
your weeping? my life I needs must leave;
Yes! the wounds are mortal that
thus have pierc'd me through.
Death will not leave me longer to Etzel and to
you."
XLI
Then thus to each Th�an he spake, and every Dane,
"Hope
not for gifts from Kriemhild, nor count her gold for gain,
For here, my
friends! I warn you, e'en with my latest breath,
If once you fight with
Hagan, you needs must look on death."
XLII
His lively hue was faded; the stamp of death he bore;
For
the redoubted Iring his comrades sorrow'd sore.
Never could recover stout
Hawart's vassal true.
Perforce each man of Denmark took to his sword
anew.
XLIII
Irnfried at once and Hawart both hurried toward the hall
With a thousand warriors; from amongst them all
Loud peal'd the shout of
battle; fierce was their wrath and hot.
Ah! what a sleet of javelins at those
of Rhine they shot!
XLIV
Upon the valiant gleeman bold Irnfried rush'd amain,
But at
his hand destruction was all that he could gain.
A stern man was the minstrel
as e'er in field met foe.
Through th' helm he smote the landgrave a deep and
deadly blow.
XLV
Sir Irnfried on Sir Folker dealt too a sturdy stroke,
That
of his temper'd hauberk the links asunder broke,
And with the dint his
harness all sparkled fiery red.
Then straight before the minstrel down
dropp'd the landgrave dead.
XLVI
Sir Hawart and Sir Hagan clos'd too in deadly fight;
Their
strife to each beholder was sure a wondrous sight.
Huge strokes from their
keen weapons fell thick on either side,
Till by the stern Burgundian perforce
Sir Hawart died.
XLVII
When Danes now and Th�ans saw both their leaders
slain,
Against the house yet fiercer rush'd on the shouting train.
Loud
round the sounding portal the din of battle peal'd,
And many a helm was
cloven, and shatter'd many a shield.
XLVIII
"Fall back, my friends!" said Folker, "E'en let them enter
in,
Yield for a while the passage they so desire to win.
Full soon they'll
fall together within our bloody hold,
And reap with death and ruin Dame
Kriemhild's fatal gold."
XLIX
Those overweening champions the hall had enter'd now;
Many a
proud head among them was sudden taught to bow
Beneath the deadly
sword-strokes of the fierce warriors there.
Well fought the valiant Gernot,
well, too, young Giselher.
L
A thousand and four together had come into the hall;
You
might see the broadswords flashing rise and fall;
Soon the bold intruders all
dead together lay;
Of those renown'd Burgundians strange marvels one might
say.
LI
Thereafter reigned deep silence; the din of war was hush'd;
Through every creak and cranny the blood on all sides gush'd
From that huge
hill of slaughter; red did the gutters run.
So much was through their prowess
by those of Rhineland done!
LII
With that the bold Burgundians sat down awhile to rest.
His
bloody sword and buckler down laid each panting guest.
Still stood th'
unwearied minstrel on guard the house before,
To watch if any foeman should
seek to force the door.
LIII
Sore wail'd the royal Etzel, sore too his lady wept,
And
sobbing dames and damsels like mournful concert kept.
Fell Death, I ween, had
taken his oath to do them ill.
Alas! by those fierce strangers more were to
perish still.
I
"So now unlace your helmets," undaunted Hagan cried,
"I and
my comrade o'er you will watch lest harm betide,
And should the men of Etzel
again to fight come on,
Be sure I will not dally, but warn my lords
anon."
II
Then many a prowest champion disarm'd his lofty head;
Down
sat they on the corpses, that wide the floor bespread,
And lay in blood
before them as by their hands they died;
Close still by Hate and Vengeance
the noble guests were spied.
III
Not yet come on had evening, when the fierce king anew
And
vengeance-breathing Kriemhild to fight together drew
The mighty men of
Hungary; before him muster'd stood
Better than twenty thousand prepar'd for
blows and blood.
IV
Once more 'gainst the Burgundians a fearful strife arose;
Dankwart before the portal among the clustering foes
From his lords undaunted
leapt forth with a light bound.
'Twas thought he long had perish'd; out
stepp'd he safe and sound.
V
The deadly struggle lasted till it was stopp'd by night;
The
guests themselves defended 'gainst Etzel's men of might,
As well became good
warriors, all through a summer's day.
Ah! what redoubted champions dead
before them lay!
'Twas e'en on a midsummer befell that murderous fight,
When
on her nearest kinsmen and many a noble knight
Dame Kriemhild wreak'd the
anguish that long in heart she bore,
Whence inly griev'd King Etzel, nor joy
knew ever more.
VII
Yet on such sweeping slaughter at first she had not
thought;
She only had for vengeance on one transgressor sought.
She wish'd
that but on Hagan the stroke of death might fall;
Twas the foul fiend's
contriving, that they should perish all.
VIII
And now the day was ended; ill were they then bestead.
They
thought, 'twere surely better that they at once were dead,
Than in slow
torture lingering unhopeful of release.
Those high and haughty warriors, ah!
how they yearn'd for peace!
They begg'd the Huns, King Etzel to bring before the hall;
Themselves then, blood-bedabbled and harness-stain'd withal,
With the three
royal brethren from th' house mov'd faint and slow.
To whom to plain, they
knew not, in their o'ermastering woe.
X
So near them both Etzel and Kriemhild drew;
To them belong'd
the country; their host thus greater grew.
He thus bespake the strangers,
"Now what would you with me?
Hope you for peace and friendship? that sure can
hardly be.
XI
"After the deadly mischief that you to me have done,
The
slaughter of my kinsmen, the murder of my son,
Cause shall you have to rue it
as long as I have life;
So peace and truce expect not, but war and mortal
strife."
XII
"Our grievous need compelled us," in answer Gunther said,
"My train before your warriors fell in their quarters dead;
How had I e'er
deserved it, or they, that bloody end?
I came in faith to see thee, I ween'd
thou wert my friend."
XIII
Then spake the bold Burgundian, the youthful Giselher,
"Ye
noble knights of Etzel, who yet are living here,
In what have I offended? or
how incurred your blame?
In kind and simple friendship into this land I
came."
XIV
"Ah!" said they, "to our sorrow this castle and realm
beside
Are both full of thy kindness; would you had never hied,
Thou and
thy bloody brethren, from Worms across the Rhine!
You've fill'd our land with
orphans;—so much for thee and thine!"
XV
Thereto in angry accents Sir Gunther made reply,
"If you
would turn to friendship, and this wild hate lay by
'Gainst us home-distant
warriors, 'twere well for us and you.
Your king will strike the guiltless if
otherwise he do."
XVI
Then to the guests said Etzel, "No equal loss, I trow,
Have
you and I encounter'd; the toil, the pain, the woe,
The shame as well as
damage that I have borne to-day—
For this, not one among you shall living
hence away."
XVII
Then to the king said Gernot, the death-defying knight,
"At
least may God work with you in this to do us right.
If you are resolv'd to
slay us, to th' open space and free
Let us come down to meet you; 'twill to
your honor be.
XVIII
"Whate'er is to befall us, let it quick be done;
'Gainst
such a host of warriors hope can we cherish none.
Scarce can we fight
o'erwearied, much less attempt to fly.
How long will you compel us to pant
and struggle ere we die?"
XIX
Then would the knights of Etzel their wish have granted
straight,
And let come out the strangers before the palace gate.
Wroth
thereat was Kriemhild; she had heard it soon.
Quickly to the strangers was
denied the boon.
XX
"No! no! Hungarian heroes! My counsel take for true,
And
grant them not their longing; beware of what you do;
Ne'er let those bloody
murderers come out from yonder hall,
Or surely must your kinsmen endure a
deadly fall.
XXI
"Were none of them yet living but Uta's children there,
My
high-descended brothers, if once they got fresh air
To cool their heated
harness, you'd one and all be lost;
The world has no such warriors; you'd
learn it to your cost."
XXII
Then spake the youthful Giselher, "Fairest sister mine,
I
little ween'd thy summons call'd me o'er the Rhine,
In this net of treason
and mortal strait to lie.
How here of these Hungarians have I deserved to
die?
XXIII
"To thee true was I ever; I never did thee wrong;
Loving and
confiding I hither came along,
For thou, I thought, dear sister, didst bear
like love to me.
Oh! look on us with kindness! what else should we expect
from thee?"
XXIV
"Talk not to me of kindness! Unkind is all my thought.
Against me he of Trony such grievous wrong has wrought,
Never can I forgive
it as long as I have life;
For that you all must suffer," said Etzel's
furious wife.
XXV
"Yet would you to me Hagan up for a prisoner give,
No longer
I'd refuse you, but fain would let you live,
For you're indeed my brethren,
all of one mother sprung;
Then of the fit atonement I'd speak these lords
among."
XXVI
"Now God in heaven forbid it!" Sir Gernot proudly said;
"Were there a thousand of us, we'd rather all lie dead,
All thy noble
kinsmen, than e'er that only one
Give up to thee a captive; no! that can
ne'er be done."
XXVII
"So we must die," said Giselher, "'scape can we never
hence;
Still valiantly and knightly we'll stand on our defence,
Let him
then, who would prove us, do now his worst endeavor;
I never friend
abandoned, nor will abandon ever."
XXVIII
Then, scorning longer silence, cried Dankwart void of fear,
"Ay! my good brother Hagan stands not lonely here.
They who peace deny us,
shall soon their anger rue.
We'll teach you bitter knowledge; take these my
words for true."
XXIX
Then spake the queen, "Brave warriors, this hour to you
belongs;
Up! closer to the staircase! take vengeance for my wrongs!
What
thrift requites good service, I'll show you well to-day.
The insolence of
Hagan I will in full repay.
XXX
"Let not a soul forth sally; their courage soon we'll tame;
I'll straight at the four corners bid set the hall on flame,
And thus will I
revenge me at once for all my woes."
Quick Etzel's knights made ready, and
fell upon her foes.
XXXI
Who yet without were standing, they instant drove within
By
dint of darts and broadsword; deafening rose the din;
Yet naught their
valiant followers could from the princes part;
Close link'd they stood
together with fix'd and faithful heart.
XXXII
With that, the wife of Etzel bade set the hall on fire.
How
sore then were they tortur'd in burning anguish dire!
At once, as the wind
freshened, the house was in a glow.
Never, I ween, were mortals in such
extremes of woe.
XXXIII
"We all are lost together," each to his neighbor cried,
"It
had been far better we had in battle died.
Now God have mercy on us! woe for
this fiery pain!
Ah! what a monstrous vengeance the bloody queen has
ta'en!"
XXXIV
Then faintly said another, "Needs must we here fall dead!
What boots us now the greeting, to us by Etzel sped?
Ah me! I'm so tormented
by thirst from burning heat,
That in this horrid anguish my life must quickly
fleet."
XXXV
Thereat outspake Sir Hagan, the noble knight and good,
"Let
each, by thirst torment'd, take here a draught of blood.
In such a heat,
believe me, 'tis better far than wine.
Naught's for the time so fitting; such
counsel, friends, is mine."
XXXVI
With that straight went a warrior, where a warm corpse he
found.
On the dead down knelt he; his helmet he unbound;
Then greedily
began he to drink the flowing blood.
However unaccustom'd, it seem'd him
passing good.
XXXVII
"Now God requite thee, Hagan," the weary warrior cried,
"For
such refreshing beverage by your advice supplied.
It has been my lot but
seldom to drink of better wine.
For life am I thy servant for this fair hint
of thine."
XXXVIII
When th' others heard and witness'd with what delight he
quaff'd,
Yet many more among them drank too the bloody draught,
It strung
again their sinews, and failing strength renew'd.
This in her lover's person
many a fair lady rued.
XXXIX
Into the hall upon them the fire-flakes thickly fell;
These
with their shields they warded warily and well.
With smoke and heat together
they were tormented sore.
Never, I ween, good warriors such burning anguish
bore.
XL
Through smoke and flame cried Hagan, "Stand close against the
wall;
Let not the burning ashes on your helm-laces fall;
Into the blood
yet deeper tread every fiery flake.
In sooth, this feast of Kriemhild's is
ghastly merry-make."
XLI
'Twas well for the Burgundians that vaulted was the roof;
This was, in all their danger, the more to their behoof.
Only about the
windows from fire they suffer'd sore.
Still, as their spirit impell'd them,
themselves they bravely bore.
XLII
In such extremes of anguish pass'd off the dreary night.
Before the hall yet sleepless stood the gleeman wight,
And leaning on his
buckler, with Hagan by his side,
Look'd out, what further mischief might from
the Huns betide.
XLIII
Then thus bespoke he Hagan, "Let's back into the hall;
These
Huns will then imagine that we have perish'd all
In the fiery torment they
kindled to our ill.
They'll see yet some among us who'll do them battle
still."
XLIV
Then the youthful Giselher, the bold Burgundian, spake,
"Methinks the breeze is fresh'ning, the day begins to break.
Better times may
wait us—grant it God in heaven!
To us my sister Kriemhild a fatal feast has
given."
XLV
With that outspake a warrior, "Ay! now I see the day.
Since
we can hope no better in this our hard assay,
Let each don straight the
harness, and think upon his life;
For soon will be upon us King Etzel's
murderous wife."
XLVI
The host he little doubted but all the guests were dead,
By
toil and fiery torture alike so ill bestead.
But yet within were living six
hundred fearless wights;
Crowned king about him ne'er had better
knights.
XLVII
The scouts who watched the strangers, had now the truth
descried,
That, spite of all the travail and torment that had tried
The
strength of lords and liegemen, they had survived it all,
And safe and sound
as ever stalk'd up and down the hall.
XLVIII
'Twas told the queen that many unharm'd were yet to see;
"No! no!" made Kriemhild answer, "Sure it can never be
That such a fiery
tempest has spared a single head.
Far sooner will I credit that one and all
are dead."
XLIX
Still long'd both lords and liegemen for mercy and for
grace,
If they might look for either from any there in place;
But neither
grace nor mercy found they in Hunnish land,
So vengeance for their ruin they
took with eager hand.
L
And now by early morning a deafening hostile din
Greeted the
weary warriors; sore peril hemm'd them in.
From all sides round, against them
a shower of missiles flew;
The dauntless band full knightly stood on defence
anew.
LI
The mighty men of Etzel came on embolden'd more,
For that
they hoped from Kriemhild to win her precious store;
And others, too, would
frankly their king's command obey;
Thus had full many among them to look on
death that day.
LII
Of promises and presents strange marvels might be told.
She
bade bring bucklers forward heap'd high with ruddy gold;
She gave to all
who'd take it; none empty went away.
Never were spent such treasures to work
a foe's decay.
LIII
The best part of the champions came on in warlike gear.
Then
cried the valiant Folker, "We're still to be found here.
Warriors advance to
battle ne'er saw I yet so fain,
As those, who to destroy us, King Etzel's
gold have ta'en."
LIV
Then from within cried many, "Nearer, ye warriors, still!
What's to be done, do quickly, whether for good or ill.
Here's not a man
among us but is resolv'd to die."
Darts straight fill'd all their bucklers,
so quick the Huns let fly.
LV
What can I tell you further? twelve hundred men or more
To
force the fatal entrance attempted o'er and o'er.
But with sharp wounds the
strangers soon cool'd their fiery mood.
None the stern strife could sever;
flow might you see the blood
LVI
From gashes deep and deadly; full many there were slain,
Comrade there for comrade wept and wail'd in vain,
Till all in death together
sank Etzel's valiants low.
Sore mourn'd for them their kinsmen in wild but
bootless woe.
I
That morn had fought the strangers as fitted well their
fame;
Meanwhile fair Gotelind's husband into the courtyard came.
Naught
saw he there on all sides but woe and doleful drear.
At the sight wept inly
the faithful Rudeger.
II
"Woe's me," began the margrave, "That ever I was born,
That
none can stay the sorrows of this disastrous morn!
Howe'er I long for
concord, the king will ne'er agree;
Woes sees he wax around him, and more has
yet to see."
III
With that, the faithful margrave to good Sir Dietrich sent,
That they might seek together to turn the king's intent.
Thereto sent answer
Dietrich, "The mischief who can stay?
To none will now King Etzel give leave
to part the fray."
IV
Just then a Hunnish warrior observ'd the margrave true
With
tearful eyes there standing, as he was wont to do.
The same thus said to
Kriemhild, "See how he stands to-day,
Whom Etzel o'er his fellows hath rais'd
to power and sway,
V
"He who from all has service, from liegemen and from land!
O'er what a crowd of castles has Rudeger command!
How much the royal Etzel
has giv'n him, well we know,
Yet ne'er in all this battle has he struck one
knightly blow.
VI
"Methinks, of what befalls us he takes but little care,
While of broad fiefs at pleasure he holds an ample share.
'Tis said, in skill
and courage the margrave stands alone,
But ill, I'm sure, have either here in
our need been shown.
VII
In angry mood this slander the faithful warrior took;
He
turn'd and on the murmurer cast a withering look.
Thought he, "Thou sure
shalt pay for it; thou say'st that I am cow'd;
I'll show how much I fear
thee: thy tale was told too loud."
VIII
At once his fist he doubled, and fiercely on him ran.
Such a
fearful buffet he dealt the Hunnish man,
As needed not a second; dead at his
feet he lay.
This wrung the heart of Etzel and heighten'd his dismay.
IX
"Away with thee, base babbler!" (thus the good margrave
spake)
"Here have I pain and trouble enough my heart to break,
And thou,
too, must revile me, as here I would not fight!
These guests I should with
reason have held in high despite,
X
"And plagued them to my utmost alike in act and thought,
But
that I the warriors myself had hither brought.
I was their guide and conduct
into my master's land;
Against them ne'er can Rudeger uplift his wanderer's
hand."
XI
Then unto the margrave spake Etzel standing near,
"How have
you this day help'd us, right noble Rudeger!
When dead in such abundance our
bleeding country fill,
More we nothing needed; you've done us grievous
ill."
XII
The noble knight made answer, "I own he stirr'd my mood,
Twitting me with the favors (brawler coarse and rude!)
That thy free hand so
largely has shower'd upon me here;
But his malicious tattle hath cost the
liar dear."
XIII
Then came the fair Queen Kriemhild; she too had seen full
well
What from the hero's anger the luckless Hun befell;
And she too
mourn'd it deeply; with tears her eyes were wet.
Thus she spake to Rudeger,
"How have we ever yet
XIV
"Deserv'd, that you, good Rudeger, should make our anguish
more;
Now sure to me and Etzel you've promised o'er and o'er,
That you
both life and honor would risk to do us right.
That you're the flower of
knighthood, is own'd by every knight.
XV
"Now think upon the homage that once to me you swore,
When
to the Rhine, good warrior, King Etzel's suit you bore,
That you would serve
me ever to either's dying day.
Ne'er can I need so deeply, that you that vow
should pay."
XVI
"Tis true, right noble lady; in this we're not at strife;
I
pledg'd, to do you service, my honor and my life,
But my soul to hazard never
did I vow.
I brought the princes hither, and must not harm them now."
Said she, "Remember, Rudeger, the promise thou didst make,
Thy word, thy oath remember that thou would'st vengeance take
On whosoever
wrong'd me, and wrong with wrong repay."
Thereto replied the margrave, "I've
never said you nay."
XVIII
With that, to beg and pray him the king began as well;
King
and queen together both at his feet they fell.
Then might you the good
margrave have seen full ill bestead,
And thus in bitterest anguish the
faithful hero said.
XIX
"Woe's me the heaven-abandon'd, that I have liv'd to this!
Farewell to all my honors! woe for my first amiss!
My truth—my God-giv'n
innocence—must they be both forgot?
Woe's me, O God in heaven! that death
relieves me not!
XX
"Which part soe'er I foster, and whichsoe'er I shun,
In
either case forsaken is good, and evil done;
But should I side with neither,
all would the waverer blame.
Ah! would He deign to guide me, from whom my
being came!"
XXI
Still went they on imploring, the king and eke his wife,
Whence many a valiant warrior soon came to lose his life
By the strong hand
of Rudeger, and he, too, lastly fell.
So all his tale of sorrow you now shall
hear me tell.
XXII
He nothing thence expected but loss and mortal teen.
Fain
had he giv'n denial alike to king and queen.
Much fear'd the gentle margrave,
if in the stern debate
He slew but one Burgundian, the world would bear him
hate.
XXIII
With that, unto King Etzel thus spake the warrior bold,
"Sir
king! take back, I pray you, all that of you I hold,
My fiefs, both lands and
castles; let none with me remain.
To distant realms, a wanderer, I'll foot it
forth again.
XXIV
"Thus stripp'd of all possessions I'll leave at once your
land.
Rather my wife and daughter I'll take in either hand,
Than faithless
and dishonor'd in hateful strife lie dead.
Ah! to my own destruction I've
ta'en your gold so red."
XXV
Thereto replied King Etzel, "Who then will succor me?
My
land as well as liegemen, all will I give to thee,
If thou'lt revenge me,
Rudeger, and smite my foemen down.
High shalt thou rule with Etzel, and share
his kingly crown."
XXVI
Then spake the blameless margrave, "How shall I begin?
To my
house I bade them, as guests I took them in,
Set meat and drink before them,
they at my table fed,
And my best gifts I gave them;—how can I strike them
dead?
XXVII
"The folk ween in their folly that out of fear I shrink.
No!
no! on former favors, on ancient bonds I think.
I serv'd the noble princes, I
serv'd their followers too,
And knit with them the friendship, I now so
deeply rue.
XXVIII
"I to the youthful Giselher my daughter gave of late;
In all
the world the maiden could find no fitter mate,
True, faithful, brave,
well-nurtur'd, rich, and of high degree;
Young prince yet saw I never so
virtue-fraught as he."
XXIX
Then thus bespake him Kriemhild, "Right noble Rudeger
Take
pity on our anguish! thou see'st us kneeling here,
The king and me, before
thee; both clasp thy honor'd knees.
Sure never host yet feasted such fatal
guests as these."
XXX
With that, the noble margrave thus to the queen 'gan say,
"Sure must the life of Rudeger for all the kindness pay,
That you to me, my
lady, and my lord the king have done.
For this I'm doom'd to perish, and that
ere set of sun.
XXXI
"Full well I know, this morning, my castles and my land
Both
will to you fall vacant by stroke of foeman's hand,
And so my wife and
daughter I to your grace commend,
And all at Bechlaren, each trusty homeless
friend."
XXXII
"Now God," replied King Etzel, "reward thee, Rudeger!"
He
and his queen together resum'd their lively cheer.
"From us shall all thy
people receive whate'er they need;
Thou too, I trust, this morning thyself
wilt fairly speed."
XXXIII
So body and soul to hazard put the blameless man.
Meanwhile
the wife of Etzel sorely to weep began.
Said he, "My word I gave you, I'll
keep it well to-day.
Woe for my friends, whom Rudeger in his own despite must
slay."
XXXIV
With that, straight from King Etzel he went with many a
sigh.
Soon his band of heroes found he muster'd nigh.
Said he, "Up now, my
warriors! don all your armor bright.
I 'gainst the bold Burgundians must to
my sorrow fight."
XXXV
Quick his valiant followers bade their arms be brought.
In a
trice th' attendants shields and helms up caught,
And all their glittering
harness bore to their masters bold.
Soon to the haughty strangers the sorry
news were told.
XXXVI
Arm'd were to see with Rudeger five hundred men of might;
Twelve besides went with him, each a prowest knight,
Who hoped to win them
worship on that fierce Rhenish band.
Little thought the warriors, how close
was Death at hand.
XXXVII
So to war the margrave under helmet strode;
Sharpest swords
his meiny brandish'd as they rode;
Each in hand, bright-flashing, held his
shield before.
That saw the dauntless minstrel and seeing sorrow'd
sore.
XXXVIII
Then too was by young Giselher his lady's father seen
With
helm laced as for battle; "What," thought he, "can he mean?
But naught can
mean the margrave but what is just and right."
At the thought full joyous
wax'd the youthful knight.
XXXIX
"Well's me with friends so faithful," Sir Giselher 'gan
say,
"These, whom by happy fortune we gain'd upon the way.
My
late-espoused lady will stand us in good stead.
In sooth it much contents me,
that e'er I came to wed."
XL
"I know not what you trust in;" thus the stern minstrel
spake;
"Where saw you warriors ever for reconcilement's sake
With helmets
laced advancing, and naked swords in hand?
On us will earn Sir Rudeger his
castles and his land."
XLI
Scarcely the valiant minstrel his words had utter'd all,
When the noble Rudeger was close before the hall.
His shield, well prov'd in
battle, before his feet he laid,
But neither proferr'd service, nor friendly
greeting made.
XLII
To those within he shouted, "Look not for succor hence;
Ye
valiant Nibelungers, now stand on your defence.
I'd fain have been your
comrade; your foe I now must be.
We once were friends together; now from that
bond I'm free."
XLIII
The hard-beset Burgundians to hear his words were woe.
Was
not a man among them, but sorrow'd, high and low,
That thus a friend and
comrade would 'gainst them mingle blows,
When they so much already had
suffer'd from their foes.
XLIV
"Now God forbid," said Gunther, "that such a knight as you
To the faith, wherein we trusted, should ever prove untrue,
And turn upon his
comrades in such an hour as this.
Ne'er can I think that Rudeger can do so
much amiss."
XLV
"I can't go back," said Rudeger, "the deadly die is cast;
I
must with you do battle; to that my word is past.
So each of you defend him
as he loves his life.
I must perform my promise, so wills King Etzel's
wife,"
XLVI
Said Gunther, "This renouncement comes all too late to-day.
May God, right noble Rudeger, you for the favors pay
Which you so oft have
done us, if e'en unto the end
To those, who ever lov'd you, you show yourself
a friend.
XLVII
"Ever shall we be your servants for all you've deign'd to
give,
Both I and my good kinsmen, if by your aid we live.
Your precious
gifts, fair tokens of love and friendship dear,
Given when you brought us
hither, now think of them, good Rudeger!"
XLVIII
"How fain that would I grant you!" the noble knight
replied;
"Would that my gifts forever might in your hands abide,
I'd fain
in all assist you, that life concerns or fame,
But that I fear, so doing, to
get reproach and shame."
XLIX
"Think not of that, good Rudeger," said Gernot, "in such
need.
Sure host ne'er guests entreated so well in word or deed,
As you did
us, your comrades, when late with you we stay'd.
If hence alive you bring us,
'twill be in full repaid."
L
"Now would to God! Sir Gernot," said Rudeger ill bestead,
"That you were safe in Rhineland, and I with honor dead!
Now must I fight
against you to serve your sister's ends.
Sure never yet were strangers
entreated worse by friends."
LI
"Sir Rudeger," answer'd Gernot, "God's blessing wait on you
For all your gorgeous presents! your death I sore should rue,
Should that
pure virtue perish, which ill the world can spare.
Your sword, which late you
gave me, here by my side I wear.
LII
"It never once has failed me in all this bloody fray;
Lifeless beneath its edges many a good champion lay.
Most perfect is its
temper; 'tis sharp and strong as bright;
Knight sure a gift so goodly will
give no more to knight.
LIII
"Yet, should you not go backward, but turn our foe to-day,
If of the friends around me in hostile mood you slay,
With your own sword,
good Rudeger, I need must take your life,
Though you (heaven knows) I pity,
and your good and noble wife."
LIV
"Ah! would to heaven, Sir Gernot, that it might e'en be so!
That e'en as you would wish it this matter all might go,
And your good
friends 'scape harmless from this abhorrè¢ strife!
Then sure should trust in
Gernot my daughter and my wife."
LV
With that, the bold Burgundian, fair Uta's youngest, cried,
"Why do you thus, Sir Rudeger? my friends here by my side
All love you, e'en
as I do; why kindle strife so wild?
'Tis ill so soon to widow your
late-betrothed child.
LVI
"Should you now and your followers wage war upon me here,
How cruel and unfriendly 'twill to the world appear!
For more than on all
others on you I still relied,
And took, through such affiance, your daughter
for my bride."
LVII
"Fair king! thy troth remember," the blameless knight 'gan
say,
"Should God be pleas'd in safety to send thee hence away.
Let not the
maiden suffer for aught that I do ill.
By your own princely virtue vouchsafe
her favor still."
LVIII
"That will I do and gladly," the youthful knight replied,
"But should my high-born kinsmen, who here within abide,
Once die by thee, no
longer could I thy friend be styl'd;
My constant love 'twould sever from thee
and from thy child."
"Then God have mercy on us!" the valiant margrave said.
At
once their shields they lifted, and forward fiercely sped
In the hall of
Kriemhild to force the stranger crowd.
Thereat down from the stair-head Sir
Hagan shouted loud,
LX
"Tarry yet a little, right noble Rudeger!
I and my lords a
moment would yet with you confer;
Thereto hard need compels us, and danger
gathering nigh;
What boot were it for Etzel though here forlorn we
die?
LXI
"I'm now," pursued Sir Hagan, "beset with grievous care;
The
shield that Lady Gotelind gave me late to bear,
Is hewn and all-to broken by
many a Hunnish brand.
I brought it fair and friendly hither to Etzel's
land.
LXII
"Ah! that to me this favor heaven would be pleas'd to yield
That I might to defend me bear so well-prov'd a shield,
As that, right noble
Rudeger, before thee now display'd!
No more should I in battle need then the
hauberk's aid."
LXIII
"Fain with the same I'd serve thee to th' height of thy
desire,
But that I fear, such proffer might waken Kriemhild's ire.
Still,
take it to thee, Hagan, and wield it well in hand.
Ah! might'st thou bring it
with thee to thy Burgundian land!"
LXIV
While thus with words so courteous so fair a gift he sped,
The eyes of many a champion with scalding tears were red.
'Twas the last
gift, that buckler, e'er given to comrade dear
By the Lord of Bechlaren, the
blameless Rudeger.
LXV
However stern was Hagan, and of unyielding mood,
Still at
the gift he melted, which one so great and good
Gave in his last few moments,
e'en on the eve of fight,
And with the stubborn warrior mourn'd many a noble
knight.
LXVI
"Now God in heaven, good Rudeger, thy recompenser be!
Your
like on earth, I'm certain, we never more shall see,
Who gifts so good and
gorgeous to homeless wanderers give.
May God protect your virtue, that it may
ever live!
LXVII
"Alas! this bloody business!" Sir Hagan then went on,
"We
have had to bear much sorrow, and more shall have anon.
Must friend with
friend do battle, nor heaven the conflict part?"
The noble margrave answer'd,
"That wounds my inmost heart."
LXVIII
"Now for thy gift I'll quit thee, right noble Rudeger!
Whate'er may chance between thee and my bold comrades here,
My hand shall
touch thee never amidst the heady fight,
Not e'en if thou should'st slaughter
every Burgundian knight."
LXIX
For that to him bow'd courteous the blameless Rudeger.
Then
all around were weeping for grief and doleful drear,
Since none th'
approaching mischief had hope to turn aside.
The father of all virtue in that
good margrave died.
LXX
Then from the house call'd Folker, the minstrel good at
need,
"Now that my comrade Hagan has to this truce agreed,
From my hand
too, Sir Rudeger, take firm and sure the same.
You've ever well deserv'd it
since to this land we came.
LXXI
"For me, most noble margrave! you must a message bear;
These
bracelets red were given me late by your lady fair,
To wear at this high
festal before the royal Hun.
View them thyself, and tell her that I've her
bidding done."
LXXII
"Ah! might it please th' Almighty," Sir Rudeger replied,
"That the margravine hereafter should give you more beside!
Yet doubt not,
noble Folker, I'll bear this message fain
To my true love and lady, if e'er
we meet again."
LXXIII
So promis'd gentle Rudeger, nor longer dallied yet;
Up his
shield he lifted, and forward fiercely set.
He leapt on the Burgundians like
a prowest knight;
Many a swift stroke among them he struck to left and
right.
LXXIV
Sir Folker and Sir Hagan both from him further stepp'd
According to their promise which faithfully they kept,
But at the stairs were
standing warriors so bold and stout,
That Rudeger the battle began with
anxious doubt.
LXXV
King Gunther and Sir Gernot in let him force his way
To take
his life the surer; stern knights and fierce were they.
Young Giselher kept
his distance; e'en yet he look'd for life,
So spar'd, though half unwilling,
the father of his wife.
LXXVI
Forward the margrave's warriors leapt with fierce intent;
In
their master's footsteps manfully they went.
Sharp-cutting blades they
brandish'd as in close fight they strove,
And shiver'd many a buckler, and
many a morion clove.
LXXVII
The guests, though faint and weary, dealt many a storm-swift
blow
At those of Bechlaren, that deep and smooth did go
To flesh and bone
and inward through links of iron weed.
They wrought in that stern struggle
full many a doughty deed.
LXXVIII
The noble train of Rudeger now in had enter'd all.
Folker at
once and Hagan leapt on them in the hall,
Nor quarter gave to any, but to
that single man.
The blood beneath their broadswords down through the helmets
ran.
LXXIX
What a fearful clatter of clashing blades there rang!
From
shields beneath the buffets how the plates they sprang,
And precious stones
unnumber'd rain'd down into the gore.
They fought so fell and furious as man
will never more.
LXXX
The Lord of Bechlaren went slashing here and there,
As one
who well in battle knew how himself to bear.
Well prov'd the noble Rudeger in
that day's bloody fight,
That never handled weapon a more redoubted
knight.
LXXXI
On the other side the slaughter Gunther and Gernot led;
They
smote in that grim conflict full many a hero dead;
Giselher and Dankwart,
little of aught reck'd they;
Full many a prowest champion they brought to his
last day.
LXXXII
Well prov'd the fiery margrave his strength and courage
too,
His weapon and his harness;—ah! what a host he slew!
That saw a bold
Burgundian; his passion mounted high.
Alas for noble Rudeger! e'en then his
death drew nigh.
LXXXIII
Loud o'er the din of battle stout Gernot shouted then,
"How
now, right noble Rudeger? not one of all my men
Thou'lt leave me here
unwounded; in sooth it grieves me sore
To see my friends thus slaughter'd;
bear it can I no more.
LXXXIV
"Now must thy gift too surely the giver harm to-day,
Since
of my friends so many thy strength has swept away.
So turn about, and face
me, thou bold and high-born man!
Thy goodly gift to merit, I'll do the best I
can."
LXXXV
Ere through the press the margrave could come Sir Gerno
nigh,
Full many a glittering mailcoat was stain'd a bloody die.
Then those
fame-greedy champions each fierce on th' other leapt,
And deadly wounds at
distance with wary ward they kept.
LXXXVI
So sharp were both their broadswords, resistless was their
dint;
Sudden the good Sir Rudeger through th' helmet hard as flint
So
struck the noble Gernot, that forth the blood it broke;
With death the stern
Burgundian repaid the deadly stroke.
LXXXVII
He heav'd the gift of Rudeger with both his hands on high,
And, to the death though wounded, a stroke at him let fly
Right through both
shield and morion; deep was the gash and wide.
At once the lord of Gotelind
beneath the swordcut died.
LXXXVIII
In sooth a gift so goodly was worse requited ne'er,
Down
dead dropp'd both together, Gernot and Rudeger,
Each slain by th' other's
manhood, then prov'd, alas! too well.
Thereat first Sir Hagan furious wax'd
and fell.
LXXXIX
Then cried the knight of Trony, "Sure we with ill are
cross'd;
Their country and their people in both these chiefs have lost
More than they'll e'er recover;—woe worth this fatal day!
We have here the
margrave's meiny, and they for all shall pay."
XC
All struck at one another, none would a foeman spare.
Full
many a one, unwounded, down was smitten there,
Who else might have 'scap'd
harmless, but now, though whole and sound,
In the thick press was trampled,
or in the blood was drown'd.
"Alas! my luckless brother who here in death lies low!
How
every hour I'm living brings some fresh tale of woe!
And ever must I sorrow
for the good margrave too.
On both sides dire destruction and mortal ills we
rue."
XCII
Soon as the youthful Giselher beheld his brother dead,
Who
yet within were lingering by sudden doom were sped.
Death, his pale meiny
choosing, dealt each his dreary dole.
Of those of Bechlaren 'scap'd not one
living soul.
XCIII
King Gunther and young Giselher, and fearless Hagan, too,
Dankwart as well as Folker, the noble knights and true,
Went where they found
together out-stretch'd the valiant twain.
There wept th' assembled warriors
in anguish o'er the slain.
XCIV
"Death fearfully despoils us," said youthful Giselher,
"But
now give over wailing, and haste to th' open air
To cool our heated hauberks,
faint as we are with strife.
God, methinks, no longer will here vouchsafe us
life."
XCV
This sitting, that reclining, was seen full many a knight;
They took repose in quiet; around (a fearful sight!)
Lay Rudeger's dead
comrades; all was hush'd and still;
From that long dreary silence King Etzel
augur'd ill.
XCVI
"Alas for this half friendship!" thus Kriemhild frowning
spake,
"If it were true and steadfast, Sir Rudeger would take
Vengeance
wide and sweeping on yonder murderous band;
Now back he'll bring them safely
to their Burgundian land.
XCVII
"What boot our gifts, King Etzel? Was it, my lord, for this
We gave him all he ask'd us? The chief has done amiss.
He who should have
reveng'd us will now a treaty make."
Thereto in answer Folker, the gallant
minstrel, spake.
XCVIII
"Not so the truth is, lady! the more the pity, too!
If one
the lie might venture to give a dame like you,
Most foully 'gainst the
margrave you've lied, right noble queen!
Sore trick'd in that same treaty he
and his men have been.
XCIX
"With such good-will the margrave his king's commands
obey'd,
That he and all his meiny dead on this floor are laid.
Now look
about you, Kriemhild! for servants seek anew;
Well were you serv'd by
Rudeger; he to the death was true.
C
"The fact, if still you're doubting, before your eyes we'll
bring."
'Twas done e'en of set purpose her heart the more to wring.
They
brought the mangled margrave, where Etzel saw him well.
Th' assembled knights
of Hungary such utter anguish ne'er befell.
CI
When thus held high before them they saw the margrave dead,
Sure by the choicest writer could ne'er be penn'd nor said
The woful burst of
wailing from woman and eke from man,
That from the heart's deep sorrow to
strike all ears began.
CII
Above his weeping people King Etzel sorrow'd sore;
His
deep-voiced wail resounded loud as the lion's roar
In the night-shaded
desert; the like did Kriemhild too;
They mourn'd in heart for Rudeger, the
valiant and the true.
I
The cry of lamentation now spread so far around
That tower
and hall and palace rang with the rueful sound.
A certain Berner heard it,
the noble Dietrich's man.
To tell the bloody tidings, how swift away he
ran!
Then thus the prince bespake he, "Sir Dietrich, hear my
tale;
Surely heard I never such wild and woful wail,
As in my ears is
ringing, through all the life I've past.
The king himself, I doubt not, has
join'd the feast at last.
III
"Why else should such loud sorrow through all the people
spread?
The king, or Lady Kriemhild, or both of them are dead,
By those
redoubted strangers laid low through fell despite;
So weeping and so wailing
is many a courtly knight."
IV
Then outspake the Berner, "My merrymen every one,
Now be not
over-hasty; what has e'en now been done
By those home-distant champions,
through hard constraint befell.
I proffer'd them my service, now let it boot
them well."
V
Quick then spake Sir Wolfhart, "Straight I'll thither run,
And inquire the tidings, what the guests have done,
Then, my good lord, will
tell you, when I there have been
And of the truth possess'd me, what all this
wail may mean."
VI
Thereto replied Sir Dietrich, "When the heart is gall,
Should reckless, rough inquiries just then perchance befall,
Wrath's yet
glowing embers flame up with ease anew.
I would not have the question, good
Wolfhart, ask'd by you."
VII
Then turn'd he to Sir Helfrich, and bade him speed his
best,
And either from Hungarian or from stranger guest
Learn what had
really happen'd, that so their grief had stirr'd.
Ne'er had in any country so
wild a wail been heard.
VIII
The messenger 'gan question, "Why what has here been done?"
"Oh! we are lost forever!" straight replied a Hun.
"All joy's forever
vanish'd, that cheer'd King Etzel's reign.
Here lies the noble Rudeger, by
yon Burgundians slain.
IX
"Of those who enter'd with him return'd no living soul,"
At
the words stood Helfrich struck dumb with mortal dole.
Tale of such deep
horror never met his ear.
The messenger to Dietrich went back with many a
tear.
X
"What are the news you bring us?" cried Dietrich at the
sight,
"Why do you weep so bitterly, Sir Helfrich, noble knight?"
"Alas!"
exclaim'd the champion, "well may I weep and plain;
The hands of yon
Burgundians good Rudeger have slain."
XI
"Now God forbid!" cried Dietrich, "that could I ne'er have
ween'd;
Sure 'twere a fearful vengeance, and sport for the foul fiend.
How
at their hands had Rudeger deserv'd so sad an end?
Full well I know, those
strangers had ne'er so firm a friend."
XII
Then answer made Sir Wolfhart, "If they this deed have
done,
Their lives shall pay the forfeit; die shall they every one.
'Twould
be to our dishonor, should we such outrage bear.
Oft we have had good service
from noble Rudeger."
XIII
The lord of th' Amelungers yet more to know was bent.
Down
sat he at a window anxious and ill content;
Then Hildebrand straight bade he
haste to the strangers bold,
And what had really happen'd from their own lips
be told.
XIV
A well-approved warrior was master Hildebrand,
Yet took he,
on his message, nor shield nor sword in hand,
For all in peaceful fashion to
seek the guests he meant.
His sister's son beheld it with angry
discontent.
XV
Then sternly spake grim Wolfhart, "If thus unarm'd you go,
Naught but reproach and insult can hap from such a foe.
With outrage and
dishonor needs must you hither back;
But if you're seen in harness, you'll
find the foremost slack."
XVI
So th' old and wise took counsel of the foolish and the
young.
Ere he could don his armor, theirs on in haste had flung
All the
knights of Dietrich; each shook his naked blade.
Sore it irk'd the warrior;
full fain had he renounced such aid.
XVII
Whither would they, inquir'd he—"Thither, good knight with
you;
What if o'erweening Hagan, to his ill habit true,
So much the worse
upon you his spite and scorn should vent."
When this was told the champion,
he could not but consent.
XVIII
Soon as the valiant Folker saw sheath'd in armor bright
The
flower of Bern advancing, Sir Dietrich's men of might,
Bucklers all
uplifting, girded all with swords,
Ready notice gave he to his Burgundian
lords.
XIX
Thus spake the fearless minstrel, "On this, my lords,
advise;
There see I Dietrich's Berners come on in hostile guise,
All
helmeted and harnessed;—they'll fight us, well I know.
With us forlorn and
friendless ill now, I ween, 'twill go."
XX
Scarce had he done speaking, when Hildebrand came on.
Before
his feet the warrior set down his shield anon,
And thus began his question to
put to Gunther's crew;
"Alas! ye valiant heroes, what has Rudeger done to
you?
XXI
"I come from my lord Dietrich, from you the truth to gain,
If any here among you with bloody hand has slain
The good and noble margrave,
as some to us declare.
Such weight of mortal sorrow were more than we could
bear."
XXII
"The woful news," said Hagan, "cannot be denied;
Would for
the sake of Rudeger your messenger had lied,
And yet the chief were living!
'tis all too true a tale;
For the good knight must ever both man and woman
wail."
XXIII
Soon as the knights of Dietrich heard he indeed was dead,
As
love and truth impell'd them, they wailed drearihead.
Bitter tears forth
gushing beard and chin ran o'er;
Such deep remorse for Rudeger in their
inmost hearts they bore.
XXIV
A duke of Bern, Sir Siegstab, sighing then began,
"So comes
to end the kindness, wherewith this blameless man,
After our days of sorrow,
reliev'd our woe and pain.
Here the poor exile's comfort lies by you heroes
slain."
XXV
Next him, the Amelunger, the good Sir Wolfwine, said,
"If I
saw to-day my father before me lying dead,
More I could not sorrow e'en for
such a life.
Alas! who now can comfort the gentle margrave's wife?"
XXVI
Then spake in storm of passion Wolfhart the moody knight,
"Who now will harnessed warriors lead to so many a fight,
As oft has done the
margrave, and to our foemen's cost,
Alas! right noble Rudeger, that thee we
thus have lost!"
XXVII
Sir Wolfbrand and Sir Helfrich and eke Sir Helmnot shed
True
tears, with all their comrades, for him who there lay dead.
Old Hildebrand
through sobbing could not inquire the rest;
Said he, "Go to, ye warriors,
perform my lord's request.
XXVIII
"Give us the corpse of Rudeger from out yon reeking hall;
So
pale and dead lies with him the comfort of us all;
And let us now requite him
for all he e'er has done
To us of his great kindness, and besides to many a
one.
XXIX
"We ourselves are exiles like blameless Rudeger.
Wherefore
would you delay us? Him hence then let us bear,
And pay him every honor now
that he dead is laid.
Such unto the living we gladlier would have
paid."
XXX
Thereto replied King Gunther, "Service so good is none,
As
after death, Sir Hildebrand, to friend by friend is done.
That, whosoe'er
performs it, firm steadfast faith I call.
You pay him as is fitting, for well
he serv'd you all."
XXXI
"How long must we be waiting?" cried Wolfhart proud and
high;
"Since our choicest comfort you have done to die,
And we no more can
have him amongst us safe and sound,
Let us take him forthwith hence to the
burial ground."
XXXII
"None here will fetch him to you," the minstrel answer
gave;
"Enter the hall and take him, where lifeless lies the brave,
Deep
gash'd with gaping death-wounds, as in the blood he fell.
'Tis all you can do
for him, and thus you'll serve him well."
XXXIII
"Sir gleeman," said fierce Wolfhart, "you've done us grievous
ill.
God knows, that you had better not move us further still.
But for my
lord's injunctions, you'd be in evil plight;
Now we must pass it over;
forbidd'n are we to fight."
XXXIV
Then spake the fiery minstrel, "His courage is but small,
Who, soon as one forbids him, would fain pass over all.
Such can I never
reckon the mood of a true knight."
His comrade's words Sir Hagan approv'd as
just and right.
XXXV
"Persist not to provoke me," said Wolfhart, "or full soon
Your strings, without your leave too, I'll put so out of tune,
You'll have
enough to talk of on your journey hence.
No longer I with honor will bear
your insolence."
XXXVI
Straight replied the minstrel, "Sir knight, howe'er you may
Put my strings out of order and spoil my viol's play,
This hand shall first
dim sadly our helmets brilliancy,
However chance may bring me back to fair
Burgundy."
XXXVII
With that the furious Wolfhart had leapt upon him fain,
But
Hildebrand, his uncle, still held him back amain.
"Thy silly rage would drive
thee, I ween, to draw the sword,
And so thou'dst lose forever the favor of my
lord."
XXXVIII
"Let loose the lion, master, that storms so fierce and
proud.
If I can only reach him," the minstrel shouted loud,
"Though all
the world together his prowess may have slain,
I'll strike him such a
swordstroke, he'll ne'er reply again."
XXXIX
By this the Berner's fury was kindled to the height.
His
shield at once before him held Wolfhart the swift knight.
Forward, like a
wild lion, he darted to th' attack.
A crowd of nimble followers cluster'd at
his back.
XL
But swift as was the warrior, and swift as was his band,
First at the foot of the staircase was aged Hildebrand.
None would he have
before him where'er a field was fought.
Soon among the strangers found they
what they sought.
XLI
Straight upon Sir Hagan leapt Master Hildebrand;
The sword
you might hear clatter in either champion's hand.
Well might you note their
fury by many a sturdy stroke.
From their clashing broadswords a fire-red
blast there broke.
XLII
Soon were they swept asunder by th' heady stream of fight;
'Twas done by the fierce Berners hurtling in their might.
So from grim Sir
Hagan turn'd off that aged man.
Wolfhart meanwhile in fury at valiant Folker
ran.
On the good helm the minstrel he smote with fell intent,
So
that the edge, descending, e'en to the beaver went.
That stroke the forceful
gleeman repaid with such a blow,
As sent the sturdy Wolfhart tottering to and
fro.
XLIV
They clash'd, that from the hauberks sparks were seen to
start,
Either bore the other deadly hate at heart.
A Berner then, Sir
Wolfwine, parted that stormy fight.
Who on such deed could venture, was sure
a prowest knight.
XLV
The noble king, Sir Gunther, with frank and willing hand
Met
the renowned champions of th' Amelungers' land.
Then, too, the good Sir
Giselher himself so knightly bore,
That he made the polish'd morions red and
wet with gore.
XLVI
Dankwart, Hagan's brother, was a champion grim.
Whate'er on
Etzel's meiny had late been wrought by him,
A puff was to the tempest that
now to rise began;
So furiously did battle the son of Aldrian.
XLVII
Ritschart as well as Gerbart, Helfrich and Wichart, too,
Spared themselves but seldom with bloody work to do;
This in the fierce hurly
to Gunther's men they show'd.
Into the strife Sir Wolfbrand like a noble
warrior strode.
XLVIII
Then, as though he were frantic, fought aged Hildebrand.
Many a good knight, o'ermaster'd by Wolfhart's stalwart hand
Into the blood,
death-stricken, beneath his broadsword fell.
Thus the bold knights of
Dietrich reveng'd the margrave well.
XLIX
Then, as his courage mov'd him, the good Sir Siegstab
strove;
Ah! how the glittering morions of his stern foes he clove
In that
tempestuous conflict, Sir Dietrich's sister's son!
Amidst the storm of battle
ne'er had he better done.
L
The valiant minstrel Folker, soon as he espied
A bloody
brook forth gushing as Siegstab fiercely plied
His sword upon the hauberks,
in a storm of rage was tossed;
Furious he leapt upon him; at once Sir
Siegstab lost
LI
His life by that stern minstrel, who, to the warrior's ill,
Proof gave him so resistless of his surpassing skill,
That at a stroke before
him down fell dead the knight.
Him straight revenged Sir Hildebrand, as well
beseem'd his might.
LII
"Ah, my dear lord!" in anguish cried Master Hildebrand,
"Dost thou then here lie lifeless by Folker's bloody hand?
But hence, be
sure, shall never this minstrel scathless go."
However could noble Hildebrand
rush fiercer on a foe?
LIII
At once so smote he Folker with weapon sharp and true,
That
to the walls on all sides a shower of shivers flew
From helm and eke from
buckler like chaff before the blast.
Thereby the sturdy Folker came to his
end at last.
LIV
At that, the men of Dietrich rush'd on from every side.
They
slash'd, that links of hauberk went whirling far and wide,
And the snapp'd
sword-points flicker'd with momentary gleam;
They drew from out the morions
the smoking bloody stream.
LV
Soon Hagan spied Sir Folker dead on the reeking floor;
Ne'er
had he felt such anguish throughout the feast before
For kinsman lost or
liegeman, as then his bosom shook.
Alas! for his slain comrade what dire
revenge he took!
LVI
"Ne'er from me shall scathless go aged Hildebrand.
My helpmate lies before
me, slain by the hero's hand.
Never had I comrade so valiant and so
true."
He rais'd his shield, and forward slashing and hewing flew.
LVII
Just then the stalwart Helfrich slew Dankwart the good
knight;
Gunther as well as Giselher, woe were they at the sight,
When down
he fell, and, writhing, out panted his last breath.
He with his sword
beforehand had well reveng'd his death.
LVIII
What crowds soe'er had thither muster'd from many a land,
Beneath right puissant princes against their little band,
Weren't not that
Christian people conspir'd to work their fall,
Their prowess well had kept
them against the heathens all.
LIX
Meanwhile redoubted Wolfhart rush'd fiercely to and fro,
King Gunther's men down hewing with oft-repeated blow.
Thrice through that
place of slaughter he cut his bloody way.
Before, behind, around him the dead
and dying lay.
LX
With that, the young Sir Giselher to the stern warrior
cried,
"Woe's me that I should ever so fierce a foe abide!
Noble knight
and fearless, turn thee now to me.
I'll help to end this matter; it must no
longer be."
LXI
Wolfhart turn'd on Giselher soon as thus defied;
Each in
that grim battle wounds cut gaping wide.
Upon the king fierce rushing so
forcefully he sped,
The blood beneath his trampling flew high above his
head.
LXII
The bold son of fair Uta with many a rapid blow
Received the
furious onset of his redoubted foe;
Huge as was Wolfhart's puissance, boot it
none could bring.
Ne'er was so brave a battle fought by so young a
king.
LXIII
At last through the good hauberk he smote Sir Dietrich's
man,
That the blood, out-spurting, down in a torrent ran.
So to the death
he wounded that high o'erweening one.
'Twas sure a peerless champion who such
a deed had done.
LXIV
Soon as fearless Wolfhart felt the deadly pain,
Down he
dropp'd his buckler; with fierce hand amain
His huge sharp-cutting broadsword
higher he heav'd in air;
Through helm at once and hauberk then smote he
Giselher.
LXV
So they one another both of their lives bereft.
Now of all
Dietrich's liegemen not a soul was left.
Hildebrand, the aged, dead saw
Wolfhart fall;
Among his long life's sorrows that was the worst of
all.
LXVI
There in that hall of slaughter dead lay King Gunther's
train,
Dead too the men of Dietrich. Sir Hildebrand amain
Ran where
redoubted Wolfhart fall'n in the blood he found,
And cast his arms about him
to lift him from the ground.
LXVII
He drove his dying nephew forth from the house to bear,
But
found his weight too mighty; he needs must leave him there.
Then from the
blood the wounded a clouded glance upcast;
He saw that fain his uncle had
help'd him at the last.
LXVIII
Then spake the fainting warrior, "Dear uncle, kind and
true,
No more can it avail me whatever you can do.
But Oh! beware of
Hagan; this seems me good to tell.
Heart had never champion so furious and so
fell.
LXIX
"And if my loving kinsmen would sorrow o'er my clay,
This to
the best and nearest, dear uncle, of me say,
That I need no lamenting, that
tears were better dried,
That 'twas a king that slew me, and gloriously I
died.
LXX
"Besides, in this wild slaughter I've sold my life so dear,
That many a knight's pale lady 'twill cost full many a tear.
If any ask the
question, straight let the truth be shown.
Here lie at least a hundred slain
by this hand alone."
LXXI
Just then redoubted Hagan upon the gleeman thought,
Whom the
good knight Sir Hildebrand so late to death had brought.
Thus he bespake the
conqueror, "You for my grief shall pay;
Of many a valiant champion you've
robb'd us here to-day."
LXXII
So struck he then at Hildebrand, that all at once might
hear
'Twas Balmung there was sounding, the sword that he whilere
Had ta'en
from noble Siegfried when he the hero slew.
Well was his onset warded by the
graybeard stout and true.
LXXIII
Sir Dietrich's aged liegeman the fearful stroke repaid
With
one that show'd, that he, too, wielded a griding blade;
Still from the man of
Gunther no drop of blood he drew.
Sir Hagan with a second cut his good
hauberk through.
LXXIV
Soon as aged Hildebrand felt the sharp gash aright,
He
look'd for worse, by waiting, from Hagan's stormy might;
So o'er his back his
buckler straight threw Sir Dietrich's man,
And swift, though sorely wounded,
away from Hagan ran.
LXXV
Now not a man was living of that Burgundian train
Gunther
except, and Hagan, these the sole breathing twain.
Old Hildebrand thence
hasted, with blood all dabbled o'er,
And to the noble Dietrich his sorry
tidings bore.
LXXVI
Apart he found him sitting, solemn and sad of cheer;
What
more might move his sorrow the prince had yet to hear.
Straight Hildebrand
beheld he clad in his bloody mail;
He ask'd him of his tidings, yet fear'd to
hear his tale.
LXXVII
"Now tell me, Master Hildebrand, what brings you here so
wet
With life-blood? Who has done it? What mischief have you met?
I fear,
you have been fighting in th' hall with yonder guests;
I earnestly forbade
it; you should have kept your lord's behests."
LXXVIII
Straight his lord he answer'd, "'Twas Hagan did it all;
This
wound, that so is bleeding, he gave me in the hall,
As from the knight I
turn'd me, and would have left the strife.
Scarce from that very devil have I
escaped with life."
LXXIX
Him thus the Berner answer'd, "This mishap's your due;
You
heard me promise friendship to yonder knightly crew,
And yet the peace I gave
them you have presum'd to break,
Were it not beneath me, your life for it I'd
take."
LXXX
"Nay, my good Lord Dietrich, be not so wroth of mood;
To me
and mine already has too much loss accrued.
We wish'd the noble Rudeger to
take from where he died;
We ask'd the men of Gunther, and proudly were
denied."
LXXXI
"Woe's me for this misfortune! Is Rudeger then dead?
Him
must I wail forever; now I indeed am sped.
Woe for the Lady Gotelind! My
cousin's child is she.
Woe, too, for the poor orphans that at Bechlaren
be!"
LXXXII
The margrave's death impress'd him with pity and ruth so
deep,
He could refrain no longer, but straight began to weep.
"Alas! My
faithful comrade! Such loss I needs must rue.
Ne'er can I cease bewailing
King Etzel's liegeman true.
LXXXIII
"Come now, Master Hildebrand, the truth discover plain,
Tell
me, who's the champion, who has the margrave slain."
Said he, "'Twas noble
Gernot whose strength the margrave sped;
He by the hand of Rudeger in turn
was stricken dead."
LXXXIV
Then thus replied Sir Dietrich, "Thither will I anon;
So go
and tell my warriors their armor straight to don,
And bid my glittering
hauberk be brought me instantly;
I myself will question yon knights of
Burgundy."
LXXXV
Then spake Master Hildebrand, "Whom would you have me call?
Of those who yet are living you see before you all;
I'm now your only
soldier, the others they are dead."
Sore shudder'd then Sir Dietrich for dole
and drearihead.
LXXXVI
In all the world such ruin did ne'er the knight befall.
Said
he, "If they have slaughtered my liegemen one and all,
Then I'm of God
forgotten. Poor Dietrich! Lost am I,
Who was a king but lately so haughty and
so high."
LXXXVII
Then further spake the champion, "But how could this have
passed?
How could such puissant warriors have perish'd to the last
By
battle-wearied foemen, fainting and need-beset?
Sure, but through my
ill-fortune they had been living yet.
LXXXVIII
"Since my hard fate condemns me to suffer every ill,
Tell
me, of those grim strangers if one be living still."
Then answer'd Master
Hildebrand, "God knows, their lives not one,
Save Hagan and King Gunther; the
rest their course have run."
"Ah! woe is me, dear Wolfhart; since thou from me art torn,
Well may it repent me that ever I was born.
Siegstab, Wolfwine, and
Wolfbrand, my true and trusty band!
Who back can ever help me to th'
Amelungers' land?
XC
"The danger-daring Helfrich, his doom has he too met?
Gerbart and valiant Wichart, how can I these forget?
My friends are dead
together; who so bereft as I?
Ah! woe is me, that wretches of grief can never
die."
I
Then took the good Sir Dietrich himself his mail in hand;
His ready aid to arm him gave aged Hildebrand.
Such piteous moan then made he
the while, that mighty man,
That with his voice of thunder the house to ring
began.
II
Yet soon did he recover his high heroic mood.
In wrath he
donn'd his harness, and ready now he stood.
A shield of prov'd allowance he
grasp'd in his strong hand,
And thence in haste forth sallied with Master
Hildebrand.
III
Then spake the Knight of Trony, "I yonder see come on
With
sturdy strides Sir Dietrich; he'll fight with us anon
To venge his
slaughter'd kinsmen whom we have done to die.
To-day shall all bear witness,
who best his sword can ply.
IV
"Howe'er himself may value the haughty Lord of Bern,
Though
ne'er so stout of body, of mood though ne'er so stern,
If us for our late
doings he now attempt to quit,
He'll find in me," said Hagan, "an equal
opposite."
Dietrich as well as Hildebrand the words of Hagan caught;
He
came, and close together the twain, whom here he sought,
Outside the house
and leaning against the wall he found.
Sir Dietrich straight his buckler set
down upon the ground.
VI
With anguish deep impassion'd the warrior thus began,
"Why
have you thus entreated a wandering banish'd man?
What have I done, King
Gunther, that you should serve me so?
I'm reft of all my comfort, all at a
single blow.
VII
"It seem'd you all too little, that to our loss and pain
By
your hands our comrade, good Rudeger, was slain;
And now you have bereft me
my warriors every one.
I, sure, to you, ye heroes, such wrong would ne'er
have don.
VIII
"Think of yourselves, your sorrow, your long disastrous
toil,
The death of your brave comrades in this abhorrè¢ broil,
If to the
dust with anguish it bows your lofty cheer.
Ah! how my heart is bleeding for
the death of Rudeger!
"In all the world before us such horror ne'er befell.
On me
you've brought destruction and on yourselves as well.
All joys I had
whatever, by you they all lie slain;
Ne'er for his slaughtered kinsmen can
Dietrich cease to plain."
X
"Nay," replied Sir Hagan, "we're not so much to blame;
To
this house in harness your eager warriors came,
In one broad band advancing,
embattled fierce and bold.
The truth, methinks, Sir Dietrich, you've not been
fairly told."
XI
"How can I doubt the story? I heard from Hildebrand,
That,
when my trusty comrades of th' Amelungers' land
Begg'd that the corpse of
Rudeger you'd give them from the hall,
They met with proud denial and
mannerless scoffs withal."
XII
The Lord of Rhine then answer'd, "They sought to carry out
The corpse of noble Rudeger; I, not from wish to flout
Them, but in scorn of
Etzel, what they desired, denied;
Then in a moment Wolfhart began to chafe
and chide."
XIII
Thereto replied the Berner, "Well then! so must it be.
Now
by thy gentle breeding, King Gunther, list to me;
For all the harm thou'st
done me such satisfaction make
As thou may'st give with honor, and I with
honor take.
XIV
"Yield thee to me a captive, thou and thy valiant man,
And
surely I'll defend thee with all the strength I can
From whatso'er against
thee the vengeful Huns may do,
And never shalt thou find me but faithful,
kind, and true."
XV
"Now God in Heaven forbid it!" redoubted Hagan cried;
"Never
to thee shall yield them two knights of mettle tried,
Who yet in their good
harness unfettered stand and free,
Ready to bid defiance to their foes,
whoe'er they be."
XVI
"You ought not to deny me," Sir Dietrich answer made,
"King
Gunther and Sir Hagan; on my heart and soul you've laid
Such overwhelming
sorrow as you can ne'er requite,
And, if amends you make me, you yield me but
my right.
XVII
"My faith, besides, I'll give you, and my assuring hand,
That back I will ride with you to your Burgundian land,
And bring you thither
safely, or die with you along,
And for your sakes forever forget my grievous
wrong."
XVIII
"Demand of us no further," return'd Sir Hagan bold;
"Ill
would it become us, if it ever should be told,
That two knights of such
worship yielded at once to thee;
For at thy side, save Hildebrand, there's
not a soul to see."
XIX
Then spake Master Hildebrand, "God, Sir Hagan, knows,
My
lord's your true well-wisher; he treats you not as foes.
E'en now the hour is
coming, his terms you'll gladly take.
Th' amends, that he proposes, you'd
better frankly make.
XX
"So would I do far sooner," Sir Hagan made reply,
"Than ever
from a palace so like a coward fly,
As you did, Master Hildebrand, but lately
here in place.
I thought, i' faith, you better an opposite could
face."
To him made answer Hildebrand, "Why twit you me with that?
Who was 't that by the Waskstone upon a buckler sat,
While of his kin so many
the Spaniard Walter slew?
Look to your own shortcomings; you'll have enough
to do."
XXII
Then spake the good Sir Dietrich, "Ill fits it warriors
bold
Like two testy beldams to squabble and to scold.
I charge you, Master
Hildebrand, urge this discourse no more.
I'm now a lonely wanderer; my sorrow
whelms me o'er.
XXIII
"Now let me know, Sir Hagan," he thus pursued his speech,
"What your two active champions were saying each to each,
When thus equipp'd
for battle you mark'd me drawing nigh.
Was it not, that you against me alone
your strength would try?"
XXIV
"Neither of us denies it," thus Hagan sternly spoke,
"I'd
fain straight make the trial with many a sturdy stroke,
Unless this my good
weapon, the sword of Nibelung, break.
I'm wroth that you of both of us expect
a prize to make."
XXV
Soon as heard Sir Dietrich what grim Hagan thought,
Up to
him his buckler quick the warrior caught.
How swift against him Hagan down
the staircase dash'd!
Loud on the mail of Dietrich the sword of Nibelung
clash'd.
XXVI
Well knew the noble Dietrich how fierce and fell a knight
Was standing now against him; so warily the fight
'Gainst those tempestuous
sword-strokes wag'd the good lord of Bern,
The strength and skill of Hagan he
had not now to learn.
XXVII
He fear'd, too, mighty Balmung as down it swept amain;
Yet
at times Sir Dietrich with craft would strike again,
Till that to sink before
him he brought his foeman strong;
A fearful wound he gave him that was both
deep and long.
XXVIII
Sir Dietrich then bethought him, "Thou'rt faint and ill
bestead;
I should win little worship, were I to strike thee dead.
I'll
make a different trial, if thou can'st now be won
By main force for a
pris'ner." With wary heed 'twas done.
XXIX
Down he threw his buckler; wondrous was his might;
He his
arms resistless threw round Trony's knight.
So was by his stronger the man of
strength subdued.
Thereat the noble Gunther remain'd in mournful
mood.
XXX
His vanquish'd foe Sir Dietrich bound in a mighty band,
And
led him thence to Kriemhild, and gave into her hand
The best and boldest
champion that broadsword ever bore.
She after all her anguish felt comfort
all the more.
XXXI
For joy the queen inclin'd her before the welcome guest;
"Sir Knight! in mind and body heaven keep thee ever blessed!
By thee all my
long sorrows are shut up in delight.
Ever, if death prevent not, thy service
I'll requite."
XXXII
"Fair and noble Kriemhild," thus Sir Dietrich spake,
"Spare
this captive warrior, who full amends will make
For all his past
transgressions; him here in bonds you see;
Revenge not on the fetter'd th'
offences of the free."
XXXIII
With that she had Sir Hagan to durance led away,
Where no
one could behold him, where under lock he lay.
Meanwhile the fierce King
Gunther shouted loud and strong,
"Whither is gone the Berner? he hath done me
grievous wrong."
XXXIV
Straight, at the call, to meet him Sir Dietrich swiftly
went.
Huge was the strength of Gunther, and deadly his intent.
There he no
longer dallied; from th' hall he forward ran;
Sword clash'd with sword
together, as man confronted man.
XXXV
Howe'er renown'd was Dietrich, and train'd in combat well,
Yet Gunther fought against him so furious and so fell,
And bore him hate so
deadly, now friendless left and lone,
It seem'd past all conceiving, how
Dietrich held his own.
XXXVI
Both were of mighty puissance, and neither yielded ground;
Palace and airy turret rung with their strokes around,
As their swift swords
descending their temper'd helmets hew'd
Well there the proud King Gunther
display'd his manly mood.
XXXVII
"Yet him subdued the Berner," as Hagan erst befell;
Seen was
the blood of the warrior forth through his mail to well
Beneath the fatal
weapon that Dietrich bore in fight.
Tir'd as he was, still Gunther had kept
him like a knight.
XXXVIII
So now at length the champion was bound by Dietrich there,
How ill soe'er it fitteth a king such bonds to bear.
Gunther and his fierce
liegeman if he had left unbound,
He ween'd they'd deal destruction on all,
whome'er they found.
XXXIX
Then by the hand Sir Dietrich took the champion good,
And in
his bonds thence led him to where fair Kriemhild stood.
She cried, "Thou'rt
welcome, Gunther, hero of Burgundy."
"Now God requite you, Kriemhild, if you
speak lovingly."
XL
Said he, "I much should thank you, and justly, sister dear,
If true affection prompted the greeting which I hear;
But, knowing your
fierce temper, proud queen, too well I see,
Such greeting is a mocking of
Hagan and of me."
XLI
Then said the noble Berner, "High-descended dame,
Ne'er have
been brought to bondage knights of such peerless fame,
As those, whom you,
fair lady, now from your servant take.
Grant these forlorn and friendless
fair treatment for my sake."
XLII
She said, she fain would do so; then from the captive pair
With weeping eyes Sir Dietrich retir'd and left them there.
Straight a bloody
vengeance wreak'd Etzel's furious wife
On those redoubted champions, and both
bereft of life.
XLIII
In dark and dismal durance them kept apart the queen,
So
that from that hour neither was by the other seen,
Till that at last to Hagan
her brother's head she bore.
On both she took with vengeance as tongue ne'er
told before.
XLIV
To the cell of Hagan eagerly she went;
Thus the knight
bespake she, ah! with what fell intent!
"Wilt thou but return me what thou
from me hast ta'en,
Back thou may'st go living to Burgundy again."
XLV
Then spake grim-visag'd Hagan, "You throw away your prayer,
High-descended lady; I took an oath whilere,
That, while my lords were
living, or of them only one,
I'd ne'er point out the treasure; thus 'twill be
given to none."
Well knew the subtle Hagan, she ne'er let him 'scape.
Ah!
when did ever falsehood assume so foul a shape?
He fear'd, that, soon as ever
the queen his life had ta'en,
She then would send her brother to Rhineland
back again.
XLVII
"I'll make an end, and quickly," Kriemhild fiercely spake.
Her brother's life straight bade she in his dungeon take.
Off his head was
smitten; she bore it by the hair
To the Lord of Trony; such sight he well
could spare.
XLVIII
Awhile in gloomy sorrow he view'd his master's head;
Then to
remorseless Kriemhild thus the warrior said;
"E'en to thy wish this business
thou to an end hast brought,
To such an end, moreover, as Hagan ever
thought.
XLIX
"Now the brave King Gunther of Burgundy is dead;
Young
Giselher and eke Gernot alike with him are sped;
So now, where lies the
treasure, none knows save God and me,
And told shall it be never, be sure,
she-fiend! to thee."
L
Said she, "Ill hast thou quitted a debt so deadly scored;
At
least in my possession I'll keep my Siegfried's sword.
My lord and lover bore
it, when last I saw him go.
For him woe wrung my bosom, that pass'd all other
woe."
LI
Forth from the sheath she drew it; that could not he
prevent;
At once to slay the champion was Kriemhild's stern intent.
High
with both hands she heav'd it, and off his head did smite
That was seen of
King Etzel; he shudder'd at the sight.
"Ah!" cried the prince impassion'd, "Harrow and wellaway!
That the hand of a woman the noblest knight should slay,
That e'er struck
stroke in battle, or ever buckler bore!
Albeit I was his foeman, needs must I
sorrow sore."
LIII
Then said the aged Hildebrand, "Let not her boast of gain,
In that by her contrivance this noble chief was slain.
Though to sore strait
he brought me, let ruin on me light,
But I will take full vengeance for
Trony's murdered knight."
LIV
Hildebrand, the aged, fierce on Kriemhild sprung;
To the
death he smote her as his sword he swung.
Sudden and remorseless he his wrath
did wreak.
What could then avail her, her fearful thrilling shriek?
LV
There now the dreary corpses stretch'd all around were
seen:
There lay, hewn in pieces, the fair and noble queen.
Sir Dietrich
and King Etzel, their tears began to start;
For kinsmen and for vassals each
sorrow'd in his heart.
LVI
The mighty and the noble there lay together dead;
For this
had all the people dole and drearihead.
The feast of royal Etzel was thus
shut up in woe.
Pain in the steps of Pleasure treads ever here below.
'Tis more than I can tell you what afterward befell,
Save
that there was weeping for friends belov'd so well;
Knights and squires,
dames and damsels, were seen lamenting all.
So here I end my story. This is
The Nibelungers' Fall.
According to Professor Lachmann, this poem has no title in most of the manuscripts. In the two that have a superscription, it is styled the Book of Kriemhild. Its ordinary name, The Nibelungenlied, is derived from the Lassberg manuscript which ends with the words, der Nibelunge liet, the lay of the Nibelungs, while the better manuscripts for liet read n󲺯I>, calamity. The word Nibelung is a patronymic from nebel, mist or darkness, and means, child of mist or darkness. Who these Nibelungs were is involved in appropriate obscurity. In the first part of the poem, they are Siegfried's Norwegian dependents, formerly subjects of King Nibelung; in the second, they are the Burgundians, possibly as being then the possessors of the wondrous treasure. In F.H. von der Hagen's Remarks on the poem, there is a long rambling note on this word, a note, however, which is worth reading. The commentator travels from the Nephilim, or giants of scripture, down to Neville, the great Earl of Warwick, and his coal-black head of hair. I have followed Mr. Birch in using the form Nibelunger, as more convenient for the verse, and more suitable to our language, and also to mark the difference between the name of an individual, and that of a tribe. For the same reasons I have ventured to employ the form Amelunger.
FIRST ADVENTURE
(St. VI.) The famous city of Worms derived its name, according to one tradition, from the Lindwurm, or dragon slain by Siegfried under the linden tree; according to another, from the multitude of dragons that infested the neighborhood. The Rose-garden of Kriemhild (which, though celebrated in other poems, is not noticed in this) was in the vicinity. The progress of civilization, elegance, cleanliness and classic refinement has converted the Rose-garden into a tobacco ground.
(St. XIII.) Lachmann's First Lay begins here, and ends with St. LXXXVIII, Second Adventure.
(St. XVII.) Liebe, here, is not Love, but Joy, Pleasure. See Lachmann's Treatise on the Original Form of the Poem, p. 91.
SECOND ADVENTURE
(St. XIII.) Swertdegne are young noble squires destined for knighthood. The manic rí¢¨er kneht of St. XXXIV are also squires, the same as the edeln knehte at the end of the poem. The mere knehte were an inferior class, like our yeomen. Nine thousand of these last accompanied Gunther to Etzel's court, and were entertained apart.
THIRD ADVENTURE
(St. V.) Make, an old form for mate. Spenser has among other passages
It is common in German romances of a certain period for brides to be carried off by force, and maidens to be wooed by suitors who have never set eyes on them. See Gervinus's Abridgment of his History of German poetry. See also the Gudrun.
(St. XXVII.) Lachmann observes on the third verse: "This verse cannot be explained from our Lays (i.e., from anything in the poem); the Netherlanders lost no friend but Siegfried. Is there an allusion to other legends, or is the departure adorned with the usual coloring?" It really almost seems as if the writer of this particular stanza had confounded Nibelungers, Netherlanders and Burgundians all together.
(St. LI.) Most of the marvels of modern romantic poetry may be traced back to much older tales reported by Greek authorities. The Scythian griffins, who watched the treasures coveted by their neighbors the Arimaspians, the dragon Ladon, who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, the more celebrated bullionist, who kept an eye on the golden fleece, are the undoubted ancestors of the more modern specimens of the serpent tribe, who inherited the like miserly passion, and allured such champions as Siegfried and Orlando to tread in the steps of Hercules and Jason. The volatile disposition of Wayland the Smith reminds us of D壡lus; his skill in his art exhibits him as a rival of Vulcan; his grandfather Wiking, like Ulysses, "尵oreas torsit amore Deas." The Alcinas and Armidas of the modern Italians are only heightened copies of Calypso and Circe; Siegfried, Orlando and Ferra�th their invulnerable hides and superfluous armor, are each of them a modernized Achilles. This list might be easily lengthened. I am not, however, aware that the fancy of giving names to swords can be traced to the classics. Durindana, the sword of Orlando, Fusberta, that of Rinaldo, Excalibur, of King Arthur, Joyeuse, of Charlemagne, and others, may be paralleled by the following list from Northern fable, Gram and Balmung belonging to Siegfried, Mimung to Wayland and Wittich, Nagelring to Dietrich, Brinnig to Hildebrand, Sachs to Eck, Blutang to Heime, Schrit to Biterolf, Welsung to Sintram the Greek and Dietlieb, Waske to Iring, etc. This list is anything but perfect.
(St. LV.) The tarnkappe, from an old word tarnen to conceal, and kappe, a mantle or cloak, otherwise called nebelkappe, from nebel, mist, obscurity, was a long and broad mantle, which made the wearer invisible, and gave him the strength of twelve men. For want of a better word I have translated it "cloud-cloak."
FOURTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Lachmann's Second Lay begins here, and ends with St. CXXII, Fourth Adventure.
(St. XLIV)
(St. LXVII.) In this poem "the Rhine" is used to express the dominion of Gunther, though, strictly speaking, Siegfried was himself from the Rhine, being a native of Xanten. It is remarkable that at St. I, Second Adventure, this last circumstance is stated, and yet at St. XIII and St. XV, Third Adventure, in the conversation between Siegfried and his father, both of whom were then at Xanten, the phrase ze Rí¥ is used with reference to Gunther's country.
(St. LXIX.) "slew him many a slain." This phrase is borrowed from Samson Agonistes.
FIFTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Lachmann's Third Lay begins here, and ends with St. LX of this Adventure.
(St. XX.)
Chaucer's "Romaunt of the Rose" in the description of Beauty.
(St. XXIII.) So Chaucer says of Mirth in the "Romaunt of the Rose":
(St. XXVIII.) In the last verse of this stanza Lachmann thinks magetlí¢¨en, not minnelí¢¨en, was the original word; "We have," says he rather austerely, "love enough and to spare in St. XXX, Fifth Adventure;" and certainly, if he be justified in rejecting St. CCXCVIII, and consequently in putting St. CCXCIX next to St. CCXCVII, there is rather a superabundance of the tender passion with minnelí¢¨en, in two successive lines, and minne in a third. On the other hand, it may be said that this very superabundance is produced by Lachmann's own rejection of St. CCXCVIII, and that to alter the text of the preceding stanza in consequence of that rejection, is something like what lawyers call taking advantage of one's own wrong. But however that may be, it cannot be denied, that magetlí¢¨en is in St. CCXCVII far more appropriate than minnelí¢¨en, and its suits my convenience as a translator infinitely better. I have therefore gladly adopted it.
(St. XL.)
SIXTH ADVENTURE
(St. II.) Lachmann's Fourth Lay begins here, and ends with St. LXXXVIII. The poem, which we now possess under the name of the Nibelungenlied, throws into the shade the early history of Siegfried and Brunhild, and retains only a few obscure allusions to the fact that they were old acquaintances. See the Preface.
Issland, the Kingdom of Brunhild, which I have thus written to distinguish it from our English word island, is identified by von der Hagen with Iceland; Wackernagel, in the Glossary to his "Alt-deutsches Lesebuch" prefers to derive it from Itisland (itis, woman in old German), the land of women or Amazons. It is however against this derivation,386 that, though Brunhild was a "Martial Maid" herself, her kingdom was not a kingdom of Amazons, like that of Radigund in the "Faerie Queene." Her female attendants were like other women, and her knights and the officers of her court were of the other sex.
(St. XVI.) In this stanza and those that follow we may clearly discern that several versions of the same tale have been huddled together. The same thing may be observed in other parts of the poem, but nowhere so clearly as here. For the tarnkappe see the note to St. CI.
(St.
XXXVIII.) tuus, O Regina, quid optes
Explorare labor, mihi jussa
capessere fas est.
(St. XLV.) Zazamanc, according to von der Hagen, is a city in Asia Minor; Lachmann seems to place it in the Land of Romance.
(St. XLVI.) The hides here meant, according to von der Hagen, are the hairy ones of warm-blooded marine animals rather than the skins of fishes properly so called.
(St. LII.) This stanza (not to mention some others) must have been interpolated by a poetical tailor.
(St. LXIII.) According to von der Hagen, the best Rhenish wine is produced about Worms. It is called "Our Lady's Milk," and is superior to Lacryma Christi.
SEVENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XII.) The Ballad of Lord Thomas and Fair Annet has something similar of the lady's horse:
(St. XVI.) This description of a castle (burc) does not materially differ from those which occur elsewhere in the poem. The castle was not one building, however large and complex, but included in the same ample circuit of its walls several extensive buildings, and afforded sufficient accommodation for a very great number of persons. The most conspicuous of the buildings within the castle seem to have been large detached erections, to which in this poem are applied the words h�> (house), palas (palace), sal (hall), and gadem (room). In the passage before us, palas and sal are distinguished from one another; the same is the case at St. LXXXIV, Twenty-fourth Adventure (palas unde sal), and at St. XXXVII, Ninth Adventure, where Etzel's and Gunther's dwellings are respectively spoken of. On the other hand, the hall where the Burgundians feast with Etzel, and where the repeated conflicts take place, is called palas at St. XIX, Thirty-sixth Adventure, sal at St. XX, same Adventure, h�> at St. IX, same Adventure, and gadem at St. XX, Thirty-ninth Adventure, not to mention other passages; and the large building in Etzel's castle, where Gunther and his knights sleep, is called sal at stanzas VII and XVI, h�> at stanzas XV and XVII, and gadem at St. XIX, of the Thirtieth Adventure. These terms therefore seem nearly synonymous, or at least equally applicable to the large detached buildings in question, which resembled our public halls, such as Westminster hall and Guild-hall, and the halls of colleges and Inns of Court. Some of the halls in this poem seem to have been of truly poetical dimensions. Gunther (St. XXVI, of the Thirteenth Adventure) entertains in his hall twelve hundred knights of Siegfried's, besides his own Burgundians. Etzel's circle was still more numerous. The Burgundian knights were more387 than a thousand in number; Rudeger's five hundred or more: Dietrich had many a stately man, no doubt the six hundred mentioned at St. IV, of the Thirty-second Adventure, and we learn from stanza V, of the Thirty-fourth Adventure, that 7,000 Huns were massacred by the Burgundians; all these made up a dinner party of about 9,000 guests. The less aristocratic followers of Gunther, 9,000 in number, seem also to have been feasting in one immense room, when the Huns took advantage of their unarmed condition to massacre them. The term, indeed, applied to the building is h�>, but this, we have seen, is one of the words used to designate great public halls. The hall, where Gunther and his knights lay so splendidly (St. IX, Thirtieth Adventure), seems to have been an Eton Long Chamber on a gigantic scale. After allowing for the twelve knights with Dankwart and the yeomen, he must have had more than a thousand warriors in his train. Treachery and violence were so common in the Middle Ages, that a great man was not safe except with a multitude of dependents about him, and the peculiar circumstances of Gunther's case required peculiar precaution. Yet even Siegfried took a thousand warriors of his own, and a hundred of Siegmund's, when they went together to visit his brother-in-law. These large halls were used for feasting, dancing, conversation, and sleeping, but there were other smaller separate buildings (kemenaten) for the residence of people of consequence, which no doubt contained several rooms. These also formed the bowers, or private apartments, of high-born ladies. The kamere (chamber) seems to have been a room used for all sorts of purposes, among others for keeping stores and treasure as well as for living and sleeping. There seem to have been no private chapels within the walls of the castles described in this poem, none, for instance, such as St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, or the chapels in our Inns of Court and Colleges. Everybody went for his divinity to the minster. Kriemhild, who was in the habit of going to matins before daybreak, took her way to the minster, though it was so far from the castle at Worms that the ladies (St. XXXIV, Thirteenth Adventure) rode on horseback from one to the other. Gunther's castle was connected with the city of Worms, but seems to have communicated with the surrounding country, like the citadels of our present fortified towns. At stanzas XXXII, XXXIII, Thirteenth Adventure, the ladies view from the castle windows a tournament held in the country outside the walls. Etzel's castle, as far as I remember, is not represented as connected with any town.
(St. XXII.) All this description of the adventurers bears a resemblance to the passage in the Iliad where Helen points out the Greek chiefs to Priam; it reminds us also of the imitation of Homer in the "Jerusalem Delivered."
(St. XXXIV.) Siegfried here seems to apologize to Brunhild for presenting himself before her.
(St. XLIII.) Compare stanzas LXXXIV, Seventh Adventure—LXXXV, Tenth Adventure—XXXI, Nineteenth Adventure, and the observations.
(St. XLVI.) I cannot understand how the skin could be seen under a silken surcoat, which was so strong as never to have been cut by weapon, and which was moreover worn over a breastplate. Lachmann has reason to say "die Brunne ist vergessen."
(St. LXX.)
(St. LXX.) For der helt, the hero, Lachmann conjectures der helde, the concealed one.
(St. LXXXVIII.) According to Lachmann the Fourth Lay concludes with this stanza (L. St. XLII). What follows between this stanza and St. XLI, Tenth Adventure (L. St. XXVII, Ninth Adventure) he considers to consist of two continuations by different authors. Among other matters, they contain the two marriages of Brunhild and Kriemhild, events which I can scarcely imagine to have been passed over without notice, though I admit that they are not related in the clearest manner.
EIGHTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Lachmann observes that this stanza is inconsistent with St. LXXXIV, Seventh Adventure, where Siegfried is said to have taken the cloak back to the ship.
(St. XVIII.) Siegfried, I suppose, was not recognized from being in complete armor, but his shield might have identified him, as in the battle with the Saxons. Nothing is said here of what he had done with his tarnkappe.
(St. XXIII.) The l�ranc (clear drink) was wine passed through spices, and afterward strained.
(St. XLV.) Our common participle bound (bound for such and such a place) seems in this sense to be derived from the old northern verb bown, to make ready, and not from bind.
NINTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) According to Lachmann (L. St. XCV, Seventh Adventure) another continuation begins here. He thinks this addition is by another author than the composer of the first, and that it resembles in several respects the Third Lay of his edition, which answers to the Fifth Adventure ("How Siegfried first saw Kriemhild") of other editions.
(St. III.) Hagan here speaks ironically, but with good nature, as to a friend. He exhibits the same turn, but with the bitterness that suits the change of circumstances and the person whom he addresses, in his dialogues with his enemy Kriemhild, when he meets her in Hungary.
(St. XXVII, Ninth Adventure.) The lady supplies the place of the modern pocket handkerchief mit sn顬anken g鱥n in the original. The German g鱥 is evidently the English gore, a word which puzzled no less a person than Tyrwhitt, and which Johnson, who writes it goar, has confounded with the gusset. The latter is the piece under the arm of a shirt; the gore, as Tyrwhitt was afterward accurately informed by "a learned person," is a common name for a slip, which is inserted to widen a garment in any particular part. It is a wedge-shaped piece, as the German commentators say of their g鱥. Shirts at present, however it may have been in Chaucer's or in Tyrwhitt's time, are not made with gores; the opening on each side renders gores unnecessary; but in the female of the shirt and in the smockfrock, gores are, I believe, still used. The passage in Chaucer illustrates the passage before us. The poet says of the Carpenter's Wife (Canterbury Tales, 3235)—
In the last line the expression "full of many a gore" means, probably, full made, spread out by means of many a gore; otherwise "full of gores" would have been sufficient, and the addition of "many" an inelegant piece of surplusage. However that may be, it is clear that the apron stuck out and extended round the person of the wearer in consequence of the number of these gores, or wedge-shaped pieces, which made the bottom much wider than the top. An apron, thus made up of a multitude of gores, might not unaptly be itself called in the plural a woman's gores, and this seems to have been formerly the case in Germany. Kriemhild is here said to wipe her eyes with snow-white gores, and, in the Gudrun, the heroine of that name is rated by the tyrannical Gerlind for wrapping up her hands indolently in her gores. It is of course impossible for a translator to render these two passages literally, at least if he wishes to be intelligible.
(St. XLVIII.) The commentators are not particularly clear as to what these garments, called in the original "noble Ferrans robes," really were. Von der Hagan says there must have been a city of that name in the East, from which these robes came, while Lachmann says there is a stuff composed of silk and wool, which still goes by the name of ferrandine. The Dictionary of the French Academy mentions a silk stuff as formerly going by that name.
TENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XLI.) Lachmann's Fifth Lay begins here, and concludes with St. DCCV.
(St. LXIX.) The cord or girdle, thus worn by ladies, seems to have been tolerably strong, not merely from the use to which Brunhild put hers here, but also from the manner in which Florimel's is applied by Sir Satyrane.—"Faerie Queene," III, vii., 36.
(St. LXXXI.) If this and the following stanza are, as Lachmann thinks, an addition, they no doubt were added to supply a palpable defect in the narrative. If it were not for them, the company would be spoken of as rising from table (St. LXXXIV) when it is nowhere mentioned that they had sat down.
I must venture to remark that Lachmann's note to the next stanza is not very satisfactory. Though the knights and ladies may usually have eaten apart, it seems to have been allowable for the mistress of the house at least to be present when the knights were feasting (St. XXVI, this Adventure, to St. XXIII, Twenty-seventh Adventure), and there is nothing unreasonable in supposing that the married sister of the host might have accompanied her husband. This seems more natural than to assume that the queens left their apartments and went to the hall (probably a detached building) just to show themselves before they retired to bed. I must own I do not see the difficulty about coming and going noticed by Lachmann. Everybody, who goes to a place, comes to it when he gets there. As the poem stands, everything is consistent. The queens cross the palace court and go to the hall for the good substantial reason of getting their suppers. They come back390 to their private apartments, or bowers, where they remain awhile with their immediate attendants, and during the short interval, that elapses before dismissing the latter and going to bed, Siegfried slips through his wife's fingers, and goes to Gunther's private apartments.
I should add that, at St. XXIV, Twenty-seventh Adventure, the young margravine and her damsels are brought back into the eating hall after the men have finished their repast, but that depends on the correctness of the reading die schœnen (see note to St. XXXI, Twenty-seventh Adventure) and on the consequent expulsion of the latter stanza. If we retain the latter stanza, the young margravine is sent for ze hove, like Kriemhild at St. XXXI, Tenth Adventure. But we can scarcely apply to young married women and their near female connections, also married, passages like these, that relate to young spinsters. In the passages quoted in the note to St. XXIV, Twenty-seventh Adventure, men and women are mentioned as eating apart, but it is stated to be an old custom, and is noted as an ancient peculiarity.
(St. LXXXV, Tenth Adventure.) It appears from this description that the wearer of the cloak must have had the power of being visible or invisible as he chose. He might have on the mantle, and yet be visible. Siegfried does not here leave his wife in the ordinary way, and then put on the cloak. He seems to disappear miraculously. This differs from the account given in stanzas XLIII, Seventh Adventure, and LXXXIV, of the same, where Siegfried puts on the cloak before he becomes invisible, and remains so till he puts it off, but agrees with St. XXI, Nineteenth Adventure, where it is distinctly stated that Siegfried wore the cloak at all times. I should however add that, in the original, there is what appears to my ignorance a difficulty, though, as the commentators take no notice of it, I suppose there is really none. The original stands thus:—
literally, "She fondled his hands with her very white hand, till he before her eyes, she knew not when, vanished." As to the interpreters, Braunfels simply modernizes the old dialect, rendering wenne by wann; Simrock and Marbach are equally literal, except that they put wie, how, where Braunfels has wann; Beta, who here as elsewhere is less rigorously literal than his comrades, merely says, "then it happened that he suddenly vanished before her sight." I must confess I cannot understand how Kriemhild could not know when a thing happened that passed before her eyes, though she might well be puzzled how to account for it. It is remarkable that the Lassberg manuscript, which is said by Lachmann and other competent judges to contain a revised and remodelled text, omits altogether St. LXXXVI, Tenth Adventure, and alters the stanza before it, and that after it in such a way, that the supernatural seems to disappear, and Siegfried is merely represented as stealing away from the women, and coming secretly and mysteriously (vil tougen) to Gunther's chamber. This manuscript however mentions the tarnkappe at St. LXXVII, same Adventure. Did the reviser of this manuscript wish it to be inferred, that Siegfried, after leaving his wife, went and put on the tarnkappe?
(St. CX.) In the Volsunga Saga Brunhild is a Valkyrie, or Chooser of the Slain, a sort of Northern Bellona, endowed with supernatural strength. This superhuman prowess is connected with her virgin state, and by becoming a wife she is reduced to the ordinary weakness of woman. In the Nibelungenlied this circumstance comes upon us by surprise, for we are nowhere told that the strength of Brunhild differed391 from that of other women, except in degree, and no reason is given why matrimony should produce any greater change in Brunhild than in the rest of her sex. The passage is in fact derived from the Scandinavian form of the legend, and seems scarcely in harmony with the spirit of the German poem.
ELEVENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XIV.) Worms beyond the Rhine, Wormez ï¿½í¬¼/I>. The writer here as elsewhere speaks of Worms with reference to his own situation to the east of the Rhine, whereas Xanten, like Worms, is on the west side of that river.
(St. XVI.) Newsman's bread, botenbr󲺯I>, was the term for the present given to a messenger.
(St. XXXI.) Lachmann's Sixth Lay begins here and ends with St. XLIX, Fourteenth Adventure.
TWELFTH ADVENTURE
(St. XLVIII.) Gary, like a shrewd courtier, avoids praising Kriemhild's good looks to a rival beauty.
(St. LIV.) A difference of opinion exists in united Germany as to the interpretation of this passage, Lachmann, Simrock, Marbach, and Beta being on one side, and von der Hagen and Braunfels on the other. I readily vote with the majority. Rumolt's understrappers, as I conceive, are not the pots and pans, but the subaltern cooks, the scullions and other drudges of the royal kitchen.
THIRTEENTH ADVENTURE
(St. II.) I follow Lachmann's conjecture of het for heten in the third line of this stanza.
(St. XXII.) Chaucer in like manner says of the carpenter's wife, "Canterbury Tales," v. 3255—
For the brilliant addition to the simile he is perhaps indebted to Dante's
The comparison of the brilliant color of a blooming northern beauty to gold, "red gold," as it is constantly called in old German and old English poetry, forms a curious contrast with the phrases of Catullus, "inaurata pallidior statua" "magis fulgore expalluit, auri," and that of Statius, "pallidus fossor redit erutoque concolor auro," not to mention the saying of Diogenes, that gold was pale through fear of those who had a design upon it.
(St. XXIII.) Lachmann interprets the gesinde or followers to be Gunther's, and rejects the stanza as spurious, and manufactured for the purpose of introducing Dankwart, who is represented as seeking out new quarters, without necessity, for people who were already quartered in the city. But are not the followers of Siegfried meant?
(St. XXVII.) A curious instance of awkwardness in the service of the highest tables.
(St. XXXII.) The original has in the first verse in dem lande, in the country, i.e., just outside the city walls, close under the castle, from the windows of which the ladies might see the tournament. The minster was in a separate part of the city, just as in London St. Paul's is392 at a certain distance from the Tower. Here the horses are sent for, which seems to show that the castle and the minster could not have been contiguous, yet they could not have been very far apart, as Kriemhild was in the habit of going to the minster before daybreak. (St. III, Seventh Adventure.)
FOURTEENTH ADVENTURE
(St. IV.) The same simile is applied to Kriemhild herself at St. XX, Fifth Adventure.
(St. XXX.) In the dialogues that follow the queens are not particularly complimentary, but they at least use no weapons but their tongues. I do not know what authority the writer of "Murray's Handbook for Northern Germany" has for the following statement. "The combat between Chrimhelda and Brunhelda is supposed to have been fought on the south side of the Dom."
(St. XXIII.) Wind, a mere nothing; this phrase is not uncommon in the poem.
(St. XL.) Brunhild had been asserting that Siegfried was Gunther's vassal, or, in feudal language, his man. Kriemhild sarcastically alludes to this with more bitterness than delicacy.
(St. XLI.) Brunhild seems as much annoyed by this usurpation of her trinkets as by the scandalous imputation mentioned in the preceding stanza.
(St. L.) I have followed Professor Lachmann's explanation of the first line of this stanza. He makes the Seventh Lay open here, and end with St. XXXI, Fifteenth Adventure, but whatever we may think of his general theory of the poem, his prefatory remarks here are well worth an attentive perusal. It is clear that some stanzas, probably a good many, have been lost. As the work stands at present, even if we interpret the first line of this stanza to mean that many a fair woman departed, Siegfried is left behind to hear his brother-in-law and his friends discuss the expediency of knocking him on the head. In the part that is lost there was probably an account of the breaking up of the assemblage at the church door, and of the immediate summoning of a council in some more convenient place. It was no doubt explained how Siegfried's denial, which at first seemed so satisfactory, was afterward made of no account, and possibly a good deal, of which we have now only a fragment in stanzas L—LI, passed between Brunhild and Hagan, her husband's principal adviser. Probably, too, as Lachmann has observed, the invulnerability of Siegfreid was considered.
FIFTEENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XVIII.) The stanza, which contains this example of ancient discipline, is rejected by Lachmann on account of the innere reim, which, however, he thinks, suits perfectly with the "somewhat over-charged coloring" which the author has adopted. Pictures of domestic happiness in the same style of coloring are, I suppose, rarely to be met with in Germany in the present liberal and enlightened age.
(St. XXIV.) See note to St. V, Third Adventure.
(St. XXXVI.) The Wask forest is the mountainous range called in French the Vosges, which, as well as Worms, is to the west of the Rhine; this stanza is therefore at variance with St. I, Seventeenth Adventure, where the hunters cross the Rhine to return to Worms. Lachmann gets over the difficulty by his theory of separate lays. According393 to his arrangement St. XXXVI, this Adventure, is in the Seventh Lay, and St. I, Seventeenth Adventure, in the Eighth, and these two Lays are the work of different poets. Two points are certain; the first, that there were two traditions as to the place of Siegfried's death, one fixing it in the Waskenwald, the other in the Odenwald; the second, that Gunther and Hagan were generally believed to have attacked Walter of Spain in the Waskenwald. Now there appears to me nothing improbable in supposing, either that a minstrel with his head full of Walter's history and the connection of Gunther and Hagan with the Waskenwald, might have recited Waskenwalde for Otenwalde, or, on the other hand, that one, who was familiar with the tradition that Siegfried was killed in the Odenwald, might have found an den Rí¬¼/I> at St. XXXVII, Sixteenth Adventure, and altered it to ï¿½í¬¼/I>. At any rate I cannot help thinking that either of these suppositions is less improbable than that a poet should first tell us how Gunther and Hagan plotted against Siegfried, how the latter accepted their treacherous invitation to the hunt, and how he went to take leave of his wife, and that then the provoking rogue should immediately close his poem without informing us what passed between Siegfried and his wife, whether the hunt took place, or whether the plot succeeded.
SIXTEENTH ADVENTURE
(St I.) Lachmann's Eighth Lay begins here and ends with St. I, Seventeenth Adventure.
(St. XXII.) The schelch or shelk seems by the description in Braunfels's Glossary to have been a kind of tragelaphus, with hair down the breast.
(St. XXIII.) Des gejeides meister, I presume, means Siegfried himself, who at St. XXXIX is called jegermeister.
(St. XXVII.) Tryst.
Tryst is a post or station in hunting, according to Cowell as quoted in Tyrwhitt's Glossary to Chaucer, but Walter Scott uses it for a place of appointment generally.
(St. XXXVIII.) For the sweetness of "the panther's breath or rather body" I refer the reader to Gifford's note in his edition of Ben Jonson, v. 3, p. 257. It is worth while however to quote the following passage on panthers from Pliny's Natural History, 1. 8, c. 17, as it is not noticed by Gifford. "Ferunt odore earum mire sollicitari quadrupedes cunctas, sed capitis torvitate terreri; quamobrem, occultato eo, reliqua dulcedine invitatas corripiunt."
(St. XXXIX.) I scarcely know whether I have translated this stanza properly. The variegated work (expressed by gestr�/I> in the original) seems to have been produced by different sorts of fur. The grߵnde bunt of St. XVI, Third Adventure, seems to mean the same thing. Gold thread or wire, and something like gold lace appear to have been fashionable ornaments in the dress of both sexes. Precious stones, too, were in great request. But I own I have been much puzzled by the milliners' and tailors' work in the poem, and I dare say have made mistakes. I may observe that the women were both tailors and milliners. Kriemhild herself was an accomplished cutter (see St. XLIV, Sixth Adventure), and, if it had not been for her assistance, her brother and his companions would not have been fit to be seen at the splendid court of Brunhild. The men were expert cutters in their line, but their instrument was the broadsword.
(St. XL.) In this poem the edges of a sword are constantly spoken of in the plural. The warriors seem to have had only two-edged swords.
(St. LIV.) The fourth line of this stanza, which is admitted as genuine by Professor Lachmann, is one of those passages which are at variance not merely with his theory, but with that which attributes the two parts of the poem to two different authors. It refers to the slaughter toward the close of the second part, and would be impertinent and out of place in a poem that concluded with the death of one hero only.
(St. LVIII.) The poet says the broad linden, according to Lachmann, assuming that the story of Siegfried's death under a linden tree was generally known.
(St. LXII.) Intelletto veloce pi� pardo.—"Petrarch, Sonn." 286.
(St. LXIV.) Johnson quotes from Ecclesiasticus, "I have no thank for all my good deed." So in St. Luke vi. 33—"If ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye?"
SEVENTEENTH ADVENTURE
(St. II.) Lachmann's Ninth Lay begins here and ends with St. LXXI, Seventeenth Adventure. The Professor has no objection to considering this and the preceding Lay as works of the same author.
(St. IX.) The two last lines of this stanza and the two first of the next are rejected by Professor Lachmann, because, as he thinks, they contradict the last line of St. XI, where Kriemhild professes her ignorance of the murderer. But Kriemhild is not a witness on oath, but a woman in a frenzy of grief, who does not weigh her words, but one moment utters an obvious suspicion, as if it were an ascertained fact, and the next confesses that she has no positive proof, and cannot act upon what she feels to be true. There is no very great inconsistency in saying, "A. and B. are at the bottom of this: if I could only bring it home to them, I'd make them smart for it." But the neuter pronoun in the third line, referring to houbet in the second, proves that the second line is not interpolated. Professor Lachmann, indeed, gets over the difficulty by altering the gender of the pronoun to the masculine.
(St. XI.) The last verse of this stanza seems a preparation for the display of Kriemhild's character in a new point of view. The softer parts of her character have been exhibited thus far; her revengeful and unforgiving spirit will gradually swallow up every other feeling, and at last close the poem with a general massacre. See, too, stanzas XXIII—XXXII—XLV.
(St. XXI.) I have translated the second line of this stanza according to Simrock's version, but it is impossible to make any satisfactory sense of it. Professor Lachmann has justly printed the stanza in italics.
(St. XLIII.) On this curious superstition, which is as much English and Scotch as German, see Nare's Glossary under the word "Wounds," and the notes to "Earl Richard" in the second volume of the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border." The whole passage is condemned as spurious by Lachmann, principally on account of the discrepancy in the mention of wounds in the plural, while only one wound was given by Hagan. There are, however, two similar discrepancies in the poem. Kriemhild is killed by Hildebrand apparently with a single blow, and immediately after is spoken of as hewn in pieces; and Rudeger is killed by a single blow at St. XXXVII, Thirty-seventh Adventure, while at St. L, same Adventure, he is described as verhouwen, and at St. XXXII, Thirty-eighth Adventure, as lying with severe death-wounds fallen in blood.
EIGHTEENTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Lachmann's Tenth Lay begins here and ends with St. XLV, Nineteenth Adventure.
(St. XXI.) They in the last line of this stanza seems to mean the Burgundians.
(St. XXVI.) Here they go home to Netherland; before, in this Adventure, the Nibelungers' land is spoken of as the country of Siegmund. This has not escaped the hawk's eye of Lachmann.
NINETEENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XVIII.) The morning gift was a present bestowed by the husband on the wife the morning after the wedding. It was often promised before marriage.
(St. XXI.) This passage, which states that Siegfried wore the cloud-cloak at all times, agrees with the description of its mode of operation at St. LXXXV, Tenth Adventure, but is inconsistent with stanzas XLIII-LXXXIV, Seventh Adventure, from which last it would seem to have been necessary for Siegfried to put on the cloak in order to become invisible, and to put it off when he wished to become visible again. The inconsistent passages probably arose from varying traditions as to the operation of this miraculous garment. There is another difficulty here. From Alberic's words it would seem that the possession of the treasure depended on the possession of the cloud-cloak. If he and his fellows had not lost the cloak together with Siegfried (by which last words he seems to refer not to the original loss of the cloak, when Siegfried first won it, but to its loss in consequence of that hero's death), the Burgundians should not have had the treasure, but we are nowhere told what became of the cloak after Siegfried's death, and Kriemhild claims the treasure as a gift from Siegfried, not as depending on the possession of the cloak.
TWENTIETH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Lachmann's Eleventh Lay begins here, and ends with St. III, Twenty-first Adventure. "The historical relation of Etzel to Attila," says Professor W. Grimm ("Deutsche Heldensage," p. 67), "is quite clear." It is here strengthened by the "mention of his brother Blœdelin, who answers to the Bleda of Priscus and Jornandes, and is found in the Klage, in Biterolf, in the Vilkina Saga, and other later poems. Helche, otherwise Erka, Herche, Herriche, and Hariche, reminds us of the Kerka of Priscus." Priscus was secretary to Maximin, the ambassador of Theodosius the Younger at the court of Attila, and wrote a history, of which extracts are still extant. The following is his account of an interview with Kerka, the "frou Helche" of our poem. Ἐνταῦθα τῆς Ἀττήλα ἐνδιαίτουμενης γαμετῆς, διὰ τῶν πρὸς τῇ θύρᾳ βαρβάρων ἔτυχον εἰσόδου, καὶ αὐτὴν ἐπὶ στρώματος μαλακoῦ κειμένην κατέλαβον, τοῖς ἐκ τῆς ἐρέας πιλωτοῖς τοῦ ἐδάφους σκεπομένου, ὥστε ἐπ' αὐτῶν βαδίζειν. περιεῖπε δὲ αὐτὴν θεραπόντων πλῆθος κύκλῳ καὶ θεράπαιναι ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους ἀντικρὺ αὐτῆς καθήμεναι ὀθόνας χρώμασι διεποίκιλλον, ἐπιβληθησομένας πρὸς κόσμον ἐσθημάτων βαρβαρικῶν· προςελθῶν τοίνυν καὶ τὰ δῶρα μετὰ τὸν ἀσπασμὸν δοὺς ὑπεξήειν. Gibbon in the 34th chapter of his History has given almost a translation of Priscus. "The wife of Attila received their visit sitting, or rather lying, on a soft couch; the floor was covered with a carpet; the domestics formed a circle round the queen, and her damsels, seated on the ground, were employed in working the variegated embroidery which adorned the dress of the barbaric warriors." There is a full396 account of Attila and the Huns with much relating to the Nibelungenlied in the late Hon. and Rev. William Herbert's Historical Treatise subjoined to his Poem on Attila.
(St. V.) The Margrave Rudeger is perhaps the most interesting character in the poem, but there is no one, with regard to whom the historical, the legendary, and the mythical are more unintelligibly jumbled. Whether he was an historical Austrian Margrave of the tenth century, a mere legendary hero, or "a divine being," as Lachmann is disposed to think him, is more than any plain Englishman can venture to decide. It seems that his native country was Arabia, but whether by that name is meant the region commonly so called, or a district in the centre of Spain, is as yet anything but a settled point. Wherever it was, he was driven from it by a king of Toledo, and took refuge with Etzel.
(St. XX.) I am uncertain whether I have given the true meaning of this stanza, which is rejected by Lachmann, and, indeed, can scarcely be reconciled with the rest. I have used Hun and Hungarian indifferently. The Hungarians were of a different race from the Huns, but Mr. Hallam says of them, "The memory of Attila was renewed in the devastations of these savages, who, if they were not his compatriots, resembled them both in their countenances and customs."
(St. XXXI.) See Lachmann (St. 1113, L.) who conjectures ersiwet for erf�/I> or ir sulet.
(St. XLVII.) This refers to something not related in this poem.
(St. LIX.) Here again is an allusion to something not mentioned in the poem, namely, to some service rendered by Rudeger to Hagan.
(St. LXIV.) The poet, who put this speech into the mouth of Gunther, could have had no notion of the real history and extensive power of Attila.
(St. CXX.) King Etzel appears to have been a truly liberal and enlightened monarch.
(St. CXLV.) In the last line of this stanza, the plural of the verb is authorized by three manuscripts, and, though they may be none of the best, their readings deserve attention, when they are commanded by necessity and common sense. The plural (in for ihnen) in the preceding line requires the plural in this. The young ladies cried at leaving home, but were soon reconciled to their lot by the gayeties of King Etzel's court. If the reader is not satisfied with this, he can replace they by she. Kriemhild will then be meant.
TWENTY-FIRST ADVENTURE
(St. III.) Vergen. Veringen in Suabia, on the Lauchart, three leagues from the junction of that river with the Danube.—Lachmann, St. 1231, L.
(St. VII.) This good bishop Pilgrin, who is an historical personage, died in the tenth century, and therefore could scarcely have been Attila's wife's uncle, if chronology is to pass for anything with popular poets. All that relates to him is rejected as spurious by Lachmann and W. Grimm. See the latter's "Deutsche Heldensage," p. 71.
(St. XIV.) Efferding. A town of Austria beyond the Ems near the Danube (von der Hagen, v. 5221).
(St. XXVI.) Botlung was the father of Etzel according to the poets. His real name was Munduic.
(St. XL.) Medilik, now M� An abbey still renowned for the abundance and excellence of its wine stores. It supplied Buonaparte's army in 1809.
TWENTY-SECOND ADVENTURE
(St. XIII.) Lachmann rejects stanzas XIII, XVI, XVII (1288, 1291, 1292 of his edition). He thinks that, even if one were determined to defend the first, nobody could tolerate the frigidity and abject style of the two last. For my own part, I am more struck by the absurdity of Rudeger's caution to Kriemhild not to kiss all Etzel's men. I suppose he was afraid she would have no lips left after such reiterated osculation.
(St. XIX.) These German strangers or guests (Tiuschen gesten) are the Burgundians according to von der Hagen, but Th�ans according to Lachmann. The latter says, the expression does not occur elsewhere in the Lays of the Nibelungers. This restricted use of a term, which was afterward extended to a whole nation, resembles the restricted use of the word Hellen in Homer.
(St. XXIII.) The good margrave seems here to discharge the duties of a male duenna.
(St. XL.) Von der Hagen here notices the custom of tilting by the way in festal processions. Similar descriptions occur elsewhere in this poem, as for instance at the landing of Gunther and Brunhild (St. VII, Tenth Adventure). In this respect the Nibelungenlied differs from the "Orlando Innamorato" and "Furioso," as well as from the "Faerie Queene," in all of which poems tournaments are exhibited with far more pomp and ceremony, and as matters of long previous preparation.
(St. XLI.) Haimburg, a town of Hungary on the borders of Austria, was fortified, according to von der Hagen, by Duke Leopold, of Austria, out of the ransom of Richard Cœur de Lion.
(St. XLIV.) Etzel's castle, now Buda, so called from Attila's brother, Buda or Bleda.
TWENTY-THIRD ADVENTURE
(St. III.) Lachmann's Thirteenth Lay begins here and ends with St. LXXXIV, Twenty-fourth Adventure.
TWENTY-FOURTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) See the note to St. XLV, Eighth Adventure.
(St. LXIII.) This stanza seems out of its place here. It should come somewhere before the council of the Burgundian chiefs, for it is necessary to know when an entertainment is to take place in order to determine whether one can attend it, and when one ought with propriety to set out. Hagan, besides, must be considered to have had a knowledge of this, before he arranged the plan of setting out only a week after the departure of the ambassadors.
TWENTY-FIFTH ADVENTURE
(St. II.) Lachmann's Fourteenth Lay begins here and ends with St. LVI, Twenty-sixth Adventure.
(St. XVIII.) This is the only stanza in the second part where the term Nibelunger is applied to Siegfried's subjects as in the first part. In all succeeding passages it means the Burgundians.
(St. XIX.) Ostervranken, according to von der Hagen, is Austrasia, or the Eastern portion of the Empire of the Franks, afterward, though in a more restricted sense, the Circle of Franconia.
(St. XXIII.) Professor Lachmann observes that, if the fight with398 the Bavarians be not alluded to, the prediction contained in this stanza is not fulfilled, "quite against the prophetic style of this lay;" but I venture to submit that this is no prediction at all, but a mere expression of the very natural opinion that, if any army should attempt to swim a large river in a state of flood, many may be swept away and drowned. Gernot makes a similar remark on the want of a boatman at St. LXIV.
(St. XXIX.) The raiment of these mermaids, which is styled wondrous farther on, seems to have been the swan-raiment worn by the Valkyries or Choosers of the Slain, which enabled its wearers to assume the shape of swans, or at least to fly away. Hagan therefore had good ground to begin with laying hands on the wardrobe of these water-nymphs, though his reason for doing so is so obscurely alluded to in the poem that it may be doubted whether the poet was himself aware of the original force of the legend. In the traditions respecting V嫵nd, Wieland, or Wayland the Smith, that hero captures a wife by a similar stratagem. The swan-maiden in Wieland's case was one of the Valkyries, and indeed the two mermaids in the Nibelungenlied appear, from the part assigned to them in the poem, to be genuine Choosers of the Slain. These swan-maidens, as far as their volatile character is concerned, seem to have given a hint to the author of Peter Wilkins.
(St. XLVIII.) So in the old lay of Hildebrand (a fragment of which, written on the first and on the last leaf of a manuscript of the "Book of Wisdom" and other religious pieces, was discovered in the public library of Cassel by W. Grimm) that hero offers arm-rings to his son, who, not knowing him, had challenged him to fight. It was the custom to offer such rings on the point of a sword or spear, and to receive them in the same way. To prove this, W. Grimm quotes this passage among others. See Lachmann's treatise on the "Lay of Hildebrand" in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, 1833. The same word (bouc) is used both here and in the old lay.
(St. LXVII.) This stanza, which appears in only two manuscripts, seems incompatible with the rest of the narrative. It was probably introduced by a reciter from the description of a ferry-boat in some other poem.
TWENTY-SIXTH ADVENTURE
(St. V.)
Upright men shall be astonied at this.—Job, xvii. 8.
(St. LIV.) Rudeger is an Austrian Axylus.—"Iliad," vi. 14.
The German poem is here certainly not inferior to the Greek. Similes are as rare in the Nibelungenlied as they are abundant in the Iliad, but it would be difficult to find one more just and elegant than this.
(St. LVII.) Lachmann's Fifteenth Lay begins here; it concludes with St. XIV, Twenty-eighth Adventure.
TWENTY-SEVENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XXIV.) I quote some passages from Ellis's "Specimens" on the custom of the two sexes eating apart:
The above metre, though very rough and uncouth, resembles that of the Nibelungenlied. In the corresponding passage quoted by Ellis from Geoffry of Monmouth, the custom is said to have come from Troy. "Antiquam consuetudinem Troj䟳ervantes Britones consueverant mares cum maribus, mulieres cum mulieribus, festivos dies separatim celebrare." Ellis gives a similar account of Arthur's coronation from Robert de Brunne's translation of Wace:
See the note to St. LXXXI, Tenth Adventure.
(St. XXXI.) There is a difficulty here from its being said that the young margravine was desired to go to court, i.e., to the assembly in the hall, when at St. XXIV the ladies (die sch� in the original) had already returned thither. Lachmann removes the difficulty by condemning the stanzas XXXI, XXXII, XXXIV as spurious; he thinks it impossible that anyone can collect from the third line of St. XXII that the men went into a different hall from that which they had entered at St. XIX; but it is not the third but the second line of St. XXII that describes the separation of the men and women, and that too in the following words,
now who can collect from this verse that the women went and the men stayed? If words mean anything, both went away. As to the return of the ladies at St. XXIV, that rests on a doubtful reading, die sch�, the fair ones, whereas the best manuscript, that on which Professor Lachmann's text is generally founded, reads die k�I>, the bold ones, meaning the knights. I should add that the preliminary conversation from St. XXV to St. XXXI is fitter to be held in the young lady's absence.
(St. XLIV.) These foreign champions are the Burgundians themselves according to von der Hagen. This is far from satisfactory, but I can offer nothing more so. Can it be possible that there was once a version (now lost) of the story, in which the Nibelungers, properly so called, accompanied the Burgundians into Hungary? This might account not merely for these foreign champions, but for the term Nibelunge being applied to the Burgundians. But, in fact, everything relating to the Nibelungers is obscure and confused to the last degree.
(St. L.) Nudung was the son, or, according to another account, the brother of Gotelind.
(St. LXVI.) Lachmann transposes this and the two following stanzas to after St. XVI, Twenty-eighth Adventure, where they form the beginning of his Sixteenth Lay, which ends with St. XLIV, Twenty-ninth Adventure. The speech which begins at the third line of this stanza is attributed to the messenger by von der Hagen, and400 perhaps justly, as appears from the last verse of the next stanza, from which it would seem that the king heard the news afterward. On the other hand, Kriemhild here is addressed in the singular, while in a similar passage (St. XCI, Fourth Adventure) she is addressed by a messenger in the plural. She, however, would scarcely have uttered before Etzel the words at the close of St. LXVIII, Twenty-seventh Adventure.
TWENTY-EIGHTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Bern is Verona according to von der Hagen and Wackernagel and the whole body of Commentators. Von der Hagen applies to Hildebrand the words in the third line, ez was im harte liet; so does Marbach. Braunfels and Beta apply them to Dietrich. But in that case would not the author have said dem was ez?
(St. IV.) The Amelungs, or Amelungers, were the reputed descendants of Amala, king of the Goths, the tenth ancestor of Theodoric king of Italy.
(St. V.) This famous hero, the redoubted Dietrich, is only a secondary character in the Nibelungenlied, though in old German traditions generally he bears the principal part. He was the son of a nocturnal spirit, and his fiery breath made him more than a match for Siegfried himself, as it melted the horny hide of his antagonist. He is identified, I believe, by universal consent, with Theodoric the Ostrogoth. I am afraid that it is too certain that he came to a bad end, but whether he disappeared on being summoned by a dwarf, or was carried off by the devil in the shape of a black horse, or, according to the monastic legend reported by Gibbon, was deposited by foul fiends in the volcano of Libari, is more than I can decide.
(St. XX.) Lachmann's Seventeenth Lay begins here and ends with St. XXXII, Thirtieth Adventure.
(St. XXI.) Hagan's suspicions are natural enough, for Kriemhild appears to have kissed nobody but Giselher, whereas, according to the etiquette of this poem, she should not only have kissed her other two brothers, but Hagan himself, not merely as her cousin, but as one of Gunther's principal retainers.
(St. XXVI.) This stanza is rejected by Lachmann on account of the interior rhyme wå±¥ and swå±¥ in the third and fourth lines, but surely the outbreak of Hagan in the next stanza is the beginning of a speech. It would have been more plausible, if St. VIII is to be rejected, to reject St. XXI, Thirtieth Adventure, as well, for the first line of St. XXVII would come in very well after the last of St. XXIV; but then, on the other hand, no answer would be given to Kriemhild's question, "Where have you that bestowed?"
(St. XXVII.) The two languages agree in taking the devil's name in vain by using it as a ludicrous but forcible negative. The phrase is authorized by Johnson.
(St. XXVIII.) Von der Hagen explains these two robberies by observing that Hagan had despoiled Kriemhild of her own inheritance as well as of the wondrous hoard. The poem itself, however, seems to explain the matter somewhat differently. Hagan committed the first robbery when he took the hoard (St. XXXV, Nineteenth Adventure); the second, when he seized Siegfried's other treasures (St. CXXXII, Twentieth Adventure).
(St. XXXIV.) Lachmann places this and the following stanzas after St. XIX, as part of his Sixteenth Lay.
TWENTY-NINTH ADVENTURE
(St. I.) Von der Hagen discovers here (v. 7055 of his Remarks) a trace of the tradition (which, however, is not noticed in this poem) that Hagan had lost an eye. This appears visionary to me. At St. XVII, Thirty-second Adventure, the same words are applied to Dankwart, who certainly had two eyes in his head. Twice in this poem a personal description of Hagan occurs (St. XXV, Seventh Adventure, and XVII, Twenty-eighth Adventure) and in neither case is a hint given that he was a dux luscus. The author or authors of the Nibelungenlied, therefore, must have followed a different tradition.
(St. XXVIII.) It is Folker's long broadsword that the poet, with a grim kind of merriment, calls his fiddlestick. We shall soon see the minstrel κῶμον ἀναυλότατον προχορεύειν.
(St. XL.) Walter of Spain, Waltharius manu fortis, is the hero here alluded to. See note to St. XXI; Thirty-ninth Adventure.
(St. XLVII.) This stanza, and those that follow, come, according to Lachmann's arrangement, after St. XXXIII, Twenty-eighth Adventure, and form part of his Seventeenth Lay.
(St. XLVIII.) This allusion to the future is of such a nature as to be irreconcilable with the notion of separate lays. The like may be said of many other passages.
(St. LV.) Morat or morass, as far as I can make out from a rather confused note of von der Hagen's, was a sort of caudle, flavored with mulberry or cherry juice. Ziemann's recipe is to take old and good wine, and to mix it with mulberry syrup, rose julep, cinnamon water, and an ad libitum infusion of simples. All this together composes the sweet drink in question.
THIRTIETH ADVENTURE
(St. XVIII.) So in the Ballad of the Lochmaben Harper in the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,"
(St. XIX.) "As now," says von der Hagen, "at the entrance of many old buildings, particularly churches, a tower stands, containing the stairs which lead directly to the upper story."
(St. XXI.) This stanza, which is only found in the Lassberg and two other manuscripts, seems to have been inserted, like several others, in order to soften the ferocious character attributed to Kriemhild in the latter part of the poem.
THIRTY-FIRST ADVENTURE
(St. I.) The whole of this Thirty-first Adventure is supposed by Lachmann to be an addition to the foregoing. His reasons are anything but conclusive.
(St. X.) According to von der Hagen the shields were high enough for the bearer to lean upon them, and pointed below, so that they might be firmly fixed in the ground. They thus, I presume, in some degree protected the owners, even while the latter were resting.
(St. XII.) The dust was raised by the horses, as the Huns seem to have ridden from the palace.
(St. XXIII.) "The kings" here, as mostly elsewhere, are the three Burgundian brothers.
(St. LXIII.) Kriemhild here deals with Blœdel as Juno does in the Iliad with Sleep, and in the Ůeid with Œolus.
(St. LXXII.) Something seems defective here, for it is not explained what bad object Kriemhild had in view in sending for her son, though it so happened that mischief came of it. Von der Hagen and Vollmer mention the account in the Vilkina Saga, according to which Kriemhild, in order to set the Huns and Burgundians by the ears, told her son to strike Hagan in the face, and Hagan returned the compliment by cutting off the lad's head and throwing it into his mother's lap, but this is incompatible with the manner in which the fighting begins in our poem, though this particular stanza seems to refer to something of that sort. The reviser of the Lassberg manuscript seems to have observed the difficulty; at least the last line of the stanza is different in that manuscript. Possibly this stanza may have crept in from a now lost recension, which more nearly resembled the Vilkina Saga. The like may be said of St. IV, Thirty-second Adventure, which contains the celebrated contradiction about the age of Dankwart.
THIRTY-SECOND ADVENTURE
(St. IV.) This stanza is completely at variance with the earlier parts of the poem, in which Dankwart is represented as Siegfried's companion in arms. It is therefore a most efficient ally of those critics who attribute the poem to two or twenty different bards, and this has perhaps rather blinded them to its defects. It is quite inconsistent with the heroic character displayed by Dankwart in this very portion of the poem, and, as an answer to Blœdel's speech, is a consummate piece of stupidity. Blœdel had not accused Dankwart of having murdered Siegfried or offended Kriemhild, but of being the brother of Hagan, who had done both. Dankwart should either have attempted to show that Hagan, not himself, was innocent, or that they were not brothers, or he should have urged the hardship of making one brother suffer for the crimes of another. Any of these answers would have been to the purpose; not so the speech which is put into his mouth here. Blœdel, with equal absurdity, after having already told him that he must die because his brother Hagan had murdered Siegfried, now replies that he must die because his kinsmen Gunther and Hagan had done the deed. It appears probable that here, as elsewhere, a passage has crept in from another version of the legend, which agreed, more nearly than our poem, with the Vilkina Saga. I quote the following passage from the summary of that work in Vollmer's Preface to the "Nibelunge N󲬢 "Hogni begged Attila to give peace to young Giselher, as he was guiltless of Sigurd's death. Giselher himself said that he was then only five winters old, and slept in his mother's bed; still he did not wish to live alone after the death of his brothers." In the Vilkina Saga Hogni, who answers to the Hagan of our poem, is represented as the brother of the other three kings. It may appear visionary to speculate on the contents of a poem which may never have existed, but certainly in any version of the legend, which represented Hagan as the brother of Gunther and Giselher, Giselher might naturally have made the speech here put into the mouth of Dankwart, and have been told in reply that he must die for the crime that his brothers Gunther and Hagan had committed. The idea of a recension more nearly allied to the Vilkina Saga than that which we possess is no notion of mine. It was started years ago by no less a person than Professor W. Grimm, though not with reference to this passage of the poem. See his "Deutsche Heldensage," p. 182.
(St. VII.) This mention of Nudung's bride, together with what follows in the next stanza, is quite unintelligible, if we suppose an independent lay to begin at St. I.
THIRTY-THIRD ADVENTURE
(St. XXII.) Lachmann seems here with reason to read Volkern for Giselheren, but have not the two stanzas, XXII and XXIII, changed places?
(St. XXX.) With this stanza (St. 1916, L.) ends Lachmann's Eighteenth Lay. I must own that it appears to me quite impossible that any writer could end a separate poem in this manner. Similar objections may be made to the conclusion of most of these Lieder.
(St. XLV.) There certainly seems some confusion here. The only people who had injured Gunther in Hungary were the Huns who had massacred the yeomen, and these were not present in the hall. If, on the other hand, he suspected that the Huns in the hall were privy to it, why allow Etzel and Kriemhild to depart without so much as an observation? Why, as Lachmann has observed, does not Dietrich think it necessary even to make a request in their behalf? It is easy to remove these objections by declaring everything spurious between St. XXX and St. XII, Thirty-fourth Adventure, but unfortunately, though St. XXIV, Twenty-eighth Adventure, which brings Etzel and Kriemhild into the hall, is not admitted into Lachmann's Lays, it is clear from stanzas XII-XIV, Thirty-third Adventure (1898-1900 L.), which form part of his Eighteenth Lay, that both Etzel and Kriemhild were present in the hall when the fighting began, and indeed Lachmann admits that the plan of his Eighteenth Lay requires that they should quit it. The composer however of the lay, who surely ought to know his own plan best, seems to have been of a different opinion, for, after having set the Huns and Burgundians by the ears in the hall, and put Dankwart and Volker to keep the door, he has left us to guess the final result of these serious preliminary arrangements. The 7,000 Huns massacred here are no doubt the same as the 7,000 who accompanied Kriemhild to church at St. XX, Thirty-first Adventure, and the same perhaps as the men of Kriemhild mentioned at St. XX, Thirtieth Adventure. These last had attempted mischief, and Gunther may here take the will for the deed.
(St. LVIII.) The meaning of this stanza is anything but clear. From the original, and the two readings von and vor, it would seem doubtful whether Hagan laments that he sat at a distance from Folker or that he took precedence of him.
THIRTY-FOURTH ADVENTURE
(St. XI.) I must confess I cannot see any inconsistency between the first line of this stanza and the third of the preceding one; but there is certainly a discrepancy between the second line, in which both Hagan and Folker are mentioned as scoffing at Etzel, and the two stanzas immediately following, which confine the invectives to Hagan.
(St. XII.) Lachmann's Nineteenth Lay begins here and ends with St. V, Thirty-sixth Adventure. Scarcely any of the whole twenty begin and end so unappropriated as this.
(St. XIX, XX, XXI.) I have arranged these stanzas as Simrock and Beta have done. Braunfels places them XX, XIX, XXI.
THIRTY-FIFTH ADVENTURE
(St. XX.) I have here, without intending it, stumbled on an interior ryhme, sounded confounded. Still I can assure Professor Lachmann that the stanza is genuine.
THIRTY-SIXTH ADVENTURE
(St. VI.) Here begins Lachmann's Twentieth Lay.
(St. IX.) Here they are described as coming �m h�I>, which seems to contradict Kriemhild's exhortation at St. XX, not to let the Burgundians come f� sal. Perhaps they here merely come out of the hall into a vestibule at the top of the staircase, so as to speak with Etzel and Kriemhild, but not into the open air. So at St. V, Thirty-ninth Adventure, Gunther and Hagan are said to be outside the house, but at St. XXV, same Adventure, Hagan rushes down from the staircase to attack Dietrich. From St. XXVI, Thirty-sixth Adventure, the staircase seems to have been of no great length.
THIRTY-SEVENTH ADVENTURE
(St. XVII.) Compare stanzas CXV, CXVI, Twentieth Adventure.
(St. LIX.) It is odd, that the hall, which must have been the principal eating-hall in the castle, is here called Kriemhild's. Von der Hagen thinks Kriemhild had appropriated it by having attempted to set it on fire, but arson is an odd kind of title. He supposes, too, it may be the hall mentioned at St. IV, Twenty-ninth Adventure; yet it seems strange that Etzel should have received his guests anywhere but in his own hall.
(St. XCI.) This stanza, as Professor Lachmann justly observes, cannot belong to Hagan, but is appropriate to Giselher, who is mentioned immediately after. Still there is an awkwardness here.
THIRTY-EIGHTH ADVENTURE
(St. II.) The king himself has come to the feast, has made one of the party, that is, has been slaughtered with the rest. See Lachmann's note (St. 2173 L.).
(St. XLIII.) I have with Simrock and Beta followed the reading of the Lassberg manuscript, struchen for stieben. The latter is explained by Braunfels and von der Hagen with reference to the flying out of sparks from armor, but this effect follows in the next line. To an Englishman the reading stieben appears to bear a comical resemblance to our vulgar phrase, "dusting a man's jacket."
(St. LXXXIX.) The Amelungers' land was Bern, that is Verona, the hereditary possession of Dietrich: who was driven from it by his uncle Ermanrich, Emperor of Rome. He took refuge with Etzel, and remained in exile 30 or 32 years. For what further relates to him and the Amelungers see the notes to Sts. IV and V, Twenty-eighth Adventure.
THIRTY-NINTH ADVENTURE
(St. V.) The phrase, outside the house, �an dem h�I>, appears to mean merely outside the hall. They seem to have stood in a sort of vestibule at the top of the stairs that led down into the courtyard. Compare St. IX, Thirty-sixth Adventure, and the note.
(St. IX.) I have ventured, in conformity with the original, to talk of "joys lying slain," though certainly the phrase seems harsh in English. One manuscript reads freunde friends, instead of freuden joys.
(St. XXI.) Walter of Spain ran away with Hildegund from the court of Etzel, as that monarch himself informs us in an earlier part of this poem. As the young hero was passing with her through the Vosges or Wask mountains, he was attacked by Gunther with twelve knights, among whom was Hagan. The latter however, "for old acquaintance' sake," refused to fight against Walter, and persevered in his refusal, till the Spaniard had killed eleven knights, and Gunther himself was in danger. At last, after all three were wounded, they made up matters. According to the Vilkina Saga, Walter, after slaying the eleven knights, put Hagan to flight, and then, having lighted a fire, sat down with Hildegund to dine on the chine of a wild boar. As he was thus agreeably employed, Hagan fell upon him by surprise but was pelted so severely by Walter with the bones of the wild boar, that he escaped with difficulty, and, even as it was, lost an eye.—See W. Grimm's "Deutsche Heldensage," p. 91.
The Latin poem "Waltharius," which is translated from a lost German one, gives a more dignified account of the matter. There also Hagano refuses to fight at first, and says
Eleven knights are killed, but next day, after Walter has left a stronghold, where he could be attacked by only one at a time, he is assailed on his march by Gunther and Hagan, and the fight continues till Gunther has lost a foot, Walter his right hand, and Hagan his right eye and twice three grinders. The combatants are then reconciled. For the situation of this field of battle, see "Lateinische Gedichte des 10. und 11. Jahrhunderts" by J. Grimm and Schmeller, p. 123.
(St. XLVI.) This stanza, which is in the Lassberg manuscript only, has been added apparently, like others, to soften the character of Kriemhild.
(St. LII.) Harrow and welaway. Old exclamations of distress or anger.
(St. LVII.) The edeln knehte here, and the vil manic rí¢¨e kneht of St. XXXIV, in both passages associated with knights, were no doubt of a far superior station to that of the mere knehte, 9,000 of whom followed Gunther into Hungary. These last we may call yeomen, the other, squires. The edeln burgå±¥ (St. XXXV, Seventeenth Adventure), seem to have been not the mere townsfolk, but the chiefs of the corporation the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council of Worms.
Transcriber's Note:
Some initial characters and
final punctuation were replaced.
Quotation marks have been changed to
allow the modern reader to follow a quotation from one stanza to the
next.
Inconsistent hyphenation and spellings were retained.
Pg
295: (stout and ruet) changed to (stout and true)
Pg 395: Greek:
proselthon, internal terminal sigma retained.
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NIBELUNGENLIED***
******* This file should be named 38468-h.txt or 38468-h.zip *******
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/4/6/38468
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
*** START: FULL LICENSE *** THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United States. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg-tm License. 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided that - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work. - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. 1.F. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life. Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact For additional contact information: Dr. Gregory B. Newby Chief Executive and Director gbnewby@pglaf.org Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, compressed (zipped), HTML and others. Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving new filenames and etext numbers. Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: http://www.gutenberg.org/ This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular search system you may utilize the following addresses and just download by the etext year. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/ (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 or filename 24689 would be found at: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 An alternative method of locating eBooks: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL *** END: FULL LICENSE ***