{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_3636/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_3636","id":"gutenberg_3636","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3636","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Epic poetry, Germanic"],"text":"The Fall of the Nibelungs\n\nTranslated by Margaret Armour\n\n\nContents\n\n Book I\nFirst Adventure           Concerning the Nibelungs\nSecond Adventure          Concerning Siegfried\nThird Adventure           How Siegfried Came to Worms\nFourth Adventure          How Siegfried Fought with the Saxons\nFifth Adventure           How Siegfried First Saw Kriemhild\nSixth Adventure           How Gunther Went to Issland to Woo Brunhild\nSeventh Adventure         How Gunther Won Brunhild\nEighth Adventure          How Siegfried Journeyed to the Nibelungs\nNinth Adventure           How Siegfried Was Sent to Worms\nTenth Adventure           How Brunhild Was Received at Worms\nEleventh Adventure        How Siegfried Brought his Wife Home\nTwelfth Adventure         How Gunther Invited Siegfried to the Hightide\nThirteenth Adventure      How They Rode to the Hightide\nFourteenth Adventure      How the Queens Quarrelled\nFifteenth Adventure       How Siegfried Was Betrayed\nSixteenth Adventure       How Siegfried Was Slain\nSeventeenth Adventure     How Siegfried Was Mourned and Buried\nEighteenth Adventure      How Siegmund Returned Home\nNineteenth Adventure      How the Nibelung Hoard Came to Worms\n\n Book II\nTwentieth Adventure       How King Etzel Sent to Burgundy for Kriemhild\nTwenty-First Adventure    How Kriemhild Journeyed to the Huns\nTwenty-Second Adventure   How She Was Received Among the Huns\nTwenty-Third Adventure    How Kriemhild Thought of Revenging Her Wrong\nTwenty-Fourth Adventure   How Werbel and Schwemmel Brought the Message\nTwenty-Fifth Adventure    How the Kings Journeyed to the Huns\nTwenty-Sixth Adventure    How Dankwart Slew Gelfrat\nTwenty-Seventh Adventure  How They Came to Bechlaren\nTwenty-Eighth Adventure   How Kriemhild Received Hagen\nTwenty-Ninth Adventure    How Hagen and Folker Sat Before Kriemhild\u2019s Hall\nThirtieth Adventure       How Hagen and Folker Kept Watch\nThirty-First Adventure    How the Burgundians Went to Church\nThirty-Second Adventure   How Bl\u0153del Fought With Dankwart in the Hall\nThirty-Third Adventure    How Dankwart Brought the News to His Masters\nThirty-Fourth Adventure   How They Threw Down the Dead\nThirty-Fifth Adventure    How Iring Was Slain\nThirty-Sixth Adventure    How the Queen Bad Them Burn Down the Hall\nThirty-Seventh Adventure  How Rudeger Was Slain\nThirty-Eighth Adventure   How Dietrich\u2019s Knights Were All Slain\nThirty-Ninth Adventure    How Gunther, Hagen, and Kriemhild Were Slain\n\n\n\n\nBook I\n\n\n\n\nFirst Adventure\nConcerning the Nibelungs\n\n\nIn old tales they tell us many wonders of heroes and of high courage,\nof glad feasting, of wine and of mourning; and herein ye shall read of\nthe marvellous deeds and of the strife of brave men.\n\nThere grew up in Burgundy a noble maiden, in no land was a fairer.\nKriemhild was her name. Well favoured was the damsel, and by reason of\nher died many warriors. Doughty knights in plenty wooed her, as was\nmeet, for of her body she was exceeding comely, and her virtues were an\nadornment to all women.\n\nThree kings noble and rich guarded her, Gunther and Gernot, warriors of\nfame, and Giselher the youth, a chosen knight. The damsel was their\nsister, and the care of her fell on them. These lords were courteous\nand of high lineage, bold and very strong, each of them the pick of\nknights. The name of their country was Burgundy, and they did great\ndeeds, after, in Etzel\u2019s land. At Worms, by the Rhine, they dwelled in\nmight with many a proud lord for vassal.\n\nTheir mother was a rich queen and hight Uta, and the name of their\nfather was Dankrat, who, when his life was ended, left them his lands.\nA strong man was he in his time, and one that in his youth won great\nworship.\n\nThese three princes, as I have said, were valiant men, overlords of the\nbest knights that folk have praised, strong and bold and undismayed in\nstrife. There were Hagen of Trony, and also his brother Dankwart the\nswift; and Ortwin of Metz; the two Margraves, Gary and Eckewart; Volker\nof Alzeia, strong of body; Rumolt, the steward, a chosen knight;\nSindolt and Hunolt. These last three served at court and pursued\nhonour. And other knights were there, more than I can name. Dankwart\nwas the marshal; the nephew of Ortwin of Metz carved at the board;\nSindolt was the butler, a worthy warrior: each did his part as a good\nknight.\n\nThe splendour of this court and its might, the high valour and chivalry\nof its lords, were a tale without end.\n\nNow it so fell that Kriemhild, the pure maid, dreamed a dream that she\nfondled a wild falcon, and eagles wrested it from her; the which to see\ngrieved her more than any ill that had happened to her heretofore.\n\nThis dream she told to Uta, her mother, who interpreted it on this\nwise. \u201cThe falcon that thou sawest is a noble man; yet if God keep him\nnot, he is a lost man to thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat speakest thou to me of a man, mother mine? Without their love\nwould I still abide, that I may remain fair till my death, nor suffer\ndole from any man\u2019s love.\u201d\n\nSaid her mother then, \u201cBe not so sure; for wouldst thou ever on this\nearth have heart\u2019s gladness, it cometh from the love of a man. And a\nfair wife wilt thou be, if God but lead hither to thee a true and trust\nknight.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay not so, mother mine,\u201d answered the maiden, \u201cfor on many a woman,\nand oft hath it been proven, that the meed of love is sorrow. From both\nI will keep me, that evil betide not.\u201d\n\nLong in such wise abode the high, pure maiden, nor thought to love any.\nNevertheless, at the last, she wedded a brave man; that was the falcon\nshe dreamed of erstwhile, as her mother foretold it. Yea, bitter was\nher vengeance on her kinsmen that slew him, and by reason of his death\ndied many a mother\u2019s son.\n\n\n\n\nSecond Adventure\nConcerning Siegfried\n\n\nThere grew up in the Netherland a rich king\u2019s child, whose father hight\nSiegmund and his mother Sieglind, in a castle high and famous called\nXanten, down by the Rhine\u2019s side. Goodly was this knight, by my troth,\nhis body without blemish, a strong and valiant man of great worship;\nabroad, through the whole earth, went his fame. The hero hight\nSiegfried, and he rode boldly into many lands. Ha! in Burgundy, I trow,\nhe found warriors to his liking. Or he was a man grown he had done\nmarvels with his hand, as is said and sung, albeit now there is no time\nfor more word thereof.\n\nOf his best days there were many wonders to tell, how he waxed in\ngoodliness and honour; his, too, was the love of women.\n\nAs was seemly for such an one, his breeding was well seen to, and of\nhis nature, likewise, he was virtuous. His father\u2019s land was famed for\nhis worth, for in all things he was right noble.\n\nWhen he was of an age to ride to the court, the people saw him gladly,\nand wedded wives and maids were alike fain that he should tarry there.\nBy order of Siegmund and Sieglind he was richly clad, and without\nguards he was suffered not to ride abroad. They that had him in charge\nwere wise men versed in honour, to the end that he might win thereby\nliegemen and lands.\n\nNow was he grown a stark youth, of stature and strength to bear\nweapons; he lacked nothing needful thereto, and inclined him already to\nthe wooing of women. Nor did these find the fair youth amiss.\n\nSo Siegmund his father cried a hightide, and word thereof came to the\nkingdoms that were round about. To strangers and to friends alike he\ngave horses and apparel, and wheresoever they found one of knightly\nbirth, that youth they bade to the hightide, to be dubbed a knight with\nSiegfried.\n\nMany wonders might one tell of that hightide, and rightly Siegmund and\nSieglind won glory from the gifts of their hand, by reason whereof a\nmultitude rode into the land. To four hundred sworded knights and to\nSiegfried was given rich apparel. Full many a fair damsel ceased not\nfrom working with her needle for his sake. Precious stones without\nstint they set in gold, and embroidered them with silk on the vest of\nthe proud youth. He was little loth thereto. And the king bade them set\nplaces for many a hero the mid-summer that Siegfried became a knight.\n\nThe rich squires and great knights drew to the minster. Meet is it that\nthe old help the young, even as they in their day were holpen.\n\nThe time sped in merriment and sports. First, God to honour, they sang\nmass. Then the people pressed in hard to behold the youths dubbed\nknights with such pomp and high observance as we see not the like of\nnowadays.\n\nThen they ran where they found saddled horses. And the noise of tourney\nwas so great at Siegmund\u2019s court that palace and hall echoed therewith,\nfor there was a mighty din of heroes. From old and young came the noise\nof hurtling and of broken shafts whizzing in the air; and from warring\nhands flew splintered lances as far as the castle; men and women looked\non at the sport. Then the king bade stay the tilting. And they led off\nthe horses. Many shields lay broken, and, strewed on the grass, were\njewels from shining bucklers, fallen in the fray.\n\nThe guests went in and sat down as they were bidden, and over the\nchoice meats and good wine, drunk to the full, they parted from their\nweariness. Friends and strangers were entreated with equal honour.\n\nAlbeit they ceased not from tilting all the day, the mummers and the\nminstrels took no rest, but sang for gold and got it; wherefore they\npraised the land of Siegmund. The king enfeoffed Siegfried with lands\nand castles, as in his youth his father had enfeoffed him, and to his\nsword-fellows he gave with full hand, that it rejoiced them to be come\ninto that country.\n\nThe hightide endured seven days. Sieglind, the wealthy queen, did\naccording to old custom. She divided red gold among her guests for love\nof her son, that she might win their hearts to him.\n\nAmong the minstrels none were needy. Horses and raiment were as free as\nif they that gave had but a day to live. Never company gave readier.\n\nSo the hightide ended with glory, and the rich lords were well minded\nto have Siegfried to their prince. While Siegmund and Sieglind lived,\ntheir son, that loved them, desired not to wear the crown, but only, as\na brave man, to excel in strength and might. Greatly was he feared in\nthe land; nor durst any chide him, for from the day he bare arms he\nrested not from strife. Yea, in far countries and for all time, his\nstrong hand won him glory.\n\n\n\n\nThird Adventure\nHow Siegfried Came to Worms\n\n\nLittle recked Siegfried of heart\u2019s dole till that the news reached him\nof a fair maid of Burgundy, than whom none could wish a fairer; by\nreason of her, joy befell him, and sorrow.\n\nHer beauty was rumoured far and wide, and the fame of her virtues,\njoined thereto, brought many strangers into Gunther\u2019s land. Yet, though\nmany wooed her, Kriemhild was firm-minded to wed none. The man that was\nto win her was yet a stranger.\n\nThereupon Siegmund\u2019s son yearned to her with true love. Weighed with\nhim all other suitors were as wind, for he was meet to be chosen of\nfair women; and, or long, Kriemhild the high maiden was bold Sir\nSiegfried\u2019s bride.\n\nHis kinsmen and his liegemen counselled him to woo a fitting mate, if\nhe meant to love in earnest, whereto Siegfried answered, \u201cIt shall be\nKriemhild. So measureless fair is the maiden of Burgundy, that the\ngreatest emperor, were he minded to wed, were none too good for her.\u201d\n\nThe tidings came to Siegmund\u2019s ear. His knights told him Siegfried\u2019s\nintent, and it irked him that his son should woo the royal maiden. To\nSieglind, the king\u2019s wife, they told it also, and she feared for his\nlife, for she knew Gunther and his men.\n\nThey would have turned him from his quest.\n\nSpake bold Siegfried then, \u201cDearest father mine, either I will think no\nmore on women at all, or I will woo where my heart\u2019s desire is.\u201d And\nfor all they could say, he changed not his purpose.\n\nThen said the king, \u201cIf thou wilt not yield in this, i\u2019faith, I approve\nthy choice, and will further thee therein as I best can. Nevertheless,\nGunther hath many mighty men, were it none other than Hagen, an\narrogant and overweening knight. I fear both thou and I must rue that\nthou goest after this king\u2019s daughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat harm can come thereof?\u201d answered Siegfried. \u201cWhat I win not for\nthe friendly asking, I will take by the prowess of my hand. I doubt not\nbut I shall strip him of both liegemen and lands.\u201d\n\nBut Siegmund said, \u201cI am grieved at thy word. If it were heard at the\nRhine, thou durst not ride at all into Gunther\u2019s country. Both Gunther\nand Gernot are known to me from aforetime, and by force shall none win\nthe maiden. That have I often heard. But if thou wilt ride thither with\nwarriors, I will summon my friends. They will follow thee nothing\nloth.\u201d\n\nSiegfried answered, \u201cI will not ride with an army of warriors to the\nRhine; it would shame me so to win the maiden by force. I would win her\nwith mine own hand. One of twelve I will forth to Gunther\u2019s land, and\nto this shalt thou help me, my father Siegmund.\u201d\n\nThey gave to his knights cloaks of fur, some grey and some striped.\n\nSieglind his mother heard it, and sorrowed for her dear son, for fear\nshe might lose him by the hand of Gunther\u2019s men. The noble queen wept\nsore.\n\nSiegfried went where she sat, and spake comfortably to her. \u201cWeep not,\nmother, for my sake, for I shall be without scathe among foemen. Help\nme rather to the journey that I make into Burgundy, that I and my\nfellows may have raiment beseeming proud knights. For this shalt thou\nhave much thanks.\u201d\n\n\u201cSince thou wilt not be turned,\u201d spake Sieglind, \u201cI will give to thee,\nmy only child, the best apparel that ever knight did on, and to thy\ncompanions, for thy journey. Thou shalt receive without stint.\u201d\n\nThe youth bowed before the queen and said, \u201cTwelve strong we ride\nforth, no more. I would have raiment for so many; for I would see with\nmine eyes how it standeth with Kriemhild.\u201d\n\nThe women sat night and day, nor rested till Siegfried\u2019s mantle was\nready; for none could dissuade him from his quest. His father let forge\nfor him a coat of mail that might do honour to his land. Bright were\nthe breastplates and the helmet, and the bucklers fair and massy.\n\nNow the time was come to ride forth, and all the folk, men and women,\nmade dole, lest they should return never more. The hero bade load the\nsumpters with the arms and apparel. The horses were goodly, and their\nequipment of ruddy gold. None had more cause for pride than Siegfried\nand his knights. He asked leave to set out for Burgundy, and the king\nand the queen gave it sorrowing. But he spake comfortably to both of\nthem, and said, \u201cWeep not for my sake; nor fear aught for my life.\u201d\n\nThe knights were downcast, and the maidens wept. Their hearts told\nthem, I ween, that by reason of this day\u2019s doings, many a dear one\nwould lie dead. Needs made they dole, for they were sorrowful.\n\nOn the seventh morning after this, the fearless band drew towards Worms\non the Rhine. Their garments were woven of ruddy gold, and their\nriding-gear was to match. Smooth paced the horses, deftly managed by\nSiegfried\u2019s bold warriors. Their shields were new, bright and massy,\nand their helmets goodly, as Siegfried the hero and his following rode\ninto Gunther\u2019s country to the court. Never knights were in seemlier\ntrim. Their sword-points clanged on their spurs, and in their hands\nthey bare sharp spears; the one that Siegfried carried was broad two\nspans or more, of the sort that maketh grim wounds. Gold-hued were\ntheir bridles, their poitrels of silk; so they rode through the land.\n\nEverywhere the folk marvelled, gazing at them, and Gunther\u2019s men ran to\nmeet them; proud warriors, knights and squires, went toward the\nstrangers, as was meet, and welcomed the guests to the court of their\nking, taking horse and shield from their hands. They would have put the\nhorses in the stalls, but Siegfried spake in haste, \u201cLet our horses\nstand, for I am minded to depart again speedily. Where I may find\nGunther, the great king of Burgundy, let whoso knoweth tell me.\u201d\n\nOne answered him that knew, \u201cThou mayest see the king if thou wilt. I\nsaw him amidst of his men in yonder wide hall. Go in to him. Thou shalt\nfind there many brave warriors.\u201d\n\nThey told the king that a valiant knight, fair equipped and apparelled,\nthat knew none in Burgundy, was come thither. And the king marvelled\nwhere those proud knights in shining harness, with their shields new\nand massy, might hie from. It irked him that none knew it.\n\nOrtwin of Metz, a goodly man of high courage, spake to the king then,\n\u201cSince we know naught thereof, bid to thee Hagen mine uncle, and show\nthem to him. For he hath knowledge of the mighty men of all lands; and\nwhat he knoweth he will tell us.\u201d\n\nThe king summoned Hagen with his vassals, and he drew nigh with proud\nstep, and asked the king his will.\n\n\u201cStrange knights are come to my court that none knoweth. If thou hast\never seen them afore, tell me thereof truly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I,\u201d spake Hagen, and went to the window, and looked down on\nthe strangers below. The show of them and their equipment pleased him,\nbut he had not seen them afore in Burgundy. And he said, \u201cFrom\nwheresoever they be come, they must be princes, or princes\u2019 envoys.\nTheir horses are good, and wonderly rich their vesture. From whatso\nquarter they hie, they be seemly men. But for this I vouch, that,\nthough I never saw Siegfried, yonder knight that goeth so proud is, of\na surety, none but he. New adventures he bringeth hither. By this\nhero\u2019s hand fell the brave Nibelungs, Shilbung and Nibelung, the high\nprinces. Wonders hath he wrought by his prowess. I have heard tell that\non a day when he rode alone, he came to a mountain, and chanced on a\ncompany of brave men that guarded the Nibelung\u2019s hoard, whereof he knew\nnaught. The Nibelung men had, at that moment, made an end of bringing\nit forth from a hole in the hill, and oddly enow, they were about to\nshare it. Siegfried saw them and marvelled thereat. He drew so close\nthat they were ware of him, and he of them. Whereupon one said, \u2018Here\ncometh Siegfried, the hero of the Netherland!\u2019 Strange adventure met he\namidst of them. Shilbung and Nibelung welcomed him, and with one accord\nthe princely youths asked him to divide the treasure atween them, and\nbegged this so eagerly that he could not say them nay. The tale goeth\nthat he saw there more precious stones than an hundred double waggons\nhad sufficed to carry, and of the red Nibelung gold yet more. This must\nbold Siegfried divide. In guerdon therefor they gave him the sword of\nthe Nibelungs, and were ill paid by Siegfried for the service. He\nstrove vainly to end the task, whereat they were wroth. And when he\ncould not bear it through, the kings, with their men, fell upon him.\nBut with their father\u2019s sword, that hight Balmung, he wrested from them\nboth hoard and land. The princes had twelve champions\u2014stark giants, yet\nlittle it bested them. Siegfried slew them wrathfully with his hand,\nand, with Balmung, vanquished seven hundred knights; and many youths\nthere, afraid of the man and his sword, did homage for castles and\nland. He smote the two kings dead. Then he, himself, came in scathe by\nAlbric, that would have avenged the death of his masters then and\nthere, till that he felt Siegfried\u2019s exceeding might. When the dwarf\ncould not overcome him, they ran like lions to the mountain, where\nSiegfried won from Albric the cloud-cloak that hight _Tarnkappe_. Then\nwas Siegfried, the terrible man, master of the hoard. They that had\ndared the combat lay slain; and he bade carry the treasure back whence\nthe Nibelungs had brought it forth; and he made Albric the keeper\nthereof, after that he had sworn an oath to serve him as his man, and\nto do all that he commanded him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese are his deeds,\u201d said Hagen; \u201cbolder knight there never was. Yet\nmore I might tell of him. With his hand he slew a dragon, and bathed\nhim in its blood, that his skin is as horn, and no weapon can cut him,\nas hath been proven on him ofttimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us welcome the young lord, that we come not in his hate. So fair\nis he of his body that one may not look unfriendly thereon; with his\nstrength he hath done great deeds.\u201d\n\nThen spake the great king, \u201cBelike thou sayest sooth. Knightly he\nstandeth there as for the onset\u2014he and his warriors with him. We will\ngo down to him and greet him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou mayest do that with honour,\u201d answered Hagen; \u201cfor he is of high\nbirth, even a great king\u2019s son. By Christ, there is somewhat in his\nbearing that showeth he hath ridden hither on no slight matter.\u201d\n\nThe king of the land said, \u201cHe is right welcome, for I perceive that he\nis brave and noble, the which shall profit him in Burgundy.\u201d\n\nGunther went out to Siegfried. The king and his men gave the strangers\ncourteous welcome, and the valiant man bowed before them because they\ngreeted him so fair.\n\n\u201cI would know,\u201d said the king, \u201cwhence noble Siegfried cometh, and what\nhe seeketh at Worms by the Rhine.\u201d\n\nThe guest answered him, \u201cI will tell thee that readily. Word hath\nreached me in the land of my father, that, hereby thee, dwell the\nprowest ever sworn to king. I have heard much of these, and would know\nthem; for this I am come hither. Thy knightliness also I hear praised,\nand am told that nowhere is a better king. So say the folk throughout\nthe land; and, till I have proven it, I will not depart hence. I also\nam a king that shall wear a crown, and I would have men say of me that\nthe country and the people are rightly mine. Thereto I pledge both\nhonour and life. If thou art valiant, as they say, I care not whom it\nliketh or irketh, I will take from thee all thou hast, land and\ncastles, and they shall be mine.\u201d\n\nThe king and his men marvelled when they heard this strange saying,\nthat he would take their land; when the warriors understood it they\nwere wroth.\n\n\u201cWherein have I wronged thee,\u201d said Gunther the knight, \u201cthat I should\nyield to the might of any man what my father ruled so long with honour?\nWe will show thee to thy hurt that we also are brave knights.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will abide by my purpose,\u201d said the doughty man. \u201cIf thou canst not\nhold they land in peace, I will rule it. Also what I have in fee, if\nthou overcome, shall be thine. With thy country be it even as with\nmine. To the one of us twain that overcometh shall the whole belong,\npeople and land.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen and Gernot answered him back straightway. \u201cWe desire not,\u201d\nsaid Gernot, \u201cto win new kingdoms at the cost of dead heroes. Our land\nis rich, and we are the rightful lords. The folk desire none better.\u201d\n\nGrim and angered stood Gunther\u2019s kinsmen. Amidst of them was Ortwin of\nMetz, who said, \u201cThis bargain pleaseth me little. Bold Siegfried hath\nchallenged thee wrongfully. Were thou and thy brothers naked, and he\nwith a whole king\u2019s army at his back, I would undertake to show the\noverweening man he did well to abate his pride.\u201d\n\nWhereat the knight of the Netherland was wroth and said, \u201cNot such as\nthou art shall raise a hand against me, for I am a great king; thou art\nbut a king\u2019s man. Twelve of thy sort could not withstand me.\u201d\n\nThen Ortwin of Metz, the sister\u2019s son of Hagen of Trony, cried aloud\nfor his sword. It grieved the king that he had kept silence so long,\nbut Gernot, a warrior bold and keen, came betwixt them.\n\nHe said to Ortwin, \u201cCalm thyself. Siegfried hath done naught to us,\nthat we should not end this matter peaceably. I counsel that we take\nhim to friend. That were more to our honour.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen the stark man, \u201cIt may well irk thy knights that he\nrideth hither as a foeman. Better had he refrained. My masters had\nnever done the like by him.\u201d\n\nBrave Siegfried answered, \u201cIf thou like not my words, I will show thee\nhere, in Burgundy, the deeds of my hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I will hinder,\u201d said Gernot, and he forbade to his knights their\noverweening words, for they irked him. Siegfried also thought on the\nnoble maiden.\n\n\u201cWherefore should we fight with thee?\u201d said Gernot. \u201cThough every\nknight lay dead thereby, small were our glory and little thine\nadventure.\u201d\n\nWhereto Siegfried, King Siegmund\u2019s son, answered, \u201cWhy do Hagen and\nOrtwin hang back, and their friends, whereof they have enow in\nBurgundy?\u201d\n\nBut these must needs hold their peace, as Gernot commanded them.\n\n\u201cThou art welcome,\u201d said Uta\u2019s son; \u201cthou and thy comrades that are\nwith thee. We will serve thee gladly, I and my kinsmen.\u201d\n\nThey let pour for them Gunther\u2019s wine, and the host of that land, even\nGunther the king, said, \u201cAll that is ours, and whatsoever thou mayest\nwith honour desire, is thine to share with us, body and goods.\u201d\n\nThen Siegfried was milder of his mood.\n\nWhat he and his men had with them was seen to; they gave Siegfried\u2019s\nknights good quarters and fair lodging; and they rejoiced to see the\nstranger in Burgundy.\n\nThey did him honour many days: more than I can tell. This he won, I\ntrow, by his valour. Few looked on him sourly.\n\nThe king and his men busied them with sports, and in each undertaking\nSiegfried still approved him the best. Whether they threw the stone or\nshot with the shaft, none came near him by reason of his great\nstrength. Held the doughty warriors tourney before the women, then\nlooked these all with favour on the knight of the Netherland. But, as\nfor him, he thought only on his high love. The fair women of the court\ndemanded who the proud stranger was. \u201cHe is so goodly,\u201d they said, \u201cand\nso rich his apparel.\u201d\n\nAnd there answered them folk enow, \u201cIt is the king of the Netherland.\u201d\nWhatsoever sport they followed, he was ready. In his heart he bare the\nbeautiful maiden that as yet he had not seen: the which spake in secret\nkind words also of him. When the youths tilted in the courtyard,\nKriemhild, the high princess, looked down at them from her window; nor,\nat that time, desired she better pastime. Neither had he asked better,\nhad he known that his heart\u2019s dear one gazed upon him: the fairest\nthing on earth had he deemed it to behold her eyes. When he stood there\namidst of the heroes in the tilt-yard, as the custom is, to rest at the\ntourney, so graceful the son of Sieglind bare him, that the hearts of\nmany maidens yearned toward him. And ofttimes would he think, \u201cHow\nshall I attain to behold the noble lady that I have loved long and\ndearly? She is still a stranger. For this reason I am downcast.\u201d\n\nWhen the rich kings rode abroad, it behoved the knights to go with\nthem, wherefore Siegfried also rode forth, the which irked the damsel\nsore; and likewise, for love of her, he was heavy enow of his cheer.\n\nSo in a year (I say sooth) he abode by these princes, nor in all that\ntime had once seen his dear one, that afterward brought him so much\ngladness and dole.\n\n\n\n\nFourth Adventure\nHow Siegfried Fought with the Saxons\n\n\nNow there were brought into Gunther\u2019s land strange tidings by envoys\nsent from afar by foreign princes that hated him; and when they heard\nthe message they were troubled. The kings were as I will tell you:\nLudger of the Saxons, a high and might prince; and Ludgast of Denmark,\nand many bold warriors with them.\n\nThese envoys, sent by his foemen, came into Gunther\u2019s land, and the\nstrangers were asked their business, and brought before the king.\n\nThe king greeted them fair, and said, \u201cI know not who hath sent you\nhither, and would hear it.\u201d So spake the good king, and they greatly\nfeared his wrath.\n\n\u201cIf thou wilt have our message, O king, we will tell it plain, and name\nthee the princes that have sent us. They are Ludgast and Ludger, and\nwill come against thee into they land. Thou are fallen in their\ndispleasure, and we know that they bear thee bitter hate. They come\nhither with an armed force to Worms by the Rhine\u2014they and their\nwarriors. Wherefore be warned. Inside of twelve days they will ride. If\nthou hast truly friends, let it appear now; let them help thee to keep\nthy castles and they country, for, or long, there will be smiting of\nhelmets and shields here. Or wouldst thou treat with them, then declare\nit straightway, that thy foemen come not nigh thee to thy hurt, and\nthat goodly knights perish not thereby.\u201d\n\n\u201cTarry a while\u2014ye shall have answer betimes\u2014that I may bethink me,\u201d\nsaid the good king. \u201cIf I have true liegemen, I will not hide it from\nthem, but will take counsel with them on this hard matter.\u201d\n\nHeavy enow of his cheer was Gunther. He pondered the message secretly\nin his heart, and summoned Hagen, and others of his men, and sent to\nthe court in haste for Gernot. His best knights drew round him, and he\nsaid, \u201cWithout cause, and with a mighty army, foemen come hither\nagainst us into our land.\u201d\n\nThereto answered Gernot, a hardy and bold warrior, \u201cWe shall hinder\nthat with our swords. They only perish that fate dooms. Let them die.\nThey shall not turn from honour. Our foemen are welcome.\u201d\n\nSpake Hagen of Trony then, \u201cMethinketh that were unwise. Ludgast and\nLudger are proud men withal, and we can hardly in so few days muster\nour men.\u201d Therefore the bold knight said, \u201cTell Siegfried.\u201d\n\nThey bade lodge the envoys in town. Albeit they were his foemen,\nGunther, the great king, commanded the folk to entreat them\nwell\u2014rightly he did so\u2014till that he knew the friends that would stand\nby him.\n\nThe king was heavy of his cheer, and Siegfried, the good knight, saw\nthat he was downcast, but wist not the reason, and asked King Gunther\nwhat ailed him. \u201cI marvel much,\u201d said Siegfried, \u201cthat thou takest no\npart in our sports as heretofore.\u201d And Gunther, the doughty knight,\nanswered him, \u201cNot to every man may I declare the secret heaviness of\nmy heart; only unto true friends shall the heart tell its dole.\u201d\n\nSiegfried changed colour, and grew red and white, and he said to the\nking, \u201cI have denied thee naught, and now I would help thee. If thou\nseekest friends, I will be one of them, and stand to it truly to my\nlife\u2019s end.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow God requite thee, Sir Siegfried, for I like thy word; and albeit\nthy might availed me nothing, I would rejoice none the less that thou\nart well-minded toward me; as much and more will I do to thee if I\nlive. I will tell thee the cause of my trouble. Envoys from my foemen\nhave brought a message that with an army they will come against me;\nsuch inroad of warriors hath not been aforetime in this country.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe not sorrowful for that,\u201d answered Siegfried; \u201cbe of good cheer, and\ndo now as I say. I will win for thee honour and profit or ever thy\nfoemen reach this land. Had they stark adversaries thirty thousand\nwarriors at their back, and I but one thousand, I would withstand\nthem\u2014trust me for that.\u201d\n\nKing Gunther answered, \u201cThou shalt be well paid for this.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive me a thousand of thy knights, since of mine own I have but twelve\nhere with me, and I will keep thy land for thee. The hand of Siegfried\nwill serve thee truly. Hagen shall help us in this, and also Ortwin,\nDankwart, and Sindolt, thy loving knights, and eke Folker, the bold\nman, who shall bear the standard: better knight thou wilt not find. Bid\nthe envoys return to their country; tell them they shall see us there\nsoon enow. So shall our castles go scatheless.\u201d\n\nThe king let summon his kinsmen and his liegemen, and Ludger\u2019s\nmessengers went to the court. They were glad to be gone. Gunther, the\ngood king, gave them gifts and an escort, whereat they were well\ncontent.\n\nSpake Gunther, \u201cThou shalt say on this wise to my haughty foemen: They\ndid wisely to turn from their journey, for if my friends fail me not,\nand they seek me here in my land, they will find work enow.\u201d\n\nThey brought out rich gifts for the envoys, whereof Gunther had to\nspare, and these said not \u201cnay.\u201d Then they took their leave, and\ndeparted rejoicing.\n\nWhen the messengers were come again to Denmark, and told Ludgast how\nthat the Rhine-men would ride thither, he was wroth at their boldness.\nThey made report to him of the many brave men Gunther had, and how that\nthey had seen a knight there amidst of them that hight Siegfried, a\nhero from the Netherland, the which was heavy news for Ludgast.\n\nWhen they of Denmark heard it, they hastened the more to summon their\nfriends, till that Ludgast had ready for the onset twenty thousand\nwarriors withal.\n\nOn like manner Ludger of Saxony summoned his men to the number of forty\nthousand, ready to march into Burgundy.\n\nThe same also did King Gunther to his liegemen, and to his brothers\nwith their vassals, and to Hagen and his knights. These were sorry enow\nat the news; and by reason thereof many a knight looked on death.\n\nThey hasted and made ready for the journey. Brave Folker bare the\nstandard. They purposed to cross the Rhine from Worms. Hagen of Trony\nled the force. Sindolt and bold Hunolt were there, that they might\ndeserve King Gunther\u2019s gold; also Hagen\u2019s brother, Dankwart, and\nOrtwin, fit men and worthy for the undertaking.\n\n\u201cSit thou at home, O King,\u201d spake Siegfried. \u201cSince thy knights are\nwilling to follow me, stay here by the women and be of good cheer; for,\nby my troth, I will guard for thee both goods and honour. I will see to\nit, that they that seek thee here at Worms by the Rhine bide where they\nare; we will pierce deep into their country, till their vaunting is\nturned to sorrow.\u201d\n\nThey passed from the Rhine through Hesse against Saxony, where the\nbattle was fought afterward. With plunder and with fire they laid waste\nto the land, the which both the princes found to their cost.\n\nWhen they were come to the marches, the warriors hasted forward, and\nSiegfried began to ask them, \u201cWhich of us shall guard the rest from\nsurprise?\u201d More to their hurt the Saxons never took the field.\n\nThey answered, \u201cLet bold Dankwart guard the younger knights. He is a\ngood warrior. So shall we come in less scathe by Ludger\u2019s men. He and\nOrtwin shall guard the rear.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will myself ride forward,\u201d said Siegfried, \u201cand spy out the foe,\nthat I may know rightly who the warriors be.\u201d\n\nFair Sieglind\u2019s son did on his armour in haste. He gave his knights in\ncharge to Hagen and bold Gernot when he set out. He rode into Saxony\nall alone, and won honour by his quest. He perceived a great host\nencamped on a field, that loomed mightily against him, beyond the\nstrength of one man: forty thousand or more. And the high heart of\nSiegfried rejoiced.\n\nOne of the enemy\u2019s knights kept watch warily, and perceived Siegfried,\nand Siegfried him, and they glared fiercely on each other. I will tell\nyou who he was that kept watch. On his arm he bare a glittering shield\nof gold. It was King Ludgast that kept ward over his host.\n\nThe noble stranger pricked toward him fiercely. Ludgast dressed him\nalso. They put spurs to their horses and smote with all their strength\non the shields with their spears, that it was like to go hard with the\nking. On their horses, pricked forward with the spur, the princes bare\ndown on each other like the wind. Then they wheeled round deftly\u2014these\ntwo fierce men\u2014and fell to hacking with their swords. Sir Siegfried\nsmote, that the field rang therewith; the hero with his mighty blade\nstruck sparks from Ludgast\u2019s helmet. Fiercely fought the prince of the\nNetherland, and Ludgast, likewise, dealt many a grim blow. Each drave\nwith all his might at the other\u2019s shield. The combat was spied by\nthirty of Ludgast\u2019s men, but Siegfried, by means of three deep wounds\nand grisly that he dealt Ludgast through his white harness, overcame\nthe king or these knights came up. His sword drew blood with each\nstroke, that King Ludgast came in evil plight, and begged for his life,\noffering his land as the price thereof, and said that his name was\nLudgast.\n\nHis knights hastened to his rescue, for they had seen the encounter at\nthe ward-post. Siegfried would have led him thence, but thirty of\nLudgast\u2019s men rode at him. With mighty blows the stark warrior kept his\nrich captive; and soon his hands did even deadlier deeds. He smote the\nthirty men dead in his defence, save one that fled and told what\nhappened, the truth whereof was proven by his bloody helmet.\n\nThey of Denmark were aghast when they heard their king was taken\ncaptive; they told it to his brother, who fell in a great fury by\nreason of the disaster.\n\nSo the mighty Ludgast was taken by Siegfried\u2019s prowess, and given in\ncharge to Hagen. When that good knight heard that it was Ludgast he was\nnot sorry.\n\nThey bade raise the standard of Burgundy. \u201cForward!\u201d cried Siegfried,\n\u201cMore shall be done or the day end, if I lose not my life. The Saxon\nwomen shall rue it. Hearken now, ye men of the Rhine. I can lead you to\nLudger\u2019s army. There ye will see helmets hewn by the good hands of\nheroes. They shall be in evil case or we turn again.\u201d\n\nThen Gernot and his men sprang to horse. The banner was unfurled by\nFolker, the minstrel knight. He rode before the host, and they all made\nthem ready for battle. They numbered not more than a thousand men, and\nthereto the twelve strangers. The dust rose from their path, and they\nrode through the land, their shields flashing.\n\nThe Saxons, also, were come up, bearing well-sharpened swords. So hath\nthe story been told me. The swords in the heroes\u2019 hands dealt grim\nblows in defence of their castles and their lands.\n\nThe marshal led the army, and Siegfried was come forward with the\ntwelve men that he had with him from the Netherland. Many a hand was\nbloody that day in the battle. Sindolt and Hunolt and eke Gernot smote\nmany heroes dead in the fight, that were bold enow till they felt their\nprowess. For their sake sorrowed women not a few. Folker and Hagen and\nOrtwin, the fierce warriors, quenched the flash of many helmets with\nblood. Dankwart, also, did wonders. The Danes proved their mettle, and\nloud were heard the hurtling of shields and the clash of sharp swords\nswung mightily. The Saxons, bold in strife, made havoc enow. Wide were\nthe wounds hewn by the men of Burgundy when they rushed to the\nencounter. Blood ran down the saddles. So was the honour wooed of these\nknights bold and swift. Loud rang the keen swords in the hands of the\nheroes of the Netherland, when they rode with their lord into the fray.\nThey rode with Siegfried like good knights. None from the Rhine kept\npace with him. By reason of Siegfried\u2019s hand streams of blood ran from\nbright helmets, till that he lit on Ludgast amidst of his men. Thrice\nhe pierced through the army of the Saxons, and thrice returned. Hagen,\nby this time, was come up with him, that helped him in his quest. They\nslew many a brave knight.\n\nWhen bold Ludger found Siegfried with Balmung, the good sword, swung\naloft, wherewith he made a mighty slaughter, he was wroth, and of his\nmood full grim. With a fierce rush and clash of swords the warriors\ncame together. So exceeding furious was their onset that the host gave\nway. Terrible was their hate. The Saxon king knew well that his brother\nwas taken captive, and he was wroth thereat; but he knew it not for\nSiegfried\u2019s work till now. They had blamed Gernot. Now he found out the\ntruth. Ludger smote so hard that Siegfried\u2019s horse reeled under him.\nBut when he was come to, Siegfried was more terrible than afore. Hagen\nand Gernot, Dankwart and Folker, stood by him. The dead lay in heaps.\nSindolt and Hunolt and Ortwin the knight slew many in the strife. The\nprinces held together in the fray. Bright spears in the hands of heroes\nflashed above the helmets, that clave the shining bucklers in twain.\nMany a massy shield was red with blood. In the fierce encounter many\nmen fell from their horses. Bold Siegfried and King Ludger strove\ntogether, and lances whizzed, and sharp spears. Ludger\u2019s shield-plate\nflew off through the strength of Siegfried\u2019s hand. Then the hero of the\nNetherland thought to have gotten the victory over the Saxons that were\nhard pressed. Ha! what polished bucklers doughty Dankwart brake!\n\nOf a sudden Ludger espied a crown that was painted on Siegfried\u2019s\nshield, and he knew the mighty man, and cried aloud to his friends,\n\u201cForbear, my men all. I have seen the son of Siegmund, even bold\nSiegfried. The Devil hath sent him hither into Saxony.\u201d He bade lower\nthe standard, and sued for peace. They granted this, yet he was\ncompelled by Siegfried to go captive into Gunther\u2019s land.\n\nWith one accord they ceased from the strife. They threw down their\nshivered helmets and shields. Blood-red were they all by the hands of\nthe Burgundians. They took captive whom they listed, for they had the\npower.\n\nGernot and Hagen gave order to convey the wounded on litters. They led\nfive hundred noble knights as prisoners to the Rhine.\n\nThe vanquished warriors rode back to Denmark. Nor had the Saxons fought\nso as to win them honour, and they were downcast. The dead were mourned\nby their friends.\n\nThey sent the weapons to the Rhine on sumpters. So wondrously had\nSiegfried done, that all Gunther\u2019s men praised him.\n\nSir Gernot sent word to Worms, and throughout the whole land, to their\nfriends, how it had sped with them; for as bold knights and honourable\nthey had fought. The pages hasted and told it, and the glad news\nrejoiced the loving ones that had sorrowed. The noble women ceased not\nfrom questioning how it had fared with the great king\u2019s men.\n\nKriemhild bade a messenger to her in secret; publicly she durst not,\nfor to one of them she bare dear heart\u2019s love.\n\nWhen the messenger was come to her chamber, Kriemhild, the beautiful\nmaiden, spake him fair. \u201cNow tell me glad tidings; thou shalt have gold\ntherefor; and, sayest thou sooth, I will ever be beholden to thee. How\nsped my brother Gernot in the battle, and the rest of my friends? Are\nthere many dead? Who did most valiantly? Now tell me.\u201d\n\nWhereto the messenger answered truthfully, \u201cWe had no coward among us.\nYet since thou wilt hear it, noble princess, none rode in the thick of\nthe fight like the knight of the Netherland. Marvellous was the work of\nSiegfried\u2019s hand. All that the knights did in battle\u2014Dankwart and Hagen\nand the rest\u2014though with honour fought they all, was but as a wind\nmatched with the prowess of Siegfried, the son of Siegmund. Many heroes\nhave they slain, yet of the deeds of Siegfried, done in battle, none\nshall tell to the end. By reason of him many maidens mourn for their\nkin. Low lieth the dear one of many a bride. Loud smote he on the\nhelmets, that they ran blood. In all things he is a knight bold and\ngood.\u201d\n\n\u201cOrtwin of Metz, also, won worship. Whoso came within range of his\nsword lieth wounded or dead. Thy brother, too, made fierce havoc in the\nbattle. To his prowess must all testify. The proud Burgundians have so\nfought that none my question their honour. For many a saddle was\nemptied by them when the field rang loud with gleaming swords. On such\nwise fought the knights of the Rhine that their foemen had done better\nto flee. The brave men of Trony rode fiercely in the strife. Hagen with\nhis hand slew many, whereof Burgundy shall hear. So valiantly fought\nSindolt and Hunolt, Gernot\u2019s men, and eke Rumolt, that Ludger may well\nrue that he ever met thy kinsmen by the Rhine. But the mightiest deeds,\nfirst and last, were done by Siegfried. He bringeth rich captives into\nGunther\u2019s land, that his strength hath conquered, by reason whereof\nKing Ludgast and his brother, Ludger of Saxony, suffer dole. For list\nto the marvel, noble queen: both these princes hath Siegfried\u2019s hand\ntaken. Never have so many captives been led into this land, as come\nhither now through his prowess.\u201d\n\nThe maiden was glad at the tale.\n\n\u201cOf unwounded men they bring five hundred or more, and eighty red biers\n(I say sooth) of the wounded, fallen, the most part, by Siegfried\u2019s\nmight. They that arrogantly withstood the knights of the Rhine are now\nGunther\u2019s captives. Our men lead them hither rejoicing.\u201d\n\nWhen she had heard the news aright, her fair cheek reddened, and her\nlovely face was the colour of the rose, because it had gone well with\nyoung and noble Siegfried, and he was come with glory out of peril. She\njoyed for her kinsmen also, as in duty bound. And she said, \u201cThou hast\nspoken well; for guerdon thereof thou shalt have costly raiment, and\nten golden marks, that I will bid them bear to thee.\u201d It is good to\ntell glad tidings to rich women.\n\nHe got his envoy\u2019s fee of gold and vesture, and the fair maids hasted\nto the window and looked down the road, where the high-hearted warriors\nrode home. They drew nigh, whole and wounded, and heard the greeting of\nfriends unashamed. Light of heart Gunther rode to meet them, for now\nhis grim care was turned to joy. He received his own men well and also\nthe strangers. Not to have thanked them that were come to his court,\nfor that they had done valiantly in battle, would have been unseemly in\nso great a king. And he asked tidings of his friends, and who was\nslain. None were lost to him save sixty only, and these were mourned as\nmany a hero hath been mourned since.\n\nThey that were unhurt brought many battered shields and shivered\nhelmets back to Gunther\u2019s land. The warriors sprang down from their\nhorses before the place, and there was a joyful noise of welcome.\n\nOrder was given to lodge the knights in the town, and the king\ncommanded that his guests should be courteously entreated, and that the\nwounded should be seen to and given good chambers. So he approved\nhimself generous to his foes. He said to Ludger, \u201cThou are welcome!\nMuch scathe have I suffered through thee; yet, if I prosper henceforth,\nI will consider myself well paid. God reward my warriors, for well have\nthey served me!\u201d\n\n\u201cThou has cause to thank them,\u201d answered Ludger, \u201cfor nobler captives\nwere never won for a king; and gold without stint shall be thine, if\nthou do well by me and my friends.\u201d\n\nSaid Gunther, \u201cYe shall both go free. Yet I must have a pledge that my\nfoemen quit not my land till peace be sealed betwixt us.\u201d And they\npromised it, and gave their hand thereon. They led them to their\nquarters to rest, and saw the wounded men laid softly in their beds.\nThey set before them that were whole meat and good wine, and never were\nmen merrier. They bare the battered shields away into safe keeping; and\nthe bloody saddles, of which there were enow, they hid, that the women\nmight not grieve thereat. Many a weary knight was there.\n\nThe king entreated his guests right royally, and the land was full of\nfriends and of strangers. He bade see to the sore wounded ones whose\npride was brought low. To them that were skilled in leech craft they\noffered a rich fee of unweighed sliver and yellow gold, that they might\nheal the heroes of their wounds gotten in battle; the king sent also\nprecious gifts to his guests. They that thought to ride home were\nbidden stay as friends. And the king took counsel how he might reward\nhis liegemen that had done valiantly for his sake.\n\nSir Gernot said, \u201cLet them go hence for the present, and summon them\nafter six weeks to a hightide. Many will then be whole that now lie\nsick of their wounds.\u201d\n\nSiegfried of the Netherland would have taken leave also, but when King\nGunther knew his intent, he besought him lovingly to tarry, the which\nSiegfried had not done but for Gunther\u2019s sister\u2019s sake. He was too rich\nto take money, albeit he well deserved it; the king loved him, and also\nthe king\u2019s kinsmen that had seen the deeds wrought by his hand in\nbattle. So, for love of the maiden, he agreed to tarry, that haply he\nmight win to see her, the which, or long, came to pass; for he knew her\nto his heart\u2019s desire, and rode home joyfully afterward to his father\u2019s\nland.\n\nThe young knights obeyed the king\u2019s command willingly, and practised\ndaily at the tourney. Seats were raised on the stand before Worms for\nthe guests that were coming into Burgundy.\n\nWhen it was time for them to arrive, fair Kriemhild heard the news,\nthat they were about to hold a hightide with their friends. Then the\nbeautiful women busied them with their kirtles and their headgear that\nthey were to wear.\n\nUta, the great queen, heard of the proud knights that were coming, and\ngorgeous robes were taken from their wrapping-cloths. For love of her\nchildren she bade them bring forth the garments. Many women and maidens\nwere adorned therewith, and, of the young knights of Burgundy, not a\nfew. To many of the strangers, also, she gave goodly apparel.\n\n\n\n\nFifth Adventure\nHow Siegfried First Saw Kriemhild\n\n\nA vast multitude of them that would attend the hightide drew daily to\nthe Rhine; and unto those that came for love of the king horses were\ngiven and goodly raiment, and to each his place, even unto two and\nthirty princes of the highest and the best. So they tell us.\n\nAnd the women vied with one another in their attire. Giselher, the\nyouth, and Gernot, and their two squires, rested not from welcoming\nboth friends and strangers. They gave courtly greeting unto the\nwarriors.\n\nThe guests brought with them to the Rhine, to the tourney, saddles\nworked in ruddy gold, and finely-wrought shields, and knightly apparel.\nAnd the sick rejoiced, and they that lay on their beds sore wounded\nforgot that death is an hard thing. When the rumour of the festival was\nnoised abroad, no man took heed more of them that groaned, for each\nthought only how he might sojourn there as a guest. Joy without measure\nhad all they that were found there, and gladness and rejoicing were in\nGunther\u2019s land.\n\nOn Whitsun morning there drew toward the hightide a goodly company of\nbrave men, fairly clad: five thousand or more, and they made merry far\nand wide, and strove with one another in friendly combat.\n\nNow Gunther knew well how, truly and from his heart, the hero of the\nNetherland loved his sister whom he had not yet seen, and whose beauty\nthe people praised before that of all other maidens.\n\nAnd he said, \u201cNow counsel me, my kinsmen and my lieges, how we may\norder this hightide, that none may blame us in aught; for only unto\nsuch deeds as are good, pertaineth lasting fame.\u201d\n\nThen answered Ortwin, the knight, to the king, \u201cIf thou wilt win for\nthyself glory from the hightide, let now the maidens that dwell with\nhonour in our midst appear before us. For what shall pleasure or glad a\nman more than to behold beautiful damsels and fair women? Bid thy\nsister come forth and show herself to thy guests.\u201d\n\nAnd this word pleased the knights.\n\n\u201cThat will I gladly do,\u201d said the king; and they that heard him\nrejoiced. He sent a messenger to Queen Uta, and besought her that she\nwould come to the court with her daughter and her women-folk.\n\nAnd these took from the presses rich apparel, and what lay therein in\nwrapping-cloths; they took also brooches, and their silken girdles\nworked with gold, and attired themselves in haste. Many a noble maiden\nadorned herself with care, and the youths longed exceedingly to find\nfavour in their eyes, and had not taken a rich king\u2019s land in lieu\nthereof. And they that knew not one another before looked each upon\neach right gladly.\n\nThe rich king commanded an hundred men of his household, his kinsmen\nand hers, to escort his sister, their swords in their hand. Uta, with\nan hundred and more of her women, gorgeously attired, came forth from\nthe female apartments, and many noble damsels followed after her\ndaughter. The knights pressed in upon them, thinking thereby to behold\nthe beautiful maidens.\n\nAnd lo! the fair one appeared, like the dawn from out the dark clouds.\nAnd he that had borne her so long in his heart was no more aweary, for\nthe beloved one, his sweet lady, stood before him in her beauty. Bright\njewels sparkled on her garments, and bright was the rose-red of her\nhue, and all they that saw her proclaimed her peerless among maidens.\n\nAs the moon excelleth in light the stars shining clear from the clouds,\nso stood she, fair before the other women, and the hearts of the\nwarriors were uplifted. The chamberlains made way for her through them\nthat pressed in to behold her. And Siegfried joyed, and sorrowed\nlikewise, for he said in his heart, \u201cHow should I woo such as thee?\nSurely it was a vain dream; yet I were liefer dead than a stranger to\nthee.\u201d\n\nThinking thus he waxed oft white and red; yea, graceful and proud stood\nthe son of Sieglind, goodliest of heroes to behold, as he were drawn on\nparchment by the skill of a cunning master. And the knights fell back\nas the escort commanded, and made way for the high-hearted women, and\ngazed on them with glad eyes. Many a dame of high degree was there.\n\nSaid bold Sir Gernot, the Burgundian, then, \u201cGunther, dear brother,\nunto the gentle knight, that hath done thee service, show honour now\nbefore thy lieges. Of this counsel I shall never shame me. Bid\nSiegfried go before my sister, that the maiden greet him. Let her, that\nnever greeted knight, go toward him. For this shall advantage us, and\nwe shall win the good warrior for ours.\u201d\n\nThen Gunther\u2019s kinsmen went to the knight of the Netherland, and said\nto him, \u201cThe king bids thee to the court that his sister may greet\nthee, for he would do thee honour.\u201d\n\nIt rejoiced Siegfried that he was to look upon Uta\u2019s fair child, and he\nforgot his sorrow.\n\nShe greeted him mild and maidenly, and her colour was kindled when she\nsaw before her the high-minded man, and she said, \u201cWelcome, Sir\nSiegfried, noble knight and good.\u201d His courage rose at her words, and\ngraceful, as beseemed a knight, he bowed himself before her and thanked\nher. And love that is mighty constrained them, and they yearned with\ntheir eyes in secret. I know not whether, from his great love, the\nyouth pressed her white hand, but two love-desirous hearts, I trow, had\nelse done amiss.\n\nNevermore, in summer or in May, bore Siegfried in his heart such high\njoy, as when he went by the side of her whom he coveted for his dear\none. And many a knight thought, \u201cHad it been my hap to walk with her,\nas I have seen him do, or to lie by her side, certes, I had suffered it\ngladly! Yet never, truly, hath warrior served better to win a queen.\u201d\nFrom what land soever the guests came, they were ware only of these\ntwo. And she was bidden kiss the hero. He had never had like joy before\nin this world.\n\nSaid the King of Denmark then, \u201cBy reason of this high greeting many\ngood men lie low, slain by the hand of Siegfried, the which hath been\nproven to my cost. God grant he return not to Denmark!\u201d\n\nThen they ordered to make way for fair Kriemhild. Valiant knights in\nstately array escorted her to the minster, where she was parted from\nSiegfried. She went thither followed by her maidens; and so rich was\nher apparel that the other women, for all their striving, were as\nnaught beside her, for to glad the eyes of heroes she was born.\n\nScarce could Siegfried tarry till they had sung mass, he yearned so to\nthank her for his gladness, and that she whom he bore in his heart had\ninclined her desire toward him, even as his was to her, which was meet.\n\nNow when Kriemhild was come forth to the front of the minster, they\nbade the warrior go to her again, and the damsel began to thank him,\nthat before all others he had done valiantly. And she said, \u201cNow, God\nrequite thee, Sir Siegfried, for they tell me thou hast won praise and\nhonour from all knights.\u201d\n\nHe looked on the maid right sweetly, and he said, \u201cI will not cease to\nserve them. Never, while I live, will I lay head on pillow, till I have\nbrought their desire to pass. For love of thee, dear lady, I will do\nthis.\u201d\n\nAnd every day of twelve, in the sight of all the people, the youth\nwalked by the side of the maiden as she went to the court. So they\nshowed their love to the knight.\n\nAnd there was merriment and gladness and delight in the hall of\nGunther, without and within, among the valiant men. Ortwin and Hagen\ndid many wonderful deeds, and if any devised a sport, warriors, joyous\nin strife, welcomed it straightway. So were the knights proven before\nthe guests, and they of Gunther\u2019s land won glory. The wounded also came\nforth to take part with their comrades, to skirmish with the buckler,\nand to shoot the shaft, and waxed strong thereby, and increased their\nmight.\n\nGunther gave order that, for the term of the hightide, they should set\nbefore them meats of the daintiest, that he might fail in naught as a\nking, nor the people blame him.\n\nAnd he came to his guests, and said, \u201cReceive my gifts ere you go\nhence, and refuse not the treasure that I would share with you.\u201d\n\nThe Danes made answer, \u201cEre we turn again to our land, make thou a\nlasting peace with us. We have need of such, that have many dear\nfriends dead, slain by thy warriors.\u201d\n\nLudgast and eke the Saxon were healed of their wounds gotten in battle,\nbut many tarried behind, dead.\n\nThen Gunther sought Siegfried and said, \u201cNow counsel me in this. On the\nmorrow our guests ride forth, and they desire of me and mine a lasting\ncovenant. What they offer I will tell thee: as much gold as five\nhundred horses may carry, they will give me to go free.\u201d\n\nAnd Siegfried answered, \u201cThat were ill done. Send them forth without\nransom, that they ride no more hither as foemen. And they shall give\nthee the hand thereon for surety.\u201d\n\nAnd they told it to his enemies; also that none desired their gold.\nThey said it to the war-tired men, by reason of whom the dear ones of\ntheir own land sorrowed.\n\nAnd the king took shields full of treasure, and divided it among them\nwithout weighing it, five hundred marks and more. Gernot, the brave\nknight, counselled him thereto. And they took their leave, for they\nwere aweary for home. And they passed before Kriemhild and Queen Uta;\nnever were knights dismissed more courteously.\n\nThe chambers were void when they left, nevertheless the king abode\nthere still with his lieges and his vassals and knights. And these\nceased not to go before Kriemhild.\n\nThen Siegfried, the hero, had also taken leave, for he thought not to\nattain his desire. But the king heard of it, and Giselher the youth\nturned him back. \u201cWhither ridest thou, Sir Siegfried? Prithee yield to\nme in this. Go not from among our knights, and Gunther, and his men.\nHere are fair maidens enow that thou mayest behold at will.\u201d\n\nSaid bold Sir Siegfried, \u201cLet stand the horses, bear hence the shields.\nI would have ridden forth and turned again to my land, but Giselher\nhath changed my intent.\u201d\n\nSo he abode among them through love, nor in any land had it been\nsweeter for him. And Kriemhild, the fair maiden, he saw daily, by\nreason of whose beauty he tarried.\n\nThey passed the time in sports and feats of chivalry. But his heart was\nweary with love; yea, for love he sorrowed then, and, after, died\nmiserably.\n\n\n\n\nSixth Adventure\nHow Gunther Went to Issland to Woo Brunhild\n\n\nA fresh rumour spread beyond the Rhine. It was reported that many\nmaidens dwelt there; and Gunther was minded to woo one of them, whereat\nhis knights and his liegemen were well pleased.\n\nThere was a queen high throned across the sea, that had not her like,\nbeyond measure fair and of mickle strength, and her love was for that\nknight only that could pass her at the spear. She hurled the stone and\nleapt after it to the mark. Any that desired the noble damsel\u2019s love\nmust first win boldly in these three games. If he failed but in one, he\nlost his head.\n\nAnd oft had this happened already, when the rumour thereof reached the\nnoble warrior by the Rhine, who fixed his desire upon the maiden, the\nwhich, or all was done, cost the life of many heroes.\n\nOn a day that the king sat with his men, and they cast to and fro whom\ntheir prince might best take to wife for his own comfort and the good\nof his land, the lord of Rhineland said, \u201cI will hence across the sea\nto Brunhild, let what will betide. For her sake I will peril my body,\nfor I lose it if I win her not to wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo so not,\u201d said Siegfried. \u201cCruel is the queen, and he that would woo\nher playeth too high a stake. Make not this journey.\u201d\n\nBut King Gunther answered, \u201cNever yet was woman born so stark and bold,\nthat, with this single hand, I could not vanquish her in strife.\u201d\n\nBut Siegfried said, \u201cPeace! Thou knowest her not. Wert thou four men,\nthou wert no match for her grim wrath. In good faith I counsel thee to\nlet the matter be. If thou lovest thy life, come not in such straits\nfor her sake.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, now, I care not how stark she be; I will journey, even as I have\nsaid, to Brunhild, and take my chance. For her great beauty I must\nadventure this. What if God prosper me, and she follow me to the\nRhine?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I counsel thee,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cto ask Siegfried to share with thee\nthis hard emprise. It were well, since he knoweth so much of Brunhild.\u201d\n\nSo the king spake, \u201cWilt thou help me, most noble Siegfried, to woo the\ndamsel? Grant me this, and if I win the royal maiden for my dear one, I\nwill adventure honour and life for thy sake.\u201d\n\nSiegfried, the son of Siegmund, made answer, \u201cGive me thy sister\nKriemhild, the high princess, and I will do it. Other meed I ask not.\u201d\n\nSaid Gunther, \u201cI swear it, Siegfried, on thy hand. If Brunhild come\nhither, I will give thee my sister to wife; and mayest thou live\njoyfully with her to thy life\u2019s end.\u201d\n\nThe noble warriors sware an oath; and travail enow they endured, or\nthey led back the fair one to the Rhine; yea, ofttimes they were\nstraightened sore.\n\nI have heard tell of wild dwarfs: how that they dwell in hollow\nmountains, and wear wonderful cloaks called _Tarnkappes_. And whoso\nhath this on his body cometh not in scathe by blows or spear-thrusts;\nnor is he seen of any man so long as he weareth it, but may spy and\nhearken at his will. His strength also waxeth thereby; so runneth the\ntale.\n\nSiegfried took the _Tarnkappe_ with him that he had wrested from Albric\nthe dwarf. And these high and noble knights made ready for the journey.\nWhen stark Siegfried did on the _Tarnkappe_, he was strong with the\nstrength of twelve men, and with these cunning devices he won the royal\nmaiden; for the cloak of cloud was fashioned on such wise, that who\nwore it did what him listed, none seeing; and he won Brunhild thereby,\nthat after brought him dole.\n\n\u201cNow tell me, Siegfried, or we depart, how we may cross the sea with\nhonour? Shall we take warriors with us to Brunhild\u2019s land? It were easy\nto summon thirty thousand knights.\u201d\n\nBut Siegfried answered, \u201cHowsoever great a host we led thither, the\ncruelty of the queen is such, that every mother\u2019s son of them must\nperish. A better plan is mine, most noble king. Let us down to the\nRhine as simple knights, even these friends that I name. Thou and I,\nand, further, only two. So shall we woo the damsel, let the issue be as\nit may. I shall be one, and thou shalt be another. Let the third be\nHagen, and the fourth Dankwart, the doughty man. A thousand shall not\nprevail against us.\u201d\n\n\u201cFain would I know,\u201d said the king then, \u201cwhat manner of raiment we\nshould wear before Brunhild. Prithee, counsel me in this matter,\nSiegfried.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the land of Brunhild they wear naught but the best, wherefore let\nus appear before the women in goodly apparel, that none may cry shame\non us hereafter.\u201d\n\nThen said the knight, \u201cI will go, myself, to my dear mother, and\nbeseech her that she let her damsels make ready for us such garments as\nmay bring us honour before the royal maiden.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said courteously, \u201cWherefore beg this service of thy mother?\nTell thy sister of thy intent. She is skilled, and will provide thee\nwith goodly raiment.\u201d\n\nAnd Gunther prayed his sister to receive him and Siegfried. The which\nshe did after she had robed her in her best apparel. She was little\ngrieved at the coming of the knights. Her attendants were fitly\nadorned, and the knights went in. When she saw them, she rose from her\nseat, and hasted, and received the noble guest and her brother\ncourteously. She said, \u201cThou are welcome, my brother: thou and they\nfriend. I would know what hath brought you to the court. Tell me, I\npray you, noble knights, how it standeth with you.\u201d\n\nThe king answered, \u201cLady, I will tell thee. An hard adventure is before\nus, the which we must bear boldly through. We ride a-wooing into a far\nand a strange land, and have need of rich apparel.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow sit, dear brother,\u201d said the king\u2019s child, \u201cand tell me plainly\nwho the women are that ye would woo in other kings\u2019 lands.\u201d The maiden\ntook both the chosen knights by the hand, and led them to the rich\ncushion whereon she had sat, and on the which were wrought (for this I\nknow) fair pictures raised with gold. They wearied not, certes, among\nthe women. Of kind glances and soft looks there was no stint. Siegfried\nbore her in his heart, and loved her as his life, and won her for his\nwife by noble service.\n\nThe great king said, \u201cDearest sister mine, we need thy help. We go to\nsojourn in the land of Brunhild, and must have rich apparel to wear\nbefore the women.\u201d\n\nThe princess answered, \u201cIf I can aid thee in any wise, believe me, I\nwill do it; sad were Kriemhild if aught were denied thee. Ask of me,\nnothing doubting, noble knight, and, as a master, command me; all that\nthou desirest I will readily perform.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe would have goodly raiment, dear sister, and therein thy white hand\nshall help us. Let thy maids bestir them, that we be fair equipped,\nsince none shall turn us from this journey.\u201d\n\nSaid the damsel, \u201cNow mark what I say. We have silk of our own; bid\nthem bring us hither, on the shields, precious stones to work the robes\nwithal, that unashamed ye may wear them before the royal maiden.\u201d The\nprincess asked, \u201cWho are they that shall follow thee in rich array to\nthe court?\u201d\n\nAnd he answered, \u201cWe be four. My two liegemen, Dankwart and Hagen, ride\nwith us. And what I tell thee, mark well. For each of four days thou\nshalt provide us with three changes of good raiment, that we be not\nscorned in Brunhild\u2019s land!\u201d\n\nShe promised this to the knights, and they took their leave.\n\nThen Princess Kriemhild summoned from their chambers thirty of her\nmaidens that had great skill in such work.\n\nSilk from Araby, white as snow, and from Zazamanc, green like clover,\nthey embroidered with precious stones. The royal maiden cut them\nherself. In sooth, they were goodly robes. Linings finely fashioned\nfrom fishes\u2019 skins, rarely seen then, they covered, as many as they\nhad, with silk, and wrought them with gold. Many a marvel could one\ntell of these garments. For they had, in plenty, the finest silks from\nMorocco and Libya that the children of kings ever wore. It was not hard\nto see that Kriemhild loved the warriors. And because they desired rich\napparel, the black-spotted ermine was not spared, the which good\nknights covet still for hightides.\n\nPrecious stones sparkled on gold of Araby. Certes, the women were not\nidle. Inside of seven weeks the clothes were ready, and also weapons\nfor the knights.\n\nNow when all was done, a stout ship lay waiting on the Rhine to bear\nthem down to the sea. Ill paid were the maidens, after, for their toil.\n\nWhen they told the knights that the rich vesture they were to wear was\nready, and that all they had asked was accomplished, they were eager to\nquit the Rhine. A messenger was sent to them, that they might try on\ntheir new apparel, lest haply it might be too short or too long for\nany. But the measure was exact, wherefore they thanked the maidens. All\nthat saw it owned that, in the whole world, none was better. They wore\nit proudly at the court, and none were praised above them for their\nattire.\n\nThe maidens had sweet thanks, and the doughty warriors took their leave\nright courteously, and bright eyes were dim and wet with tears.\n\nKriemhild said, \u201cDear brother, thou didst better to stay here and woo\nother women without risk to thy body. It were easy to find, nigh at\nhand, a wife of as high lineage.\u201d\n\nI ween her heart told her the dole that was to come. And they wept all\ntogether, and refused to be comforted, till the gold on their breasts\nwas wet with the tears that rolled down from their eyes.\n\nShe spake further, \u201cSir Siegfried, to thy care and good faith I commend\nmy dear brother, that no evil betide him in Brunhild\u2019s land.\u201d The\nknight gave his hand thereon, and promised it. He said, \u201cFear not,\nlady; if I live, I will bring him back safe to the Rhine. I swear it by\nmine own body.\u201d\n\nAnd the fair maiden thanked him.\n\nThey carried down the shields of ruddy gold to the strand, and stowed\ntheir armour in the vessel, and let fetch their horses, for they were\neager to be gone. The women made mickle dole. Fair damsels stood at the\nwindows. The fresh wind caught the sail, and lo! the good knights sat\non the Rhine.\n\nThen said Gunther, \u201cWho shall be steersman?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I be,\u201d answered Siegfried. \u201cTrust me, ye heroes, and I will\npilot you hence, for I know the currents.\u201d So with stout hearts they\nleft Burgundy. Siegfried took hold of the pole and pushed from the\nstrand. Gunther himself took an oar, and they fell away from the shore.\nThey had rich meats with them, and Rhine wine of the best. Their horses\nstood easy and quiet; their boat flew light, and misadventure they had\nnone. Their strong sails filled, and they made twenty miles or night\nfell, for the wind favoured them. But their high emprise brought many\nwomen dole. They say that by the twelfth morning the wind had blown\nthem afar to Isenstein in Brunhild\u2019s land, the which none had seen\nbefore that, save Siegfried. When King Gunther beheld so many towers\nand broad marches, he cried out, \u201cNow say, friend Siegfried; knowest\nthou whose are these castles and these fair lands? By my troth, I have\nnever in my life seen castles so many and so goodly as stand there\nbefore us. A mighty man he must be that hath builded them.\u201d\n\nWhereto Siegfried made answer, \u201cYea, I know well. They are all\nBrunhild\u2019s\u2014towers and lands, and the castle of Isenstein. I say sooth;\nand many fair women shall ye behold this day. Now I counsel you, O\nknights, for so it seemeth good to me, that ye be all of one mind and\none word; we must stand warily before Brunhild the queen. And when we\nsee the fair one amidst of her folk, be sure that ye tell all the same\nstory: that Gunther is my lord, and I his liegeman. So shall he win to\nhis desire. Yet this I do less for love of thee than for the fair maid,\nthy sister, that is to me as my soul and mine own body, and for whom I\ngladly serve, that I may win her to wife.\u201d\n\nThey promised with one accord, and none gainsayed him through pride,\nthe which stood them in good stead when the king came to stand before\nBrunhild.\n\n\n\n\nSeventh Adventure\nHow Gunther Won Brunhild\n\n\nMeanwhile the ship was come nigh to the castle, and the king saw many\nfair maidens that stood above at the windows. It irked him that he knew\nthem not, and he said to Siegfried, his friend, \u201cKnowest thou aught of\nthese maidens that look down at us on the sea? Howso their lord hight,\nthey are, certes, right noble.\u201d\n\nBold Siegfried answered, \u201cSpy secretly among them, and say which thou\nwouldst have chosen, if thou hadst had the choice.\u201d And Gunther said,\n\u201cI will. I see one standing at yonder window in snow-white robe. Goodly\nis she, and for her fair body\u2019s sake, mine eyes choose her. If I had\nthe power, she should be my wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cThine eyes have led thee aright. That is the noble Brunhild, the\nbeautiful lady that thou desirest with thy heart and thy soul.\u201d Gunther\nfound no fault in her.\n\nThe queen bade her damsels void the windows, nor stand in the gaze of\nthe strangers. They obeyed; but what they did after hath been told us.\nThey adorned them for the warriors, as is the manner of fair women;\nthen they stole to the loopholes and looked curiously at the heroes.\n\nThese came only four strong into the land. Bold Siegfried held a horse\non the strand, and, by reason thereof, the women that spied through the\nwindows deemed King Gunther of the more worship. He held the good\nhorse, by the bridle; stately it was and sleek, mickle and stark, and\nKing Gunther sat in the saddle, and Siegfried served him; but Gunther\nforgot this afterward.\n\nThen Siegfried took his own horse from the ship. Seldom before had he\nheld the stirrup for a warrior to mount. And all this the fair women\nmarked through the loopholes. The heroes were clad alike; both their\nhorses and their apparel were snow-white, and the shields were goodly\nthat shone in their hands. Their saddles were set with precious stones,\ntheir poitrels small, and hung with bells of burnished gold. So they\nrode proudly into Brunhild\u2019s courtyard, and came into the land as\nbefitted their might, with new-sharpened spears, and finely-tempered\nswords, keen and massy, that reached to their spurs. All this Brunhild,\nthe royal maiden, saw.\n\nDankwart rode with them, and Hagen. These knights, they say, wore\nclothes of raven-black, and their shields were mickle, broad and\ngoodly. Stones from India shone on their apparel. They left the vessel\nunguarded on the beach, and rode up to the castle. There they saw\neighty and six towers, three great palaces, and a stately hall of\ncostly marble, green like grass, wherein the queen sat with her\ncourtiers.\n\nBrunhild\u2019s men unlocked the castle gate and threw it wide, and ran\ntoward them, and welcomed the guests to their queen\u2019s land. They bade\nhold the horses, and take the shields from their hands. And the\nchamberlain said, \u201cDo off your swords now, and your bright armour.\u201d\n\u201cNot so,\u201d answered Hagen of Trony; \u201cwe will bear these ourselves.\u201d\n\nBut Siegfried told them the custom of the court. \u201cIt is the law here\nthat no guest shall bear arms. Wherefore ye did well to give them up.\u201d\n\nGunther\u2019s men obeyed, much loth. They bade pour out the wine for the\nguests, and see that they were well lodged. Willing knights in princely\nattire ran to and fro to serve them, spying with many glances at the\nstrangers.\n\nThey brought word to Brunhild that unknown warriors in rich apparel\nwere come thither, sailing on the sea, and the beautiful maiden\nquestioned them. \u201cTell me,\u201d said the queen, \u201cwho these strangers be\nthat stand yonder so proudly, and for whose sake they be come.\u201d And one\nof the courtiers made answer. \u201cIn sooth, Lady, albeit I never yet set\neyes on them, one among them much resembleth Siegfried, and him I\ncounsel thee to welcome. The second of the company hath so lofty a mien\nthat, if his power be equal thereto, he might well be a great king and\na ruler of wide lands, for he standeth right proudly before the others.\nThe third, O Queen, is grim, yet a goodly man withal. His glance is\nswift and dark; he is fierce-tempered, I ween. The youngest pleaseth me\nwell. Maidenly and modest he standeth, yet it went hard, methinketh,\nwith any that angered him. For all that he seemeth gentle, and is\nfashioned daintily, if his wrath were once kindled, many a woman might\nweep, for he is a bold and virtuous knight, and right worshipful.\u201d\n\nThe queen said, \u201cBring me my robe. If stark Siegfried be come into my\nland to woo me, he shall pay for it with his life. I fear him not so\ngreatly that I should yield me to be his wife.\u201d\n\nThen Brunhild attired her in haste. An hundred or more of her damsels\nwent with her, richly adorned, whom the guests beheld gladly.\nBrunhild\u2019s knights of Issland gave them escort, to the number of five\nhundred or thereabout, their swords in their hands, the which irked the\nbold strangers. They stood up from their seats; and the queen spake\ncourteously to them when she saw Siegfried. \u201cThou art welcome,\nSiegfried, to this land. To what end art thou come? I prithee tell me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank thee, O Brunhild, fair daughter of a king, that thou greetest\nme before this worshipful knight. Thou showest Siegfried too much\nhonour, for he is my lord, and the king of the Rhineland. What boots it\nto say more? For thy sake we are come hither, for he would woo thee at\nall hazards. Weigh the matter betimes, for of a surety he will win\nthee. His name is Gunther; he is a great and mighty king, and he\ndesireth naught save thy love. To this end I have followed him, nor had\ndone it, but that he is my master.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cIf he be thy lord, and thou be his man, let him\nwithstand me at the games. If he have the mastery, then I am his wife,\nbut let him fail in one of them, and ye be all dead men.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cLady, show us the games that thou proposest.\nIt will go hard with Gunther or he yield thee the mastery, for he\ntroweth well to win so fair a maiden.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe must put the stone, and leap after it, and throw the spear with me.\nYe may easily forfeit honour and life; wherefore be not so confident,\nbut bethink you well.\u201d\n\nThen bold Siegfried went to the king, and bade him fear naught, but\nspeak freely to the queen. \u201cFor,\u201d said he, \u201cI will aid thee with\ncunning devices.\u201d\n\nAnd King Gunther said, \u201cCommand me, great queen, and were it more yet,\nI would risk it for thy sake. I will lose my head, or win thee to\nwife.\u201d\n\nWhen the queen heard this word, she bade haste to the sports, as was\nmeet, and let them bring her harness, a golden buckler and a goodly\nshield. She did on a surcoat of silk from Libya, that had never been\npierced in combat, cunningly fashioned and embroidered, and shining\nwith precious stones. Her pride greatly angered the knights, and\nDankwart and Hagen were downcast, for they feared for their lord, and\nthought, \u201cIll-starred was this journey.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile, Siegfried, the cunning man, went, when none spied him, to\nthe ship, where he found the _Tarnkappe_, and he did it on swiftly,\nthat none knew. Then he hastened back to the crowd of knights, where\nthe queen gave order for the sports, and, by his magic, he stole in\namong them, that no man was ware of him. The ring was marked out in the\npresence of armed knights to the number of seven hundred. These were\nthe umpires, that should tell truly who won in the sports.\n\nThen came Brunhild. She stood armed, as she had meant to do battle with\nall the kings of all the world. The silk was covered with gold spangles\nthat showed her white skin. Her attendants brought her, for the strife,\na shield of ruddy gold with iron studs, mickle and broad. The maid\u2019s\nthong was an embroidered band, whereon lay stones green like grass,\nthat sparkled among the gold. The knight must, certes, be bold that won\nsuch a lady. They say the shield the maiden bore was three spans thick\nunder the folds, rich with steel and gold, that four of her\nchamberlains scarce could carry it.\n\nWhen stark Hagen saw them drag the shield forward, the hero of Trony\nwas wroth, and cried, \u201cHow now, King Gunther? We be dead men, for thou\nwooest the Devil\u2019s wife!\u201d\n\nYet more must ye hear of her vesture. Her coat of mail was covered with\nsilk from Azagouc, costly and rich, and the stones thereof sparkled on\nthe queen\u2019s body. They brought her the spear, heavy and big and sharp,\nthat she was wont to throw. Stark and huge it was, mickle and broad,\nand made grim wounds with its edges. And hear, now, the marvel of its\nheaviness. Three weights and a half of iron were welded for it. Three\nof Brunhild\u2019s lords scarce could carry it. A woeful man was King\nGunther, and he thought, \u201cLo! now not the Devil in Hell could escape\nher. Were I in Burgundy with my life, she might wait long enough for my\nwooing.\u201d He stood dismayed. Then they brought him his armour, and he\ndid it on.\n\nHagen came nigh to lose his wits for sorrow, and Dankwart, his brother,\nsaid, \u201cBy my troth, I rue this adventure. Once we hight warriors, and\nshall we perish in this country by the hand of a woman? Alack! that we\never came hither! Had my brother Hagen but his sword, and I mine,\nBrunhild\u2019s men would abate their pride; I ween they would walk softer.\nIf I had sworn peace with a thousand oaths, that maid should die sooner\nthan that my lord should lose his life.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt were easy to quit this land,\u201d said Hagen, his brother, \u201cif we had\nour harness for the strife, and our good swords. This dame would be\nmilder, I trow.\u201d\n\nThe noble maiden heard him plain, and, with smiling mouth, she looked\nover her shoulder. \u201cSince he deemeth him so bold, bring his harness,\nand give to the heroes their sharp weapons. It is all one to me whether\nthey be armed or naked. I never feared the might of any man, and doubt\nnot but I shall overcome this king.\u201d\n\nWhen they had brought the weapons, as the maid commanded, bold Dankwart\ngrew red with joy. \u201cNow let them drive what sport they like,\u201d he said;\n\u201cGunther is safe, since we have our swords.\u201d\n\nBrunhild\u2019s great strength appeared. They brought her a stone into the\ncircle, heavy and huge, round also, and broad. Twelve strong knights\nscarce sufficed thereto. And this she threw when she had hurled the\nspear. Whereat the Burgundians were sore troubled, and Hagen cried,\n\u201cWho is this that Gunther wooeth? Would she were the Devil\u2019s bride in\nHell!\u201d\n\nThen she turned back the sleeves from her white arms, and seized the\nshield, and brandished the spear above her head, and the contest began.\nGunther was sore dismayed. If Siegfried had not helped him, certes he\nhad lost his life; but Siegfried went up to him secretly, and touched\nhis hand. Gunther fell in fear by reason of his magic, and he thought,\n\u201cWho touched me?\u201d He looked round and saw no man. But Siegfried said,\n\u201cIt is I, Siegfried, thy friend. Fear naught from the queen. Give me\nthe shield from thy hands, and let me carry it, and give heed to what I\nsay. Make thou the gestures, and I will do the work.\u201d And Gunther was\nglad when he knew him. \u201cGuard well the secret of my magic, for all our\nsakes, lest the queen slay thee. See how boldly she challengeth thee.\u201d\n\nThereupon the royal maiden hurled her speak against the mickle and\nbroad shield of Sieglind\u2019s child, that sparks flew from it, as before a\nwind. The stark spear pierced through the shield, and struck fire from\nthe coat of mail below. And the mighty man fell, and had perished but\nfor the _Tarnkappe_. The blood gushed from Siegfried\u2019s mouth. But he\nsprang up swiftly, and took the spear that she had shot through his\nbuckler, and threw it back again with a great force. He thought, \u201cI\nwill not slay so fair a maiden,\u201d and he turned the spear, and hurled it\nwit the haft loud against her harness. From her mail, also, the sparks\nflew as on the wind, for Siegmund\u2019s child threw mightily; and her\nstrength failed before the blow. King Gunther, I ween, had never done\nit alone.\n\nBrunhild sprang to her feet again, and cried, \u201cI thank thee, Gunther,\nfor that blow.\u201d For she thought he had done it with his own strength,\nnor guessed that a far mightier man had felled her.\n\nThen, greatly wroth, she hasted and lifted the stone on high; she flung\nit far from her, and leaped after it with loud-ringing armour. The\nstone landed twenty and four paces off; but the maid sprang further.\nThen Siegfried went swiftly where the stone lay. Gunther lifted it, but\nit was the man they saw not that threw it. Siegfried was mighty, bold\nand big. He hurled the stone further, and he leaped further; moreover,\nthrough his magic, he had strength enow to bear King Gunther with him.\nThe spring was made, the stone lay on the ground, and none was seen\nthere but Gunther, the knight. Fair Brunhild was red with anger.\n\nSo Siegfried saved Gunther from death.\n\nThen Brunhild said aloud to her folk, when she saw the hero at the far\nend of the ring unhurt. \u201cCome hither at once, my kinsmen and my lieges.\nYe are subject henceforth to King Gunther.\u201d\n\nThe bold men laid the weapons from their hands at the feet of great\nGunther of Burgundy. For they deemed he had won the game by his own\nstrength.\n\nHe greeted them fair, for he was a courteous man, and he took the\nbeautiful maiden by the hand. She gave him power in her kingdom,\nwhereat bold Hagen rejoiced.\n\nShe bade the noble knight to the hall, where a multitude was assembled,\nthat showed much observance through fear of his prowess. So, by\nSiegfried\u2019s might, they were delivered from all peril.\n\nBut Siegfried was wise, and stowed away his _Tarnkappe_ with care; then\nhe went back where the women sat, and said feigningly to Gunther,\n\u201cWherefore delayest thou to begin the sports that the queen proposed,\nlet us now behold the issue thereof\u201d\u2014as if the cunning man knew naught\nof the matter.\n\nThe queen answered, \u201cHow cometh it to pass, Sir Siegfried, that thou\nsawest not the game whereat Gunther hath won?\u201d\n\nSaid Hagen of Burgundy, \u201cWhile we were downcast by reason of thee, O\nQueen, and afterward, when the king of Rhineland had beaten thee at the\nsports, Siegfried was at the ship, and knoweth naught of what hath\npassed.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight glad am I,\u201d said Siegfried, \u201cthat thy wooing hath prospered, and\nthat none is thy master. Now must thou follow us, noble Lady, to the\nRhine.\u201d\n\nBut Brunhild answered, \u201cNot yet; I must first summon my friends and my\nliegemen. Not so lightly can I quit my land. Certes, I will send for my\nkinsfolk afore I go.\u201d\n\nShe dispatched envoys over all, and bade her friends and her lieges\nhaste to Isenstein. She gave to each princely apparel.\n\nAll day long, late and early, troops of knights rode into Brunhild\u2019s\ncastle, till Hagen said, \u201cAlack! What have we done? Some hurt will\nbefall us from Brunhild\u2019s men. We know not her real intent. What if she\nspurn us when her forces are gathered together? Then were we all dead\nmen, and this maiden were born to our woe!\u201d\n\nBut stark Siegfried said, \u201cI will see to that, and hinder what thou\nfearest. I will bring to your help a body of chosen knights that thou\nknowest not yet. Ask me no further, for I will hence, and God guard you\nmeanwhile. I will return shortly, and bring with me a thousand knights,\nthan whom the world holdeth none better.\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly tarry not too long,\u201d said the king, \u201cfor we are right glad of thy\nhelp.\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cI will come again in a few days. Tell the queen I left by\nthy command.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEighth Adventure\nHow Siegfried Journeyed to the Nibelungs\n\n\nSiegfried hasted thence in his _Tarnkappe_ to the haven on the shore,\nwhere he found a ship, the which he boarded secretly, and rowed it\nswiftly, as it had been blown by the wind. None saw the boatman. He\nmade it fly with his great strength. Any that marked it deemed it\ndriven by a tempest, but it was by Siegfried, fair Sieglind\u2019s child.\n\nA day and a night brought him to a great country that an hundred days\u2019\njourney could not compass; this hight the Nibelung land, where he had\nhis vast treasure.\n\nThe hero landed alone on a broad meadow, and moored the ship. Then he\nwent to a mountain, whereon a castle stood, and asked for lodging, as\nhe had been a way-weary man. He went up to the door, that stood locked\nbefore him. For folk guarded their honour then, even as now. The\nstranger began to knock at the bolted door, and encountered within a\nhuge giant that kept watch, and that had his weapons ever by him. And\nthis giant said, \u201cWho knocketh so loud on that door?\u201d\n\nSiegfried answered with a feigned voice, \u201cI am a knight. Open to me,\nelse I will rouse some within that had willingly lain soft abed.\u201d\n\nThe porter was wroth at Siegfried\u2019s word. He did on his armour, and put\nhis helmet on his head, and grasped his shield, and swung open the\ndoor. Then he ran grimly at Siegfried, saying, \u201cHow durst thou waken so\nmany brave men?\u201d And he smote him hard and swift. The noble stranger\nmade wary fence, but the porter lifted an iron bar and brake his\nshield-band. Then the hero came in scathe, and began to fear grim death\nwhen the porter smote so hard. Yet his master loved him the more for\nhis daring.\n\nThey strove so fiercely that the castle rang, and the din thereof was\nheard in the hall of the Nibelungs. But Siegfried overcame the porter\nat last, and bound him. And the news spread through the Nibelung land.\n\nAlbric, a bold and savage dwarf, heard their strife from far off\nthrough the mountain. He did on his armour straightway, and ran where\nhe found the stranger, that had made an end of binding the giant. Now\nAlbric was bold and stout, and on his body he had a helmet and coat of\nmail, and in his hand a heavy scourge of gold. He hasted and fell on\nSiegfried. The scourge had seven heavy knobs hanging from it, wherewith\nhe smote so heavily to the left upon the shield that he well nigh brake\nit. Then the noble guest came in peril. He threw away the broken shield\nand stuck his long sword into the sheath, for he would not slay his\nchamberlain, but ever spared his own folk; wherein he did honourably.\nWith his strong hands he ran at Albric, and grasped the age-hoary man\nby the beard, and shook him sore, that he yelled aloud. Certes, the\nyoung hero\u2019s handling was dolorous enow to Albric, who cried out,\n\u201cSpare me. Had I not sworn fealty to a knight already, I would serve\nthee till I died.\u201d This he spake craftily. Siegfried bound Albric as he\nhad done to the giant, and the dwarf was in evil case through\nSiegfried\u2019s strength, and asked, \u201cWhat is thy name?\u201d\n\nSiegfried answered, \u201cSiegfried is my name. Methought thou hadst known\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight glad am I to hear it,\u201d said Albric the dwarf, \u201cfor now I know,\nby thy prowess, that thou art worthy to be the lord of this land, and I\nwill do all thy behest, if thou spare my life.\u201d\n\nSaid Siegfried then, \u201cHaste and bring me a thousand Nibelung knights,\nof the best we have. I would see them here before me. Thou hast naught\nto fear at my hand.\u201d He loosed the giant and Albric, and Albric ran to\nthe knights, and waked them eagerly, and said, \u201cRouse ye, O heroes, and\ngo to Siegfried.\u201d\n\nThey sprang from their beds and were ready on the instant, a thousand\ngood knights and rich attired. They went where Siegfried stood, and he\ngreeted them fair. They lit many tapers, and poured for him the spiced\ndraught. And he thanked them that they had not lingered, and said, \u201cYe\nshall follow me hence across the sea;\u201d whereto he found the good\nknights willing.\n\nFull thirty thousand warriors were come at his bidding, and from these\nhe chose a thousand of the best. And some brought them their helmets,\nand some their coats of mail, for they had to follow Siegfried into\nBrunhild\u2019s land. He said then, \u201cHearken, good knights; ye go to court,\nand must have rich apparel, for ye shall be seen of fair women.\nWherefore array you in your best.\u201d\n\nNow a fool might say, \u201cThou liest. How could so many knights dwell\ntogether? Where find the meat, and where the vesture? It were not\npossible, if Siegfried had thirty lands.\u201d But ye have heard that\nSiegfried was rich, for the kingdom and the hoard of the Nibelungs were\nhis. Wherefore his knights had enow and to spare, for the hoard grew\nnever less for all that he took from it.\n\nThey rose up early in the morning (doughty followers had Siegfried\nwon!), and took good horses with them, and sumptuous apparel, and\ndeparted proudly for Brunhild\u2019s land.\n\nMany beautiful maidens gazed from the windows there, and the queen\nsaid, \u201cDo any of you know who they be, that I behold yonder, afar off\non the waves? Their sails are rich and whiter than the snow.\u201d\n\nThe King of Rhineland answered, \u201cThey are my men, that I left some\nlittle way behind when I journeyed hither. I summoned them, and now,\nQueen, they are here.\u201d\n\nThey welcomed the noble guests courteously. Siegfried stood in the prow\nof the vessel, richly clad, and many warriors beside him.\n\nThe queen said, \u201cTell me, O King, shall I greet the guests, or no?\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cGo out now before the castle. So shall they see that they\nare welcome.\u201d And the queen did as he counselled her, and greeted\nSiegfried before any. And they lodged them, and took their arms in\ncharge.\n\nNow so many guests were in the land that they were pressed for room,\nand the Burgundians were eager to be home.\n\nThen said the queen, \u201cI would thank him that would distribute for me,\namong mine and the king\u2019s guests, the gold and silver that I have in\nplenty.\u201d\n\nDankwart, bold Giselher\u2019s man, answered, \u201cNoble Queen, give me the key,\nand I will so divide it that, if there be any shame, it shall be mine\nonly.\u201d\n\nNone could deny that he gave freely. When Hagen\u2019s brother held the key,\nhe bestowed costly gifts without stint. Whoso desired a mark received\nso much that the poorest was rich his life long. Pounds, by the\nhundred, he gave uncounted, and many an one went forth from the hall\nrichly dight, that never afore had worn so fair vesture.\n\nThey told it to the queen, who was wroth, and said, \u201cI would know,\nKing, wherefore thy chamberlain leaveth me naught of my apparel, and\nspendeth all my gold. I would thank him that stayed his hand. He giveth\nas he thought I had summoned Death hither. But I trust to live yet a\nwhile, and can spend for myself, I trow, what my father left me.\u201d\n\nNever had queen so lavished a chamberlain.\n\nBut Hagen of Trony made answer, \u201cKnow, Lady, that the King of the Rhine\nhath gold and raiment to give in plenty, nor needeth to bear aught of\nBrunhild\u2019s hence.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, if thou lovest me,\u201d said the queen, \u201clet me fill twenty\ntravelling chests with gold and with silk, that my hand may have\nsomewhat to bestow when we get home to the land of Burgundy.\u201d\n\nThey filled the chests with precious stones. Her own chamberlain saw to\nit, for she would not trust Giselher\u2019s man. And Gunther and Hagen began\nto laugh.\n\nThen the queen said, \u201cTo whom shall I leave my kingdom? Thy hand and\nmine must establish that or we depart.\u201d\n\nThe king answered, \u201cCall forth whom thou wilt, and he shall be regent.\u201d\n\nThe lady saw her nearest of kin standing night her\u2014her mother\u2019s\nbrother\u2014and to him she said, \u201cTake my castles and land in charge, till\nthat King Gunther\u2019s own hand holdeth rule here.\u201d\n\nShe chose from among her knights two thousand men to follow her to the\nRhine, and the thousand Nibelung warriors. Then she made ready for the\njourney, and rode down to the shore. She took with her six and eighty\nwomen, and an hundred fair damsels, and they tarried not longer, but\nset out. They that were left behind wept sore! Graciously and sweetly\nthe lady quitted her land. She kissed her nearest of kin that stood\nround. With loving farewells they reached the sea. To the land of her\nfathers the maiden returned nevermore.\n\nMany hands made music during the voyage, and they had all manner of\npastime, and a favouring wind. And so they sailed away; and many a\nmother\u2019s son wept for it.\n\nBrunhild wedded not the king on the voyage, but waited for a hightide\nthat was to be held in the castle of Worms; and thither they speeded\nmerrily with their knights.\n\n\n\n\nNinth Adventure\nHow Siegfried Was Sent to Worms\n\n\nWhen they had journeyed full nine days, Hagen of Trony said, \u201cHearken\nto my word. We have delayed too long to send the news to Worms on the\nRhine. The envoys should have been in Burgundy or now.\u201d\n\nKing Gunther answered, \u201cThou sayest sooth. And none were better for\nthis business than thyself, friend Hagen. Ride now into my land, for\nthou art the fittest to tell of our coming.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, certes, dear master, I am but a bad envoy. Let me stay here at\nsea and act the chamberlain. I will look to the women\u2019s wardrobe, till\nwe bring them to Burgundy. Bid Siegfried rather carry the message; by\nreason of his great strength he will bear it through well. If he deny\nthee, urge him with friendly words, that he do it for thy sister\u2019s\nsake.\u201d\n\nSo Gunther sent for the knight, who came when they had found him. And\nthe king said, \u201cWe are well nigh home in my land. It is time I sent a\nmessenger to tell my dear sister and my mother that we draw near.\nUndertake thou the journey, and I will owe thee much thank.\u201d\n\nBut Siegfried would not do it till that Gunther had begged him and\nsaid, \u201cRide not for my sake only, but for fair Kriemhild\u2019s, that the\nroyal maiden requite it, even as I.\u201d And when Siegfried heard that, he\nyielded.\n\n\u201cCommand what thou wilt, I will not gainsay it. I will do it for the\nsake of my beautiful lady. How should I deny aught to her that I bear\nin my heart? Because of her, I will perform all that thou askest.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell Uta, then, the great queen, that we have prospered in our\nadventure; and let my brothers hear how that it hath fared well with\nus. Tell the same news to our friends. And hide nothing from my sister.\nGreet her from Brunhild and me; greet also the courtiers and all my\nmen. Say to them that I have gotten the desire of my heart. And bid\nOrtwin, my dear nephew, raise seats by the Rhine. Make it known also to\nthe other knights that I will hold a great hightide with Brunhild; and\nbid my sister, when she heareth I am at hand with my guests, prepare a\nfair welcome for my bride; for the which I shall ever be beholden to\nher.\u201d\n\nSo Siegfried took leave of Brunhild, as was meet, and rode to the\nRhine. In the whole world was no better envoy.\n\nWith twenty and four knights he rode to Worms. And when it was noised\nabroad that he was come without the king, Gunther\u2019s servants were heavy\nof their cheer, for they feared that their lord had tarried behind,\ndead.\n\nThe messengers sprang gaily from their horses, and Giselher, the young\nking, ran to them, and Gernot, his brother, who cried quickly, when he\nsaw not King Gunther with Siegfried, \u201cThou art welcome, Sir Siegfried.\nTell me, now, what thou hast done with my brother the king. If the\nstrength of Brunhild hath reft him from us, a bitter wooing hath it\nbeen.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear naught. Thee and his kinsmen my friend greeteth by me, for he\nhath sent me hither to you with news. Contrive now that I come to the\nqueen and thy sister. For I am charged with the same message to them as\nto thee, from Gunther and Brunhild: that it standeth well with the\ntwain.\u201d\n\nGiselher said, \u201cGo in to them straightway, and it will please my\nsister. She feareth for my brother; by my troth, she will see thee\ngladly.\u201d\n\nSiegfried answered, \u201cIf I can serve her in aught, it shall be done.\nWhere are now the ladies, that I may go to them?\u201d\n\nGiselher, the brave youth, bare the message; he said to his mother and\nhis sister, \u201cSiegfried is come to us, the hero of the Netherland. My\nbrother Gunther hath sent him hither to the Rhine. He bringeth us word\nhow it standeth with the king. Allow him to come to the court, for he\nbringeth news from Issland.\u201d\n\nThe noble women were heavy of their cheer. They ran for their robes,\nand arrayed them, and bade Siegfried to the court; and he went gladly,\nfor he yearned to see them. Kriemhild, the noble maiden, greeted him\nfair.\n\n\u201cThou art welcome, Sir Siegfried, valiant knight. Where is my brother\nGunther, the noble king? I fear we have lost him by Brunhild\u2019s\nstrength. Alack! that ever I was born!\u201d\n\nBut the warrior answered, \u201cGive me the guerdon of good news, for, fair\nwomen, ye weep without cause. I left him safe and sound\u2014I say sooth\u2014and\nhe hath charged me with a message. He and his wife commend them\nlovingly to thee, O Queen. Dry thine eyes, for they will be here\nshortly.\u201d\n\nKriemhild had not heard such good news for many a day. She wiped her\nbright eyes with her snow-white apron, and began to thank the envoy for\nhis message.\n\nSo ended her sorrow and her tears.\n\nShe bade Siegfried sit, whereto he was nothing loth, and said sweetly,\n\u201cI would fain give thee the envoy\u2019s guerdon, wert thou not too rich to\nreceive it. Take my good will in lieu thereof.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough I had thirty lands,\u201d answered Siegfried, \u201cI were proud to take\na gift from thy hand.\u201d\n\nKriemhild said, \u201cBe it so.\u201d And she bade the chamberlain fetch the\nenvoy\u2019s meed. She gave him four and twenty bracelets with precious\nstones for his fee. The hero would not keep them: he was too rich a\nprince, but gave them to the maidens that were in the chamber.\n\nUta, also, greeted him fair, and he said, \u201cI must tell thee further\nwhat the king would have thee do when he cometh to the Rhine; for the\nwhich, if thou grant it, he will ever be beholden to thee. He would\nhave thee receive his noble guests kindly, and ride out from Worms to\nthe shore to meet them. He begged this of thee with true heart.\u201d\n\nThe beautiful maiden answered, \u201cI will do it gladly. I will deny him no\nservice. Faithfully and truly will I do it.\u201d And she grew red from\nlove.\n\nNever was prince\u2019s envoy better entreated. If she had durst kiss him,\nshe had done it readily. On loving wise he took leave of the maiden.\n\nThen did the Burgundians as Siegfried told them. Sindolt, and Hunolt,\nand Rumolt the knight, hasted and raised seats on the strand before\nWorms. The king\u2019s servants rested not. And Ortwin and Gary sent\nmessengers out straightway to Gunther\u2019s liegemen over all, with news of\nthe hightide. The maidens looked to their apparel. The palace and all\nthe walls were decked out for the guests, and adorned cunningly for the\nstranger knights.\n\nAll the roads were thronged with the kinsmen of the three kings, that\nhad been summoned to welcome Gunther and Brunhild, and many a rich vest\nwas taken from its wrapping-cloth. Then the news spread, that\nBrunhild\u2019s friends had been spied on the way. And great was the press\nin Burgundy. Bold knights, enow, I ween, were there on both sides!\n\nFair Kriemhild said, \u201cGo now, you of my maidens that will forth with me\nto the welcome, and seek out your best clothes from the chests, that we\nmay have honour and praise from the guests.\u201d\n\nThe knights also bade bring out rich saddles, all of red gold, for the\nwomen to ride from Worms down to the Rhine. Better riding gear there\ncould not be. Ha! how bright the gold shone on the horses, and the\nprecious stones on the bridles! They brought out gilded side-saddles\nand goodly trappings for the women. And they were all merry of their\ncheer.\n\nThe horses stood ready in the court for the noble maidens, as I have\ntold you, and the poitrals were of the finest silk that was ever spun.\nEighty and six dames in head-coifs, fair, and dight in rich apparel,\ncame to Kriemhild, and thereto, featly adorned, many a beautiful\ndamsel; fifty and four, the fairest in Burgundy, with glittering lace\nover their yellow hair. All that the king had desired of them they did\nwith good will. Fair robes of goodly stuffs that matched their white\nskins they wore before the stranger knights. None but a fool had found\nany of them amiss. Some had mantles of sable and ermine, and their arms\nand wrists had bracelets over the silk; none might tell all the goodly\nshow to the end. With girdles cunningly fashioned, rich and long, they\nbound their gorgeous robes made of silk of Araby. The world held no\nfairer damsels. In their tightened bodices they laced them deftly.\nCertes, they had been grieved if their red cheeks had not outshone\ntheir vesture. Never queen had lovelier maidens.\n\nWhen now the women had done on their apparel, the proud warriors that\nwere to lead them out drew nigh, a mighty force, bearing shields and\nashen spears.\n\n\n\n\nTenth Adventure\nHow Brunhild Was Received at Worms\n\n\nOn the far bank of the Rhine appeared a mighty host\u2014the king with his\nguests\u2014and they drew nigh to the strand, where damsels, led by the\nbridle, stood ready with welcome. When they from Issland, and\nSiegfried\u2019s men of the Nibelung, saw that the ships were come, they\nhasted to the beach and laid hold, for they spied the king\u2019s friends\nthat waited on the other side.\n\nIt is told of Uta, the rich queen, that she brought her damsels from\nthe castle to ride with her, so that knights and maidens won knowledge\nof one another. The Margrave Gary held Kriemhild\u2019s bridle till they\nwere out from the fortress; then Siegfried hasted to serve her, for the\nwhich he was after requited.\n\nOrtwin the bold went by dame Uta\u2019s side, and, paired meetly and in\nsweet fellowship, knights and maidens rode together. Never, in sooth,\nat such meeting were so many women gathered. The men held tourney in\nthe presence of Kriemhild and the rest, until the ships were landed,\nand did valiant deeds, that had been ill left undone at such a season.\n\nThen they lifted the rich-attired women from their horses. Ha! what\nsplintering of lances, what din of shields, what noise and clash of\nwrought bucklers, when the king and his guests were come over to the\nfair ones that stood by the haven!\n\nGunther, with his friends, went down from the ships; he led Brunhild by\nthe hand; garments and precious stones shone bright and sparkled. And\nKriemhild went eagerly toward them, and greeted Brunhild and her\nfollowing. They drew back their head-bands with white fingers, and\nkissed one another through love. Then Kriemhild, the maid, spake\ncourteously, \u201cThou art right welcome in this land, to me and to my\nmother, and to our friends.\u201d And they courtsied and embraced. Never, I\nween, was any greeted fairer than the bride, by Uta and her daughter,\nfor they ceased not to kiss her sweet mouth.\n\nWhen Brunhild\u2019s women were all gotten to land, the knights led them\nbefore the queen, where welcome was not stinted them, and, where many a\nred mouth was kissed. The rich kings\u2019 daughters stood long side by\nside, and the warriors gazed on them. What these had heard tell they\nsaw with their eyes, that none surpassed those two women in beauty,\nneither was any blemish found in them. They that esteem women for the\ncomeliness of the body and what the eye beholdeth, extolled King\nGunther\u2019s wife, but the wise that look deeper said, \u201cPraised shall\nKriemhild be before Brunhild.\u201d And the bright-attired women drew\ntogether where the silken canopies were spread, and the goodly tents,\nin the field before Worms.\n\nThe king\u2019s kinsmen pressed forward to see them. They prayed the two\nqueens to go with their women where the shade was, and the Burgundian\nknights led them thither.\n\nThe guests also were now gotten to horse, and there was din of tilting\nagainst shields. The dust swirled up from the plain, as the land had\nbeen on fire, and the valour of many knights was proven, while the\nmaidens beheld their prowess. Siegfried, I ween, rode many a course\nbefore the pavilions with his thousand Nibelungs.\n\nThen came Hagen of Trony at the king\u2019s command, and, on friendly wise,\nstopped the jousting, lest the dust should irk the fair maidens, and\nthey demurred not, but obeyed gladly.\n\nGernot said, \u201cLet stand the horses till it groweth cooler, and let us\nlead the women home. But be ready to ride again when the king giveth\nthe order.\u201d\n\nSo the tourney ended over all the plain. And the knights went to the\nwomen under the high pavilions, and passed the time merrily till it was\ntime to ride home.\n\nAt the fall of night, when the sun went down and the air had begun to\ncool, they tarried not longer, but arose, men and women together, and\nthe knights wooed the fair maidens with their eyes. Then, as was the\ncustom of the land, the good squires spurred forward to the castle gate\nbefore the proud knights.\n\nThere the king alighted from his horse, and, on knightly wise, the\nheroes lifted down the women. There, too, the noble queens parted. Uta\nand her daughter went with their attendants into a wide chamber, and a\nmerry din was heard over all.\n\nThe chairs were set, for the king was ready to go to table with his\nguests, and beautiful Brunhild stood by him, and wore her crown in\nGunther\u2019s land. Certes, she was proud enough.\n\nMany were the seats, they say, and the tables goodly and broad, and\nladen with food. Little, I trow, was lacking! And many a noble guest\nsat there with the king. Gunther\u2019s chamberlains carried round water in\ngolden ewers. If any tell you of a prince\u2019s table better served,\nbelieve it not.\n\nOr Gunther took the water, Siegfried, as was meet, minded him of his\noath that he had sworn or ever he saw Brunhild in Issland.\n\nHe said, \u201cForget not the vow thou swarest with thy hand, that, if\nBrunhild came into Burgundy, thou wouldst give me thy sister. Where is\nthine oath now? Mickle toil was mine on the journey.\u201d\n\nThe king answered his guest, \u201cThou hast done well to remind me. I go\nnot back from the oath of my hand. What I can do therein I will do.\u201d\n\nThey bade Kriemhild to the court before the king. She went up the hall\nwith her maidens, but Giselher sprang down the stair and cried, \u201cSend\nback these maidens. My sister goeth alone to the king.\u201d\n\nThey brought Kriemhild before Gunther, where he stood amidst of knights\nfrom many lands. And they bade her stand in the middle of the hall.\nBrunhild, by this time, was come to the table, and knew naught of what\nwas toward. Then said Dankrat\u2019s son to his kinsmen, \u201cHelp me now, that\nmy sister take Siegfried to her husband.\u201d\n\nAnd they answered with one accord, \u201cThat may she do with honour.\u201d\n\nGunther said, \u201cDearest sister, I prithee of thy goodness, loose me from\nmine oath. I promised thee to a knight; and truly thou wilt do my will,\nif thou take him to husband.\u201d\n\nThe maiden answered, \u201cDear brother mine, thou needest not to entreat.\nCommand and I will obey. Him that thou givest me to husband I will\ngladly wed.\u201d\n\nSiegfried grew red for love and joy, and vowed his service to\nKriemhild. And they bade them stand together in a circle, and asked her\nif she would take the knight.\n\nOn maidenly wise she was shamefast at the first, yet so great was\nSiegfried\u2019s good fortune and his grace, that she refused not his hand;\nand the king of the Netherland, from his side also, plighted his troth\nto Kriemhild.\n\nWhen their word was given, Siegfried took his queen in his arms\nstraightway, and kissed her before the warriors.\n\nThe circle brake up when this was ended, and Siegfried took the seat of\nhonour with Kriemhild. The vassals served before them, and his Nibelung\nknights stood nigh.\n\nThe king and Brunhild were seated, and Brunhild saw Kriemhild sitting\nby Siegfried, the which irked her sore; she fell to weeping, and the\nhot tears ran down her bright cheeks.\n\nWhereupon the host said, \u201cWhat aileth thee, sweet Lady, that the light\nof thine eyes is dim? Rejoice shouldst thou rather, for my land and\nrich castles and true liegemen are all subject to thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have cause to weep,\u201d said the maiden. \u201cI grieve from my heart for\nthy sister, that she sitteth there by thy vassal. I must ever weep to\nsee her so shamed.\u201d\n\nBut King Gunther answered, \u201cI prithee, silence! Another time I will\ntell thee why I gave my sister to Siegfried. May she live happily with\nthe knight.\u201d\n\nBut she said, \u201cI must grieve for her beauty and her birth. If I knew\nwhither I might flee, I would not suffer thee by me, till that thou\nhadst told me how Siegfried hath gotten Kriemhild.\u201d\n\nGunther answered them, \u201cHearken, and I will tell thee. Know that he\nhath lands and castles even as I, and is a rich king; wherefore I give\nhim my beautiful sister gladly to wife.\u201d Yet, for all the king could\nsay to her, she was downcast.\n\nThe knights rose from the table, and the tourney waxed so fierce that\nthe castle rang with the noise. But the king wearied amidst of his\nguests. He thought, \u201cIt were softer alone with my wife.\u201d And his heart\ndwelled on the mickle joy her love must bring him, and he looked at her\nsweetly.\n\nThen they stopped the tourney, that the king might retire with his\nwife.\n\nAt the foot of the stair that led forth from the hall, Kriemhild and\nBrunhild came face to face. They were not foes yet. Their attendants\nfollowed them, and longer they tarried not. The chamberlains brought\ncandles, and the knights of the two kings parted in two companies, and\nmany followed Siegfried.\n\nThen came the heroes where they were to lie, and each thought to win\nhis wife\u2019s favour, whereat their hearts melted.\n\nWith Siegfried all went well. He caressed the maiden lovingly, and she\nwas as his life. He had not given her alone for a thousand other women.\n\nOf them I will tell no further. Hear now how it fared with Gunther.\nBetter had been his case with any but Brunhild.\n\nThe folk had departed, dames and knights. The door was made fast. He\nthought to win her love, but it was long yet or she became his wife. He\nlay down in a white garment and thought, \u201cNow have I my heart\u2019s\ndesire.\u201d The king\u2019s hand hid the light. He went to Brunhild and\nembraced her with his arm. He was greatly glad. He would have caressed\nher sweetly if she had let him. But she was so wroth that he was\ndismayed. He thought to find joy, but found deep hate.\n\nShe said, \u201cNoble knight, let me alone, for it shall not be as thou\ndesirest. Mark well I have naught to do with thee, till that thou has\nanswered me concerning Kriemhild.\u201d\n\nThen Gunther began to be angry with her, and fought with her, and tore\nher raiment. And the royal maiden seized a girdle, a strong embroidered\nsilk cord that she wore round her waist, and did hurt enow to the\nknight. She bound his hands and his feet, and carried him to a nail,\nand hung him on the wall. She forbade him to touch her because he\ndisturbed her sleep. He almost perished from her strength.\n\nThen he that should have been master began to pray, \u201cNow loose my\nbands, most noble queen. I promise never to touch thee, or even to come\nnigh thee.\u201d\n\nShe asked not how he fared while she lay soft. There must he hang the\nlong night through till the day, when the bright morning shone through\nthe window. If he had ever had strength, he had little in his body now.\n\n\u201cTell me, Sir Gunther,\u201d said the beautiful maiden, \u201cdoth it not irk\nthee that thy chamberlains find thee bound by the hand of a woman.\u201d\n\nThe noble knight answered, \u201cIt were the worse for thee. Also little\nwere my honour therein. Of thy charity allow me to lie down. Seeing\nthou hatest my love, I will no so much as touch thy garment with my\nhand.\u201d\n\nThen she loosed his bands, and let him go, and he laid him down, but so\nfar from her that he ruffled not her beautiful gown. Even that she had\ngladly forgone.\n\nThereupon their attendants came and brought them new apparel, as much\nas they could wear, that had been made ready against the wedding morn.\nBut, amidst of them that rejoiced, the king was heavy of his cheer\nbeneath his crown that day.\n\nAccording to the good custom of the land, Gunther and Brunhild tarried\nnot longer, but went to the minster to hear mass. Thither also went\nSiegfried, and there was great press of people.\n\nCrowns and robes were ready for them there; and after they had taken\ntheir vows, they stood up, all four, proudly beneath their crowns.\n\nYouths, to the number of six hundred or more, were dubbed knights (I\nsay sooth) in honour of the king. And great joy was in Burgundy, and\nmuch splintering of lances by sworded knights.\n\nThe beautiful maidens sat at the windows, and underneath them was the\nflashing of many shields. But the king stood apart from his men, and\nwent about sadly.\n\nHe and Siegfried were unlike of their moods. The hero guessed what\nailed him, and went to him and asked him, \u201cTell me how it hath fared\nwith thee.\u201d\n\nThen said the host to his guest, \u201cShame and hurt have I suffered from\nmy wife in my house. When I would have caressed her, she bound me\ntight, and took me to a nail, and hung me up on the wall. There I\ndangled in fear the night through till the day, or she loosed me. How\nsoft she lay there! I tell thee this in secret.\u201d\n\nAnd stark Siegfried said, \u201cI grieve for thee. I will tell thee a remedy\nif thou keep it from her. I will so contrive it that this night she\nwill defy thee no longer.\u201d The word was welcome to Gunther after his\npain.\n\n\u201cNow see my hands, how they are swollen. She overmastered me, as I had\nbeen a child, that the blood spurted all over me from my nails. I\nthought not to come off with my life.\u201d\n\nSaid Siegfried, \u201cIt will yet be well. Unequal was our fortune last\nnight. Thy sister Kriemhild is dearer to me than mine own body. This\nday must Brunhild be thy wife. I will come to-night to thy room\nsecretly in my _Tarnkappe_, that none may guess the trick. Send the\nchamberlains to their beds. I will put out the lights in the hands of\nthe pages, and by this sign thou shalt know that I am nigh. I will win\nthy wife for thee or perish.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf only thou winnest her not for thyself. She is my dear wife.\nOtherwise I rejoice. Do to her what thou wilt. If thou tookest her\nlife, I would bear it. She is a terrible woman.\u201d\n\n\u201cI vow to thee on mine honour that I will have naught to do with her.\nThy dear sister is more to me than any I have ever seen.\u201d And Gunther\nbelieved Siegfried\u2019s word.\n\nMeanwhile the guests rode at the tourney with fortune good and bad,\nbut, when it was time for the women to go to the hall, they stopped the\ntilting and the din, and the chamberlains bade the folk void the way.\n\nAnd now the courtyard was empty of horses and men. A bishop led each\nqueen before the kings to table, and many proud knights followed them\nto their seats. The king sat beside his wife in good hope, for he\nminded Siegfried\u2019s promise. The one day seemed to him as thirty, for he\nthought only on Brunhild.\n\nScarce could he wait till they rose from the table.\n\nFair Kriemhild and also Brunhild were led to their chambers. Ha! what\nbold knights went before the queens!\n\nJoyful and without hate Siegfried the knight sat sweetly beside his\nbeautiful wife. With her white hand she caressed his, till, she knew\nnot how, he vanished from before her eyes. When she played with him and\nsaw him no longer, she said to her maidens, \u201cI marvel much where the\nking is gone. Who took his hands out of mine?\u201d And so the matter\ndropped.\n\nHe had gone where he found the chamberlains with the lights, which he\nbegan to put out. By this sign Gunther perceived that it was Siegfried.\nHe knew well what he wanted, and he sent away the women and maidens.\nWhen that was done, the king himself locked the door, and shot two\nstrong bolts before it. He hid the light quickly behind the bed\ncurtain, and the struggle that had to come began between stark\nSiegfried and the beautiful maiden. King Gunther was both glad and\nsorry.\n\nSiegfried lay down by the queen, but she said, \u201cStop, Gunther, lest\nthou suffer as afore. Thou mayest again receive a hurt at my hand.\u201d\n\nSiegfried concealed his voice and spake not. Gunther heard well all\nthat passed, albeit he saw nothing. There was little ease for the\ntwain. Siegfried feigned that he was Gunther, and put his arm round the\nvaliant maiden. She threw him on to a bench, that his head rang loud\nagainst a foot-stool.\n\nThe bold man sprang up undaunted, but evil befell him. Such defence\nfrom a woman I ween the world will never see more. Because he would not\nlet her be, Brunhild rose up.\n\n\u201cIt is unseemly of thee,\u201d said the brave maiden. \u201cThou wilt tear my\nbeautiful gown. Thou art churlish and must suffer for it. Thou shalt\nsee!\u201d\n\nShe caught the good knight in her arms, and would have bound him as she\nhad done to the king, that she might have peace. Grimly she avenged her\ntorn raiment.\n\nWhat availed him then his strength and his prowess? She proved to him\nthe mastery of her body, and carried him by force, since there was no\nother way, and squeezed him hard against a press that stood by the bed.\n\n\u201cAlack!\u201d thought the knight, \u201cif I lose my life by the hand of a woman,\nall wives evermore will make light of their husbands, that, without\nthis, would not dare.\u201d\n\nThe king heard it well. He feared for the man. Then Siegfried was\nashamed and waxed furious. He grappled fiercely with her, and, in\nterror of his life, strove to overcome Brunhild. When she squeezed him\ndown, he got up again in spite of her, by dint of his anger and his\nmickle strength. He came in great scathe. In the chamber there was\nsmiting with many blows. King Gunther, likewise, stood in peril. He\ndanced to and fro quickly before them. So mightily they strove, it was\na wonder they came off with their lives. The trouble of the king was\ntwofold, yet most he feared Siegfried\u2019s death. For she had almost\nkilled the knight. Had he dared, he had gone to his help.\n\nThe strife endured long atwixt them. Then Siegfried got hold of\nBrunhild. Albeit she fought valiantly, her defence was grown weak. It\nseemed long to the king, that stood there, till Siegfried had won. She\nsqueezed his hands till, by her strength, the blood spurted out from\nhis nails. Then he brake the strong will that she had shown at the\nfirst. The king heard it all, but he spake no word. Siegfried pressed\nher down till she cried aloud, for his might hurt her greatly. She\nclutched at her side, where she found her girdle, and sought to tie his\nhands. But he gripped her till the joints of her body cracked. So the\nstrife was ended.\n\nShe said, \u201cNoble king, let me live. I will make good to thee what I\nhave done, and strive no more; truly I have found thee to be my\nmaster.\u201d\n\nSiegfried rose up then and left her, as though he would throw off his\nclothes. He drew from her hand a gold ring, without that she was ware\nof it. He took her girdle also, a good silken band. I know not if he\ndid it from pride. He gave them to his wife, and suffered for it after.\n\nThe king and the fair maiden were left together, and, for that she was\ngrown weak, she hid her anger, for it availed her nothing. So they\nabode there till the bright day.\n\nMeanwhile Siegfried went back to his sweet love, that received him\nkindly. He turned the questions aside that she asked him, and hid from\nher for long what he had brought with him, till at the last, when they\nwere gotten home to the Netherland, he gave her the jewel; the which\nbrought him and many knights to their graves.\n\nMuch merrier was Gunther of his cheer the next morning than afore.\nThroughout his lands many a noble knight rejoiced, and the guests that\nhe had bidden to the hightide were well feasted and served.\n\nThe hightide lasted fourteen days, during the which time the din of the\nsports, and of the pastimes they practised, ceased not. Mickle was the\ncost to the king. The king\u2019s kinsmen gave, in his honour, to the\nstranger knights, as their lord willed it, apparel, and ruddy gold and\nhorses, and thereto silver enow; and they that received the gifts took\ntheir leave well content. Also Siegfried of the Netherland and his\nthousand knights gave all that they had brought with them\u2014goodly horses\nwith saddles. Certes, they lived right royally. Nevertheless, or they\nhad made an end of giving, they deemed it long; for they were weary for\ntheir home. Never were guests better entreated. So ended the hightide,\nand the warriors went their ways.\n\n\n\n\nEleventh Adventure\nHow Siegfried Brought his Wife Home\n\n\nWhen the guests were all gone, the son of Siegmund spake to his\nfriends, \u201cWe will also go forth to our land.\u201d And his wife was glad\nwhen she heard the news.\n\nShe said to her husband, \u201cWhen shall we start? Yet be not in too great\nhaste. My brothers shall first divide the land with me.\u201d But the word\nirked Siegfried.\n\nThe princes went to him and said, all the three, \u201cSir Siegfried, we be\nthy true servants till death. Know this of a surety.\u201d And he thanked\nthe knights that they spake him so fair.\n\n\u201cWe would also divide with thee,\u201d said Giselher the youth, \u201cland and\ncastles, and the rich kingdom that we rule. A full share thereof shalt\nthou receive with Kriemhild.\u201d\n\nBut the son of Siegmund made answer, when he had heard their honourable\nintent. \u201cBlest be your heritage to you evermore, and also the people\nthereof. The share you would give to my dear wife she may well forego,\nfor when she will wear the crown, she will be, if she live long enough,\nthe richest woman on earth. Command me in aught else, and I will obey.\u201d\n\nBut Kriemhild said, \u201cThough thou scorn my land, not so lightly shalt\nthou treat Burgundian warriors. These any king might be proud to take\nwith him, and them, at the least, shall my brothers\u2019 hand share with\nme.\u201d\n\nGunther answered, \u201cTake whom thou wilt. Thou wilt find many ready to\nride with thee. Of three thousand knights, choose thou one thousand for\nthy following.\u201d\n\nThen Kriemhild sent for Hagen of Trony and for Ortwin, and asked them\nif they and their kinsmen would ride with her. But Hagen fell in a fury\nand cried, \u201cTo no man in this world shall Gunther give us. Others can\nride with thee. Thou knowest the men of Trony and their way. By the\nking at the court will we bide, to serve him and follow him as\nheretofore.\u201d\n\nSo she let the matter rest, and made ready for the journey; for her\nfollowers she won two and thirty maidens and five hundred men, among\nthe which was Eckewart the Margrave. And they took their leave, as was\nmeet: knights and squires, damsels and dames. They parted thence with\nkisses, and set out from Gunther\u2019s land joyfully.\n\nHer kinsmen brought her far on her way, and had night quarters put up\nwhere they desired them, in the king\u2019s land. And they despatched envoys\nto King Siegmund, to tell him and Queen Sieglind how that their son\ndrew nigh with fair Kriemhild, Queen Uta\u2019s child, from Worms on the\nRhine.\n\nThey could not have brought them better news.\n\nSiegmund said, \u201cPraised be God that I have lived to see the day when\nKriemhild shall wear the crown here. My heritage is increased in worth,\nand Siegfried himself shall be king.\u201d\n\nQueen Sieglind gave the envoys, for fee, red velvet and heavy silver\nand gold, for she was glad at the news.\n\nHer women began to adorn them in haste, and when Sieglind knew who came\nwith Siegfried, she let seats be builded, where he might be crowned in\npresence of his kinsmen.\n\nKing Siegmund\u2019s knights rode out to meet them. Never heroes were better\nwelcomed, I trow, than these, into Siegmund\u2019s land. Sieglind rode\nforth, herself, to greet fair Kriemhild, with beautiful women and bold\nknights, a day\u2019s journey or they spied the guests. And strangers and\nfriends were pressed alike for room, till that they came to a great\ncastle that hight Xanten, where Siegfried and his wife were crowned\nafterward.\n\nSiegmund and Sieglind kissed Kriemhild, and Siegfried also, many times\nwith smiling mouth for their sorrow was ended; and Kriemhild\u2019s\nattendants got a gracious welcome.\n\nThey brought the guests into Siegmund\u2019s palace, and lifted the fair\ndamsels from the horses. There were knights enow eager to serve them.\n\nHowso rich had been the hightide by the Rhine, here the knights\nreceived costlier apparel than ever before in their lives. Many marvels\nmight be told of their splendour. So they sat in honour and had plenty.\nThe courtiers wore robes of red gold embroidered with precious stones\nand silk, that Sieglind, the noble queen, gave them.\n\nThen Siegmund spake in presence of his kinsmen, \u201cBe it known to you all\nthat Siegfried shall henceforth wear my crown.\u201d They of the Netherland\nheard the news gladly. So he made over to Siegfried his crown and his\nrule and his land, that he became lord and king. And to him that he\nacquitted, and to him that he condemned, it was done according to his\njudgment. The husband of Kriemhild was a man greatly feared.\n\nThus, in high honour (and this is sooth that I say) he lived and\nreigned, a crowned king, till the tenth year, when a son was born,\nwhereby the king\u2019s liegemen saw their desire accomplished. They hasted\nand christened him, and called him Gunther, after his uncle; that was\nno shame, for, took he after his kinsmen, he must grow to be a bold\nman. They reared him well, as was meet.\n\nAnd in these days Sieglind died, and many wept because death had taken\nher. Then Uta\u2019s child held supreme rule, as befitted so rich a queen.\n\nNow at the same time, they tell us, in Gunther\u2019s land of Burgundy, the\nbeautiful Brunhild had borne a son, that, for love of the hero, they\nnamed Siegfried. With all care they trained him. Gunther let him be\nreared by his liegemen at the court in all virtues that might serve him\nif he grew to be a man. Soon, alack, by an evil fate, he was to lose\nall his kin!\n\nThe fame of Siegfried\u2019s court ceased not to be noised abroad, and with\nwhat worship his knights abode there; great was the fame also of\nGunther\u2019s chosen warriors in Burgundy.\n\nThe Nibelungs held their land in fee from Siegfried, and none of his\nkinsmen were so rich as he. For he was overlord to the knights of\nShilbung, and owned the treasure of the two brothers. Wherefore his\nheart was the more uplifted.\n\nThe biggest hoard that ever hero won was his; that he had got by means\nof his strong hand before a mountain, and for the which he smote many\nheroes to death.\n\nHe had honour to the full; yet, if he had possessed nothing at all,\nnone that saw him had denied him to be the prowest champion that ever\nrode a horse. With good cause the folk feared him.\n\n\n\n\nTwelfth Adventure\nHow Gunther Invited Siegfried to the Hightide\n\n\nNow there passed not a day but Gunther\u2019s wife thought, \u201cSurely\nKriemhild beareth her too proudly. Siegfried, her husband, is our\nvassal. Little service hath he done for his land.\u201d\n\nShe pondered it secretly in her heart; for it irked her that they were\nstrangers, and she had fain known wherefore Siegfried\u2019s country yielded\nno tribute. She prayed the king that she might behold Kriemhild again,\nand told him her secret thought. But her word pleased him not. \u201cHow\ncould we bid them hither?\u201d said the great king. \u201cIt cannot be. They\ndwell too far off. I durst not do it.\u201d\n\nBut Brunhild answered proudly, \u201cHowever mighty a king\u2019s vassal may be,\nhe must do what his lord commandeth.\u201d\n\nBut Gunther laughed, for he took it not as homage when he saw\nSiegfried.\n\nShe said further, \u201cDear lord, for my love, help me thereto, that\nSiegfried and thy sister visit us, and that we see them here. Truly\nnothing could rejoice me more. Thy sister\u2019s courtesy, her gentle\nbreeding\u2014with what delight my heart dwelleth thereon, and how we sat\ntogether the day I became thy wife! That she chose Siegfried to her\nhusband did her honour.\u201d\n\nShe begged the king for it so long that he said, \u201cCertes! no guests\nwould I gladlier welcome, and willingly I grant it thee. I will bid\nthem hither by my envoys.\u201d\n\nThe queen answered then, \u201cSend not thither without my knowledge, and\ninform me, without fail, when my dear friends shall come. And tell me,\nalso, whom thou wilt charge with the embassy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I,\u201d said the king. \u201cI will despatch thirty of my knights.\u201d\n\nHe bade them to his presence, and sent greeting by them to Siegfried\u2019s\ncountry. Brunhild clad them in rich apparel, and the king spake, \u201cYe\nknights shall keep back naught wherewith I charge you, but shall say to\nstark Siegfried, and to my sister, that no man in this world is better\nminded to them than I be. Bid them both hither to the Rhine. If they\ncome, I and my wife will cease not to be beholden to them. Or midsummer\nis here, he and his knights will find among us many to do them worship.\nGreet King Siegmund also from me, and say that I and my friends are his\ntrue servants; and entreat my sister that, without fail, she ride\nhither to her friends. No hightide were fitter for her.\u201d\n\nBrunhild and Uta, and their women, commended them to the fair women and\nthe bold men at Siegfried\u2019s court.\n\nSo the envoys made haste to do the king\u2019s bidding. They stood ready for\nthe road; horses and harness were there, and they took their leave.\nThey pushed forward with the escort the king gave them. Inside of\ntwelve days they reached the land and the castle of the Nibelungs, and\nfound Siegfried on the march of Norway. Horses and men were weary with\nthe long road.\n\nThey brought word to both Siegfried and Kriemhild that knights were\ncome, clad after the manner of the Burgundians.\n\nAnd Kriemhild sprang from the couch where she lay resting, and bade a\nmaiden run to the window, who saw Gary standing in the courtyard, and\nhis knights that were sent with him. They brought welcome news to her\nanxious heart.\n\nShe cried to the king, \u201cSeest thou, standing there in the courtyard,\nthem that be come with stark Gary, that my brother Gunther hath sent\ndown the Rhine?\u201d\n\nAnd Siegfried answered, \u201cThey are welcome.\u201d\n\nAll the folk ran when they saw the envoys and greeted them with kind\nwords. Siegfried was right glad at their coming. Lodging was given to\nthem, and their horses were seen to, whereupon they went straightway\nwhere Siegfried sat by Kriemhild. Both were joyful to behold them. The\nking and his wife rose quickly to receive Gary and Gunther\u2019s knights of\nBurgundy. And they bade Gary sit down.\n\n\u201cNay, let us way-weary guests stand while we tell thee Gunther\u2019s\nmessage. After, we will sit. Gunther and Brunhild, with whom it is\nwell, and Queen Uta, your mother, and Giselher, the youth, and eke\nGernot, and your nearest kinsmen, send greeting from Burgundy.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow God reward them,\u201d said Siegfried; \u201cI hold them for good and true,\nas a man should trust his friends. The like doth their sister. Say on,\nwhether they be of good cheer. Hath any done my wife\u2019s brethren a hurt\nsince we parted? Tell me, for I will stand by them till their foemen\nrue my help.\u201d\n\nMargrave Gary, the good knight, answered, \u201cIt is well with them, and\nthey are of good cheer. They bid thee to a hightide, and were right\nglad if thou camest. They bid my Lady also. So soon as the winter shall\nbe ended, before midsummer, they would see you.\u201d\n\nBut Siegfried said, \u201cThat can hardly be.\u201d\n\nWhereupon Gary the Burgundian answered, \u201cYour mother Uta, Gernot, and\nGiselher, pray that ye deny them not. Every day I hear them lament that\nye dwell so far. Brunhild my mistress, and her maidens, rejoice in the\nhope to see you.\u201d\n\nThe message seemed good to Kriemhild. Gary was her kinsman; and the\nking bade him sit, and tarried not longer to let pour the wine for the\nguests.\n\nThither came Siegmund also, when he saw the messengers, and he spake to\nthem on friendly wise. \u201cYe be welcome, ye knights, Gunther\u2019s men; since\nSiegfried won Kriemhild to wife, ye should have been seen here oftener,\nif you would have proved your love.\u201d\n\nThey answered that, if he willed it, they would come gladly, for that\njoy had taken from them their mickle weariness.\n\nThen they bade the envoys sit, and set meats before them, whereof\nSiegfried gave order they should have enough. Nine days they were kept\nat the court, till at last they murmured, saying that if they tarried\nlonger, they durst not return again to their land.\n\nMeanwhile Siegfried had let summon his friends. He asked them their\nmind about his journey. \u201cGunther my brother-in-law, and his kinsmen,\nhave bidden me to a hightide at the Rhine, and Kriemhild also, that she\nride with me. And I were fain to go if his country lay not so far off.\nNow counsel me, dear friends, for the best. Had I to harry thirty lands\nfor their sake, my hand were at their service.\u201d\n\nHis knights made answer, \u201cIf thou wouldst ride to this hightide, we\ncounsel thee on this wise: take with thee a thousand knights to the\nRhine, that thou mayest have honour among the Burgundians.\u201d\n\nThen said King Siegmund of the Netherland, \u201cWherefore has thou not told\nme thou wouldest to the hightide? If thou hast naught against it, I\nwill ride with thee, and will take an hundred knights with me to add to\nthy train.\u201d\n\n\u201cWilt thou do so, dear father mine?\u201d said bold Siegfried. \u201cRight\nwelcome art thou. Inside of twelve days we will forth.\u201d\n\nTo them that desired it horses and apparel were given.\n\nSince the king was minded to make the journey, he sent away the swift\nenvoys, and charged them with a message to his wife\u2019s brethren at the\nRhine, that he would come right gladly to their hightide.\n\nSiegfried and Kriemhild (so runneth the tale) gave so much to the\nenvoys that their horses scarce sufficed to carry it, for Siegfried was\na rich king. So, well content, they drave their sumpters before them.\n\nThen Siegfried and Siegmund equipped their folk, and Eckewart, the\nMargrave, bade bring forth the best women\u2019s vesture that was in\nSiegfried\u2019s whole land. They made ready saddles and shields, and to the\nknights and the gentlewomen that were to ride with them, they gave\nfreely, that they lacked naught. Siegfried led many valiant knights to\nhis kinsmen.\n\nThe envoys hasted on their way, and when bold Gary was come into\nBurgundy, they greeted him fair. The riders sprang from their horses\nbefore Gunther\u2019s hall. And young and old, as their wont is, pressed\nround them and asked for news. But the good knight answered, \u201cYe shall\nhave it when I have told it to the king.\u201d And he passed on with his\ncomrades to Gunther.\n\nThe king sprang from his seat for joy, and Brunhild thanked them that\nthey were so soon back again. To the envoys spake Gunther then, \u201cHow\nfareth it with Siegfried, that hath ever done well by me?\u201d\n\nAnd Gary answered, \u201cHe and thy sister waxed red for joy. Kinder\ngreeting sent man never to his friends than Siegfried and his father\nSiegmund send to thee.\u201d\n\nThen said the queen to the Margrave, \u201cTell me, I prithee; cometh\nKriemhild with them? And hath her body lost nothing of its fairness?\u201d\n\nWhereto Gary answered, \u201cThey will both come, and, with them, many\nknights.\u201d\n\nThen Uta bade the envoys to her presence, and showed by her questions\nwhat most she desired to know\u2014how it fared with Kriemhild. He told her\nhow he had found her, and that she would come thither shortly.\n\nThey declared also the envoy\u2019s fee that Siegfried had given them: the\napparel and the gold. All the knights of the three kings saw it, and\npraised Siegfried.\n\n\u201cIt is easy for him to give,\u201d quoth Hagen. \u201cHe could not spend it if he\nlived for ever, for the hoard of the Nibelungs is in his hand. Would it\ncame our way!\u201d\n\nAll the court, both knights and ladies, were glad at their coming. The\nservants of the three kings were not idle, and started to raise the\nhigh-seats. Hunolt and Sindolt had work enow, for they were the sewer\nand the butler, and they arranged the chairs; to Ortwin, for that he\nhelped them, Gunther gave thanks. As for Rumult, the chief cook, I ween\nhe knew how to order his underlings. Ha! what meats they made ready\nagainst the feast, in their huge cauldrons and pots and pans.\n\nThe women too busied them, and saw to their robes, whereon they\nembroidered gold and bright shining stones, that, when they wore them,\nthey might be well esteemed.\n\n\n\n\nThirteenth Adventure\nHow They Rode to the Hightide\n\n\nLeave we all this work now, to tell how Kriemhild and her maidens\njourneyed from the Nibelung land to the Rhine.\n\nNever sumpters bare such rich apparel. They sent many travelling chests\non before them, and Siegfried and the queen rode with their friends and\ndreamed on joy\u2014that was to end in deep sorrow. As needs was, they left\ntheir son at home. Also for him was the journey woeful: his father and\nhis mother he saw nevermore. Siegmund, the king, rode with them, that\nhad, certes, not been there, had he known what was to betide them.\nNever sorrow was worse than his for dear ones.\n\nThey sent forward messengers betimes, and a proud host of Uta\u2019s kin,\nand Gunther\u2019s knights, came forth to meet them. Gunther busied him to\nshow his guests worship. He went to Brunhild and said, \u201cHow did\nKriemhild welcome thee when thou camest first to this land? I would\nhave thee welcome her even so.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cI will do it gladly, for I have cause to love her.\u201d\n\nThe king spake further, \u201cThey come to-morrow early. If thou wilt\nreceive them, lose no time, lest they surprise us here in the castle,\nfor never have I welcomed dearer guests.\u201d\n\nSo she gave orders to her women to seek out goodly robes, the best that\nthey had, and to wear them; the which, I trow, they did gladly.\n\nGunther\u2019s men also hasted to meet them; all that he had he led forth;\nand the queen rode in royal state. Mickle joy was at that greeting.\nWith high honour they welcomed them, yea, with even more, the folk\nsaid, than Kriemhild had showed Brunhild aforetime; and the hearts of\nthem that saw it were uplifted. Then Siegfried came up with his men,\nand the heroes coursed to and fro on the plain, that none had ease for\nthe dust and the press.\n\nWhen the king saw Siegfried and Siegmund, on what loving wise he spake!\n\u201cYe are welcome to me and to all my men. Right joyful have ye made us\nby this journey.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow God reward thee,\u201d answered Siegmund, the worshipful man. \u201cSince my\nson Siegfried won thee to his kinsman, my desire hath ever been to\nbehold thee.\u201d\n\nWhereupon Gunther said, \u201cThat it hath come to pass doth rejoice me.\u201d\n\nSiegfried was received with the honour that was his due; and none\nwished him ill. From Gernot and Giselher, also, dear guests had never\nbetter welcome.\n\nThen the two queens drew nigh to each other.\n\nThe saddles were emptied, and the women alighted on the grass with the\nhelp of the heroes, that were not slow, I trow, with their service!\n\nThe queens met, and the knights rejoiced at so fair a greeting, and\nceased not to wait upon the fair women. Hero now to hero held out the\nhand of welcome; the women courtseyed and kissed, and Gunther\u2019s and\nSiegfried\u2019s men looked on well content.\n\nThey tarried not longer, but rode to the town, where the host bade it\nbe shown plain that the guests were welcome to Burgundy. There, too,\nthere was tilting before the maidens. Hagen of Trony and Ortwin\napproved them mighty, for none durst gainsay their command; and they\nshowed the dear guests much honour.\n\nThe clash of shields, and the din of piercing and smiting, rose before\nthe castle gate. Long time stood the host there with his guest or they\nwere all gone in, for in pastime the hours flew by. Then they rode\nmerrily to the great reception hall. Gorgeous footcloths, rich and\ncunningly fashioned, hung down from the saddles of the beautiful women.\nGunther\u2019s serving-men hasted forward, and led them to their chambers.\nAll this time Brunhild kept not her eyes from Kriemhild, that was,\ncertes, fair enow, and of brighter hue than the gold she wore.\n\nOver all the town of Worms was heard the mirth of the company. King\nGunther bade Dankwart, his marshal, see to them well, who gave them\ngoodly quarters. Without and within they feasted; never were strangers\nfairer entreated; all that they desired stood ready for them, for so\nrich was the king, that to none was aught denied. They were served well\nand without hate.\n\nThen the king went to table with his guests. Siegfried they let sit\nwhere he had sat aforetime, and many a proud warrior strode after him\nto the feast. Twelve hundred knights were in the circle at the table;\nwhereat Brunhild thought, \u201cNever afore was vassal so rich.\u201d\nNevertheless she was well minded to him, nor contrived aught to his\nhurt.\n\nMany a rich cloak was wetted where the king sat that night, with the\nwine that the butlers ceased not to pour; for they toiled sore to serve\nall.\n\nAs hath still been the custom at hightides, the women and the damsels\nwere led to their beds betimes; and to each guest, from whencesoever he\ncame, the host gave honour and gifts enow.\n\nWhen the night was ended, and the morning shone, precious stones\nsparkled on the rich apparel that the hands of the women drew forth\nfrom the travelling chests. Many a rich robe was sought out.\n\nOr it was well day, knights and squires gathered before the hall, and\nthe din of tourney arose again before the early mass that they sang for\nthe king. Gunther thanked the young heroes. Then the trumpets were\nblown lustily, and the noise of drums and flutes were so loud that\nWorms, the wide town, rang therewith.\n\nEverywhere the bold heroes sprang to horse, and tourney was held in the\nland. Many young hearts were there that beat high, and, under their\nshields, many a doughty knight. In the windows sat stately dames and\nbeautiful maidens, featly adorned, and gazed down at the joisting of\nthe warriors, till that the king himself began to tilt with his\nkinsmen. So they passed the time, nor thought it long.\n\nThen the bells rang from the dome, whereat they led up the horses, and\nthe women rode forth, with many stark knights following the queens.\nThey alighted before the minster, on the grass. Still was Brunhild well\nminded to her guests, and, with their crowns on, they went into the\ngreat church. But soon jealousy made an end of their love.\n\nWhen the mass was sung they rode home in state, and went merrily to\ntable. Nor was there an end of joy at the hightide till the eleventh\nday.\n\nThen the queen thought, \u201cI can hide it no longer. I must contrive by\nsome means that Kriemhild tell me why her husband, that is our vassal,\nhath so long paid us no tribute. I cannot loose this riddle.\u201d\n\nSo she waited for the hour when the Devil tempted her, and she turned\nthe joy of the hightide to dole. For it pressed on her heart, and must\nneeds come to light. By reason thereof many lands were filled with\nmourning.\n\n\n\n\nFourteenth Adventure\nHow the Queens Quarrelled\n\n\nOne day, before vespers, there arose in the court of the castle a\nmighty din of knights that tilted for pastime, and the folk ran to see\nthem.\n\nThe queens sat together there, thinking each on a doughty warrior. Then\nsaid fair Kriemhild, \u201cI have a husband of such might that all these\nlands might well be his.\u201d\n\nBut Brunhild answered, \u201cHow so? If there lived none other save thou and\nhe, our kingdom might haply be his, but while Gunther is alive it could\nnever be.\u201d\n\nBut Kriemhild said, \u201cSee him there. How he surpasseth the other\nknights, as the bright moon the stars! My heart is uplifted with\ncause.\u201d\n\nWhereupon Brunhild answered, \u201cHowso valiant thy husband, comely and\nfair, thy brother Gunther excelleth him, for know that he is the first\namong kings.\u201d\n\nBut Kriemhild said, \u201cMy praise was not idle; for worshipful is my\nhusband in many things. Trow it, Brunhild. He is, at the least, thy\nhusband\u2019s equal.\u201d\n\n\u201cMistake me not in thine anger, Kriemhild. Neither is my word idle; for\nthey both said, when I saw them first, and the king vanquished me in\nthe sports, and on knightly wise won my love, that Siegfried was his\nman. Wherefore I hold him for a vassal, since I heard him say it.\u201d\n\nThen Kriemhild cried, \u201cEvil were my lot if that were true. How had my\nbrothers given me to a vassal to wife? Prithee, of thy courtesy, cease\nfrom such discourse.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I not,\u201d answered Brunhild. \u201cThereby should I lose many\nknights that, with him, owe us homage.\u201d\n\nWhereat fair Kriemhild waxed very wroth. \u201cLose them thou must, for any\nservice he will do thee. He is nobler even than Gunther, my noble\nbrother. Wherefore, spare me thy foolish words. I wonder, since he is\nthy vassal, and thou art so much mightier than we, that for so long\ntime he hath failed to pay tribute. Of a truth thine arrogancy irketh\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou vauntest thyself too high,\u201d cried the queen; \u201cI would see now\nwhether thy body be holden in like honour with mine.\u201d\n\nBoth the women were angry.\n\nKriemhild answered, \u201cThat shalt thou see straightway. Since thou hast\ncalled Siegfried thy vassal, the knights of both kings shall see this\nday whether I dare enter the minster before thee, the queen. For I\nwould have thee know that I am noble and free, and that my husband is\nof more worship than thine. Nor will I be chidden by thee. To-day thou\nshalt see thy vassals go at court before the Burgundian knights, and me\nmore honoured than any queen that ever wore a crown.\u201d\n\nFierce was the wrath of the women.\n\n\u201cIf thou art no vassal,\u201d said Brunhild, \u201cthou and thy women shall walk\nseparate from my train when we go to the minster.\u201d\n\nAnd Kriemhild answered, \u201cBe it so.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow adorn ye, my maidens,\u201d said Siegfried\u2019s wife, \u201cthat I be not\nshamed. If ye have rich apparel, show it this day. She shall take back\nwhat her mouth hath spoken.\u201d\n\nShe needed not to bid twice; they sought out their richest vesture, and\ndames and damsels were soon arrayed.\n\nThen the wife of the royal host went forth with her attendants. Fair to\nheart\u2019s desire were clad Kriemhild and the forty and three maidens that\nshe had brought with her to the Rhine. Bright shone the stuffs, woven\nin Araby, whereof their robes were fashioned. And they came to the\nminster, where Siegfried\u2019s knights waited for them.\n\nThe folk marvelled much to see the queens apart, and going not together\nas afore. Many a warrior was to rue it.\n\nGunther\u2019s wife stood before the minster, and the knights dallied in\nconverse with the women, till that Kriemhild came up with her meiny.\nAll that noble maidens had ever worn was but as a wind to what these\nhad on. So rich was Kriemhild that thirty king\u2019s wives together had not\nbeen as gorgeous as she was. None could deny, though they had wished\nit, that the apparel Kriemhild\u2019s maidens wore that day was the richest\nthey had ever seen. Kriemhild did this on purpose to anger Brunhild.\n\nSo they met before the minster. And Brunhild, with deadly spite, cried\nout to Kriemhild to stand still. \u201cBefore the queen shall no vassal go.\u201d\n\nOut then spake Kriemhild, for she was wroth. \u201cBetter hadst thou held\nthy peace. Thou hast shamed thine own body. How should the leman of a\nvassal become a king\u2019s wife?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhom namest thou leman?\u201d cried the queen.\n\n\u201cEven thee,\u201d answered Kriemhild. \u201cFor it was Siegfried my husband, and\nnot my brother, that won thee first. Where were thy senses? It was\nsurely ill done to favor a vassal so. Reproaches from thee are much\namiss.\u201d\n\n\u201cVerily,\u201d cried Brunhild, \u201cGunther shall hear of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is that to me? Thine arrogancy hath deceived thee. Thou hast\ncalled me thy vassal. Know now of a truth it hath irked me, and I am\nthine enemy evermore.\u201d\n\nThen Brunhild began to weep, and Kriemhild tarried not longer, but went\nwith her attendants into the minster before the king\u2019s wife. There was\ndeadly hate, and bright eyes grew wet and dim.\n\nWhether they prayed or sang, the service seemed too long to Brunhild,\nfor her heart and her mind were troubled, the which many a bold and\ngood man paid for afterward.\n\nBrunhild stopped before the minster with her women, for she thought,\n\u201cKriemhild, the foul-mouthed woman, shall tell me further whereof she\nso loud accuseth me. If he hath boasted of this thing, he shall answer\nfor it with his life.\u201d\n\nThen Kriemhild with her knights came forth, and Brunhild began, \u201cStop!\nthou hast called me a wanton and shalt prove it, for know that thy\nwords irk me sore.\u201d\n\nSaid Kriemhild, \u201cLet me pass. With this gold that I have on my hand I\ncan prove it. Siegfried brought it when he came from thee.\u201d\n\nIt was a heavy day for Brunhild. She said, \u201cThat gold so precious was\nstolen from me, and hath been hidden these many years. Now I know who\nhath taken it.\u201d Both the women were furious.\n\n\u201cI am no thief,\u201d cried Kriemhild. \u201cHadst thou prized thine honour thou\nhadst held thy peace, for, with this girdle round my waist, I can prove\nmy word, and that Siegfried was verily thy leman.\u201d She wore a girdle of\nsilk of Nineveh, goodly enow, and worked with precious stones.\n\nWhen Brunhild saw it she started to weep. And soon Gunther knew it, and\nall his men, for the queen cried, \u201cBring hither the King of Rhineland;\nI would tell him how his sister hath mocked me, and sayeth openly that\nI be Siegfried\u2019s leman.\u201d\n\nThe king came with his warriors, and, when he saw that his dear one\nwept, he spake kindly, \u201cWhat aileth thee, dear wife?\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cShamed must I stand, for thy sister would part me from\nmine honour? I make my plaint to thee. She proclaimeth aloud that\nSiegfried hath had me to his leman.\u201d\n\nGunther answered, \u201cEvilly hath she done.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe weareth here a girdle I have long lost, and my red gold. Woe is me\nthat ever I was born! If thou clearest me not from this shame, I will\nnever love thee more.\u201d\n\nSaid Gunther, \u201cBid him hither, that he confess whether he hath boasted\nof this, or no.\u201d\n\nThey summoned Siegfried, who, when he saw their anger and knew not the\ncause, spake quickly, \u201cWhy weep these women? Tell me straight; and\nwherefore am I summoned?\u201d\n\nWhereto Gunther answered, \u201cRight vexed am I. Brunhild, my wife, telleth\nme here that thou hast boasted thou wert her leman. Kriemhild declareth\nthis. Hast thou done it, O knight?\u201d\n\nSiegfried answered, \u201cNot I. If she hath said so, I will rest not till\nshe repent it. I swear with a high oath, in the presence of all thy\nknights, that I said not this thing.\u201d\n\nThe king of the Rhine made answer, \u201cSo be it. If thou swear the oath\nhere, I will acquit thee of the falsehood.\u201d Then the Burgundians stood\nround in a ring, and Siegfried swore it with his hand; whereupon the\ngreat king said, \u201cVerily, I hold thee guiltless, nor lay to thy charge\nthe word my sister imputeth to thee.\u201d\n\nSaid Siegfried further, \u201cIf she rejoiceth to have troubled thy fair\nwife, I am grieved beyond measure.\u201d The knights glanced at each other.\n\n\u201cWomen must be taught to bridle their tongues. Forbid proud speech to\nthy wife: I will do the like to mine. Such bitterness and pride are a\nshame.\u201d\n\nAngry words have divided many men. Brunhild made such dole, that\nGunther\u2019s men had pity on her. And Hagen of Trony went to her and asked\nwhat ailed her, for he found her weeping. She told him the tale, and he\nsware straightway that Kriemhild\u2019s husband should pay for it, or never\nwould Hagen be glad again.\n\nWhile they talked together, Ortwin and Gernot came up, and the warriors\ncounselled Siegfried\u2019s death. But when Giselher, Uta\u2019s fair child, drew\nnigh and heard them, he spake out with true heart, \u201cAlack, good\nknights, what would ye do? How hath Siegfried deserved such hate that\nhe should lose his life? A woman is lightly angered.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall we rear bastards?\u201d cried Hagen. \u201cThat were small honour to good\nknights. I will avenge on him the boast that he hath made, or I will\ndie.\u201d\n\nBut the king himself said, \u201cGood, and not evil, hath he done to us. Let\nhim live. Wherefore should I hate the knight? He hath ever been true to\nme.\u201d\n\nBut Ortwin of Metz said, \u201cHis great strength shall not avail him.\nAllow, O Lord, that I challenge him to his death.\u201d So, without cause,\nthey banded against him. Yet none had urged it further, had not Hagen\ntempted Gunther every day, saying, that if Siegfried lived not, many\nkings\u2019 lands were subject to him.\n\nWhereat the warrior began to grieve.\n\nMeanwhile they let the matter lie, and returned to the tourney. Ha!\nwhat stark spears they brake before Kriemhild, atween the minster and\nthe palace; but Gunther\u2019s men were wroth.\n\nThen said the king, \u201cGive over this deadly hate. For our weal and\nhonour he was born. Thereto the man is so wonderly stark and grim,\nthat, if he were ware of this, none durst stand against him.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cAssure thee on that score. For I will contrive\nsecretly that he pay for Brunhild\u2019s weeping. Hagen is his foe\nevermore.\u201d\n\nBut Gunther said, \u201cHow meanest thou?\u201d\n\nAnd Hagen answered, \u201cOn this wise. Men that none here knoweth shall\nride as envoys into this land and declare war. Whereupon thou wilt say\nbefore thy guests that thou must to battle with thy liegemen. When thou\nhast done this, he will promise to help thee. Then he shall die, after\nI have learnt a certain thing from his wife.\u201d\n\nEvilly the king followed Hagen, and they plotted black treason against\nthe chosen knight, without any suspecting it. So, through the quarrel\nof two women, died many warriors.\n\n\n\n\nFifteenth Adventure\nHow Siegfried Was Betrayed\n\n\nOn the fourth morning, thirty and two men were seen riding to the\ncourt. They brought word to Gunther that war was declared against him.\nThe women were woeful when they heard this lie.\n\nThe envoys won leave to go into the king, and they said they were\nLudger\u2019s men, that Siegfried\u2019s hand had overcome in battle and brought\ncaptive into Gunther\u2019s land.\n\nThe king greeted them, and bade them sit, but one of them said, \u201cLet us\nstand, till that we have declared the message wherewith we are charged\nto thee. Know that thou hast to thy foemen many a mother\u2019s son. Ludger\nand Ludgast, whom thou hast aforetime evilly entreated, ride hither to\nmake war against thee in this land.\u201d\n\nThe king fell in a rage, as if he had known naught thereof. Then they\ngave the false messengers good lodging. How could Siegfried or any\nother guess their treason, whereby, or all was done, they themselves\nperished?\n\nThe king went whispering up and down with his friends. Hagen of Trony\ngave him no peace. Many of the knights were fain to let it drop, but\nHagen would not be turned from it.\n\nOn a day that Siegfried found them whispering, he asked them,\n\u201cWherefore are the king and his men so sorrowful? If any hath done\naught to their hurt, I will stand by them to avenge it.\u201d\n\nGunther answered, \u201cI grieve not without cause. Ludgast and Ludger ride\nhither to war against me in my land.\u201d\n\nThen said the bold knight, \u201cSiegfried\u2019s arm will withstand them on such\nwise, that ye shall all come off with honour. I will do to these\nwarriors even as I did aforetime. Waste will be their lands and their\ncastles, or I be done. I pledge my head thereto. Thou and thy men shall\ntarry here at home, and I will ride forth with my knights that I have\nwith me. I serve thee gladly, and will prove it. Doubt not that thy\nfoemen shall suffer scathe at my hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese be good words,\u201d answered the king, as he were truly glad, and\ncraftily the false man bowed low.\n\nThen said Siegfried further, \u201cHave no fear.\u201d\n\nThe knights of Burgundy made ready for war, they and their squires, and\ndissembled before Siegfried and his men. Siegfried bade them of the\nNetherland lose no time, and they sought out their harness.\n\nThen spake stark Siegfried, \u201cTarry here at home, Siegmund, my father.\nIf God prosper us, we shall return or long to the Rhine. Meanwhile, be\nthou of good cheer here by the king.\u201d\n\nThey made as if to depart, and bound on the standard. Many of Gunther\u2019s\nknights knew nothing of how the matter stood, and a mighty host\ngathered round Siegfried. They bound their helmets and their coats of\nmail on to the horses and stood ready. Then went Hagen of Trony to\nKriemhild, to take his leave of her, for they would away.\n\n\u201cWell for me,\u201d said Kriemhild, \u201cthat ever I won to husband a man that\nstandeth so true by his friends, as doth Siegfried by my kinsmen. Right\nproud am I. Bethink thee now, Hagen, dear friend, how that in all\nthings I am at thy service, and have ever willed thee well. Requite me\nthrough my husband, that I love, and avenge not on him what I did to\nBrunhild. Already it repenteth me sore. My body hath smarted for it,\nthat ever I troubled her with my words. Siegfried, the good knight,\nhath seen to that.\u201d\n\nWhereto Hagen answered, \u201cYe will shortly be at one again. But\nKriemhild, prithee tell me wherein I can serve thee with Siegfried, thy\nhusband, and I will do it, for I love none better.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should fear naught for his life in battle, but that he is foolhardy,\nand of too proud a courage. Save for that, he were safe enow.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen, \u201cLady, if thou fearest hurt for him in battle, tell me\nnow by what device I may hinder it, and I will guard him afoot and on\nhorse.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cThou art my cousin, and I thine. To thy faith I commend\nmy dear husband, and thou mayst watch and keep him.\u201d\n\nThen she told him what she had better have left unsaid.\n\n\u201cMy husband is stark and bold. When that he slew the dragon on the\nmountain, he bathed him in its blood; wherefore no weapon can pierce\nhim. Nevertheless, when he rideth in battle, and spears fly from the\nhands of heroes, I tremble lest I lose him. Alack! for Siegfried\u2019s sake\nhow oft have I been heavy of my cheer! And now, dear cousin, I will\ntrust thee with the secret, and tell thee, that thou mayst prove thy\nfaith, where my husband may be wounded. For that I know thee\nhonourable, I do this. When the hot blood flowed from the wound of the\ndragon, and Siegfried bathed therein, there fell atween his shoulders\nthe broad leaf of a lime tree. There one might stab him, and thence is\nmy care and dole.\u201d\n\nThen answered Hagen of Trony, \u201cSew, with thine own hand, a small sign\nupon his outer garment, that I may know where to defend him when we\nstand in battle.\u201d\n\nShe did it to profit the knight, and worked his doom thereby. She said,\n\u201cI will sew secretly, with fine silk, a little cross upon his garment,\nand there, O knight, shalt thou guard to me my husband when ye ride in\nthe thick of the strife, and he withstandeth his foemen in the fierce\nonset.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I do, dear lady,\u201d answered Hagen.\n\nKriemhild thought to serve Siegfried; so was the hero betrayed.\n\nThen Hagen took his leave and went forth glad; and his king bade him\nsay what he had learned.\n\n\u201cIf thou wouldst turn from the journey, let us go hunting instead; for\nI have learned the secret, and have him in my hand. Wilt thou contrive\nthis?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I,\u201d said the king.\n\nAnd the king\u2019s men rejoiced. Never more, I ween, will knight do so\nfoully as did Hagen, when he brake his faith with the queen.\n\nThe next morning Siegfried, with his thousand knights, rode merrily\nforth; for he thought to avenge his friends. And Hagen rode nigh him,\nand spied at his vesture. When he saw the mark, he sent forward two of\nhis men secretly, to ride back to them with another message: that\nLudger bade tell the king his land might remain at peace.\n\nLoth was Siegfried to turn his rein or had he done battle for his\nfriends. Gunther\u2019s vassals scare held him back. Then he rode to the\nking, that thanked him.\n\n\u201cNow, God reward thee, Siegfried, my kinsman, that thou didst grant my\nprayer so readily. Even so will I do by thee, and that justly. I hold\nthee trustiest of all my friends. Seeing we be quit of this war, let us\nride a hunting to the Odenwald after the bear and the boar, as I have\noften done.\u201d\n\nHagen, the false man, had counselled this.\n\n\u201cLet it be told to my guests straightway that I will ride early. Whoso\nwould hunt with me, let him be ready betimes. But if any would tarry\nbehind for pastime with the women, he shall do it, and please me\nthereby.\u201d\n\nSiegfried answered on courtly wise, \u201cI will hunt with thee gladly, and\nwill ride to the forest, if thou lend me a huntsman and some brachs.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill one suffice?\u201d asked Gunther. \u201cI will lend thee four that know the\nforest well, and the tracks of the game, that thou come not home\nempty-handed.\u201d\n\nThen Siegfried rode to his wife.\n\nMeanwhile Hagen had told the king how he would trap the hero. Let all\nmen evermore avoid such foul treason. When the false man had contrived\nhis death, they told all the others. Giselher and Gernot were not\nhunting with the rest. I know not for what grudge they warned him not.\nBut they paid dear for it.\n\n\n\n\nSixteenth Adventure\nHow Siegfried Was Slain\n\n\nGunther and Hagen, the fierce warriors, went hunting with false intent\nin the forest, to chase the boar, the bear, and the wild bull, with\ntheir sharp spears. What fitter sport for brave men?\n\nSiegfried rode with them in kingly pomp. They took with them good store\nof meats. By a cool stream he lost his life, as Brunhild, King\nGunther\u2019s wife, had devised it.\n\nBut or he set out, and when the hunting-gear was laid ready on the\nsumpters that they were to take across the Rhine, he went to Kriemhild,\nthat was right doleful of her cheer. He kissed his lady on the mouth.\n\u201cGod grant I may see thee safe and well again, and thou me. Bide here\nmerry among thy kinsfolk, for I must forth.\u201d\n\nThen she thought on the secret she had betrayed to Hagen, but durst not\ntell him. The queen wept sore that ever she was born, and made\nmeasureless dole.\n\nShe said, \u201cGo not hunting. Last night I dreamed an evil dream: how that\ntwo wild boars chased thee over the heath; and the flowers were red\nwith blood. Have pity on my tears, for I fear some treachery. There be\nhaply some offended, that pursue us with deadly hate. Go not, dear\nlord; in good faith I counsel it.\u201d\n\nBut he answered, \u201cDear love, I go but for a few days. I know not any\nthat beareth me hate. Thy kinsmen will me well, nor have I deserved\notherwise at their hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Siegfried, I fear some mischance. Last night I dreamed an evil\ndream: how that two mountains fell on thee, and I saw thee no more. If\nthou goest, thou wilt grieve me bitterly.\u201d\n\nBut he caught his dear one in his arms and kissed her close; then he\ntook leave of her and rode off.\n\nShe never saw him alive again.\n\nThey rode thence into a deep forest to seek sport. The king had many\nbold knights with him, and rich meats, that they had need of for the\njourney. Sumpters passed laden before them over the Rhine, carrying\nbread and wine, and flesh and fish, and meats of all sorts, as was\nfitting for a rich king.\n\nThe bold huntsmen encamped before the green wood where they were to\nhunt, on a broad meadow. Siegfried also was there, which was told to\nthe king. And they set a watch round the camp.\n\nThen said stark Siegfried, \u201cWho will into the forest and lead us to the\ngame?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf we part or we begin the chase in the wood,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cwe shall\nknow which is the best sportsman. Let us divide the huntsmen and the\nhounds; then let each ride alone as him listeth, and he who hunteth the\nbest shall be praised.\u201d So they started without more ado.\n\nBut Siegfried said, \u201cOne hound that hath been well trained for the\nchase will suffice for me. There will be sport enow!\u201d\n\nThen an old huntsman took a limehound, and brought the company where\nthere was game in plenty. They hunted down all the beasts they started,\nas good sportsmen should.\n\nWhatsoever the limehound started, the hero of the Netherland slew with\nhis hand. His horse ran so swift that naught escaped him; he won\ngreater praise than any in the chase. In all things he was right manly.\nThe first that he smote to the death was a half-bred boar. Soon after,\nhe encountered a grim lion, that the limehound started. This he shot\nwith his bow and a sharp arrow; the lion made only three springs or he\nfell. Loud was the praise of his comrades. Then he killed, one after\nthe other, a buffalo, an elk, four stark ureoxen, and a grim shelk. His\nhorse carried him so swiftly that nothing outran him. Deer and hind\nescaped him not.\n\nThe limehound tracked a wild boar next that began to flee. But\nSiegfried rode up and barred the path, whereat the monster ran at the\nknight. He slew him with his sword. Not so lightly had another done it.\n\nThey leashed their limehound then, and told the Burgundians how\nSiegfried had prospered. Whereupon his huntsman said, \u201cPrithee, leave\nsomething alive; thou emptiest to us both mountain and forest.\u201d And\nSiegfried laughed.\n\nThe noise of the chase was all round them; hill and wood rang with\nshouting and the baying of dog, for the huntsmen had loosed twenty and\nfour hounds. Many a beast perished that day, for each thought to win\nthe prize of the chase. But when stark Siegfried rode to the\ntryst-fire, they saw that could not be.\n\nThe hunt was almost over. The sportsmen brought skins and game enow\nwith them to the camp. No lack of meat for cooking was there, I ween.\n\nThen the king bade tell the knights that he would dine. And they blew a\nblast on a horn, that told the king was at the tryst-fire.\n\nSaid one of Siegfried\u2019s huntsmen, \u201cI heard the blast of a horn bidding\nus back to the camp. I will answer it.\u201d And they kept blowing to\nassemble the company.\n\nSiegfried bade quit the wood. His horse bare him smoothly, and the\nothers pricked fast behind. The noise roused a grim bear, whereat the\nknight cried to them that came after him, \u201cNow for sport! Slip the dog,\nfor I see a bear that shall with us to the tryst-fire. He cannot escape\nus, if he ran ever so fast.\u201d\n\nThey slipped the limehound; off rushed the bear. Siegfried thought to\nrun him down, but he came to a ravine, and could not get to him; then\nthe bear deemed him safe. But the proud knight sprang from his horse,\nand pursued him. The beast had no shelter. It could not escape from\nhim, and was caught by his hand, and, or it could wound him, he had\nbound it, that it could neither scratch nor bite. Then he tied it to\nhis saddle, and, when he had mounted up himself, he brought it to the\ntryst-fire for pastime.\n\nHow right proudly he rode to the camping ground! His boar-spear was\nmickle, stark and broad. His sword hung down to the spur, and his\nhunting-horn was of ruddy gold. Of better hunting-gear I never heard\ntell. His coat was black samite, and his hat was goodly sable. His\nquiver was richly laced, and covered with a panther\u2019s hide for the sake\nof the sweet smell. He bare, also, a bow that none could draw but\nhimself, unless with a windlass. His cloak was a lynx-skin, pied from\nhead to foot, and embroidered over with gold on both sides. Also\nBalmung had he done on, whereof the edges were so sharp that it clave\nevery helmet it touched. I ween the huntsman was merry of his cheer.\nYet, to tell you the whole, I must say how his rich quiver was filled\nwith good arrows, gilt on the shaft, and broad a hand\u2019s breadth or\nmore. Swift and sure was the death of him that he smote therewith.\n\nSo the knight rode proudly from the forest, and Gunther\u2019s men saw him\ncoming, and ran and held his horse.\n\nWhen he had alighted, he loosed the band from the paws and from the\nmouth of the bear that he had bound to his saddle.\n\nSo soon as they saw the bear, the dogs began to bark. The animal tried\nto win back to the wood, and all the folk fell in great fear.\nAffrighted by the noise, it ran through the kitchen. Nimbly started the\nscullions from their place by the fire. Pots were upset and the brands\nstrewed over all. Alack! the good meats that tumbled into the ashes!\n\nThen up sprang the princes and their men. The bear began to growl, and\nthe king gave order to slip the hounds that were on leash. I\u2019faith, it\nhad been a merry day if it had ended so.\n\nHastily, with their bows and spears, the warriors, swift of foot,\nchased the bear, but there were so many dogs that none durst shoot\namong them, and the forest rang with the din. Then the bear fled before\nthe dogs, and none could keep pace with him save Kriemhild\u2019s husband,\nthat ran up to him and pierced him dead with his sword, and carried the\ncarcase back with him to the fire. They that saw it said he was a\nmighty man.\n\nThen they bade the sportsmen to the table, and they sat down, a goodly\ncompany enow, on a fair meadow. Ha! what dishes, meet for heroes, were\nset before them. But the cup-bearers were tardy, that should have\nbrought the wine. Save for that, knights were never better served. If\nthere had not been false-hearted men among them, they had been without\nreproach. The doomed man had no suspicion that might have warned him,\nfor his own heart was pure of all deceit. Many that his death profited\nnot at all had to pay for it bitterly.\n\nThen said Sir Siegfried, \u201cI marvel, since they bring us so much from\nthe kitchen, that they bring not the wine. If good hunters be entreated\nso, I will hunt no more. Certes, I have deserved better at your hands.\u201d\n\nWhereto the king at the table answered falsely, \u201cWhat lacketh to-day we\nwill make good another time. The blame is Hagen\u2019s, that would have us\nperish of thirst.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cDear master, Methought we were to hunt\nto-day at Spessart, and I sent the wine thither. For the present we\nmust go thirsty; another time I will take better care.\u201d\n\nBut Siegfried cried, \u201cSmall thank to him. Seven sumpters with meat and\nspiced wines should he have sent here at the least, or, if that might\nnot be, we should have gone nigher to the Rhine.\u201d\n\nHagen of Trony answered, \u201cI know of a cool spring close at hand. Be not\nwroth with me, but take my counsel, and go thither.\u201d The which was\ndone, to the hurt of many warriors. Siegfried was sore athirst and bade\npush back the table, that he might go to the spring at the foot of the\nmountain. Falsely had the knights contrived it. The wild beasts that\nSiegfried\u2019s hand had slain they let pile on a waggon and take home, and\nthey that saw it praised him.\n\nFoully did Hagen break faith with Siegfried. He said, when they were\nstarting for the broad lime tree, \u201cI hear from all sides that none can\nkeep pace with Kriemhild\u2019s husband when he runneth. Let us see now.\u201d\n\nBold Siegfried of the Netherland answered, \u201cThou mayst easily prove it,\nif thou wilt run with me to the brook for a wager. The praise shall be\nto him that winneth there first.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us see then,\u201d said Hagen the knight.\n\nAnd stark Siegfried answered, \u201cIf I lose, I will lay me at thy feet in\nthe grass.\u201d\n\nA glad man was King Gunther when he heard that!\n\nSaid Siegfried further, \u201cNay, I will undertake more. I will carry on me\nall that I wear\u2014spear, shield, and hunting gear.\u201d Whereupon he girded\non his sword and his quiver in haste. Then the others did off their\nclothes, till they stood in their white shirts, and they ran through\nthe clover like two wild panthers; but bold Siegfried was seen there\nthe first. Before all men he won the prize in everything. He loosed his\nsword straightway, and laid down his quiver. His good spear he leaned\nagainst the lime tree; then the noble guest stood and waited, for his\ncourtesy was great. He laid down his shield by the stream. Albeit he\nwas sore athirst, he drank not till that the king had finished, who\ngave him evil thanks.\n\nThe stream was cool, pure, and good. Gunther bent down to the water,\nand rose again when he had drunk. Siegfried had gladly done the like,\nbut he suffered for his courtesy. Hagen carried his bow and his sword\nout of his reach, and sprang back and gripped the spear. Then he spied\nfor the secret mark on his vesture; and while Siegfried drank from the\nstream, Hagen stabbed him where the cross was, that his heart\u2019s blood\nspurted out on the traitor\u2019s clothes. Never since hath knight done so\nwickedly. He left the spear sticking deep in his heart, and fled in\ngrimmer haste than ever he had done from any man on this earth afore.\n\nWhen Siegfried felt the deep wound, he sprang up maddened from the\nwater, for the long boar spear stuck out from his heart. He thought to\nfind bow or sword; if he had, Hagen had got his due. But the\nsore-wounded man saw no sword, and had nothing save his shield. He\npicked it up from the water\u2019s edge and ran at Hagen. King Gunther\u2019s man\ncould not escape him. For all that he was wounded to the death, he\nsmote so mightily that the shield well-nigh brake, and the precious\nstones flew out. The noble guest had fain taken vengeance.\n\nHagen fell beneath his stroke. The meadow rang loud with the noise of\nthe blow. If he had had his sword to hand, Hagen had been a dead man.\nBut the anguish of his wound constrained him. His colour was wan; he\ncould not stand upright; and the strength of his body failed him, for\nhe bare death\u2019s mark on his white cheek. Fair women enow made dole for\nhim.\n\nThen Kriemhild\u2019s husband fell among the flowers. The blood flowed fast\nfrom his wound, and in his great anguish he began to upbraid them that\nhad falsely contrived his death. \u201cFalse cowards!\u201d cried the dying\nknight. \u201cWhat availeth all my service to you, since ye have slain me? I\nwas true to you, and pay the price for it. Ye have done ill by your\nfriends. Cursed by this deed are your sons yet unborn. Ye have avenged\nyour spite on my body all too bitterly. For your crime ye shall be\nshunned by good knights.\u201d\n\nAll the warriors ran where he lay stabbed. To many among them it was a\nwoeful day. They that were true mourned for him, the which the hero had\nwell deserved of all men.\n\nThe King of Burgundy, also, wept for his death, but the dying man said,\n\u201cHe needeth not to weep for the evil, by whom the evil cometh. Better\nhad he left it undone, for mickle is his blame.\u201d\n\nThen said grim Hagen, \u201cI know not what ye rue. All is ended for us\u2014care\nand trouble. Few are they now that will withstand us. Glad am I that,\nthrough me, his might is fallen.\u201d\n\n\u201cLightly mayst thou boast now,\u201d said Siegfried; \u201cif I had known thy\nmurderous hate, it had been an easy thing to guard my body from thee.\nMy bitterest dole is for Kriemhild, my wife. God pity me that ever I\nhad a son. For all men will reproach him that he hath murderers to his\nkinsmen. I would grieve for that, had I the time.\u201d\n\nHe said to the king, \u201cNever in this world was so foul a murder as thou\nhast done on me. In thy sore need I saved thy life and thine honour.\nDear have I paid for that I did well by thee.\u201d With a groan the wounded\nman said further, \u201cYet if thou canst show truth to any on this earth, O\nKing, show it to my dear wife, that I commend to thee. Let it advantage\nher to be thy sister. By all princely honour stand by her. Long must my\nfather and my knights wait for my coming. Never hath woman won such woe\nthrough a dear one.\u201d\n\nHe writhed in his bitter anguish, and spake painfully, \u201cYe shall rue\nthis foul deed in the days to come. Know this of a truth, that in\nslaying me ye have slain yourselves.\u201d\n\nThe flowers were all wet with blood. He strove with death, but not for\nlong, for the weapon of death cut too deep. And the bold knight and\ngood spake no more.\n\nWhen the warriors saw that the hero was dead, they laid him on a shield\nof ruddy gold, and took counsel how they should conceal that Hagen had\ndone it. Many of them said, \u201cEvil hath befallen us. Ye shall all hide\nit, and hold to one tale\u2014when Kriemhild\u2019s husband was riding alone in\nthe forest, robbers slew him.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen of Trony said, \u201cI will take him back to Burgundy. If she that\nhath troubled Brunhild know it, I care not. It concerneth me little if\nshe weep.\u201d\n\nOf that very brook where Siegfried was slain ye shall hear the truth\nfrom me. In the Odenwald is a village that hight Odenheim, and there\nthe stream runneth still; beyond doubt it is the same.\n\n\n\n\nSeventeenth Adventure\nHow Siegfried Was Mourned and Buried\n\n\nThey tarried there that night, and then crossed the Rhine. Heroes never\nwent to so woeful a hunt. For one thing that they slew, many women\nwept, and many a good knight\u2019s body paid for it. Of overweening pride\nye shall hear now, and grim vengeance.\n\nHagen bade them bear dead Siegfried of the Nibelung land before the\nchamber where Kriemhild was, and charged them to lay him secretly\noutside the door, that she might find him there when she went forth to\nmass or it was day, the which she was wont to do.\n\nThe minster bell was rung as the custom was. Fair Kriemhild waked her\nmaidens, and bade them bring her a light and her vesture.\n\nThen a chamberlain came and found Siegfried. He saw him red with blood,\nand his garment all wet, but he knew not yet that he was his king. He\ncarried the light into the room in his hand, and from him Kriemhild\nheard evil tidings.\n\nWhen she would have gone with her women to the minster, the chamberlain\nsaid, \u201cLady, stop! A murdered knight lieth on the threshold.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me!\u201d cried Kriemhild. \u201cWhat meanest thou by such news?\u201d\n\nOr she knew for certain that it was her husband, she began to think on\nHagen\u2019s question, how he might guard him. From that moment her dole\nbegan; for, with his death, she took leave of all joy. She sank on the\nfloor speechless; they saw the miserable woman lying there. Kriemhild\u2019s\nwoe was great beyond measure, and after her swoon she cried out, that\nall the chamber rang.\n\nThen said her attendants, \u201cWhat if it be a stranger?\u201d\n\nBut the blood burst from her mouth by reason of her heart\u2019s anguish,\nand she said, \u201cNay, it is Siegfried, my dear husband. Brunhild hath\ncounselled it, and Hagen hath done it.\u201d\n\nThe lady bade them show her where the hero lay. She lifted his\nbeautiful head with her white hands. Albeit he was red with blood, she\nknew him straightway. Pitifully the hero of the Netherland lay there.\n\nThe gentle, good queen wailed in anguish, \u201cWoe is me for this wrong!\nThy shield is unpierced by swords. Thou liest murdered. If I knew who\nhad done this deed, I would not rest till he was dead.\u201d\n\nAll her attendants wailed and cried with their dear mistress, for they\nwere woe for their noble master that they had lost. Foully had Hagen\navenged Brunhild\u2019s anger.\n\nThe sorrowful one said, \u201cGo and wake Siegfried\u2019s men quickly; and tell\nSiegmund also my dole, that he may help me to mourn for brave\nSiegfried.\u201d\n\nThen a messenger ran in haste where Siegfried\u2019s heroes of the Nibelung\nland lay, and took from them their joy with heavy tidings. They\nbelieved it not, till they heard the wailing.\n\nThe messenger also came quickly where the king was. Siegmund slept not.\nI ween his heart told him what had happened, and that he would see his\ndear son never more.\n\n\u201cArouse thee, Sir Siegmund! Kriemhild, my lady, hath sent me. For a\nwrong hath been done her, that lieth heavier on her heart than any\nother hath done. Thou shalt help her to mourn, for it is thy sorrow\nalso.\u201d\n\nUp rose Sir Siegmund then, and said, \u201cWhat is fair Kriemhild\u2019s grief,\nwhereof thou tellest me?\u201d\n\nThe messenger answered, weeping, \u201cShe mourneth with cause. Bold\nSiegfried of the Netherland is slain.\u201d\n\nBut Siegmund said, \u201cJest not with these evil tidings of my son, and say\nto none that he is slain; for never to my life\u2019s end could I mourn him\nenow.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou believest not what I tell thee, hearken thyself to Kriemhild,\nhow she maketh dole for Siegfried\u2019s death with all her maidens.\u201d\n\nThen Siegmund feared and was sore affrighted. With an hundred of his\nmen he sprang out of his bed; they grasped their long swords and keen,\nwith their hands, and ran sorrowfully where they heard the sound of\nweeping. A thousand of Siegfried\u2019s knights came running. They thought\nnot on their vesture till they were there, for they had lost their wits\nthrough grief. Mickle woe was buried in their hearts.\n\nThen came Siegmund to Queen Kriemhild, and said, \u201cWoe is me for our\njourney hither! Who, among such good friends, hath murderously robbed\nme of my child, and thee of thy husband?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I knew that,\u201d answered the noble woman, \u201cI were ever his foe with\nheart and soul. Trust me, I would so contrive his hurt that all his\nfriends, by reason of me, would yet weep for sorrow.\u201d\n\nSiegmund took the prince in his arms; the grief of his friends was so\ngreat that, with their loud wailing and their weeping, palace and hall\nand the town of Worms rang again. None could comfort Siegfried\u2019s wife.\nThey took the clothes off his beautiful body, and washed his wounds and\nlaid him on a bier, and all his folk were heavy with great grief.\n\nThen spake his knights of the Netherland, \u201cOur hands are ready for\nvengeance. He that hath done it is in this house.\u201d\n\nSiegfried\u2019s men armed them in haste; the valiant knights assembled to\nthe number of eleven hundred. These had Siegmund, the mighty king, for\nhis following; and, as his honour bade him, he had gladly avenged the\ndeath of his son. They knew not whom they should fall on, if it were\nnot Gunther and his men, with whom Siegfried had gone hunting.\n\nBut when Kriemhild saw them armed, she was greatly grieved. For all her\ndole and her pain, she so feared the death of the Nibelungs at the hand\nof her brother\u2019s men that she forbade their vengeance, and warned them\nin love, as friend doth with dear friend.\n\nThe sorrowful queen said, \u201cMy lord, Siegmund, what wouldst thou do?\nSurely thou knowest not how many bold knights Gunther hath. If ye come\nto grips with them, ye must certainly perish.\u201d\n\nThey stood eager for strife with their shields dressed, but the queen\nbegged and commanded them to forbear; that they would not, grieved her\nsore.\n\nShe said, \u201cMy lord Siegmund, let be, till more fitting season, and I\nwill help thee to avenge my husband. Verily, I will show him that took\nhim from me that he hath done it to his hurt. Here by the Rhine there\nare so many overweening men that I would have thee, for the present,\nforbear from battle; for thy one man they have at least the thirty. God\ndo to them as they have done to us. Tarry here, brave knights, and\nmourn with me till it is day, and help me to lay my dear husband in his\ncoffin.\u201d\n\nThe warriors answered, \u201cDear lady, be it so.\u201d\n\nNone might tell to the end the wailing that arose there from knights\nand women. It was so loud that they in the town heard it, and the noble\nburghers hasted thither, and mourned with the guests, for they were\nright sorrowful. They knew no fault in Siegfried for which he had lost\nhis life, and the good burgesses\u2019 wives wept with the women of the\ncourt.\n\nThey bade the smiths go and make a coffin of silver and of gold, mickle\nand stark, and brace it strongly with good steel. Right heavy of their\ncheer were all the folk.\n\nThe night was ended. They told them it was day, and the queen gave\norder to bear the dead knight, her dear husband, to the minster; and\nall the friends he had there followed weeping.\n\nWhen they came to the minster, how many a bell rang out! On all sides\nthey sang requiems. Thither came King Gunther with his men, and also\ngrim Hagen, that had better stayed away.\n\nGunther said, \u201cDear sister, woe is me for this grief of thine, and that\nthis great misadventure hath befallen us. We must ever mourn\nSiegfried\u2019s death.\u201d\n\n\u201cYe do wrongly,\u201d said the wailing queen. \u201cIf it grieved thee, it had\nnever happed. I was clean forgotten by thee when thou didst part me\nfrom my dear husband. Would to God thou hadst done it to me instead!\u201d\n\nBut they held to their lie, and Kriemhild went on. \u201cLet him that is\nguiltless prove it. Let him go up to the bier before all the folk, and\nsoon we shall know the truth.\u201d\n\nIt is a great marvel, and ofttimes seen even now, how that, when the\nmurderer standeth by the dead, the wounds bleed again. And so it fell\nthen, and Hagen\u2019s guilt was plain to all.\n\nThe wounds burst open and bled as they had done afore; and they that\nhad wept already wept now much more. King Gunther said, \u201cHear the\ntruth. He was slain by robbers. Hagen did it not.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese robbers,\u201d she answered, \u201cI know well. God grant that his\nkinsmen\u2019s hands may avenge it. By you, Gunther and Hagen, was it done.\u201d\nSiegfried\u2019s knights had fain fallen on them, but Kriemhild said, \u201cHelp\nme to bear my woe.\u201d\n\nGernot her brother, and Giselher the youth, both came and found\nSiegfried dead; they mourned for him truly, and their eyes were blind\nwith tears. They wept for Kriemhild\u2019s husband from their hearts.\n\nIt was time to sing mass, and men and women flocked from all quarters.\nEven they that missed him little mourned with the rest.\n\nGernot and Giselher said, \u201cComfort thee, sister, for the dead, for so\nit must needs be now. We will make it good to thee while we live.\u201d But\ncomfort her could none.\n\nHis coffin was ready by the middle of the day, and they lifted the dead\nman from the bier whereon he lay, but the queen would not let them bury\nhim yet. All his folk must first toil sore.\n\nThey wound him in a rich cloth. Not one, I ween, was there that wept\nnot. Uta, the noble queen and all her women wailed bitterly for\nSiegfried.\n\nWhen the folk heard they sang the requiem, and that Siegfried was in\nhis chest, they crowded thither, and brought offerings for his soul.\nAmidst of his enemies, he had good friends enow.\n\nThen poor Kriemhild said to her chamberlain, \u201cFor my sake, stint not\nthy labour. For Siegfried\u2019s soul, divide his wealth among them that\nwere well minded to him, and are true to me.\u201d\n\nThe smallest child, if he understood all, must go with its offering or\nhe was buried. They sang at the least an hundred masses a day. And\ngreat was the press among Siegfried\u2019s friends.\n\nWhen they had done singing, the folk rose and departed; but Kriemhild\nsaid, \u201cLeave me not alone to watch the valiant knight. With his body\nlieth all my joy. Three days and three nights will I keep him here,\ntill that I have had my fill of my dear husband. What if God let death\ntake me too? So the sorrow of poor Kriemhild were ended.\u201d\n\nThe townsfolk went home; and priests, and monks, and all them that had\nserved Siegfried, she bade tarry. Heavy were their nights and toilsome\ntheir days. Many a man neither ate nor drank, but they that desired it\nwere bidden take their fill. Siegmund saw to that. No easy time had the\nNibelungs. They say that all that could sing got no rest. What\nofferings were brought! The poorest was rich enow, for they that had\nnaught were bidden bring an offering from the gold of Siegfried\u2019s own\nhoard. When he lived no more, they gave many thousand marks for his\nsoul. Kriemhild bestowed lands and revenues over all, on cloisters and\nholy men. Silver and clothes in plenty they gave to the poor. She\nshowed plain the love she bare Siegfried.\n\nOn the third morning, when mass was due, the great churchyard by the\nminster was full of weeping countryfolk; for they served him in death\nas dear friends should.\n\nThey say that, in these four days, thirty thousand marks, or more, were\ngiven to the poor for his soul\u2019s sake, when his beauty and his life\nwere brought to nothing.\n\nGod had been served; the song was done. The folk were shaken with\nweeping. They bade carry him from the minster to the grave, and naught\nwas heard but crying and mourning.\n\nWith loud wail the people followed after. None was joyful, neither\nwoman nor man. They sang and read or they buried him. Ah, what good\npriests were at his funeral!\n\nOr Siegfried\u2019s wife came to the grave, her faithful body was wrung with\nsuch grief that they ceased not from sprinkling her with water. None\ncould measure her sorrow.\n\nIt was a wonder that she lived. Her weeping women helped her. Then said\nthe queen, \u201cYe men of Siegfried, as ye love me, do me this grace. Give\nme, in my sorrow, this little joy: to see his dear head once more.\u201d She\nbegged this so long, and with such bitter weeping, that they brake open\nthe rich chest.\n\nThen they bought the queen where he was. She lifted his lovely head\nwith her white hand, and kissed him. Her bright eyes, for grief, wept\nblood. It was a pitiful parting.\n\nThen they carried her thence, for she could not walk. And she lay in a\nswoon, as her fair body would have perished for sorrow.\n\nWhen the noble knight was buried, they that were come with him from the\nland of the Nibelungs made measureless dole. Little joy was seen in\nSiegmund. For three whole days some neither ate nor drank for woe.\nLonger than that their bodies endured it not. And so they ate and got\nwell of their grief, as many a one doth still.\n\nKriemhild lay senseless in a swoon all that day and that night, till\nthe next morning; she knew nothing that they said. And in like case lay\nalso King Siegmund. Scarce got the knight his wits again, for his\nstrength was weakened by reason of his great dole. It was no wonder.\n\nThen his men said, \u201cSir knight, let us home. We may not tarry longer\nhere.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nEighteenth Adventure\nHow Siegmund Returned Home\n\n\nKriemhild\u2019s father-in-law went to her and said, \u201cLet us home to our\nland. I ween we are unwelcome guests by the Rhine. Kriemhild, dear\nlady, return to my country with me. That treason has bereft thee here\nof thy dear husband shall not be avenged on thee. I will stand by thee\ntruly, for love of thy husband and his noble child. Thou shalt also\nhave all the power that Siegfried, the valiant knight, gave thee. The\nland and the crown are thine, and all Siegfried\u2019s men shall serve thee\ngladly.\u201d\n\nThey told the squires they would away. There was hurrying for the\nhorses, for life was a burden to them among their stark foemen. Women\nand maidens were bidden seek out their clothes.\n\nBut when King Siegmund would have set out, Kriemhild\u2019s mother began to\nbeg that she would remain among her kinsfolk.\n\nThe wretched queen said, \u201cThat could hardly be. How could I have ever\nbefore mine eyes him that hath brought this woe upon me, miserable\nwoman that I am?\u201d\n\nGiselher the youth said, \u201cDear sister mine, thy duty is here by thy\nmother. Thou need\u2019st no service from them that have wounded and\ndarkened thy spirit, for thou shalt live at my sole charge.\u201d\n\nBut she answered the knight, \u201cIt cannot be; I must die of grief but to\nlook on Hagen.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, I counsel thee, dear sister, to stay by thy brother Giselher; and\nI will make good to thee thy husband\u2019s death.\u201d\n\nBut the God-forsaken one answered, \u201cNeed enow hath Kriemhild of\ncomfort.\u201d\n\nWhile the youth besought her so kindly, Uta and Gernot began to pray\nher, and her faithful kinsmen also, that she should tarry, for she had\nfew kinsmen among Siegfried\u2019s men.\n\n\u201cThey are all strangers to thee,\u201d said Gernot, \u201cand however strong a\nfriend may be, one day he must die. Consider it, dear sister, and take\ncomfort and stay here by thy kinsfolk. It were better for thee.\u201d\n\nSo she promised Giselher she would remain there.\n\nThe horses were led out for Siegmund\u2019s men, for they were ready to ride\nback to the land of the Nibelungs; and their harness was laid on the\nsumpters.\n\nThen went Siegmund to Kriemhild, and said to her, \u201cSiegfried\u2019s men wait\nby their horses. Let us away, for it irketh me here by the\nBurgundians.\u201d\n\nKriemhild answered, \u201cThey that are faithful among my kinsfolk counsel\nme to abide here with them. I have no kinsmen in the Nibelung land.\u201d\n\nSiegmund was woeful when he heard this from Kriemhild, and he said,\n\u201cLet none tell thee that. Before all my kinsmen shalt thou wear the\ncrown, and have dominion as aforetime; no man shall avenge on thee the\nloss of the hero. Come with us for thy little child\u2019s sake. Leave it\nnot an orphan. When thy son is grown to a man he shall comfort thee;\nand meanwhile many a bold knight and good shall serve thee.\u201d\n\nBut she answered, \u201cMy lord Siegmund, I cannot go. Whatso come of it, I\nmust tarry here with my kinsfolk, who will help me to mourn.\u201d\n\nThe warriors liked not the news, and they said with one accord, \u201cThen\nmight we bewail our wrong indeed, if thou shouldst abide here by our\nfoemen. Heroes never rode to a sorrier hightide.\u201d\n\n\u201cDepart without fear, and in God\u2019s keeping. I will see that ye come\nwell escorted to your land. I commend my dear child to your care.\u201d\n\nWhen they saw plain that she would not go, Siegmund\u2019s men all fell to\nweeping. How right piteously Siegmund parted from Kriemhild! His grief\nwas bitter, and he said, \u201cWoe is me for this hightide! Never yet hath\nsuch evil befallen a king and his men at a feast. They shall see us no\nmore in Burgundy.\u201d\n\nSiegfried\u2019s men said openly, \u201cNay, we might well ride hither again if\nwe knew who had murdered our master. Among his kinsmen they have stark\nfoes enow.\u201d\n\nSiegmund kissed Kriemhild, and spake dolefully when he saw she would\ntarry, \u201cWe fare home joyless to our land. Now, for the first time, I\nknow all my sorrows.\u201d\n\nThey rode, without an escort, from Worms across the Rhine. Well might\nthe Nibelungs fear nothing from the assault of foemen, with their own\nstrong hand to guard them.\n\nThey took leave of none; but Gernot and Giselher went to them lovingly,\nfor they grieved for their loss, and told them so.\n\nGernot said courteously, \u201cGod in Heaven knoweth that I had no blame in\nSiegfried\u2019s death; neither was it told me, that any here bare him\nmalice. With true heart I sorrow for him.\u201d\n\nGiselher the youth gave them good escort. He brought the king and his\nknights home to the Netherland without further mischance.\n\nHow it fared with them after, I cannot tell. But Kriemhild was ever\nheard mourning, and none comforted her save Giselher\u2014he was true and\ngood.\n\nFair Brunhild sat misproud, and recked little how Kriemhild wept. She\nwas never kind to her again. Also to her, afterward, Kriemhild caused\nbitter heart\u2019s dole.\n\n\n\n\nNineteenth Adventure\nHow the Nibelung Hoard Came to Worms\n\n\nWhen noble Kriemhild was widowed, Count Eckewart stayed by her in\nBurgundy with his men, as honour bade him, and served his mistress with\ngoodwill till his death.\n\nAt Worms, by the minster, they gave her a room, wide and high, rich and\nspacious, where she sat joyless with her attendants. To church she went\noften and gladly. Since her dear one was buried, how seldom she failed\nthere! She went thither sorrowfully every day, and prayed to great God\nfor his soul. Faithfully and without stint the knight was mourned.\n\nUta and her women ceased not to comfort her. But her heart was wounded\nso deep that she could not be cheered. She sorrowed for Siegfried more\nthan wife ever did for husband. Her great love appeared therein, and\nshe mourned him to the end, while her life endured. Strong and true she\ntook vengeance at the last.\n\nSo she remained (I say sooth) till the fourth year after her husband\u2019s\ndeath, and had spoken no word to Gunther, nor once, in the whole of\nthat time, had looked on Hagen, her foe.\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cCouldst thou contrive that thy sister took\nthee to friend again? So would the Nibelung gold come into this land.\nThou mightest win much thereof for thyself, if the queen were\nappeased.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will try it,\u201d answered the king. \u201cI will send my brothers thither,\nthat haply they may prevail upon her to do it gladly.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said, \u201cI doubt that will never be.\u201d\n\nGunther sent Ortwin and the Margrave Gary to the court. When that was\ndone, they brought Gernot, and Giselher the youth. And on friendly wise\nthey essayed it with Kriemhild.\n\nBold Gernot of Burgundy said, \u201cLady, thou mournest Siegfried\u2019s death\ntoo long. The king will prove to thee that it was not he that slew him.\nEvermore thou art heard wailing bitterly.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cNo one blameth the king. Hagen\u2019s hand slew him, and from me\nhe discovered where he should stab. How could I know he hated him? Good\ncare had I taken then not to betray his beautiful body, and had not\nneeded now to weep, wretched woman that I am. I will never be the\nfriend of them that did it.\u201d\n\nThen began Giselher, the valiant man, to entreat her.\n\nShe said, \u201cYe give me no peace. I must greet him, but great is your\nblame therein, for without fault of mine the king hath brought on me\nbitter heart\u2019s dole. With my mouth I may pardon him, but with my heart,\nnever.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter this it will be better,\u201d thought her friends. \u201cWhat if he so\nentreat her that she grow glad again?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe may yet make it good to her,\u201d said Gernot, the warrior.\n\nAnd the sorrowful woman said, \u201cSee, I will do as ye desire; I will\ngreet the king.\u201d\n\nWhen they told him that, the king went with his best friends to her.\nBut Hagen durst not come before her. Well he knew his guilt, and that\nhe had done her a wrong.\n\nSince she had hid her hate to him, Gunther deemed it well to kiss her.\nIf he had not wrought her such woe, he might have gone often and boldly\ninto her presence.\n\nFriends were never reconciled with so many tears, for her wrongs\nweighed heavy on her heart. She forgave them all, save the one man, for\nnone but Hagen had slain him.\n\nSoon after, they contrived that Kriemhild won the great hoard from the\nland of the Nibelungs, and brought it to the Rhine. It was her\nmarriage-morning gift, and rightly hers. Giselher and Gernot went for\nit. Kriemhild sent eighty hundred men to fetch it from where it lay\nhid, and where Albric with his nearest kinsmen guarded it.\n\nWhen they saw the men of the Rhine come for the treasure, bold Albric\nspake to his friends, \u201cWe dare not refuse her the treasure, for it is\nthe noble queen\u2019s wedding gift. Yet we had never parted with it, if we\nhad not lost with Siegfried the good _Tarnkappe_. At all times it was\nworn by fair Kriemhild\u2019s husband. A woeful thing hath it proved for\nSiegfried that he took from us the _Tarnkappe_, and won all this land\nto his service.\u201d\n\nThen the chamberlain went and got the keys. Kriemhild\u2019s men and some of\nher kinsmen stood before the mountain. They carried the hoard to the\nsea, on to the ships, and bare it across the waves from the mountain to\nthe Rhine.\n\nNow hear the marvels of this treasure. Twelve wagons scarce carried it\nthence in four days and four nights, albeit each of them made the\njourney three times. It was all precious stones and gold, and had the\nwhole world been bought therewith, there had not been one coin the\nless. Certes, Hagen did not covet it without cause.\n\nThe wishing-rod lay among it, the which, if any discovered it, made him\nmaster over every man in all the world.\n\nMany of Albric\u2019s kinsmen went with Gernot. When Gernot and Giselher the\nyouth got possession of the hoard, there came into their power lands,\nand castles, also, and many a good warrior, that served them through\nfear of their might.\n\nWhen the hoard came into Gunther\u2019s land, and the queen got it in her\nkeeping, chambers and towers were filled full therewith. One never\nheard tell of so marvelous a treasure. But if it had been a thousand\ntimes more, but to have Siegfried alive again, Kriemhild had gladly\nstood bare by his side. Never had hero truer wife.\n\nNow that she had the hoard, it brought into the land many stranger\nknights; for the lady\u2019s hand gave more freely than any had ever seen.\nShe was kind and good; that must one say of her.\n\nTo poor and rich she began to give, till Hagen said that if she lived\nbut a while longer, she would win so many knights to her service that\nit must go hard with the others.\n\nBut King Gunther said, \u201cIt is her own. It concerneth me not how she\nuseth it. Scarcely did I win her pardon. And now I ask not how she\ndivideth her jewels and her red gold.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said to the king, \u201cA wise man would leave such a treasure to\nno woman. By reason of her largess, a day will come that the bold\nBurgundians may rue.\u201d\n\nThen King Gunther said, \u201cI sware an oath to her that I would do her no\nmore hurt, nor will I do it. She is my sister.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said, \u201cLet me be the guilty one.\u201d\n\nAnd so they brake their oath and took from the widow her rich hoard.\nHagen got hold of all the keys.\n\nGernot was wroth when he heard thereof, and Giselher said, \u201cHagen hath\ngreatly wronged Kriemhild. I should have withstood him. Were he not my\nkinsman, he should answer for it with his life.\u201d\n\nThen Siegfried\u2019s wife began to weep anew.\n\nAnd Gernot said, \u201cSooner than be troubled with this gold, let us sink\nit in the Rhine. Then it were no man\u2019s.\u201d\n\nShe went wailing to Giselher, and said, \u201cDear brother, forsake me not,\nbut be my kind and good steward.\u201d\n\nHe answered her, \u201cI will, when we win home again. For the present we\nride on a journey.\u201d\n\nThe king and his kinsmen left the land. He took the best he had with\nhim. Only Hagen tarried behind through the hate he bare Kriemhild, and\nthat he might work her ill.\n\nOr the great king came back, Hagen had seized all the treasure and sunk\nit in the Rhine at Lochheim. He thought to profit thereby, but did not.\n\nOr Hagen hid the treasure, they had sworn a mighty oath that it should\nremain a secret so long as they lived. Neither could they take it\nthemselves nor give it to another.\n\nThe princes returned, and with them many knights. Thereupon Kriemhild,\nwith her women and her maidens, began to bewail her wrong bitterly. She\nwas right woeful. And the knights made as to slay Hagen, and said with\none accord, \u201cHe hath done evilly.\u201d So he fled from before their anger\ntill they took him in favour again. They let him live, but Kriemhild\nhated him with deadly hate.\n\nHer heart was heavy with new grief for her husband\u2019s murder, and that\nthey had stolen her treasure, and till her last day she ceased not to\nwail.\n\nAfter Siegfried\u2019s death (I say sooth) she mourned till the thirteenth\nyear, nor could she forget the hero. She was ever true to him, and for\nthis folk have praised her.\n\nUta founded a rich abbey with her wealth after Dankrat\u2019s death, and\nendowed it with great revenue, the which it draweth still. It is the\nAbbey of Lorsch, renowned to this day. Kriemhild also gave no little\npart thereto, for Siegfried\u2019s soul, and for the souls of all the dead.\nShe gave gold and precious stones with willing hand. Seldom have we\nknown a truer wife.\n\nAfter that Kriemhild forgave Gunther, and yet, through his fault, lost\nher great treasure, her heart\u2019s dole was a thousand times worse than\nafore, and she was fain to be gone. A rich palace was built for Uta\nfast by the cloister of Lorsch. She left her children and went thither,\nand there she lieth still, buried in her coffin.\n\nThen said the queen, \u201cDearest daughter mine, since thou canst not tarry\nhere, dwell with me in my house at Lorsch, and cease from weeping.\u201d\n\nBut Kriemhild answered, \u201cTo whom then should I leave my husband?\u201d\n\n\u201cLeave him here,\u201d said Uta.\n\n\u201cGod in Heaven forbid!\u201d said the good wife. \u201cThat could I never do,\ndearest mother; he must go with me.\u201d\n\nThe sorrowful one had his body taken up, and his noble bones were\nburied again at Lorsch beside the minster with great honour; and there\nthe bold hero lieth in a long coffin.\n\nBut when Kriemhild would have journeyed thither with her mother, the\nwhich she was fain to do, she was forced to tarry, by reason of news\nthat came from far beyond the Rhine.\n\n\n\n\nBook II\n\n\n\n\nTwentieth Adventure\nHow King Etzel Sent to Burgundy for Kriemhild\n\n\nIt was in the days when Queen Helca died, and King Etzel wooed other\nwomen, that his friends commended to him a proud widow in the land of\nBurgundy, that hight Queen Kriemhild.\n\nSeeing fair Helca was dead, they said, \u201cIf thou wouldst win a noble\nwife, the highest and the best that ever a king won, take this woman.\nStark Siegfried was her husband.\u201d\n\nThe great king answered, \u201cHow could that be, since I am a heathen, and\nhave not received baptism? The woman is a Christian\u2014she will not\nconsent. It were a wonder, truly, if it came to pass.\u201d\n\nBut the good knights said, \u201cWhat if she do it gladly, for thy high\nname\u2019s sake, and thy great possessions? One can ask her at the least;\nshe were a fitting and comely mate for thee.\u201d\n\nThen the noble king answered, \u201cWhich among ye knoweth the folk by the\nRhine, and their land?\u201d\n\nSaid good Rudeger of Bechlaren, \u201cFrom a child I have known the high and\nnoble kings, Gunther and Gernot, good knights both. The third hight\nGiselher; each of these doeth whatso goeth best with honour and virtue.\nThe like did their fathers.\u201d\n\nBut Etzel said, \u201cFriend, tell me now, is she meet to wear the crown in\nmy land? If her body be so fair as they say, my best friends shall\nnever rue it.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe resembleth great Helca, my mistress, for beauty. No king\u2019s wife in\nthe world could be fairer. Whom she taketh to friend may well be\ncomforted!\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cThen woo her, Rudeger, in my name and for my sake. And come I\never to wed Kriemhild, I will reward thee as I best can. Thereto, thou\nwilt have done my will faithfully. From my store I will bid them give\nthee what thou requirest of horses and apparel, that thou and thy\nfellows may live merrily. They shall give thee therefrom without stint\nfor thine embassy.\u201d\n\nRudeger, the rich Margrave, answered, \u201cI were much to blame if I took\nfrom thy store. I will gladly ride, an envoy to the Rhine, at mine own\ncost, and with what I have received from thy hand.\u201d\n\nThen the rich king said, \u201cWhen thinkest thou to set out for the fair\none? God guard thine honour by the way, and also my wife, if kind\nfortune help us to her favour.\u201d\n\nSaid Rudeger, \u201cOr we quit this land, we must let fashion weapons and\napparel, that we may win worship when we come before the princes. I\nwill lead to the Rhine five hundred valiant men, that when they see me\nand mine at Burgundy, they may say that never king sent so many men so\nfar as thou hast sent to us, to the Rhine. And know, great king, if\nthou art set on this, that she belonged to Siegfried, a right goodly\nman, the son of Siegmund. Thou hast seen him here. Soothly, much\nworship might be said of him.\u201d\n\nKing Etzel answered, \u201cIf she was that knight\u2019s wife, the noble prince\nwas of so high renown, that I may not scorn his queen. By reason of her\ngreat beauty she pleaseth me well.\u201d\n\nThen the Margrave said, \u201cI promise thee that we will ride hence in four\nand twenty days. I will send word to Gotelind, my dear wife, that I,\nmyself, go as envoy to Kriemhild.\u201d So Rudeger sent messengers to\nBechlaren to his wife, the high-born Margravine, and told her that he\nwould go wooing for the king.\n\nThe Margravine still thought lovingly on good Helca, and when she heard\nthe message, she was one part sorry, and began to weep, lest she might\nnot win such a mistress as afore. When she thought on Helca she was\nheavy of her cheer.\n\nRudeger rode out of Hungary in seven days, whereat King Etzel rejoiced.\nThey made ready his equipment at the town of Vienna, and he delayed his\njourney no longer.\n\nGotelind awaited him at Bechlaren, and the young Margravine, Rudeger\u2019s\ndaughter, saw her father and his men gladly. They got a fair greeting\nfrom beautiful women.\n\nOr noble Rudeger rode to Bechlaren from the town of Vienna, the\nclothes, whereof there were enow, came on the sumpters. So strong they\nrode, that little was stolen from them by the way.\n\nWhen they were come into the town of Bechlaren, the host bade lodge his\ncomrades, and give them good quarters. Wealthy Gotelind rejoiced to see\nher husband, the like did also his dear daughter, the young Margravine,\nthat was as merry as could be at his coming. Right gladly she saw the\nheroes from Hungary. The noble maiden said, with laughing mouth, \u201cYe be\nvery welcome, my father and his men.\u201d\n\nAnd the good knights were not slow to thank her.\n\nWell Gotelind knew the mind of Rudeger. When she lay by him at night,\nshe asked him sweetly whither the king of the Huns had sent him.\n\nHe answered, \u201cI will tell thee gladly, my wife Gotelind. I go to woo a\nwife for my master, now that fair Helca is dead. I go to Kriemhild, on\nthe Rhine, that shall become a great queen here among the Huns.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod grant it fall so, for much good have we heard of her. Haply she\nwill make up to us for our mistress of aforetime. We might well rejoice\nto have her wear the crown here.\u201d\n\nSaid the Margrave, \u201cTo them that ride with me to the Rhine, thou shalt\ngive graciously of thy goods, dear wife. When heroes go richly attired,\nthey be of high courage.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cThere is none, if he will take it, but shall have what\nsuiteth him well, or thou and thy men depart.\u201d\n\nAnd the Margrave said, \u201cThou wilt please me well thereby.\u201d\n\nHa! what rich stuffs they took from their chambers! They hasted and\nprovided the noble warriors with vesture enow from neck to spur. What\npleased him the beast, Rudeger chose for himself.\n\nOn the seventh morning the host rode from Bechlaren with his knights.\nThey took a goodly store of weapons and raiment through Bavaria, and\nwere seldom fallen upon by robbers on the way.\n\nWithin twelve days they came to the Rhine. The news was not slow to\nspread. They told the king and his men that stranger guests had\narrived. Then the king began to ask that, if any knew them, he might\ndeclare it. They perceived that their sumpters were heavy laden, and\nsaw that they were rich; and they gave them lodging in the wide city\nstraightway.\n\nWhen the stranger were arrived, the folk spied at them curiously. They\nwondered whence they had journeyed to the Rhine.\n\nThe king asked Hagen who the knights were, and the hero of Trony\nanswered, \u201cI have not seen them aright. When we meet them, I will tell\nthee whence they have ridden into this land. They be strangers indeed\nif I know them not straightway.\u201d\n\nThe guests had been to their lodging. The envoy and his train were\nrichly arrayed. Their clothes were good, and cunningly fashioned; and\nthey rode to the court.\n\nThen said bold Hagen, \u201cSo far as I know, for it is long since I saw the\nknights, they ride like the men of Rudeger, a bold warrior from the\nland of the Huns.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow could I believe,\u201d said the king, \u201cthat he of Bechlaren should come\ninto this land?\u201d King Gunther had scarcely made an end of speaking,\nwhen bold Hagen saw the good Rudeger.\n\nHe and all his friends ran to him. Five hundred knights sprang from\ntheir horses. The Huns were well received; never were envoys so richly\nclad.\n\nThen cried Hagen of Trony, \u201cWelcome, in God\u2019s name, is this knight, the\nprince of Bechlaren, and all his men.\u201d Worshipful greeting got the\nHuns. The nearest of kin to the king pressed forward, and Ortwin of\nMetz said to Rudeger, \u201cWe have not, for long, seen guests so gladly. I\nspeak the truth.\u201d\n\nThey thanked the heroes for their welcome. Then they went with the\nwarriors into the hall, where they found the king amidst of many bold\nmen.\n\nGunther rose from his seat out of courtesy. On what friendly wise he\nwent toward the envoys! He and Gernot hasted to meet the guests and his\nmen, as beseemed them, and Gunther took Rudeger by the hand. He led him\nto the highseat where he sat himself, and bade his men set before the\nstrangers goodly meats, and the best wine that was to be found in all\nthe land round about the Rhine; the which was done gladly.\n\nGiselher and Gary, Dankwart and Folker, came in, for they had heard of\nthe worthy guests. They rejoiced to see them, and welcomed, in the\npresence of the king, the noble knights and good.\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony to his master, \u201cThy knights are greatly\nbeholden for what the Margrave hath done for our sake. The husband of\nfair Gotelind should be well requited.\u201d\n\nKing Gunther said, \u201cI pray thee tell me, for I would know, how it\nstandeth with Etzel and Helca in the land of the Huns.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cI will tell thee gladly.\u201d\n\nThen he rose from his seat with all his men, and said to the king,\n\u201cGive me leave to deliver the message that King Etzel hath sent me\nwith, here to Burgundy.\u201d\n\nGunther answered, \u201cI will hear the message wherewith thou art charged,\nwithout taking counsel with my friends. Speak it before me and my men,\nfor with all honour shall thy suit be heard.\u201d\n\nThen said the faithful envoy, \u201cMy great lord commendeth his true\nservice to thee at the Rhine, and to all the friends thou hast. This he\ndoth with true heart. The noble king biddeth thee mourn for his loss.\nHis people are joyless, for my mistress, great Helca, my lord\u2019s wife,\nis dead; whereby many high-born maidens, children of great princes,\nthat she hath reared, are orphaned. By reason thereof the land is full\nof sorrow, for these, alack! have none now to care for them. The king\nalso ceaseth not to make dole.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow God requite him,\u201d said Gunther, \u201cthat he commendeth his service so\nfair to me and to my men. I have hearkened gladly to his greeting. My\nkinsmen and my liegemen will repay him.\u201d\n\nThen said Gernot of Burgundy, \u201cThe world may well rue beautiful Helca\u2019s\ndeath, for the sake of her many virtues.\u201d\n\nHagen and many another knight said the same.\n\nBut Rudeger, the noble envoy, went on: \u201cIf thou allow it, O king, I\nwill tell thee further what my dear master hath charged me with.\nDolefully hath he lived since Helca\u2019s death. And it hath been told him\nthat Kriemhild is without a husband, for that Siegfried is dead. If\nthat be so, and thou grant it, she shall wear the crown before Etzel\u2019s\nknights. This hath my lord bidden me say.\u201d\n\nThen the great king spake courteously, \u201cIf she be willing, she\nfolloweth my desire therein. In three days I will let thee know. If she\nsay not nay to Etzel, wherefore should I?\u201d\n\nMeanwhile they gave the guests good lodging. On such wise were the\nentreated that Rudeger was fain to confess he had friends among\nGunther\u2019s men. Hagen served him gladly, the which Rudeger had done to\nHagen aforetime.\n\nSo Rudeger tarried there till the third day. The king did prudently,\nand called a counsel, to ask his friends whether it seemed good to them\nthat Kriemhild should take King Etzel to husband.\n\nAnd they all counselled it save Hagen, that said to Gunther, the bold\nknight, \u201cIf thou be wise, thou wilt see to it that she do it not, even\nif she desire it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should I hinder it?\u201d said Gunther. \u201cIf any good fall to the queen,\nI may well grant it. She is my sister. If it be to her honour, we\nourselves should seek the alliance.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen answered, \u201cSay not so. Didst thou know Etzel as I do, thou\nwouldst see that thou, first of all, must suffer if she wedded him as\nthou counsellest.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow so?\u201d answered Gunther. \u201cWere she his wife, I need not come so nigh\nhim that I must feel his hate.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said, \u201cI will never approve it.\u201d\n\nThey summoned Gernot and Giselher, and asked whether it seemed good to\nthem that Kriemhild should take the great king. And none save Hagen was\nagainst it.\n\nThen said Giselher, the knight of Burgundy, \u201cDo fairly by her for once,\nfriend Hagen. Make good to her the hurt thou hast done her. Let her\nprosper without grudging it. Thou hast caused her much sorrow, and well\nmight she hate thee. Never was woman bereft by any man of more joy.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrow me, I know that well. And were she to take Etzel, and to live\nlong enow, she would do us all the hurt she could. She will have many\nvaliant men to serve her.\u201d\n\nBut bold Gernot answered Hagen, \u201cBelike we shall never come into\nEtzel\u2019s land till they be both dead. Let us do truly by her, and it\nwill be to our honour.\u201d\n\nSaid Hagen, \u201cNone need tell me that. If Kriemhild wear Helca\u2019s crown,\nshe will do us all the hurt she can. Let the thing alone; it were\nbetter for you knights.\u201d\n\nThen Giselher, fair Uta\u2019s son, spake angrily, \u201cWe will not all do\nbasely. If aught good befall her, we shall be glad. For all thou canst\nsay, Hagen, I will serve her truly.\u201d\n\nWhen Hagen heard that, he was wroth. Gernot and Giselher, the proud\nknights and good, and Gunther, the great king, agreed in the end, that\nthey would allow it gladly, if Kriemhild were so minded.\n\nThen Prince Gary said, \u201cI will tell the lady, that she may incline her\nheart to King Etzel, for many a knight is his vassal. He may make good\nto her the wrong she hath suffered.\u201d\n\nThe good knight went to Kriemhild. She welcomed him kindly, and he said\nwithout ado, \u201cGreet me gladly, and give me the envoy\u2019s meed, for good\nfortune parteth thee from all thy dole. One of the best men that ever\nruled a king\u2019s land with honour, or wore a crown, hath sent hither to\nsue for thy love. Noble knights are come wooing for him; thy brother\nbade tell thee this.\u201d\n\nBut the sorrowful one said, \u201cGod forbid that thou and all my friends\nshould mock my misery. What could I be to a man that hath known the\nheart\u2019s love of a good wife?\u201d\n\nShe would none of it. But Gernot, her brother, and Giselher the youth,\ncame to her, and lovingly they bade her be comforted, for, if she took\nthe king, it were truly to her profit.\n\nBut none could prevail on the lady to wed with any man. Then the\nknights prayed her, saying, \u201cReceive the envoys, at the least, if thou\nwilt not yield.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I will do,\u201d said the queen; \u201cI am fain to see Rudeger, by reason\nof his many virtues. Were it not he, but another envoy, I had remained\na stranger to him.\u201d She said, \u201cSend him hither to my chamber to-morrow\nearly, and I will tell him my mind on this matter.\u201d\n\nThen her bitter weeping began afresh.\n\nRudeger desired nothing better than to see the queen. He knew himself\nso skilful in speech that, could it be at all, he must prevail with\nher.\n\nEarly the next morning when they were singing the mass, the noble\nenvoys came. The press was great, and the valiant men that were bound\nfor the court with Rudeger were richly arrayed.\n\nPoor Kriemhild, the sad-hearted one, waited for Rudeger, the noble\nenvoy. He found her in the clothes that she wore every day, albeit her\nattendants were in rich raiment enow. She went to the door to meet him,\nand received Etzel\u2019s man kindly. With twelve knights only he came\nbefore her. They were well entreated, for never were better envoys.\nThey bade the warrior and his men sit down. The two Margraves, Eckewart\nand Gary stood before her, but all were sad of their countenance by\nreason of the sorrowful queen; many fair women sat round her, and\nKriemhild did nothing but weep; that her robe on the bosom was wet with\nhot tears.\n\nThe Margrave saw this, and rose from his seat and spake courteously,\n\u201cMost noble king\u2019s daughter, grant to me and my friends that are with\nme, to stand before thee and tell thee the message we bring hither.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hast permission,\u201d said the queen; \u201csay what thou wilt, and I will\nhear it gladly, for thou art a good envoy.\u201d\n\nThe others perceived her unwilling mind, but Prince Rudeger of\nBechlaren said, \u201cEtzel, a great king, commendeth his true love to thee,\nhere in this land. He hath sent many good knights to sue for thy love.\nLove without sorrow he offereth thee, and the like firm affection that\nhe showed erstwhile to Queen Helca, that lay upon his heart. Thou shalt\nwear the crown, even as my mistress did aforetime.\u201d\n\nThen said the queen, \u201cMargrave Rudeger, none that knew my bitter woe\nwould counsel me to wed another man, for I lost one of the best that\never woman had.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat comforteth more in grief,\u201d said the bold man, \u201cthan true love? He\nthat chooseth to his heart\u2019s desire findeth that naught healeth sorrow\nlike love. If thou consent to wed my noble master, twelve royal crowns\nshall be thine; thereto, my lord will give thee thirty princes\u2019 lands\nthat his strong hand hath overcome. And thou shalt be mistress of many\nworshipful men, that were subject to my lady Helca, and of many\nbeautiful maidens, the kin of kings, that she ruled over. My master\nbade me say that, if thou wilt wear the crown with him, he will give\nthee all the high power that Helca had. Mightily shalt thou wield it\nover Etzel\u2019s men.\u201d\n\nBut the queen answered, \u201cHow could I incline my heart again to be a\nhero\u2019s wife? Death hath wrought me such woe through one, that I must\nstand joyless till my life\u2019s end.\u201d\n\nThe Huns answered, \u201cGreat queen, thy life by Etzel will be so glad that\nthou wilt know nothing save delight, if thou consent. For the king hath\nmany a peerless knight. Helca\u2019s maidens, and thine together, shall be\nthy attendants, by reason whereof many warriors shall rejoice. Be\ncounselled, O queen, for thy good.\u201d\n\nShe said courteously, \u201cLet the matter stand till to-morrow morning.\nCome to me then; and I will answer you concerning your business.\u201d To\nthe which the bold knights agreed.\n\nWhen they were all gone to their lodging, the lady sent for Giselher\nand her mother. To both she said that weeping beseemed her better than\naught else.\n\nBut her brother Giselher said, \u201cSister, something telleth me, and I\ntrow it, that King Etzel will end all thy dole. It seemeth good to me\nthat thou take him to husband, whatso any other may counsel. He may\ngive thee again all that thou hast lost. From the Rhone to the Rhine,\nfrom the Elbe to the sea, no king is so mighty as he is. Thou mayest\nwell rejoice that he chooseth thee for his queen.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cDear brother, wherefore counsel me thus? Mourning and\nweeping suit me better. How could I appear before the knights at court?\nHad my body ever beauty, it hath lost it.\u201d\n\nThen said queen Uta to her dear daughter, \u201cDear child, do what thy\nbrother saith. Be counselled by thy friends, and good will betide thee.\nToo long have I seen thee mourning bitterly.\u201d\n\nThen she asked mighty God to guide her. Albeit she might have gold and\nsilver and apparel to give, as aforetime, when her husband lived, never\nagain could she have the happy hours.\n\nShe thought to herself, \u201cShall I give myself to a heathen? I am a\nChristian woman. I should be shamed before the world. Though he gave me\nthe riches of the whole earth, it could never be.\u201d\n\nAt that point she left it; and all night long, till the day, the woman\nlay on her bed full of thoughts. Her bright eyes were never dry till\nshe went to mass in the morning.\n\nThe kings also came at the hour of mass, and took their sister by the\nhand. They counselled her to wed the king of the Huns. But the lady was\nno merrier of her cheer.\n\nThen they bade Etzel\u2019s men come before her, that were fain to be gone\nwith her answer, whether it was a \u201cyea\u201d or a \u201cnay.\u201d So Rudeger came to\nthe court. His comrades urged him to learn the princes\u2019 mind without\ndelay. This seemed good to them all, for it was a far way back to their\nland.\n\nThey brought Rudeger to Kriemhild. And the knight asked the queen\ngently to let him hear the message she sent to Etzel. He won nothing\nfrom her but denial, for never could she love another man.\n\nThen said the Margrave, \u201cThat were ill done. Wherefore ruin so fair a\nbody? Still mayest thou with honour become a good man\u2019s wife.\u201d Yet all\ntheir entreaty availed not, till that Rudeger said secretly to the\nqueen that he would make good to her any hurt that might befall her. At\nthat, her grief abated somewhat.\n\nHe said to the queen, \u201cWeep no more. If thou hadst none among the Huns\nsave me, my faithful kinsmen, and my men, sore must he pay for it that\ndid thee wrong.\u201d\n\nMuch milder was the lady\u2019s mood, and she said, \u201cSwear me an oath that,\nshould any do aught against me, thou wilt be the first to avenge it.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cI will swear it.\u201d\n\nSo Rudeger swore with all his men always to serve her truly, and to\ndeny her nothing in Etzel\u2019s land that her honour called for, and he\nconfirmed it with his hand.\n\nThen thought the faithful woman, \u201cSince I, a forlorn woman, can win so\nmany friends, I will let the folk say what they please. Haply I may yet\navenge my dear husband\u2019s death. Etzel hath so many knights that, were\nthey mine to command, I could do what I would. Thereto, he is so\nwealthy that I shall have wherewith to bestow gifts. Cruel Hagen hath\ntaken my treasure from me.\u201d\n\nShe said to Rudeger, \u201cHad I not heard he was a heathen, I would go\ngladly at his bidding, and take him to husband.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cSay no more of that, Lady. He is not quite a\nheathen, be assured, for my dear master hath been christened; albeit he\nhath turned again. Haply he will think better of it shouldst thou wed\nhim. He hath so many Christian knights that no ill could betide thee.\nAnd thou mightst easily win back the good prince, heart and soul, to\nGod.\u201d\n\nHer brothers said, \u201cPromise it, sister, and give over grieving.\u201d\n\nThey begged it so long that at the last the sorrowful woman promised,\nbefore the warriors, to become Etzel\u2019s wife.\n\nShe said, \u201cPoor queen that I am, I will follow you! I will go to the\nHuns, if I find friends to lead me thither.\u201d Fair Kriemhild gave her\nhand on it before the knights.\n\nThen said the Margrave, \u201cThou hast two knights for thy liegemen, and I\nhave more. Thou canst fare across the Rhine with honour. I will not\nleave thee longer here among the Burgundians. I have five hundred men\nand also my kinsmen. These shall serve thee here, and at home likewise,\nand do thy bidding. I will do it also, and will never shame me when\nthou mindest me on my word. Bid them fetch thee forth thy horse-gear,\nfor thou wilt never rue Rudeger\u2019s counsel, and tell it to the maidens\nthat thou takest with thee. Many a chosen knight will meet us on the\nroad.\u201d\n\nThey had still the trappings that they rode with in Siegfried\u2019s time,\nso that she could take many maidens with her in fitting pomp when she\ndeparted. Ha! what goodly saddles they brought out for the fair women!\nAll the rich clothes they had ever worn were made ready for the\njourney, for they had heard much of the king. They opened the chests\nthat had stood shut, and busied them for five days and a half, and took\nfrom the presses the store of things that lay therein. Kriemhild\nunlocked her chambers, that she might make Rudeger\u2019s men rich. She had\nstill some gold from the Nibelung hoard, that she purposed to divide\nwith her hand among the Huns. An hundred mules scarce carried it.\n\nHagen heard the news, and said, \u201cSince Kriemhild will never forgive me,\nSiegfried\u2019s gold shall stay here. Wherefore should I let my foemen get\nso much wealth. Well I know what Kriemhild will do with this treasure.\nIf she took it hence, she would divide it, certes, to my hurt. Tell her\nthat Hagen will keep it.\u201d\n\nWhen she heard this, her anger was grim. They told it to the three\nkings, that would gladly have put it right; when they could not, noble\nRudeger said joyfully, \u201cGreat Queen, why weep for thy gold? King\nEtzel\u2019s love is not small. When his eyes behold thee, he will give thee\nmore than thou canst ever spend. Take my word for it, lady.\u201d\n\nBut the queen said, \u201cMost noble Rudeger, never had a king\u2019s daughter\nmore wealth than Hagen hath taken from me.\u201d\n\nThen came her brother Gernot to her chamber, and, with his kingly\nmight, stuck a key into the door, that they got Kriemhild\u2019s gold\nout\u2014thirty marks or more. He bade the guests take it, the which pleased\nGunther.\n\nBut Gotelind\u2019s husband of Bechlaren said, \u201cHad my mistress all that was\never brought from the Nibelung land, neither mine nor the queen\u2019s hand\nwould touch it. Bid them keep it, for I will none of it. I brought with\nme so much from my home that we can lightly dispense with it, and yet\nlive merrily by the way.\u201d\n\nBut her maidens had filled twelve chests of the best gold that could\nbe; they took that with them, and many women\u2019s trinkets for the\njourney. But even in this thing she feared grim Hagen\u2019s might. She had\nstill a thousand gold marks for masses, and this she gave for the soul\nfor her dear husband; the which Rudeger thought well done.\n\nThen said the weeping queen, \u201cWhere are now the friends that will leave\ntheir home for my sake? Let them ride with me into the land of the\nHuns, and take of my treasure to buy them horses and apparel.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave Gary spake at once, \u201cFrom the day I was first given to\nthee for thine attendant, I have served thee faithfully,\u201d said the\nknight, \u201cand will do the same to my life\u2019s end. I will take with me\nalso five hundred men; these, with true heart, I make over to thee.\nOnly death shall part us.\u201d Kriemhild thanked the knight for his word\nand for his good offer.\n\nThen they brought round the horses, for they were ready to start. There\nwas bitter weeping of friends. Great Uta and many a fair maiden showed\ntheir grief for the loss of Kriemhild.\n\nShe took with her an hundred high-born maidens, arrayed as beseemed\nthem. The tears ran down from bright eyes. But at Etzel\u2019s court they\nhad joyful days again.\n\nThen Giselher and Gernot came with their followers, as courtesy bade\nthem, and escorted their dear sister. A thousand valiant men they took\nwith them. Brave Gary came, and Ortwin. Rumolt the cook had also to go.\nThey prepared night-quarters for the women on the way. Folker was the\nmarshal, and saw to their lodging.\n\nAfter the kisses there was loud weeping, or they came from the castle\nto the plain. Many rode and followed on foot unbidden, but Gunther went\nonly a little way from the town.\n\nOr they left the Rhine, they had sent forward swift messengers to the\nland of the Huns, that told the king how Rudeger had won the noble\nqueen for his wife.\n\nThe envoys sped fast; needs must they haste, for honour\u2019s sake and the\nguerdon of good news. When they and their horses got home, King Etzel\nhad never heard such welcome tidings. The king bade give the envoys so\nmuch for their message that they could live merrily ever after, till\ntheir death. For love had chased away the king\u2019s trouble and his dole.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-First Adventure\nHow Kriemhild Journeyed to the Huns\n\n\nLet the envoys ride, and list rather while we tell you how the queen\njourneyed through the land, and where Giselher and Gernot parted from\nher. They had served her well as honour bade them. They rode as far as\nthe Danube at Bergen; then they took their leave, that they might\nreturn to the Rhine. Among friends so good, this could not be done\nwithout weeping.\n\nBold Giselher said to his sister, \u201cIf thou hast need of me at any time,\nsister, or standest in any peril, let me know it, and I will ride to\nthy succour into Etzel\u2019s land.\u201d\n\nShe kissed all her kinsmen on the mouth, and on friendly wise the bold\nBurgundians took leave of Rudeger\u2019s men. With the queen went many fair\nmaidens, an hundred and four, richly clad in gay and costly stuffs; and\nthey that followed Kriemhild bare broad shields enow. Then Folker, the\ngoodly knight, turned back also.\n\nWhen they were come over the Danube into Bavaria, the news was noised\nabroad that unknown guests were advancing. Where a cloister still\nstandeth, and the Inn floweth into the Danube, a bishop dwelled in the\ntown of Passau. The houses were emptied of the folk, and also the\nprince\u2019s palace, and they hasted to meet the strangers in Bavaria,\nwhere Bishop Pilgerin found fair Kriemhild.\n\nThe knights of the country were not sorry when they saw so many\nbeautiful maidens following her, and they wooed the heroes\u2019 daughters\nwith their eyes. Good lodging was given to the strangers, and they\nrested at Pledelingen. The folk rode from all quarters toward them, and\nthey got freely all they needed. Both there and elsewhere they took it,\nnor lost honour thereby.\n\nThe bishop rode with his niece to Passau. When the burghers of the town\ngot word that Kriemhild, the child of their prince\u2019s sister, came\nthither, she was received with great worship by the merchants.\n\nThe bishop thought she would tarry there, but Eckewart said, \u201cIt cannot\nbe, for we must down into Rudeger\u2019s land. Many knights await us that\nknow of our coming.\u201d\n\nFair Gotelind also had heard the news. She and her high-born child made\nthem ready in haste, for Rudeger had bidden her cheer the queen by\nriding to meet her with all his men, as far as the Enns. This was no\nsooner done than the roads were thronged with folk riding and running\nafoot to meet the guests.\n\nThe queen was now come to Efferding. There many a Bavarian robber had\ngladly plundered them on the road, as their custom is, and had easily\ndone them a hurt. But noble Rudeger had guarded against this; he had\nwith him a thousand knights or more. Rudeger\u2019s wife, Gotelind, too, was\ncome thither, and with her many bold warriors. When they had crossed\nthe Traun at Enns, they found booths and tents pitched for them on the\nplain where they were to sleep. Rudeger took all the charges on\nhimself.\n\nGotelind set out from her quarters, and many horses with jingling\nbridles took the road. It was a fair welcome, and done for Rudeger\u2019s\nsake. The knights, from both sides, pricked gallantly to the greeting,\nand showed their horsemanship in the presence of the maidens, that saw\nit gladly enow. When Rudeger\u2019s men rode up to the strangers, many a\nsplinter flew into the air from the hands of the heroes, that tilted on\nknightly wise. They rode to win praise from the women. When the tourney\nwas ended, the men greeted each other, and fair Gotelind was led to\nKriemhild. There was little rest for any skilled to wait upon women.\n\nThe Margrave rode to meet his wife, that was not sorry to see him come\nback safe from the Rhine. In her joy she forgot her long dole. When she\nhad welcomed him, he bade her alight on the grass with her attendants.\nThe knights hasted to serve them.\n\nWhen Kriemhild saw the Margravine standing with her train, she went no\nfurther, but stayed her horse and bade them lift her quickly from the\nsaddle. The bishop led his sister\u2019s child, he and Eckewart, to\nGotelind, and all that stood in the way fell back. Then the stranger\nkissed the Margravine on the mouth, and Rudeger\u2019s wife said sweetly,\n\u201cWell for me, dear lady, that I have seen with mine eyes thy fair body\nhere in this land! Naught so welcome hath, for long, befallen me.\u201d \u201cGod\nreward thee, noble Gotelind,\u201d answered Kriemhild. \u201cIf I be spared alive\nto live with Botlung\u2019s child, it may indeed be well for thee that thou\nhast seen me.\u201d Neither of them knew that which was to be.\n\nThe maidens, attended by the knights, advanced and greeted each other\ncourteously; then they sat down on the clover, and many that had been\nstrangers became acquainted. They bade pour out wine for the women;\nand, seeing it was already noon, they rested there no longer, but rode\ntill they came to broad pavilions, where they were well served. They\nstayed there the night through, till the early morning.\n\nThe folk of Bechlaren had not failed to make them ready for the many\nworshipful guests, and Rudeger had so ordered it that these wanted for\nlittle. The windows in the walls were thrown wide, the Castle of\nBechlaren stood open, and the welcome guests rode in. The noble host\nbade provide good lodging for them all. Rudeger\u2019s daughter advanced\nwith her attendants and received the queen right sweetly, and her\nmother, the Margravine, was there also. Many a maiden was lovingly\ngreeted. They took hands and went together into a wide and goodly hall,\nbelow which flowed the Danube. There they sat merrily, and the breeze\nblew upon them.\n\nWhat they did further, I cannot say. Kriemhild\u2019s knights were heard\nmourning that they must away so soon; it irked them sore. Ha! what good\nwarriors rode with them from Bechlaren.\n\nRudeger did them right loving service. They queen gave Gotelind\u2019s\ndaughter twelve red armlets, and, thereto, goodly raiment of the best\nthat she had brought with her into Etzel\u2019s land. Albeit she was bereft\nof the Nibelung gold, she won to her all that saw her with the small\nstore that remained to her. Goodly were the gifts she bestowed on the\nfollowers of the host. In return, the lady Gotelind did the guests from\nthe Rhine such honour that it had been hard to find any among them\nwithout jewels or rich apparel from her hand.\n\nWhen they had eaten, and it was time to be gone, the hostess commended\nher true service to Etzel\u2019s wife, who, from her side, embraced the fair\nMargravine lovingly. And the maiden said to the queen, \u201cWell I know, if\nit seem good to thee, that my father would gladly send me into the land\nof the Huns to be with thee.\u201d Kriemhild found her true indeed!\n\nThe horses stood ready before Bechlaren; the noble queen had taken\nleave of Rudeger\u2019s wife and daughter, and, with many a sweet farewell,\nthe maidens parted; seldom did they meet again.\n\nThe folk of Medilick brought out in their hands rich golden vessels,\nand offered them, full of wine, to the guests on the road, and bade\nthem welcome. The host of the place hight Astolt, that showed them the\nway into Austria, by Mautern down below on the Danube; and here, again,\nthe great queen was paid much worship.\n\nAt that point the bishop parted lovingly from his niece, after that he\nhad prayed earnestly that she might prosper, and win herself honour\neven as Helca had done. Ha! what fame was hers after, among the Huns!\n\nSo the strangers fared on to the Traisem, diligently waited on by\nRudeger\u2019s men, till that the Huns were seen riding across the land.\nMickle worship was done there to the queen.\n\nFast by the Traisem the King of the Huns had a goodly castle and a\nfamous, called Traisenmauer. There Helca had dwelled and ruled more\nmildly than any hath done since, save Kriemhild, who likewise gave\nfreely of her goods. Well might she live happily after her mourning,\nand win praise from Etzel\u2019s men, the which the heroes soon gave her to\nthe full.\n\nSo famed was Etzel\u2019s rule that the boldest knights ever heard of among\nChristians or heathens drew ceaselessly to his court; and all these\nwere come with him. One saw there what one never sees now\u2014Christian and\nheathen together. Howso divers their beliefs were, the king gave with\nsuch free hand that all had plenty.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Second Adventure\nHow She Was Received Among the Huns\n\n\nShe tarried at Traisenmauer till the fourth day, during which time the\ndust on the road was never still, but rose like flame from all sides.\nAnd King Etzel\u2019s men rode thither through Austria.\n\nWhen it was told to the king how proudly Kriemhild advanced through the\nland, his old sorrow vanished clean from his mind, and he set out to\nmeet the fair one. In front of him on the way rode many a bold knight\u2014a\nvast host of Christians and heathens of many divers tongues. When they\nspied the queen, they came on in stately array. Russians and Greeks\nwere there. Polacks and Wallachians spurred along, deftly managing\ntheir good horses, displaying themselves each according to the custom\nof his own land. From Kiow came many a knight. Savage Petschenegers\nwere there also, that shot with their bows at the birds that flew by,\nand drew their arrow-heads strongly to the utmost stretch of the bow.\n\nIn Austria, by the Danube, is a town that hight Tulna. There Kriemhild\nlearned many a strange custom that she had not seen afore, and was\nwelcomed by not a few that, after, suffered dole through her.\n\nThe men of King Etzel\u2019s household rode before him, merry and\nrich-attired, fair accoutred and courtly: full four and twenty princes,\ngreat and noble. To behold their queen was all they sought. Duke Ramung\nof Wallachia spurred up to her with seven hundred men. They sped like\nbirds on the wing. Then came Prince Gibek with a gallant host. Hornbog,\nthe swift, pricked forward from the king\u2019s side to his mistress with\nechoing shouts, after the fashion of his country. Etzel\u2019s kinsmen,\nlikewise, spurred hotly toward her. Next came bold Hawart of Denmark,\nand swift Iring, free from guile; and Irnfried of Thuringia, a brave\nman. These, with the twelve hundred men that made up their host,\nreceived Kriemhild with all worship. Then came Sir Bl\u0153del, King Etzel\u2019s\nbrother, from the land of the Huns; with great pomp, he drew nigh to\nthe queen. The next was King Etzel, with Sir Dietrich and all his\nknights, among the which were many good warriors faithful and true;\nwhereat the heart of Queen Kriemhild was uplifted.\n\nThen Sir Rudeger said to the queen, \u201cLady, the king would welcome thee\nhere. Kiss them that I bid thee kiss. It is not meet that all Etzel\u2019s\nmen be greeted on like manner.\u201d\n\nSo they lifted the queen down from her palfrey. Etzel, the great\nmonarch, tarried no longer, but sprang from his horse with many a bold\nknight, and hasted joyfully toward Kriemhild. Two mighty princes, they\ntell us, walked by the queen and carried her train when King Etzel went\ntoward her, and she received him sweetly with kisses. She pushed back\nher head-band, and her bright skin shone from out the gold, till many a\nman vowed that queen Helca could not have been fairer. Bl\u0153del, the\nking\u2019s brother, stood close at hand, whom Rudeger, the wealthy\nMargrave, bade her kiss; also King Gibek, and Dietrich likewise. Twelve\nknights were kissed by her, and many others were kindly greeted.\n\nAll the time that Etzel stood by Kriemhild, the youths did as the\ncustom is still. Christian knights and heathen jousted, each after his\nown fashion. Dietrich\u2019s men, as beseemed good warriors, hurled the\nwhizzing shafts high above the shields, with undaunted hand. Bucklers\nenow were pierced before the German guests. Mickle din was there of\nsplintered lances. All the knights of the land were gathered together,\nand the king\u2019s guests also, among the which were many noble men. Then\nthe great king went with the queen into a stately pavilion. The field\nround about was full of tents, that they might rest after their labour.\nThither the heroes led the beautiful maidens after the queen, who sat\ndown therein on a rich couch. The Margrave had so ordered it, that they\nfound it all goodly and fair. High beat the heart of Etzel.\n\nWhat they said to each other I know not. Kriemhild\u2019s white hand lay in\nthe king\u2019s. They sat lovingly together, but Rudeger allowed not the\nking to caress his bride in secret.\n\nThey bade stay the tourney. The din of the fray ended with honour, and\nEtzel\u2019s men went to their tents, where they had spacious lodging. That\nevening, and through the night, they rested in comfort, till the\nmorning light began to shine. Then they got to horse again. Ha! what\nsports they drave for the glory of the king! Etzel exhorted his Huns to\ndo as honour bade.\n\nThen they rode from Tulna to the town of Vienna. There they found many\nwomen featly adorned, that received Etzel\u2019s wife with much worship. All\nthat they needed was there in plenty, and the heroes rejoiced against\nthe festival. Lodging was given them, and the king\u2019s hightide began\nmerrily. There was not room for all in the town, and Rudeger bade them\nthat were not guests take up their quarters in the country round about.\nAll this time, I trow, the king was not far from Kriemhild. Sir\nDietrich, and many another knight beside, slacked not in their\nendeavour to cheer the hearts of the strangers. Rudeger and his friends\nhad good pastime.\n\nThe festival fell on a Whitsuntide, when King Etzel wedded Kriemhild in\nthe town of Vienna. She had not, certes, had so many men to serve her\nin her first husband\u2019s time. With her gifts she made herself known to\nmany that had never seen her afore, among the which were some that said\nto the guests, \u201cWe deemed that Kriemhild possessed naught. Yet here she\ndoeth wonders with her wealth.\u201d\n\nThe hightide lasted seventeen days. Of no king, I ween, is it told,\nthat he held a longer marriage feast; at the least we wot of none. All\nthe guests wore new apparel. At home, in the Netherland, Kriemhild had\nnever sat before so many knights; yea, I trow, that albeit Siegfried\nhad great possessions, he had never at command so many noble warriors\nas stood before Etzel. Nor had any king ever given at his own wedding\nsuch store of rich mantles, long and wide, nor such goodly vesture,\nwhereof he had enow and to spare. For Kriemhild\u2019s sake he did it all.\n\nFriends and strangers were of one mind. They grudged not their dearest\npossession. Whatso any asked for was readily given, till that many a\nknight, through his charity, was left bare and without clothes.\n\nWhen the queen thought how once she had sat by the Rhine with her noble\nhusband, her eyes grew wet. But she hid it, that none knew. Great\nhonour was now hers after her mickle dole.\n\nHowso freely the others gave, it was but a wind compared with Dietrich.\nWhat Botlung\u2019s son had given him was no wall spent. The open hand of\nRudeger also did great wonders. Prince Bl\u0153del, too, of Hungary, bade\nempty many a travelling chest, and scatter freely both silver and gold.\nRight merrily lived the warriors of the king. Werbel and Schwemmel, the\ncourt minstrels, won, each, at the hightide, when Kriemhild wore the\ncrown beside Etzel, a thousand marks or more.\n\nOn the eighteenth morning they rode away from Vienna. Many a shield was\npierced in knightly encounter by the spears which the heroes bare in\ntheir hands. So Etzel returned to the land of the Huns rejoicing. They\nstayed the night at ancient Haimburg. None could number the host, nor\ntell how many strong they rode through the land. Ha! what beautiful\nwomen they found waiting them in their home! At Misenburg, the wealthy\ncity, they went aboard ships. The water was covered with horses and\nmen, as if the dry land had begun to float. There the way-weary women\nhad ease and comfort. The good ships were lashed together, that wave\nand water might not hurt them, and fair awnings were stretched above,\nas they had been still on the plain.\n\nWhen word thereof came to Etzel\u2019s castle, both women and men rejoiced.\nEtzel\u2019s household, that Helca had aforetime ruled, passed many a happy\nday with Kriemhild. Noble maidens stood waiting, that since Helca\u2019s\ndeath had suffered heart\u2019s dole. Kriemhild found there seven kings\u2019\ndaughters that were for an adornment to Etzel\u2019s whole land. The charge\nof the damsels was with Herrat, Helca\u2019s sister\u2019s daughter, famed for\nvirtue, and the betrothed of Dietrich, a noble king\u2019s child, the\ndaughter of Nentwine; the which afterward had much worship. Glad of her\ncheer was she at the coming of the guests, and many a goodly thing was\nmade ready. What tongue might tell how merrily King Etzel dwelled\nthere? Never under any queen fared the Huns better.\n\nWhen the king rode up with his wife from the strand, Kriemhild was told\nthe name of them that led forward the maidens, that she might greet\nthem the more fitly. Ha! how mightily she ruled in Helca\u2019s stead! She\nhad true servants in plenty. The queen gave gold and vesture, silver\nand precious stones. All that she had brought with her from over the\nRhine to the Huns, she divided among them. All the king\u2019s kinsmen and\nliegemen vowed their service to her, and were subject to her, so that\nHelca herself had never ruled so mightily as Kriemhild, that they had\nall to serve till her death.\n\nSo famous was the court and the country, that each found there, at all\ntimes, the pastime he desired; so kind was the king and so good the\nqueen.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Third Adventure\nHow Kriemhild Thought of Revenging Her Wrong\n\n\nSo, in high honour (I say sooth), they dwelled together till the\nseventh year. Meanwhile Kriemhild had borne a son. Nothing could have\nrejoiced Etzel more. She set her heart on it that he should receive\nChristian baptism. He was named Ortlieb, and glad was all Etzel\u2019s land.\n\nFor many a day Kriemhild ruled virtuously, even as Helca aforetime.\nHerrat, the foreign maiden, that still mourned bitterly for Helca in\nsecret, taught her the customs of the country. Strangers and friends\nalike praised her, and owned that never queen had ruled a king\u2019s land\nbetter or more mildly. For this she was famed among the Huns till the\nthirteenth year.\n\nWhen now she saw that none withstood her (the which a king\u2019s knights\nwill sometimes do to their prince\u2019s wife), and that twelve kings stood\never before her, she thought on the grievous wrongs that had befallen\nher in her home. She remembered also the honour that was hers among the\nNibelungs, and that Hagen\u2019s hand had robbed her of by Siegfried\u2019s\ndeath, and she pondered how she might work him woe.\n\n\u201cIt were easily done, could I but bring him hither.\u201d She dreamed that\nshe walked hand in hand with Giselher her brother, and oft, in sweet\nsleep, she kissed him. Evil came of it after.\n\nIt was the wicked Devil, I ween, that counselled Kriemhild to part from\nGunther in friendship, and to be reconciled to him with a kiss in the\nland of Burgundy. She began to wet her vesture anew with hot tears.\nLate and early it lay on her heart, how that, through no fault of hers,\nshe had been forced to wed a heathen. Hagen and Gunther had done this\nwrong to her.\n\nNever a day passed but she longed to be revenged. She thought, \u201cNow I\nam so rich and powerful that I could do mine enemies a mischief. Were\nit Hagen of Trony, I were nothing loth. My heart still yearneth for my\nbeloved. Could I but win to them that worked me woe, well would the\ndeath of my dear one be avenged. It is hard to wait,\u201d said the\nsorrowful woman.\n\nAll her knights, the king\u2019s men, loved her, as was meet. Her\nchamberlain was Eckewart, that thereby won many friends. None durst\nwithstand Kriemhild\u2019s will.\n\nEvery day she thought to herself, \u201cI will ask the king.\u201d She deemed\nthat, of his goodness, he would send for her friends and bring them\ninto the land of the Huns. None guessed her evil intent.\n\nOne night, when she lay by the king, and he held her in his arms, as\nwas his wont, for she was to him as his life, the royal woman thought\non her foes, and said to him, \u201cMy dearest lord, I would fain beg a boon\nof thee. I would have thee show, if I have deserved it at thy hand,\nthat my kinsmen have found favour in thy sight.\u201d\n\nThe great king answered with true heart, \u201cThat will I readily prove to\nthee. All that profiteth and doth honour to the knights rejoiceth me,\nfor through no woman\u2019s love have I won better friends.\u201d\n\nThen said the queen, \u201cThou knowest well that I have noble kinsmen. It\nirketh me that they visit me so seldom. The folk here deem me kinless.\u201d\n\nWhereto King Etzel answered, \u201cMy dearest wife, if it be not too far, I\nwill invite across the Rhine whomsoever thou wouldst gladly see, and\nbid them hither to my land.\u201d\n\nThe woman was well content when she discovered his mind on the matter,\nand said, \u201cIf thou wouldst truly please me, my lord, thou wilt dispatch\nenvoys to Worms beyond the Rhine. I will inform my friends of my desire\nby these; so, many good knights will come hither into our land.\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cThy wish shall be obeyed. Thy kinsmen, noble Uta\u2019s sons,\nwill not be so welcome to thee as to me. It irketh me sore that they\nhave been strangers so long. If it seem good to thee, dearest wife, I\nwill send my minstrels as envoys to thy friends in Burgundy.\u201d\n\nHe bade summon the good fiddlers straightway, that hasted to where he\nsat by the queen, and he told them both to go as envoys to Burgundy. He\nlet fashion rich clothes for them; for four and twenty knights they\nmade apparel, and the king gave them the message wherewith they were to\ninvite Gunther and his men. And Kriemhild began to speak to them in\nsecret.\n\nThen said the great king, \u201cI will tell ye what ye shall do. I send to\nmy friends love and every good wish, and pray them to ride hither to my\nland. I know few other guests so dear. And if Kriemhild\u2019s kinsmen be\nminded to do my will, bid them fail not to come, for love of me, to my\nhightide, for my heart yearneth toward the brethren of my wife.\u201d\n\nWhereto Schwemmel, the proud minstrel, answered, \u201cWhen shall thy\nhightide fall, that we may tell thy friends yonder?\u201d\n\nKing Etzel said, \u201cNext midsummer.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy command shall be obeyed,\u201d answered Werbel.\n\nThe queen bade summon the envoys secretly to her chamber, and spake\nwith them. Little good came thereof. She said to the two envoys, \u201cYe\nshall deserve great reward if ye do my bidding well, and deliver the\nmessage wherewith I charge you, at home, in my land. I will make you\nrich in goods, and give you sumptuous apparel. See that ye say not to\nany of my friends at Worms, by the Rhine, that ye have ever seen me sad\nof my cheer, and commend my service to the heroes bold and good. Beg\nthem to grant the king\u2019s prayer and end all my sorrow. The Huns deem me\nwithout kin. Were I a knight, I would go to them myself. Say to Gernot,\nmy noble brother, that none is better minded to him in the world than\nI. Bid him bring here our best friends, that we win honour. And tell\nGiselher to remember that never, through his fault, did ill betide me;\nfor which reason mine eyes are fain to behold him. Evermore I would\nserve him. Tell my mother, also, what worship is mine. And if Hagen of\nTrony tarry behind, who shall lead them through the land? From a child\nup he hath known the roads hither to the Huns.\u201d\n\nThe envoys guessed not why she could not leave Hagen of Trony at the\nRhine. They knew it afterward to their cost, for, through him, many a\nknight was brought face to face with grim death.\n\nLetters and greetings were given to them. They rode forth rich in\ngoods, that they might live merrily by the way. They took leave of\nEtzel and his fair wife. Their bodies were adorned with goodly vesture.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Fourth Adventure\nHow Werbel and Schwemmel Brought the Message\n\n\nWhen Etzel sent his fiddlers to the Rhine, the news flew from land to\nland. By means of swift messengers, he invited guests to his hightide.\nThere many met their death.\n\nThe envoys rode from the country of the Huns to the Burgundians, even\nto the three noble kings and their men, to bid them to Etzel\u2019s court,\nand hasted on the way. They came to Bechlaren, where they were well\nseen to, and nothing lacked to their entertainment. Rudeger and\nGotelind, and the Margrave\u2019s child also, sent their greeting by them to\nthe Rhine. Not without gifts went Etzel\u2019s men forth, that they might\nfare the better on the road. Rudeger commended him to Uta and her sons;\nnever Margrave was so true to them as he. To Brunhild, likewise, they\ncommended their true service and their steadfast faith and love. When\nthe envoys had heard the message, they set out again, and the\nMargravine prayed God in Heaven to guard them.\n\nOr they left Bavaria, swift Werbel sought out the bishop: what greeting\nhe sent to his friends by the Rhine I know not. But he gave his red\ngold to the envoys out of love, and let them ride on. Bishop Pilgerin\nsaid, \u201cRight gladly would I see my sister\u2019s sons here. Seldom, alack!\ncan I win to them at the Rhine.\u201d\n\nI cannot tell by what road they fared through the land; but none took\nfrom them their silver and fine clothes, for all feared the wrath of\ntheir master: the great king was mighty and of high lineage.\n\nWithin twelve days Werbel and Schwemmel reached Worms on the Rhine. And\nthe king sand their men were told the news, that foreign envoys were\ncome. Thereupon Gunther, the prince of the Rhine, began to question his\nfolk, and said, \u201cWho will tell us whence these strangers are come\nriding into the land?\u201d\n\nAnd none knew, till that Hagen of Trony saw the envoys, and said to\nGunther, \u201cWe shall have news, I promise thee, for I have seen Etzel\u2019s\nfiddlers here. Thy sister hath sent them. Let us welcome them right\nheartily for their master\u2019s sake.\u201d\n\nThey rode straight to the palace. Never goodlier show made the\nminstrels of a king. Gunther\u2019s courtiers hasted to meet them, and gave\nthem lodging, and bade see to their gear. Their travelling clothes were\nrich and well fashioned. With all honour they might have gone before\nthe king therein. Yet they scorned to wear them at the court, and asked\nwhether any desired them. There was no lack of needy folk, that took\nthem gladly, and to these they were sent. Then the guests clad them in\nrich apparel, as beseemed the envoys of a king.\n\nEtzel\u2019s men got leave to go before Gunther. They that saw them\nrejoiced. Hagen sprang from his seat and ran to them, and received them\nlovingly, for which the youths thanked him. He asked for news of Etzel\nand his men, whereto the fiddlers made answer, \u201cThe land was never more\nprosperous, nor the people more joyful; know that of a surety.\u201d\n\nHe led them before the king, through the hall full of folk, and the\nguests were well received, as envoys should ever be in foreign kings\u2019\nlands. Werbel found many a knight by Gunther.\n\nThe gracious prince greeted them, and said, \u201cYe are both welcome,\nEtzel\u2019s minstrels, ye and your followers. Wherefore hath the mighty\nEtzel sent you into Burgundy?\u201d\n\nThey bowed before him, and Werbel answered, \u201cMy dear master, and\nKriemhild thy sister, commend their service to thee. With true intent\nthey have sent us hither to you, O knights.\u201d\n\nThen said the noble prince, \u201cI rejoice at the tidings. How fareth it\nwith Etzel, and Kriemhild my sister?\u201d\n\nWhereto the fiddler answered, \u201cNever was king of any land better or\nhappier, nor his kinsmen nor vassals; know that for certain. Right glad\nwere they when we set forth on this journey.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank him and my sister for their greeting. I rejoice that it is well\nwith the king and his folk, for I asked, much fearing.\u201d\n\nThe two young kings were also come in, and had heard the news for the\nfirst time. Giselher, the youth, was glad to see the envoys, for love\nof his sister, and said to them kindly, \u201cYe be heartily welcome. If ye\ncame oftener to the Rhine, ye would find friends worth the seeing.\nSmall ill should betide you here.\u201d\n\n\u201cI trow it well,\u201d answered Schwemmel. \u201cWord of mine cannot tell thee\nhow right lovingly Etzel commendeth him to thee, and eke thy sister,\nthat is holden in high esteem. The king\u2019s wife biddeth thee remember\nthy love and faith, and that thou wert ever true to her in heart and\nsoul. And, first of all, we are sent to the king, to invite you to ride\ninto Etzel\u2019s land, and Sir Gernot with you. Mighty Etzel commanded me\nto say to you all that, even if ye desire not to see your sister, he\nwould fain learn what wrong he hath done you, that ye are such\nstrangers to him and his court. Had ye never known the queen, he\ndeserveth no less of you than that ye come to see him. If ye consent to\nthis, ye shall please him well.\u201d\n\nAnd Gunther answered, \u201cA sennight from now I will let thee know what I\nand my friends have determined on. Go meanwhile to thy lodging and\nrest.\u201d\n\nBut Werbel said, \u201cMight we not, ere we seek repose, win audience of\ngreat Uta?\u201d\n\nWhereto the noble Giselher answered courteously, \u201cNone shall hinder\nyou, for in this ye shall have done my mother\u2019s will. For the sake of\nmy sister, Queen Kriemhild, she will see you gladly. Right welcome\nshall ye be.\u201d\n\nGiselher brought them before the lady, who rejoiced to see envoys from\nthe land of the Huns. Kindly and lovingly she greeted them, and the\ncourtly messengers and good delivered their tidings. \u201cMy mistress\ncommendeth to thee,\u201d said Schwemmel, \u201cher service and her true love.\nCould she but have sight of thee oftener, naught on earth were dearer\nto her.\u201d\n\nBut the queen answered, \u201cThat cannot be. The noble king\u2019s wife\ndwelleth, alack! too far from me. Blessed evermore be she and Etzel.\nFail not to send me word of your departure, when ye are about to return\nhome. It is long since envoys were so welcome as ye are.\u201d And the\nyouths promised that they would do it.\n\nThe Huns went to their lodging. Meanwhile, the great king had sent for\nhis friends, and noble Gunther asked his men how the message pleased\nthem. And many of them began to say that he might well ride into\nEtzel\u2019s land. The best among them counselled him thereto\u2014all save\nHagen. Him it irked exceedingly. He said to the king apart, \u201cYe strike\nat your own life. Surely ye know what we have done. Evermore we stand\nin danger from Kriemhild. I smote her husband dead with my hand. How\ndare we ride into Etzel\u2019s land?\u201d\n\nBut the king answered, \u201cMy sister forgot her anger. With a loving kiss\nshe forgave us for all we had done to her or she rode away. Hath she\naught against any, it is against thee alone, Hagen.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe not deceived,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cby the words of the Hunnish envoys. If\nthou goest to see Kriemhild, thou mayst lose thine honour and thy life.\nThe wife of King Etzel hath a long memory.\u201d\n\nThen Gernot spake out before the assembly, \u201cBecause thou fearest death\nwith reason among the Huns, it were ill done on our part to keep away\nfrom our sister.\u201d\n\nAnd Sir Giselher said to the knight, \u201cSince thou knowest thyself\nguilty, friend Hagen, stay thou at home, and guard thyself well, and\nlet them that dare, journey with us to the Huns.\u201d\n\nThen the knight of Trony fell into a passion. \u201cNone that ye take with\nyou will be readier to ride to the court than I. And well I will prove\nit, since ye will not be turned.\u201d\n\nBut knight Rumolt, the cook, said, \u201cStrangers and friends ye can\nentertain at home, at your pleasure. For here is abundance. Hagen, I\ntrow, hath never held you back afore. If ye will not follow him in\nthis, be counselled by Rumolt (for your true and loving servant am I)\nand tarry here as I would have ye do, and leave King Etzel yonder by\nKriemhild. Where in the wide world could ye be better? Here ye are safe\nfrom your enemies. Ye can adorn your bodies with goodly vesture, drink\nthe best wine, and woo fair women. Thereto, ye are given meats, the\nbest on earth that ever king ate. The land is prosperous. Ye may give\nup Etzel\u2019s hightide with honour, and live merrily at home with your\nfriends. Even had ye nothing else to feat on here, I could always give\nyou your fill of one dish\u2014cutlets fried in oil. This is Rumolt\u2019s\nadvice, my masters, since there is danger among the Huns. Never again,\nI trow, will Kriemhild be your friend, nor have you and Hagen deserved\notherwise. Stay here, ye knights, else ye may rue it. Ye shall find in\nthe end that my counsel is not bad: wherefore heed my words. Rich are\nyour lands. Here ye can redeem your pledges better than among the Huns.\nWho knoweth how things stand there. Abide where ye are. That is\nRumolt\u2019s counsel.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will not stay here,\u201d said Gernot. \u201cSince my sister and great Etzel\nhave bidden us so lovingly, why should we refuse? He that will not with\nus may tarry at home.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy my troth,\u201d said Rumolt, \u201cI, for one, will never cross the Rhine for\nEtzel\u2019s hightide. Why should I hazard what I have? I will live while I\nmay.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am of thy mind for that,\u201d said knight Ortwin. \u201cI will help thee to\norder things at home.\u201d\n\nAnd there were many that would not go, and said, \u201cGod guard you among\nthe Huns.\u201d\n\nThe king was wroth when he saw they desired to take their ease at home.\n\u201cWe will go none the less. The prudent are safe in the midst of\ndanger.\u201d\n\nHagen answered, \u201cBe not wroth at my word. Whatever betide, I counsel\nthee in good faith to ride strongly armed to the Huns. Since thou wilt\nnot be turned, summon the best men thou canst find, or knowest of,\namong thy vassals, and from among them I will choose a thousand good\nknights, that thou come not in scathe by Kriemhild\u2019s anger.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do this,\u201d said the king straightway. And he bade messengers\nride abroad through the country. Three thousand or more heroes they\nbrought back with them.\n\nThey thought not to meet so grim a doom. Merrily they rode into\nGunter\u2019s land. To all them that were to journey to the Huns horses and\napparel were given. The king found many willing. Hagen of Trony bade\nDankwart, his brother, lead eighty of their knights to the Rhine. They\ncame in proud array, bringing harness and vesture with them. Bold\nFolker, a noble minstrel, arrived with thirty of his men for the\njourney. A king might well have worn their raiment. He told Gunther\nthat these would also visit the Huns.\n\nI will tell you who Folker was. He was a noble knight, and many good\nwarriors in Burgundy were his vassals. He was called a minstrel because\nhe played on the viol.\n\nHagen chose a thousand that he knew well, and the prowess of whose hand\nhe had seen in grim battle, and in warlike deeds. None could deny their\nvalour.\n\nIt irked Kriemhild\u2019s envoys to be delayed, for they greatly feared\ntheir master, and every day they desired to be gone. But Hagen kept\nthem for his crafty ends. He said to his lord, \u201cWe must beware of\nletting them go or we be ready to follow them, in a sennight. We shall\nbe safer so, if they mean us harm. Kriemhild will not have the time to\ncontrive our hurt. Or, if she be minded thereto, it may go ill with\nher, since we lead with us to the Huns so many chosen men.\u201d\n\nShields and saddles and all the vesture they were to take with them, to\nEtzel\u2019s land, were now ready, and Kriemhild\u2019s envoys were bidden to\nGunther\u2019s presence. When they appeared, Gernot said, \u201cThe king will\nobey Etzel\u2019s wish. We go gladly to his hightide to see our sister. She\nmay count on us.\u201d\n\nGunther asked, \u201cCan ye tell us when the hightide falleth, or when we\nmust set forth?\u201d\n\nAnd Schwemmel answered, \u201cNext midsummer, without fail.\u201d\n\nThe king gave them leave, for the first time, to visit Brunhild, but\nFolker, to please her, said them nay.\n\n\u201cQueen Brunhild is not well enow for you to see her,\u201d said the good\nknight. \u201cWait till morning, and ye shall win audience of her.\u201d They had\nfain beheld her, but could not.\n\nThen the rich prince, that he might show favour to the envoys, bade\nbring thither of his own bounty gold upon broad shields. He had plenty\nthereof. His friends also gave them rich gifts. Giselher and Gernot,\nGary and Ortwin, let it be seen that they could give freely. They\noffered such costly things to the envoys that these durst not take\nthem, for fear of their master.\n\nThen said Werbel to the king, \u201cKeep your gifts, O king, in your own\nland. We may not carry them with us. My lord forbade us to take aught.\nThereto, we have small need.\u201d But the prince of the Rhine was angry\nbecause they refused so great a king\u2019s gift. So, at the last, they were\nconstrained to take his gold and vesture, and carry them home into\nEtzel\u2019s land.\n\nThey desired to see Uta or they departed. Giselher, the youth, brought\nthe minstrels before his mother, and the lady bade them say that she\nrejoiced to hear how that Kriemhild was had in worship. For the sake of\nKriemhild, that she loved, and of King Etzel, the queen gave the envoys\ngirdles and gold. Well might they receive this, for with true heart it\nwas offered.\n\nThe envoys had now taken leave of both men and women, and rode merrily\nforward to Swabia. Gernot sent his warriors with them thus far, that\nnone might do them a hurt.\n\nWhen their escorts parted from them, Etzel\u2019s might kept them safe by\nthe way, that none robbed them of horses or vesture. Then they spurred\nswiftly to the land of the Huns. Them that they knew for friends, they\ntold that the Burgundians from the Rhine would pass there shortly. They\nbrought the tidings also to Bishop Pilgerin.\n\nWhen they rode down by Bechlaren, they failed not to send word to\nRudeger and Dame Gotelind, the Margrave\u2019s wife, that was merry of her\ncheer because she was to see the guests so soon.\n\nThe minstrels were seen spurring through the land. They found Etzel in\nhis town of Gran. They gave the king, that grew red for joy, the\ngreetings that had been sent him.\n\nWhen the queen heard for certain that her brothers would come, she was\nwell content, and requited the minstrels with goodly gifts, which did\nher honour. She said, \u201cNow tell me, both of you, Werbel and Schwemmel,\nwhich of my friends, of the best that we have bidden, come to the\nhightide. What said Hagen when he heard the news?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe came to the council one morning early. He had little good to say of\nthe hightide. It was named by grim Hagen the death-ride. Thy brothers,\nthe three kings, come in merry mood. Who further are with them I cannot\nsay. Folker, the bold minstrel, is one.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had made shift to do without Folker,\u201d said the king\u2019s wife. \u201cHagen I\nesteem; he is a good knight. I am right glad that we shall see him\nhere.\u201d\n\nThen Kriemhild went to the king, and spake to him right sweetly, \u201cHow\ndoth the news please thee, dearest lord? All my heart\u2019s desire shall\nnow be satisfied.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy will is my pleasure,\u201d answered the king. \u201cI were less glad had it\nbeen mine own kinsmen. Through love of thy dear brethren all my cares\nhave vanished.\u201d\n\nEtzel\u2019s officers bade fit up palace and hall everywhere with seats for\nthe welcome guests. They took much joy from the king.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Fifth Adventure\nHow the Kings Journeyed to the Huns\n\n\nBut of their doings there we shall tell no further. High-hearted heroes\nnever rode so proudly into any king\u2019s land. All that they wanted they\nhad, both of weapons and apparel. They say that the Prince of the Rhine\nequipped a thousand and three score of knights, and nine thousand\nsquires for the hightide. They that tarried at home were soon to weep\nfor them.\n\nWhilst they carried their harness across the court at Worms, an old\nbishop from Spires said to fair Uta, \u201cOur friends will ride to the\nhightide. God help them there.\u201d\n\nThen noble Uta said to her children, \u201cStay here, good heroes. Last\nnight I dreamed an evil dream, that all the birds in this land were\ndead.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe that goeth by dreams,\u201d said Hagen, \u201ccareth little for his honour. I\nwould have my noble master take leave without delay, and ride forward\nmerrily into Etzel\u2019s land. There kings need heroes\u2019 hands to serve\nthem, and we must see Kriemhild\u2019s hightide.\u201d\n\nHagen counselled them now to the journey, but he rued it later. He had\nwithstood them, but that Gernot had mocked him. He minded him on\nSiegfried, Kriemhild\u2019s husband, and said, \u201cIt is for that, that Hagen\ndurst not go.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said, \u201cI hold not back from fear. If ye will have it so,\nheroes, go forward. I am ready to ride with you to Etzel\u2019s land.\u201d Soon\nmany a helmet and shield were pierced by him.\n\nThe ships lay waiting for the kings and their men. They carried their\nvesture down to them, and were busy till eventide. Merry of cheer they\nquitted their homes. On the camping ground across the Rhine they\npitched tents and put up booths. The king\u2019s fair wife entreated him to\nstay, for much she loved him. Flutes and trumpets rang out early in the\nmorning, and gave the signal to be gone. Many a true lover was torn\nfrom his loved one\u2019s arms by King Etzel\u2019s wife.\n\nKing Uta\u2019s sons had a liegeman bold and true. When he saw they would\nforth, he spake to the king secretly, \u201cMuch I grieve that thou goest to\nthis hightide.\u201d Rumolt was his name, a chosen knight. He said, \u201cTo whom\nwilt thou leave thy folk and thy land? Alack! that none can turn you\nknights from your purpose! Kriemhild\u2019s message never pleased me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI leave my land and child in thy charge. I will have it so. Comfort\nthem that thou seest weeping. Etzel\u2019s wife will do us no hurt!\u201d\n\nThe king held a council with his chief men or he started. He left not\nland and castles defenceless. Many a chosen knight stayed behind to\nguard them.\n\nThe horses stood ready for the kings and their followers. With sweet\nkisses parted many whose hearts still beat high. Noble women soon wept\nfor them. Wailing was there, with tears enow. The queen bare her child\nin her arms to the king. \u201cHow canst thou leave us both desolate? Stay\nfor our sake,\u201d said the sorrowful woman.\n\n\u201cWeep not for me, but be of good cheer here at home. We shall return\nshortly, safe and sound.\u201d\n\nSo they waited no longer, but lovingly took leave of their friends.\nWhen the bold knights were gotten to horse, many women stood sorrowing.\nTheir hearts told them it was a long parting. None is merry of his\ncheer when bitter woe is at hand.\n\nThe swift Burgundians rode off, and there was hurrying in the land. On\neither side the mountains both men and women wept. But, for all the\nfolk could do, they pressed forward merrily. A thousand of the Nibelung\nknights in habergeons went with them, that had left fair women at home,\nthe which they never saw more. The wounds of Siegfried gaped in\nKriemhild\u2019s heart.\n\nThe Christian faith was still weak in those days. Nevertheless they had\na chaplain with them to say mass. He returned alive, escaped from much\nperil. The rest tarried dead among the Huns. Gunther\u2019s men shaped their\ncourse toward the Main, up through East Frankland. Hagen led them, that\nknew the way well. Their Marshal was Dankwart, the knight of Burgundy.\nAs they rode from East Frankland to Schwanfeld, the princes and their\nkinsmen, knights of worship, were known by their stately mien.\n\nOn the twelfth morning the king reached the Danube. Hagen of Trony rode\nin front of the rest. He was the helper and comforter of the Nibelungs.\nThe bold knight alighted there on the bank, and tied his horse to a\ntree. The river was swoln, there was no boat, and the knights were\ntroubled how to win across. The water was too wide. Many a bold knight\nsprang to the ground.\n\n\u201cMischief might easily befall thee here, King of Rhineland,\u201d said\nHagen; \u201cthou canst see for thyself that the river is swoln, and the\ncurrent very strong. I fear me we shall lose here to-day not a few good\nknights.\u201d\n\n\u201cWherefore daunt me, Hagen?\u201d said the proud king. \u201cOf thy charity\nfright us no more. Look out a ford for us, that we bring both horses\nand baggage safe across.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am no so weary of life,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cthat I desire to drown in\nthese broad waves. Many a man in Etzel\u2019s land shall first fall by my\nhand. That is more to my mind. Stay by the water side, ye proud knights\nand good, and I will seek the ferrymen by the river, that will bring us\nsafe into Gelfrat\u2019s land.\u201d\n\nThereupon stark Hagen took his good shield. He was well armed. He bare\nhis buckler. He laced on his shining helmet. He wore a broad weapon\nabove his harness, that cut grimly with both its edges.\n\nThen he sought the ferrymen up and down. He heard the splash of water\nand began to listen. It came from mermaidens that bathed their bodies\nin a clear brook to cool them.\n\nHagen spied them, and stole up secretly. When they were ware of him,\nthey fled. Well pleased were they to escape him. The hero took their\ngarments, but did them no further annoy.\n\nThen one of the mermaids (she hight Hadburg) said, \u201cWe will tell thee,\nnoble Hagen, if thou give us our clothes again, how ye shall all fare\non this journey among the Huns.\u201d\n\nThey swayed like birds in the water before him. He deemed them wise and\nworthy of belief, so that he trusted the more what they told him. They\ninformed him concerning all that he asked them. Hadburg said, \u201cYe may\nride safely into Etzel\u2019s land; I pledge my faith thereon, that never\nyet heroes journeyed to any court to win more worship. I say sooth.\u201d\n\nHagen\u2019s heart was uplifted at her word; he gave them back their clothes\nand stayed no longer. When they had put on their wonderful raiment,\nthey told him the truth about the journey.\n\nThe other mermaid, that hight Sieglind, said, \u201cBe warned, Hagen, son of\nAldrian. My aunt hath lied to thee because of her clothes. If ye go to\nthe Huns, ye are ill-advised. Turn while there is time, for ye bold\nknights have been bidden that ye may die in Etzel\u2019s land. Who rideth\nthither hath death at his hand.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said, \u201cYour deceit is vain. How should we all tarry there,\ndead, through the hate of one woman?\u201d\n\nThen they began to foretell it plainer, and Hadburg said also, \u201cYe are\ndoomed. Not one of you shall escape, save the king\u2019s chaplain: this we\nknow for a truth. He, only, shall return alive into Gunther\u2019s land.\u201d\n\nGrimly wroth spake bold Hagen then. \u201cIt were a pleasant thing to tell\nmy masters that we must all perish among the Huns! Show us a way across\nthe water, thou wisest of womankind.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cSince thou wilt not be turned from the journey, up\nyonder by the river standeth an inn. Within it is a boatman; there is\nnone beside.\u201d\n\nHe betook him thither to ask further. But the mermaidens cried after\nthe wrothful knight, \u201cStay, Sir Hagen. Thou art too hasty. Hearken\nfirst concerning the way. The lord of this march hight Elsy. The name\nof his brother is Gelfrat, a prince in Bavaria. It might go hard with\nthee if thou wentest through his march. Look well to thyself, and\nproceed warily with the boatman. He is so grim of his mood that he will\nkill thee, if thou speak him not fair. If thou wouldst have him ferry\nthee across, give him hire. He guardeth this land, and is Gelfrat\u2019s\nfriend. If he come not straightway, cry across the river to him that\nthou art Amelrich; he was a good knight, that a feud drove from this\nland. The boatman will come when he heareth that name.\u201d\n\nProud Hagen thanked the women for their warning and their counsel, and\nsaid no more. He went up the river\u2019s bank, till he came to an inn that\nstood on the far side. He began to shout across the water, \u201cBoatman,\nrow me over, and I will give thee, for thy meed, an armlet of red gold.\nI must across.\u201d\n\nThe boatman was so rich that he needed not to serve for hire, and\nseldom took reward from any. His men also were overweening, and Hagen\nwas left standing on the bank of the river.\n\nThereupon he shouted so loud that all the shore rang with it. He was a\nstark man. \u201cRow across for Amelrich. I am Elsy\u2019s liegeman, that, for a\nfeud, fled the country.\u201d He swung the armlet aloft on his sword\u2014it was\nof red gold, bright and shining\u2014that they might ferry him over to\nGelfrat\u2019s march. At this the haughty boatman himself took the oar, for\nhe was greedy and covetous of gain, the which bringeth oft to a bad\nend. He thought to win Hagen\u2019s red gold, but won, in lieu thereof, a\ngrim death by his sword.\n\nHe rowed over to the shore with mighty strokes. When he found not him\nthat had been named, he fell into a fury; he saw Hagen, and spake\nwrothfully to the hero, \u201cThy name may be Amelrich, but, or I err\ngreatly, thy face is none of his. By one father and one mother he was\nmy brother. Since thou hast deceived me, thou canst stay where thou\nart.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, for the love of God,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cI am a stranger knight that\nhave the charge of other warriors. Take thy fee and row me over, for I\nam a friend.\u201d\n\nBut the boatman answered, \u201cI will not. My dear masters have foemen,\nwherefore I must bring no stranger across. If thou lovest thy life,\nstep out on to the shore again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay now,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cI am sore bested. Take, as a keepsake, this\ngoodly gold, and ferry us over with our thousand horses and our many\nmen.\u201d\n\nBut the grim boatman answered, \u201cNever!\u201d He seized an oar, mickle and\nbroad, and smote Hagen (soon he rued it), that he staggered and fell on\nhis knees. Seldom had he of Trony encountered so grim a ferryman.\nFurther, to anger the bold stranger, he brake a boat-pole over his\nhead, for he was a strong man. But he did it to his own hurt.\n\nGrimly wroth, Hagen drew a weapon from the sheath, and cut off his\nhead, and threw it on the ground. The Burgundians were soon ware of the\ntidings.\n\nIn the same moment that he slew the ferryman, the boat was caught by\nthe current, which irked him no little, for he was weary or he could\nbring her head round, albeit Gunther\u2019s man rowed stoutly. With swift\nstrokes he sought to turn it, till the oar brake in his hand. He strove\nto reach the knights on the strand, but had no other oar. Ha! how\nnimbly he bound it together with the thong of his shield, a narrow\nbroidered band, and rowed to a wood down the river.\n\nThere he found his masters waiting on the beach. Many a valiant knight\nran to meet him, and greeted him joyfully. But when they saw the boat\nfull of blood from the grim wound he had given the ferryman, they began\nto question him.\n\nWhen Gunther saw the hot blood heaving in the boat, he said quickly,\n\u201cTell me what thou hast done with the ferryman. I ween he hath fallen\nby thy strength.\u201d\n\nBut he answered with a lie, \u201cI found the boat by a waste meadow, and\nloosed it. I have seen no ferryman this day, nor hath any suffered hurt\nat my hand.\u201d\n\nThen said Sir Gernot of Burgundy, \u201cI am heavy of my cheer because of\nthe dear friends that must die or night, for boatmen we have none.\nSorrowfully I stand, nor know how we shall win over.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen cried, \u201cLay down your burdens on the grass, ye squires. I was\nthe best boatman by the Rhine, and safe, I trow, I shall bring you into\nGelfrat\u2019s land.\u201d\n\nThat they might cross the quicker, they drave in the horses. These swam\nso well that none were drowned, albeit a few, grown weary, were borne\ndown some length by the tide. Then they carried their gold and harness\non board, since they must needs make the passage. Hagen was the\nhelmsman, and steered many a gallant knight to the unknown land. First\nhe took over a thousand, and thereto his own band of warriors. Then\nfollowed more: nine thousand squires. The knight of Trony was not idle\nthat day. The ship was huge, strongly built and wide enow. Five hundred\nof their folk and more, with their meats and weapons, it carried easily\nat a time. Many a good warrior that day pulled sturdily at the oar.\n\nWhen he had brought them safe across the water, the bold knight and\ngood thought on the strange prophecy of the wild mermaids. Through this\nthe king\u2019s chaplain came nigh to lose his life. He found the priest\nbeside the sacred vessels, leaning with his hand upon the holy relics.\nThis helped him not. When Hagen saw him, it went hard with the poor\nservant of God. He threw him out of the ship on the instant. Many\ncried, \u201cStop, Hagen, stop!\u201d Giselher, the youth, was very wroth, but\nHagen ceased not, till he had done him a hurt.\n\nThen stark Gernot of Burgundy said, \u201cWhat profiteth thee the chaplain\u2019s\ndeath, Hagen? Had another done this, he had paid dear for it. What hast\nthou against the priest?\u201d\n\nThe chaplain swam with all his might. He had gotten on board again had\nany helped him. But none could do it, for stark Hagen pushed him\nfiercely under. None approved his deed.\n\nWhen the poor man saw that they would not aid him, he turned and made\nfor the shore. He was in sore peril. But, albeit he could not swim, the\nhand of God upbore him, that he won safe to the dry land again. There\nhe stood, and shook his clothes.\n\nBy this sign Hagen knew there was no escape from what the wild women of\nthe sea had foretold. He thought, \u201cThese knights be all dead men.\u201d\n\nWhen they had unloaded the ship, and brought all across that belonged\nto the three kings, Hagen brake it in pieces and threw these on the\nwater. Much the bold knights marvelled thereat.\n\n\u201cWherefore dost thou so, brother?\u201d said Dankwart. \u201cHow shall we get\nover when we ride home from the Huns to the Rhine?\u201d\n\nHagen told him, after, that that would never be, but for the meantime\nhe said, \u201cI did it a-purpose. If we have any coward with us on this\njourney, that would forsake us in our need, he shall die a shameful\ndeath in these waves.\u201d\n\nThey had with them one from Burgundy, a hero of great prowess, that\nhight Folker, and that spake with mocking words all his mind. And\nwhatso Hagen did, this fiddler approved.\n\nWhen the king\u2019s chaplain saw the ship hewn up, he cried across the\nwater to Hagen, \u201cWhat had I done to thee, false murderer, that, without\ncause, thou wouldst have drowned me?\u201d\n\nHagen answered, \u201cHold thy peace. By my troth, and in sober earnest, it\nirketh me that thou hast escaped.\u201d\n\nSaid the poor priest, \u201cI will praise God evermore. Little I fear thee\nnow, rest assured. Fare forward to the Huns, and I will to the Rhine.\nGod grant thou comest never back again. That is my prayer, for\nwell-nigh hadst thou killed me.\u201d\n\nBut King Gunther said to his chaplain, \u201cI will more than make good to\nthee what Hagen hath done in his anger, if I win back alive. Have no\nfear. Go home, for so it needs must be now. Bear a greeting to my dear\nwife, and my other kinsfolk. Tell them the good tidings: that, so far,\nall is well.\u201d\n\nThe horses stood ready, the sumpters were laden. As yet they had\nsuffered no scathe by the way, save the king\u2019s chaplain, that had to\nreturn to the Rhine afoot.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Sixth Adventure\nHow Dankwart Slew Gelfrat\n\n\nWhen they were all on the shore, the king asked, \u201cWho will show us the\nright way through the country, that we go not astray?\u201d\n\nWhereto bold Folker answered, \u201cI will do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d said Hagen, \u201cboth knights and squires. One must follow one\u2019s\nfriends\u2014that is plain to me, and right. But I have heavy news to tell\nyou. Never again shall we see Burgundy. Two mermaids told me this\nmorning early that we should win back to our home nevermore. Now follow\nmy counsel. Arm ye, ye heroes, and guard your lives well. Stark foemen\nare at hand, wherefore ride as to battle. I hoped to prove the words of\nthe wise mermaids false. They said that none save the chaplain would\nreturn. It was for that I had so gladly drowned him.\u201d\n\nThe news flew from rank to rank. Many a bold knight grew pale, and fell\nin fear of bitter death, whereto he journeyed. Doleful were they and\ndreary.\n\nThey crossed the river at Moering, where Elsy\u2019s ferryman was killed,\nand Hagen said further, \u201cI have made enemies by the way, that will\nshortly set on us. I slew the boatman this morning; wherefore, if\nGelfrat and Elsy attack us, welcome them on such wise that it shall go\nhard with them. They will do it without fail, for I know them for bold\nmen. Ride softly, that none may say we fly.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said young Giselher. \u201cWho will lead us through the land?\u201d\n\nAnd they answered, \u201cFolker, the bold minstrel; he knoweth all the hills\nand the paths.\u201d\n\nOr they had time to ask him, the brave fiddler stood before them,\narmed, with his helmet on. His harness was bright coloured, and he had\nbound a red pennon on his spear. Soon he came, with the kings, in great\nperil.\n\nThe news of his boatman\u2019s death had reached Gelfrat. Stark Elsy had\nheard it likewise. Wroth were they both. They summoned their knights,\nthat were soon ready. Straightway, as I will tell you, a mighty host,\nstrongly armed, rode to them that had suffered scathe. To Gelfrat come\nmore than seven hundred. When these set out to pursue their grim\nfoemen, the leaders spurred hotly after the strangers, to be revenged.\nBy the which they lost many friends.\n\nHagen of Trony had so ordered it (how could a hero guard his kinsmen\nbetter) that he brought up the rear with his vassals, and with\nDankwart, his brother. It was wisely done.\n\nThe day was far spent; the light failed. He feared greatly for his\ncomrades. They rode through Bavaria behind shields, and shortly after\nwere set upon.\n\nOn both sides, and close behind, they heard the trample of hoofs, and\nspurred on. Then said bold Dankwart, \u201cThey will fall on us here. Ye did\nwell to bind on your helmets.\u201d\n\nSo they stopped, as needs was. Then they saw the glitter of shields in\nthe dark. Hagen held his peace no longer, \u201cWho follow us by the way?\u201d\n\nGelfrat had to answer. Said the Margrave of Bavaria, \u201cWe seek our\nfoemen and follow on their track. I know not who slew my boatman\nto-day. He was a valiant knight, and I grieve for his loss.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cWas the boatman thine? He would not ferry me\nover. The blame is mine. I slew him. Certes, I had need. I had nigh met\nmy death at his hand. I offered him gold and raiment, Sir Knight, as\nhis meed for rowing us into thy land. So angry was he that he struck me\nwith his great oar, whereat I was grim enow. Then I seized my sword,\nand defended me from his wrath with a grisly wound, whereby the hero\nperished. I will answer for it as seemeth good to thee.\u201d\n\nSo they fell to fighting, for they were wroth. \u201cI knew well,\u201d said\nGelfrat, \u201cwhen Gunther crossed with his followers, that Hagen\u2019s\ninsolence would do us some hurt. Now he shall not escape us. His death\nshall pay for the boatman\u2019s.\u201d Gelfrat and Hagen couched their lances to\nthrust above their shields. Deadly was their hate. Elsy and Dankwart\nmet gallantly, and proven on each other was their might. They strove\ngrimly. How could heroes have fought better? Bold Hagen was knocked\nback from off his horse by a strong blow from Gelfrat\u2019s hand. The\npoitral brake asunder and he fell.\n\nFrom the followers also rang the clash of spears. Hagen sprang up again\nwhere he had fallen on the grass from the blow; not little was his\nwrath against Gelfrat. I know not who held their horses. Hagen and\nGelfrat were both on the ground. They ran at each other, and their\nattendants helped them and fought by them. For all Hagen\u2019s fierce\nonset, the noble Margrave hewed an ell\u2019s length from his shield, that\nthe sparks flew bright. Gunther\u2019s man was well-nigh slain. Then he\ncried aloud to Dankwart, \u201cHelp! dear brother. I perish by the hand of a\nhero.\u201d\n\nBold Dankwart answered, \u201cI will decide between you.\u201d The knight spurred\ntoward them, and smote Gelfrat such a blow that he fell dead.\n\nElsy would have avenged him, but he and his followers were overcome.\nHis brother was slain, and he himself wounded. Full eighty of his\nwarriors he left there with grim death; the prince had to flee before\nGunther\u2019s men.\n\nWhen the Bavarians gave way, there was heard the echo of grisly\nstrokes. The men of Trony chased their foes, and they that stayed not\nto answer for it had little ease by the way.\n\nBut while they pursued them, Dankwart said, \u201cNow turn we, and let them\nride. They are wet with blood. Let us join our friends. Truly it were\nbest.\u201d\n\nWhen they came again where the fight had been, Hagen of Trony said,\n\u201cLet us see now, ye heroes, who are amissing, and whom we have lost\nthrough Gelfrat\u2019s anger.\u201d\n\nThey had four to mourn for, that they had lost. Well they were avenged.\nAgainst these, more than an hundred of them of Bavaria lay slain. The\nshields of the men of Trony were dim and wet with blood.\n\nThe bright moon shone faintly through the clouds, and Hagen said, \u201cLet\nnone tell my dear masters what hath befallen us. Let them be free of\ntrouble till the morrow.\u201d\n\nWhen they that had fought came up with the rest, they found them\novercome with weariness. \u201cHow long shall we ride?\u201d asked many among\nthem. Bold Dankwart answered, \u201cHere is no hostel. Ye must ride till it\nis day.\u201d Folker, that had the charge, bade ask the marshal, \u201cWhere\nshall we halt for the night, that the horses and my dear masters may\nrest?\u201d But Dankwart said, \u201cI know not. We cannot rest till the dawn.\nThen we shall lie down on the grass wherever we find a place.\u201d When\nthey heard this news they were sorry enow!\n\nOf the red blood that reeked on them nothing was said till the sun\ngreeted the morning on the mountains with his bright beams, and the\nking saw that they had fought.\n\nThe knight cried angrily, \u201cHow now, friend Hagen? Wherefore didst thou\nscorn my help when they were wetting thy harness with blood? Who hath\ndone it?\u201d\n\nHagen answered, \u201cIt was Elsy. He fell on us by night. Because of his\nferryman, he attacked us. My brother\u2019s hand slew Gelfrat. Elsy was\nforced to flee. An hundred of his men, and four of ours, lie dead,\nslain in battle.\u201d\n\nI cannot tell you where they rested. Soon all the country folk heard\nthat noble Uta\u2019s sons were on their way to the hightide. They were well\nreceived at Passau. Bishop Pilgerin, the king\u2019s uncle, was well pleased\nthat his nephews drew nigh with so many knights. He was not slow to\ngive them welcome. Friends rode out to meet them on the way. When there\nwas not room enough for all in Passau, they crossed the river to a\nfield, and there the squires put up tents and rich pavilions.\n\nThey had to tarry there a whole day and a night. Well they were\nentreated! Then they rode into Rudeger\u2019s country. When Rudeger heard\nthe news, he was glad.\n\nWhen the way-weary ones had rested, and drew nigher to Rudeger\u2019s\ncountry, they found a man asleep on the marches, from whom Hagen of\nTrony took a stark weapon. This same good knight hight Eckewart. Right\nheavy was he of his cheer that he had lost his sword through the\npassing of the heroes. They found Rudeger\u2019s marches ill guarded.\n\n\u201cWoe is me for this shame!\u201d cried Eckewart. \u201cSore I rue the\nBurgundians\u2019 journey. The day I lost Siegfried my joy was ended. Alack!\nSir Rudeger, an ill turn I have done thee.\u201d\n\nHagen overheard all the warrior\u2019s grief, and gave him his sword again,\nwith six red armlets. \u201cTake them, Sir Knight, for love of me, and be my\nfriend. Thou art a brave man to lie here all alone.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod quit thee for thine armlets,\u201d answered Eckewart. \u201cYet still I must\nrue thy journey to the Huns. Thou slewest Siegfried, and art hated\nhere. Look well to thyself; from true heart I warn thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod must guard us,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cNo other care have these knights, the\nprinces and their liegemen, than to find quarters, where they may tarry\nthe night. Our horses are weary from the long way, and our provender is\ndone. We can find none to buy. We have need of a host that, of his\ncharity, would give us bread.\u201d\n\nEckewart answered, \u201cI will show you such an host. Better welcome to his\nhouse will none give you in any land than Rudeger, if ye will go to see\nhim. He dwelleth fast by the road, and is the best host that ever had a\nhouse. His heart blossometh with virtues, as smiling May decketh the\ngrass with flowers. He is ever glad to serve knights.\u201d\n\nThen said King Gunther, \u201cWilt thou be my envoy, and ask my dear friend\nRudeger if he will keep us\u2014me with my kinsmen and our men\u2014till the day?\nI will requite him as best I can.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will gladly be thy envoy,\u201d answered Eckewart.\n\nHe set out with good will, and told Rudeger what he had heard. Such\ngood news had not reached him for long. A knight was seen hasting to\nBechlaren. Rudeger knew him, and said, \u201cHere cometh Eckewart,\nKriemhild\u2019s man, down the way.\u201d He deemed that foemen had done him a\nhurt. He went to the door and met the envoy, that ungirded his sword\nand laid it down.\n\nRudeger said to the knight, \u201cWhat hast thou heard, that thou ridest in\nsuch hot haste? Hath any done us a mischief?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone hath harmed us,\u201d said Eckewart straightway. \u201cThree kings have\nsent me: Gunther of Burgundy, Giselher, and Gernot. Each of them\ncommended his service to thee. The same doth Hagen from true heart, and\nalso Folker. Further, I have to tell thee that Dankwart, the king\u2019s\nmarshal, bade me say that the good knights have need of thy roof.\u201d\n\nRudeger answered with smiling face, \u201cThis is glad news, that the high\nkings need my service. It shall not be denied them. Right glad am I\nthat they come to my house.\u201d\n\n\u201cDankwart, the marshal, bade me tell thee who there be of them: sixty\nbold warriors and a thousand good knights, with nine thousand squires.\u201d\n\nRudeger rejoiced to hear it, and said, \u201cWelcome are these guests\u2014the\nhigh warriors that come to my castle, and that I so seldom have served\nheretofore. Ride out to meet them, my kinsmen and my vassals.\u201d\n\nWhereat knights and squires hasted to horse. All that their lord\ncommanded they deemed right; so they served him the better.\n\nGotelind, that sat in her chamber, had not heard the news.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Seventh Adventure\nHow They Came to Bechlaren\n\n\nThe Margrave went to find his wife and daughter, and told them the good\nnews that he had heard, how that their queen\u2019s brethren were coming to\nthe house.\n\n\u201cDear love,\u201d said Rudeger, \u201creceive the high and noble kings well when\nthey come here with their followers. Hagen, Gunther\u2019s man, thou shalt\nalso greet fair. There is one with them that hight Dankwart; another\nhight Folker, a man of much worship. These six thou shalt kiss\u2014thou and\nmy daughter. Entreat the warriors courteously.\u201d\n\nThe women promised it, nothing loth. They took goodly apparel from\ntheir chests, wherein to meet the knights. The fair women made haste\nenow. Their cheeks needed little false colour. They wore fillets of\nbright gold on their heads, fashioned like rich wreaths, that the wind\nmight not ruffle their beautiful hair. They were dainty and fresh.\n\nNow leave we the women busied on this wise. There was mickle spurring\nacross the plain among Rudeger\u2019s friends till they found the princes.\nThese were well received in the Margrave\u2019s land. Rudeger cried joyfully\nas he went toward them, \u201cYe be welcome, ye knights, and all your men.\nRight glad am I to see you in my home.\u201d\n\nThe warriors thanked him with true heart void of hate. He showed them\nplainly they were welcome. To Hagen he gave special greeting, for he\nknew him from aforetime. He did the same to Folker of Burgundy. He\nwelcomed Dankwart also. Then said that knight, \u201cIf thou take us in, who\nwill see to our followers from Worms beyond the Rhine?\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cHave no fear on that head. All that ye have\nwith you, horses, silver and apparel, shall be so well guarded that ye\nshall not lose a single spur thereof. Pitch your tents in the fields,\nye squires. Whatso ye lose here I will make good to you. Off with the\nbridles, and let the horses go loose.\u201d Never before had host done this\nfor them. Glad enow were the guests. When they had obeyed him, and the\nknights had ridden away, the squires laid them down on the grass over\nall, and took their ease. It was their softest rest on the whole\njourney.\n\nThe noble Margravine came out before the castle with her beautiful\ndaughter. Lovely women and fair maids not a few stood beside her,\nadorned with bracelets and fine apparel. Precious stones sparked bright\non their rich vesture. Goodly was their raiment.\n\nThe guests rode up and sprang to the ground. Ha! courteous men all were\nthey of Burgundy! Six and thirty maidens and many women beside, fair to\nheart\u2019s desire, came forth to meet them, with bold men in plenty. The\nnoble women welcomed them sweetly. The Margravine kissed the kings all\nthree. Her daughter did the like. Hagen stood by. Him also her father\nbade her kiss. She looked up at him, and he was so grim that she had\ngladly let it be. Yet must she do as the host bade her. Her colour came\nand went, white and red. She kissed Dankwart, too, and, after him, the\nfiddler. By reason of his body\u2019s strength he won this greeting. Then\nthe young Margravine took Giselher, the youth, of Burgundy by the hand.\nHer mother did the same to Gunther, and they went in merrily with the\nheroes.\n\nThe host led Gernot into a wide hall. There knights and ladies sat\ndown, and good wine was poured out for the guests. Never were warriors\nbetter entreated.\n\nRudeger\u2019s daughter was looked at with loving eyes, she was so fair; and\nmany a good knight loved her in his heart. And well they might, for she\nwas an high-hearted maiden. But their thoughts were vain: it could not\nbe.\n\nThey kept spying at the women, whereof many sat round. Now the fiddler\nwas well-minded to Rudeger.\n\nWomen and knights were parted then, as was the custom, and went into\nseparate rooms. The table was made ready in the great hall, and willing\nservice was done to the strangers.\n\nTo show love to the guests, the Margravine went to table with them. She\nleft her daughter with the damsels, as was seemly, albeit it irked the\nguests to see her no longer.\n\nWhen they had all drunk and eaten, they brought the fair ones into the\nhall again, and there was no lack of sweet words. Folker, a knight bold\nand good, spake plenty of them. This same fiddler said openly, \u201cGreat\nMargrave, God hath done well by thee, for He hath given thee a right\nbeautiful wife, and happy days. Were I a king,\u201d said the minstrel, \u201cand\nwore a crown, I would choose thy sweet daughter for my queen. She would\nbe the choice of my heart, for she is fair to look upon, and, thereto,\nnoble and good.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cHow should a king covet my dear daughter? My\nwife and I are both strangers here, and have naught to give. What\navaileth then her beauty?\u201d\n\nBut said Gernot, the courteous man, \u201cMight I choose where I would, such\na wife were my heart\u2019s desire.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen graciously, \u201cIt is time Giselher wedded. Of such high\nlineage is the noble Margravine, that we would gladly serve her, I and\nhis men, if she wore the crown in Burgundy.\u201d\n\nThe word pleased both Rudeger and Gotelind greatly. Their hearts were\nuplifted. So it was agreed among the heroes that noble Giselher should\ntake her to wife; the which a king might well do without shame.\n\nIf a thing be right, who can withstand it? They bade the maiden before\nthem, and they swore to give her to him, whereupon he vowed to cherish\nher. They gave her castles and lands for her share. The king and Gernot\nsware with the hand that it should be even as they had promised.\n\nThen said the Margrave, \u201cSince I have no castles, I can only prove me\nyour true friend evermore. I will give my daughter as much silver and\ngold as an hundred sumpters may carry, that ye warriors may, with\nhonour, be content.\u201d\n\nThen the twain were put in a circle, as the custom was. Many a young\nknight stood opposite in merry mood, and thought in his heart as young\nfolk will. They asked the lovely maiden if she would have the hero. She\nwas half sorry, yet her heart inclined to the goodly man. She was\nshamefast at the question, as many a maid hath been.\n\nRudeger her father counselled her to say \u201cyes,\u201d and to take him gladly.\nGiselher, the youth, was not slow to clasp her to him with his white\nhands. Yet how little while she had him!\n\nThen said the Margrave, \u201cGreat and noble kings, I will give you my\nchild to take with you, for this were fittest, when ye ride home again\ninto your land.\u201d And it was so agreed.\n\nThe din of tourney was bidden cease. The damsels were sent to their\nchambers, and the guests to sleep and to take their rest till the day.\nThen meats were made ready, for their host saw well to their comfort.\n\nWhen they had eaten, they would have set out again for the country of\nthe Huns, but Rudeger said, \u201cGo not, I pray you. Tarry here yet a\nwhile, for I had never dearer guests.\u201d\n\nDankwart answered, \u201cIt may not be. Where couldst thou find the meat,\nthe bread and the wine, for so many knights?\u201d\n\nBut when the host heard him, he said, \u201cSpeak not of that. Deny me not,\nmy dear lords. I can give you, and all them that are with you, meat for\nfourteen days. Little hath King Etzel ever taken of my substance.\u201d\n\nAlbeit they made excuse, they had to tarry till the fourth morning. He\ngave both horses and apparel so freely, that the fame of it spread\nabroad.\n\nBut longer than this it could not last, for they must needs forth.\nRudeger was not sparing of his goods. If any craved for aught, none\ndenied him. Each got his desire.\n\nThe attendants brought the saddled horses to the door. There many\nstranger knights joined them, shield in hand, to ride with them to\nEtzel\u2019s court. To each of the noble guests Rudeger offered a gift, or\nhe left the hall. He had wherewithal to live in honour and give freely.\nUpon Giselher he had bestowed his fair daughter. He gave to Gernot a\ngoodly weapon enow, that he wielded well afterward in strife. The\nMargrave\u2019s wife grudged him not the gift, yet Rudeger, or long, was\nslain thereby.\n\nTo Gunther, the valiant knight, he gave a coat of mail, that did the\nrich king honour, albeit he seldom took gifts. He bowed before Rudeger\nand thanked him.\n\nGotelind offered Hagen a fair gift, as was fitting, since the king had\ntaken one, that he might not fare to the hightide without a keepsake\nfrom her, but he refused.\n\n\u201cNaught that I ever saw would I so fain bear away with me as yonder\nshield on the wall. I would gladly carry it into Etzel\u2019s land.\u201d\n\nWhen the Margravine heard Hagen\u2019s word, it minded her on her sorrow,\nand she fell to weeping. She thought sadly on the death of Nudung, that\nWittich had slain; and her heart was heavy.\n\nShe said to the knight, \u201cI will give thee the shield. Would to God he\nyet lived that once bore it! He died in battle. I must ever weep when I\nthink on him, for my woman\u2019s heart is sore.\u201d\n\nThe noble Margravine rose from her seat, and took down the shield with\nher white hands and carried it to Hagen, that used it as a hero should.\nA covering of bright stuff lay over its device. The light never shone\non better shield. It was so rich with precious stones, that had any\nwanted to buy it, it had cost him at the least a thousand marks.\n\nThe knight bade his attendants bear it away. Then came his brother\nDankwart, to whom the Margrave\u2019s daughter gave richly broidered\napparel, that afterward he wore merrily among the Huns.\n\nNone had touched any of these things but for love of the host that\noffered them so kindly. Yet, or long, they bare him such hate that they\nslew him.\n\nBold Folker then stepped forth with knightly bearing and stood before\nGotelind with his viol. He played a sweet tune and sang her his song.\nThen he took his leave and left Bechlaren. But first the Margravine\nbade them bring a drawer near. Of loving gifts now hear the tale. She\ntook therefrom twelve armlets, and drew them over his hand, saying,\n\u201cThese shalt thou take with thee and wear for my sake at Etzel\u2019s court.\nWhen thou comest again, I will hear how thou hast served me at the\nhightide.\u201d Well he did her behest.\n\nThe host said to the guests, \u201cThat ye may journey the safer, I will\nmyself escort you, and see that none fall on you by the way.\u201d And\nforthwith they loaded his sumpter. He stood ready for the road with\nfive hundred men, mounted and equipped. These he led merrily to the\nhightide. Not one of them came back alive to Bechlaren.\n\nHe took leave with sweet kisses. The same did Giselher, as love bade\nhim. They took the fair women in their arms. Or long, many a damsel\nwept for them.\n\nThe windows were flung wide over all, for the host and his men were\ngotten to horse. Their hearts, I ween, foreboded their bitter woe, and\nmany a wife and many a maiden wept sore. They sorrowed for many a dear\nfriend that was never seen more at Bechlaren. Yet merrily they rode\ndown the valley by the Danube into the land of the Huns.\n\nThen said noble Rudeger to the Burgundians, \u201cWe must delay no longer to\nsend news of our advance. Nothing could rejoice King Etzel more.\u201d\n\nThe swift envoys pressed down through Austria, and soon the folk knew,\nfar and near, that the heroes were on their way from Worms beyond the\nRhine. It was welcome news to the king\u2019s vassals. The envoys spurred\nforward with the tidings that the Nibelungs were come to the Huns.\n\n\u201cReceive them well, Kriemhild, my wife. Thy brethren are come to show\nthee great honour.\u201d\n\nKriemhild stood at a window and looked out as a friend might for\nfriends. Many drew thither from her father\u2019s land. The king was joyful\nwhen he heard the news.\n\n\u201cGlad am I,\u201d said Kriemhild, \u201cmy kinsmen come with many new shields and\nshining bucklers. I will ever be his friend that taketh my gold and\nremembereth my wrong.\u201d\n\nShe thought in her heart, \u201cNow for the reckoning! If I can contrive it,\nit will go hard at this hightide with him that killed all my happiness.\nFain would I work his doom. I care not what may come of it: my\nvengeance shall fall on the hateful body of him that stole my joy from\nme. He shall pay dear for my sorrow.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Eighth Adventure\nHow Kriemhild Received Hagen\n\n\nWhen the Burgundians came into the land, old Hildebrand of Bern heard\nthereof, and told his master, that was grieved at the news. He bade him\ngive hearty welcome to the valiant knights.\n\nBold Wolfhart called for the horses, and many stark warriors rode with\nDietrich to greet them on the plain, where they had pitched their\ngoodly tents.\n\nWhen Hagen of Trony saw them from afar, he spake courteously to his\nmasters, \u201cArise, ye doughty heroes, and go to meet them that come to\nwelcome you. A company of warriors that I know well draw hither\u2014the\nheroes of the Amelung land. They are men of high courage. Scorn not\ntheir service.\u201d\n\nThen, as was seemly, Dietrich, with many knights and squires, sprang to\nthe ground. They hasted to the guests, and welcomed the heroes of\nBurgundy lovingly.\n\nWhen Dietrich saw them, he was both glad and sorry; he knew what was\ntoward, and grieved that they were come. He deemed that Rudeger was\nprivy to it, and had told them. \u201cYe be welcome, Gunther and Giselher,\nGernot and Hagen; Folker, likewise, and Dankwart the swift. Know ye not\nthat Kriemhild still mourneth bitterly for the hero of the Nibelungs?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe will weep awhile,\u201d answered Hagen. \u201cThis many a year he lieth\nslain. She did well to comfort her with the king of the Huns. Siegfried\nwill not come again. He is long buried.\u201d\n\n\u201cEnough of Siegfried\u2019s wounds. While Kriemhild, my mistress, liveth,\nmischief may well betide. Wherefore, hope of the Nibelungs, beware!\u201d So\nspake Dietrich of Bern.\n\n\u201cWherefore should I beware?\u201d said the king. \u201cEtzel sent us envoys (what\nmore could I ask?) bidding us hither to this land. My sister Kriemhild,\nalso, sent us many greetings.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen said, \u201cBid Sir Dietrich and his good knights tell us further\nof this matter, that they may show us the mind of Kriemhild.\u201d\n\nThen the three kings went apart: Gunther and Gernot and Dietrich.\n\n\u201cNow tell us, noble knight of Bern, what thou knowest of the queen\u2019s\nmind.\u201d\n\nThe prince of Bern answered, \u201cWhat can I tell you, save that every\nmorning I have heard Etzel\u2019s wife weeping and wailing in bitter woe to\nthe great God of Heaven, because of stark Siegfried\u2019s death?\u201d\n\nSaid bold Folker, the fiddler, \u201cThere is no help for it. Let us ride to\nthe court and see what befalleth us among the Huns.\u201d\n\nThe bold Burgundians rode to the court right proudly, after the custom\nof their land. Many bold Huns marvelled much what manner of man Hagen\nof Trony might be. The folk knew well, from hearsay, that he had slain\nSiegfried of the Netherland, the starkest of all knights, Kriemhild\u2019s\nhusband. Wherefore many questions were asked concerning him. The hero\nwas of great stature; that is certain. His shoulders were broad, his\nhair was grisled; his legs were long, and terrible was his face. He\nwalked with a proud gait.\n\nThen lodging was made ready for the Burgundians. Gunther\u2019s attendants\nlay separate from the others. The queen, that greatly hated Gunther,\nhad so ordered it. By this device his yeomen were slain soon after.\n\nDankwart, Hagen\u2019s brother, was marshal. The king commended his men\nearnestly to his care, that he might give them meat and drink enow, the\nwhich the bold knight did faithfully and with good will.\n\nKriemhild went forth with her attendants and welcomed the Nibelungs\nwith false heart. She kissed Giselher and took him by the hand. When\nHagen of Trony saw that, he bound his helmet on tighter.\n\n\u201cAfter such greeting,\u201d he said, \u201cgood knights may well take thought.\nThe kings and their men are not all alike welcome. No good cometh of\nour journey to this hightide.\u201d\n\nShe answered, \u201cLet him that is glad to see thee welcome thee. I will\nnot greet thee as a friend. What bringest thou for me from Worms,\nbeyond the Rhine, that thou shouldst be so greatly welcome?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is news,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cthat knights should bring thee gifts. Had\nI thought of it, I had easily brought thee something. I am rich enow.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me what thou hast done with the Nibelung hoard. That, at the\nleast, was mine own. Ye should have brought it with you into Etzel\u2019s\nland.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy my troth, lady, I have not touched the Nibelung hoard this many a\nyear. My masters bade me sink it in the Rhine. There it must bide till\nthe day of doom.\u201d\n\nThen said the queen, \u201cI thought so. Little hast thou brought thereof,\nalbeit it was mine own, and held by me aforetime. Many a sad day I have\nlived for lack of it and its lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bring thee the Devil!\u201d cried Hagen. \u201cMy shield and my harness were\nenow to carry, and my bright helmet, and the sword in my hand. I have\nbrought thee naught further.\u201d\n\n\u201cI speak not of my treasure, because I desire the gold. I have so much\nto give that I need not thy offerings. A murder and a double theft\u2014it\nis these that I, unhappiest of women, would have thee make good to me.\u201d\n\nThen said the queen to all the knights, \u201cNone shall bear weapons in\nthis hall. Deliver them to me, ye knights, that they be taken in\ncharge.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so, by my troth,\u201d said Hagen; \u201cI crave not the honour, great\ndaughter of kings, to have thee bear my shield and other weapons to\nsafe keeping. Thou art a queen here. My father taught me to guard them\nmyself.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me!\u201d cried Kriemhild. \u201cWhy will not Hagen and my brother give\nup their shields? They are warned. If I knew him that did it, he should\ndie.\u201d\n\nSir Dietrich answered wrathfully then, \u201cI am he that warned the noble\nkings, and bold Hagen, the man of Burgundy. Do thy worst, thou devil\u2019s\nwife, I care not!\u201d\n\nKriemhild was greatly ashamed, for she stood in bitter fear of\nDietrich. She went from him without a word, but with swift and wrathful\nglances at her foes.\n\nThen two knights clasped hands\u2014the one was Dietrich, the other Hagen.\nDietrich, the valiant warrior, said courteously, \u201cI grieve to see thee\nhere, since the queen hath spoken thus.\u201d\n\nHagen of Trony answered, \u201cIt will all come right.\u201d\n\nSo the bold men spake together, and King Etzel saw them, and asked, \u201cI\nwould know who yonder knight is that Dietrich welcometh so lovingly. He\nbeareth him proudly. Howso is his father hight, he is, certes, a goodly\nwarrior.\u201d\n\nOne of Kriemhild\u2019s men answered the king, \u201cHe was born at Trony. The\nname of his father was Aldrian. Albeit now he goeth gently, he is a\ngrim man. I will prove to thee yet that I lie not.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow shall I find him so grim?\u201d He knew nothing, as yet, of all that\nthe queen contrived against her kinsmen: by reason whereof not one of\nthem escaped alive from the Huns.\n\n\u201cI know Hagen well. He was my vassal. Praise and mickle honour he won\nhere by me. I made him a knight, and gave him my gold. For that he\nproved him faithful, I was ever kind to him. Wherefore I may well know\nall about him. I brought two noble children captive to this land\u2014him\nand Walter of Spain. Here they grew to manhood. Hagen I sent home\nagain. Walter fled with Hildegund.\u201d\n\nSo he mused on the good old days, and what had happed long ago, for he\nhad seen Hagen, that did him stark service in his youth. Yet now that\nhe was old, he lost by him many a dear friend.\n\n\n\n\nTwenty-Ninth Adventure\nHow Hagen and Folker Sat Before Kriemhild\u2019s Hall\n\n\nThe two valiant knights, Hagen of Trony and Sir Dietrich, parted, and\nGunther\u2019s man looked back for a comrade that he soon espied. He saw\nFolker, the cunning fiddler, by Giselher, and bade him come with him,\nfor well he knew his grim mood. He was in all things a warrior bold and\ngood.\n\nThe knights still stood in the court. These two alone were seen\ncrossing the yard to a large hall at a distance. They feared no man.\nThey sat down before the house, on a bench opposite Kriemhild\u2019s\nchamber. Their goodly apparel shone bright on their bodies. Not a few\nof them that looked were fain to know them. The Huns gaped at the proud\nheroes as they had been wild beasts, and Etzel\u2019s wife saw them through\na window, and was troubled anew. She thought on her old wrong, and\nbegan to weep. Etzel\u2019s men marvelled much what had grieved her so sore.\nShe said, \u201cGood knights, it is Hagen that hath done it.\u201d\n\nThen said they to the queen, \u201cHow came it to pass? A moment ago we saw\nthee of good cheer. There is no man so bold, had he done thee a hurt,\nand thou badest us avenge thee, but he should answer for it with his\nlife.\u201d\n\n\u201cHim that avenged my wrong I would thank evermore. All that he asked I\nwould give him. I fall at your feet; only avenge me on Hagen, that he\nlose his life.\u201d\n\nThereupon sixty bold men armed them swiftly, and would have gone out\nwith one accord to slay Hagen, the bold knight, and the fiddler, for\nKriemhild\u2019s sake.\n\nBut when the queen saw so small a number, she spake wrothfully to the\nheroes, \u201cThink not to withstand Hagen with so few. Stark and bold as is\nHagen of Trony, much starker is he that sitteth by him, Folker the\nfiddler by name, a wicked man. Ye shall not so lightly overcome them.\u201d\n\nWhen they heard her word, four hundred knights more did on their\narmour, for the queen was eager to do her enemies a hurt. Soon they\ncame in sore straits. When she saw them well armed, she said to them,\n\u201cStand still a while and wait. I will go out to my foes with my crown\non. Hearken while I upbraid Hagen of Trony, Gunther\u2019s man, with what he\nhath done to me. I know him for too proud a knight to deny it. After\nthat, I care not what befalleth him.\u201d\n\nThen the fiddler, a bold minstrel, saw the queen coming down the stair\nfrom the house, and said to his comrade, \u201cNow see, friend Hagen, how\nshe that hath falsely bidden us to this land, cometh toward us. Never\nhave I beheld, with a king\u2019s wife, so many men, sword in hand, as for\nstrife. Knowest thou, friend Hagen, that they hate thee? I counsel thee\nto look to thy life and thine honour. Certes, it were well. Methinketh\nthey be wrothful of their mood. Many among them have shoulders broad\nenow. Who would save his life had best do it betimes. I ween they wear\nharness below their silk, whereof I hear none declare the meaning.\u201d\n\nBut Hagen, the bold man, answered angrily, \u201cWell, I know that it is\nagainst me they carry their bright weapons in their hands. But, for all\nthat, I will yet ride back to Burgundy. Now say, friend Folker, wilt\nthou stand by me, if Kriemhild\u2019s men fall on me? Tell me, as thou\nlovest me. To thy service thou wouldst bind me evermore.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will help thee truly,\u201d answered the minstrel; \u201cif I saw the king\ncoming with all his warriors, I would not, while I lived, stir a foot\nfrom thy side through fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod in Heaven quit thee, noble Folker! If they fight with me, what\nneed I more. Since thou wilt help me, as I have heard thee promise,\nthese knights had best walk warily.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow rise we from our seat, and let her pass,\u201d said the minstrel. \u201cShe\nis a queen. Do her this honour; she is a high-born lady. Therein we\nhonour ourselves.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, as thou lovest me!\u201d Hagen said. \u201cThese knights might deem I did\nit through fear, and thought to fly. I will not rise from my seat for\nany of them. It beseemeth us better to sit still. Shall I show honour\nto her that hateth me? That I will never do, so long as I be a living\nman. Certes, I care little if King Etzel\u2019s wife misliketh me.\u201d\n\nHagen, the overweening man, laid a bright weapon across his knee, from\nthe hilt whereof shone a flaming jasper, greener than grass. Well\nKriemhild knew that it was Siegfried\u2019s.\n\nWhen she saw the sword, her heart was heavy. The hilt was of gold, the\nscabbard of red broidered silk. It minded her on her woe, and she began\nto weep. Bold Hagen, I ween, had done it apurpose.\n\nBrave Folker drew closer to him on the bench a stark fiddle-bow, mickle\nand long, made like a sword, sharp and broad. There sat the good\nknights unafraid. They deemed them too high to rise from their seat\nthrough fear of any.\n\nThen the noble queen advanced to them and gave them angry greeting. She\nsaid, \u201cNow tell me, Sir Hagen, who sent for thee, that thou hast dared\nto ride into this land? Wert thou in thy senses, thou hadst not done\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cNone sent for me,\u201d answered Hagen. \u201cThree knights that I call master,\nwere bidden hither. I am their liegeman, and never yet tarried behind\nwhen they rode to a hightide.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cNow tell me further. Wherefore didst thou that which hath\nearned thee my hate? Thou slewest Siegfried, my dear husband, that I\ncannot mourn enow to my life\u2019s end.\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cEnough! What thou hast said sufficeth. It was I, Hagen,\nthat slew Siegfried, the hero. He paid dear for the evil words that\nKriemhild spake to fair Brunhild. I deny not, mighty queen, that I am\nguilty, and the cause of all the mischief. Avenge it who will, man or\nwoman. I will not lie; I have wrought thee much woe.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cYe hear him, knights! He denieth not the wrong he hath done\nme. I care not how he suffer for it, ye men of Etzel.\u201d\n\nThe proud warriors glanced at each other. Had there been fighting, the\ntwo comrades had come off with honour, as oft aforetime in strife. What\nthe Huns had undertaken they durst not perform, through fear. Then said\none among them, \u201cWhy look ye at me? My word was vain; I will lose my\nlife for the gifts of no woman. King Etzel\u2019s wife, methinketh, would\nundo us.\u201d\n\nAnother said, \u201cI am of thy mind. I would not challenge this fiddler for\ntowers full of red gold, for much I mislike his fierce glances. This\nHagen, too, I knew in his youth, and need not to be told concerning\nhim. In two-and-twenty battles I have seen him. He hath given many a\nwoman heart\u2019s dole. He and the knight of Spain rode on many a foray,\nand here, by Etzel, won many victories to the honour of the king.\nWherefore none may deny him praise. In those days the knight was a\nchild, and they that now are grey were youths. Now he is grown to a\ngrim man. Thereto, he weareth Balmung, which he won evilly.\u201d\n\nSo they agreed that none should fight, whereat the queen grieved\nbitterly. The knights turned away, for they feared death from the\nfiddler, and were dismayed. How oft will cowards fall back when friend\nstandeth true by friend! And he that bethinketh him betimes is\ndelivered from many a snare.\n\nThen said bold Folker, \u201cNow have we seen and heard that foemen are\naround us. Haste we to the court, to the kings, that none dare fall\nupon them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will follow,\u201d said Hagen.\n\nThey went where they found the knights still waiting in the courtyard;\nand bold Folker began to say to his masters with a loud voice, \u201cHow\nlong will ye stand here to be jostled? Go in and hear from the king how\nhe is minded toward you.\u201d\n\nThe knights bold and good went in pairs. The prince of Bern took great\nGunther of Burgundy by the hand. Irnfried took brave Gernot, and\nGiselher went in with his father-in-law. Howso the others walked,\nFolker and Hagen parted nevermore, save once in battle, till their\ndeath; the which gave many a noble woman cause to weep. With the kings\ncame their followers, a thousand bold men, and, thereto, sixty\nwarriors, brought by Hagen from his land. Hawart and Iring, two chosen\nknights, went after the kings, hand in hand. Dankwart and Wolfhart, a\ntrue-hearted man, bare them courteously toward them that were present.\n\nWhen the prince of Rhineland came into the palace, Etzel waited no\nlonger, but sprang up from his seat when he saw them. Never was fairer\ngreeting between kings. \u201cYe be welcome, Sir Gunther and Sir Gernot, and\nGiselher your brother. With true heart I sent my service to you at\nWorms. Your knights, too, are welcome, each one. Glad are my wife and I\nto greet bold Folker, and also Hagen, in this land. Many a message she\nsent you to the Rhine.\u201d\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cI heard them all. Had I not ridden hither\nfor my masters\u2019 sake, I had come to do thee honour.\u201d Thereupon the host\ntook his dear guests by the hand, and led them to the high seat where\nhe himself sat. And they hasted and poured out mead, morat, and wine,\nfor the guests, in great golden goblets, and bade the strangers\nheartily welcome.\n\nThen said King Etzel, \u201cI tell you truly that nothing in this world had\npleased me better than to see you knights here. It will ease the queen\nof mickle heart\u2019s dole. I marvelled oft what I had done, that, among\nthe many guests I won to my court, ye never came to my land. Glad am I\nto see you now.\u201d\n\nWhereto Rudeger, the high-hearted knight, answered, \u201cThou rejoicest\nwith cause, for my mistress\u2019s kinsmen are men of proven worth, and they\nbring many valiant knights with them.\u201d\n\nIt was on a midsummer eve that they came to Etzel\u2019s court, and seldom\nhath been heard such high greeting as he gave to the heroes. Then he\nwent merrily to table with them, and no host ever entreated guests\nbetter. Meat and drink they had in plenty. All that they desired stood\nready for them, for many marvels had been told of them.\n\nThe rich king had built a great castle at much cost and\ntrouble\u2014palaces, and towers, and chambers without number, in a big\nfortress, and thereto a goodly hall. He had ordered it to be built long\nand high and wide, by reason of the many knights that flocked to his\ncourt without cease. Twelve great kings were his liegemen, and many\nwarriors of much worship he had always by him, more than any king I\never heard of. He lived merrily with kinsmen and vassals round him,\nwith the joyful tumult of good knights on every side. By reason whereof\nhis heart was uplifted.\n\n\n\n\nThirtieth Adventure\nHow Hagen and Folker Kept Watch\n\n\nThe day was now ended and the night drew nigh. The way-weary warriors\nwere fain to rest, and lie down on their beds, but knew not how to\ncompass it. Hagen asked, and brought them word.\n\nGunther said to the host, \u201cGod have thee in His keeping. Give us leave\nto go and sleep. If thou desire it, we will come again early in the\nmorning.\u201d Then Etzel parted merrily from his guests.\n\nFrom all sides the folk pressed in on the strangers. Bold Folker said\nto the Huns, \u201cHow dare ye get before our feet? If ye void not the way,\nit will be the worse for you. I will give some of you a blow with this\nfiddle that may cause your friends to weep. Fall back from us warriors.\nCertes, ye had better. Ye be knights in name and naught else.\u201d\n\nWhile the fiddler spake thus wrothfully, bold Hagen looked over his\nshoulder and said, \u201cThe minstrel giveth you good counsel. Get to your\nlodging, ye men of Kriemhild. This is no time for your malice. If ye\nwould start a quarrel, come to us to-morrow early, and let us way-weary\nwarriors lie this night in peace. I ween ye will find none readier than\nwe are.\u201d\n\nThey led the guests to a spacious hall, where they found beds, big and\ncostly, standing ready. Gladly had the queen worked their doom.\nCoverlets of bright stuffs from Arras were there, and testers of silk\nof Araby, the goodliest that could be, broidered and shining with gold.\nThe bed-clothes were of ermine and black sable, for them to rest under,\nthe night through, till the day. In such state never king lay before\nwith his men.\n\n\u201cWoe is me for our lodging!\u201d said Giselher the youth, \u201cand for my\nfriends that came hither with us. My sister sent us fair words, but I\nfear we must all soon lie dead through her.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrieve not,\u201d said Hagen the knight. \u201cI will myself keep watch, and\nwill guard thee well, I trow, till the day. Fear naught till then.\nAfter that, each shall look to himself.\u201d\n\nThey bowed to him and thanked him. They went to their beds, and, or\nlong, the valiant men were lying soft. Then bold Hagen began to arm\nhim.\n\nFolker the fiddler said, \u201cIf thou scorn not my help, Hagen, I would\nkeep watch with thee till the morning.\u201d\n\nThe hero thanked Folker, \u201cGod in Heaven quit you, dear Folker. In all\nmy troubles and my straits I desire thee only and no other. I will do\nas much for thee, if death hinder it not.\u201d\n\nThey both did on their shining harness. Each took his shield in his\nhand, and went out before the door to keep watch over the strangers.\nThey did it faithfully.\n\nBrave Folker leaned his good shield against the wall, and went back and\ntook his fiddle, and did fair and seemly service to his friends. He sat\ndown under the lintel upon the stone. There never was a bolder\nminstrel. When the sweet tones sounded from his strings, the proud\nhomeless ones all thanked him. He struck so loud that the house echoed.\nGreat were his skill and strength both. Then he played sweeter and\nsofter, till he had lulled many a careworn man to sleep. When Folker\nfound they were all asleep, he took his shield in his hand again, and\nwent out and stood before the door, to guard his friends from\nKriemhild\u2019s men.\n\nAbout the middle of the night, or sooner, bold Folker saw a helmet in\nthe distance, shining in the dark. Kriemhild\u2019s vassals were fain to do\nthem a hurt. Or she sent them forth, she said, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, if ye\nwin at them, slay none save the one man, false Hagen; let the others\nlive.\u201d\n\nThen spake the fiddler, \u201cFriend Hagen, we must bear this matter through\ntogether. I see armed folk before the house. I ween they come against\nus.\u201d\n\n\u201cHold thy peace,\u201d answered Hagen. \u201cLet them come nigher. Or they are\nware of us, there will be helmets cloven by the swords in our two\nhands. They shall be sent back to Kriemhild in sorry plight.\u201d\n\nOne of the Hunnish knights saw that the door was guarded, and said\nhastily, \u201cWe cannot carry this thing through. I see the fiddler\nstanding guard. He hath on his head a shining helmet, bright and\ngoodly, with no dint therein, and stark thereto. The rings of his\nharness glow like fire. Hagen standeth by him. The strangers are well\nwatched.\u201d\n\nThey turned without more ado. When Folker saw this, he spake angrily to\nhis comrade, \u201cLet me go out to these knights. I would ask Kriemhild\u2019s\nmen a question.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, as thou lovest me,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cIf thou wentest to them, thou\nwouldst fall in such strait by their swords that I must help thee,\nthough all my kinsmen perished thereby. If both the twain of us fell to\nfighting, two or three of them might easily spring into the house, and\ndo such hurt to the sleepers as we could never mourn enow.\u201d\n\nBut Folker said, \u201cLet us tell them that we have seen them, that they\ndeny not their treachery.\u201d Then Folker called out to them, \u201cWhy go ye\nthere armed, valiant knights? Is it murder ye are after, ye men of\nKriemhild? Take me and my comrade to help you.\u201d\n\nNone answered him. Right wroth was he.\n\n\u201cShame on you, cowards! Would ye have slain us sleeping? Seldom afore\nhath so foul a deed been done on good knights.\u201d\n\nThe queen was heavy of her cheer when they told her that her messengers\nhad failed. She began to contrive it otherwise, for grim was her mood,\nand by reason thereof many a good knight and bold soon perished.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-First Adventure\nHow the Burgundians Went to Church\n\n\n\u201cMy harness is grown so cold,\u201d said Folker, \u201cthat I ween the night is\nfar spent. I feel, by the air, that it will soon be day.\u201d\n\nThen they waked the knights that still slept.\n\nThe bright morning shone in on the warriors in the hall, and Hagen\nbegan to ask them if they would go to the minster to hear mass. The\nbells were ringing according to Christian custom.\n\nThe folk sang out of tune: it was not mickle wonder, when Christian and\nheathen sang together. Gunther\u2019s men were minded to go to church, and\nrose from their beds. They did on their fine apparel\u2014never knights\nbrought goodlier weed into any king\u2019s land. But Hagen was wroth, and\nsaid, \u201cYe did better to wear other raiment. Ye know how it standeth\nwith us here. Instead of roses, bear weapons in your hands, and instead\nof jewelled caps, bright helmets. Of wicked Kriemhild\u2019s mood we are\nwell aware. I tell you there will be fighting this day. For your silken\ntunics wear your hauberks, and good broad shields for rich mantels,\nthat, if any fall on you, ye may be ready. My masters dear, my kinsmen,\nand my men, go to the church and bewail your sorrow and your need\nbefore great God, for know, of a surety, that death draweth nigh.\nForget not wherein ye have sinned, and stand humbly before your Maker.\nBe warned, most noble knights. If God in Heaven help you not, ye will\nhear mass no more.\u201d\n\nSo the kings and their men went to the minster. Hagen bade them pause\nin the churchyard, that they might not be parted. He said, \u201cNone\nknoweth yet what the Huns may attempt on us. Lay your shields at your\nfeet, my friends, and if any give you hostile greeting, answer him with\ndeep wounds and deadly. That is Hagen\u2019s counsel, that ye may be found\nready, as beseemeth you.\u201d\n\nFolker and Hagen went and stood before the great minster. They did\nthis, that the queen might be forced to push past them. Right grim was\ntheir mood.\n\nThen came the king and his beautiful wife. Her body was adorned with\nrich apparel, and the knights in her train were featly clad. The dust\nrose high before the queen\u2019s attendants.\n\nWhen the rich king saw the princes and their followers armed, he said\nhastily, \u201cWhy go my friends armed? By my troth it would grieve me if\nany had done aught to them. I will make it good to them on any wise\nthey ask it. Hath any troubled their hearts, he shall feel my\ndispleasure. Whatso they demand of me I will do.\u201d\n\nHagen answered, \u201cNone hath wrought us annoy. It is the custom of my\nmasters to go armed at all hightides for full three days. If any did us\na mischief, Etzel should hear thereof.\u201d\n\nRight well Kriemhild heard Hagen\u2019s words. She looked at him from under\nher eyelids with bitter hate. Yet she told not the custom of her land,\nalbeit she knew it well from aforetime. Howso grim and deadly the\nqueen\u2019s anger was, none had told Etzel how it stood, else he had\nhindered what afterward befell. They scorned, through pride, to tell\ntheir wrong.\n\nThe queen advanced with a great crowd of folk, but the twain moved not\ntwo hands\u2019 breadth, whereat the Huns were wroth, for they had to press\npast the heroes. This pleased not Etzel\u2019s chamberlains, and they had\ngladly quarrelled with them, had they dared before the king. There was\nmuch jostling, and nothing more.\n\nWhen the mass was over, many a Hun sprang to horse. With Kriemhild were\nalso many beautiful maidens. Kriemhild sat by Etzel at a window with\nher women, to see the bold warriors ride, the which the king loved to\ndo. Ha! many a stranger knight spurred below in the court!\n\nThe marshal brought out the horses. Bold Dankwart had gathered together\nhis master\u2019s followers from Burgundy. Well-saddled horses were led up\nfor the Nibelungs. When the kings and their men were mounted, Folker\ncounselled them to joust after the fashion of their country. Full\nknightly they rode in the tourney. The counsel was welcome to all, and\na mighty din and clang of arms soon arose in the great tilt-yard, while\nEtzel and Kriemhild looked on.\n\nSixty of Dietrich\u2019s knights spurred forward to meet the strangers. They\nwere eager for the onset, had Dietrich allowed it, for goodly men were\nhis. But it irked him when he heard thereof, and forbade them to cross\nlances with Gunther\u2019s warriors. He feared it might go hard with his\nknights.\n\nWhen the knights of Bern were gone out of the yard, five hundred of\nRudeger\u2019s men of Bechlaren rode up before the castle, with their\nshields. The Margrave had been better pleased if they had stayed away.\nHe pressed through the crowd, and said to them that they themselves\nknew how that Gunther\u2019s men were wroth, and that he would have them\nquit the tourney.\n\nWhen these also had gone back, they say that the knights of Th\u00fcringen\nand a thousand bold Danes rode in. Then the splinters flew from the\nlances. Irnfried and Hawart rode into the tourney. The Rhinelanders met\nthem proudly. They encountered the men of Th\u00fcringen in many a joust;\npierced was many a shield.\n\nSir Bl\u0153del came on with three thousand. Etzel and Kriemhild saw plainly\nall that passed below. The queen rejoiced, by reason of the hate she\nbare the Burgundians. She thought in her heart,\u2014what happed or long\u2014\u201cIf\nthey wounded any, the sport might turn to a battle. I would fain be\nrevenged on my foes; certes, it would not grieve me.\u201d\n\nSchrutan and Gibek came next, and Ramung and Hornbog, after the manner\nof the Huns. They all bare them boldly before the Burgundians. High\nover the king\u2019s palace flew the splinters. Yet all they did was but\nempty sound. Gunther\u2019s men made the house and the castle ring with the\nclash of shields. They won great honour. So keen was their pastime that\nthe foot-cloths ran with the sweat of the horses, as they rode proudly\nagainst the Huns.\n\nThen said stout Folker the fiddler, \u201cThese knights dare not confront\nus, I ween. I have heard that they hate us. They could not have a\nfitter time to prove it.\u201d\n\n\u201cLead the horses to their stalls,\u201d said the king. \u201cToward evening ye\nmay ride again, if there be time for it. Haply the queen may then give\nthe prize to the Burgundians.\u201d\n\nAt that moment a knight rode into the lists, prouder than any other\nHun. Belike he had a dear one at the window. He was rich apparelled\nlike a bride.\n\nFolker said, \u201cI cannot help it. Yonder woman\u2019s darling must have a\nstroke. None shall hinder me. Let him look to his life. I care not how\nwroth Etzel\u2019s wife may be.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay now, for my sake,\u201d said the king. \u201cThe folk will blame us if we\nbegin the fray. Let the Huns be the first. It were better so.\u201d\n\nStill Etzel sat by the queen.\n\n\u201cI will join thee in the tourney,\u201d cried Hagen. \u201cIt were well that\nthese women and these knights saw how we can ride. They give Gunther\u2019s\nmen scant praise.\u201d\n\nBold Folker spurred back into the lists. Thereby many a woman won\nheart\u2019s dole. He stabbed the proud Hun through the body with his spear.\nMany a maid and many a wife was yet to weep for it. Hagen and his sixty\nknights followed hard on the fiddler. Etzel and Kriemhild saw it all\nplain.\n\nThe three kings left not the doughty minstrel alone among his foemen. A\nthousand knights rode to the rescue. They were haughty and overweening,\nand did as they would.\n\nWhen the proud Hun was slain, the sound of weeping and wailing rose\nfrom his kinsmen. All asked, \u201cWho hath done it?\u201d and got answer, \u201cIt\nwas Folker, the bold fiddler.\u201d\n\nThe friends of the Hunnish Margrave called straightway for their swords\nand their shields, that they might kill Folker. The host hasted from\nthe window. There was a mighty uproar among the Huns. The kings and\ntheir followers alighted before the hall, and beat back their horses.\n\nThen came Etzel and began to part the fray. He seized a sharp sword out\nof the hand of one of the Hun\u2019s kinsmen that stood nigh, and thrust\nthem all back. He was greatly wroth, \u201cYe would have me fail in honour\ntoward these knights! If ye had slain this minstrel, I tell you I would\nhave hanged you all. I marked him well when he slew the Hun, and saw\nthat it was not with intent, but that his horse stumbled. Let my guests\nleave the tilt-yard in peace.\u201d\n\nHe gave them escort, himself, and their horses were led to the stalls,\nfor many varlets stood ready to serve them.\n\nThe host went with his guests into the palace, and bade the anger\ncease. They set the table, and brought water. The knights of the Rhine\nhad stark foemen enow. Though it irked Etzel, many armed knights\npressed in after the kings, when they went to table, by reason of their\nhate. They waited a chance to avenge their kinsman.\n\n\u201cYe be too unmannerly,\u201d said the host, \u201cto sit down armed to eat. Whoso\namong you toucheth my guests shall pay for it with his head. I have\nspoken, O Huns.\u201d\n\nIt was long or the knights were all seated. Bitter was Kriemhild\u2019s\nwrath. She said, \u201cPrince of Bern, I seek thy counsel and thy kind help\nin my sore need.\u201d\n\nBut Hildebrand, the good knight, answered, \u201cWho slayeth the Nibelungs\nshall do it without me; I care not what price thou offerest. None shall\nessay it but he shall rue it, for never yet have these doughty knights\nbeen vanquished.\u201d\n\n\u201cI ask the death of none save Hagen, that hath wronged me. He slew\nSiegfried, my dear husband. He that chose him from among the others for\nvengeance should have my gold without stint. I were inly grieved did\nany suffer save Hagen.\u201d\n\nBut Hildebrand answered, \u201cHow could one slay him alone? Thou canst see\nfor thyself, that, if he be set upon, they will all to battle, and poor\nand rich alike must perish.\u201d\n\nSaid Dietrich also, courteously, \u201cGreat queen, say no more. Thy kinsmen\nhave done naught to me that I should defy them to the death. It is\nlittle to thine honour that thou wouldst compass the doom of thy\nkinsmen. They came hither under safe conduct, and not by the hand of\nDietrich shall Siegfried be avenged.\u201d\n\nWhen she found no treachery in the knight of Bern, she tempted Bl\u0153del\nwith the promise of a goodly estate that had been Nudung\u2019s. Dankwart\nslew him after, that he clean forgot the gift.\n\nShe said, \u201cHelp me, Sir Bl\u0153del. In this house are the foes that slew\nSiegfried, my dear husband. If any avenge me, I will ever serve him.\u201d\n\nBl\u0153del, that sat by her, answered, \u201cI dare not show thy kinsmen such\nhate, so long as my brother showeth them favour. The king would not\nforgive me if I defied them.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay now, Sir Bl\u0153del, I will stand by thee, and give thee silver and\ngold for meed, and, thereto, a beautiful woman, the widow of Nudung,\nthat thou mayest have her to thy dear one. I will give the all, land\nand castles, and thou shalt live joyfully with her on the march that\nwas Nudung\u2019s. In good sooth I will do what I promise.\u201d\n\nWhen Bl\u0153del heard the fee, and because the woman pleased him for her\nfairness, he resolved to win her by battle. So came he to lose his\nlife.\n\nHe said to the queen, \u201cGo back into the hall. Or any is ware thereof, I\nwill raise a great tumult. Hagen shall pay for what he hath done. I\nwill bring thee King Gunther\u2019s man bound.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow arm ye, my men,\u201d cried Bl\u0153del, \u201cand let us fall on the foemen in\ntheir lodging. King Etzel\u2019s wife giveth me no peace, and at her bidding\nwe must risk our lives.\u201d\n\nWhen the queen had left Bl\u0153del to begin the strife, she went in to\ntable with King Etzel and his men. She had woven an evil snare against\nthe guests.\n\nI will tell you how they went into the hall. Crowned kings went before\nher; many high princes and knights of worship attended the queen. Etzel\nassigned to all the guests their places, the highest and the best in\nthe hall. Christians and heathens had their different meats, whereof\nthey ate to the full; for so the wise king ordered it. The yeomen\nfeasted in their own quarters, where sewers served them, that had been\ncharged with the care of their food. But revel and merriment were soon\nturned to weeping.\n\nKriemhild\u2019s old wrong lay buried in her heart, and when the strife\ncould not be kindled otherwise, she bade them bring Etzel\u2019s son to\ntable. Did ever any woman so fearful a thing for vengeance?\n\nFour of Etzel\u2019s men went straightway and brought in Ortlieb, the young\nking, to the princes\u2019 table, where Hagen also sat. Through his\nmurderous hate the child perished.\n\nWhen Etzel saw his son, he spake kindly to his wife\u2019s brethren, \u201cSee\nnow, my friends, that is my only son, and your sister\u2019s child. Some day\nhe will serve you well. If he take after his kin, he will be a valiant\nman, rich and right noble, stark and comely. If I live, I will give him\nthe lordship of twelve countries. Fair service ye may yet have from\nyoung Ortlieb\u2019s hand. Wherefore I pray ye, my dear friends, that, when\nye ride back to the Rhine, ye take with you your sister\u2019s son, and do\nwell by the child. Rear him in honour till he be a man, and when he is\nfull grown, if any harry your land, he will help you to avenge it.\u201d\nKriemhild, the wife of Etzel, heard all that the king said.\n\nHagen answered, \u201cIf he grow to be a man, he may well help these\nknights. But he hath a weakly look. Methinketh I shall seldom go to\nOrtlieb\u2019s court.\u201d\n\nThe king eyed Hagen sternly, for his word irked him. Albeit he answered\nnot again, he was troubled, and heavy of his cheer. Hagen was no friend\nto merriment.\n\nThe king and his liegemen misliked sore what Hagen had said of the\nchild, and were wroth that they must bear it. They knew not yet what\nthe warrior was to do after. Not a few that heard it, and that bare him\nhate, had gladly fallen upon him: the king also, had not honour\nforbidden him. Ill had Hagen sped. Yet soon he did worse: he slew his\nchild before his eyes.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Second Adventure\nHow Bl\u0153del Fought With Dankwart in the Hall\n\n\nBl\u0153del\u2019s knights all stood ready. With a thousand hauberks they went\nwhere Dankwart sat at table with the yeomen. Grim was soon the hate\nbetween the heroes.\n\nWhen Sir Bl\u0153del strode up to the table, Dankwart the marshal greeted\nhim fair. \u201cWelcome to this house, Sir Bl\u0153del. What news dost thou\nbring?\u201d\n\n\u201cGreet me not,\u201d said Bl\u0153del. \u201cMy coming meaneth thy death, because of\nHagen, thy brother, that slew Siegfried. Thou and many another knight\nshall pay for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay now, Sir Bl\u0153del,\u201d said Dankwart. \u201cSo might we well rue this\nhightide. I was a little child when Siegfried lost his life. I know not\nwhat King Etzel\u2019s wife hath against me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can tell thee nothing, save that thy kinsmen, Gunther and Hagen, did\nit. Now stand on your defence, ye homeless ones. Ye must die, for your\nlives are forfeit to Kriemhild.\u201d\n\n\u201cDost thou persist?\u201d said Dankwart. \u201cThen it irketh me that I asked it.\nI had better have spared my words.\u201d\n\nThe good knight and bold sprang up from the table, and drew a sharp\nweapon that was mickle and long, and smote Bl\u0153del a swift blow\ntherewith, that his head, in its helmet, fell at their feet.\n\n\u201cThat be thy wedding-gift to Nudung\u2019s bride, that thou thoughtest to\nwin!\u201d he cried. \u201cLet them mate her to-morrow with another man; if he\nask the dowry, he can have the like.\u201d A faithful Hun had told him that\nmorning, secretly, that the queen plotted their doom.\n\nWhen Bl\u0153del\u2019s men saw their master lying slain, they endured it no\nlonger, but fell with drawn swords in grim wrath on the youths. Many\nrued it later.\n\nLoud cried Dankwart to the squires and the yeomen, \u201cYe see that we are\nundone. Fight for your lives, ye homeless ones, that ye may lie dead\nwithout shame.\u201d\n\nThey that had not swords seized the benches, and caught up the stools\nfrom the floor. The squires of Burgundy were not slow to answer them.\nWith these they dinted many a helmet.\n\nThe homeless youths made grim defence. They drave the armed men from\nthe house. Yet five hundred and more lay therein dead. They were red\nand wet with blood.\n\nThis heave news reached Etzel\u2019s knights. Grim was their grief that\nBl\u0153del and his men were slain by the brother of Hagen, and the squires.\nOr Etzel knew anything of the matter, two thousand Huns or more did on\ntheir armour and hasted thither, for so it must needs be, and left not\none alive. These false knights brought a mighty host before the house.\nThe strangers defended them well; but what availed their prowess? They\nhad all to die. Or long the fray waxed grimmer yet.\n\nNow shall ye list to marvels and wondrous deeds. Nine thousand squires\nlay dead, and twelve of Dankwart\u2019s men. He stood alone among his foes.\nThe noise was hushed, the din had ceased. Dankwart looked over his\nshoulder and cried, \u201cWoe is me for the friends I have lost! Among my\nfoemen I stand alone.\u201d\n\nSwords enow fell upon his body. Many a hero\u2019s wife was yet to weep for\nit. He raised his buckler, and lowered the thong, and wetted many a\nhauberk with blood.\n\n\u201cWoe is me for this wrong!\u201d cried Aldrian\u2019s child. \u201cStand back, ye\nknights of Hungary, and let me to the air, that it cool a battle-weary\nman.\u201d Then he began, in their despite, to hew his way to the door.\n\nWhen he sprang from the house, how many a sword rang on his helmet!\nThey that had not seen the wonders of his hand fell upon him there.\n\n\u201cWould to God,\u201d said Dankwart, \u201cI had a messenger to tell my brother\nHagen in what peril I stand! He would help me hence, or die by me.\u201d\n\nBut the Hunnish knights answered, \u201cThou, thyself, shalt be the\nmessenger, when we carry thee in dead to thy brother. So shall\nGunther\u2019s man first hear of his loss. To Etzel thou hast done grievous\nhurt.\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cKeep your threats, and stand back, or I will wet the harness\nof some of you. I will bear the news myself to the court, and bewail my\ngreat wrong to my masters.\u201d\n\nHe did Etzel\u2019s men such scathe, that they durst not draw against him.\nThen they shot so many darts into his shield that he must drop it for\nheaviness.\n\nThey thought to vanquish him without his shield. Ha! what deep wounds\nhe made in their helmets! Many a bold man staggered before him. Great\nhonour and praise were Dankwart\u2019s. From both sides they sprang at him.\nI ween they were too hasty. He fought his way through his foemen like a\nwild boar in the forest through the hounds\u2014bolder he could not have\nbeen. His path was ever wet anew with hot blood. When did single knight\nwithstand foemen better? Proudly Hagen\u2019s brother went to court.\n\nThe sewers and the cup-bearers heard the clash of swords. Many dropped\nthe drink and the meats they carried. On the stairs he found stark\nenemies enow.\n\n\u201cHow now, ye sewers?\u201d cried the weary knight; \u201csee to the guests, and\nbear in the good meats to your lords, and let me take my message to my\nmasters.\u201d\n\nThey that had the hardihood, and sprang down on him from the stairs, he\nsmote so fiercely with his sword that they fell back for fear. With his\nstrength he had done right wonderly.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Third Adventure\nHow Dankwart Brought the News to His Masters\n\n\nThen bold Dankwart strode in through the door, and bade Etzel\u2019s\nfollowers void the way; all his harness was covered with blood. It was\nat the time they were carrying Ortlieb to and fro from table to table\namong the princes, and through the terrible news the child perished.\n\nDankwart cried aloud to one of the knights, \u201cThou sittest here too\nlong, brother Hagen. To thee, and God in Heaven, I bewail our wrong.\nKnights and squires lie dead in our hall.\u201d\n\nHagen called back to him, \u201cWho hath done it?\u201d\n\n\u201cSir Bl\u0153del and his men. He paid for it bitterly, I can tell thee. I\nsmote off his head with my hands.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe hath paid too little,\u201d said Hagen, \u201csince it can be said of him\nthat he hath died by the hand of a hero. His womenfolk have the less\ncause to weep. Now tell me, dear brother; wherefore art thou so red? I\nween thy wounds are deep. If he be anywhere near that hath done it, and\nthe Devil help him not, he is a dead man.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnwounded I stand. My harness is wet with the blood of other men,\nwhereof I have to-day slain so many, that I cannot swear to the\nnumber.\u201d\n\nHagen said, \u201cBrother Dankwart, keep the door, and let not a single Hun\nout; I will speak with the knights as our wrong constraineth me.\nGuiltless, our followers lie dead.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo such great kings will I gladly be chamberlain,\u201d said the bold man;\n\u201cI will guard the stairs faithfully.\u201d\n\nKriemhild\u2019s men were sore dismayed.\n\n\u201cI marvel much,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cwhat the Hunnish knights whisper in each\nother\u2019s ears. I ween they could well spare him that standeth at the\ndoor, and hath brought this court news to the Burgundians. I have long\nheard Kriemhild say that she could not bear her heart\u2019s dole. Now drink\nwe to Love, and taste the king\u2019s wine. The young prince of the Huns\nshall be the first.\u201d\n\nWith that, Hagen slew the child Ortlieb, that the blood gushed down on\nhis hand from his sword, and the head flew up into the queen\u2019s lap.\nThen a slaughter grim and great arose among the knights. He slew the\nchild\u2019s guardian with a sword stroke from both his hands, that the head\nfell down before the table. It was sorry pay he gave the tutor. He saw\na minstrel sitting at Etzel\u2019s table, and sprang at him in wrath, and\nlopped off his right hand on his viol: \u201cTake that for the message thou\nbroughtest to the Burgundians.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me for my hand!\u201d cried Werbel. \u201cSir Hagen of Trony, what have I\ndone to thee? I rode with true heart to thy master\u2019s land. How shall I\nmake my music now?\u201d\n\nLittle recked Hagen if he never fiddled more. He quenched on Etzel\u2019s\nknights, in the house there, his grim lust for blood, and smote to\ndeath not a few.\n\nSwift Folker sprang from the table; his fiddle-bow rang loud. Harsh\nwere the tunes of Gunther\u2019s minstrel. Ha! many a foe he made among the\nHuns!\n\nThe three kings, too, rose hastily. They would have parted them or more\nharm was done. But they could not, for Folker and Hagen were beside\nthemselves with rage.\n\nWhen the King of Rhineland could not stint the strife, he, also, smote\nmany a deep wound through the shining harness of his foemen. Well he\nshowed his hardihood.\n\nThen stark Gernot came into the battle, and slew many Huns with the\nsharp sword that Rudeger had given him. He brought many of Etzel\u2019s\nknights to their graves therewith.\n\nUta\u2019s youngest son sprang into the fray, and pierced the helmets of\nEtzel\u2019s knights valiantly with his weapon. Bold Giselher\u2019s hand did\nwonderly.\n\nBut howso valiant all the others were, the kings and their men, Folker\nstood up bolder than any against the foes; he was a hero; he wounded\nmany, that they fell down in their blood.\n\nEtzel\u2019s liegemen warded them well, but the guests hewed their way with\ntheir bright swords up and down the hall. From all sides came the sound\nof wailing. They that were without would gladly have won in to their\nfriends, but could not; and they that were within would have won out,\nbut Dankwart let none of them up the stair or down. Then a great crowd\ngathered before the door, and the swords clanged loud upon the helmets,\nso that Dankwart came in much scathe. Hagen feared for him, as was\nmeet, and he cried aloud to Folker, \u201cComrade, seest thou my brother\nbeset by the stark blows of the Huns? Save him, friend, or we lose the\nwarrior.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat will I, without fail,\u201d said the minstrel; and he began to fiddle\nhis way through the hall; it was a hard sword that rang in his hand.\nGreat thank he won from the knights of the Rhine.\n\nHe said to Dankwart, \u201cThou hast toiled hard to-day. Thy brother bade me\ncome to thy help. Do thou go without, and I will stand within.\u201d\n\nDankwart went outside the door and guarded the stair. Loud din made the\nweapons of the heroes. Inside, Folker the Burgundian did the like. The\nbold fiddler cried above the crowd, \u201cThe house is well warded, friend\nHagen; Etzel\u2019s door is barred by the hands of two knights that have\nmade it fast with a thousand bolts.\u201d\n\nWhen Hagen saw the door secured, the famous knight and good threw back\nhis shield, and began to avenge the death of his friends in earnest.\nMany a valiant knight suffered for his wrath.\n\nWhen the Prince of Bern saw the wonders that Hagen wrought, and the\nhelmets that he brake, he sprang on to a bench, and cried, \u201cHagen\npoureth out the bitterest wine of all.\u201d\n\nThe host and his wife fell in great fear. Many a dear friend was slain\nbefore their eyes. Etzel himself scarce escaped from his foemen. He sat\nthere affrighted. What did it profit him that he was a king?\n\nProud Kriemhild cried to Dietrich, \u201cHelp me, noble knight, by the\nprincely charity of an Amelung king, to come hence alive. If Hagen\nreach me, death standeth by my side.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I help thee, noble queen? I cannot help myself. Gunther\u2019s men\nare so grimly wroth that I can win grace for none.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay now, good Sir Dietrich, show thy mercy, and help me hence or I\ndie. Save me and the king from this great peril.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will try. Albeit, for long, I have not seen good knights in such a\nfury. The blood gusheth from the helmets at their sword-strokes.\u201d\n\nThe chosen knight shouted with a loud voice that rang out like the\nblast of a buffalo horn, so that all the castle echoed with its\nstrength, for stark and of mickle might was Dietrich.\n\nKing Gunther heard his cry above the din of strife, and hearkened. He\nsaid, \u201cThe voice of Dietrich hath reached me. I ween our knights have\nslain some of his men. I see him on the table, beckoning with his hand.\nFriends and kinsmen of Burgundy, hold, that we may learn what we have\ndone to Dietrich\u2019s hurt.\u201d\n\nWhen King Gunther had begged and prayed them, they lowered their\nswords. Thereby Gunther showed his might, that they smote no blow. Then\nhe asked the Prince of Bern what he wanted. He said, \u201cMost noble\nDietrich, what hurt have my friends done thee? I will make it good.\nSore grieved were I, had any done thee scathe.\u201d\n\nBut Sir Dietrich answered, \u201cNaught hath been done against me. With thy\nsafe-conduct let me quit this hall, and the bitter strife, with my men.\nFor this I will ever serve thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy ask this grace?\u201d said Wolfhart. \u201cThe fiddler hath not barred the\ndoor so fast that we cannot set it wide, and go forth.\u201d\n\n\u201cHold thy peace,\u201d cried Dietrich. \u201cThou hast played the Devil.\u201d\n\nThen Gunther answered, \u201cI give thee leave. Lead forth few or many, so\nthey be not my foemen. These shall tarry within, for great wrong have I\nsuffered from the Huns.\u201d\n\nWhen the knight of Bern heard that, he put one arm round the queen, for\nshe was greatly affrighted, and with the other he led out Etzel. Six\nhundred good knights followed Dietrich.\n\nThen said noble Rudeger, the Margrave, \u201cIf any more of them that love\nand would serve thee may win from this hall, let us hear it; that peace\nmay endure, as is seemly, betwixt faithful friends.\u201d\n\nStraightway Giselher answered his father-in-law. \u201cPeace and love be\nbetwixt us. Thou and thy liegemen have been ever true to us, wherefore\ndepart with thy friends, fearing nothing.\u201d\n\nWhen Sir Rudeger left the hall, five hundred or more went out with him.\nThe Burgundian knights did honourably therein, but King Gunther\nsuffered scathe for it after.\n\nOne of the Huns would have saved himself when he saw King Etzel go out\nwith Dietrich, but the fiddler smote him such a blow that his head fell\ndown at Etzel\u2019s feet.\n\nWhen the king of the land was gone out from the house, he turned and\nlooked at Folker. \u201cWoe is me for such guests! It is a hard and bitter\nthing that all my knights fall dead before them! Alack! this hightide!\u201d\nwailed the great king. \u201cThere is one within that hight Folker. He is\nliker a wild boar than a fiddler. I thank Heaven that I escaped the\ndevil. His tunes are harsh; his bow is red. His notes smite many a hero\ndead. I know not what this minstrel hath against us. Never was guest so\nunwelcome.\u201d\n\nThe knight of Bern, and Sir Rudeger, went each to his lodging. They\ndesired not to meddle with the strife, and they bade their men avoid\nthe fray.\n\nHad the guests known what hurt the twain would do them after, they had\nnot won so lightly from the hall, but had gotten a stroke from the bold\nones in passing.\n\nAll that they would let go were gone. Then arose a mighty din. The\nguests avenged them bitterly. Ha! many a helmet did Folker break!\n\nKing Gunther turned his ear to the noise. \u201cDost thou hear the tunes,\nHagen, that Folker playeth yonder on the Huns, when any would win\nthrough the door? The hue of his bow is red.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt repenteth me sore,\u201d spake Hagen, \u201cto be parted from the knight. I\nwas his comrade, and he mine. If we win home again, we shall ever be\ntrue friends. See now, great king, how he serveth thee. He earneth thy\nsilver and thy gold. His fiddle-bow cleaveth the hard steel, and\nscattereth on the ground the bright jewels on the helmets. Never have I\nseen a minstrel make such stand. His measures ring through helmet and\nshield. Good horse shall he ride, and wear costly apparel.\u201d\n\nOf the Huns that had been in the hall, not one was left alive. The\ntumult fell, for there was none to fight, and the bold warriors laid\ndown their swords.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Fourth Adventure\nHow They Threw Down the Dead\n\n\nThe knights sat down through weariness. Folker and Hagen went out\nbefore the hall. There the overweening men leaned on their shields and\nspake together.\n\nThen said Giselher of Burgundy, \u201cRest not yet, dear friends. Ye must\ncarry the dead out of the house. We shall be set upon again; trow my\nword. These cannot lie longer among our feet. Or the Huns overcome us,\nwe will hew many wounds; to the which I am nothing loth.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell for me that I have such a lord,\u201d answered Hagen. \u201cThis counsel\nsuiteth well such a knight as our young master hath approved him this\nday. Ye Burgundians have cause to rejoice.\u201d\n\nThey did as he commanded, and bare the seven thousand dead bodies to\nthe door, and threw them out. They fell down at the foot of the stair.\nThen arose a great wail from their kinsmen. Some of them were so little\nwounded that, with softer nursing, they had come to. Now, from the\nfall, these died also. Their friends wept and made bitter dole.\n\nThen said bold Folker the fiddler, \u201cNow I perceive they spake the truth\nthat told me the Huns were cowards. They weep like women, when they\nmight tend these wounded bodies.\u201d\n\nA Margrave that was there deemed he meant this truly. He saw one of his\nkinsmen lying in his blood, and put his arms round him to bear him\naway. Him the minstrel shot dead.\n\nWhen the others saw this, they fled, and began to curse Folker. With\nthat, he lifted a sharp spear and hard from the ground, that a Hun had\nshot at him, and hurled it strongly across the courtyard, over the\nheads of the folk. Etzel\u2019s men took their stand further off, for they\nall feared his might.\n\nThen came Etzel with his men before the hall. Folker and Hagen began to\nspeak out their mind to the King of the Huns. They suffered for it or\nall was done.\n\n\u201cIt is well for a people when its kings fight in the forefront of the\nstrife as doeth each of my masters. They hew the helmets, and the blood\nspurteth out.\u201d\n\nEtzel was brave, and he grasped his shield. \u201cHave a care,\u201d cried\nKriemhild, \u201cand offer thy knights gold heaped upon the shield. If Hagen\nreach thee, thou hast death at thy hand.\u201d\n\nBut the king was so bold he would not stop; the which is rare enow\namong great princes to-day. They had to pull him back by his\nshield-thong; whereat grim Hagen began to mock anew. \u201cSiegfried\u2019s\ndarling and Etzel\u2019s are near of kin. Siegfried had Kriemhild to wife or\never she saw thee. Coward king, thou, of all men, shouldst bear me no\ngrudge.\u201d\n\nWhen Kriemhild heard him, she was bitterly wroth that he durst mock her\nbefore Etzel\u2019s warriors, and she strove to work them woe. She said, \u201cTo\nhim that will slay Hagen of Trony and bring me his head, I will fill\nEtzel\u2019s shield with red gold. Thereto, he shall have, for his meed,\ngoodly castles and land.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know not why ye hang back,\u201d said the minstrel. \u201cI never yet saw\nheroes stand dismayed that had the offer of such pay. Etzel hath small\ncause to love you. I see many cowards standing here that eat the king\u2019s\nbread, and fail him now in his sore need, and yet call themselves bold\nknights. Shame upon them!\u201d\n\nGreat Etzel was grieved enow. He wept sore for his dead men and\nkinsmen. Valiant warriors of many lands stood round him, and bewailed\nhis great loss with him.\n\nThen bold Folker mocked them again. \u201cI see many high-born knights\nweeping here, that help their king little in his need. Long have they\neaten his bread with shame.\u201d\n\nThe best among them thought, \u201cHe sayeth sooth.\u201d\n\nBut none mourned so inly as Iring, the hero of Denmark; the which was\nproven or long by his deeds.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Fifth Adventure\nHow Iring Was Slain\n\n\nThen cried Iring, the Margrave of Denmark, \u201cI have long followed\nhonour, and done not amiss in battle. Bring me my harness, and I will\ngo up against Hagen.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hadst better not,\u201d answered Hagen, \u201cor thy kinsmen will have more\nto weep for. Though ye sprang up two or three together, ye would fall\ndown the stair the worse for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI care not,\u201d said Iring. \u201cI have oft tried as hard a thing. With my\nsingle sword I would defy thee, if thou hadst done twice as much in the\nstrife.\u201d\n\nSir Iring armed him straightway. Irnfried of Thuringia, likewise, a\nbold youth, and Hawart the stark, with a thousand men that were fain to\nstand by Iring.\n\nWhen the fiddler saw so great an armed host with him, wearing bright\nhelmets on their heads, he was wroth. \u201cBehold how Iring cometh hither,\nthat vowed to encounter thee alone. It beseemeth not a knight to lie. I\nblame him much. A thousand armed knights or more come with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cCall me no liar,\u201d said Hawart\u2019s liegeman. \u201cI will gladly abide by my\nword, nor fail therein through fear. How grim soever Hagen may be, I\nwill meet him alone.\u201d\n\nIring fell at the feet of his kinsmen and vassals, that they might let\nhim defy the knight in single combat. They were loth, for they knew\nproud Hagen of Burgundy well. But he prayed them so long that they\nconsented. When his followers saw that he wooed honour, they let him\ngo. Then began a deadly strife betwixt them.\n\nIring of Denmark, the chosen knight, raised his spear; then he covered\nhis body with his shield, and sprang at Hagen. The heroes made a loud\ndin. They hurled their spears so mightily from their hands, that they\npierced through the strong bucklers to the bright harness, and the\nshafts flew high in the air. Then the grimly bold men grasped their\nswords.\n\nHagen was strong beyond measure, yet Iring smote him, that all the\nhouse rang. Palace and tower echoed their blows. But neither had the\nadvantage.\n\nIring left Hagen unwounded, and sprang at the fiddler. He thought to\nvanquish him by his mighty blows. But the gleeman stood well on his\nguard, and smote his foeman, that the steel plate of his buckler flew\noff. He was a terrible man.\n\nThen Iring ran at Gunther, the King of Burgundy.\n\nFell enow were the twain. But though each smote fiercely at the other,\nthey drew no blood. Their good harness shielded them.\n\nHe left Gunther, and ran at Gernot, and began to strike sparks from his\nmailcoat, but King Gernot of Burgundy well-nigh slew him. Then he\nsprang from the princes, for he was right nimble, and soon had slain\nfour Burgundians from Worms beyond the Rhine. Giselher was greatly\nwroth thereat. \u201cNow by God, Sir Iring,\u201d he cried, \u201cthou shalt pay for\nthem that lie dead!\u201d and he fell on him. He smote the Dane, that began\nto stagger, and dropped down among the blood, so that all deemed the\ndoughty warrior would never strike another blow. Yet Iring lay\nunwounded withal before Giselher. From the noise of his helmet and the\nclang of the sword his wits left him, and he lay in a swoon. That had\nGiselher done with his strong arm.\n\nWhen the noise of the blow had cleared from his brain, he thought, \u201cI\nlive still, and am unwounded. Now I know the strength of Giselher.\u201d He\nheard his foemen on both sides. Had they been ware how it stood with\nhim, worse had befallen him. He heard Giselher also, and he pondered by\nwhat device he might escape them. He sprang up furiously from among the\nblood. Well his swiftness served him. He fled from the house, past\nHagen, and gave him a stout stroke as he ran.\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d thought Hagen, \u201cThou shalt die for this. The Devil help thee, or\nthou art a dead man.\u201d But Iring wounded Hagen through the helmet. He\ndid it with Vasky, a goodly weapon.\n\nWhen Hagen felt the wound, he swung his sword fiercely, that Hawart\u2019s\nman must needs fly. Hagen followed him down the stair. But Iring held\nhis shield above his head. Had the stair been thrice as long, Hagen had\nnot left him time for a single thrust. Ha! what red sparks flew from\nhis helmet! Yet, safe withal, Iring reached his friends.\n\nWhen Kriemhild heard what he had done to Hagen of Trony in the strife,\nshe thanked him. \u201cGod quit thee, Iring, thou hero undismayed! thou hast\ncomforted me, heart and soul, for I see Hagen\u2019s harness red with\nblood.\u201d The glad queen took the shield from his hand herself.\n\n\u201cStint thy thanks,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cThere is scant cause for them. If he\ntried it again, he were in sooth a bold man. The wound I got from him\nwill serve thee little. The blood thou seest on my harness but urgeth\nme to slay the more. Only now, for the first time, I am wroth indeed.\nSir Iring hath done me little hurt.\u201d\n\nIring of Denmark stood against the wind, and cooled him in his harness,\nwith his helmet unlaced; and all the folk praised his hardihood, that\nthe Margrave\u2019s heart was uplifted. He said, \u201cFriends, arm me anew. I\nwill essay it again. Haply I may vanquish this overweening man.\u201d His\nshield was hewn in pieces; they brought him a better straight.\n\nThe warrior was soon armed, and stronger than afore. Wrothfully he\nseized a stark spear, wherewith he defied Hagen yet again. He had won\nmore profit and honour had he let it be.\n\nHagen waited not for his coming. Hurling darts, and with drawn sword,\nhe sprang down the stairs in a fury. Iring\u2019s strength availed him\nlittle. They smote at each other\u2019s shields, that glowed with a fire-red\nwind. Through his helmet and his buckler, Hawart\u2019s man was wounded to\nthe death by Hagen\u2019s sword. He was never whole again.\n\nWhen Sir Iring felt the wound, he raised his shield higher to guard his\nhead, for he perceived that he was sore hurt. But Gunther\u2019s man did\nworse to him yet. He found a spear lying at his feet, and hurled it at\nIring, the knight of Denmark, that it stuck out on the other side of\nhis head. The overweening knight made a grim end of his foeman.\n\nIring fell back among his friends. Or they did off his helmet, they\ndrew the spear out. Then death stood at hand. Loud mourned his friends;\ntheir sorrow was bitter.\n\nThe queen came, and began to weep for stark Iring. She wept for his\nwounds, and was right doleful. But the undismayed hero spake before his\nkinsmen, \u201cWeep not, noble lady. What avail thy tears? I must die from\nthese wounds that I have gotten. Death will not leave me longer to thee\nand Etzel.\u201d\n\nThen he said to them of Thuringia and Denmark, \u201cSee that none of you\ntake the gifts of the queen\u2014her bright gold so red. If ye fight with\nHagen ye must die.\u201d\n\nHis cheek was pale; he bare death\u2019s mark. They grieved enow; for\nHawart\u2019s man would nevermore be whole. Then they of Denmark must needs\nto the fray.\n\nIrnfried and Hawart sprang forward with a thousand knights. The din was\nloud over all. Ha! what sharp spears were hurled at the Burgundians!\nBold Irnfried ran at the gleeman, and came in scathe by his hand. The\nfiddler smote the Landgrave through his strong helmet, for he was grim\nenow. Then Irnfried gave Folker a blow, that the links of his hauberk\nbrake asunder, and his harness grew red like fire. Yet, for all, the\nLandgrave fell dead before the fiddler.\n\nHawart and Hagen closed in strife. Had any seen it, they had beheld\nwonders. They smote mightily with their swords. Hawart died by the\nknight of Burgundy.\n\nWhen the Thuringians and Danes saw their masters slain, they rushed yet\nfiercer against the house, and grisly was the strife or they won to the\ndoor. Many a helmet and buckler were hewn in pieces.\n\n\u201cGive way,\u201d cried Folker, \u201cand let them in. They shall not have their\nwill, but, in lieu thereof, shall perish. They will earn the queen\u2019s\ngift with their death.\u201d\n\nThe proud warriors thronged into the hall, but many an one bowed his\nhead, slain by swift blows. Well fought bold Gernot; the like did\nGiselher.\n\nA thousand and four came in. Keen and bright flashed the swords; but\nall the knights died. Great wonders might be told of the Burgundians.\n\nWhen the tumult fell, there was silence. Over all, the blood of the\ndead men trickled through the crannies into the gutters below. They of\nthe Rhine had done this by their prowess.\n\nThen the Burgundians sat and rested, and laid down their weapons and\ntheir shields. The bold gleeman went out before the house, and waited,\nlest any more should come to fight.\n\nThe king and his wife wailed loud. Maids and wives beat their breasts.\nI ween that Death had sworn an oath against them, for many a knight was\nyet to die by the hands of the strangers.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Sixth Adventure\nHow the Queen Bad Them Burn Down the Hall\n\n\n\u201cNow do off your helmets,\u201d said Hagen the knight. \u201cI and my comrade\nwill keep watch. And if Etzel\u2019s men try it again, I will warn my\nmasters straightway.\u201d\n\nThen many a good warrior unlaced his helmet. They sat down on the\nbodies that had fallen in the blood by their hands. With bitter hate\nthe guests were spied at by the Huns.\n\nBefore nightfall the king and queen had prevailed on the men of Hungary\nto dare the combat anew. Twenty thousand or more stood before them\nready for battle. These hasted to fall on the strangers.\n\nDankwart, Hagen\u2019s brother, sprang from his masters to the foemen at the\ndoor. They thought he was slain, but he came forth alive.\n\nThe strife endured till the night. The guests, as beseemed good\nwarriors, had defended them against Etzel\u2019s men all through the long\nsummer day. Ha! what doughty heroes lay dead before them. It was on a\nmidsummer that the great slaughter fell, when Kriemhild avenged her\nheart\u2019s dole on her nearest kinsmen, and on many another man, and all\nKing Etzel\u2019s joy was ended. Yet she purposed not at the first to bring\nit to such a bloody encounter, but only to kill Hagen; but the Devil\ncontrived it so, that they must all perish.\n\nThe day was done; they were in sore straits. They deemed a quick death\nhad been better than long anguish. The proud knights would fain have\nhad a truce. They asked that the king might be brought to them.\n\nThe heroes, red with blood, and blackened with the soil of their\nharness, stepped out of the hall with the three kings. They knew not\nwhom to bewail their bitter woe to.\n\nBoth Etzel and Kriemhild came. The land all round was theirs, and many\nhad joined their host. Etzel said to the guests, \u201cWhat would ye with\nme? Haply ye seek for peace. That can hardly be, after such wrong as ye\nhave done me and mine. Ye shall pay for it while I have life. Because\nof my child that ye slew, and my many men, nor peace nor truce shall ye\nhave.\u201d\n\nGunther answered, \u201cA great wrong constrained us thereto. All my\nfollowers perished in their lodging by the hands of thy knights. What\nhad I done to deserve that? I came to see thee in good faith, for I\ndeemed thou wert my friend.\u201d\n\nThen said Giselher, the youth, of Burgundy, \u201cYe knights of King Etzel\nthat yet live, what have ye against me? How had I wronged you?\u2014I that\nrode hither with loving heart?\u201d\n\nThey answered, \u201cThy love hath filled all the castles of this country\nwith mourning. We had gladly been spared thy journey from Worms beyond\nthe Rhine. Thou hast orphaned the land\u2014thou and thy brothers.\u201d\n\nThen cried Gunther in wrath, \u201cIf ye would lay from you this stark hate\nagainst us homeless ones, it were well for both sides, for we are\nguiltless before Etzel.\u201d\n\nBut the host answered the guests, \u201cMy scathe is greater than thine;\nbecause of the mickle toil of the strife, and its shame, not one of you\nshall come forth alive.\u201d\n\nThen said stark Gernot to the king, \u201cHerein, at the least, incline thy\nheart to do mercifully with us. Stand back from the house, that we win\nout to you. We know that our life is forfeit; let what must come, come\nquickly. Thou hast many knights unwounded; let them fall on us, and\ngive us battle-weary ones rest. How long wouldst thou have us strive?\u201d\n\nKing Etzel\u2019s knights would have let them forth, but when Kriemhild\nheard it, she was wroth, and even this boon was denied to the\nstrangers.\n\n\u201cNay now, ye Huns, I entreat you, in good faith, that ye let not these\nlusters after blood come out from the hall, lest thy kinsmen all perish\nmiserably. If none of them were left alive save Uta\u2019s children, my\nnoble brothers, and won they to the air to cool their harness, ye were\nlost. Bolder knights were never born into the world.\u201d\n\nThen said young Giselher, \u201cFairest sister mine, right evil I deem it\nthat thou badest me across the Rhine to this bitter woe. How have I\ndeserved death from the Huns? I was ever true to thee, nor did thee any\nhurt. I rode hither, dearest sister, for that I trusted to thy love.\nNeeds must thou show mercy.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will show no mercy, for I got none. Bitter wrong did Hagen of Trony\nto me in my home yonder, and here he hath slain my child. They that\ncame with him must pay for it. Yet, if ye will deliver Hagen captive, I\nwill grant your prayer, and let you live; for ye are my brothers, and\nthe children of one mother. I will prevail upon my knights here to\ngrant a truce.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod in Heaven forbid!\u201d cried Gernot. \u201cThough we were a thousand,\nliefer would we all die by thy kinsmen, than give one single man for\nour ransom. That we will never do.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must perish then,\u201d said Giselher; \u201cbut we will fall as good\nknights. We are still here; would any fight with us? I will never do\nfalsely by my friend.\u201d\n\nCried bold Dankwart too (he had done ill to hold his peace), \u201cMy\nbrother Hagen standeth not alone. They that have denied us quarter may\nrue it yet. By my troth, ye will find it to your cost.\u201d\n\nThen said the queen, \u201cYe heroes undismayed, go forward to the steps and\navenge our wrong. I will thank you forever, and with cause. I will\nrequite Hagen\u2019s insolence to the full. Let not one of them forth at any\npoint, and I will let kindle the hall at its four sides. So will my\nheart\u2019s dole be avenged.\u201d\n\nEtzel\u2019s knights were not loth. With darts and with blows they drave\nback into the house them that stood without. Loud was the din; but the\nprinces and their men were not parted, nor failed they in faith to one\nanother.\n\nEtzel\u2019s wife bade the hall be kindled, and they tormented the bodies of\nthe heroes with fire. The wind blew, and the house was soon all aflame.\nFolk never suffered worse, I ween. There were many that cried, \u201cWoe is\nme for this pain! Liefer had we died in battle. God pity us, for we are\nall lost. The queen taketh bitter vengeance.\u201d\n\nOne among them wailed, \u201cWe perish by the smoke and the fire. Grim is\nour torment. The stark heat maketh me so athirst, that I die.\u201d\n\nSaid Hagen of Trony, \u201cYe noble knights and good, let any that are\nathirst drink the blood. In this heat it is better than wine, and there\nis naught sweeter here.\u201d\n\nThen went one where he found a dead body. He knelt by the wounds, and\ndid off his helmet, and began to drink the streaming blood. Albeit he\nwas little used thereto, he deemed it right good. \u201cGod quit thee, Sir\nHagen!\u201d said the weary man, \u201cI have learned a good drink. Never did I\ntaste better wine. If I live, I will thank thee.\u201d\n\nWhen the others heard his praise, many more of them drank the blood,\nand their bodies were strengthened, for the which many a noble woman\npaid through her dear ones.\n\nThe fire-flakes fell down on them in the hall, but they warded them off\nwith their shields. Both the smoke and the fire tormented them. Never\nbefore suffered heroes such sore pain.\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cStand fast by the wall. Let not the brands\nfall on your helmets. Trample them with your feet deeper in the blood.\nA woeful hightide is the queen\u2019s.\u201d\n\nThe night ended at last. The bold gleeman, and Hagen, his comrade,\nstood before the house and leaned upon their shields. They waited for\nfurther hurt from Etzel\u2019s knights. It advantaged the strangers much\nthat the roof was vaulted. By reason thereof more were left alive.\nAlbeit they at the windows suffered scathe, they bared them valiantly,\nas their bold hearts bade them.\n\nThen said the fiddler, \u201cGo we now into the hall, that the Huns deem we\nbe all dead from this torment, albeit some among them shall yet feel\nour might.\u201d\n\nGiselher, the youth, of Burgundy, said, \u201cIt is daybreak, I ween. A cool\nwind bloweth. God grant we may see happier days. My sister Kriemhild\nhath bidden us to a doleful hightide.\u201d\n\nOne of them spake, \u201cI see the dawn. Since we can do no better, arm you,\nye knights, for battle, that, come we never hence, we may die with\nhonour.\u201d\n\nEtzel deemed the guests were all dead of their travail and the stress\nof the fire. But six hundred bold men yet lived. Never king had better\nknights. They that kept ward over the strangers had seen that some were\nleft, albeit the princes and their men had suffered loss and dole. They\nsaw many that walked up and down in the house.\n\nThey told Kriemhild that many were left alive, but the queen answered,\n\u201cIt cannot be. None could live in that fire. I trow they all lie dead.\u201d\n\nThe kings and their men had still gladly asked for mercy, had there\nbeen any to show it. But there was none in the whole country of the\nHuns. Wherefore they avenged their death with willing hand.\n\nThey were greeted early in the morning with a fierce onslaught, and\ncame in great scathe. Stark spears were hurled at them. Well the\nknights within stood on their defence.\n\nEtzel\u2019s men were the bolder, that they might win Kriemhild\u2019s fee.\nThereto, they obeyed the king gladly; but soon they looked on death.\n\nOne might tell marvels of her gifts and promises. She bade them bear\nforth red gold upon shields, and gave thereof to all that desired it,\nor would take it. So great treasure was never given against foemen.\n\nThe host of warriors came armed to the hall. The fiddler said, \u201cWe are\nhere. I never was gladder to see any knights than those that have taken\nthe king\u2019s gold to our hurt.\u201d\n\nNot a few of them cried out, \u201cCome nigher, ye heroes! Do your worst,\nand make an end quickly, for here are none but must die.\u201d\n\nSoon their bucklers were filled full of darts. What shall I say more?\nTwelve hundred warriors strove once and again to win entrance. The\nguests cooled their hardihood with wounds. None could part the strife.\nThe blood flowed from death-deep wounds. Many were slain. Each bewailed\nsome friend. All Etzel\u2019s worthy knights perished. Their kinsmen\nsorrowed bitterly.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Seventh Adventure\nHow Rudeger Was Slain\n\n\nThe strangers did valiantly that morning. Gotelind\u2019s husband came into\nthe courtyard and saw the heavy loss on both sides, whereat the true\nman wept inly.\n\n\u201cWoe is me,\u201d said the knight, \u201cthat ever I was born, since none can\nstop this strife! Fain would I have them at one again, but the king\nholdeth back, for he seeth always more done to his hurt.\u201d\n\nGood Rudeger sent to Dietrich, that they might seek to move the great\nking. But the knight of Bern sent back answer, \u201cWho can hinder it? King\nEtzel letteth none intercede.\u201d\n\nA knight of the Huns, that had oft seen Rudeger standing with wet eyes,\nsaid to the queen, \u201cLook how he standeth yonder, that Etzel hath raised\nabove all others, and that hath land and folk at his service. Why hath\nRudeger so many castles from the king? He hath struck no blow in this\nbattle. I ween he careth little for our scathe, so long as he hath enow\nfor himself. They say he is bolder than any other. Ill hath he shown it\nin our need.\u201d\n\nThe faithful man, when he heard that word, looked angrily at the\nknight. He thought, \u201cThou shalt pay for this. Thou callest me a coward.\nThou hast told thy tale too loud at court.\u201d\n\nHe clenched his fist, and ran at him, and smote the Hun so fiercely\nthat he fell down at his feet, dead. Whereat Etzel\u2019s grief waxed anew.\n\n\u201cAway with thee, false babbler!\u201d cried Rudeger. \u201cI had trouble and\nsorrow enow. What was it to thee that I fought not? Good cause have I\nalso to hate the strangers, and had done what I could against them, but\nthat I brought them hither. I was their escort into my master\u2019s land,\nand may not lift my wretched hand against them.\u201d\n\nThen said Etzel, the great king, to the Margrave, \u201cHow hast thou helped\nus, most noble Rudeger? We had dead men enow in the land, and needed no\nmore. Evilly hast thou done.\u201d\n\nBut the knight answered, \u201cHe angered me, and twitted me with the honour\nand the wealth thou hast bestowed on me so plenteously. It hath cost\nthe liar dear.\u201d\n\nThen came the queen, that had seen the Hun perish by Rudeger\u2019s wrath.\nShe mourned for him with wet eyes, and said to Rudeger, \u201cWhat have we\never done to thee that thou shouldst add to our sorrow? Thou hast oft\ntimes promised, noble Rudeger, that thou wouldst risk, for our sake,\nboth honour and life, and I have heard many warriors praise thee for\nthy valour. Hast thou forgotten the oath thou swearest to me with thy\nhand, good knight, when thou didst woo me for King Etzel\u2014how that thou\nwouldst serve me till my life\u2019s end, or till thine? Never was my need\ngreater than now.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true, noble lady. I promised to risk for thee honour and life,\nbut I sware not to lose my soul. I brought the princes to this\nhightide.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cRemember, Rudeger, thy faith, and thine oath to avenge all\nmy hurt and my woe.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cI have never said thee nay.\u201d\n\nEtzel began to entreat likewise. They fell at his feet. Sore troubled\nwas the good Margrave. Full of grief, he cried, \u201cWoe is me that ever I\nsaw this hour, for God hath forsaken me. All my duty to Heaven, mine\nhonour, my good faith, my knightliness, I must forego. God above have\npity, and let me die! Whether I do this thing, or do it not, I sin. And\nif I take the part of neither, all the world will blame me. Let Him\nthat made me guide me.\u201d\n\nStill the king and his wife implored him. Whence it fell that many\nvaliant warriors lost their lives at his hand, and the hero himself was\nslain. Hear ye now the tale of his sorrow. Well he knew he could win\nnaught but teen and scathe. Fain had he denied the prayer of the king\nand queen. He feared, if he slew but one man, that the world would\nloathe him evermore.\n\nThen the bold man said to the king, \u201cTake back what thou hast given\nme\u2014castles and land. Leave me nothing at all. I will go forth afoot\ninto exile. I will take my wife and my daughter by the hand, and I will\nquit thy country empty, rather than I will die dishonoured. I took thy\nred gold to my hurt.\u201d\n\nKing Etzel answered, \u201cWho will help me then? Land and folk I gave to\nthee, Rudeger, that thou mightest avenge me on my foes. Thou shalt rule\nwith Etzel as a great king.\u201d\n\nBut Rudeger said, \u201cHow can I do it? I bade them to my house and home; I\nset meat and drink before them, and gave them my gifts. Shall I also\nsmite them dead? The folk may deem me a coward. But I have always\nserved them well. Should I fight with them now, it were ill done. Deep\nmust I rue past friendship. I gave my daughter to Giselher. None better\nin this world had she found, of so great lineage and honour, and faith,\nand wealth. Never saw I young king so virtuous.\u201d\n\nBut Kriemhild answered, \u201cMost noble Rudeger, take pity on us both.\nBethink thee that never host had guests like these.\u201d\n\nThen said the Margrave, \u201cWhat thou and my master have given me I must\npay for, this day, with my life. I shall die, and that quickly. Well I\nknow that, or nightfall, my lands and castles will return to your\nkeeping. To your grace I commend my wife and my child, and the homeless\nones that are at Bechlaren.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod reward thee, Rudeger,\u201d cried the king. He and the queen were both\nglad. \u201cThy folk shall be well seen to; but thou thyself, I trow, will\ncome off scatheless.\u201d\n\nSo he put his soul and body on the hazard. Etzel\u2019s wife began to weep.\nHe said, \u201cI must keep my vow to thee. Woe is me for my friends, that I\nmust fall upon in mine own despite!\u201d\n\nThey saw him turn heavily from the king. To his knights that stood\nclose by, he said, \u201cArm ye, my men all. For I must fight the\nBurgundians, to my sorrow.\u201d\n\nThe heroes called for their harness, and the attendants brought helm\nand buckler. Soon the proud strangers heard the sad news.\n\nRudeger stood armed with five hundred men, and twelve knights that went\nwith him, to win worship in the fray. They knew not that death was so\nnear.\n\nRudeger went forth with his helmet on; his men carried sharp swords,\nand, thereto, broad shields and bright. The fiddler saw this, and was\ndismayed. But when Giselher beheld his father-in-law with his helmet\non, he weened that he meant them well. The noble king was right glad.\n\u201cWell for me that I have such friends,\u201d cried Giselher, \u201cas these we\nwon by the way! For my wife\u2019s sake he will save us. By my faith, I am\nglad to be wed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThy trust is vain,\u201d said the fiddler. \u201cWhen ever did ye see so many\nknights come in peace, with helmets laced on, and with swords? Rudeger\ncometh to serve for his castles and his lands.\u201d\n\nOr the fiddler had made an end of speaking, Rudeger, the noble man,\nstood before the house. He laid his good shield before his feet. He\nmust needs deny greeting to his friends.\n\nThen the Margrave shouted into the hall, \u201cStand on your defence, ye\nbold Nibelungs. I would have helped you, but must slay you. Once we\nwere friends, but I cannot keep my faith.\u201d\n\nThe sore-tired men were dismayed at this word. Their comfort was gone,\nfor he that they loved was come against them. From their foemen they\nhad suffered enow.\n\n\u201cGod in Heaven forbid,\u201d said Gunther the knight, \u201cthat thou shouldst be\nfalse to the friendship and the faith wherein we trusted. It cannot\nbe.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot help it,\u201d said Rudeger. \u201cI must fight with you, for I have\nvowed it. As ye love your lives, bold warriors, ward you well. King\nEtzel\u2019s wife will have it so.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou turnest too late,\u201d said the king. \u201cGod reward thee, noble\nRudeger, for the truth and the love thou hast shown us, if it endure\nbut to the end. We shall ever thank and serve thee for the rich gifts\nthou gavest to me and my kinsmen, when thou broughtest us with true\nheart into Etzel\u2019s land: so thou let us live. Think well thereon, noble\nRudeger.\u201d\n\n\u201cGladly would I grant it,\u201d said the knight. \u201cMight I but give thee\nfreely, as I would, with none to chide me!\u201d\n\n\u201cGive that no thought,\u201d said Gernot. \u201cNever host entreated guests so\nkindly as thou us; the which will advantage thee if we live.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould to God, noble Gernot,\u201d cried Rudeger, \u201cthat ye were at the\nRhine, and I dead with honour, since I must fight with you! Never\nstrangers were worse entreated by friends.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod reward thee, Sir Rudeger,\u201d answered Gernot, \u201cfor thy rich gifts. I\nshould rue thy death, for in thee a virtuous man would fall. Behold,\ngood knight, the sword thou gavest, in my hand. It hath never failed me\nin my need. Its edge hath killed many a warrior. It is finely tempered\nand stark, and thereto bright and good. So goodly a gift, I ween, never\nknight will give more. If thou forbear not, but fall upon us, and slay\nany of my kinsmen here, thou shalt perish by thine own sword! Much I\npity thee and thy wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould to God, Sir Gernot, thou hadst thy will, and thy friends were\nout of peril! To thee I would entrust wife and daughter.\u201d\n\nThen said the youngest of fair Uta\u2019s sons, \u201cHow canst thou do this\nthing, Sir Rudeger? All that came hither with me are thy friends. A\nvile deed is this. Thou makest thy daughter too soon a widow. If thou\nand thy knights defy us, ill am I apayed, that I trusted thee before\nall other men, when I won thy daughter for my wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cForget not thy troth, noble king, if God send thee hence,\u201d answered\nRudeger. \u201cLet not the maiden suffer for my sin. By thine own princely\nvirtue, withdraw not thy favour from her.\u201d\n\n\u201cFain would I promise it,\u201d said Giselher the youth. \u201cYet if my\nhigh-born kinsmen perish here by thy hand, my love for thee and thy\ndaughter must perish also.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen God have mercy!\u201d cried the brave man; whereat he lifted his\nshield, and would have fallen upon the guests in Kriemhild\u2019s hall.\n\nBut Hagen called out to him from the stairhead, \u201cTarry awhile, noble\nRudeger. Let me and my masters speak with thee yet awhile in our need.\nWhat shall it profit Etzel if we knights die in a strange land? I am in\nevil case,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cThe shield that Gotelind gave me to carry, the\nHuns have hewn from my hand. In good faith I bore it hither. Would to\nGod I had such a shield as thou hast, noble Rudeger! A better I would\nnot ask for in the battle.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would gladly give thee my shield, durst I offer it before Kriemhild.\nYet take it, Hagen, and wear it. Ha! mightest thou but win with it to\nBurgundy!\u201d\n\nWhen they saw him give the shield so readily, there were eyes enow red\nwith hot tears. It was the last gift that Rudeger of Bechlaren ever\ngave.\n\nAlbeit Hagen was grim and stern, he was melted by the gift that the\ngood knight, so nigh to his end, had given him. And many a warrior\nmourned with him.\n\n\u201cNow God reward thee, noble Rudeger; there will never be thy like again\nfor giving freely to homeless knights. May the fame of thy charity live\nfor ever. Sad news hast thou brought me. We had trouble enow. God pity\nus if we must fight with friends.\u201d\n\nThe Margrave answered, \u201cThou grievest not more than I.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will requite thee for thy gift, brave Rudeger. Whatever betide thee\nfrom these knights, my hand will not touch thee\u2014not if thou slewest\nevery man of Burgundy.\u201d\n\nRudeger bowed, and thanked him. All the folk wept. Sore pity it was\nthat none could stay the strife. The father of all virtue lay dead in\nRudeger.\n\nThen Folker the fiddler went to the door and said, \u201cSince my comrade\nHagen hath sworn peace, thou shalt have it also from my hand. Well\ndidst thou earn it when we came first into this country. Noble\nMargrave, be my envoy. The Margravine gave me these red bracelets to\nwear at the hightide. See them now, and bear witness that I did it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould to God that the Margravine might give thee more! Doubt not but I\nshall tell my dear one, if I ever see her alive.\u201d\n\nWhen he had promised that, Rudeger lifted up his shield; he waxed\nfierce, and tarried no longer. Like a knight he fell upon the guests.\nMany a swift blow he smote. Folker and Hagen stood back, for they had\nvowed it. But so many bold men stood by the door that Rudeger came in\ngreat scathe.\n\nAthirst for blood, Gunther and Gernot let him pass in. Certes, they\nwere heroes. Giselher drew back sorrowing. He hoped to live yet awhile;\nwherefore he avoided Rudeger in the strife.\n\nThen the Margrave\u2019s men ran at their foemen, and followed their master\nlike good knights. They carried sharp weapons, wherewith they clove\nmany a helmet and buckler. The weary ones answered the men of Bechlaren\nwith swift blows that pierced deep and straight through their harness\nto their life\u2019s blood. They did wonderly in the battle.\n\nAll the warriors were now in the hall. Folker and Hagen fell on them,\nfor they had sworn to spare none save the one man. Their hands struck\nblood from the helmets. Right grim was the clash of swords! Many a\nshield-plate sprang in sunder, and the precious stones were scattered\namong the blood. So fiercely none will fight again. The prince of\nBechlaren hewed a path right and left, as one acquainted with battle.\nWell did Rudeger approve him that day a bold and blameless knight.\nGunther and Gernot smote many heroes dead. Giselher and Dankwart laid\nabout them, fearing naught, and sent many a man to his doom.\n\nRudeger approved him stark enow, bold and well armed. Ha! many a knight\nhe slew! One of the Burgundians saw this, and was wroth; whereat\nRudeger\u2019s death drew nigh.\n\nGernot cried out to the Margrave, \u201cNoble Rudeger; thou leavest none of\nmy men alive. It irketh me sore; I will bear it no longer. I will turn\nthy gift against thee, for thou hast taken many friends from me. Come\nhither, thou bold man. What thou gavest me I will earn to the\nuttermost.\u201d\n\nOr the Margrave had fought his way to him, bright bucklers grew dim\nwith blood. Then, greedy of fame, the men ran at each other, and began\nto ward off the deadly wounds. But their swords were so sharp that\nnothing could withstand them. Rudeger the knight smote Gernot through\nhis flint-hard helmet, that the blood brake out. Soon the good warrior\nwas avenged. He swung Rudeger\u2019s gift on high, and, albeit he was\nwounded to the death, he smote him through his good shield and his\nhelmet, that Gotelind\u2019s husband died. So rich a gift was never worse\nrequited. So they fell in the strife\u2014Gernot and Rudeger\u2014slain by each\nother\u2019s hand.\n\nThereat Hagen waxed grimmer than afore. The hero of Trony said, \u201cGreat\nwoe is ours. None can ever make good to their folk and their land the\nloss of these two knights. Rudeger\u2019s men shall pay for it.\u201d They gave\nno quarter. Many were struck down unwounded that had come to, but that\nthey were drowned in the blood.\n\n\u201cWoe is me for my brother, fallen dead! Each hour bringeth fresh dole.\nFor my father-in-law, Rudeger, I grieve also. Twofold is my loss and my\nsorrow.\u201d\n\nWhen Giselher saw his brother slain, they that were in the hall\nsuffered for it. Death lagged not behind. Of the men of Bechlaren there\nwas left not a living soul.\n\nGunther and Giselher, and eke Hagen, Dankwart and Folker, the good\nknights, went where the two warriors lay, and there the heroes wept\npiteously.\n\n\u201cDeath hath despoiled us sore,\u201d said Giselher the youth. \u201cStop your\nweeping, and go out to the air, that we strife-weary ones may cool our\nharness. God will not let us live longer, I ween.\u201d\n\nThey that were without saw them sitting, or leaning and taking their\nrest. Rudeger\u2019s men were all slain; the din was hushed. The silence\nendured so long that Etzel was angered, and the king\u2019s wife cried, \u201cWoe\nis me for this treason. They speak too long. The bodies of our foemen\nare left unscathed by Rudeger\u2019s hand. He plotteth to guide them back to\nBurgundy. What doth it profit us, King Etzel, that we have shared all\nour wealth with him? The knight hath done falsely. He that should have\navenged us cometh to terms with them.\u201d\n\nBut Folker, the valiant warrior, answered her, \u201cAlack! it is not so,\nnoble queen. If I might give the lie to one so high-born as thou art,\nthou hast foully slandered Rudeger. Sorry terms have he and his knights\nmade with us. With such good will he did the king\u2019s bidding, that he\nand his men all lie dead. Look round thee for another, Kriemhild, to\nobey thee. Rudeger served thee till his death. If thou doubtest, thou\nmayest see for thyself.\u201d\n\nTo her grief they did it. They brought the mangled hero where Etzel saw\nhim. Never were Etzel\u2019s knights so doleful. When the dead Margrave was\nheld up before them, none could write or tell all the bitter wailing\nwhereby women and men alike uttered their heart\u2019s dole. Etzel\u2019s woe was\nso great that the sound of his lamentation was as a lion\u2019s roar. Loud\nwept his wife. They mourned good Rudeger bitterly.\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Eighth Adventure\nHow Dietrich\u2019s Knights Were All Slain\n\n\nSo loud they wept on all sides, that palace and towers echoed with the\nsound. One of Dietrich\u2019s men of Bern heard it, and hasted with the\nnews.\n\nHe said to the prince, \u201cHearken, Sir Dietrich. Never in my life heard I\nsuch wail as this. Methinketh the king himself hath joined the\nhightide. How else should all the folk make such dole. Either the king\nor Kriemhild\u2014one of them at the least\u2014have the guests killed through\nhate. The valiant warriors weep bitterly.\u201d\n\nThe prince of Bern answered, \u201cJudge not so hastily, my good men. What\nthe stranger knights have done, sore peril hath constrained them to.\nLet it boot them now that I sware peace to them.\u201d\n\nBut bold Wolfhart said, \u201cI will go and ask what they have done, and\nwill tell thee, dear master, when I know the truth.\u201d\n\nSir Dietrich answered, \u201cWhen a knight is wroth, if one question him\nroughly, his anger is soon kindled. I would not have thee meddle\ntherein, Wolfhart.\u201d\n\nHe bade Helfrich haste thither, and find out from Etzel\u2019s men, or from\nthe guests, what had happed, for he had never heard folk wail so loud.\n\nThe messenger asked, \u201cWhat aileth you all?\u201d\n\nOne among them answered, \u201cJoy is fled from the land of the Huns.\nRudeger lieth slain by the men of Burgundy. Of them that entered in\nwith him, not one is left alive.\u201d\n\nHelfrich was sore grieved. He had never told so sad a tale, and went\nback weeping.\n\n\u201cWhat news?\u201d cried Dietrich. \u201cWhy weepest thou so bitterly, Sir\nHelfrich?\u201d\n\nThe knight answered, \u201cI may well mourn. The Burgundians have slain\nRudeger.\u201d\n\nBut the prince of Bern said, \u201cGod forbid! That were stark vengeance and\ndevil\u2019s sport. What had Rudeger done to deserve it? Well I know he was\ntheir friend.\u201d\n\nWolfhart answered, \u201cIf they have done this, their life shall pay for\nit. It were shameful to endure it. For oft hath Rudeger\u2019s hand served\nus.\u201d\n\nThe prince of Amelung bade them inquire further. He sat down at a\nwindow sore troubled, and bade Hildebrand go to the guests, and ask\nthem what had happened.\n\nMaster Hildebrand, bold in strife, took with him neither shield nor\nsword, and would have gone to them on peaceful wise. But his sister\u2019s\nchild chid him. Grim Wolfhart cried, \u201cWhy goest thou naked? If they\nrevile thee, thou wilt have the worst of the quarrel, and return\nshamed. If thou goest armed, none will withstand thee.\u201d\n\nThe old man armed him as the youth had counselled. Or he had ended, all\nDietrich\u2019s knights stood in their harness, sword in hand. It irked the\nwarrior, and he had gladly turned them from their purpose. He asked\ntheir intent.\n\n\u201cWe would follow thee,\u201d they answered. \u201cWhat if Hagen of Trony, as his\nwont is, mock thee?\u201d Whereupon Hildebrand consented.\n\nWhen bold Folker saw the knights of Bern, Dietrich\u2019s men, girt with\nswords, and coming armed, with shields in their hands, he told his\nmasters of Burgundy. He said, \u201cDietrich\u2019s men draw nigh like foemen,\narmed, and in helmets. They come to defy us. I ween it will go hard\nwith us forlorn ones.\u201d\n\nHildebrand came up while he spake. He laid his shield at his feet, and\nsaid to Gunther\u2019s men, \u201cAlack! ye good knights! What have ye done to\nRudeger? Dietrich, my master, sent me hither to ask if any here slew\nthe good Margrave, as they tell us. We could ill endure such loss.\u201d\n\nHagen of Trony answered, \u201cThe news is true. Glad were I had the\nmessenger lied to thee, for Rudeger\u2019s sake, and that he lived still.\nBoth men and women must evermore bewail him.\u201d\n\nWhen they heard he was dead in sooth, all the warriors wept, as was\nmeet. Down beard and chin ran the tears of Dietrich\u2019s men. Right heavy\nwere they and doleful.\n\nA duke of Bern that hight Siegstab, cried, \u201cNow is ended all the loving\nkindness wherewith Rudeger cheered our sad days. Ye have slain, in\nRudeger, the friend of all homeless knights.\u201d\n\nSir Wolfwine of Amelung said, \u201cI had not grieved more this day to see\nmy father dead. Woe is me! Who will comfort the good Margravine?\u201d\n\nSir Wolfhart cried angrily, \u201cWho will lead the warriors forth to battle\nnow, as Rudeger so oft hath done. Woe is me for brave Rudeger! We have\nlost him!\u201d\n\nWolfbrand and Helfrich and eke Helmnot wept for his death with all\ntheir friends. Hildebrand could ask no more for grief. He said, \u201cGrant\nnow, ye warriors, that for which my master sent me. Give us dead\nRudeger from out the hall, with whom all our joy hath perished, and let\nus requite him for all the kindness he hath shown to us and many\nanother. Like him we are homeless. Why tarry ye? Let us bear him hence,\nand serve him dead, as we had gladly served him living.\u201d\n\nThen said King Gunther, \u201cNo service is better than that of friends to a\ndead friend. I approve the true heart of him that doeth it. Ye have\ncause to praise him. He hath shown you much love.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow long shall we entreat?\u201d cried Wolfhart. \u201cSith ye have slain our\njoy, and we can have him no more, let us bear him hence to bury him.\u201d\n\nBut Folker answered, \u201cYe shall get him from none here. Come and take\nhim out of the house, where he lieth with his death-wounds in the\nblood. So shall ye serve Rudeger truly.\u201d\n\nCried bold Wolfhart, \u201cGod knoweth, sir fiddler, thou dost wrong to\nprovoke us further; thou hast done us hurt enow. If I dared before my\nmaster, it would go hard with thee. We may not fight; he hath forbidden\nit.\u201d\n\nThe fiddler said, \u201cHe that avoideth all that is forbidden is over\nfearful. He hath not the right hero\u2019s heart.\u201d\n\nHagen approved the word of his comrade. But Wolfhart cried, \u201cGive over\nmocking, or I will put thy fiddle-strings out of tune, that thou mayest\nhave somewhat to tell, if ever thou ridest again to Burgundy. I can no\nlonger, with honour, endure thine insolence.\u201d\n\nThe fiddler answered, \u201cIf thou spoilest my strings, my hand will dim\nthy helmet afore I ride back to Burgundy.\u201d\n\nWolfhart would have run at him, but his uncle, Hildebrand, held him\nfast and would not let him. \u201cThou art mad in thy foolish wrath. We\nshould come in disgrace forever with my master.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet loose the lion that is so grim, sir knight. But if he fall into my\nhand,\u201d said Folker, \u201cI will slay him, though he had laid the whole\nworld dead. There will be an end of his hot answers.\u201d\n\nWolfhart fell in a fury thereat. He lifted his shield and sprang at him\nlike a wild lion. His friends followed after. But, quick though he was,\nold Hildebrand came before any to the stair-way, that he might not be\nsecond in the fight. They found plenty to meet them among the\nstrangers.\n\nHagen leapt upon Master Hildebrand. The weapons rang loud in their\nhands, for it was well seen they were wroth. A fire-red wind blew from\ntheir swords. But they were parted in the fray by the knights of Bern,\nthat pressed in amain. So Master Hildebrand turned away from Hagen.\n\nStark Wolfhart ran at Folker. He smote the fiddler on his helmet, that\nthe sword\u2019s edge cut into the beaver. The bold fiddler struck him such\na blow that the sparks flew from his harness. Deadly was their hate.\nThen Sir Wolfwine parted them. If he was not a hero, there never was\none. Gunther, the noble king, met the famed Amelung knights with ready\nhand. Sir Giselher made many a polished helmet red and wet with blood.\nDankwart, Hagen\u2019s brother, was a grim man. All that he ha done afore to\nEtzel\u2019s warriors was but a wind to what he did now; fell and furious\nwas Aldrian\u2019s child. Ritschart and Gerbart, Helfrich and Wichart, had\nnever spared themselves in battle, the which they let Gunther\u2019s men\nsee. Wolfbrand was undaunted in the strife. Old Hildebrand fought as he\nwere mad. Many a good knight fell dead in the blood before the sword of\nWolfhart. Rudeger was well avenged. Sir Siegstab did right valiantly.\nHa! how many hard helmets Dietrich\u2019s sister\u2019s son brake to his foemen.\nBolder in battle he could not have been.\n\nWhen stark Folker saw that Siegstab struck blood from the hauberks, he\nwas wroth, and leapt upon him and slew him. Such proof of his skill\ngave the fiddler that Siegstab died.\n\nHildebrand avenged him as beseemed his might. \u201cWoe is me for my dear\nlord, that lieth slain by Folker\u2019s hand! Bitterly shall the fiddler pay\nfor it.\u201d Certes, Hildebrand was grim enow. He smote Folker, that the\ngleeman\u2019s shield and helmet flew in splinters across the hall. That was\nan end of stark Folker.\n\nThen Dietrich\u2019s men rushed in from all sides. They smote till the links\nof their foemen\u2019s mail whistled asunder, and their broken sword-points\nflew on high. They struck hot-flowing streams from the helmets.\n\nWhen Hagen of Trony saw Folker dead, he grieved more bitterly than he\nhad done yet, all the hightide, for kinsman or vassal. Alack! how\ngrimly he began to avenge him!\n\n\u201cOld Hildebrand shall not go scatheless, for his hand hath slain my\nfriend, the best comrade I ever had.\u201d\n\nHe raised his shield, and hewed his way right and left.\n\nHelfrich slew stark Dankwart. Doleful enow were Gunther and Giselher\nwhen they saw him fall in his bitter pains. Yet he had well avenged his\ndeath with his own hand.\n\nAlbeit many mighty princes of many lands were gathered there against\nthe little band, their prowess had brought them forth alive, had not\nthe Christian folk turned foemen.\n\nMeantime, Wolfhart went to and fro, and hewed down Gunther\u2019s men. He\ncut his way round the hall thrice. Many a knight fell before him.\n\nThen cried stark Giselher to Wolfhart, \u201cWoe is me, that I have so grim\na foe! Come hither, bold warrior, and I will make an end of this.\nLonger it shall not endure.\u201d\n\nWolfhart turned to Giselher in the strife. They gave one another wide\nwounds. So fiercely Wolfhart sprang at him that the blood under his\nfeet spurted over his head.\n\nFair Uta\u2019s child welcomed Wolfhart, the bold knight, with swift blows.\nAlbeit the warrior was mighty, he perished. Never king so young was so\nvaliant. He smote Wolfhart through his goodly harness, that blood\nflowed down from the gash: he wounded Dietrich\u2019s man to the death. None\nsave a hero had done it.\n\nWhen Wolfhart felt the sword-cut, he threw away his shield, and lifted\na mighty and sharp weapon, wherewith, through helmet and harness, he\nslew Giselher. They gave each other a grim death, for Dietrich\u2019s man\nfell likewise.\n\nOld Hildebrand grieved sore when he saw Wolfhart fall. All Gunther\u2019s\nmen and Dietrich\u2019s were dead, and he went where Wolfhart lay in the\nblood, and put his arm round him to bear him away out of the house. But\nhe was too heavy, so he must needs let him lie. Then the deadly wounded\nman looked up from among the blood, and saw that his uncle would have\nhelped him, and he said, \u201cDearest uncle, no help availeth me. Thou\ndidest better to beware of Hagen, for grim and fell is his heart. And\nif my kinsmen, my nearest and my best, mourn for me hereafter, say that\nthey weep without cause, for that I died gloriously by the hand of a\nking. In the fight I have so well avenged me that many a warrior\u2019s wife\nshall wail. If any question thee, tell him straight that, with my\nsingle hand, I slew an hundred.\u201d\n\nThen Hagen thought on the fiddler that old Hildebrand had slain, and he\nsaid to the knight, \u201cThou shalt pay for my teen. Thou hast robbed us of\nmany a good warrior.\u201d He smote Hildebrand, that Balmung, the sword he\nhad taken from Siegfried when he slew him, rang loud. But the old man\nstood boldly on his defence. He brought his sharp-edged sword down on\nHagen, but could not wound him. Then Hagen pierced him through his good\nharness.\n\nWhen Master Hildebrand felt the wound, he feared more scathe from\nHagen, so he threw his shield over his back and fled.\n\nNow, of all the knights, none were left alive save two, Gunther and\nHagen.\n\nOld Hildebrand, covered with blood, ran with the news to Dietrich, that\nhe saw sitting sadly where he had left him. Soon the prince had more\ncause for woe. When he saw Hildebrand in his bloody harness, he asked\nfearfully for his tale. \u201cNow tell me, Master Hildebrand, why thou art\nso wet with thy life\u2019s blood? Who did it? I ween thou hast fought with\nthe guests in the hall, albeit I so sternly forbade it. Thou hadst\nbetter have forborne.\u201d\n\nHildebrand answered his master, \u201cHagen did it. He gave me this wound in\nthe hall when I turned to flee from him. I scarce escaped the devil\nwith my life.\u201d\n\nSaid the prince of Bern, \u201cThou art rightly served. Thou heardest me vow\nfriendship to the knights, and thou hast broken the peace I gave them.\nWere it not that I shame me to slay thee, thy life were forfeit.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe not so wroth, my lord Dietrich. Enough woe hath befallen me and\nmine. We would have borne away Rudeger\u2019s body, but Gunther\u2019s men denied\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me for this wrong! Is Rudeger then dead? That is the bitterest\nof my dole. Noble Gotelind is my cousin\u2019s child. Alack! The poor\norphans of Bechlaren!\u201d With ruth and sorrow he wept for Rudeger. \u201cWoe\nis me for the true comrade I have lost. I must mourn Etzel\u2019s liegeman\nforever. Canst thou tell me, Master Hildebrand, who slew him?\u201d\n\nHildebrand answered, \u201cIt was stark Gernot, but the hero fell by\nRudeger\u2019s hand.\u201d\n\nSaid Dietrich, \u201cBid my men arm them, for I will thither straightway.\nSend me my shining harness. I, myself, will question the knights of\nBurgundy.\u201d\n\nBut Master Hildebrand answered, \u201cWho is there to call? Thy sole living\nliegeman standeth here. I am the only one. The rest are dead.\u201d\n\nDietrich trembled at the news, and was passing doleful, for never in\nthis world had he known such woe. He cried, \u201cAre all my men slain? then\nGod hath forgotten poor Dietrich! I was a great king, rich and proud.\nYet how could they all die, these valiant heroes, by foemen so\nbattle-weary and sore beset? Death had spared them, but that I am\ndoomed to sorrow. Since this hard fate is needs mine, tell me if any of\nthe guests be left alive.\u201d\n\nHildebrand answered, \u201cNone save Hagen, and Gunther, the king. God\nknoweth I say sooth.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me, dear Wolfhart, if I have lost thee! It were better I had\nnever been born. Siegstab and Wolfwine and Wolfbrand: who is there then\nleft to help me in the land of the Amelungs? Is bold Gelfrich slain\nalso? And Gerbart and Wichart? When shall I have done weeping? This day\nhath ended all my joy. Alack! that none may die of grief!\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThirty-Ninth Adventure\nHow Gunther, Hagen, and Kriemhild Were Slain\n\n\nThereupon Sir Dietrich went and got his harness himself. Old Hildebrand\nhelped to arm him. The strong man wept so loud that the house rang with\nhis voice. But soon he was of stout heart again, as beseemed a hero. He\ndid on his armour in wrath. He took a fine-tempered shield in his hand,\nand they hasted to the place\u2014he and Master Hildebrand.\n\nThen said Hagen of Trony, \u201cI see Sir Dietrich yonder. He cometh to\navenge his great loss. This day will show which of us twain is the\nbetter man. Howso stark of body and grim Sir Dietrich may deem him, I\ndoubt not but I shall stand against him, if he seek vengeance.\u201d So\nspake Hagen.\n\nDietrich, that was with Hildebrand, heard him. He came where both the\nknights stood outside the house, leaning against the wall. Good\nDietrich laid down his shield, and, moved with deep woe, he said, \u201cWhy\nhast thou so entreated a homeless knight? What had I done to thee? Thou\nhast ended all my joy. Thou deemedst it too little to have slain\nRudeger to our scathe; now thou hast robbed me of all my men. I had\nnever done the like to you, O knights. Think on yourselves and your\nloss\u2014the death of your friends, and your travail. By reason thereof are\nye not heavy of your cheer? Alack! how bitter to me is Rudeger\u2019s death!\nThere was never such woe in this world. Ye have done evilly by me and\nby yourselves. All the joy I had ye have slain. How shall I ever mourn\nenough for all my kinsmen?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are not alone to blame,\u201d answered Hagen. \u201cYour knights came hither\narmed and ready, with a great host. Methinketh the tale hath not been\ntold thee aright.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat shall I believe then? Hildebrand said that when my knights of\nAmelung begged you to give them Rudeger\u2019s body, ye answered mockingly,\nas they stood below.\u201d\n\nThen said the prince of the Rhineland. \u201cThey told me they were come to\nbear Rudeger hence. I denied them, not to anger thy men, but to grieve\nEtzel withal. Whereat Wolfhart flew in a passion.\u201d\n\nSaid the prince of Bern, \u201cThere is nothing for it. Of thy knightliness,\natone to me for the wrong thou hast done me, and I will avenge it no\nfurther. Yield thee captive, thee and thy man, and I will defend thee\nto the uttermost against the wrath of the Huns. Thou wilt find me\nfaithful and true.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod in Heaven forbid,\u201d cried Hagen, \u201cthat two knights, armed as we are\nfor battle, should yield them to thee! I would hold it a great shame,\nand ill done.\u201d\n\n\u201cDeny me not,\u201d said Dietrich. \u201cYe have made me heavy-hearted enow, O\nGunther and Hagen; and it is no more than just, that ye make it good. I\nswear to you, and give you my hand thereon, that I will ride back with\nyou to your own country. I will bring you safely thither, or die with\nyou, and forget my great wrong for your sakes.\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk us no more,\u201d said Hagen. \u201cIt were a shameful tale to tell of us,\nthat two such bold men yielded them captive. I see none save Hildebrand\nby thy side.\u201d\n\nHildebrand answered, \u201cYe would do well to take my master\u2019s terms; the\nhour will come, or long, when ye would gladly take them, but may not\nhave them.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertes, I had liefer do it,\u201d said Hagen, \u201cthan flee mine adversary\nlike a coward, as thou didst, Master Hildebrand. By my troth, I deemed\nthou hadst withstood a foeman better.\u201d\n\nCried Hildebrand, \u201cThou needest not to twit me. Who was it that, by the\nwask-stone, sat upon his shield when Walter of Spain slew so many of\nhis kinsmen? Thou, thyself, art not void of blame.\u201d\n\nSaid Sir Dietrich then, \u201cIt beseemeth not warriors to fight with words\nlike old women. I forbid thee, Master Hildebrand, to say more. Homeless\nknight that I am, I have grief enow. Tell me now, Sir Hagen, what ye\ngood knights said when ye saw me coming armed. Was it not that thou\nalone wouldst defy me?\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hast guessed rightly,\u201d answered Hagen. \u201cI am ready to prove it\nwith swift blows, if my Nibelung sword break not. I am wroth that ye\nwould have had us yield us captive.\u201d\n\nWhen Dietrich heard grim Hagen\u2019s mind, he caught up his shield, and\nsprang up the steps. The Nibelung sword rang loud on his mail. Sir\nDietrich knew well that the bold man was fierce. The prince of Bern\nwarded off the strokes. He needed not to learn that Hagen was a valiant\nknight. Thereto, he feared stark Balmung. But ever and anon he struck\nout warily, till he had overcome Hagen in the strife. He gave him a\nwound that was deep and wide. Then thought Sir Dietrich, \u201cThy long\ntravail hath made thee weak. I had little honour in thy death. Liefer\nwill I take thee captive.\u201d Not lightly did he prevail. He threw down\nhis shield. He was stark and bold, and he caught Hagen of Trony in his\narms. So the valiant man was vanquished. King Gunther grieved sore.\n\nDietrich bound Hagen, and led him to the queen, and delivered into her\nhand the boldest knight that ever bare a sword. After her bitter dole,\nshe was glad enow. She bowed before the knight for joy. \u201cBlest be thou\nin soul and body. Thou hast made good to me all my woe. I will thank\nthee till my dying day.\u201d\n\nThen said Dietrich, \u201cLet him live, noble queen. His service may yet\natone to thee for what he hath done to thy hurt. Take not vengeance on\nhim for that he is bound.\u201d\n\nShe bade them lead Hagen to a dungeon. There he lay locked up, and none\nsaw him.\n\nThen King Gunther called aloud, \u201cWhere is the hero of Bern? He hath\ndone me a grievous wrong.\u201d\n\nSir Dietrich went to meet him. Gunther was a man of might. He tarried\nnot, but ran toward him from the hall. Loud was the din of their\nswords.\n\nHowso famed Dietrich was from aforetime, Gunther was so wroth and so\nfell, and so bitterly his foeman, by reason of the wrong he had\nendured, that it was a marvel Sir Dietrich came off alive. They were\nstark and mighty men both. Palace and towers echoed with their blows,\nas their swift swords hewed their good helmets. A high-hearted king was\nGunther.\n\nBut the knight of Bern overcame him, as he had done Hagen. His blood\ngushed from his harness by reason of the good sword that Dietrich\ncarried. Yet Gunther had defended him well, for all he was so weary.\n\nThe knight was bound by Dietrich\u2019s hand, albeit a king should never\nwear such bonds. Dietrich deemed, if he left Gunther and his man free,\nthey would kill all they met.\n\nHe took him by the hand, and let him before Kriemhild. Her sorrow was\nlighter when she saw him. She said, \u201cThou art welcome, King Gunther.\u201d\n\nHe answered, \u201cI would thank thee, dear sister, if thy greeting were in\nlove. But I know thy fierce mind, and that thou mockest me and Hagen.\u201d\n\nThen said the prince of Bern, \u201cMost high queen, there were never nobler\ncaptives than these I have delivered here into thy hands. Let the\nhomeless knights live for my sake.\u201d\n\nShe promised him she would do it gladly, and good Dietrich went forth\nweeping. Yet soon Etzel\u2019s wife took grim vengeance, by reason whereof\nboth the valiant men perished. She kept them in dungeons, apart, that\nneither saw the other again till she bore her brother\u2019s head to Hagen.\nCertes, Kriemhild\u2019s vengeance was bitter.\n\nThe queen went to Hagen, and spake angrily to the knight. \u201cGive me back\nwhat thou hast taken from me, and ye may both win back alive to\nBurgundy.\u201d\n\nBut grim Hagen answered, \u201cThy words are wasted, noble queen. I have\nsworn to show the hoard to none. While one of my masters liveth, none\nother shall have it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will end the matter,\u201d said the queen. Then she bade them slay her\nbrother, and they smote off his head. She carried it by the hair to the\nknight of Trony. He was grieved enow.\n\nWhen the sorrowful man saw his master\u2019s head, he cried to Kriemhild,\n\u201cThou hast wrought all thy will. It hath fallen out as I deemed it\nmust. The noble King of Burgundy is dead, and Giselher the youth, and\neke Gernot. None knoweth of the treasure now save God and me. Thou\nshalt never see it, devil that thou art.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cI come off ill in the reckoning. I will keep Siegfried\u2019s\nsword at the least. My true love wore it when I saw him last. My\nbitterest heart\u2019s dole was for him.\u201d\n\nShe drew it from the sheath. He could not hinder it. She purposed to\nslay the knight. She lifted it high with both hands, and smote off his\nhead.\n\nKing Etzel saw it, and sorrowed. \u201cAlack!\u201d cried the king, \u201cThe best\nwarrior that ever rode to battle, or bore a shield, hath fallen by the\nhand of a woman! Albeit I was his foeman, I must grieve.\u201d\n\nThen said Master Hildebrand, \u201cHis death shall not profit her. I care\nnot what come of it. Though I came in scathe by him myself, I will\navenge the death of the bold knight of Trony.\u201d\n\nHildebrand sprang fiercely at Kriemhild, and slew her with his sword.\nShe suffered sore by his anger. Her loud cry helped her not.\n\nDead bodies lay stretched all over. The queen was hewn in pieces. Etzel\nand Dietrich began to weep. They wailed piteously for kinsmen and\nvassals. Mickle valour lay there slain. The folk were doleful and\ndreary.\n\nThe end of the king\u2019s hightide was woe, even as, at the last, all joy\nturneth to sorrow.\n\nI know not what fell after. Christian and heathen, wife, man, and maid,\nwere seen weeping and mourning for their friends.\n\nI WILL TELL YOU NO MORE. LET THE DEAD LIE. HOWEVER IT FARED AFTER WITH\nTHE HUNS, MY TALE IS ENDED. THIS IS THE FALL OF THE NIBELUNGS.","title":"The Fall of the Nibelungs","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":76886}