999

999

When the lords perceived / how that the knight was dead, Upon a shield they laid him / that was of gold full red, And counsel took together / how of the thing should naught Be known, but held in secret / that Hagen the deed had wrought.

1000

Then spake of them a many: / "This is an evil day. Now shall ye all conceal it / and all alike shall say, When as Kriemhild's husband / the dark forest through Rode alone a-hunting, / him the hand of robber slew."

1001

Then spake of Tronje Hagen: / "Myself will bring him home. In sooth I reck but little / if to her ears it come, Who my Lady Brunhild / herself hath grieved so sore. It maketh me small worry, / an if she weep for evermore."

SEVENTEENTH ADVENTURE

How Kriemhild mourned for Siegfried, and How he was Buried

1002

There till the night they tarried / and o'er the Rhine they went. By knights in chase might never / more evil day be spent; For the game that there they hunted / wept many a noble maid. In sooth by many a valiant / warrior must it since be paid.

1003

Of humor fierce and wanton / list now and ye shall hear, And eke of direst vengeance. / Hagen bade to bear Siegfried thus lifeless, / of the Nibelung country, Unto a castle dwelling / where Lady Kriemhild found might be.

1004

He bade in secret manner / to lay him there before Where she should surely find him / when she from out the door Should pass to matins early, / ere that had come the day. In sooth did Lady Kriemhild / full seldom fail the hour to pray.

1005

When, as was wont, in minster / the bell to worship bade, Kriemhild, fair lady, wakened / from slumber many a maid: A light she bade them bring her / and eke her dress to wear. Then hither came a chamberlain / who Siegfried's corse found waiting there.

1006

He saw him red and bloody, / all wet his clothing too. That it was his master, / in sooth no whit he knew. On unto the chamber / the light in hand he bore, Whereby the Lady Kriemhild / did learn what brought her grief full sore.

1007

When she with train of ladies / would to the minster go, Then spake the chamberlain: / "Pause, I pray thee now: Here before thy dwelling / a noble knight lies slain." Thereat gan Lady Kriemhild / in grief unmeasured sore to plain.

1008

Ere yet that 'twas her husband / she did rightly find, Had she Hagen's question / begun to call to mind, How might he protect him: / then first did break her heart, For all her joy in living / did with his death from her depart.

1009

Unto the earth then sank she / ere she a word did say, And reft of all her pleasure / there the fair lady lay. Soon had Kriemhild's sorrow / all measure passed beyond: She shrieked, when past the swooning, / that did the chamber all resound.

1010

Then spake her attendants: / "What if't a stranger were?" From out her mouth the heart-blood / did spring from anguish sore. Then spake she: "It is Siegfried / my husband, other none: This thing hath counselled Brunhild, / and Hagen's hand the deed hath done."

1011

The lady bade them lead her / where did lie the knight, And his fair head she raised / with her hand full white. Red though it was and bloody / she knew him yet straightway, As all forlorn the hero / of Nibelungenland there lay.

1012

Then cried the queen in anguish, / whose hand such wealth might wield: "O woe is me for sorrow! / Yet is not thy shield With blow of sword now battered, / but murdered dost thou lie. And knew I who hath done it, / by my counsel should he die."

1013

All of her attendants / did weep and wail enow With their beloved mistress, / for filled they were with woe For their noble master / whom they should see no more. For anger of Queen Brunhild / had Hagen wrought revenge full sore.

1014

Then spake Kriemhild sorrowing: / "Hence now the message take, And all the men of Siegfried / shall ye straightway awake. Unto Siegmund likewise / tell ye my sorrow deep, If that he will help me / for the doughty Siegfried weep."

1015

Then ran straightway a messenger / and soon he found at hand, Siegfried's valiant warriors / of Nibelungenland. Of joy he all bereft him / with tale that he did bear, Nor would they aught believe it / till sound of weeping met their ear.

1016

The messenger came eke quickly / where the king did lie, Yet closed was not in sleeping / the monarch Siegmund's eye: I ween his heart did tell him / the thing that there had been, And that his dear son living / might nevermore by him be seen.

1017

"Awake, awake, Lord Siegmund. / Hither hath sent for thee Kriemhild my mistress. / A wrong now beareth she, A grief that 'fore all others / unto her heart doth go: To mourn it shalt thou help her, / for sorely hast thou need thereto."

1018

Up raised himself then Siegmund. / He spake: "What may it be Of wrong that grieveth Kriemhild, / as thou hast told to me?" The messenger spake weeping: / "Now may I naught withhold: Know thou that of Netherland / Siegfried brave lies slain and cold."

1019

Thereto gave answer Siegmund: / "Let now such mocking be And tale of such ill tidings / --an thou regardest me-- As that thou say'st to any / now he lieth slain: An were it so, I never / unto my end might cease to plain."

1020

"Wilt thou now believe not / the tidings that I bear, So may'st thyself the Lady / Kriemhild weeping hear, And all of her attendants, / that Siegfried lieth dead." With terror filled was Siegmund: / whereof in very sooth was need.

1021

He and his men a hundred / from their beds they sprang, Then snatched in hand full quickly / swords both sharp and long, And toward the sound of weeping / in sorrow sore did speed. There came a thousand warriors / eke of the valiant knight Siegfried.

1022

When they heard the women weeping / in such sore distress Thought some, strict custom keeping, / we first must don our dress. In sooth for very sorrow / their wits no more had they, For on their hearts a burden / of grief full deep and heavy lay.

1023

Then came the monarch Siegmund / where he Kriemhild espied. He spake: "Alack that ever / to this country I did ride! Who in such wondrous manner, / and while good friends are near, Hath of my child bereft me / and thee of spouse thou hold'st so dear?"

1024

"Ah, might I him discover," / spake the lady high, "Evermore would mercy / I to him deny. Such meed of vengeance should he / at my hands receive That all who call him kinsman / reason good should have to grieve."

1025

Siegmund the monarch / in arms the knight did press, And of his friends there gathered / so great was the distress, That from the mighty wailing / palace and wide hall And Worms the city likewise / with sound of woe re-echoed all.

1026

None was who aught might comfort / the wife of Siegfried there. They drew the knight's attire / from off his body fair, From wounds the blood, too, washed they / and laid him on the bier. Then from all his people / a mighty wailing might ye hear.

1027

Then outspake his warriors / of Nibelungenland: "Until he be avenged / rest shall not our hand. He is within this castle / who the deed hath done." Then rushed to find their weapons / Siegfried's warriors every one.

1028

The knights of chosen valor / with shields did thither throng, Eleven hundred warriors, / that did to train belong Of Siegmund the monarch. / That his son lay dead, Would he wreak dire vengeance, / whereof in very sooth was need.

1029

Yet knew they not whom should they / beset in battle then, If it were not Gunther / and with him his men With whom their lord Siegfried / unto the hunting rode. Yet filled with fear was Kriemhild / when she beheld how armed they stood.

1030

How great soe'er her sorrow / and stern the grief she bore, Yet for the Nibelungen / feared she death full sore From her brother's warriors, / and bade them hold their wrath. She gave them kindly warning / as friend to friend beloved doth.

1031

Then spake she rich in sorrow: / "What thing beginnest thou, Good my lord Siegmund? / This case thou dost not know. In sooth hath here King Gunther / so many a valiant knight, Lost are ye all together, / will ye the thanes withstand in fight."

1032

With shields upraised they ready / for the fight did stand. But the queen full noble / did straightway give command To those high knights, and prayed them, / their purpose to give o'er. That she might not dissuade them, / in sooth to her was sorrow sore.

1033

Spake she thus: "Lord Siegmund, / thou shalt this thing let be Until more fitting season. / Seek will I e'er with thee Full to avenge my husband. / Who him from me hath ta'en, An I shall know him guilty, / in me shall surely find his bane.

1034

"Of warriors proud and mighty / are many here by Rhine, Therefore will I advise not / the struggle to begin. For one that we can muster / good thirty men have they; As unto us their dealing, / God them requite in equal way.

1035

"Here shall ye bide with me / and help my grief to bear; Soon as dawns the morning, / ye noble knights and rare, Help me my loved husband / prepare for burial." "That shall be done full willing," / spake the doughty warriors all.

1036

To you could never any / full the wonder say, Of knights and noble ladies, / so full of grief were they, That the sound of wailing / through the town was heard afar, Whereat the noble burghers / hastily did gather there.

1037

With the guests they mourned together, / for sore they grieved as well. What was the guilt of Siegfried / none to them might tell, Wherefore the knight so noble / thus his life should lose. Then wept with the high ladies / many a worthy burgher's spouse.

1038

Smiths they bade a casket / work full hastily All of gold and silver / that great and strong should be. They bade them fast to weld it / with bands of steel full good. Then saw ye all the people / stand right sorrowful of mood.

1039

Now the night was over, / for day, they said, drew near. Then bade the noble lady / unto the minster bear Siegfried her lord full loved / for whom she mourned so. Whoe'er was friend unto him, / him saw ye weeping thither go.

1040

As they brought him to the minster / bells full many rung. On every hand then heard ye / how priests did chant their song. Thither with his followers / came Gunther the king And eke the grim knight Hagen / where was sound of sorrowing.

1041

He spake: "Full loving sister, / alack for grief to thee, And that from such great evil / spared we might not be! Henceforth must we ever / mourn for Siegfried's sake." "That do ye without reason," / full of woe the lady spake.

1042

"If that ye grieved for it, / befallen were it not. For say I may full truly, / me had ye all forgot There where I thus was parted / from my husband dear. Would it God," spake Kriemhild, / "that done unto myself it were!"

1043

Fast they yet denied it. / Kriemhild spake again: "If any speak him guiltless, / let here be seen full plain. Unto the bier now shall he / before the people go; Thus the truth full quickly / may we in this manner know."

1044

It is a passing wonder / that yet full oft is seen, Where blood-bespotted slayer / beside slain corse hath been, That from the wounds come blood-drops, / as here it eke befell. Thereby the guilt of Hagen / might they now full plainly tell.

1045

Now ran the wounds all bloody /like as they did before. Who erstwhile wept full sorely / now wept they mickle more. Then spake the monarch Gunther: / "To thee the truth be known: Slain hath he been by robbers, / nor is this deed by Hagen done."

1046

"Of these same robbers," spake she, / "full well I understand. God give that yet may vengeance / wreak some friendly hand. Gunther and Hagen, / yourselves have done this deed." Then looked for bloody conflict / the valiant thanes that served Siegfried.

1047

Then spake unto them Kriemhild: / "Now bear with me my need." Knights twain came likewise hither / and did find him dead,-- Gernot her brother / and the young Giselher. With upright hearts then joined they / with the others grief to share.

1048

They mourned for Kriemhild's husband / with hearts all full of woe. A mass should then be chanted: / to the minster forth did go Man and child and woman / gathered from every side. E'en they did likewise mourn him / who little lost that Siegfried died.

1049

Gernot and Giselher spake: / "O Sister dear, Now comfort thee in sorrow, / for death is ever near. Amends we'll make unto thee / the while that we shall live." In the world might never any / unto her a comfort give.

1050

His coffin was made ready / about the middle day. From off the bier they raised him / whereupon he lay. But yet would not the lady / let him be laid in grave. Therefor must all the people / first a mickle trouble have.

1051

In a shroud all silken / they the dead man wound. I ween that never any / that wept not might be found. There mourned full of sorrow / Ute the queen full high And all of her attendants / that such a noble knight did die.

1052

When did hear the people / how they in minster sung, And that he there lay coffined, / came then a mickle throng: For his soul's reposing / what offerings they bore! E'en amid his enemies / found he of good friends a store.

1053

Kriemhild the poor lady / to her attendants spake: "Let them shun no trouble / to suffer for my sake, Who to him are friendly-minded / and me in honor hold; For the soul of Siegfried / meted be to them his gold."

1054

Child so small there was not, / did it but reason have, But offering carried thither. / Ere he was laid in grave, More than a hundred masses / upon the day they sung, Of all the friends of Siegfried / was gathered there a mickle throng.

1055

When were the masses over, / the folk departed soon. Then spake the Lady Kriemhild: / "Leave ye me not alone To pass the night in watching / by this chosen thane now dead, With whose passing from me / all my joy of life hath fled.

1056

"Three days and three nights further / shall he lie on bier, Until my heart find quiet / that weeps for spouse so dear. God perchance commandeth / that death eke me do take: That were for me poor Kriemhild / fit end of all my woe to make."

1057

Then of the town the people / went to their homes again. Priests and monks yet bade she / longer there remain, And all the hero's followers / who willing served alway. They watched a night all gruesome, / and full of toil was eke the day.

1058

Meat and drink forgetting / abode there many a one. If any were would take it / 'twas unto all made known, That have they might in plenty: / thus did provide Siegmund. Then for the Nibelungen / did trouble and sore need abound.

1059

The while the three days lasted / --such the tale we hear-- All who could join the chanting, / mickle must they bear There of toil and trouble. / What gifts to them they bore! Rich were seen full many / who did suffer need before.

1060

As many poor as found they / who themselves had naught, By them yet an offering / bade they there be brought, Of gold of Siegfried's treasure. / Though he no more might live, Yet for his soul's reposing / marks many thousand did they give.

1061

Land of fruitful income / bestowed Kriemhild around, Wheresoever cloisters / and worthy folk were found. Silver and apparel / to the poor she gave in store, And in good manner showed she / that truest love to him she bore.

1062

Upon the third morning / at the mass' tide Was there beside the minster / filled the church-yard wide With country-folk a-weeping / that came from far and near: In death they yet did serve him / as is meet for friend full dear.

1063

And so it hath been told us, / ere these four days were o'er, Marks full thirty thousand, / yea, in sooth, and more, For his soul's reposing / to the poor were given there: The while that lay all broken / his life and eke his body fair.

1064

When ended was the service / and full the masses sung, In unrestrained sorrow / there the flock did throng. They bade that from the minster / he to the grave be borne. Them that fain had kept him / there beheld ye weep and mourn.

1065

Thence full loud lamenting / did the people with him pass. Unmoved there never any / nor man nor woman was. Ere that in grave they laid him / chanted they and read. What host of priests full worthy / at his burial were gathered!

1066

Ere that the wife of Siegfried / was come unto the grave, With water from the fountain / full oft her face they lave, So struggled with her sorrow / the faithful lady fair. Great beyond all measure / was the grief that she did bear.

1067

It was a mickle wonder / that e'er her life she kept. Many a lady was there / that helped her as she wept. Then spake the queen full noble: / "Ye men that service owe To Siegfried, as ye love me, / now to me a mercy show.

1068

"Upon this sorrow grant ye / the little grace to me That I his shining visage / yet once more may see." So filled she was with anguish / and so long time she sought, Perforce they must break open / the casket all so fairly wrought.

1069

Where she did see him lying / they then the lady led. With hand full white and spotless / raised she his fair head; Then kissed she there all lifeless / the good and noble knight,-- And wept so that for sorrow / ran blood from out her eyes so bright.

1070

Mournful was the parting / that then did rend the twain. Thence away they bore her, / nor might she walk again, But in a swoon did senseless / the stately lady lie. In sooth her winsome body / for sorrow sore was like to die.

1071

When they the knight full noble / now in the grave had laid, Beheld ye every warrior / beyond all measure sad That with him was come hither / from Nibelung country. Full seldom joyous-hearted / might ye royal Siegmund see.

1072

And many were among them / that for sorrow great Till three days were over / did nor drink nor eat. Yet might they not their bodies / long leave uncared-for so: For food they turned from mourning / as people still are wont to do.

EIGHTEENTH ADVENTURE

How Siegmund fared Home Again

1073

Then went royal Siegmund / where he Kriemhild found. Unto the queen spake he: / "Home must we now be bound. We ween that guests unwelcome / here are we by the Rhine. Kriemhild, beloved lady, / come now to country that is mine.

1074

"Though from us hath been taken / by foul traitor's hand Thy good spouse and noble / here in stranger land, Thine be it not to suffer: / good friend thou hast in me For sake of son beloved: / thereof shalt thou undoubting be.

1075

"Eke shalt thou have, good lady, / all the power to hold, The which erstwhile hath shown thee / Siegfried the thane full bold. The land and the crown likewise, / be they thine own to call, And gladly eke shall serve thee / Siegfried's doughty warriors all."

1076

Then did they tell the servants / that they thence would ride, And straight to fetch the horses / these obedient hied. 'Mid such as so did hate them / it grieved them more to stay: Ladies high and maidens / were bidden dress them for the way.

1077

When that for royal Siegmund / stood ready horse and man, Her kinsmen Lady Kriemhild / to beseech began That she from her mother / would still forbear to go. Then spake the lofty lady: / "That might hardly yet be so.

1078

"How might I for ever / look with eyes upon Him that to me, poor woman, / such evil thing hath done?" Then spake the youthful Giselher: / "Sister to me full dear, By thy goodness shalt thou / tarry with thy mother here."

1079

"Who in this wise have harmed thee / and so grieved thy heart, Thyself may'st spurn their service: / of what is mine take part." Unto the knight she answered: / "Such thing may never be. For die I must for sorrow / when that Hagen I should see."

1080

"From need thereof I'll save thee, / sister full dear to me, For with thy brother Giselher / shalt thou ever be. I'll help to still thy sorrow / that thy husband lieth dead." Then spake she sorrow-stricken: / "Thereof in sooth had Kriemhild need."

1081

When that the youthful Giselher / such kindly offer made, Then her mother Ute / and Gernot likewise prayed, And all her faithful kinsmen, / that she would tarry there: For that in Siegfried's country / but few of her own blood there were.

1082

"To thee they all are strangers," / did Gernot further say. Nor lived yet man so mighty / but dead at last he lay. Bethink thee that, dear sister, / in comfort of thy mood. Stay thou amid thy kinsmen, / I counsel truly for thy good."

1083

To Giselher she promised / that she would tarry there. For the men of Siegmund / the horses ready were, When they thence would journey / to the Nibelungen land: On carrying-horses laden / the knights' attire did ready stand.

1084

Went the royal Siegmund / unto Kriemhild then; He spake unto the lady: / "Now do Siegfried's men Await thee by the horses. / Straight shall we hence away, For 'mid the men of Burgundy / unwilling would I longer stay."

1085

Then spake the Lady Kriemhild: / "My friends have counselled me, That by the love I bear them, / here my home shall be, For that no kinsmen have I / in the Nibelungen land." Grieved full sore was Siegmund / when he did Kriemhild understand.

1086

Then spake the royal Siegmund: / "To such give not thine ear, A queen 'mid all my kinsmen, / thou a crown shalt wear And wield as lordly power / as e'er till now thou hast. Nor thou a whit shalt forfeit, / that we the hero thus have lost.

1087

"And journey with us thither, / for child's sake eke of thine: Him shalt thou never, lady, / an orphan leave to pine. When hath grown thy son to manhood, / he'll comfort thee thy mood. Meanwhile shall ready serve thee / many a warrior keen and good."

1088

She spake: "O royal Siegmund, / I may not thither ride, For I here must tarry, / whate'er shall me betide, 'Mid them that are my kinsmen, / who'll help my grief to share." The knights had sore disquiet / that such tidings they must hear.

1089

"So might we say full truly," / spake they every one, "That unto us still greater / evil now were done, Would'st thou longer tarry / here amid our foes: In sooth were never journey / of knights to court more full of woes."

1090

"Now may ye free from trouble / in God's protection fare: I'll bid that trusty escort / shall you have in care Unto Siegmund's country. / My child full dear to me, Unto your knights' good mercy / let it well commended be."

1091

When that they well perceived / how she would not depart, Wept all the men of Siegmund / and sad they were at heart. In what right heavy sorrow / Siegmund then took leave Of the Lady Kriemhild! / Full sore thereover must he grieve.

1092

"Woe worth this journey hither," / the lofty monarch spake. "Henceforth from merry meeting / shall nevermore o'ertake King or his faithful kinsmen / what here our meed hath been. Here 'mid the men of Burgundy / may we never be more seen."

1093

Then spake the men of Siegfried / in open words and plain: "An might we right discover / who our lord hath slain, Warriors bent on vengeance / shall yet lay waste this ground. Among his kin in plenty / may doughty foemen be found."

1094

Anon he kissed Kriemhild / and spake sorrowfully, When she there would tarry, / and he the same did see: "Now ride we joy-forsaken / home unto our land. First now what 'tis to sorrow / do I rightly understand."

1095

From Worms away sans escort / unto the Rhine they rode: I ween that they full surely / did go in such grim mood, That had against them any / aught of evil dared, Hand of keen Nibelungen / had known full well their life to guard.

1096

Nor parting hand they offered / to any that were there. Then might ye see how Gernot / and likewise Giselher Did give him loving greeting. / That as their very own They felt the wrong he suffered, / by the courteous knights and brave was shown.

1097

Then spake in words full kindly / the royal knight Gernot: "God in heaven knoweth / that of guilt I've naught In the death of Siegfried, / that e'er I e'en did hear Who here to him were hostile. / Well may I of thy sorrow share."

1098

An escort safe did furnish / the young knight Giselher: Forth from out that country / he led them full of care, The monarch with his warriors, / to Netherland their home. How joyless is the greeting / as thither to their kin they come!

1099

How fared that folk thereafter, / that can I nowise say. Here heard ye Kriemhild plaining / as day did follow day, That none there was to comfort / her heart and sorry mood, Did Giselher not do it; / he faithful was to her and good.

1100

The while the fair Queen Brunhild / in mood full haughty sat, And weep howe'er did Kriemhild, / but little recked she that, Nor whit to her of pity / displayed she evermore. Anon was Lady Kriemhild / eke cause to her of sorrow sore.

NINETEENTH ADVENTURE

How the Nibelungen Hoard was Brought to Worms

1101

When that the noble Kriemhild / thus did widowed stand, Remained there with his warriors / by her in that land Eckewart the margrave, / and served her ever true. And he did help his mistress / oft to mourn his master too.

1102

At Worms a house they built her / the minster high beside, That was both rich and spacious, / full long and eke full wide, Wherein with her attendants / joyless did she dwell. She sought the minster gladly, / --that to do she loved full well.

1103

Seldom undone she left it, / but thither went alway In sorry mood where buried / her loved husband lay. God begged she in his mercy / his soul in charge to keep, And, to the thane right faithful, / for him full often did she weep.

1104

Ute and her attendants / all times a comfort bore, But yet her heart was stricken / and wounded all so sore That no whit might avail it / what solace e'er they brought. For lover taken from her / with such grief her heart was fraught,

1105

As ne'er for spouse beloved / a wife did ever show. Thereby how high in virtue / she stood ye well might know. She mourned until her ending / and while did last her life. Anon a mighty vengeance / wreaked the valiant Siegfried's wife.

1106

And so such load of sorrow / for her dead spouse she bore, The story sayeth truly, / for years full three or more, Nor ever unto Gunther / any word spake she, And meantime eke her enemy / Hagen never might she see.

1107

Then spake of Tronje Hagen: / "Now seek'st thou such an end, That unto thee thy sister / be well-disposed friend? Then Nibelungen treasure / let come to this country: Thereof thou much might'st win thee, / might Kriemhild friendly-minded be."

1108

He spake: "Be that our effort. / My brothers' love hath she: Them shall we beg to win her / that she our friend may be, And that she gladly see it / that we do share her store." "I trow it well," spake Hagen, / "may such thing be nevermore."

1109

Then did he Ortwein / unto the court command And the margrave Gere. / When both were found at hand, Thither brought they Gernot / and eke young Giselher. In friendly manner sought they / to win the Lady Kriemhild there.

1110

Then spake of Burgundy / Gernot the warrior strong: "Lady, the death of Siegfried / thou mournest all too long. Well will the monarch prove thee / that him he ne'er hath slain. 'Tis heard how that right sorely / thou dost for him unending plain."

1111

She spake: "The king none chargeth: / t'was Hagen's hand that slew. When Hagen me did question / where might one pierce him through, How might e'er thought come to me / that hate his heart did bear? Then 'gainst such thing to guard me," / spake she, "had I ta'en good care.

1112

"And kept me from betraying / to evil hands his life, Nor cause of this my weeping / had I his poor lorn wife. My heart shall hate forever / who this foul deed have done." And further to entreat her / young Giselher had soon begun.

1113

When that to greet the monarch / a willing mind spake she, Him soon with noble kinsmen / before her might ye see. Yet dare might never Hagen / unto her to go: On her he'd wrought sore evil, / as well his guilty mind did know.

1114

When she no hatred meted / unto Gunther as before, By Hagen to be greeted / were fitting all the more. Had but by his counsel / no ill to her been done, So might he all undaunted / unto Kriemhild have gone.

1115

Nor e'er was peace new offered / kindred friends among Sealed with tears so many. / She brooded o'er her wrong. To all she gave her friendship / save to one man alone. Nor slain her spouse were ever, / were not the deed by Hagen done.

1116

Small time it was thereafter / ere they did bring to pass That with the Lady Kriemhild / the mighty treasure was, That from Nibelungen country / she brought the Rhine unto. It was her bridal portion / and 'twas fairly now her due.

1117

For it did journey thither / Gernot and Giselher. Warriors eighty hundred / Kriemhild commanded there That they should go and fetch it / where hidden it did lie, And where the good thane Alberich / with friends did guard it faithfully.

1118

When saw they coming warriors / from Rhine the hoard to take, Alberich the full valiant / to his friends in this wise spake: "We dare not of the treasure / aught from them withhold: It is her bridal portion, / --thus the noble queen hath told.

1119

"Yet had we never granted," / spake Alberich, "this to do, But that in evil manner / the sightless mantle too With the doughty Siegfried / we alike did lose, The which did wear at all times / the fair Kriemhild's noble spouse.

1120

"Now alas hath Siegfried / had but evil gain That from us the sightless mantle / the hero thus hath ta'en, And so hath forced to serve him / all these lands around." Then went forth the porter / where full soon the keys he found.

1121

There stood before the mountain / ready Kriemhild's men, And her kinsmen with them. / The treasure bore they then Down unto the water / where the ships they sought: To where the Rhine flowed downward / across the waves the hoard they brought.

1122

Now of the treasure further / may ye a wonder hear: Heavy wains a dozen / scarce the same might bear In four days and nights together / from the mountain all away, E'en did each one of them / thrice the journey make each day.

1123

In it was nothing other / than gold and jewels rare. And if to every mortal / on earth were dealt a share, Ne'er 'twould make the treasure / by one mark the less. Not without good reason / forsooth would Hagen it possess.

1124

The wish-rod lay among them, / of gold a little wand. Whosoe'er its powers / full might understand, The same might make him master / o'er all the race of men. Of Alberich's kin full many / with Gernot returned again.

1125

When they did store the treasure / in King Gunther's land, And to royal Kriemhild / 'twas given 'neath her hand, Storing-rooms and towers / could scarce the measure hold. Nevermore such wonder / might of wealth again be told.

1126

And had it e'en been greater, / yea a thousandfold, If but again might Kriemhild / safe her Siegfried hold, Fain were she empty-handed / of all the boundless store. Spouse than she more faithful / won a hero nevermore.

1127

When now she had the treasure, / she brought into that land Knights many from far distance. / Yea, dealt the lady's hand So freely that such bounty / ne'er before was seen. High in honor held they / for her goodly heart the queen.

1128

Unto both rich and needy / began she so to give That fearful soon grew Hagen, / if that she would live Long time in such high power, / lest she of warriors true Such host might win to serve her, / that cause would be her strength to rue.

1129

Spake Gunther then: / "The treasure is hers and freedom too. Wherefore shall I prevent her, / whate'er therewith she do? Yea, nigh she did her friendship / from me evermore withhold. Now reck we not who shareth / or her silver or her gold."

1130

Unto the king spake Hagen: / "No man that boasteth wit Should to any woman / such hoard to hold permit. By gifts she yet will bring it / that will come the day When valiant men of Burgundy / rue it with good reason may."

1131

Then spake the monarch Gunther: / "To her an oath I swore, That I would cause of evil / to her be nevermore, Whereof henceforth I'll mind me: / sister she is to me." Then spake further Hagen: / "Let me bear the guilt for thee."

1132

Many they were that kept not / there their plighted word: From the widow took they / all that mighty hoard: Every key had Hagen / known to get in hand. Rage filled her brother Gernot / when he the thing did understand.

1133

Then spake the knight Giselher: / "Hagen here hath wrought Sore evil to my sister: / permit this thing I'll not. And were he not my kinsman, / he'd pay it with his life." Anew did fall aweeping / then the doughty Siegfried's wife.

1134

Then spake the knight Gernot: / "Ere that forever we Be troubled with this treasure, / let first commanded be Deep in the Rhine to sink it, / that no man have it more." In sad manner plaining / Kriemhild stood Giselher before.

1135

She spake: "Beloved brother, / be mindful thou of me: What life and treasure toucheth / shalt thou my protector be." Then spake he to the lady: / "That shall sure betide, When we again come hither: / now called we are away to ride."

1136

The monarch and his kinsmen / rode from out the land, And in his train the bravest / ye saw on any hand: Went all save Hagen only, / and there he stayed for hate, That he did bear to Kriemhild, / and full gladly did he that.

1137

Ere that the mighty monarch / was thither come again, In that while had Hagen / all that treasure ta'en. Where Loch is by the river / all in the Rhine sank he. He weened thereof to profit, / yet such thing might never be.

1138

The royal knights came thither / again with many a man. Kriemhild with her maidens / and ladies then began To mourn the wrong they suffered, / that pity was to hear. Fain had the faithful Giselher / been unto her a comforter.

1139

Then spake they all together: / "Done hath he grievous wrong." But he the princes' anger / avoided yet so long At last to win their favor. / They let him live sans scathe. Then filled thereat was Kriemhild / as ne'er before with mickle wrath.

1140

Ere that of Tronje Hagen / had hidden thus the hoard, Had they unto each other / given firm plighted word, That it should lie concealed / while one of them might live. Thereof anon nor could they / to themselves nor unto other give.

1141

With renewed sorrows / heavy she was of heart That so her dear-loved husband / perforce from life must part, And that of wealth they reft her. / Therefor she mourned alway, Nor ever ceased her plaining / until was come her latest day.

1142

After the death of Siegfried / dwelt she in sorrow then, --Saith the tale all truly-- / full three years and ten, Nor in that time did ever / for the knight mourn aught the less. To him she was right faithful, / must all the folk of her confess.

TWENTIETH ADVENTURE

How King Etzel sent to Burgundy for Kriemhild

1143

In that same time when ended / was Lady Helke's life, And that the monarch Etzel / did seek another wife, To take a highborn widow / of the land of Burgundy Hun his friends did counsel: / Lady Kriemhild hight was she.

1144

Since that was ended / the fair Helke's life, Spake they: "Wilt thou ever / win for thee noble wife, The highest and the fairest / that ever king did win, Take to thee this same lady / that doughty Siegfried's spouse hath been."

1145

Then spake the mighty monarch: / "How might that come to pass Since that I am a heathen, / nor named with sign of cross? The lady is a Christian, / thereto she'll ne'er agree. Wrought must be a wonder, / if the thing may ever be."

1146

Then spake again his warriors: / "She yet may do the same. For sake of thy great power / and thy full lofty name Shalt thou yet endeavor / such noble wife to gain. To woo the stately lady / might each monarch high be fain."

1147

Then spake the noble monarch: / "Who is 'mong men of mine, That knoweth land and people / dwelling far by Rhine?" Spake then of Bechelaren / the trusty Ruediger: "I have known from childhood / the noble queen that dwelleth there.

1148

"And Gunther and Gernot, / the noble knights and good, And hight the third is Giselher: / whatever any should That standeth high in honor / and virtue, doth each one: Eke from eld their fathers / have in like noble manner done."

1149

Then spake again Etzel: / "Friend, now shalt thou tell, If she within my country / crown might wear full well-- For be she fair of body / as hath been told to me, My friends for this their counsel / shall ever full requited be."

1150

"She likeneth in beauty / well my high lady, Helke that was so stately. / Nor forsooth might be In all this world a fairer / spouse of king soe'er. Whom taketh she for wooer, / glad of heart and mind he were."

1151

He spake: "Make trial, Ruediger, / as thou hold'st me dear. And if by Lady Kriemhild / e'er I lie full near, Therefor will I requite thee / as in best mode I may: So hast thou then fulfilled / all my wish in fullest way.

1152

"Stores from out my treasure / I'll bid to thee to give, That thou with thy companions / merry long shalt live, Of steeds and rich apparel / what thou wilt have to share. Thereof unto thy journey / I'll bid in measure full prepare."

1153

Thereto did give him answer / the margrave Ruediger: "Did I thy treasure covet / unworthy thing it were. Gladly will I thy messenger / be unto the Rhine, From my own store provided: / all have I e'en from hand of thine."

1154

Then spake the mighty monarch: / "When now wilt thou fare To seek the lovely lady? / God of thee have care To keep thee on thy journey / and eke a wife to me. Therein good fortune help me, / that she to us shall gracious be."

1155

Then again spake Ruediger: / "Ere that this land we quit, Must we first prepare us / arms and apparel fit, That we may thus in honor / in royal presence stand. To the Rhine I'll lead five hundred / warriors, a doughty band.

1156

"Wherever they in Burgundy / me and my men may see, Shall they all and single / then confess of thee That ne'er from any monarch / so many warriors went As now to bear thy message / thou far unto the Rhine hast sent.

1157

"May it not, O mighty monarch, / thee from thy purpose move: Erstwhile unto Siegfried / she gave her noble love, Who scion is of Siegmund: / him thou here hast seen. Worthy highest honor / verily the knight had been."

1158

Then answered him King Etzel: / "Was she the warrior's wife, So worthy was of honor / the noble prince in life, That I the royal lady / therefor no whit despise. 'Tis her surpassing beauty / that shall be joy unto mine eyes."

1159

Then further spake the margrave: / "Hear then what I do say: After days four-and-twenty / shall we from hence away. Tidings to Gotelinde / I'll send, my spouse full dear, That I to Lady Kriemhild / myself will be thy messenger."

1160

Away to Bechelaren / sent then Ruediger. Both sad his spouse and joyous / was the news to hear. He told how for the monarch / a wife he was to woo: With love she well remembered / the fair Lady Helke too.

1161

When that the margravine / did the message hear, In part 'twas sorrow to her, / and weep she must in fear At having other mistress / than hers had been before. To think on Lady Helke / did grieve her inmost heart full sore.

1162

Ruediger from Hunland / in seven days did part, Whereat the monarch Etzel / merry was of heart. When at Vienna city / all was ready for the way, To begin the journey / might he longer not delay.

1163

At Bechelaren waited / Gotelinde there, And eke the young margravine, / daughter of Ruediger, Was glad at thought her father / and all his men to see. And many a lovely maiden / looked to the coming joyfully.

1164

Ere that to Bechelaren / rode noble Ruediger From out Vienna city, / was rich equipment there For them in fullest measure / on carrying-horses brought, That went in such wise guarded / that robber hand disturbed them not.

1165

When they at Bechelaren / within the town did stand, His fellows on the journey / did the host command To lead to fitting quarters / and tend carefully. The stately Gotelinde, / glad she was her spouse to see.

1166

Eke his lovely daughter / the youthful margravine,-- To her had nothing dearer / than his coming been. The warriors too from Hunland, / what joy for her they make! With a laughing spirit / to all the noble maiden spake:

1167

"Be now to us right welcome, / my father and all his men." Fairest thanks on all sides / saw ye offered then Unto the youthful margravine / by many a valiant knight. How Ruediger was minded / knew Gotelinde aright.

1168

When then that night she / by Ruediger lay, Questioned him the margravine / in full loving way, Wherefore had sent him thither / the king of Hunland. He spake: "My Lady Gotelinde, / that shalt thou gladly understand.

1169

"My master now hath sent me / to woo him other wife, Since that by death was ended / the fair Helke's life. Now will I to Kriemhild / ride unto the Rhine: She shall here in Hunland / be spouse to him and stately queen."

1170

"God will it," spake Gotelinde, / "and well the same might be, Since that so high in honor / ever standeth she. The death of my good mistress / we then may better bear; Eke might we grant her gladly / among the Huns a crown to wear."

1171

Then spake to her the margrave: / "Thou shalt, dear lady mine, To them that shall ride with me / thither unto the Rhine, In right bounteous manner / deal out a goodly share. Good knights go lighter-hearted / when they well provided fare."

1172

She spake: "None is among them, / an he would take from me, But I will give whatever / to him may pleasing be, Ere that ye part thither, / thou and thy good men." Thereto spake the margrave: / "So dost thou all my wishes then."

1173

Silken stuffs in plenty / they from her chamber bore, And to the knights full noble / dealt out in goodly store, Mantles lined all richly / from collar down to spur. What for the journey pleased him / did choose therefrom Sir Ruediger.

1174

Upon the seventh morning / from Bechelaren went The knight with train of warriors. / Attire and armament Bore they in fullest measure / through the Bavarian land, And ne'er upon the journey / dared assail them robber band.

1175

Unto the Rhine then came they / ere twelve days were flown, And there were soon the tidings / of their coming known. 'Twas told unto the monarch / and with him many a man, How strangers came unto him. / To question then the king began,

1176

If any was did know them, / for he would gladly hear. They saw their carrying-horses / right heavy burdens bear: That they were knights of power / knew they well thereby. Lodgings they made them ready / in the wide city speedily.

1177

When that the strangers / had passed within the gate Every eye did gaze on / the knights that came in state, And mickle was the wonder / whence to the Rhine they came. Then sent the king for Hagen, / if he perchance might know the same.

1178

Then spake he of Tronje: / "These knights I ne'er have seen, Yet when we now behold them / I'll tell thee well, I ween, From whence they now ride hither / unto this country. An I not straightway know them, / from distant land in sooth they be."

1179

For the guests fit lodgings / now provided were. Clad in rich apparel / came the messenger, And to the court his fellows / did bear him company. Sumptuous attire / wore they, wrought full cunningly.

1180

Then spake the doughty Hagen: / "As far as goes my ken, For that long time the noble / knight I not have seen, Come they in such manner / as were it Ruediger, The valiant thane from Hunland, / that leads the stately riders here."

1181

Then straightway spake the monarch: / "How shall I understand That he of Bechelaren / should come unto this land?" Scarce had King Gunther / his mind full spoken there, When saw full surely Hagen / that 'twas the noble Ruediger.

1182

He and his friends then hastened / with warmest welcoming. Then saw ye knights five hundred / adown from saddle spring, And were those knights of Hunland / received in fitting way. Messengers ne'er beheld ye / attired in so fine array.

1183

Hagen of Tronje, / with voice full loud spake he: "Unto these thanes full noble / a hearty welcome be, To the lord of Bechelaren / and his men every one." Thereat was fitting honor / done to every valiant Hun.

1184

The monarch's nearest kinsmen / went forth the guests to meet. Of Metz the knight Sir Ortwein / Ruediger thus did greet: "The while our life hath lasted, / never yet hath guest Here been seen so gladly: / be that in very truth confessed."

1185

For that greeting thanked they / the brave knights one and all. With train of high attendants / they passed unto the hall, Where valiant men a many / stood round the monarch's seat. The king arose from settle / in courteous way the guests to greet.

1186

Right courteously he greeted / then the messenger. Gunther and Gernot, / full busy both they were For stranger and companions / a welcome fit to make. The noble knight Sir Ruediger / by the hand the king did take.

1187

He led him to the settle / where himself he sat: He bade pour for the strangers / (a welcome work was that) Mead the very choicest / and the best of wine, That e'er ye might discover / in all the lands about the Rhine.

1188

Giselher and Gere / joined the company too, Eke Dankwart and Volker, / when that they knew The coming of the strangers: / glad they were of mood, And greeted 'fore the monarch / fair the noble knights and good.

1189

Then spake unto his master / of Tronje the knight: "Let our thanes seek ever / fully to requite What erstwhile the margrave / in love to us hath done: Fair Gotelinde's husband / our gratitude full well hath won."

1190

Thereto spake King Gunther: / "Withhold it not I may. How they both do bear them, / tell me now, I pray, Etzel and Helke / afar in Hunland." Then answered him the margrave: / "Fain would I have thee understand."

1191

Then rose he from the settle / and his men every one. He spake unto the monarch: / "An may the thing be done, And is't thy royal pleasure, / so will I naught withhold, But the message that I bring thee / shall full willingly be told."

1192

He spake: "What tale soever, / doth this thy message make, I grant thee leave to tell it, / nor further counsel take. Now shalt thou let us hear it, / me and my warriors too, For fullest leave I grant thee / thy high purpose to pursue."

1193

Then spake the upright messenger: / "Hither to thee at Rhine Doth faithful service tender / master high of mine; To all thy kinsmen likewise, / as many as may be: Eke is this my message / borne in all good will to thee.

1194

"To thee the noble monarch / bids tell his tale of need. His folk 's forlorn and joyless; / my mistress high is dead, Helke the full stately / my good master's wife, Whereby now is orphaned / full many a fair maiden's life,

1195

"Children of royal parents / for whom hath cared her hand: Thereby doth the country / in plight full sorry stand. Alack, nor is there other / that them with love may tend. I ween the time long distant / eke when the monarch's grief shall end."

1196

"God give him meed," spake Gunther, / "that he so willingly Doth offer thus good service / to my kinsmen and to me-- I joy that I his greeting / here have heard this day-- The which with glad endeavor / my kinsmen and my men shall pay."

1197

Thereto the knight of Burgundy, / the valiant Gernot, said: "The world may ever rue it / that Helke fair lies dead, So manifold the virtues / that did her life adorn." A willing testimony / by Hagen to the words was borne.

1198

Thereto again spake Ruediger / the noble messenger: "Since thou, O king, dost grant it, / shalt thou now further hear What message 'tis my master / beloved hath hither sent, For that since death of Helke / his days he hath in sorrow spent.

1199

"'Tis told my lord that Kriemhild / doth widowed live alone, And dead is doughty Siegfried. / May now such thing be done, And wilt thou grant that favor, / a crown she then shall wear Before the knights of Etzel: / this message from my lord I bear."

1200

Then spake the mighty monarch / --a king he was of grace-- "My will in this same matter / she'll hear, an so she please. Thereof will I instruct thee / ere three days are passed by-- Ere I her mind have sounded, / wherefore to Etzel this deny?"

1201

Meanwhile for the strangers / bade they make cheer the best In sooth so were they tended / that Ruediger confessed He had 'mong men of Gunther / of friends a goodly store. Hagen full glad did serve him, / as he had Hagen served of yore.

1202

Thus there did tarry Ruediger / until the third day. The king did counsel summon / --he moved in wisest way-- If that unto his kinsmen / seemed it fitting thing, That Kriemhild take unto her / for spouse Etzel the king.

1203

Together all save Hagen / did the thing advise, And unto King Gunther / spake he in this wise: "An hast thou still thy senses, / of that same thing beware, That, be she ne'er so willing, / thou lend'st thyself her will to share."

1204

"Wherefore," spake then Gunther, / "should I allow it not? Whene'er doth fortune favor / Kriemhild in aught, That shall I gladly grant her, / for sister dear is she. Yea, ought ourselves to seek it, / might it but her honor be."

1205

Thereto gave answer Hagen: / "Now such words give o'er. Were Etzel known unto thee / as unto me of yore, And did'st thou grant her to him, / as 'tis thy will I hear, Then wouldst thou first have reason / for thy later weal to fear."

1206

"Wherefore?" spake then Gunther. / "Well may I care for that, E'er to thwart his temper / that so I aught of hate At his hands should merit, / an if his wife she be." Thereto gave answer Hagen: / "Such counsel hast thou ne'er of me."

1207

Then did they bid for Gernot / and Giselher to go, For wished they of the royal / twain their mind to know, If that the mighty monarch / Kriemhild for spouse should take. Yet Hagen and none other / thereto did opposition make.

1208

Then spake of Burgundy / Giselher the thane: "Well may'st thou now, friend Hagen, / show upright mind again: For sorrows wrought upon her / may'st thou her well requite. Howe'er she findeth fortune, / ne'er should it be in thy despite."

1209

"Yea, hast thou to my sister / so many sorrows done," So spake further Giselher, / the full noble thane, "That fullest reason hath she / to mete thee naught but hate. In sooth was never lady / than she bereft of joy more great."

1210

"What I do know full certain, / that known to all I make: If e'er shall come the hour / that she do Etzel take, She'll work us yet sore evil, / howe'er the same she plan. Then in sooth will serve her / full many a keen and doughty man."

1211

In answer then to Hagen / the brave Gernot said: "With us doth lie to leave it / until they both be dead, Ere that we ride ever / unto Etzel's land. That we be faithful to her / doth honor meantime sure command."

1212

Thereto again spake Hagen: / "Gainsay me here may none. And shall the noble Kriemhild / e'er sit 'neath Helke's crown, Howe'er she that accomplish, / she'll do us grievous hurt. Good knights, therefrom to keep you / doth better with your weal consort."

1213

In anger spake then Giselher / the son of Ute the fair: "None shall yet among us / himself like traitor bear. What honor e'er befall her, / rejoice thereat should we. Whate'er thou sayest, Hagen, / true helper shall she find in me."

1214

When that heard it Hagen / straightway waxed he wroth. Gernot and Giselher / the knights high-minded both, And Gunther, mighty monarch, / did counsel finally, If that did wish it Kriemhild, / by them 'twould unopposed be.

1215

Then spake the margrave Gere: / "That lady will I tell How that of royal Etzel / she may think full well. In fear are subject to him / brave warriors many a one: Well may he recompense her / for wrong that e'er to her was done."

1216

Then went the knight full valiant / where he did Kriemhild find, And straightway spake unto her / upon her greeting kind: "Me may'st thou gladly welcome / with messengers high meed. Fortune hath come to part thee / now from all thy bitter need.

1217

"For sake of love he bears thee, / lady, doth seek thy hand One of all the highest / that e'er o'er monarch's land Did rule in fullest honor, / or ever crown might wear: High knights do bring the message, / which same thy brother bids thee hear."

1218

Then spake she rich in sorrow: / "Now God forbid to thee And all I have of kinsmen / that aught of mockery They do on me, poor woman. / What were I unto one, Who e'er at heart the joyance / of a noble wife hath known?"

1219

Much did she speak against it. / Anon as well came there Gernot her brother / and the young Giselher. In loving wise they begged her / her mourning heart to cheer: An would she take the monarch, / verily her weal it were.

1220

Yet might not then by any / the lady's mind be bent, That any man soever / to love she would consent. Thereon the thanes besought her: / "Now grant the thing to be, An dost thou nothing further, / that the messenger thou deign'st to see."

1221

"That will I not deny you," / spake the high lady, "That the noble Ruediger / I full gladly see, Such knightly grace adorns him. / Were he not messenger, And came there other hither / by him I all unspoken were."

1222

She spake: "Upon the morrow / bid him hither fare Unto this my chamber. / Then shall he fully hear How that do stand my wishes, / the which I'll tell him true." Of her full grievous sorrow / was she minded thus anew.

1223

Eke not else desired / the noble Ruediger Than that by the lady / leave thus granted were: He knew himself so skilful, / might he such favor earn, So should he her full certain / from her spoken purpose turn.

1224

Upon the morrow early / when that the mass was sung Came the noble messengers, / whereof a mickle throng. They that should Sir Ruediger / to court bear company, Many a man full stately / in rich apparel might ye see.

1225

Kriemhild, dame high-stated, / --full sad she was of mood-- There Ruediger awaited, / the noble knight and good. He found her in such raiment / as daily she did wear: The while were her attendants / in dresses clad full rich and rare,

1226

Unto the threshold went she / the noble guest to meet, And the man of Etzel / did she full kindly greet. Twelve knights there did enter, / himself and eleven more, And well were they received: / to her such guests came ne'er before.

1227

The messenger to seat him / and his men they gave command. The twain valiant margraves / saw ye before her stand, Eckewart and Gere, / the noble knights and keen, Such was the lady's sorrow, / none saw ye there of cheerful mien.

1228

They saw before her sitting / full many a lady fair, And yet the Lady Kriemhild / did naught but sorrow there. The dress upon her bosom / was wet with tears that fell, And soon the noble margrave / perceived her mickle grief full well.

1229

Then spake the lofty messenger: / "Daughter of king full high, To me and these my fellows / that bear me company Deign now the grace to grant us / that we before thee stand And tell to thee the tidings / wherefore we rode unto thy land."

1230

"That grace to thee is granted," / spake the lofty queen; "Whate'er may be thy message, / I'll let it now be seen That I do hear it gladly: / thou'rt welcome messenger." That fruitless was their errand / deemed the others well to hear.

1231

Then spake of Bechelaren / the noble Ruediger: "Pledge of true love unto thee / from lofty king I bear, Etzel who bids thee, lady, / here royal compliment: He hath to woo thy favor / knights full worthy hither sent.

1232

"His love to thee he offers / full heartily and free: Fidelity that lasteth / he plighteth unto thee, As erst to Lady Helke / who o'er his heart held sway. Yea, thinking on her virtues / hath he full oft had joyless day."

1233

Then spake the royal lady: / "O Margrave Ruediger, If that known to any / my sharp sorrows were, Besought then were I never / again to take me spouse. Such ne'er was won by lady / as the husband I did lose."

1234

"What is that sootheth sorrow," / the valiant knight replied, "An be't not loving friendship / whene'er that may betide, And that each mortal choose him / who his delight shall be? Naught is that so availeth / to keep the heart from sorrow free.

1235

"Wilt thou minded be to love him, / this noble master mine, O'er mighty crowns a dozen / the power shall be thine. Thereto of princes thirty / my lord shall give thee land, The which hath all subdued / the prowess of his doughty hand.

1236

"O'er many a knight full worthy / eke mistress shalt thou be That my Lady Helke / did serve right faithfully, And over many a lady / that served amid her train, Of high and royal lineage," / spake the keen and valiant thane.

1237

"Thereto my lord will give thee / --he bids to thee make known-- If that beside the monarch / thou deign'st to wear a crown, Power in fullest measure / that Helke e'er might boast: The same in lordly manner / shalt thou wield o'er Etzel's host."

1238

Then spake the royal lady: / "How might again my life Have thereof desire / to be a hero's wife? Hath death in one already / wrought me such sorrows sore, That joyless must my days be / from this time for evermore."

1239

Then spake the men of Hunland: / "O royal high lady, Thy life shall there by Etzel / so full of honor be Thy heart 'twill ever gladden / if but may be such thing: Full many a thane right stately / doth homage to the mighty king.

1240

"Might but Helke's maidens / and they that wait on thee E'er be joined together / in one royal company, Well might brave knights to see them / wax merry in their mood. Be, lady, now persuaded / --'tis verily thy surest good."

1241

She spake in courteous manner: / "Let further parley be Until doth come the morrow. / Then hither come to me. So will I give my answer / to bear upon your way." The noble knights and worthy / must straight therein her will obey.

1242

When all from thence were parted / and had their lodgings sought, Then bade the noble lady / that Giselher be brought, And eke with him her mother. / To both she then did tell That meet for her was weeping, / and naught might fit her mood so well.

1243

Then spake her brother Giselher: / "Sister, to me 'tis told-- And well may I believe it-- / that thy grief manifold Etzel complete will scatter, / an tak'st thou him for man. Whate'er be other's counsel, / meseems it were a thing well done."

1244

Further eke spake Giselher: / "Console thee well may he. From Rhone unto Rhine river, / from Elbe unto the sea, King there is none other / that holds so lordly sway. An he for spouse do take thee, / gladden thee full well he may."

1245

"Brother loved full dearly, / wherefore dost counsel it? To mourn and weep forever / doth better me befit. How may I 'mid warriors / appear in royal state? Was ever fair my body, / of beauty now 'tis desolate."

1246

Then spake the Lady Ute / her daughter dear unto: "The thing thy brother counsels, / my loving child, that do. By thy friends be guided, / then with thee well 'twill be. Long time it now hath grieved me / thee thus disconsolate to see."

1247

Then prayed she God with fervor / that he might her provide With store of gold and silver / and raiment rich beside, As erstwhile when her husband / did live a stately thane: Since then so happy hour / never had she known again.

1248

In her own bosom thought she: / "An shall I not deny My body to a heathen / --a Christian lady I-- So must I while life lasteth / have shame to be my own. An gave he realms unnumbered, / such thing by me might ne'er be done."

1249

And there withal she left it. / The night through until day, Upon her couch the lady / with mind full troubled lay. Nor yet her eyes full shining / of tears at all were free, Until upon the morrow / forth to matins issued she.

1250

When for mass was sounded, / came there the kings likewise. Again did they their sister / by faithful word advise To take for spouse unto her / of Hunland the king. All joyless was the visage / they saw the lady thither bring.

1251

They bade the men of Etzel / thither lead again, Who unto their country / fain their leave had ta'en, Their message won or fruitless, / how that soe'er might be. Unto the court came Ruediger. / Full eager were his company

1252

By the knight to be informed / how the thing befell, And if betimes they knew it / 'twould please them all full well, For weary was the journey / and long unto their land. Soon did the noble Ruediger / again in Kriemhild's presence stand.

1253

In full earnest manner / then the knight gan pray The high royal lady / that she to him might say What were from her the message / to Etzel he should bear. Naught but denial only / did he from the lady hear,

1254

For that her love might never / by man again be won. Thereto spake the margrave: / "Ill such thing were done. Wherefore such fair body / wilt thou to ruin give? Spouse of knight full worthy / may'st thou yet in honor live."

1255

Naught booted how they besought her, / till that Ruediger Spake in secret manner / in the high lady's ear, How Etzel should requite her / for ills she e'er did know. Then gan her mickle sorrow / milder at the thought to grow.

1256

Unto the queen then spake he: / "Let now thy weeping be. If 'mong the Huns hadst thou / other none than me And my faithful kinsmen / and my good men alone, Sorely must he repay it / who hath aught to thee of evil done."

1257

Thereat apace all lighter / the lady's sorrow grew, She spake: "So swear thou truly, / what any 'gainst me do, That thou wilt be the foremost / my sorrows to requite." Thereto spake the margrave: / "Lady, to thee my word I plight."

1258

With all his men together / sware then Ruediger Faithfully to serve her, / and in all things whatsoe'er Naught would e'er deny her / the thanes from Etzel's land, Whereof she might have honor: / thereto gave Ruediger his hand.

1259

Then thought the faithful lady: / "Since I thus have won Band of friends so faithful, / care now have I none How shall speak the people / in my sore need of me. The death of my loved husband / perchance shall yet avenged be."

1260

Thought she: "Since hath Etzel / so many knights and true, An shall I but command them, / whate'er I will I do. Eke hath he such riches / that free may be my hand: Bereft of all my treasure / by Hagen's faithless art I stand."

1261

Then spake she unto Ruediger: / "Were it not, as I do know, The king is yet a heathen, / so were I fain to go Whithersoe'er he willed it, / and take him for my lord." Thereto spake the margrave: / "Lady, no longer hold such word.

1262

"Such host he hath of warriors / who Christians are as we, That beside the monarch / may care ne'er come to thee. Yea, may he be baptized / through thee to Christian life: Well may'st thou then rejoice thee / to be the royal Etzel's wife."

1263

Then spake again her brother: / "Sister, thy favor lend, That now all thy sorrow / thereby may have an end." And so long they besought her / that full of sadness she Her word at length had plighted / the monarch Etzel's wife to be.

1264

She spake: "You will I follow, / I most lorn lady, That I fare to Hunland, / as soon as it may be That I friends have ready / to lead me to his land." Before the knights assembled / fair Kriemhild pledged thereto her hand.

1265

Then spake again the margrave: / "Two knights do serve thee true, And I thereof have many: / 'tis easy thing to do, That thee with fitting honor / across the Rhine we guide. Nor shalt thou, lady, longer / here in Burgundy abide.

1266

"Good men have I five hundred, / and eke my kinsmen stand Ready here to serve thee / and far in Etzel's land, Lady, at thy bidding. / And I do pledge the same, Whene'er thou dost admonish, / to serve thee without cause for shame.

1267

"Now bid with full equipment / thy horses to prepare: Ruediger's true counsel / will bring thee sorrow ne'er; And tell it to thy maidens / whom thou wilt take with thee. Full many a chosen warrior / on the way shall join our company."

1268

They had full rich equipment / that once their train arrayed The while that yet lived Siegfried, / so might she many a maid In honor high lead with her, / as she thence would fare. What steeds all rich caparisoned / awaited the high ladies there!

1269

If till that time they ever / in richest dress were clad, Thereof now for their journey / full store was ready made, For that they of the monarch / had such tidings caught. From chests longtime well bolted / forth the treasures rich were brought.

1270

Little were they idle / until the fifth day, But sought rich dress that folded / secure in covers lay. Kriemhild wide did open / all her treasure there, And largess great would give she / unto the men of Ruediger.

1271

Still had she of the treasure / of Nibelungenland, (She weened the same in Hunland / to deal with bounteous hand) So great that hundred horses / ne'er the whole might bear. How stood the mind of Kriemhild, / came the tidings unto Hagen's ear.

1272

He spake: "Since Kriemhild never / may me in favor hold, E'en so here must tarry / Siegfried's store of gold. Wherefore unto mine enemies / such mickle treasure go? What with the treasure Kriemhild / intendeth, that full well I know.

1273

"Might she but take it thither, / in sooth believe I that, 'Twould be dealt out in largess / to stir against me hate. Nor own they steeds sufficient / the same to bear away. 'Twill safe be kept by Hagen / --so shall they unto Kriemhild say."

1274

When she did hear the story, / with grief her heart was torn. Eke unto the monarchs / all three the tale was borne. Fain would they prevent it: / yet when that might not be, Spake the noble Ruediger / in this wise full joyfully:

1275

"Wherefore, queen full stately, / weep'st thou o'er this gold? For thee will King Etzel / in such high favor hold When but his eyes behold thee, / to thee such store he'll give That ne'er thou may'st exhaust it: / that, lady, by my word believe."

1276

Thereto the queen gave answer: / "Full noble Ruediger, Greater treasure never / king's daughter had for share Than this that Hagen from me / now hath ta'en away." Then went her brother Gernot / to the chamber where the treasure lay.

1277

With force he stuck the monarch's / key into the door, And soon of Kriemhild's treasure / they from the chamber bore Marks full thirty thousand / or e'en more plenteously. He bade the guests to take it, / which pleased King Gunther well to see.

1278

Then Gotelinde's husband / of Bechelaren spake: "An if my Lady Kriemhild / with her complete might take What treasure e'er came hither / from Nibelungenland, Ne'er a whit would touch it / mine or my royal lady's hand.

1279

"Now bid them here to keep it, / for ne'er the same I'll touch. Yea brought I from my country / of mine own wealth so much, That we upon our journey / may be full well supplied, And ne'er have lack in outlay / as in state we homeward ride."

1280

Chests well filled a dozen / from the time of old Had for their own her maidens, / of the best of gold That e'er ye might discover: / now thence away 'twas borne, And jewels for the ladies / upon the journey to be worn.

1281

Of the might she yet was fearful / of Hagen grim and bold. Still had she of mass-money / a thousand marks in gold, That gave she for the soul's rest / of her husband dear. Such loving deed and faithful / did touch the heart of Ruediger.

1282

Then spake the lady mournful: / "Who now that loveth me, And for the love they bear me / may willing exiles be, Who with me to Hunland / now away shall ride? Take they of my treasure / and steeds and meet attire provide."

1283

Then did the margrave Eckewart / answer thus the queen: "Since I from the beginning / of thy train have been, Have I e'er right faithful / served thee," spake the thane, "And to the end I'll ever / thus faithful unto thee remain.

1284

"Eke will I lead with me / five hundred of my men, Whom I grant to serve thee / in faithful way again. Nor e'er shall we be parted / till that we be dead." Low bowing thanked him Kriemhild, / as verily might be his meed.

1285

Forth were brought the horses, / for that they thence would fare. Then was a mickle weeping / of friends that parted there. Ute, queen full stately, / and many a lady more Showed that from Lady Kriemhild / to part did grieve their hearts full sore.

1286

A hundred stately maidens / with her she led away, And as for them was fitting, / full rich was their array. Many a bitter tear-drop / from shining eye fell down: Yet joys knew they full many / eke in Etzel's land anon.

1287

Thither came Sir Giselher / and Gernot as well, And with them train of followers, / as duty did compel. Safe escort would they furnish / for their dear sister then, And with them led of warriors / a thousand brave and stately men.

1288

Then came the valiant Gere, / and Ortwein eke came he: Rumold the High Steward / might not absent be. Unto the Danube did they / night-quarters meet provide. Short way beyond the city / did the royal Gunther ride.

1289

Ere from the Rhine they started / had they forward sent Messengers that full quickly / unto Hunland went, And told unto the monarch / how that Ruediger For spouse at length had won him / the high-born queen beyond compare.

TWENTY-FIRST ADVENTURE

How Kriemhild fared to the Huns

1290

The messengers leave we riding. / Now shall ye understand How did the Lady Kriemhild / journey through the land, And where from her were parted / Gernot and Giselher. Upon her had they waited / as faithful unto her they were.

1291

As far as to the Danube / at Vergen did they ride, Where must be the parting / from their royal sister's side, For that again they homeward / would ride unto the Rhine. No eye but wet from weeping / in all the company was seen.

1292

Giselher the valiant / thus to his sister said: "If that thou ever, lady, / need hast of my aid, And fronts thee aught of trouble, / give me to understand, And straight I'll ride to serve thee / afar unto King Etzel's land."

1293

Upon the mouth then kissed she / all her friends full dear. The escort soon had taken / eke leave of Ruediger And the margrave's warriors / in manner lovingly. With the queen upon her journey / went many a maid full fair to see.

1294

Four beyond a hundred / there were, all richly clad In silk of cunning pattern. / Many a shield full broad On the way did guard the ladies / in hand of valiant thane. Full many a stately warrior / from thence did backward turn again.

1295

Thence away they hastened / down through Bavarian land. Soon were told the tidings / how that was at hand A mickle host of strangers, / where a cloister stands from yore And where the Inn its torrent / doth into Danube river pour.

1296

At Passau in the city / a lordly bishop bode. Empty soon each lodging / and bishop's palace stood: To Bavarian land they hastened / the high guests to meet, And there the Bishop Pilgrim / the Lady Kriemhild fair did greet.

1297

The warriors of that country / no whit grieved they were Thus to see follow with her / so many a maiden fair. Upon those high-born ladies / their eyes with joy did rest, Full comfortable quarters / prepared they for each noble guest.

1298

With his niece the bishop / unto Passau rode. When among the burghers / the story went abroad, That thither was come Kriemhild, / the bishop's niece full fair, Soon did the towns-people / reception meet for her prepare.

1299

There to have them tarry / was the bishop fain. To him spake Sir Eckewart: / "Here may we not remain. Unto Ruediger's country / must we journey down. Thanes many there await us, / to whom our coming well is known."

1300

The tidings now knew likewise / Lady Gotelinde fair. Herself and noble daughter / did them quick prepare. Message she had from Ruediger / that he well pleased would be, Should she unto Lady / Kriemhild show such courtesy,

1301

That she ride forth to meet her, / and bring his warriors true Upward unto the Ense. / When they the tidings knew, Saw ye how on all sides / they thronged the busy way. Forth to meet the strangers / rode and eke on foot went they.

1302

As far as Everdingen / meanwhile was come the queen: In that Bavarian country / on the way were never seen Robbers seeking plunder, / as e'er their custom was: Of fear from such a quarter / had the travellers little cause.

1303

'Gainst that had well provided / the noble margrave: A band he led that numbered / good thousand warriors brave. There was eke come Gotelinde, / spouse of Ruediger, And bearing her high company / full many noble knights there were.

1304

When came they o'er the Traune / by Ense on the green, There full many an awning / outstretched and tent was seen, Wherein that night the strangers / should find them welcome rest. Well was made provision / by Ruediger for each high guest.

1305

Not long fair Gotelinde did in her quarters stay, But left them soon behind her. / Then coursed upon the way With merry jingling bridle / many a well-shaped steed. Full fair was the reception: / whereat was Ruediger right glad.

1306

On one side and the other / did swell the stately train Knights that rode full gaily, / many a noble thane. As they in joust disported, / full many a maid looked on, Nor to the queen unwelcome / was the riders' service done.

1307

As rode there 'fore the strangers / the men of Ruediger, From shaft full many a splinter / saw ye fly in air In hand of doughty warrior / that jousted lustily. Them might ye 'fore the ladies / pricking in stately manner see.

1308

Anon therefrom they rested. / Knights many then did greet Full courteously each other. / Then forth Kriemhild to meet Went the fair Gotelinde, / by gallant warriors led. Those skilled in lady's service, / --little there the rest they had.

1309

The lord of Bechelaren / unto his lady rode. Soon the noble margravine / her high rejoicing showed, That all safe and sound he / from the Rhine was come again. The care that filled her bosom / by mickle joy from her was ta'en.

1310

When him she had received, / her on the green he bade Dismount with all the ladies / that in her train she led. There saw ye all unidle / many a knight of high estate, Who with full ready service / upon the ladies then did wait.

1311

Then saw the Lady Kriemhild / the margravine where she stood Amid her fair attendants: / nearer not she rode. Upon the steed that bore her / the rein she drew full tight, And bade them straightway help her / adown from saddle to alight.

1312

The bishop saw ye leading / his sister's daughter fair, And with him eke went Eckewart / to Gotelinde there. The willing folk on all sides / made way before their feet. With kiss did Gotelinde / the dame from land far distant greet.

1313

Then spake in manner kindly / the wife of Ruediger; "Right glad am I, dear lady, / that I thy visage fair Have in this our country / with mine own eyes seen. In these times might never / greater joy to me have been."

1314

"God give thee meed," spake Kriemhild, / "Gotelinde, for this grace. If with son of Botelung / happy may be my place, May it henceforth be thy profit / that me thou here dost see." Yet all unknown to either / was that which yet anon must be.

1315

With curtsy to each other / went full many a maid, The knights a willing service / unto the ladies paid. After the greeting sat they / adown upon the green; Knew many then each other / that hitherto had strangers been.

1316

For the ladies they poured refreshment. / Now was come mid-day, And did those high attendants / there no longer stay, But went where found they ready / many a spreading tent. Full willing was the service / unto the noble guests they lent.

1317

The night through until morning / did they rest them there. They of Bechelaren / meanwhile did prepare That into fitting quarters / each high guest be brought. 'Twas by the care of Ruediger / that never one did want for aught.

1318

Open ye saw the windows / the castle walls along, And the burgh at Bechelaren / its gates wide open flung, As through the guests went pricking, / that there full welcome were. For them the lord full noble / had bidden quarters meet prepare.

1319

Ruediger's fair daughter / with her attendant train Came forth in loving manner / to greet the lofty queen. With her was eke her mother / the stately margravine; There full friendly greeting / of many a maiden fair was seen.

1320

By the hand they took each other / and thence did pass each pair Into a Hall full spacious, / the which was builded fair, And 'neath its walls the Danube / flowed down with rushing tide. As breezes cool played round them, / might they full happy there abide.

1321

What they there did further, / tell it not I can. That they so long did tarry, / heard ye the knights complain That were of Kriemhild's company, / who unwilling there abode. What host of valiant warriors / with them from Bechelaren rode!

1322

Full kindly was the service / did render Ruediger, Likewise gave Lady Kriemhild / twelve golden armbands rare To Gotelinde's daughter, / and dress so richly wrought That finer was none other / that into Etzel's land she brought.

1323

Though Nibelungen treasure / from her erstwhile was ta'en, Good-will of all that knew her / did she e'er retain With such little portion / as yet she did command. Unto her host's attendants / dealt she thereof with bounteous hand.

1324

The Lady Gotelinde / such honors high again Did pay in gracious manner / to the guests afar from Rhine That of all the strangers / found ye never one That wore not rich attire / from her, and many a precious stone.

1325

When they their fast had broken / and would thence depart, The lady of the castle / did pledge with faithful heart Unto the wife of Etzel / service true to bear. Kriemhild caressed full fondly / the margravine's young daughter fair.

1326

To the queen then spake the maiden: / "If e'er it pleaseth thee, Well know I that my father / dear full willingly Unto thee will send me / where thou livest in Hunland." That faithful was the maiden, / full well did Kriemhild understand.

1327

Now ready were the horses / the castle steps before, And soon the queen full stately / did take her leave once more Of the lovely daughter / and spouse of Ruediger. Eke parted with fair greeting / thence full many a maiden fair.

1328

Each other they full seldom / thereafter might behold. From Medelick were carried / beakers rich of gold In hand and eke full many, / wherein was sparkling wine: Upon the way were greeted / thus the strangers from the Rhine.

1329

High there a lord was seated, / Astold the name he bore, Who that into Osterland / did lead the way before As far as to Mautaren / adown the Danube's side. There did they fitting service / for the lofty queen provide.

1330

Of his niece the bishop / took leave in loving wise. That she well should bear her, / did he oft advise, And that she win her honor / as Helke erst had done. Ah, how great the honor / anon that 'mid the Huns she won!

1331

Unto the Traisem brought they / forth the strangers then. Fair had they attendance / from Ruediger's men, Till o'er the country riding / the Huns came them to meet. With mickle honor did they / then the royal lady greet.

1332

For had the king of Hunland, / Traisem's stream beside, A full mighty castle, / known afar and wide, The same hight Traisenmauer: / Dame Helke there before Did sit, such bounteous mistress / as scarce ye ever might see more,

1333

An it were not Kriemhild / who could such bounty show, That after days of sorrow / the pleasure she might know, To be held in honor / by Etzel's men each one: That praise in fullest measure / had she amid those thanes anon.

1334

Afar the might of Etzel / so well was known around, That at every season / within his court were found Knights of all the bravest, / whereof ye e'er did hear In Christian lands or heathen: / with him all thither come they were.

1335

By him at every season, / as scarce might elsewhere be, Knights both of Christian doctrine / and heathen use saw ye. Yet in what mind soever / did each and every stand, To all in fullest measure / dealt the king with bounteous hand.

TWENTY-SECOND ADVENTURE

How Etzel kept the Wedding-feast with Kriemhild

1336

At Traisenmauer she tarried / until the fourth day. Upon the road the dust-clouds / meanwhile never lay. But rose like smoke of fire / around on every side: Onward then through Austria / King Etzel's warriors did ride.

1337

Then eke unto the monarch / such tidings now were told, That at the thought did vanish / all his grief of old, In what high manner Kriemhild / should in his land appear. Then gan the monarch hasten / where he did find the lady fair.

1338

Of many a tongue and varied / upon the way were seen Before King Etzel riding / full many warriors keen, Of Christians and of heathen / a spreading company. To greet their coming mistress / forth they rode in fair array.

1339

Of Reuss men and Greeks there / great was the tale, And rapid saw ye riding / the Wallach and the Pole On chargers full of mettle / that they did deftly guide. Their own country's custom / did they in no wise lay aside.

1340

From the land of Kief / rode there full many a thane, And the wild Petschenegers. / Full many a bow was drawn, As at the flying wild-fowl / through air the bolt was sped. With might the bow was bended / as far as to the arrow's head.

1341

A city by the Danube / in Osterland doth stand, Hight the same is Tulna: / of many a distant land Saw Kriemhild there the customs, / ne'er yet to her were known. To many there did greet her / sorrow befell through her anon.

1342

Before the monarch Etzel / rode a company Of merry men and mighty, / courteous and fair to see, Good four-and-twenty chieftains, / mighty men and bold. Naught else was their desire / save but their mistress to behold.

1343

Then the Duke Ramung / from far Wallachia With seven hundred warriors / dashed forth athwart her way: Their going might ye liken / unto birds in flight. Then came the chieftain Gibeke, / with his host a stately sight.

1344

Eke the valiant Hornbog / with full thousand men From the king went forward / to greet his mistress then. After their country's custom / in joy they shouted loud; The doughty thanes of Hunland / likewise in merry tourney rode.

1345

Then came a chief from Denmark, / Hawart bold and keen, And the valiant Iring, / in whom no guile was seen, And Irnfried of Thuringia, / a stately knight to see: Kriemhild they greeted / that honor high therefrom had she,

1346

With good knights twelve hundred / whom led they in their train. Thither with three thousand / came Bloedel eke, the thane That was King Etzel's brother / out of Hunland: Unto his royal mistress / led he then his stately band.

1347

Then did come King Etzel / and Dietrich by his side With all his doughty fellows. / In state there saw ye ride Many a knight full noble, / valiant and void of fear. The heart of Lady Kriemhild / did such host of warriors cheer.

1348

Then to his royal mistress / spake Sir Ruediger: "Lady, now give I greeting / to the high monarch here. Whom to kiss I bid thee, / grant him such favor then: For not to all like greeting / may'st thou give 'mid Etzel's men."

1349

They lifted then from saddle / the dame of royal state. Etzel the mighty monarch / might then no longer wait, But sprang from off his charger / with many a warrior keen: Unto Kriemhild hasting / full joyously he then was seen.

1350

As is to us related, / did there high princes twain By the lady walking / bear aloft her train, As the royal Etzel / went forward her to meet, And she the noble monarch / with kiss in kindly wise did greet.

1351

Aside she moved her wimple, / whereat her visage fair Gleamed 'mid the gold around it. / Though many a knight stood there, They deemed that Lady Helke / did boast not fairer face. Full close beside the monarch / his brother Bloedel had his place.

1352

To kiss him then Margrave / Ruediger her did tell, And eke the royal Gibeke / and Sir Dietrich as well. Of highest knights a dozen / did Etzel's spouse embrace; Other knights full many / she greeted with a lesser grace.

1353

All the while that Etzel / stood by Kriemhild so, Did the youthful riders / as still they're wont to do: In varied tourney saw ye / each 'gainst the other pass, Christian knights and heathen, / as for each the custom was.

1354

From men that followed Dietrich / saw ye in kindly wise Splinters from the lances / flying high arise Aloft above their bucklers, / from hand of good knight sent! By the German strangers / pierced was many a shield and rent.

1355

From shaft of lances breaking / did far the din resound. Together came the warriors / from all the land around, Eke the guests of the monarch / and many a knight there was. Thence did the mighty monarch / then with Lady Kriemhild pass.

1356

Stretched a fair pavilion / beside them there was seen: With tents as well was covered / all around the green, Where they now might rest them / all that weary were. By high-born knights was thither / led full many a lady fair.

1357

With their royal mistress, / where in rich cushioned chair Sat the queen full stately. / 'Twas by the margrave's care That well had been provided, / with all that seemed good, A worthy seat for Kriemhild: / thereat was Etzel glad of mood.

1358

What was by Etzel spoken, / may I not understand. In his right hand resting / lay her fair white hand. They sat in loving fashion, / nor Ruediger would let The king have secret converse / with Lady Kriemhild as yet.

1359

'Twas bidden that the jousting / on all sides they give o'er. The din of stately tourney / heard ye then no more. All the men of Etzel / unto their tents did go, For every warrior present / did they full spacious lodging show.

1360

And now the day was ended / and they did rest the night Until beheld they shining / once more the morning light. Soon on charger mounted / again was many a man: Heigho, what merry pastime, / the king to honor, they began!

1361

By the Huns the monarch / bade honors high be shown. Soon rode they forth from Tulna / unto Vienna town, Where found they many a lady / decked out in fair array: The same the monarch Etzel's / wife received in stately way.

1362

In very fullest measure / upon them there did wait Whate'er they might desire. / Of knights the joy was great, Looking toward the revel. / Lodging then sought each one. The wedding of the monarch / was in merry wise begun.

1363

Yet not for all might lodging / within the town be had. All that were not strangers, / Ruediger them bade That they find them lodgings / beyond the city's bound. I ween that at all seasons / by Lady Kriemhild's side was found

1364

The noble Sir Dietrich / and many another thane, Who amid their labors / but little rest had ta'en, That the guests they harbored / of merry mood should be. For Ruediger and his companions / went the time full pleasantly.

1365

The wedding time was fallen / upon a Whitsuntide, When the monarch Etzel / lay Kriemhild beside In the town at Vienna. / So many men I ween Through her former husband / had not in her service been.

1366

Many that ne'er had seen her / did her rich bounty take, And many a one among them / unto the strangers spake: "We deemed that Lady Kriemhild / of wealth no more had aught Now hath she by her giving / here full many a wonder wrought."

1367

The wedding-feast it lasted / for days full seventeen. Ne'er of other monarch / hath any told, I ween, That wedded with more splendor: / of such no tale we hear. All that there were present, / new-made apparel did they wear.

1368

I ween that far in Netherland / sat she ne'er before Amid such host of warriors. / And this believe I more: Was Siegfried rich in treasure, / that yet he ne'er did gain, As here she saw 'fore Etzel, / so many a high and noble thane.

1369

Nor e'er gave any other / at his own wedding-tide So many a costly mantle / flowing long and wide, Nor yet so rich apparel / --so may ye well believe-- As here from hand of Kriemhild / did they one and all receive.

1370

Her friends and eke the strangers / were of a single mind, That they would not be sparing / of treasure in any kind: What any from them desired, / they gave with willing hand. Many a thane from giving / himself of clothing reft did stand.

1371

How by her noble husband / at the Rhine a queen she sat, Of that she still was minded, / and her eye grew wet thereat. Yet well she kept it hidden / that none the same might mark. Now had she wealth of honor / after long years of sorrow dark.

1372

What any did with bounty, / 'twas but an idle wind By side of Dietrich's giving: / what Etzel's generous mind Before to him had given, / complete did disappear. Eke wrought there many a wonder / the hand of bounteous Ruediger.

1373

Bloedelein the chieftain / that came from Hunland, Full many a chest to empty / did he then command, Of gold and eke of silver. / That did they freely give. Right merrily the warriors / of the monarch saw ye live.

1374

Likewise the monarch's minstrels / Werbel and Schwemmelein, Won they at the wedding / each alone, I ween, Marks a good thousand / or even more than that, Whenas fair Lady Kriemhild / 'neath crown by royal Etzel sat.

1375

Upon the eighteenth morning / from Vienna town they went. Then in knightly pastime / many a shield was rent By spear full well directed / by doughty rider's hand. So came the royal Etzel / riding into Hunland.

1376

At Heimburg's ancient castle / they tarried over night. Tell the tale of people / no mortal ever might, And the number of good warriors / did o'er the country come. Ah, what fairest women / were gathered unto Etzel's home!

1377

By Miesenburg's majestic / towers did they embark. With horses eke and riders / the water all was dark, As if 'twere earth they trod on, / as far as eye might see. The way-worn ladies rested / now on board right pleasantly.

1378

Now was lashed together / many a boat full good, That no harm they suffered / from the waves and flood. Many a stately awning / likewise above them spread, Just as if beneath them / had they land and flowery mead.

1379

When to Etzelburg the tidings / soon were borne along, Therein of men and women / were seen a merry throng. Who once the Lady Helke / as mistress did obey, Anon by Lady Kriemhild / lived they many a gladsome day.

1380

There did stand expectant / full many a maid high-born, That since the death of Helke / had pined all forlorn. Daughters of seven monarchs / Kriemhild there waiting found, That were the high adornment / of all King Etzel's country round.

1381

Herrat, a lofty princess, / did all the train obey, Sister's child to Helke, / in whom high virtues lay, Betrothed eke of Dietrich, / of royal lineage born, Daughter of King Nentwein; / her did high honors eft adorn.

1382

Against the strangers' coming / her heart with joy flowed o'er: Eke was thereto devoted / of wealth a mickle store. Who might e'er give the picture, / how the king eft sat on throne? Nor had with any mistress / the Huns such joyous living known.

1383

As with his spouse the monarch / up from the river came, Unto the noble Kriemhild / of each they told the name 'Mong them that she did find there: / she fairer each did greet. Ah, how mighty mistress / she long did sit in Helke's seat!

1384

Ready and true the service / to her was offered there. The queen dealt out in plenty / gold and raiment rare, Silver eke and jewels. / What over Rhine she brought With her unto Hunland, / soon thereof retained she naught.

1385

Eke in faithful service / she to herself did win All the king's warriors / and all his royal kin, --So that ne'er did Lady Helke / so mighty power wield As until death to Kriemhild / such host did willing service yield.

1386

Thus stood so high in honor / the court and country round, That there at every season / was pleasant pastime found By each, whithersoever / his heart's desire might stand: That wrought the monarch's favor / and the queen's full bounteous hand.

TWENTY-THIRD ADVENTURE

How Kriemhild thought to avenge her Wrong

1387

In full lordly honor, / --truth is that ye hear-- Dwelt they with each other / until the seventh year. Meanwhile Lady Kriemhild / a son to Etzel bore, Nor gladder might the monarch / be o'er aught for evermore.

1388

Yet would she not give over, / nor with aught be reconciled, But that should be baptized / the royal Etzel's child After Christian custom: / Ortlieb they did him call. Thereat was mickle joyance / over Etzel's borders all.

1389

Whate'er of highest virtues / in Lady Helke lay, Strove the Lady Kriemhild / to rival her each day. Herrat the stranger maiden / many a grace she taught, Who yet with secret pining / for her mistress Helke was distraught.

1390

To stranger and to native / full well she soon was known, Ne'er monarch's country, said they, / did royal mistress own That gave with freer bounty, / that held they without fear. Such praise she bore in Hunland, / until was come the thirteenth year.

1391

Now had she well perceived / how all obeyed her will, As service to royal mistress / king's knights do render still, And how at every season / twelve kings 'fore her were seen. She thought of many a sorrow / that wrought upon her once had been.

1392

Eke thought she of lordly power / in Nibelungenland That she erstwhile had wielded, / and how that Hagen's hand Of it all had reft her / with her lord Siegfried dead; She thought for so great evil / how might he ever be repaid.

1393

"'Twould be, might I but bring him / hither into this land." She dreamed that fondly led her / full often by the hand Giselher her brother, / full oft in gentle sleep Thought she to have kissed him, / wherefrom he sorrow soon must reap.

1394

I ween the evil demon / was Kriemhild's counsellor That she her peace with Gunther / should sacred keep no more, Whom she kissed in friendly token / in the land of Burgundy. Adown upon her bosom / the burning tears fell heavily.

1395

On her heart both late and early / lay the heavy thought, How that, herself all guiltless, / thereto she had been brought, That she must share in exile / a heathen monarch's bed. Through Hagen eke and Gunther / come she was to such sore need.

1396

From her heart such longing / seldom might she dismiss. Thought she: "A queen so mighty / I am o'er wealth like this, That I upon mine enemies / may yet avenge me well. Fain were I that on Hagen / of Tronje yet my vengeance fell.

1397

"For friends that once were faithful / full oft my heart doth long. Were they but here beside me / that wrought on me such wrong, Then were in sooth avenged / my lover reft of life; Scarce may I bide that hour," / spake the royal Etzel's wife.

1398

Kriemhild they loved and honored, / the monarch's men each one, As they that came there with her: / well might the same be done. The treasure wielded Eckewart, / and won good knights thereby. The will of Lady Kriemhild might / none in all that land deny.

1399

She mused at every season: / "The king himself I'll pray,"-- That he to her the favor / might grant in friendly way, To bring her kinsmen hither / unto Hunland. What vengeful thought she cherished / might none soever understand.

1400

As she in stillest night-time / by the monarch lay (In his arms enclosed he held her, / as he was wont alway To caress the noble lady: / she was to him as life), Again unto her enemies / turned her thoughts his stately wife.

1401

She spake unto the monarch: / "My lord full dear to me, Now would I pray a favor, / if with thy grace it be, That thou wilt show unto me / if merit such be mine That unto my good kinsmen / truly doth thy heart incline."

1402

The mighty monarch answered / (from guile his heart was free): "Of a truth I tell thee, / if aught of good may be The fortune of thy kinsmen, / --of that I were full fain, For ne'er through love of woman / might I friends more faithful gain."

1403

Thereat again spake Kriemhild: / "That mayst thou well believe, Full high do stand my kinsmen; / the more it doth me grieve That they deign so seldom / hither to take their way. That here I live a stranger, / oft I hear the people say."

1404

Then spake the royal Etzel: / "Beloved lady mine, Seemed not too far the journey, / I'd bid from yond the Rhine Whom thou wouldst gladly welcome / hither unto my land." Thereat rejoiced the lady / when she his will did understand.

1405

Spake she: "Wilt thou true favor / show me, master mine, Then shall thou speed thy messengers / to Worms across the Rhine. Were but my friends acquainted / what thing of them I would, Then to this land came hither / full many a noble knight and good."

1406

He spake: "Whene'er thou biddest, / straight the thing shall be. Thyself mightst ne'er thy kinsmen / here so gladly see, As I the sons of Ute, / high and stately queen. It grieveth me full sorely / that strangers here so long they've been.

1407

"If this thing doth please thee, / beloved lady mine, Then gladly send I thither / unto those friends of thine As messengers my minstrels / to the land of Burgundy." He bade the merry fiddlers / lead before him presently.

1408

Then hastened they full quickly / to where they found the king By side of Kriemhild sitting. / He told them straight the thing, How they should be his messengers / to Burgundy to fare. Full stately raiment bade he / for them straightway eke prepare.

1409

Four and twenty warriors / did they apparel well. Likewise did the monarch / to them the message tell, How that they King Gunther / and his men should bid aright. Them eke the Lady Kriemhild / to secret parley did invite.

1410

Then spake the mighty monarch: / "Now well my words attend. All good and friendly greeting / unto my friends I send, That they may deign to journey / hither to my country. Few be the guests beside them / that were so welcome unto me.

1411

"And if they be so minded / to meet my will in aught, Kriemhild's lofty kinsmen, / that they forego it not To come upon the summer / here where I hold hightide, For that my joy in living / doth greatly with my friends abide."

1412

Then spake the fiddle-player, / Schwemmelein full bold: "When thinkst thou in this country / such high feast to hold, That unto thy friends yonder / tell the same we may?" Thereto spake King Etzel: / "When next hath come midsummer day."

1413

"We'll do as thou commandest," / spake then Werbelein. Unto her own chamber / commanded then the queen To bring in secret manner / the messengers alone. Thereby did naught but sorrow / befall full many a thane anon.

1414

She spake unto the messengers: / "Mickle wealth I give to you, If my will in this matter / right faithfully ye do, And bear what tidings send I / home unto our country. I'll make you rich in treasure / and fair apparelled shall ye be.

1415

"And friends of mine so many / as ever see ye may At Worms by Rhine river, / to them ye ne'er shall say That any mood of sorrow / in me ye yet have seen. Say ye that I commend me / unto the knights full brave and keen."

1416

"Pray them that to King Etzel's / message they give heed, Thereby to relieve me / of all my care and need, Else shall the Huns imagine / that I all friendless am. If I but a knight were, / oft would they see me at their home.

1417

"Eke say ye unto Gernot, / brother to me full dear, To him might never any / disposed be more fair; Pray him that he bring hither / unto this country All our friends most steadfast, / that we thereby shall honored be.

1418

"Say further eke to Giselher / that he do have in mind, That by his guilt I never / did cause for sorrow find; Him therefore would I gladly / here with mine own eyes see, And give him warmest welcome, / so faithful hath he been to me.

1419

"How I am held in honor, / to my mother eke make plain. And if of Tronje Hagen / hath mind there to remain, By whom might they in coming / through unknown lands be shown? The way to Hunland hither / from youth to him hath well been known."

1420

No whit knew the messengers / wherefore she did advise That they of Tronje Hagen / should not in any wise Leave by the Rhine to tarry. / That was anon their bane: Through him to dire destruction / was doomed full many a doughty thane.

1421

Letters and kindly greeting / now to them they give; They fared from thence rich laden, / and merrily might live. Leave then they took of Etzel / and eke his lady fair, And parted on their journey / dight in apparel rich and rare.

TWENTY-FOURTH ADVENTURE

How Werbel and Schwemmel brought the Message

1422

When to the Rhine King Etzel / his messengers had sent, With hasty flight fresh tidings / from land to land there went: With messengers full quickly / to his high festival He bade them, eke and summoned. / To many thereby did death befall.

1423

The messengers o'er the borders / of Hunland thence did fare Unto the land of Burgundy; / thither sent they were Unto three lordly monarchs / and eke their mighty men. To Etzel's land to bid them / hastily they journeyed then.

1424

Unto Bechelaren / rode they on their way, Where found they willing service. / Nor did aught delay Ruediger to commend him / and Gotelinde as well And eke their fairest daughter / to them that by the Rhine did dwell.

1425

They let them not unladen / with gifts from thence depart, So did the men of Etzel / fare on with lighter heart. To Ute and to her household / sent greeting Ruediger, That never margrave any / to them more well disposed were.

1426

Unto Brunhild also / did they themselves commend With willing service offered / and steadfast to the end. Bearing thus fair greeting / the messengers thence did fare, And prayed the noble margravine / that God would have them in his care.

1427

Ere the messengers had fully / passed o'er Bavarian ground, Had the nimble Werbel / the goodly bishop found. What greetings to his kinsmen / unto the Rhine he sent, That I cannot tell you; / the messengers yet from him went

1428

Laden with gold all ruddy, / to keep his memory. Thus spake the Bishop Pilgrim: / "'Twere highest joy to me Might I my sister's children / here see in home of mine, For that I may but seldom / go unto them to the Rhine."

1429

What were the ways they followed / as through the lands they fared, That can I nowise tell you. / Yet never any dared Rob them of wealth or raiment, / for fear of Etzel's hand: A lofty king and noble, / mighty in sooth was his command.

1430

Before twelve days were over / came they unto the Rhine, And rode into Worms city / Werbel and Schwemmelein. Told were soon the tidings / to the kings and their good men, How that were come strange messengers. / Gunther the king did question then.

1431

And spake the monarch further: / "Who here may understand Whence do come these strangers / riding unto our land?" Yet was never any / might answer to him make, Until of Tronje Hagen / thus unto King Gunther spake:

1432

"To us hath come strange tidings / to hand this day, I ween, For Etzel's fiddlers riding / hither have I seen. The same have by thy sister / unto the Rhine been sent: For sake of their high master / now give we them fair compliment."

1433

E'en then did ride the messengers / unto the castle door, And never royal minstrels / more stately went before. By the monarch's servants / well received they were: They gave them fitting lodging / and for their raiment had a care.

1434

Rich and wrought full deftly / was the travelling-dress they wore, Wherein they well with honor / might go the king before; Yet they at court no longer / would the same garments wear. The messengers inquired / if any were might wish them there.

1435

In sooth in such condition / many eke were found, Who would receive them gladly; / to such they dealt around. Then decked themselves the strangers / in garments richer far, Such as royal messengers / beseemeth well at court to wear.

1436

By royal leave came forward / to where the monarch sat The men that came from Etzel, / and joy there was thereat. Hagen then to meet them / in courteous manner went, And heartily did greet them, / whereat they gave fair compliment.

1437

To know what were the tidings, / to ask he then began How did find him Etzel / and each valiant man. Then answer gave the fiddler: / "Ne'er higher stood the land, Nor the folk so joyous: / that shall ye surely understand."

1438

They went unto the monarch. / Crowded was the hall. There were received the strangers / as of right men shall Kindly greeting offer / in other monarch's land. Many a valiant warrior / saw Werbel by King Gunther stand.

1439

Right courteously the monarch / began to greet them then: "Now be ye both right welcome, / Hunland's merry men, And knights that give you escort. / Hither sent are ye By Etzel mighty monarch / unto the land of Burgundy?"

1440

They bowed before the monarch; / then spake Werbelein: "My dear lord and master, / and Kriemhild, sister thine, Hither to thy country / give fairest compliment. In faith of kindly welcome / us unto you they now have sent."

1441

Then spake the lofty ruler: / "I joy o'er this ye bring. How liveth royal Etzel," / further spake the king, "And Kriemhild, my sister, / afar in Hunland?" Then answered him the fiddler: / "That shalt thou straightway understand.

1442

"That never any people / more lordly life might show Than they both do joy in, / --that shalt thou surely know,-- Wherein do share their kinsmen / and all their doughty train. When from them we parted, / of our journey were they fain."

1443

"My thanks for these high greetings / ye bring at his command And from my royal sister. / That high in joy they stand, The monarch and his kinsmen, / rejoiceth me to hear. For, sooth to say, the tidings / asked I now in mickle fear."

1444

The twain of youthful princes / were eke come thitherward, As soon as they the tidings / from afar had heard. Right glad were seen the messengers / for his dear sister's sake By the young Giselher, / who in such friendly manner spake:

1445

"Right hearty were your welcome / from me and brother mine, Would ye but more frequent / ride hither to the Rhine; Here found ye friends full many / whom glad ye were to see, And naught but friendly favors / the while that in this land ye be."

1446

"To us how high thy favor," / spake Schwemmel, "know we well; Nor with my best endeavor / might I ever tell How kindly is the greeting / we bear from Etzel's hand And from your noble sister, / who doth in highest honor stand.

1447

"Your sometime love and duty / recalleth Etzel's queen, And how to her devoted / in heart we've ever been, But first to royal Gunther / do we a message bear, And pray it be your pleasure / unto Etzel's land to fare.

1448

"To beg of you that favor / commanded o'er and o'er Etzel mighty monarch / and bids you know the more, An will ye not your sister / your faces give to see, So would he know full gladly / wherein by him aggrieved ye be,

1449

"That ye thus are strangers / to him and all his men. If that his spouse so lofty / to you had ne'er been known, Yet well he thought to merit / that him ye'd deign to see; In sooth could naught rejoice him / more than that such thing might be."

1450

Then spake the royal Gunther: / "A sennight from this day Shall ye have an answer, / whereon decide I may With my friends in counsel. / The while shall ye repair Unto your place of lodging, / and right goodly be your fare."

1451

Then spake in answer Werbel: / "And might such favor be That we the royal mistress / should first have leave to see, Ute, the lofty lady, / ere that we seek our rest?" To him the noble Giselher / in courteous wise these words addressed.

1452

"That grace shall none forbid you. / Will ye my mother greet, Therein do ye most fully / her own desire meet. For sake of my good sister / fain is she you to see, For sake of Lady Kriemhild / ye shall to her full welcome be."

1453

Giselher then led him / unto the lofty dame, Who fain beheld the messengers / from Hunland that came. She greeted them full kindly / as lofty manner taught, And in right courteous fashion / told they to her the tale they brought.

1454

"Pledge of loyal friendship / sendeth unto thee Now my lofty mistress," / spake Schwemmel. "Might it be, That she should see thee often, / then shalt thou know full well, In all the world there never / a greater joy to her befell."

1455

Replied the royal lady: / "Such thing may never be. Gladly as would I oft-times / my dearest daughter see, Too far, alas, is distant / the noble monarch's wife. May ever yet full happy / with King Etzel be her life.

1456

"See that ye well advise me, / ere that ye hence are gone, What time shall be your parting; / for messengers I none Have seen for many seasons / as glad as greet I you." The twain gave faithful promise / such courtesy full sure to do.

1457

Forthwith to seek their lodgings / the men of Hunland went, The while the mighty monarch / for trusted warriors sent, Of whom did noble Gunther / straightway question make, How thought they of the message. / Whereupon full many spake

1458

That he might well with honor / to Etzel's land be bound, The which did eke advise him / the highest 'mongst them found, All save Hagen only, / whom sorely grieved such rede. Unto the king in secret / spake he: "Ill shall be thy meed.

1459

"What deed we twain compounded / art thou full well aware, Wherefor good cause we ever / shall have Kriemhild to fear, For that her sometime husband / I slew by my own hand. How dare we ever journey / then unto King Etzel's land?"

1460

Replied the king: "My sister / no hate doth harbor more. As we in friendship kissed her, / vengeance she forswore For evil that we wrought her, / ere that from hence she rode,-- Unless this message, Hagen, / ill for thee alone forebode."

1461

"Now be thou not deceived," / spake Hagen, "say what may The messengers from Hunland. / If thither be thy way, At Kriemhild's hands thou losest / honor eke and life, For full long-avenging / is the royal Etzel's wife."

1462

Added then his counsel / the princely Gernot there: "Though be it thou hast reason / thine own death to fear Afar in Hunnish kingdom, / should we for that forego To visit our high sister, / that were in sooth but ill to do."

1463

Unto that thane did likewise / Giselher then say: "Since well thou know'st, friend Hagen, / what guilt on thee doth weigh, Then tarry here behind us / and of thyself have care, And let who dares the journey / with us unto my sister fare."

1464

Thereat did rage full sorely / Tronje's doughty thane: "So shall ye ne'er find any / that were to go more fain, Nor who may better guide you / than I upon your way. And will ye not give over, / know then my humor soon ye may."

1465

Then spake the Kitchen Master, / Rumold a lofty thane: "Here might ye guests and kinsmen / in plenty long maintain After your own pleasure, / for ye have goodly store. I ween ye ne'er found Hagen / traitor to you heretofore.

1466

"If heed ye will not Hagen, / still Rumold doth advise --For ye have faithful service / from me in willing wise-- That here at home ye tarry / for the love of me, And leave the royal Etzel / afar with Kriemhild to be.

1467

"Where in the world might ever / ye more happy be Than here where from danger / of every foeman free, Where ye may go as likes you / in goodliest attire, Drink wine the best, and stately / women meet your heart's desire.

1468

"And daily is your victual / the best that ever knew A king of any country. / And were the thing not true, At home ye yet should tarry / for sake of your fair wife Ere that in childish fashion / ye thus at venture set your life.

1469

"Thus rede I that ye go not. / Mighty are your lands, And at home more easy may ye / be freed from hostile hands Than if ye pine in Hunland. / How there it is, who knows? O Master, go not thither, / --such is the rede that Rumold owes."

1470

"We'll ne'er give o'er the journey," / Gernot then did say, "When thus our sister bids us / in such friendly way And Etzel, mighty monarch. / Wherefore should we refrain? Who goes not gladly thither, / here at home may he remain."

1471

Thereto gave answer Hagen: / "Take not amiss, I pray, These my words outspoken, / let befall what may. Yet do I counsel truly, / as ye your safety prize, That to the Huns ye journey / armed full well in warlike guise.

1472

"Will ye then not give over, / your men together call, The best that ye may gather / from districts one and all. From out them all I'll choose you / a thousand knights full good, Then may ye reck but little / the vengeful Kriemhild's angry mood."

1473

"I'll gladly heed thy counsel," / straight the king replied, And bade the couriers traverse / his kingdom far and wide. Soon they brought together / three thousand men or more, Who little weened what mickle / sorrow was for them in store.

1474

Joyful came they riding / to King Gunther's land. Steeds and equipment for them / all he did command, Who should make the journey / thence from Burgundy. Warriors many were there / to serve the king right willingly.

1475

Hagen then of Tronje / to Dankwart did assign Of their warriors eighty / to lead unto the Rhine. Equipped in knightly harness / were they soon at hand. Riding in gallant fashion / unto royal Gunther's land.

1476

Came eke the doughty Volker, / a noble minstrel he, With thirty goodly warriors / to join the company, Who wore so rich attire / 'twould fit a monarch well. That he would fare to Hunland, / bade he unto Gunther tell.

1477

Who was this same Volker / that will I let you know: He was a knight full noble, / to him did service owe Many a goodly warrior / in the land of Burgundy. For that he well could fiddle, / named the Minstrel eke was he.

1478

Thousand men chose Hagen, / who well to him were known. What things in storm of battle / their doughty arm had done, Or what they wrought at all times, / that knew he full well. Nor of them might e'er mortal / aught but deeds of valor tell.

1479

The messengers of Kriemhild, / full loath they were to wait, For of their master's anger / stood they in terror great. Each day for leave to journey / more great their yearning grew, But daily to withhold it / crafty Hagen pretext knew.

1480

He spake unto his master: / "Well shall we beware Hence to let them journey / ere we ourselves prepare In seven days thereafter / to ride to Etzel's land: If any mean us evil, / so may we better understand.

1481

"Nor may the Lady Kriemhild / ready make thereto, That any by her counsel / scathe to us may do. Yet if such wish she cherish, / evil shall be her meed, For many a chosen warrior / with us shall we thither lead."

1482

Shields well-wrought and saddles, / with all the mickle gear That into Etzel's country / the warriors should wear, The same was now made ready / for many a knight full keen. The messengers of Kriemhild / before King Gunther soon were seen.

1483

When were come the messengers, / Gernot them addressed: "King Gunther now is minded / to answer Etzel's quest. Full gladly go we thither / with him to make high-tide And see our lofty sister, / --of that set ye all doubt aside."

1484

Thereto spake King Gunther: / "Can ye surely say When shall be the high-tide, / or upon what day We shall there assemble?" / Spake Schwemmel instantly: "At turn of sun in summer / shall in sooth the meeting be."

1485

The monarch leave did grant them, / ere they should take their way, If that to Lady Brunhild / they would their homage pay, His high pleasure was it / they unto her should go. Such thing prevented Volker, / and did his mistress' pleasure so.

1486

"In sooth, my Lady Brunhild / hath scarce such health to-day As that she might receive you," / the gallant knight did say. "Bide ye till the morrow, / may ye the lady see." When thus they sought her presence, / might their wish not granted be.

1487

To the messengers right gracious / was the mighty king, And bade he from his treasure / on shields expansive bring Shining gold in plenty / whereof he had great store. Eke richest gifts received they / from his lofty kinsmen more.

1488

Giselher and Gernot, / Gere and Ortwein, That they were free in giving / soon full well was seen. So costly gifts were offered / unto each messenger That they dared not receive them, / for Etzel's anger did they fear.

1489

Then unto King Gunther / Werbel spake again: Sire, let now thy presents / in thine own land remain. The same we may not carry, / my master hath decreed That we accept no bounty. / Of that in sooth we've little need."

1490

Thereat the lord of Rhineland / was seen in high displeasure, That they should thus accept not / so mighty monarch's treasure? In their despite yet took they / rich dress and gold in store, The which moreover with them / home to Etzel's land they bore.

1491

Ere that they thence departed / they Lady Ute sought, Whereat the gallant Giselher / straight the minstrels brought Unto his mother's presence. / Kind greetings sent the dame, And wish that high in honor / still might stand her daughter's name.

1492

Then bade the lofty lady / embroidered silks and gold For the sake of Kriemhild, / whom loved she as of old, And eke for sake of Etzel, / unto the minstrels give. What thus so free was offered / might they in sooth right fain receive.

1493

Soon now had ta'en departure / the messengers from thence, From knight and fairest lady, / and joyous fared they hence Unto Suabian country; / Gernot had given behest Thus far for armed escort, / that none their journey might molest.

1494

When these had parted from them, / safe still from harm were they, For Etzel's might did guard them / wherever led their way. Nor ever came there any / that aught to take would dare, As into Etzel's country / they in mickle haste did fare.

1495

Where'er they friends encountered, / to all they straight made known How that they of Burgundy / should follow after soon From Rhine upon their journey / unto the Huns' country. The message brought they likewise / unto Bishop Pilgrim's see.

1496

As down 'fore Bechelaren / they passed upon their way, The tidings eke to Ruediger / failed they not to say, And unto Gotelinde, / the margrave's wife the same. At thought so soon to see them / was filled with joy the lofty dame.

1497

Hasting with the tidings / each minstrel's courser ran, Till found they royal Etzel / within his burgh at Gran. Greeting upon greeting, / which they must all bestow, They to the king delivered; / with joy his visage was aglow.

1498

When that the lofty Kriemhild / did eke the tidings hear, How that her royal brothers / unto the land would fare, In sooth her heart was gladdened; / on the minstrels she bestowed Richest gifts in plenty, / as she to her high station owed.

1499

She spake: "Now shall ye, Werbel / and Schwemmel, tell to me Who cometh of my kinsmen / to our festivity, Who of all were bidden / this our land to seek? Now tell me, when the message / heard he, what did Hagen speak?"

1500

Answered: "He came to council / early upon a day, But little was of pleasant / in what he there did say. When learned he their intention, / in wrath did Hagen swear, To death 'twere making journey, / to country of the Huns to fare.

1501

"Hither all are coming, / thy royal brothers three, And they right high in spirit. / Who more shall with them be, The tale to tell entire / were more than I might do. To journey with them plighted / Volker the valiant fiddler too."

1502

"'Twere little lost, full truly," / answered then the queen, "If by my eyes never / Volker here were seen. 'Tis Hagen hath my favor, / a noble knight is he, And mickle is my pleasure / that him full soon we here may see."

1503

Her way the Lady Kriemhild / then to the king did take, And in right joyous manner / unto her consort spake: "How liketh thee the tidings, / lord full dear to me? What aye my heart hath yearned for, / that shall now accomplished be."

1504

"Thy will my joy was ever," / the lofty monarch said. "In sooth for my own kinsmen / I ne'er have been so glad, To hear that they come hither / unto my country. To know thy friends are coming, / hath parted sadness far from me."

1505

Straight did the royal provosts / give everywhere decree That hall and stately palace / well prepared should be With seats, that unprovided / no worthy guest be left. Anon by them the monarch / should be of mickle joy bereft.

TWENTY-FIFTH ADVENTURE

How the Knights all fared to the Huns

1506

Tell we now no further / how they here did fare. Knights more high in spirit / saw ye journey ne'er In so stately fashion / to the land of e'er a king. Of arms and rich attire / lacked they never anything.

1507

At Rhine the lordly monarch / equipped his warriors well, A thousand knights and sixty, / as I did hear tell, And eke nine thousand squires / toward the festivity. Whom they did leave behind them / anon must mourn full grievously.

1508

As at Worms across the courtyard / equipment full they bore Spake there of Speyer / a bishop old and hoar Unto Lady Ute: / "Our friends have mind to fare Unto the festivity; / may God their honor have in care."

1509

Then spake unto her children / Ute the noble dame: "At home ye here should tarry, / ye knights full high in fame. Me dreamt but yester even / a case of direst need, How that in this country / all the feathered fowl were dead."

1510

"Who recketh aught of dreamings," / Hagen then replied, "Distraught is sure his counsel / when trouble doth betide, Or he would of his honor / have a perfect care. I counsel that my master / straight to take his leave prepare.

1511

"Gladly shall we journey / into Etzel's land; There at their master's service / may good knights ready stand, For that we there shall witness / Kriemhild's festivity." That Hagen gave such counsel, / rue anon full sore did he.

1512

Yet in sooth far other / than this had been his word, Had not with bitter mocking / Gernot his anger stirred. He spake to him of Siegfried / whom Kriemhild loved so, And said: "Therefore the journey / would Hagen willingly forego."

1513

Then spake of Tronje Hagen: / "Through fear I nothing do. Whenever will ye, Masters, / set straight your hand thereto, With you I'll gladly journey / unto Etzel's land." Many a shield and helmet / there hewed anon his mighty hand.

1514

The ships stood ready waiting, / whereunto ample store Of clothing for the journey / men full many bore, Nor had they time for resting / till shades of even fell. Anon in mood full joyous / bade they friends at home farewell.

1515

Tents full large and many / arose upon the green, Yonder side Rhine river. / But yet the winsome queen Caressed the doughty monarch / that night, and still did pray That far from Etzel's country / among his kinsmen might he stay.

1516

When sound of flute and trumpet / arose at break of day, A signal for their parting, / full soon they took their way. Each lover to his bosom / did friend more fondly press: King Etzel's wife full many / did part anon in dire distress.

1517

The sons of stately Ute, / a good knight had they, A brave man and a faithful. / When they would thence away, Apart unto the monarch / did he his mind reveal, And spake: "That ye will journey, / may I naught but sorrow feel."

1518

Hight the same was Rumold, / a man of doughty hand. He spake: "To whom now leave ye / people here and land? O that never any / might alter your intent! Small good, methinks, may follow / message e'er by Kriemhild sent."

1519

"The land to thee entrusted / and eke my child shall be, And tender care of ladies, / --so hast command from me. Whene'er thou seest weeping, / do there thy comfort give. Yea, trust we free from sorrow / at hand of Etzel's wife to live."

1520

For knight and royal master / the chargers ready were, As with fond embracing / parted many there, Who long in joy together / a merry life had led. By winsome dame full many / therefor must bitter tear be shed.

1521

As did those doughty warriors / into the saddle spring, Might full many a lady / be seen there sorrowing; For told them well their spirit / that thus so long to part Did bode a dire peril, / the which must ever cloud the heart.

1522

As mounted stood the valiant / thanes of Burgundy, Might ye a mickle stirring / in that country see, Both men and women weeping / on either riverside. Yet pricked they gaily forward, / let what might their folk betide.

1523

The Nibelungen warriors / in hauberks bright arrayed Went with them, a thousand, / while at home behind them stayed Full many a winsome lady, / whom saw they nevermore. The wounds of doughty Siegfried / still grieved the Lady Kriemhild sore.

1524

Their journey they directed / onward to the Main, Up through East Frankish country, / the men of Gunther's train Thither led by Hagen, / who well that country knew; Marshal to them was Dankwart, / a knight of Burgundy full true.

1525

On from East Frankish country / to Schwanefeld they went, A train of valiant warriors / of high accomplishment, The monarchs and their kinsmen, / all knights full worthy fame. Upon the twelfth morning / the king unto the Danube came.

1526

The knight of Tronje, Hagen, / the very van did lead, Ever to the Nibelungen / a surest help in need. First the thane full valiant / down leapt upon the ground, And straightway then his charger / fast unto a tree he bound.

1527

Flooded were the waters / and ne'er a boat was near, Whereat began the Nibelungen / all in dread to fear They ne'er might cross the river, / so mighty was the flood. Dismounted on the shore, / full many a stately knight then stood.

1528

"Ill may it," spake then Hagen, / "fare here with thee, Lord of Rhine river. / Now thyself mayst see How flooded are the waters, / and swift the current flows. I ween, before the morrow / here many a goodly knight we lose."

1529

"How wilt reproach me, Hagen?" / the lofty monarch spake. I pray thee yet all comfort / not from our hearts to take. The ford shalt thou discover / whereby we may pass o'er, Horse and equipment bringing / safely unto yonder shore."

1530

"In sooth, not I," quoth Hagen, / "am yet so weary grown Of life, that in these waters / wide I long to drown. Ere that, shall warriors sicken / in Etzel's far country Beneath my own arm stricken: / --'tis my intent full certainly.

1531

"Here tarry by the water, / ye gallant knights and good, The while I seek the boatmen / myself along the flood, Who will bring us over / into Gelfrat's land." With that the doughty Hagen / took his trusty shield in hand.

1532

He cap-a-pie was armed, / as thus he strode away, Upon his head a helmet / that gleamed with brilliant ray, And o'er his warlike harness / a sword full broad there hung, That on both its edges / did fiercely cut, in battle swung.

1533

He sought to find the boatmen / if any might be near, When sound of falling waters / full soon upon his ear. Beside a rippling fountain, / where ran the waters cool, A group of wise mermaidens / did bathe themselves within the pool.

1534

Ware of them soon was Hagen / and stole in secret near, But fast away they hurried / when they the sound did hear. That they at all escaped him, / filled they were with glee. The knight did take their clothing, / yet wrought none other injury.

1535

Then spake the one mermaiden, / Hadburg that hight: "Hagen, knight full noble, / tell will we thee aright, An wilt thou, valiant warrior, / our garments but give o'er, What fortune may this journey / to Hunland have for thee in store."

1536

They hovered there before him / like birds above the flood, Wherefore did think the warrior / that tell strange things they could, And all the more believed he / what they did feign to say, As to his eager question / in ready manner answered they.

1537

Spake one: "Well may ye journey / to Etzel's country. Thereto my troth I give thee / in full security That ne'er in any kingdom / might high guests receive Such honors as there wait you, / --this may ye in sooth believe."

1538

To hear such speech was Hagen / in sooth right glad of heart; He gave to them their garments, / and straightway would depart. But when in strange attire / they once more were dight, Told they of the journey / into Etzel's land aright.

1539

Spake then the other mermaid, / Siegelind that hight: "I warn thee, son of Aldrian, / Hagen valiant knight, 'Twas but to gain her clothing / my cousin falsely said, For, comest thou to Hunland, / sorely shalt thou be betrayed.

1540

"Yea, that thou turnest backward / is fitter far, I ween; For but your death to compass / have all ye warriors keen Received now the bidding / unto Etzel's land. Whose doth thither journey, / death leadeth surely by the hand."

1541

Thereto gave answer Hagen: / "False speech hath here no gain. How might it ever happen / that we all were slain Afar in Etzel's country / through hate of any man?" To tell the tale more fully / unto him she then began.

1542

Spake again the other: / "The thing must surely be, That of you never any / his home again shall see, Save only the king's chaplain; / well do we understand That he unscathed returneth / unto royal Gunther's land."

1543

Then spake the valiant Hagen / again in angry way: "Unto my royal masters / 'twere little joy to say That we our lives must forfeit / all in Hunland. Now show us, wisest woman, / how pass we safe to yonder strand."

1544

She spake: "Since from thy purposed / journey thou wilt not turn, Where upward by the water / a cabin stands, there learn Within doth dwell a boatman, / nor other find thou mayst." No more did Hagen question, / but strode away from there in haste.

1545

As went he angry-minded / one from afar did say: "Now tarry still, Sir Hagen; / why so dost haste away? Give ear yet while we tell thee / how thou reachest yonder strand. Master here is Else, / who doth rule this borderland.

1546

"Hight is his brother Gelfrat, / and is a thane full rare, Lord o'er Bavarian country. / Full ill with you 'twill fare, Will ye pass his border. / Watchful must ye be, And eke with the ferryman / 'twere well to walk right modestly.

1547

"He is so angry-minded / that sure thy bane 'twill be, Wilt thou not show the warrior / all civility. Wilt thou that he transport thee, / give all the boatman's due. He guardeth well the border / and unto Gelfrat is full true.

1548

"If he be slow to answer, / then call across the flood That thy name is Amelrich. / That was a knight full good, Who for a feud did sometime / go forth from out this land. The ferryman will answer, / when he the name doth understand.

1549

Hagen high of spirit / before those women bent, Nor aught did say, but silent / upon his way he went. Along the shore he wandered / till higher by the tide On yonder side the river / a cabin standing he espied.

1550

He straight began a calling / across the flood amain. "Now fetch me over, boatman," / cried the doughty thane. "A golden armband ruddy / I'll give to thee for meed. Know that to make this crossing / I in sooth have very need."

1551

Not fitting 'twas high ferryman / his service thus should give, And recompense from any / seldom might he receive; Eke were they that served him / full haughty men of mood. Still alone stood Hagen / on the hither side the flood.

1552

Then cried he with such power / the wave gave back the sound, For in strength far-reaching / did the knight abound: "Fetch me now, for Amelrich, / Else's man, am I, That for feud outbroken / erstwhile from this land did fly."

1553

Full high upon his sword-point / an armband did he hold, Fair and shining was it / made of ruddy gold, The which he offered to him / for fare to Gelfrat's land. The ferryman high-hearted / himself did take the oar in hand.

1554

To do with that same boatman / was ne'er a pleasant thing; The yearning after lucre / yet evil end doth bring. Here where thought he Hagen's / gold so red to gain, Must he by the doughty / warrior's fierce sword be slain.

1555

With might across the river / his oar the boatman plied, But he who there was named / might nowhere be espied. His rage was all unbounded / when he did Hagen find, And loud his voice resounded / as thus he spake his angry mind:

1556

"Thou mayst forsooth be called / Amelrich by name: Whom I here did look for, / no whit art thou the same. By father and by mother / brother he was to me. Since me thou thus hast cozened, / so yet this side the river be."

1557

"Nay, by highest Heaven," / Hagen did declare. "Here am I a stranger / that have good knights in care. Now take in friendly manner / here my offered pay, And guide me o'er the ferry; / my favor hast thou thus alway."

1558

Whereat replied the boatman: / "The thing may never be. There are that to my masters / do bear hostility; Wherefore I never stranger / do lead into this land. As now thy life thou prizest, / step straightway out upon the strand."

1559

"Deny me not," quoth Hagen, / "for sad in sooth my mood. Take now for remembrance / this my gold so good, And carry men a thousand / and horses to yonder shore." Quoth in rage the boatman: / "Such thing will happen nevermore."

1560

Aloft he raised an oar / that mickle was and strong, And dealt such blow on Hagen, / (but rued he that ere long,) That in the boat did stumble / that warrior to his knee. In sooth so savage boatman / ne'er did the knight of Tronje see.

1561

With thought the stranger's anger / the more to rouse anew, He swung a mighty boat-pole / that it in pieces flew Upon the crown of Hagen;-- / he was a man of might. Thereby did Else's boatman / come anon to sorry plight.

1562

Full sore enraged was Hagen, / as quick his hand he laid Upon his sword where hanging / he found the trusty blade. His head he struck from off him / and flung into the tide. Known was soon the story / to the knights of Burgundy beside.

1563

While the time was passing / that he the boatman slew, The waters bore him downward, / whereat he anxious grew. Ere he the boat had righted / began his strength to wane, So mightily was pulling / royal Gunther's doughty thane.

1564

Soon he yet had turned it, / so rapid was his stroke, Until the mighty oar / beneath his vigor broke. As strove he his companions / upon the bank to gain, No second oar he found him. / Yet soon the same made fast again.

1565

With quickly snatched shield-strap, / a fine and narrow band. Downward where stood a forest / he sought again the land, And there his master found he / standing upon the shore. In haste came forth to meet him / many a stately warrior more.

1566

The gallant knight they greeted / with right hearty mood. When in the boat perceived they / reeking still the blood That from the wound had issued / where Hagen's sword did swing, Scarce could his companions / bring to an end their questioning.

1567

When that royal Gunther / the streaming blood did see Within the boat there running, / straightway then spake he: "Where is now the ferryman, / tell me, Hagen, pray? By thy mighty prowess / his life, I ween, is ta'en away."

1568

Thereto replied he falsely: / "When the boat I found Where slopeth a wild meadow, / I the same unbound. Hereabout no ferryman / I to-day have seen, Nor ever cause of sorrow / unto any have I been."

1569

The good knight then of Burgundy, / the gallant Gernot, spake: "Dear friends full many, fear I, / the flood this day will take, Since we of the boatmen / none ready here may find To guide us o'er the current. / 'Tis mickle sorrow to my mind."

1570

Full loudly cried then Hagen: / "Lay down upon the grass, Ye squires, the horse equipments. / I ween a time there was, Myself was best of boatmen / that dwelt the Rhine beside. To Gelfrat's country trow I / to bring you safely o'er the tide."

1571

That they might come the sooner / across the running flood, Drove they in the horses. / Their swimming, it was good, For of them never any / beneath the waves did sink, Though many farther downward / must struggle sore to gain the brink.

1572

Their treasure and apparel / unto the boat they bore, Since by no means the journey / thought they to give o'er. Hagen was director, / and safely reached the strand With many a stalwart warrior / bound unto the unknown land.

1573

Gallant knights a thousand / first he ferried o'er, Whereafter came his own men. / Of others still were more, For squires full nine thousand / he led unto that land. That day no whit was idle / that valiant knight of Tronje's hand.

1574

When he them all in safety / o'er the flood had brought, Of that strange story / the valiant warrior thought, Which erstwhile had told him / those women of the sea. Lost thereby the chaplain's / life well-nigh was doomed to be.

1575

Beside his priestly baggage / he saw the chaplain stand, Upon the holy vestments / resting with his hand. No whit was that his safety; / when Hagen him did see, Must the priest full wretched / suffer sorest injury.

1576

From out the boat he flung him / ere might the thing be told, Whereat they cried together: / "Hold, O Master, hold!" Soon had the youthful Giselher / to rage thereat begun, And mickle was his sorrow / that Hagen yet the thing had done.

1577

Then outspake Sir Gernot, / knight of Burgundy: "What boots it thee, Sir Hagen, / that thus the chaplain die? Dared any else to do it, / thy wrath 'twould sorely stir. Wherein the priest's offending, / thus thy malice to incur?"

1578

To swim the chaplain struggled. / He thought him yet to free, If any but would help him. / Yet such might never be, For that the doughty Hagen / full wrathful was of mood, He sunk him to the bottom, / whereat aghast each warrior stood.

1579

When that no help forthcoming / the wretched priest might see, He sought the hither shore, / and fared full grievously. Though failed his strength in swimming, / yet helped him God's own hand, That he came securely / back again unto the land.

1580

Safe yonder stood the chaplain / and shook his dripping dress. Thereby perceived Hagen / how true was none the less The story that did tell him / the strange women of the sea. Thought he: "Of these good warriors / soon the days must ended be."

1581

When that the boat was emptied, / and complete their store All the monarch's followers / had borne upon the shore, Hagen smote it to pieces / and cast it on the flood, Whereat in mickle wonder / the valiant knights around him stood.

1582

"Wherefore dost this, brother," / then Sir Dankwart spake; "How shall we cross the river / when again we make Our journey back from Hunland, / riding to the Rhine?" Behold how Hagen bade him / all such purpose to resign.

1583

Quoth the knight of Tronje: / "This thing is done by me, That if e'er coward rideth / in all our company, Who for lack of courage / from us away would fly, He beneath these billows / yet a shameful death must die."

1584

One there journeyed with them / from the land of Burgundy, That was a knight of valor, / Volker by name was he. He spake in cunning manner / whate'er might fill his mind, And aught was done by Hagen / did the Fiddler fitting find.

1585

Ready stood their chargers, / the carriers laden well; At passage of the river / was there naught to tell Of scathe to any happened, / save but the king's chaplain. Afoot must he now journey / back unto the Rhine again.

TWENTY-SIXTH ADVENTURE

How Gelfrat was Slain by Dankwart

1586

When now they all were gathered / upon the farther strand, To wonder gan the monarch: / "Who shall through this land On routes aright direct us, / that not astray we fare?" Then spake the doughty Volker: / "Thereof will I alone have care."

1587

"Now hark ye all," quoth Hagen, / "knight and squire too, And list to friendly counsel, / as fitting is to do. Full strange and dark the tidings / now ye shall hear from me: Home nevermore return we / unto the land of Burgundy.

1588

"Thus mermaids twain did tell me, / who spake to me this morn, That back we come not hither. / You would I therefore warn That armed well ye journey / and of all ills beware. To meet with doughty foemen / well behooveth us prepare.

1589

"I weened to turn to falsehood / what those wise mermaids spake, Who said that safe this journey / none again should make Home unto our country / save the chaplain alone: Him therefore was I minded / to-day beneath the flood to drown."

1590

From company to company / quickly flew the tale, Whereon grew many a doughty / warrior's visage pale, As gan he think in sorrow / how death should snatch away All ere the journey ended; / and very need for grief had they.

1591

By Moeringen was it / they had the river crossed, Where also Else's boatman / thus his life had lost. There again spake Hagen: / "Since in such wise by me Wrath hath been incurred, / assailed full surely shall we be.

1592

"Myself that same ferryman / did this morning slay. Far bruited are the tidings. / Now arm ye for the fray, That if Gelfrat and Else / be minded to beset Our train to-day, they surely / with sore discomfiture be met.

1593

"So keen they are, well know I / the thing they'll not forego. Your horses therefore shall ye / make to pace more slow, That never man imagine / we flee away in fear." "That counsel will I follow," / spake the young knight Giselher.

1594

"Who will guide our vanguard / through this hostile land?" "Volker shall do it," spake they, / "well doth he understand Where leadeth path and highway, / a minstrel brave and keen." Ere full the wish was spoken, / in armor well equipped was seen

1595

Standing the doughty Fiddler. / His helmet fast he bound, And from his stately armor / shot dazzling light around. Eke to a staff he fastened / a banner, red of hue. Anon with royal masters / came he to sorest sorrow too.

1596

Unto Gelfrat meanwhile / had sure tidings flown, How that was dead his boatman; / the story eke was known Unto the doughty Else, / and both did mourn his fate. Their warriors they summoned, / nor must long time for answer wait.

1597

But little space it lasted / --that would I have you know-- Ere that to them hasted / who oft a mickle woe Had wrought in stress of battle / and injury full sore; To Gelfrat now came riding / seven hundred knights or more.

1598

When they their foes to follow / so bitterly began, Led them both their masters. / Yet all too fast they ran After the valiant strangers / vengeance straight to wreak. Ere long from those same leaders / did death full many a warrior take.

1599

Hagen then of Tronje / the thing had ordered there, --How of his friends might ever / knight have better care?-- That he did keep the rearguard / with warriors many a one, And Dankwart eke, his brother; / full wisely the thing was done.

1600

When now the day was over / and light they had no more, Injury to his followers / gan he to dread full sore. They shield in hand rode onward / through Bavarian land, And ere they long had waited / beset they were by hostile band.

1601

On either side the highway / and close upon their rear Of hoofs was heard the clatter; / too keen the chasers were. Then spake the valiant Dankwart: / "The foe is close at hand. Now bind we on the helmet, / --wisdom doth the same command."

1602

Upon the way they halted, / nor else they safe had been. Through the gloom perceived they / of gleaming shields the sheen. Thereupon would Hagen / longer not delay: "Who rideth on the highway?"-- / That must Gelfrat tell straight-way.

1603

Of Bavaria the margrave / thereupon replied: "Our enemies now seek we, / and swift upon them ride. Fain would I discover / who hath my boatman slain. A knight he was of valor, / whose death doth cause me grievous pain."

1604

Then spake of Tronje Hagen: / "And was the boatman thine That would not take us over? / The guilt herein is mine. Myself did slay the warrior, / and had, in sooth, good need, For that beneath his valor / I myself full nigh lay dead.

1605

"For pay I rich attire / did bid, and gold a store, Good knight, that to thy country / he should us ferry o'er. Thereat he raged full sorely / and on me swung a blow With a mighty boat-pole, / whereat I eke did angry grow.

1606

"For my sword then reached I / and made his rage to close With a wound all gaping: / so thou thy knight didst lose. I'll give thee satisfaction / as to thee seemeth good." Straightway began the combat, / for high the twain in valor stood.

1607

"Well know I," spake Gelfrat, / "when Gunther with his train Rode through this my country / that we should suffer bane From Hagen, knight of Tronje. / No more shall he go free, But for my boatman's slaying / here a hostage must he be."

1608

Against their shields then lowered / for the charge the spear Gelfrat and Hagen; / eager to close they were. Else and Dankwart / spurred eke in stately way, Scanning each the other; / then both did valorous arm display.

1609

How might ever heroes / show doughty arm so well? Backward from off his charger / from mighty tilt there fell Hagen the valiant, / by Gelfrat's hand borne down. In twain was rent the breast-piece: / to Hagen thus a fall was known.

1610

Where met in charge their followers, / did crash of shafts resound. Risen eke was Hagen, / who erst unto the ground Was borne by mighty lance-thrust, / prone upon the grass. I ween that unto Gelfrat / nowise of gentle mood he was.

1611

Who held their horses' bridles / can I not recount, But soon from out their saddles / did they all dismount. Hagen and Gelfrat / straightway did fierce engage, And all their men around them / did eke a furious combat wage.

1612

Though with fierce onslaught Hagen / upon Gelfrat sprung, On his shield the noble margrave / a sword so deftly swung That a piece from off the border / 'mid flying sparks it clave. Well-nigh beneath its fury / fell dead King Gunther's warrior brave.

1613

Unto Dankwart loudly / thereat he gan to cry: "Help! ho! my good brother! / Encountered here have I A knight of arm full doughty, / from whom I come not free." Then spake the valiant Dankwart: / "Myself thereof the judge will be."

1614

Nearer sprang the hero / and smote him such a blow With a keen-edged weapon / that he in death lay low. For his slain brother Else / vengeance thought to take, But soon with all his followers / 'mid havoc swift retreat must make.

1615

Slain was now his brother, / wound himself did bear, And of his followers eighty / eke had fallen there, By grim death snatched sudden. / Then must the doughty knight, From Gunther's men to save him, / turn away in hasty flight.

1616

When that they of Bavaria / did from the carnage flee, The blows that followed after / resounded frightfully; For close the knights of Tronje / upon their enemies chased, Who to escape the fury / did quit the field in mickle haste.

1617

Then spake upon their fleeing / Dankwart the doughty thane: "Upon our way now let us / backward turn again, And leave them hence to hasten / all wet with oozing blood. Unto our friends return we, / this verily meseemeth good."

1618

When back they were returned / where did the scathe befall, Outspake of Tronje Hagen: / "Now look ye, warriors all, Who of our tale is lacking, / or who from us hath been Here in battle riven / through the doughty Gelfrat's spleen."

1619

Lament they must for warriors / four from them were ta'en. But paid for were they dearly, / for roundabout lay slain Of their Bavarian foemen / a hundred or more. The men of Tronje's bucklers / with blood were wet and tarnished o'er.

1620

From out the clouds of heaven / a space the bright moon shone. Then again spake Hagen: / "Bear report let none To my beloved masters / how we here did fare. Let them until the morrow / still be free from aught of care."

1621

When they were back returned / who bore the battle's stress, Sore troubled was their company / from very weariness. "How long shall we keep saddle?" / was many a warrior's quest. Then spake the valiant Dankwart: / "Not yet may we find place of rest,

1622

"But on ye all must journey / till day come back again." Volker, knight of prowess, / who led the foremost train, Bade to ask the marshal: / "This night where shall we be, That rest them may our chargers, / and eke my royal masters three?"

1623

Thereto spake valiant Dankwart: / "The same I ne'er can say, Yet may we never rest us / before the break of day. Where then we find it fitting / we'll lay us on the grass." When they did hear his answer, / what source of grief to all it was!

1624

Still were they unbetrayed / by reeking blood and red, Until the sun in heaven / its shining beams down shed At morn across the hill-tops, / that then the king might see How they had been in battle. / Spake he then full angrily:

1625

"How may this be, friend Hagen? / Scorned ye have, I ween, That I should be beside you, / where coats of mail have been Thus wet with blood upon you. / Who this thing hath done?" Quoth he: "The same did Else, / who hath this night us set upon.

1626

"To avenge his boatman / did they attack our train. By hand of my brother / hath Gelfrat been slain. Then fled Else before us, / and mickle was his need. Ours four, and theirs a thousand, / remained behind in battle dead."

1627

Now can we not inform you / where resting-place they found. But cause to know their passing / had the country-folk around, When there the sons of Ute / to court did fare in state. At Passau fit reception / did presently the knights await.

1628

The noble monarchs' uncle, / Bishop Pilgrim that was, Full joyous-hearted was he / that through the land did pass With train of lusty warriors / his royal nephews three. That willing was his service, / waited they not long to see.

1629

To greet them on their journey / did friends lack no device, Yet not to lodge them fully / might Passau's bounds suffice. They must across the water / where spreading sward they found, And lodge and tent erected / soon were stretching o'er the ground.

1630

Nor from that spot they onward / might journey all that day, And eke till night was over, / for pleasant was their stay. Next to the land of Ruediger / must they in sooth ride on, To whom full soon the story / of their coming eke was known.

1631

When fitting rest had taken / the knights with travel worn, And of Etzel's country / they had reached the bourn, A knight they found there sleeping / that ne'er should aught but wake, From whom of Tronje Hagen / in stealth a mighty sword did take.

1632

Hight in sooth was Eckewart / that same valiant knight. For what was there befallen / was he in sorry plight, That by those heroes' passing / he had lost his sword. At Ruediger's marches / found they meagre was the guard.

1633

"O, woe is me dishonored," / Eckewart then cried; "Yea, rueth me fully sorely, / this Burgundian ride. What time was taken Siegfried, / did joy depart from me. Alack, O Master Ruediger, / how ill my service unto thee!"

1634

Hagen, full well perceiving / the noble warrior's plight, Gave him again his weapon / and armbands six full bright. "These take, good knight, in token / that thou art still my friend. A valiant warrior art thou, / though dost thou lone this border tend."

1635

"May God thy gifts repay thee," / Eckewart replied, "Yet rueth me full sorely / that to the Huns ye ride. Erstwhile slew ye Siegfried / and vengeance have to fear; My rede to you is truly: / "Beware ye well of danger here."

1636

"Now must God preserve us," / answered Hagen there. "In sooth for nothing further / have these thanes a care Than for place of shelter, / the kings and all their band, And where this night a refuge / we may find within this land.

1637

"Done to death our horses / with the long journey are, And food as well exhausted," / Hagen did declare. "Nor find we aught for purchase; / a host we need instead, Who would in kindness give us, / ere this evening, of his bread."

1638

Thereto gave answer Eckewart: / "I'll show you such a one, That so warm a welcome / find ye never none In country whatsoever / as here your lot may be, An if ye, thanes full gallant, / the noble Ruediger will see.

1639

He dwelleth by the highway / and is most bounteous host That house e'er had for master. / His heart may graces boast, As in the lovely May-time / the flowrets deck the mead. To do good thanes a service / is for his heart most joyous deed."

1640

Then spake the royal Gunther: / "Wilt thou my messenger be, If will my dear friend Ruediger, / as favor done to me, His hospitable shelter / with all my warriors share, Therefor full to requite thee / shall e'er hereafter be my care."

1641

"Thy messenger am I gladly," / Eckewart replied, And in right willing manner / straight away did ride, The message thus received / to Ruediger to bear. Nor did so joyous tidings / for many a season greet his ear.

1642

Hasting to Bechelaren / was seen a noble thane. The same perceived Ruediger, / and spake: "O'er yonder plain Hither hastens Eckewart, / who Kriemhild's might doth own." He weened that by some foemen / to him had injury been done.

1643

Then passed he forth the gateway / where the messenger did stand. His sword he loosed from girdle / and laid from out his hand. The message that he carried / might he not long withhold From the master and his kinsmen; / full soon the same to them was told.

1644

He spake unto the margrave: / "I come at high command Of the lordly Gunther / of Burgundian land, And Giselher and Gernot, / his royal brothers twain. In service true commends him / unto thee each lofty thane.

1645

"The like hath Hagen bidden / and Volker as well With homage oft-times proffered. / And more have I to tell, The which King Gunther's marshal / to thee doth send by me: How that the valiant warriors / do crave thy hospitality."

1646

With smiling visage Ruediger / made thereto reply: "Now joyeth me the story / that the monarchs high Do deign to seek my service, / that ne'er refused shall be. Come they unto my castle, / 'tis joy and gladness unto me."

1647

"Dankwart the marshal / hath bidden let thee know Who seek with them thy shelter / as through thy land they go: Three score of valiant leaders / and thousand knights right good, With squires eke nine thousand." / Thereat was he full glad of mood.

1648

"To me 'tis mickle honor," / Ruediger then spake, "That through my castle's portals / such guests will entry make, For ne'er hath been occasion / my service yet to lend. Now ride ye, men and kinsmen, / and on these lofty knights attend."

1649

Then to horse did hasten / knight and willing squire, For glad they were at all times / to do their lord's desire, And keen that thus their service / should not be rendered late. Unwitting Lady Gotelinde / still within her chamber sate.

TWENTY-SEVENTH ADVENTURE

How they came to Bechelaren

1650

Then went forth the margrave / where two ladies sate, His wife beside his daughter, / nor longer did he wait To tell the joyful tidings / that unto him were brought, How Kriemhild's royal brothers / his hospitality had sought.

1651

"Dearly loved lady," / spake then Ruediger, "Full kind be thy reception / to lordly monarchs here, That now with train of warriors / to court do pass this way. Fair be eke thy greeting / to Hagen, Gunther's man, this day.

1652

"One likewise with them cometh, / Dankwart by name, Volker hight the other, / a knight of gallant fame. Thyself and eke thy daughter / with kiss these six shall greet; Full courteous be your manner / as ye the doughty thanes shall meet."

1653

Gave straight their word the ladies, / and willing were thereto. From out great chests they gorgeous / attire in plenty drew, Which they to meet the lofty / strangers thought to wear, Mickle was the hurry / there of many a lady fair.

1654

On ne'er a cheek might any / but nature's hue be seen. Upon their head they carried / band of golden sheen, That was a beauteous chaplet, / that so their glossy hair By wind might not be ruffled: / that is truth as I declare.

1655

At such employment busy / leave we those ladies now. Here with mickle hurry / across the plain did see Friends of noble Ruediger / the royal guests to meet, And them with warmest welcome / unto the margrave's land did greet.

1656

When coming forth the margrave / saw their forms appear, How spake with heart full joyous / the valiant Ruediger! "Welcome be ye, Sires, / and all your gallant band. Right glad am I to see you / hither come unto my land."

1657

Then bent the knights before him / each full courteously. That he good-will did bear them / might they full quickly see. Hagen had special greeting, / who long to him was known; To Volker eke of Burgundy / was like highest honor shown.

1658

Thus Dankwart eke he greeted, / when spake the doughty thane: "While we thus well are harbored, / who then for all the train Of those that follow with us / shall meet provision make?" "Yourselves this night right easy / shall rest," the noble margrave spake.

1659

"And all that follow with you, / with equipment whatsoe'er Ye bring into my country / of steed or warlike gear, So sure shall it be guarded / that of all the sum, E'en to one spur's value, / to you shall never damage come.

1660

"Now stretch aloft, my squires, / the tents upon the plain. What here ye have of losses / will I make good again. Unbridle now the horses / and let them wander free." Upon their way they seldom / did meet like hospitality.

1661

Thereat rejoiced the strangers. / When thus it ordered was, Rode the high knights forward. / All round upon the grass Lay the squires attendant / and found a gentle rest. I ween, upon their journey / was here provision costliest.

1662

Out before the castle / the noble margravine Had passed with her fair daughter. / In her train were seen A band of lovely women / and many a winsome maid, Whose arms with bracelets glittered, / and all in stately robes arrayed.

1663

The costly jewels sparkled / with far-piercing ray From out their richest vestments, / and buxom all were they. Now came the strangers thither / and sprang upon the ground. How high in noble courtesy / the men of Burgundy were found!

1664

Six and thirty maidens / and many a fair lady, --Nor might ye ever any / more winsome wish to see-- Went then forth to meet them / with many a knight full keen. At hands of noble ladies / fairest greeting then was seen.

1665

The margrave's youthful daughter / did kiss the kings all three As eke had done her mother. / Hagen stood thereby. Her father bade her kiss him; / she looked the thane upon, Who filled her so with terror, / she fain had left the thing undone.

1666

When she at last must do it, / as did command her sire, Mingled was her color, / both pale and hue of fire. Likewise kissed she Dankwart / and the Fiddler eke anon: That he was knight of valor / to him was such high favor shown.

1667

The margrave's youthful daughter / took then by the hand The royal knight Giselher / of Burgundian land. E'en so led forth her mother / the gallant Gunther high. With those guests so lofty / walked they there full joyfully.

1668

The host escorted Gernot / to a spacious hall and wide, Where knights and stately ladies / sate them side by side. Then bade they for the strangers / pour good wine plenteously: In sooth might never heroes / find fuller hospitality.

1669

Glances fond and many / saw ye directed there Upon Ruediger's daughter, / for she was passing fair. Yea, in his thoughts caressed her / full many a gallant knight; A lady high in spirit, / well might she every heart delight.

1670

Yet whatsoe'er their wishes, / might none fulfilled be. Hither oft and thither / glanced they furtively On maidens and fair ladies, / whereof were many there. Right kind the noble Fiddler / disposed was to Ruediger.

1671

They parted each from other / as ancient custom was, And knights and lofty ladies / did separating pass When tables were made ready / within the spacious hall. There in stately manner / they waited on the strangers all.

1672

To do the guests high honor / likewise the table sought With them the lofty margravine. / Her daughter led she not, But left among the maidens, / where fitting was she sat. That they might not behold her, grieved were the guests in sooth thereat.

1673

The drinking and the feasting, / when 'twas ended all, Escorted was the maiden / again into the hall. Then of merry jesting / they nothing lacked, I ween, Wherein was busy Volker, / a thane full gallant and keen.

1674

Then spake the noble Fiddler / to all in lofty tone: "Great mercy, lordly margrave, / God to thee hath shown, For that he hath granted / unto thee a wife Of so surpassing beauty, / and thereto a joyous life.

1675

"If that I were of royal / birth," the Fiddler spake, "And kingly crown should carry, / to wife I'd wish to take This thy lovely daughter, / --my heart thus prompteth me. A noble maid and gentle / and fair to look upon is she."

1676

Then outspake the margrave: / "How might such thing be, That king should e'er desire / daughter born to me? Exiled from my country / here with my spouse I dwell: What avails the maiden, / be she favored ne'er so well?"

1677

Thereto gave answer Gernot, / a knight of manner kind: "If to my desire / I ever spouse would find, Then would I of such lady / right gladly make my choice." In full kindly manner / added Hagen eke his voice:

1678

"Now shall my master Giselher / take to himself a spouse. The noble margrave's daughter / is of so lofty house, That I and all his warriors / would glad her service own, If that she in Burgundy / should ever wear a royal crown."

1679

Glad thereat full truly / was Sir Ruediger, And eke Gotelinde: / they joyed such words to hear. Anon arranged the heroes / that her as bride did greet The noble knight Giselher, / as was for any monarch meet.

1680

What thing is doomed to happen, / who may the same prevent? To come to the assembly / they for the maidens sent, And to the knight they plighted / the winsome maid for wife, Pledge eke by him was given, / his love should yet endure with life.

1681

They to the maid allotted / castles and spreading land, Whereof did give assurance / the noble monarch's hand And eke the royal Gernot, / 'twould surely so be done. Then spake to them the margrave: / "Lordly castles have I none,

1682

"Yet true shall be my friendship / the while that I may live. Unto my daughter shall I / of gold and silver give What hundred sumpter-horses / full laden bear away, That her husband's lofty kinsmen / find honor in the fair array."

1683

They bade the knight and maiden / within a ring to stand, As was of old the custom. / Of youths a goodly band, That all were merry-hearted, / did her there confront, And thought they on her beauty / as mind of youth is ever wont.

1684

When they began to question / then the winsome maid, Would she the knight for husband, / somewhat she was dismayed, And yet forego she would not / to have him for her own. She blushed to hear the question, / as many another maid hath done.

1685

Her father Ruediger prompted / that Yes her answer be, And that she take him gladly. / Unto her instantly Sprang the young Sir Giselher, / and in his arm so white He clasped her to his bosom. / --Soon doomed to end was her delight.

1686

Then spake again the margrave: / "Ye royal knights and high, When that home ye journey / again to Burgundy I'll give to you my daughter, / as fitting is to do, That ye may take her with you." / They gave their plighted word thereto.

1687

What jubilation made they / yet at last must end. The maiden then was bidden / unto her chamber wend, And guests to seek their couches / and rest until the day. For them the host provided / a feast in hospitable way.

1688

When they had feasted fully / and to the Huns' country Thence would onward journey, / "Such thing shall never be," Spake the host full noble, / "but here ye still shall rest. Seldom hath my good fortune / welcomed yet so many a guest."

1689

Thereto gave answer Dankwart: / "In sooth it may not be. Bread and wine whence hast thou / and food sufficiently, Over night to harbor / of guests so great a train?" When the host had heard it, / spake he: "All thy words are vain.

1690

"Refuse not my petition, / ye noble lords and high. A fortnight's full provision / might I in sooth supply, For you and every warrior / that journeys in your train. Till now hath royal Etzel / small portion of my substance ta'en."

1691

Though fain they had declined it, / yet they there must stay E'en to the fourth morning. / Then did the host display So generous hand and lavish / that it was told afar. He gave unto the strangers / horses and apparel rare.

1692

The time at last was over / and they must journey thence. Then did the valiant Ruediger / with lavish hand dispense Unto all his bounty, / refused he unto none Whate'er he might desire. / Well-pleased they parted every one.

1693

His courteous retainers / to castle gateway brought Saddled many horses, / and soon the place was sought Eke by the gallant strangers / each bearing shield in hand, For that they thence would journey / onward into Etzel's land.

1694

The host had freely offered / rich presents unto all, Ere that the noble strangers / passed out before the hall. High in honor lived he, / a knight of bounty rare. His fair daughter had he / given unto Giselher.

1695

Eke gave he unto Gunther, / a knight of high renown, What well might wear with honor / the monarch as his own, --Though seldom gift received he-- / a coat of harness rare. Thereat inclined King Gunther / before the noble Ruediger.

1696

Then gave he unto Gernot / a good and trusty blade, Wherewith anon in combat / was direst havoc made. That thus the gift was taken / rejoiced the margrave's wife: Thereby the noble Ruediger / was doomed anon to lose his life.

1697

Gotelinde proffered Hagen, / as 'twas a fitting thing, Her gifts in kindly manner. / Since scorned them not the king, Eke he without her bounty / to the high festivity Should thence not onward journey. / Yet loath to take the same was he.

1698

"Of all doth meet my vision," / Hagen then spake, "Would I wish for nothing / with me hence to take But alone the shield that hanging / on yonder wall I see. The same I'd gladly carry / into Etzel's land with me."

1699

When the stately margravine / Hagen's words did hear, Brought they to mind her sorrow, / nor might she stop a tear. She thought again full sadly / how her son Nudung fell, Slain by hand of Wittich; / and did her breast with anguish swell.

1700

She spake unto the hero: / "The shield to thee I'll give. O would to God in heaven / that he still did live, Whose hand erstwhile did wield it! / In battle fell he low, And I, a wretched mother, / must weep with never-ending woe.

1701

Thereat the noble lady / up from the settle rose, And soon her arms all snow-white / did the shield enclose. She bore it unto Hagen, / who made obeisance low; The gift she might with honor / upon so valiant thane bestow.

1702

O'er it, to keep its color, / a shining cover lay With precious stones all studded, / nor ever shone the day Upon a shield more costly; / if e'er a longing eye Did covet to possess it, / scarce thousand marks the same might buy.

1703

The shield in charge gave Hagen / thence away to bear. Before his host then Dankwart / himself presented there, On whom the margrave's daughter / did costly dress bestow. Wherein anon in Hunland / arrayed full stately he did go.

1704

Whate'er of gifts by any / was accepted there, Them had his hand ne'er taken, / but that intent all were To do their host an honor / who gave with hand so free. By his guests in combat / soon doomed was he slain to be.

1705

Volker the valiant / to Gotelinde came And stood in courteous manner / with fiddle 'fore the dame. Sweet melodies he played her / and sang his songs thereby, For thought he from Bechelaren / to take departure presently.

1706

The margravine bade to her / a casket forth to bear. And now of presents given / full freely may ye hear. Therefrom she took twelve armbands / and drew them o'er his hand. "These shall thou with thee carry, / as ridest thou to Etzel's land,

1707

"And for my sake shalt wear them / when at court thou dost appear, That when thou hither comest / I may the story hear How thou hast done me honor / at the high festival." What did wish the lady, / faithfully performed he all.

1708

Thus to his guests the host spake: / "That ye more safely fare, Myself will give you escort / and bid them well beware That upon the highway / no ill on you be wrought." Thereat his sumpter horses / straightway laden forth were brought

1709

The host was well prepared / with five hundred men With horse and rich attire. / These led he with him then In right joyous humor / to the high festival. Alive to Bechelaren / again came never one of all.

1710

Thence took his leave Sir Ruediger / with kiss full lovingly; As fitting was for Giselher, / likewise the same did he. With loving arms enfolding / caressed they ladies fair. To many a maid the parting / did bring anon full bitter tear.

1711

On all sides then the windows / were open wide flung, As with his train of warriors / the host to saddle sprung. I ween their hearts did tell them / how they should sorrow deep. For there did many a lady / and many a winsome maiden weep.

1712

For dear friends left behind him / grieved many a knight full sore. Whom they at Bechelaren / should behold no more. Yet rode they off rejoicing / down across the sand Hard by the Danube river / on their way to Etzel's land.

1713

Then spake to the Burgundians / the gallant knight and bold, Ruediger the noble: / "Now let us not withhold The story of our coming / unto the Hun's country. Unto the royal Etzel / might tidings ne'er more welcome be."

1714

Down in haste through Austria / the messenger did ride, Who told unto the people / soon on every side, From Worms beyond Rhine river / were high guests journeying. Nor unto Etzel's people / gladder tidings might ye bring.

1715

Onward spurred the messengers / who did the message bear, How now in Hunnish country / the Nibelungen were. "Kriemhild, lofty lady, / warm thy welcome be; In stately manner hither / come thy loving brothers three."

1716

Within a lofty casement / the Lady Kriemhild stood, Looking for her kinsmen, / as friend for friend full good. From her father's country / saw she many a knight; Eke heard the king the tidings, / and laughed thereat for sheer delight.

1717

"Now well my heart rejoiceth," / spake Lady Kriemhild. "Hither come my kinsmen / with many a new-wrought shield And brightly shining hauberk: / who gold would have from me, Be mindful of my sorrow; / to him I'll ever gracious be."

TWENTY-EIGHTH ADVENTURE

How the Burgundians came to Etzel's Castle

1718

When that the men of Burgundy / were come into the land, He of Bern did hear it, / the aged Hildebrand. He told it to his master, / who sore thereat did grieve; The knight so keen and gallant / bade he in fitting way receive.

1719

Wolfhart the valiant / bade lead the heroes forth. In company with Dietrich / rode many a thane of worth, As out to receive them / across the plain he went, Where might ye see erected / already many a stately tent.

1720

When that of Tronje Hagen / them far away espied, Unto his royal masters / full courteously he said: "Now shall ye, doughty riders, / down from the saddle spring, And forward go to meet them / that here to you a welcome bring.

1721

"A train there cometh yonder, / well knew I e'en when young. Thanes they are full doughty / of the land of Amelung. He of Bern doth lead them, / and high of heart they are; To scorn their proffered greeting / shall ye in sooth full well beware."

1722

Dismounted then with Dietrich, / (as was meet and right,) Attended by his squire / many a gallant knight. They went unto the strangers / and greeted courteously The knights that far had ridden / from the land of Burgundy.

1723

When then Sir Dietrich / saw them coming near, What words the thane delivered, / now may ye willing hear, Unto Ute's children. / Their journey grieved him sore. He weened that Ruediger knowing / had warned what lay for them in store.

1724

"Welcome be ye, Masters, / Gunther and Giselher, Gernot and Hagen, / welcome eke Volker And the valiant Dankwart. / Do ye not understand? Kriemhild yet sore bemoaneth / the hero of Nibelungen land."

1725

"Long time may she be weeping," / Hagen spake again; "In sooth for years a many / dead he lies and slain. To the monarch now of Hunland / should she devoted be: Siegfried returneth never, / buried now long time is he."

1726

"How Siegfried's death was compassed, / let now the story be: While liveth Lady Kriemhild, / look ye for injury." Thus did of Bern Sir Dietrich / unto them declare: "Hope of the Nibelungen, / of her vengeance well beware."

1727

"Whereof shall I be fearful?" / the lofty monarch spake: "Etzel hath sent us message, / (why further question make?) That we should journey hither / into his country. Eke hath my sister Kriemhild / oft wished us here as guests to see.

1728

"I give thee honest counsel," / Hagen then did say, "Now shalt thou here Sir Dietrich / and his warriors pray To tell thee full the story, / if aught may be designed, And let thee know more surely / how stands the Lady Kriemhild's mind."

1729

Then went to speak asunder / the lordly monarchs three, Gunther and Gernot, / and Dietrich went he. "Now tell us true, thou noble / knight of Bern and kind, If that perchance thou knowest / how stands thy royal mistress' mind."

1730

The lord of Bern gave answer: / "What need to tell you more? I hear each day at morning / weeping and wailing sore The wife of royal Etzel, / who piteous doth complain To God in heaven that Siegfried / her doughty spouse from her was ta'en."

1731

"Then must we e'en abide it," / was the fearless word Of Volker the Fiddler, / "what we here have heard. To court we yet shall journey / and make full clear to all, If that to valiant warriors / may aught amid the Huns befall."

1732

The gallant thanes of Burgundy / unto court then rode, And went in stately manner / as was their country's mode. Full many a man in Hunland / looked eagerly to see Of what manner Hagen, / Tronje's doughty thane, might be.

1733

For that was told the story / (and great the wonder grew) How that of Netherland / Siegfried he slew, That was the spouse of Kriemhild, / in strength without a peer, Hence a mickle questioning / after Hagen might ye hear.

1734

Great was the knight of stature, / may ye know full true, Built with breast expansive; / mingled was the hue Of his hair with silver; / long he was of limb; As he strode stately forward / might ye mark his visage grim.

1735

Then were the thanes of Burgundy / unto quarters shown, But the serving-man of Gunther / by themselves alone. Thus the queen did counsel, / so filled she was with hate. Anon where they were harbored / the train did meet with direst fate.

1736

Dankwart, Hagen's brother, / marshal was he. To him the king his followers / commended urgently, That he provide them plenty / and have of them good care. The noble knight of Burgundy / their safety well in mind did bear.

1737

By her train attended, / Queen Kriemhild went To greet the Nibelungen, / yet false was her intent. She kissed her brother Giselher / and took him by the hand: Thereat of Tronje Hagen / did tighter draw his helmet's band.

1733

"After such like greeting," / the doughty Hagen spake, "Let all watchful warriors / full precaution take: Differs wide the greeting / on masters and men bestowed. Unhappy was the hour / when to this festival we rode."

1739

She spake: "Now be ye welcome / to whom ye welcome be. For sake of friendship never / ye greeting have from me. Tell me now what bring ye / from Worms across the Rhine, That ye so greatly welcome / should ever be to land of mine?"

1740

"An I had only known it," / Hagen spake again, "That thou didst look for present / from hand of every thane, I were, methinks, so wealthy / --had I me bethought-- That I unto this country / likewise to thee my gift had brought."

1741

"Now shall ye eke the story / to me more fully say: The Nibelungen treasure, / where put ye that away? My own possession was it, / as well ye understand. That same ye should have brought me / hither unto Etzel's land."

1742

"In sooth, my Lady Kriemhild, / full many a day hath flown Since of the Nibelungen / hoard I aught have known. Into the Rhine to sink it / my lords commanded me: Verily there must it / until the day of judgment be."

1743

Thereto the queen gave answer: / "Such was e'en my thought. Thereof right little have ye / unto me hither brought, Although myself did own it / and once o'er it held sway. 'Tis cause that I for ever / have full many a mournful day."

1744

"The devil have I brought thee," / Hagen did declare. "My shield it is so heavy / that I have to bear, And my plaited armor; / my shining helmet see, And sword in hand I carry, / --so might I nothing bring for thee."

1745

Then spake the royal lady / unto the warriors all: "Weapon shall not any / bear into the hall. To me now for safe keeping, / ye thanes shall give them o'er." "In sooth," gave answer Hagen, / "such thing shall happen nevermore.

1746

"Such honor ne'er I covet, / royal lady mild, That to its place of keeping / thou shouldst bear my shield With all my other armor, / --for thou art a queen. Such taught me ne'er my sire: / myself will be my chamberlain."

1747

"Alack of these my sorrows!" / the Lady Kriemhild cried; "Wherefore will now my brother / and Hagen not confide To me their shields for keeping? / Some one did warning give. Knew I by whom 'twas given, / brief were the space that he might live."

1748

Thereto the mighty Dietrich / in wrath his answer gave: "'Tis I who now these noble / lords forewarned have, And Hagen, knight full valiant / of the land of Burgundy. Now on! thou devil's mistress, / let not the deed my profit be."

1749

Great shame thereat did Kriemhild's / bosom quickly fill; She feared lest Dietrich's anger / should work her grievous ill. Naught she spake unto them / as thence she swiftly passed, But fierce the lightning glances / that on her enemies she cast.

1750

By hand then grasped each, other / doughty warriors twain: Hight the one was Dietrich, / with Hagen, noble thane. Then spake in courteous manner / that knight of high degree: "That ye are come to Hunland, / 'tis very sorrow unto me;

1751

"For what hath here been spoken / by the lofty queen." Then spake of Tronje Hagen: / "Small cause to grieve, I ween." Held converse thus together / those brave warriors twain, King Etzel which perceiving / thus a questioning began:

1752

"I would learn full gladly," / --in such wise spake he-- "Who were yonder warrior, / to whom so cordially Doth greeting give Sir Dietrich. / Meseemeth high his mood. Whosoe'er his sire, / a thane he is of mettle good."

1753

Unto the king gave answer / of Kriemhild's train a knight: "Born he was of Tronje, / Aldrian his sire hight. How merry here his bearing, / a thane full grim is he. That I have spoken truly, / shalt thou anon have cause to see."

1754

"How may I then perceive it / that fierce his wrath doth glow?" Naught of basest treachery / yet the king did know, That anon Queen Kriemhild / 'gainst her kinsmen did contrive, Whereby returned from Hunland / not one of all their train alive.

1755

"Well knew I Aldrian, / he once to me was thane: Praise and mickle honor / he here by me did gain. Myself a knight did make him, / and gave him of my gold. Helke, noble lady, / did him in highest favor hold.

1756

"Thereby know I fully / what Hagen since befell. Two stately youths as hostage / at my court did dwell, He and Spanish Walter, / from youth to manhood led. Hagen sent I homeward; / Walter with Hildegunde fled."

1757

He thought on ancient story / that long ago befell. His doughty friend of Tronje / knew he then right well, Whose youthful valor erstwhile / did such assistance lend. Through him in age he must be / bereft of many a dearest friend.

TWENTY-NINTH ADVENTURE

How He arose not before Her

1758

Then parted from each other / the noble warriors twain, Hagen of Tronje / and Dietrich, lofty thane. Then did King Gunther's warrior / cast a glance around, Seeking a companion / the same he eke full quickly found.

1759

As standing there by Giselher / he did Volker see, He prayed the nimble Fiddler / to bear him company, For that full well he knew it / how grim he was of mood, And that in all things was he / a knight of mettle keen and good.

1760

While yet their lords were standing / there in castle yard Saw ye the two knights only / walking thitherward Across the court far distant / before the palace wide. The chosen thanes recked little / what might through any's hate betide.

1761

They sate them down on settle / over against a hall, Wherein dwelt Lady Kriemhild, / beside the palace wall. Full stately their attire / on stalwart bodies shone. All that did look upon them / right gladly had the warriors known.

1762

Like unto beasts full savage / were they gaped upon, The two haughty heroes, / by full many a Hun. Eke from a casement Etzel's / wife did them perceive: Once more to behold them / must fair Lady Kriemhild grieve.

1763

It called to mind her sorrow, / and she to weep began, Whereat did mickle wonder / many an Etzel's man, What grief had thus so sudden / made her sad of mood. Spake she: "That hath Hagen, / ye knights of mettle keen and good."

1764

They to their mistress answered: / "Such thing, how hath it been? For that thee right joyous / we but now have seen. Ne'er lived he so daring / that, having wrought thee ill, His life he must not forfeit, / if but to vengeance point thy will."

1765

"I live but to requite him / that shall avenge my wrong; Whate'er be his desire / shall unto him belong. Prostrate I beseech you," / --so spake the monarch's wife-- "Avenge me upon Hagen, / and forfeit surely be his life."

1766

Three score of valiant warriors / made ready then straightway To work the will of Kriemhild / and her best obey By slaying of Sir Hagen, / the full valiant thane, And eke the doughty Fiddler; / by shameful deed thus sought they gain.

1767

When the queen beheld there / so small their company, In full angry humor / to the warriors spake she: "What there ye think to compass, / forego such purpose yet: So small in numbers never / dare ye Hagen to beset.

1768

"How doughty e'er be Hagen, / and known his valor wide, A man by far more doughty / that sitteth him beside, Volker the Fiddler: / a warrior grim is he. In sooth may not so lightly / the heroes twain confronted be."

1769

When that she thus had spoken, / ready soon were seen Four hundred stalwart warriors; / for was the lofty queen Full intent upon it / to work them evil sore. Therefrom for all the strangers / was mickle sorrow yet in store.

1770

When that complete attired / were here retainers seen, Unto the knights impatient / in such wise spake the queen: "Now bide ye yet a moment / and stand ye ready so, While I with crown upon me / unto my enemies shall go.

1771

"And list while I accuse him / how he hath wrought me bane, Hagen of Tronje, / Gunther's doughty thane. I know his mood so haughty, / naught he'll deny of all. Nor reck I what of evil / therefrom may unto him befall."

1772

Then saw the doughty Fiddler / --he was a minstrel keen-- Adown the steps descending / the high and stately queen Who issued from the castle. / When he the queen espied, Spake the valiant Volker / to him was seated by his side:

1773

"Look yonder now, friend Hagen, / how that she hither hies Who to this land hath called us / in such treacherous wise. No monarch's wife I ever / saw followed by such band Of warriors armed for battle, / that carry each a sword in hand.

1774

"Know'st thou, perchance, friend Hagen, / if hate to thee they bear? Then would I well advise thee / of them full well beware And guard both life and honor. / That methinks were good, For if I much mistake not, / full wrathful is the warriors' mood.

1775

"Of many eke among them / so broad the breasts do swell, That who would guard him 'gainst them / betimes would do it well. I ween that 'neath their tunics / they shining mail-coats wear: Yet might I never tell thee, / 'gainst whom such evil mind they bear."

1776

Then spake all wrathful-minded / Hagen the warrior keen: "On me to vent their fury / is their sole thought, I ween, That thus with brandished weapons / their onward press we see. Despite them all yet trow I / to come safe home to Burgundy.

1777

"Now tell me, friend Volker, / wilt thou beside me stand, If seek to work me evil / here Kriemhild's band? That let me hear right truly, / as I am dear to thee. By thy side forever / shall my service faithful be."

1778

"Full surely will I help thee," / the minstrel straight replied; "And saw I e'en a monarch / with all his men beside Hither come against us, / the while a sword I wield Not fear shall ever prompt me / from thy side one pace to yield."

1779

"Now God in heaven, O Volker, / give thy high heart its meed. Will they forsooth assail me, / whereof else have I need? Wilt thou thus stand beside me / as here is thy intent, Let come all armed these warriors, / on whatsoever purpose bent."

1780

"Now rise we from this settle," / the minstrel spake once more, "While that the royal lady / passeth here before. To her be done this honor / as unto lady high. Ourselves in equal manner / shall we honor eke thereby."

1781

"Nay, nay! as me thou lovest," / Hagen spake again, "For so would sure imagine / here each hostile thane That 'twere from fear I did it, / should I bear me so. For sake of never any / will I from this settle go.

1782

"Undone we both might leave it / in sooth more fittingly. Wherefore should I honor / who bears ill-will to me? Such thing will I do never, / the while I yet have life. Nor reck I aught how hateth / me the royal Etzel's wife."

1783

Thereat defiant Hagen / across his knee did lay A sword that shone full brightly, / from whose knob did play The light of glancing jasper / greener than blade of grass. Well perceived Kriemhild / that it erstwhile Siegfried's was.

1784

When she the sword espied, / to weep was sore her need. The hilt was shining golden, / the sheath a band of red. As it recalled her sorrow, / her tears had soon begun; I ween for that same purpose / 'twas thus by dauntless Hagen done.

1785

Eke the valiant Volker / a fiddle-bow full strong Unto himself drew nearer; / mickle it was and long, Like unto a broad-sword / full sharp that was and wide. So sat they all undaunted / the stately warriors side by side.

1786

There sat the thanes together / in such defiant wise That would never either / from the settle rise Through fear of whomsoever. / Then strode before their feet The lofty queen, and wrathful / did thus the doughty warriors greet.

1787

Quoth she: "Now tell me, Hagen, / upon whose command Barest thou thus to journey / hither to this land, And knowest well what sorrow / through thee my heart must bear. Wert thou not reft of reason, / then hadst thou kept thee far from here."

1788

"By none have I been summoned," / Hagen gave reply. "Three lofty thanes invited / were to this country: The same I own as masters / and service with them find. Whene'er they make court journey / 'twere strange should I remain behind."

1789

Quoth she: "Now tell me further, / wherefore didst thou that Whereby thou hast deserved / my everlasting hate? 'Twas thou that slewest Siegfried, / spouse so dear to me, The which, till life hath ended, / must ever cause for weeping be."

1790

Spake he: "Why parley further, / since further word were vain? E'en I am that same Hagen / by whom was Siegfried slain, That deft knight of valor. / How sore by him 'twas paid That the Lady Kriemhild / dared the fair Brunhild upbraid!

1791

"Beyond all cavil is it, / high and royal dame, Of all the grievous havoc / I do bear the blame. Avenge it now who wisheth, / woman or man tho't be. An I unto thee lie not, / I've wrought thee sorest injury."

1792

She spake: "Now hear, ye warriors, / how denies he not at all The cause of all my sorrow. / Whate'er may him befall Reck I not soever, / that know ye, Etzel's men." The overweening warriors / blank gazed upon each other then.

1793

Had any dared the onset, / seen it were full plain The palm must be awarded / to the companions twain, Who had in storm of battle / full oft their prowess shown. What that proud band designed / through fear must now be left undone.

1794

Outspake one of their number: / "Wherefore look thus to me? What now I thought to venture / left undone shall be, Nor for reward of any / think I my life to lose; To our destruction lures us / here the royal Etzel's spouse."

1795

Then spake thereby another: / "Like mind therein have I. Though ruddy gold were offered / like towers piled high, Yet would I never venture / to stir this Fiddler's spleen. Such are the rapid glances / that darting from his eyes I've seen.

1796

"Likewise know I Hagen / from youthful days full well, Nor more about his valor / to me need any tell. In two and twenty battles / I the knight have seen, Whereby sorest sorrow / to many a lady's heart hath been.

1797

"When here they were with Etzel, / he and the knight of Spain Bore storm of many a battle / in many a warlike train For sake of royal honor, / so oft thereof was need. Wherefore of right are honors / high the valiant Hagen's meed.

1798

"Then was yet the hero / but a child in years; Now how hoary-headed / who were his youthful feres, To wisdom now attained, / a warrior grim and strong, Eke bears he with him Balmung, / the which he gained by mickle wrong."

1799

Therewith the matter ended, / and none the fight dared start, Whereat the Lady Kriemhild / full heavy was of heart. Her warriors thence did vanish, / for feared they death indeed At hands of the Fiddler, / whereof right surely was there need.