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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Siegfried, by James Baldwin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Story of Siegfried
+
+Author: James Baldwin
+
+Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6866]
+Posting Date: June 2, 2009
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF SIEGFRIED ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by J. C. Byers
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF SIEGFRIED
+
+By James Baldwin
+
+New York Charles Scribner's Sons
+
+1899
+
+
+
+To My Children,
+
+Winfred, Louis, and Nellie,
+
+This Book Is Affectionately Inscribed.
+
+
+
+
+The Fore Word.
+
+
+When the world was in its childhood, men looked upon the works of Nature
+with a strange kind of awe. They fancied that every thing upon the
+earth, in the air, or in the water, had a life like their own, and that
+every sight which they saw, and every sound which they heard, was caused
+by some intelligent being. All men were poets, so far as their ideas and
+their modes of expression were concerned, although it is not likely that
+any of them wrote poetry. This was true in regard to the Saxon in his
+chilly northern home, as well as to the Greek in the sunny southland.
+But, while the balmy air and clear sky of the south tended to refine
+men's thoughts and language, the rugged scenery and bleak storms of
+the north made them uncouth, bold, and energetic. Yet both the cultured
+Greek and the rude Saxon looked upon Nature with much the same eyes,
+and there was a strange resemblance in their manner of thinking and
+speaking. They saw, that, in all the phenomena which took place around
+them, there was a certain system or regularity, as if these were
+controlled by some law or by some superior being; and they sought, in
+their simple poetical way, to account for these appearances. They had
+not yet learned to measure the distances of the stars, nor to calculate
+the motions of the earth. The changing of the seasons was a mystery
+which they scarcely sought to penetrate. But they spoke of these
+occurrences in a variety of ways, and invented many charming, stories
+with reference to them, not so much with a view towards accounting
+for the mystery, as towards giving expression to their childlike but
+picturesque ideas.
+
+Thus, in the south, when reference was made to the coming of winter and
+to the dreariness and discomforts of that season of the year, men did
+not know nor care to explain it all, as our teachers now do at school;
+but they sometimes told how Hades had stolen Persephone (the summer)
+from her mother Demetre (the earth), and had carried her, in a chariot
+drawn by four coal black steeds, to the gloomy land of shadows; and how,
+in sorrow for her absence, the Earth clothed herself in mourning, and
+no leaves grew upon the trees, nor flowers in the gardens, and the very
+birds ceased singing, because Persephone was no more. But they added,
+that in a few months the fair maiden would return for a time to her
+sorrowing mother, and that then the flowers would bloom, and the trees
+would bear fruit, and the harvest-fields would again be full of golden
+grain.
+
+In the north a different story was told, but the meaning was the same.
+Sometimes men told how Odin (the All-Father) had become angry with
+Brunhild (the maid of spring), and had wounded her with the thorn
+of sleep, and how all the castle in which she slept was wrapped in
+deathlike slumber until Sigurd or Siegfried (the sunbeam) rode through
+flaming fire, and awakened her with a kiss. Sometimes men told how Loki
+(heat) had betrayed Balder (the sunlight), and had induced blind old
+Hoder (the winter months) to slay him, and how all things, living and
+inanimate, joined in weeping for the bright god, until Hela (death)
+should permit him to revisit the earth for a time.
+
+So, too, when the sun arose, and drove away the darkness and the hidden
+terrors of the night, our ancestors thought of the story of a noble
+young hero slaying a hideous dragon, or taking possession of the golden
+treasures of Mist Land. And when the springtime came, and the earth
+renewed its youth, and the fields and woods were decked in beauty, and
+there was music everywhere, they loved to tell of Idun (the spring)
+and her youth-giving apples, and of her wise husband Bragi (Nature's
+musician). When storm-clouds loomed up from the horizon and darkened the
+sky, and thunder rolled overhead, and lightning flashed on every
+hand, they talked about the mighty Thor riding over the clouds in his
+goat-drawn chariot, and battling with the giants of the air. When the
+mountain-meadows were green with long grass, and the corn was yellow for
+the sickles of the reapers, they spoke of Sif, the golden-haired wife
+of Thor, the queen of the pastures and the fields. When the seasons were
+mild, and the harvests were plentiful, and peace and gladness prevailed,
+they blessed Frey, the giver of good gifts to men.
+
+To them the blue sky-dome which everywhere hung over them like an arched
+roof was but the protecting mantle which the All-Father had suspended
+above the earth. The rainbow was the shimmering bridge which stretches
+from earth to heaven. The sun and the moon were the children of a giant,
+whom two wolves chased forever around the earth. The stars were sparks
+from the fire-land of the south, set in the heavens by the gods. Night
+was a giantess, dark and swarthy, who rode in a car drawn by a steed the
+foam from whose bits sometimes covered the earth with dew. And Day was
+the son of Night; and the steed which he rode lighted all the sky and
+the earth with the beams which glistened from his mane.
+
+
+It was thus that men in the earlier ages of the world looked upon and
+spoke of the workings of Nature; and it was in this manner that many
+myths, or poetical fables, were formed. By and by, as the world grew
+older, and mankind became less poetical and more practical, the first or
+mythical meaning of these stories was forgotten, and they were regarded
+no longer as mere poetical fancies, but as historical facts. Perhaps
+some real hero had indeed performed daring deeds, and had made the world
+around him happier and better. It was easy to liken him to Sigurd, or
+to some other mythical slayer of giants; and soon the deeds of both were
+ascribed to but one. And thus many myth-stories probably contain some
+historical facts blended with the mass of poetical fancies which
+mainly compose them; but, in such cases, it is generally impossible to
+distinguish what is fact from what is mere fancy.
+
+All nations have had their myth-stories; but, to my mind, the purest and
+grandest are those which we have received from our northern ancestors.
+They are particularly interesting to us; because they are what
+our fathers once believed, and because they are ours by right of
+inheritance. And, when we are able to make them still more our own by
+removing the blemishes which rude and barbarous ages have added to some
+of them, we shall discover in them many things that are beautiful and
+true, and well calculated to make us wiser and better.
+
+It is not known when or by whom these myth-stories were first put into
+writing, nor when they assumed the shape in which we now have them.
+But it is said, that, about the year 1100, an Icelandic scholar called
+Saemund the Wise collected a number of songs and poems into a book
+which is now known as the "Elder Edda;" and that, about a century later,
+Snorre Sturleson, another Icelander, wrote a prose-work of a similar
+character, which is called the "Younger Edda." And it is to these two
+books that we owe the preservation of almost all that is now known of
+the myths and the strange religion of our Saxon and Norman forefathers.
+But, besides these, there are a number of semi-mythological stories of
+great interest and beauty,--stories partly mythical, and partly founded
+upon remote and forgotten historical facts. One of the oldest and finest
+of these is the story of Sigurd, the son of Sigmund. There are many
+versions of this story, differing from each other according to the time
+in which they were written and the character of the people among whom
+they were received. We find the first mention of Sigurd and his strange
+daring deeds in the song of Fafnir, in the "Elder Edda." Then, in the
+"Younger Edda," the story is repeated in the myth of the Niflungs and
+the Gjukungs. It is told again in the "Volsunga Saga" of Iceland. It is
+repeated and re-repeated in various forms and different languages, and
+finally appears in the "Nibelungen Lied," a grand old German poem, which
+may well be compared with the Iliad of the Greeks. In this last version,
+Sigurd is called Siegfried; and the story is colored and modified by the
+introduction of many notions peculiar to the middle ages, and unknown to
+our Pagan fathers of the north. In our own time this myth has been woven
+into a variety of forms. William Morris has embodied it in his noble
+poem of "Sigurd the Volsung;" Richard Wagner, the famous German
+composer, has constructed from it his inimitable drama, the "Nibelungen
+Ring;" W. Jordan, another German writer, has given it to the world
+in his "Sigfrid's Saga;" and Emanuel Geibel has derived from it the
+materials for his "Tragedy of Brunhild."
+
+
+And now I, too, come with the STORY OF SIEGFRIED, still another version
+of the time-honored legend. The story as I shall tell it you is not in
+all respects a literal rendering of the ancient myth; but I have taken
+the liberty to change and recast such portions of it as I have deemed
+advisable. Sometimes I have drawn materials from one version of the
+story, sometimes from another, and sometimes largely from my own
+imagination alone. Nor shall I be accused of impropriety in thus
+reshaping a narrative, which, although hallowed by an antiquity of
+a thousand years and more, has already appeared in so many different
+forms, and been clothed in so many different garbs; for, however much
+I may have allowed my fancy or my judgment to retouch and remodel the
+immaterial portions of the legend, the essential parts of this immortal
+myth remain the same. And, if I succeed in leading you to a clearer
+understanding and a wiser appreciation of the thoughts and feelings of
+our old northern ancestors, I shall have accomplished the object for
+which I have written this Story of Siegfried.
+
+
+
+Contents.
+
+
+
+     The Fore Word
+     I.     Mimer, the Master
+     II.    Greyfell
+     III.   The Curse of Gold
+     IV.    Fafnir, the Dragon
+     V.     In AEgir's Kingdom
+     VI.    Brunhild
+     VII.   In Nibelungen Land
+     VIII.  Siegfried's Welcome Home
+     IX.    The Journey to Burgundy-land
+     X.     Kriemhill's Dream
+     XI.    How the Spring Time Came
+     XII.   The War with the North-kings
+     XIII.  The Story of Balder
+     XIV.   How Gunther Outwitted Brunhild
+     XV.    In Nibelungen Land Again
+     XVI.   How Brunhild Was Welcomed Home
+     XVII.  How Siegfried Lived in Nibelungen Land
+     XVIII. How the Mischief Began to Brew
+     XIX.   How They Hunted in the Odenwald
+     XX.    How the Hoard Was Brought to Burgundy
+     The After Word
+     Notes
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure I. Mimer, the Master.
+
+
+
+At Santen, in the Lowlands, there once lived a young prince named
+Siegfried. His father, Siegmund, was king of the rich country through
+which the lazy Rhine winds its way just before reaching the great North
+Sea; and he was known, both far and near, for his good deeds and his
+prudent thrift. And Siegfried's mother, the gentle Sigelind, was loved
+by all for her goodness of heart and her kindly charity to the poor.
+Neither king nor queen left aught undone that might make the young
+prince happy, or fit him for life's usefulness. Wise men were brought
+from far-off lands to be his teachers; and every day something was added
+to his store of knowledge or his stock of happiness. And very skilful
+did he become in warlike games and in manly feats of strength. No other
+youth could throw the spear with so great force, or shoot the arrow
+with surer aim. No other youth could run more swiftly, or ride with more
+becoming ease. His gentle mother took delight in adding to the beauty of
+his matchless form, by clothing him in costly garments decked with the
+rarest jewels. The old, the young, the rich, the poor, the high, the
+low, all praised the fearless Siegfried, and all vied in friendly strife
+to win his favor. One would have thought that the life of the young
+prince could never be aught but a holiday, and that the birds would
+sing, and the flowers would bloom, and the sun would shine forever for
+his sake.
+
+But the business of man's life is not mere pastime; and none knew this
+truth better than the wise old king, Siegmund.
+
+"All work is noble," said he to Siegfried; "and he who yearns to
+win fame must not shun toil. Even princes should know how to earn a
+livelihood by the labor of their hands."
+
+And so, while Siegfried was still a young lad, his father sent him to
+live with a smith called Mimer, whose smithy was among the hills not far
+from the great forest. For in those early times the work of the smith
+was looked upon as the most worthy of all trades,--a trade which the
+gods themselves were not ashamed to follow. And this smith Mimer was a
+wonderful master,--the wisest and most cunning that the world had ever
+seen. Men said that he was akin to the dwarf-folk who had ruled the
+earth in the early days, and who were learned in every lore, and skilled
+in every craft; and they said that he was so exceeding old that no one
+could remember the day when he came to dwell in the land of Siegmund's
+fathers. And some said, too, that he was the keeper of a wonderful well,
+or flowing spring, the waters of which imparted wisdom and far-seeing
+knowledge to all who drank of them.
+
+To Mimer's school, then, where he would be taught to work skilfully
+and to think wisely, Siegfried was sent, to be in all respects like
+the other pupils there. A coarse blue blouse, and heavy leggings, and a
+leathern apron, took the place of the costly clothing which he had worn
+in his father's dwelling. His feet were incased in awkward wooden shoes,
+and his head was covered with a wolf-skin cap. The dainty bed, with its
+downy pillows, wherein every night his mother had been wont, with gentle
+care, to see him safely covered, was given up for a rude heap of straw
+in a corner of the smithy. And the rich food to which he had been
+used gave place to the coarsest and humblest fare. But the lad did
+not complain. The days which he passed in the smithy were mirthful and
+happy; and the sound of his hammer rang cheerfully, and the sparks from
+his forge flew briskly, from morning till night.
+
+And a wonderful smith he became. No one could do more work than he, and
+none wrought with greater skill. The heaviest chains and the strongest
+bolts, for prison or for treasure-house, were but as toys in his stout
+hands, so easily and quickly did he beat them into shape. And he was
+alike cunning in work of the most delicate and brittle kind. Ornaments
+of gold and silver, studded with the rarest jewels, were fashioned
+into beautiful forms by his deft fingers. And among all of Mimer's
+apprentices none learned the master's lore so readily, nor gained the
+master's favor more.[EN#1]
+
+One morning the master, Mimer, came to the smithy with a troubled look
+upon his face. It was clear that something had gone amiss; and what it
+was the apprentices soon learned from the smith himself. Never, until
+lately, had any one questioned Mimer's right to be called the foremost
+smith in all the world; but now a rival had come forward. An unknown
+upstart--one Amilias, in Burgundy-land--had made a suit of armor, which,
+he boasted, no stroke of sword could dint, and no blow of spear could
+scratch; and he had sent a challenge to all other smiths, both in the
+Rhine country and elsewhere, to equal that piece of workmanship, or else
+acknowledge themselves his underlings and vassals. For many days had
+Mimer himself toiled, alone and vainly, trying to forge a sword whose
+edge the boasted armor of Amilias could not foil; and now, in despair,
+he came to ask the help of his pupils and apprentices.
+
+"Who among you is skilful enough to forge such a sword?" he asked.
+
+One after another, the pupils shook their heads. And Veliant, the
+foreman of the apprentices, said, "I have heard much about that
+wonderful armor, and its extreme hardness, and I doubt if any skill can
+make a sword with edge so sharp and true as to cut into it. The best
+that can be done is to try to make another war-coat whose temper shall
+equal that of Amilias's armor."
+
+Then the lad Siegfried quickly said, "I will make such a sword as you
+want,--a blade that no war-coat can foil. Give me but leave to try!"
+
+The other pupils laughed in scorn, but Mimer checked them. "You hear how
+this boy can talk: we will see what he can do. He is the king's son, and
+we know that he has uncommon talent. He shall make the sword; but if,
+upon trial, it fail, I will make him rue the day."
+
+Then Siegfried went to his task. And for seven days and seven nights
+the sparks never stopped flying from his forge; and the ringing of his
+anvil, and the hissing of the hot metal as he tempered it, were heard
+continuously. On the eighth day the sword was fashioned, and Siegfried
+brought it to Mimer.
+
+The smith felt the razor-edge of the bright weapon, and said, "This
+seems, indeed, a fair fire-edge. Let us make a trial of its keenness."
+
+Then a thread of wool as light as thistle-down was thrown upon water,
+and, as it floated there, Mimer struck it with the sword. The glittering
+blade cleft the slender thread in twain, and the pieces floated
+undisturbed upon the surface of the liquid.
+
+"Well done!" cried the delighted smith. "Never have I seen a keener
+edge. If its temper is as true as its sharpness would lead us to
+believe, it will indeed serve me well."
+
+But Siegfried took the sword again, and broke it into many pieces; and
+for three days he welded it in a white-hot fire, and tempered it with
+milk and oatmeal. Then, in sight of Mimer and the sneering apprentices,
+he cast a light ball of fine-spun wool upon the flowing water of the
+brook; and it was caught in the swift eddies of the stream, and whirled
+about until it met the bared blade of the sword, which was held in
+Mimer's hands. And it was parted as easily and clean as the rippling
+water, and not the smallest thread was moved out of its place.
+
+Then back to the smithy Siegfried went again; and his forge glowed with
+a brighter fire, and his hammer rang upon the anvil with a cheerier
+sound, than ever before. But he suffered none to come near, and no
+one ever knew what witchery he used. But some of his fellow-pupils
+afterwards told how, in the dusky twilight, they had seen a one-eyed
+man, long-bearded, and clad in a cloud-gray kirtle, and wearing a
+sky-blue hood, talking with Siegfried at the smithy door. And they said
+that the stranger's face was at once pleasant and fearful to look upon,
+and that his one eye shone in the gloaming like the evening star, and
+that, when he had placed in Siegfried's hands bright shards, like pieces
+of a broken sword, he faded suddenly from their sight, and was seen no
+more.
+
+For seven weeks the lad wrought day and night at his forge; and then,
+pale and haggard, but with a pleased smile upon his face, he stood
+before Mimer, with the gleaming sword in his hands. "It is finished," he
+said. "Behold the glittering terror!--the blade Balmung. Let us try its
+edge, and prove its temper once again, that so we may know whether you
+can place your trust in it."
+
+And Mimer looked long at the ruddy hilts of the weapon, and at the
+mystic runes that were scored upon its sides, and at the keen edge,
+which gleamed like a ray of sunlight in the gathering gloom of the
+evening. But no word came from his lips, and his eyes were dim and
+dazed; and he seemed as one lost in thoughts of days long past and gone.
+
+Siegfried raised the blade high over his head; and the gleaming edge
+flashed hither and thither, like the lightning's play when Thor rides
+over the storm-clouds. Then suddenly it fell upon the master's anvil,
+and the great block of iron was cleft in two; but the bright blade was
+no whit dulled by the stroke, and the line of light which marked the
+edge was brighter than before.
+
+Then to the flowing brook they went; and a great pack of wool, the
+fleeces of ten sheep, was brought, and thrown upon the swirling water.
+As the stream bore the bundle downwards, Mimer held the sword in its
+way. And the whole was divided as easily and as clean as the woollen
+ball or the slender woollen thread had been cleft before.
+
+"Now, indeed," cried Mimer, "I no longer fear to meet that upstart,
+Amilias. If his war-coat can withstand the stroke of such a sword as
+Balmung, then I shall not be ashamed to be his underling. But, if this
+good blade is what it seems to be, it will not fail me; and I, Mimer the
+Old, shall still be called the wisest and greatest of smiths."
+
+And he sent word at once to Amilias, in Burgundy-land, to meet him on
+a day, and settle forever the question as to which of the two should be
+the master, and which the underling. And heralds proclaimed it in every
+town and dwelling. When the time which had been set drew near,
+Mimer, bearing the sword Balmung, and followed by all his pupils and
+apprentices, wended his way towards the place of meeting. Through the
+forest they went, and then along the banks of the sluggish river, for
+many a league, to the height of land which marked the line between King
+Siegmund's country and the country of the Burgundians. It was in this
+place, midway between the shops of Mimer and Amilias, that the great
+trial of metal and of skill was to be made. And here were already
+gathered great numbers of people from the Lowlands and from Burgundy,
+anxiously waiting for the coming of the champions. On the one side were
+the wise old Siegmund and his gentle queen, and their train of knights
+and courtiers and fair ladies. On the other side were the three
+Burgundian kings, Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher, and a mighty retinue of
+warriors, led by grim old Hagen, the uncle of the kings, and the wariest
+chief in all Rhineland.
+
+When every thing was in readiness for the contest, Amilias, clad in his
+boasted war-coat, went up to the top of the hill, and sat upon a great
+rock, and waited for Mimer's coming. As he sat there, he looked, to the
+people below, like some great castle-tower; for he was almost a giant
+in size, and his coat of mail, so skilfully wrought, was so huge
+that twenty men of common mould might have found shelter, or hidden
+themselves, within it. As the smith Mimer, so dwarfish in stature,
+toiled up the steep hillside, Amilias smiled to see him; for he felt
+no fear of the slender, gleaming blade that was to try the metal of
+his war-coat. And already a shout of expectant triumph went up from the
+throats of the Burgundian hosts, so sure were they of their champion's
+success.
+
+But Mimer's friends waited in breathless silence, hoping, and yet
+fearing. Only King Siegmund whispered to his queen, and said, "Knowledge
+is stronger than brute force. The smallest dwarf who has drunk from the
+well of the Knowing One may safely meet the stoutest giant in battle."
+
+When Mimer reached the top of the hill, Amilias folded his huge arms,
+and smiled again; for he felt that this contest was mere play for him,
+and that Mimer was already as good as beaten, and his thrall. The smith
+paused a moment to take breath, and as he stood by the side of his
+foe he looked to those below like a mere black speck close beside a
+steel-gray castle-tower.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked the smith.
+
+"Ready," answered Amilias. "Strike!"
+
+Mimer raised the beaming blade in the air, and for a moment the
+lightning seemed to play around his head. The muscles on his short,
+brawny arms, stood out like great ropes; and then Balmung, descending,
+cleft the air from right to left. The waiting lookers-on in the plain
+below thought to hear the noise of clashing steel; but they listened in
+vain, for no sound came to their ears, save a sharp hiss like that which
+red-hot iron gives when plunged into a tank of cold water. The huge
+Amilias sat unmoved, with his arms still folded upon his breast; but the
+smile had faded from his face.
+
+"How do you feel now?" asked Mimer in a half-mocking tone.
+
+"Rather strangely, as if cold iron had touched me," faintly answered the
+upstart.
+
+"Shake thyself!" cried Mimer.
+
+Amilias did so, and, lo! he fell in two halves; for the sword had cut
+sheer through the vaunted war-coat, and cleft in twain the great body
+incased within. Down tumbled the giant head and the still folded arms,
+and they rolled with thundering noise to the foot of the hill, and fell
+with a fearful splash into the deep waters of the river; and there,
+fathoms down, they may even now be seen, when the water is clear, lying
+like great gray rocks among the sand and gravel below. The rest of the
+body, with the armor which incased it, still sat upright in its place;
+and to this day travellers sailing down the river are shown on moonlit
+evenings the luckless armor of Amilias on the high hill-top. In the dim,
+uncertain light, one easily fancies it to be the ivy covered ruins of
+some old castle of feudal times.
+
+The master, Mimer, sheathed his sword, and walked slowly down the
+hillside to the plain, where his friends welcomed him with glad cheers
+and shouts of joy. But the Burgundians, baffled, and feeling vexed,
+turned silently homeward, nor cast a single look back to the scene of
+their disappointment and their ill-fated champion's defeat.
+
+And Siegfried went again with the master and his fellows to the smoky
+smithy, to his roaring bellows and ringing anvil, and to his coarse
+fare, and rude, hard bed, and to a life of labor. And while all men
+praised Mimer and his knowing skill, and the fiery edge of the sunbeam
+blade, no one knew that it was the boy Siegfried who had wrought that
+piece of workmanship.
+
+But after a while it was whispered around that not Mimer, but one of his
+pupils, had forged the sword. And, when the master was asked what truth
+there was in this story, his eyes twinkled, and the corners of his mouth
+twitched strangely, and he made no answer. But Veliant, the foreman of
+the smithy, and the greatest of boasters said, "It was I who forged the
+fire-edge of the blade Balmung." And, although none denied the truth of
+what he said, but few who knew what sort of a man he was believed his
+story. And this is the reason, my children, that, in the ancient songs
+and stories which tell of this wondrous sword, it is said by most that
+Mimer, and by a few that Veliant, forged its blade. But I prefer to
+believe that it was made by Siegfried, the hero who afterwards wielded
+it in so many adventures. [EN#3] Be this as it may, however, blind hate
+and jealousy were from this time uppermost in the coarse and selfish
+mind of Veliant; and he sought how he might drive the lad away from the
+smithy in disgrace. "This boy has done what no one else could do," said
+he. "He may yet do greater deeds, and set himself up as the master smith
+of the world, and then we shall all have to humble ourselves before him
+as his underlings and thralls."
+
+And he nursed this thought, and brooded over the hatred which he felt
+towards the blameless boy; but he did not dare to harm him, for fear of
+their master, Mimer. And Siegfried busied himself at his forge, where
+the sparks flew as briskly and as merrily as ever before, and his
+bellows roared from early morning till late at evening. Nor did the
+foreman's unkindness trouble him for a moment, for he knew that the
+master's heart was warm towards him.
+
+Oftentimes, when the day's work was done, Siegfried sat with Mimer by
+the glowing light of the furnace-fire, and listened to the sweet tales
+which the master told of the deeds of the early days, when the world
+was young, and the dwarf-folk and the giants had a name and a place upon
+earth. And one night, as they thus sat, the master talked of Odin the
+All-Father, and of the gods who dwell with him in Asgard, and of the
+puny men-folk whom they protect and befriend, until his words grew full
+of bitterness, and his soul of a fierce longing for something he dared
+not name. And the lad's heart was stirred with a strange uneasiness, and
+he said,--
+
+"Tell me, I pray, dear master, something about my own kin, my father's
+fathers,--those mighty kings, who, I have heard said, were the bravest
+and best of men."
+
+Then the smith seemed pleased again. And his eyes grew brighter, and
+lost their far-away look; and a smile played among the wrinkles of his
+swarthy face, as he told a tale of old King Volsung and of the deeds of
+the Volsung kings:--
+
+"Long years ago, before the evil days had dawned, King Volsung ruled
+over all the land which lies between the sea and the country of the
+Goths. The days were golden; and the good Frey dropped peace and plenty
+everywhere, and men went in and out and feared no wrong. King Volsung
+had a dwelling in the midst of fertile fields and fruitful gardens.
+Fairer than any dream was that dwelling. The roof was thatched with
+gold, and red turrets and towers rose above. The great feast-hall was
+long and high, and its walls were hung with sun-bright shields; and the
+door-nails were of silver. In the middle of the hall stood the pride of
+the Volsungs,--a tree whose blossoms filled the air with fragrance, and
+whose green branches, thrusting themselves through the ceiling, covered
+the roof with fair foliage. It was Odin's tree, and King Volsung had
+planted it there with his own hands.
+
+"On a day in winter King Volsung held a great feast in his hall in honor
+of Siggeir, the King of the Goths, who was his guest. And the fires
+blazed bright in the broad chimneys, and music and mirth went round. But
+in the midst of the merry-making the guests were startled by a sudden
+peal of thunder, which seemed to come from the cloudless sky, and which
+made the shields upon the walls rattle and ring. In wonder they looked
+around. A strange man stood in the doorway, and laughed, but said not a
+word. And they noticed that he wore no shoes upon his feet, but that
+a cloud-gray cloak was thrown over his shoulders, and a blue hood was
+drawn down over his head. His face was half-hidden by a heavy beard; and
+he had but one eye, which twinkled and glowed like a burning coal. And
+all the guests sat moveless in their seats, so awed were they in the
+presence of him who stood at the door; for they knew that he was none
+other than Odin the All-Father, the king of gods and men. He spoke not
+a word, but straight into the hall he strode, and he paused not until
+he stood beneath the blossoming branches of the tree. Then, forth from
+beneath his cloud-gray cloak, he drew a gleaming sword, and struck the
+blade deep into the wood,--so deep that nothing but the hilt was left
+in sight. And, turning to the awe-struck guests, he said, 'A blade
+of mighty worth have I hidden in this tree. Never have the earth-folk
+wrought better steel, nor has any man ever wielded a more trusty sword.
+Whoever there is among you brave enough and strong enough to draw it
+forth from the wood, he shall have it as a gift from Odin.' Then slowly
+to the door he strode again, and no one saw him any more.
+
+"And after he had gone, the Volsungs and their guests sat a long time
+silent, fearing to stir, lest the vision should prove a dream. But at
+last the old king arose, and cried, 'Come, guests and kinsmen, and set
+your hands to the ruddy hilt! Odin's gift stays, waiting for its fated
+owner. Let us see which one of you is the favored of the All-Father.'
+First Siggeir, the King of the Goths, and his earls, the Volsungs'
+guests, tried their hands. But the blade stuck fast; and the stoutest
+man among them failed to move it. Then King Volsung, laughing, seized
+the hilt, and drew with all his strength; but the sword held still in
+the wood of Odin's tree. And one by one the nine sons of Volsung tugged
+and strained in vain; and each was greeted with shouts and laughter, as,
+ashamed and beaten, he wended to his seat again. Then, at last, Sigmund,
+the youngest son, stood up, and laid his hand upon the ruddy hilt,
+scarce thinking to try what all had failed to do. When, lo! the blade
+came out of the tree as if therein it had all along lain loose. And
+Sigmund raised it high over his head, and shook it, and the bright flame
+that leaped from its edge lit up the hall like the lightning's gleaming;
+and the Volsungs and their guests rent the air with cheers and shouts of
+gladness. For no one among all the men of the mid-world was more worthy
+of Odin's gift than young Sigmund the brave."
+
+But the rest of Mimer's story would be too long to tell you now; for he
+and his young apprentice sat for hours by the dying coals, and talked of
+Siegfried's kinfolk,--the Volsung kings of old. And he told how Siggeir,
+the Goth king, was wedded to Signy the fair, the only daughter of
+Volsung, and the pride of the old king's heart; and how he carried
+her with him to his home in the land of the Goths; and how he coveted
+Sigmund's sword, and plotted to gain it by guile; and how, through
+presence of friendship, he invited the Volsung kings to visit him in
+Gothland, as the guests of himself and Signy; and how he betrayed and
+slew them, save Sigmund alone, who escaped, and for long years lived an
+outlaw in the land of his treacherous foe. And then he told how Sigmund
+afterwards came back to his own country of the Volsungs; and how his
+people welcomed him, and he became a mighty king, such as the world had
+never known before; and how, when he had grown old, and full of years
+and honors, he went out with his earls and fighting-men to battle
+against the hosts of King Lyngi the Mighty; and how, in the midst of the
+fight, when his sword had hewn down numbers of the foe, and the end of
+the strife and victory seemed near, an old man, one eyed and bearded,
+and wearing a cloud-gray cloak, stood up before him in the din, and
+his sword was broken in pieces, and he fell dead on the heap of the
+slain.[EN#4] And, when Mimer had finished his tale, his dark face seemed
+to grow darker, and his twinkling eyes grew brighter, as he cried out in
+a tone of despair and hopeless yearning,--
+
+"Oh, past are those days of old and the worthy deeds of the brave!
+And these are the days of the home-stayers,--of the wise, but
+feeble-hearted. Yet the Norns have spoken; and it must be that another
+hero shall arise of the Volsung blood, and he shall restore the name and
+the fame of his kin of the early days. And he shall be my bane; and in
+him shall the race of heroes have an end."[EN#7]
+
+Siegfried's heart was strangely stirred within him as he hearkened to
+this story of ancient times and to the fateful words of the master,
+and for a long time he sat in silent thought; and neither he nor Mimer
+moved, or spoke again, until the darkness of the night had begun to
+fade, and the gray light of morning to steal into the smithy. Then, as
+if moved by a sudden impulse, he turned to the master, and said,--
+
+"You speak of the Norns, dear master, and of their foretelling; but
+your words are vague, and their meaning very broad. When shall that hero
+come? and who shall he be? and what deeds shall be his doing?"
+
+"Alas!" answered Mimer, "I know not, save that he shall be of the
+Volsung race, and that my fate is linked with his."
+
+"And why do you not know?" returned Siegfried. "Are you not that old
+Mimer, in whom it is said the garnered wisdom of the world is stored? Is
+there not truth in the old story that even Odin pawned one of his
+eyes for a single draught from your fountain of knowledge? And is
+the possessor of so much wisdom unable to look into the future with
+clearness and certainty?"
+
+"Alas!" answered Mimer again, and his words came hard and slow, "I
+am not that Mimer, of whom old stories tell, who gave wisdom to the
+All-Father in exchange for an eye. He is one of the giants, and he still
+watches his fountain in far-off Jotunheim.[EN#2] I claim kinship
+with the dwarfs, and am sometimes known as an elf, sometimes as a
+wood-sprite. Men have called me Mimer because of my wisdom and skill,
+and the learning which I impart to my pupils. Could I but drink from the
+fountain of the real Mimer, then the wisdom of the world would in truth
+be mine, and the secrets of the future would be no longer hidden. But I
+must wait, as I have long waited, for the day and the deed and the doom
+that the Norns have foretold."
+
+And the old strange look of longing came again into his eyes, and the
+wrinkles on his swarthy face seemed to deepen with agony, as he arose,
+and left the smithy. And Siegfried sat alone before the smouldering
+fire, and pondered upon what he had heard.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure II. Greyfell.
+
+
+
+Many were the pleasant days that Siegfried spent in Mimer's smoky
+smithy; and if he ever thought of his father's stately dwelling, or of
+the life of ease which he might have enjoyed within its halls, he never
+by word or deed showed signs of discontent. For Mimer taught him all the
+secrets of his craft and all the lore of the wise men. To beat hot
+iron, to shape the fire-edged sword, to smithy war-coats, to fashion the
+slender bracelet of gold and jewels,--all this he had already learned.
+But there were many other things to know, and these the wise master
+showed him. He told him how to carve the mystic runes which speak to
+the knowing ones with silent, unseen tongues; he told him of the men of
+other lands, and taught him their strange speech; he showed him how to
+touch the harp-strings, and bring forth bewitching music: and the heart
+of Siegfried waxed very wise, while his body grew wondrous strong. And
+the master loved his pupil dearly.
+
+But the twelve apprentices grew more jealous day by day, and when Mimer
+was away they taunted Siegfried with cruel jests, and sought by harsh
+threats to drive him from the smithy; but the lad only smiled, and made
+the old shop ring again with the music from his anvil. On a day when
+Mimer had gone on a journey, Veliant, the foreman, so far forgot himself
+as to strike the boy. For a moment Siegfried gazed at him with withering
+scorn; then he swung his hammer high in air, and brought it swiftly
+down, not upon the head of Veliant, who was trembling with expectant
+fear, but upon the foreman's anvil. The great block of iron was shivered
+by the blow, and flew into a thousand pieces. Then, turning again
+towards the thoroughly frightened foreman, Siegfried said, while angry
+lightning-flashes darted from his eyes,--
+
+"What if I were to strike you thus?"
+
+Veliant sank upon the ground, and begged for mercy.
+
+"You are safe," said Siegfried, walking away. "I would scorn to harm a
+being like you!"
+
+The apprentices were struck dumb with amazement and fear; and when
+Siegfried had returned to his anvil they one by one dropped their
+hammers, and stole away from the smithy. In a secret place not far from
+the shop, they met together, to plot some means by which they might rid
+themselves of him whom they both hated and feared.
+
+The next morning Veliant came to Siegfried's forge, with a sham smile
+upon his face. The boy knew that cowardice and base deceit lurked, ill
+concealed, beneath that smile; yet, as he was wont to do, he welcomed
+the foreman kindly.
+
+"Siegfried," said Veliant, "let us be friends again. I am sorry that I
+was so foolish and so rash yesterday, and I promise that I will never
+again be so rude and unmanly as to become angry at you. Let us be
+friends, good Siegfried! Give me your hand, I pray you, and with it your
+forgiveness."
+
+Siegfried grasped the rough palm of the young smith with such a gripe,
+that the smile vanished from Veliant's face, and his muscles writhed
+with pain.
+
+"I give you my hand, certainly," said the boy, "and I will give you my
+forgiveness when I know that you are worthy of it."
+
+As soon as Veliant's aching hand allowed him speech, he said,--
+
+"Siegfried, you know that we have but little charcoal left for our
+forges, and our master will soon return from his journey. It will never
+do for him to find us idle, and the fires cold. Some one must go to-day
+to the forest-pits, and bring home a fresh supply of charcoal. How would
+you like the errand? It is but a pleasant day's journey to the pits; and
+a ride into the greenwood this fine summer day would certainly be more
+agreeable than staying in the smoky shop."
+
+"I should like the drive very much," answered Siegfried; "but I have
+never been to the coal-pits, and I might lose my way in the forest."
+
+"No danger of that," said Veliant. "Follow the road that goes straight
+into the heart of the forest, and you cannot miss your way. It will lead
+you to the house of Regin, the master, the greatest charcoal-man in all
+Rhineland. He will be right glad to see you for Mimer's sake, and you
+may lodge with him for the night. In the morning he will fill your cart
+with the choicest charcoal, and you can drive home at your leisure; and,
+when our master comes again, he will find our forges flaming, and our
+bellows roaring, and our anvils ringing, as of yore."
+
+Siegfried, after some further parley, agreed to undertake the errand,
+although he felt that Veliant, in urging him to do so, wished to work
+him some harm. He harnessed the donkey to the smith's best cart, and
+drove merrily away along the road which led towards the forest.[EN#5]
+The day was bright and clear; and as Siegfried rode through the flowery
+meadows, or betwixt the fields of corn, a thousand sights and sounds met
+him, and made him glad. Now and then he would stop to watch the reapers
+in the fields, or to listen to the song of some heaven-soaring lark
+lost to sight in the blue sea overhead. Once he met a company of gayly
+dressed youths and maidens, carrying sheaves of golden grain,--for it
+was now the harvest-time,--and singing in praise of Frey, the giver of
+peace and plenty.
+
+"Whither away, young prince?" they merrily asked.
+
+"To Regin, the coal-burner, in the deep greenwood," he answered.
+
+"Then may the good Frey have thee in keeping!" they cried. "It is a long
+and lonesome journey." And each one blessed him as they passed.
+
+It was nearly noon when he drove into the forest, and left the blooming
+meadows and the warm sunshine behind him. And now he urged the donkey
+forwards with speed; for he knew that he had lost much precious time,
+and that many miles still lay between him and Regin's charcoal-pits. And
+there was nothing here amid the thick shadows of the wood to make him
+wish to linger; for the ground was damp, and the air was chilly, and
+every thing was silent as the grave. And not a living creature did
+Siegfried see, save now and then a gray wolf slinking across the road,
+or a doleful owl sitting low down in some tree-top, and blinking at him
+in the dull but garish light. Evening at last drew on, and the shadows
+in the wood grew deeper; and still no sign of charcoal-burner, nor of
+other human being, was seen. Night came, and thick darkness settled
+around; and all the demons of the forest came forth, and clamored and
+chattered, and shrieked and howled. But Siegfried was not afraid. The
+bats and vampires came out of their hiding-places, and flapped their
+clammy wings in his face; and he thought that he saw ogres and many
+fearful creatures peeping out from behind every tree and shrub. But,
+when he looked upwards through the overhanging tree-tops, he saw the
+star-decked roof of heaven, the blue mantle which the All-Father has
+hung as a shelter over the world; and he went bravely onwards, never
+doubting but that Odin has many good things in store for those who are
+willing to trust him.
+
+And by and by the great round moon arose in the east, and the fearful
+sounds that had made the forest hideous began to die away; and Siegfried
+saw, far down the path, a red light feebly gleaming. And he was glad,
+for he knew that it must come from the charcoal-burners' pits. Soon he
+came out upon a broad, cleared space; and the charcoal-burners' fires
+blazed bright before him; and some workmen, swarthy and soot-begrimed,
+came forwards to meet him.
+
+"Who are you?" they asked; "and why do you come through the forest at
+this late hour?"
+
+"I am Siegfried," answered the boy; "and I come from Mimer's smithy. I
+seek Regin, the king of charcoal-burners; for I must have coal for my
+master's smithy."
+
+"Come with me," said one of the men: "I will lead you to Regin."
+
+Siegfried alighted from his cart, and followed the man to a low-roofed
+hut not far from the burning pits. As they drew near, they heard the
+sound of a harp, and strange, wild music within; and Siegfried's heart
+was stirred with wonder as he listened. The man knocked softly at the
+door, and the music ceased.
+
+"Who comes to break into Regin's rest at such a time as this?" said a
+rough voice within.
+
+"A youth who calls himself Siegfried," answered the man. "He says that
+he comes from Mimer's smithy, and he would see you, my master."
+
+"Let him come in," said the voice.
+
+Siegfried passed through the low door, and into the room beyond; and so
+strange was the sight that met him that he stood for a while in awe,
+for never in so lowly a dwelling had treasures so rich been seen. Jewels
+sparkled from the ceiling; rare tapestry covered the walls; and on the
+floor were heaps of ruddy gold and silver, still unfashioned. And in
+the midst of all this wealth stood Regin, the king of the forest, the
+greatest of charcoal-men. And a strange old man he was, wrinkled and
+gray and beardless; but out of his eyes sharp glances gleamed of a light
+that was not human, and his heavy brow and broad forehead betokened
+wisdom and shrewd cunning. And he welcomed Siegfried kindly for Mimer's
+sake, and set before him a rich repast of venison, and wild honey, and
+fresh white bread, and luscious grapes. And, when the meal was finished,
+the boy would have told his errand, but Regin stopped him.
+
+"Say nothing of your business to-night," said he; "for the hour is
+already late, and you are weary. Better lie down, and rest until the
+morrow; and then we will talk of the matter which has brought you
+hither."
+
+And Siegfried was shown to a couch of the fragrant leaves of the myrtle
+and hemlock, overspread with soft white linen, such as is made in the
+far-off Emerald Isle; and he was lulled to sleep by sweet strains of
+music from Regin's harp,--music which told of the days when the gods
+were young on the earth. And as he slept he dreamed. He dreamed that
+he stood upon the crag of a high mountain, and that the eagles flew
+screaming around him, and the everlasting snows lay at his feet, and the
+world in all its beauty was stretched out like a map below him; and he
+longed to go forth to partake of its abundance, and to make for himself
+a name among men. Then came the Norns, who spin the thread, and weave
+the woof, of every man's life; and they held in their hands the web
+of his own destiny. And Urd, the Past, sat on the tops of the eastern
+mountains, where the sun begins to rise at dawn; while Verdanda, the
+Present, stood in the western sea, where sky and water meet. And they
+stretched the web between them, and its ends were hidden in the far-away
+mists. Then with all their might the two Norns span the purple and
+golden threads, and wove the fatal woof. But as it began to grow in
+beauty and in strength, and to shadow the earth with its gladness and
+its glory, Skuld, the pitiless Norn of the Future, seized it with rude
+fingers, and tore it into shreds, and cast it down at the feet of Hela,
+the white queen of the dead.[EN#6] And the eagles shrieked, and the
+mountain shook, and the crag toppled, and Siegfried awoke.
+
+The next morning, at earliest break of day, the youth sought Regin, and
+made known his errand.
+
+"I have come for charcoal for my master Mimer's forges. My cart stands
+ready outside; and I pray you to have it filled at once, for the way is
+long, and I must be back betimes."
+
+Then a strange smile stole over Regin's wrinkled face, and he said,--
+
+"Does Siegfried the prince come on such a lowly errand? Does he come
+to me through the forest, driving a donkey, and riding in a sooty
+coal-cart? I have known the day when his kin were the mightiest kings of
+earth, and they fared through every land the noblest men of men-folk."
+
+The taunting word, the jeering tones, made Siegfried's anger rise.
+The blood boiled in his veins; but he checked his tongue, and mildly
+answered,--
+
+"It is true that I am a prince, and my father is the wisest of kings;
+and it is for this reason that I come thus to you. Mimer is my master,
+and my father early taught me that even princes must obey their masters'
+behests."
+
+Then Regin laughed, and asked, "How long art thou to be Mimer's thrall?
+Does no work wait for thee but at his smoky forge?"
+
+"When Mimer gives me leave, and Odin calls me," answered the lad, "then
+I, too, will go faring over the world, like my kin of the earlier
+days, to carve me a name and great glory, and a place with the noble of
+earth."
+
+Regin said not a word; but he took his harp, and smote the strings,
+and a sad, wild music filled the room. And he sang of the gods and the
+dwarf-folk, and of the deeds that had been in the time long past and
+gone. And a strange mist swam before Siegfried's eyes; and so bewitching
+were the strains that fell upon his ears, and filled his soul, that he
+forgot about his errand, and his master Mimer, and his father Siegmund,
+and his lowland home, and thought only of the heart-gladdening sounds.
+By and by the music ended, the spell was lifted, and Siegfried turned
+his eyes towards the musician. A wonderful change had taken place. The
+little old man still stood before him with the harp in his hand; but his
+wrinkled face was hidden by a heavy beard, and his thin gray locks were
+covered with a long black wig, and he seemed taller and stouter than
+before. As Siegfried started with surprise, his host held out his hand,
+and said,--
+
+"You need not be alarmed, my boy. It is time for you to know that
+Regin and Mimer are the same person, or rather that Mimer is Regin
+disguised.[EN#8] The day has come for you to go your way into the world,
+and Mimer gives you leave."
+
+Siegfried was so amazed he could not say a word. He took the master's
+hand, and gazed long into his deep, bright eyes. Then the two sat down
+together, and Mimer, or Regin as we shall now call him, told the prince
+many tales of the days that had been, and of his bold, wise forefathers.
+And the lad's heart swelled within him; and he longed to be like
+them,--to dare and do and suffer, and gloriously win at last. And he
+turned to Regin and said,--
+
+"Tell me, wisest of masters, what I shall do to win fame, and to make
+myself worthy to rule the fair land which my fathers held."
+
+"Go forth in your own strength, and with Odin's help," answered
+Regin,--"go forth to right the wrong, to help the weak, to punish evil,
+and come not back to your father's kingdom until the world shall know
+your noble deeds."
+
+"But whither shall I go?" asked Siegfried.
+
+"I will tell you," answered Regin. "Put on these garments, which better
+befit a prince than those soot-begrimed clothes you have worn so long.
+Gird about you this sword, the good Balmung, and go northward. When you
+come to the waste lands which border upon the sea, you will find
+the ancient Gripir, the last of the kin of the giants. Ask of him a
+war-steed, and Odin will tell you the rest."
+
+So, when the sun had risen high above the trees, Siegfried bade Regin
+good-by, and went forth like a man, to take whatsoever fortune should
+betide. He went through the great forest, and across the bleak moorland
+beyond, and over the huge black mountains that stretched themselves
+across his way, and came to a pleasant country all dotted with white
+farmhouses, and yellow with waving, corn. But he tarried not here,
+though many kind words were spoken to him, and all besought him to stay.
+Right onwards he went, until he reached the waste land which borders the
+sounding sea. And there high mountains stood, with snow-crowned crags
+beetling over the waves; and a great river, all foaming with the summer
+floods, went rolling through the valley. And in the deep dales between
+the mountains were rich meadows, green with grass, and speckled with
+thousands of flowers of every hue, where herds of cattle and deer, and
+noble elks, and untamed horses, fed in undisturbed peace. And Siegfried,
+when he saw, knew that these were the pastures of Gripir the ancient.
+
+High up among the gray mountain-peaks stood Gripir's dwelling,--a
+mighty house, made of huge bowlders brought by giant hands from the far
+north-land. And the wild eagle, built their nests around it, and the
+mountain vultures screamed about its doors. But Siegfried was not
+afraid. He climbed the steep pathway which the feet of men had never
+touched before, and, without pausing, walked straightway into the
+high-built hall. The room was so dark that at first he could see nothing
+save the white walls, and the glass-green pillars which upheld the roof.
+But the light grew stronger soon; and Siegfried saw, beneath a heavy
+canopy of stone, the ancient Gripir, seated in a chair made from the
+sea-horse's teeth.[EN#9] And the son of the giants held in his hand an
+ivory staff; and a purple mantle was thrown over his shoulders, and his
+white beard fell in sweeping waves almost to the sea-green floor. Very
+wise he seemed, and he gazed at Siegfried with a kindly smile.
+
+"Hail, Siegfried!" he cried. "Hail, prince with the gleaming eye! I know
+thee, and I know the woof that the Norns have woven for thee. Welcome to
+my lonely mountain home! Come and sit by my side in the high-seat where
+man has never sat, and I will tell thee of things that have been, and of
+things that are yet to be."
+
+Then Siegfried fearlessly went and sat by the side of the ancient wise
+one. And long hours they talked together,--strong youth and hoariest
+age; and each was glad that in the other he had found some source of
+hope and comfort. And they talked of the great midworld, and of the
+starry dome above it, and of the seas which gird it, and of the men who
+live upon it. All night long they talked, and in the morning Siegfried
+arose to go.
+
+"Thou hast not told me of thy errand," said Gripir; "but I know what it
+is. Come first with me, and see this great mid-world for thyself."
+
+Then Gripir, leaning on his staff, led the way out of the great hall,
+and up to the top of the highest mountain-crag. And the wild eagles
+circled in the clear, cold air above them; and far below them the white
+waves dashed against the mountain's feet; and the frosty winds swept
+around them unchecked, bringing to their ears the lone lamenting of the
+north giants, moaning for the days that had been and for the glories
+that were past. Then Siegfried looked to the north, and he saw the dark
+mountain-wall of Norway trending away in solemn grandeur towards
+the frozen sea, but broken here and there by sheltering fjords, and
+pleasant, sunny dales. He looked to the east, and saw a great forest
+stretching away and away until it faded to sight in the blue distance.
+He looked to the south, and saw a pleasant land, with farms and
+vineyards, and towns and strong-built castles; and through it wound the
+River Rhine, like a great white serpent, reaching from the snow-capped
+Alps to the northern sea. And he saw his father's little kingdom of the
+Netherlands lying like a green speck on the shore of the ocean. Then
+he looked to the west, and nothing met his sight but a wilderness of
+rolling, restless waters, save, in the far distance, a green island half
+hidden by sullen mists and clouds. And Siegfried sighed, and said,--
+
+"The world is so wide, and the life of man so short!"
+
+"The world is all before thee," answered Gripir. "Take what the Norns
+have allotted thee. Choose from my pastures a battle-steed, and ride
+forth to win for thyself a name and fame among the sons of men."
+
+Then Siegfried ran down the steep side of the mountain to the grassy
+dell where the horses were feeding. But the beasts were all so fair and
+strong, that he knew not which to choose. While he paused, uncertain
+what to do, a strange man stood before him. Tall and handsome was the
+man, with one bright eye, and a face beaming like the dawn in summer;
+and upon his head he wore a sky-blue hood bespangled with golden stars,
+and over his shoulder was thrown a cloak of ashen gray.
+
+"Would you choose a horse, Sir Siegfried?" asked the stranger.
+
+"Indeed I would," answered he. "But it is hard to make a choice among so
+many."
+
+"There is one in the meadow," said the man, "far better than all
+the rest. They say that he came from Odin's pastures on the green
+hill-slopes of Asgard, and that none but the noblest shall ride him."
+
+"Which is he?" asked Siegfried.
+
+"Drive the herd into the river," was the answer, "and then see if you
+can pick him out."
+
+And Siegfried and the stranger drove the horses down the sloping bank,
+and into the rolling stream; but the flood was too strong for them.
+Some soon turned back to the shore; while others, struggling madly, were
+swept away, and carried out to the sea. Only one swam safely over. He
+shook the dripping water from his mane, tossed his head in the air, and
+then plunged again into the stream. Right bravely he stemmed the
+torrent the second time. He clambered up the shelving bank, and stood by
+Siegfried's side.
+
+"What need to tell you that this is the horse?" said the stranger. "Take
+him: he is yours. He is Greyfell, the shining hope that Odin sends to
+his chosen heroes."
+
+And then Siegfried noticed that the horse's mane glimmered and flashed
+like a thousand rays from the sun, and that his coat was as white and
+clear as the fresh-fallen snow on the mountains. He turner to speak to
+the stranger, but he was nowhere to be seen and Siegfried bethought him
+how he had talked with Odin unawares. Then he mounted the noble Greyfell
+and rode with a light heart across the flowery meadows.
+
+"Whither ridest thou?" cried Gripir the ancient, from his doorway among
+the crags.
+
+"I ride into the wide world," said Siegfried; "but I know not whither. I
+would right the wrong, and help the weak, and make myself a name on the
+earth, as did my kinsmen of yore. Tell me, I pray you, where I shall
+go; for you are wise, and you know the things which have been, and those
+which shall befall."
+
+"Ride back to Regin, the master of masters," answered Gripir. "He will
+tell thee of a wrong to be righted."
+
+And the ancient son of the giants withdrew into his lonely abode; and
+Siegfried, on the shining Greyfell, rode swiftly away towards the south.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure III. The Curse of Gold.
+
+
+
+Forth then rode Siegfried, upon the beaming Greyfell, out into the broad
+mid-world. And the sun shone bright above him, and the air was soft and
+pure, and the earth seemed very lovely, and life a gladsome thing. And
+his heart was big within him as he thought of the days to come, of
+the deeds of love and daring, of the righting of many wrongs, of the
+people's praise, and the glory of a life well lived. And he wended his
+way back again toward the south and the fair lands of the Rhine. He left
+the barren moorlands behind him, and the pleasant farms and villages of
+the fruitful countryside, and after many days came once more to Regin's
+woodland dwelling. For he said to himself, "My old master is very wise;
+and he knows of the deeds that were done when yet the world was young,
+and my kin were the mightiest of men. I will go to him, and learn what
+grievous evil it is that he has so often vaguely hinted at."
+
+Regin, when he saw the lad and the beaming Greyfell standing like
+a vision of light at his door, welcomed them most gladly, and led
+Siegfried into the inner room, where they sat down together amid the
+gold, and the gem-stones, and the fine-wrought treasures there.
+
+"Truly," said the master, "the days of my long waiting are drawing to a
+close, and at last the deed shall be done."
+
+And the old look of longing came again into his eyes, and his pinched
+face seemed darker and more wrinkled than before, and his thin lips
+trembled with emotion as he spoke.
+
+"What is that deed of which you speak?" asked Siegfried.
+
+"It is the righting of a grievous wrong," answered Regin, "and the
+winning of treasures untold. Lo, many years have I waited for the coming
+of this day; and now my heart tells me that the hero so long hoped for
+is here, and the wisdom and the wealth of the world shall be mine."
+
+"But what is the wrong to be righted?" asked Siegfried. "And what is
+this treasure that you speak of as your own?"
+
+"Alas!" answered Regin, "the treasure is indeed mine; and yet wrongfully
+has it been withheld from me. But listen a while to a tale of the early
+days, and thou shalt know what the treasure is, and what is the wrong to
+be righted."
+
+He took his harp and swept the strings, and played a soft, low melody
+which told of the dim past, and of blighted hopes, and of a nameless,
+never-satisfied yearning for that which might have been. And then he
+told Siegfried this story:
+
+
+
+Regin's Story.
+
+
+
+When the earth was still very young, and men were feeble and few, and
+the Dwarfs were many and strong, the Asa-folk were wont oft-times
+to leave their halls in heaven-towering Asgard in order to visit the
+new-formed mid-world, and to see what the short-lived sons of men were
+doing. Sometimes they came in their own godlike splendor and might;
+sometimes they came disguised as feeble men-folk, with all man's
+weaknesses and all his passions. Sometimes Odin, as a beggar, wandered
+from one country to another, craving charity; sometimes, as a warrior
+clad in coat of mail, he rode forth to battle for the cause of right; or
+as a minstrel he sang from door to door, and played sweet music in the
+halls of the great; or as a huntsman he dashed through brakes and fens,
+and into dark forests, and climbed steep mountains in search of game; or
+as a sailor he embarked upon the sea, and sought new scenes in unknown
+lands. And many times did men-folk entertain him unawares.
+
+Once on a time he came to the mid-world in company with Hoenir and
+Loki; and the three wandered through many lands and in many climes, each
+giving gifts wherever they went. Odin gave knowledge and strength, and
+taught men how to read the mystic runes; Hoenir gave gladness and
+good cheer, and lightened many hearts with the glow of his comforting
+presence; but Loki had nought to give but cunning deceit and base
+thoughts, and he left behind him bitter strife and many aching breasts.
+At last, growing tired of the fellowship of men, the three Asas sought
+the solitude of the forest, and as huntsmen wandered long among the
+hills and over the wooded heights of Hunaland. Late one afternoon they
+came to a mountain-stream at a place where it poured over a ledge of
+rocks, and fell in clouds of spray into a rocky gorge below. As they
+stood, and with pleased eyes gazed upon the waterfall, they saw near the
+bank an otter lazily making ready to eat a salmon which he had caught.
+And Loki, ever bent on doing mischief, hurled a stone at the harmless
+beast, and killed it. And he boasted loudly that he had done a worthy
+deed. And he took both the otter, and the fish which it had caught, and
+carried them with him as trophies of the day's success.
+
+Just at nightfall the three huntsmen came to a lone farmhouse in the
+valley, and asked for food, and for shelter during the night.
+
+"Shelter you shall have," said the farmer, whose name was Hreidmar, "for
+the rising clouds foretell a storm. But food I have none to give you.
+Surely huntsmen of skill should not want for food; since the forest
+teems with game, and the streams are full of fish."
+
+Then Loki threw upon the ground the otter and the fish, and said, "We
+have sought in both forest and stream, and we have taken from them at
+one blow both flesh and fish. Give us but the shelter you promise, and
+we will not trouble you for food."
+
+The farmer gazed with horror upon the lifeless body of the otter, and
+cried out, "This creature which you mistook for an otter, and which you
+have robbed and killed, is my son Oddar, who for mere pastime had taken
+the form of the furry beast. You are but thieves and murderers!"
+
+Then he called loudly for help: and his two sons Fafnir and Regin,
+sturdy and valiant kin of the dwarf-folk, rushed in, and seized upon the
+huntsmen, and bound them hand and foot; for the three Asas, having taken
+upon themselves the forms of men, had no more than human strength, and
+were unable to withstand them.
+
+Then Odin and his fellows bemoaned their ill fate. And Loki said,
+"Wherefore did we foolishly take upon ourselves the likenesses of
+puny men? Had I my own power once more, I would never part with it in
+exchange for man's weaknesses."
+
+And Hoenir sighed, and said, "Now, indeed, will darkness win: and the
+frosty breath of the Reimthursen giants will blast the fair handiwork of
+the sunlight and the heat; for the givers of life and light and warmth
+are helpless prisoners in the hands of these cunning and unforgiving
+jailers."
+
+"Surely," said Odin, "not even the highest are free from obedience to
+heaven's behests and the laws of right. I, whom men call the Preserver
+of Life, have demeaned myself by being found in evil company; and,
+although I have done no other wrong, I suffer rightly for the doings of
+this mischief-maker with whom I have stooped to have fellowship. For all
+are known, not so much by what they are as by what they seem to be, and
+they bear the bad name which their comrades bear. Now I am fallen from
+my high estate. Eternal right is higher than I. And in the last Twilight
+of the gods I must needs meet the dread Fenris-wolf, and in the end
+the world will be made new again, and the shining Balder will rule in
+sunlight majesty forever."
+
+Then the Asas asked Hreidmar, their jailer, what ransom they should
+pay for their freedom; and he, not knowing who they were, said, "I must
+first know what ransom you are able to give."
+
+"We will give any thing you may ask," hastily answered Loki.
+
+Hreidmar then called his sons, and bade them strip the skin from the
+otter's body. When this was done, they brought the furry hide and spread
+it upon the ground; and Hreidmar said, "Bring shining gold and precious
+stones enough to cover every part of this otter-skin. When you have paid
+so much ransom, you shall have your freedom."
+
+"That we will do," answered Odin. "But one of us must have leave to
+go and fetch it: the other two will stay fast bound until the morning
+dawns. If, by that time, the gold is not here, you may do with us as you
+please."
+
+Hreidmar and the two young men agreed to Odin's offer; and, lots being
+cast, it fell to Loki to go and fetch the treasure. When he had been
+loosed from the cords which bound him, Loki donned his magic shoes,
+which had carried him over land and sea from the farthest bounds of
+the mid-world, and hastened away upon his errand. And he sped with the
+swiftness of light, over the hills and the wooded slopes, and the deep
+dark valleys, and the fields and forests and sleeping hamlets, until he
+came to the place where dwelt the swarthy elves and the cunning dwarf
+Andvari. There the River Rhine, no larger than a meadow-brook, breaks
+forth from beneath a mountain of ice, which the Frost giants and blind
+old Hoder, the Winter-king, had built long years before; for they had
+vainly hoped that they might imprison the river at its fountain-head.
+But the baby-brook had eaten its way beneath the frozen mass, and
+had sprung out from its prison, and gone on, leaping and smiling, and
+kissing the sunlight, in its ever-widening course towards Burgundy and
+the sea.
+
+Loki came to this place, because he knew that here was the home of the
+elves who had laid up the greatest hoard of treasures ever known in the
+mid-world. He scanned with careful eyes the mountain-side, and the deep,
+rocky caverns, and the dark gorge through which the little river rushed;
+but in the dim moonlight not a living being could he see, save a lazy
+salmon swimming in the quieter eddies of the stream. Any one but Loki
+would have lost all hope of finding treasure there, at least before the
+dawn of day; but his wits were quick, and his eyes were very sharp.
+
+"One salmon has brought us into this trouble, and another shall help us
+out of it!" he cried.
+
+Then, swift as thought, he sprang again into the air; and the magic
+shoes carried him with greater speed than before down the Rhine valley,
+and through Burgundy-land, and the low meadows, until he came to the
+shores of the great North Sea. He sought the halls of old AEgir, the
+Ocean-king; but he wist not which way to go,--whether across the North
+Sea towards Isenland, or whether along the narrow channel between
+Britain-land and the main. While he paused, uncertain where to turn,
+he saw the pale-haired daughters of old AEgir, the white-veiled Waves,
+playing in the moonlight near the shore. Of them he asked the way to
+AEgir's hall.
+
+"Seven days' journey westward," said they, "beyond the green Isle of
+Erin, is our father's hall. Seven days' journey northward, on the bleak
+Norwegian shore, is our father's hall."
+
+And they stopped not once in their play, but rippled and danced on the
+shelving beach, or dashed with force against the shore.
+
+"Where is your mother Ran, the Queen of the Ocean?" asked Loki.
+
+And they answered,--
+
+     "In the deep sea-caves
+     By the sounding shore,
+     In the dashing waves
+     When the wild storms roar,
+     In her cold green bowers
+     In the northern fiords,
+     She lurks and she glowers,
+     She grasps and she hoards,
+     And she spreads her strong net for her prey."
+
+Loki waited to hear no more; but he sprang into the air, and the magic
+shoes carried him onwards over the water in search of the Ocean-queen.
+He had not gone far when his sharp eyes espied her, lurking near a rocky
+shore against which the breakers dashed with frightful fury. Half hidden
+in the deep dark water, she lay waiting and watching; and she spread her
+cunning net upon the waves, and reached out with her long greedy fingers
+to seize whatever booty might come near her.
+
+When the wary queen saw Loki, she hastily drew in her net, and tried to
+hide herself in the shadows of an overhanging rock. But Loki called her
+by name, and said,--
+
+"Sister Ran, fear not! I am your friend Loki, whom once you served as a
+guest in AEgir's gold-lit halls."
+
+Then the Ocean-queen came out into the bright moonlight, and welcomed
+Loki to her domain, and asked, "Why does Loki thus wander so far from
+Asgard, and over the trackless waters?"
+
+And Loki answered, "I have heard of the net which you spread upon the
+waves, and from which no creature once caught in its meshes can ever
+escape. I have found a salmon where the Rhine-spring gushes from beneath
+the mountains, and a very cunning salmon he is for no common skill can
+catch him. Come, I pray, with your wondrous net, and cast it into the
+stream where he lies. Do but take the wary fish for me, and you shall
+have more gold than you have taken in a year from the wrecks of stranded
+vessels."
+
+"I dare not go," cried Ran. "A bound is set, beyond which I may not
+venture. If all the gold of earth were offered me, I could not go."
+
+"Then lend me your net," entreated Loki. "Lend me your net, and I will
+bring it back to-morrow filled with gold."
+
+"Much I would like your gold," answered Ran; "but I cannot lend my net.
+Should I do so, I might lose the richest prize that has ever come into
+my husband's kingdom. For three days, now, a gold-rigged ship, bearing
+a princely crew with rich armor and abundant wealth, has been sailing
+carelessly over these seas. To-morrow I shall send my daughters and the
+bewitching mermaids to decoy the vessel among the rocks. And into my net
+the ship, and the brave warriors, and all their armor and gold, shall
+fall. A rich prize it will be. No: I cannot part with my net, even for a
+single hour."
+
+But Loki knew the power of flattering words.
+
+"Beautiful queen," said he, "there is no one on earth, nor even in
+Asgard, who can equal you in wisdom and foresight. Yet I promise you,
+that, if you will but lend me your net until the morning dawns, the ship
+and the crew of which you speak shall be yours, and all their golden
+treasures shall deck your azure halls in the deep sea."
+
+Then Ran carefully folded the net, and gave it to Loki.
+
+"Remember your promise," was all that she said.
+
+"An Asa never forgets," he answered.
+
+And he turned his face again towards Rhineland; and the magic shoes bore
+him aloft, and carried him in a moment back to the ice-mountain and
+the gorge and the infant river, which he had so lately left. The
+salmon still rested in his place, and had not moved during Loki's short
+absence.
+
+Loki unfolded the net, and cast it into the stream. The cunning fish
+tried hard to avoid being caught in its meshes; but, dart which way
+he would, he met the skilfully woven cords, and these drew themselves
+around him, and held him fast. Then Loki pulled the net up out of the
+water, and grasped the helpless fish in his right hand. But, lo! as he
+held the struggling creature high in the air, it was no longer a fish,
+but the cunning dwarf Andvari.
+
+"Thou King of the Elves," cried Loki, "thy cunning has not saved thee.
+Tell me, on thy life, where thy hidden treasures lie!"
+
+The wise dwarf knew who it was that thus held him as in a vise; and he
+answered frankly, for it was his only hope of escape, "Turn over the
+stone upon which you stand. Beneath it you will find the treasure you
+seek."
+
+Then Loki put his shoulder to the rock, and pushed with all his might.
+But it seemed as firm as the mountain, and would not be moved.
+
+"Help us, thou cunning dwarf," he cried,--"help us, and thou shalt have
+thy life!"
+
+The dwarf put his shoulder to the rock, and it turned over as if by
+magic, and underneath was disclosed a wondrous chamber, whose walls
+shone brighter than the sun, and on whose floor lay treasures of gold
+and glittering gem-stones such as no man had ever seen. And Loki, in
+great haste, seized upon the hoard, and placed it in the magic net which
+he had borrowed from the Ocean-queen. Then he came out of the chamber;
+and Andvari again put his shoulder to the rock which lay at the
+entrance, and it swung back noiselessly to its place.
+
+"What is that upon thy finger?" suddenly cried Loki. "Wouldst keep back
+a part of the treasure? Give me the ring thou hast!"
+
+But the dwarf shook his head, and made answer, "I have given thee all
+the riches that the elves of the mountain have gathered since the world
+began. This ring I cannot give thee, for without its help we shall never
+be able to gather more treasures together."
+
+And Loki grew angry at these words of the dwarf; and he seized the ring,
+and tore it by force from Andvari's fingers. It was a wondrous little
+piece of mechanism shaped like a serpent, coiled, with its tail in its
+mouth; and its scaly sides glittered with many a tiny diamond, and its
+ruby eyes shone with an evil light. When the dwarf knew that Loki really
+meant to rob him of the ring, he cursed it and all who should ever
+possess it, saying,--
+
+"May the ill-gotten treasure that you have seized tonight be your bane,
+and the bane of all to whom it may come, whether by fair means or by
+foul! And the ring which you have torn from my hand, may it entail upon
+the one who wears it sorrow and untold ills, the loss of friends, and a
+violent death! The Norns have spoken, and thus it must be."
+
+Loki was pleased with these words, and with the dark curses which
+the dwarf pronounced upon the gold; for he loved wrong-doing, for
+wrong-doing's sake, and he knew that no curses could ever make his own
+life more cheerless than it always had been. So he thanked Andvari
+for his curses and his treasures; and, throwing the magic net upon his
+shoulder, he sprang again into the air, and was carried swiftly back to
+Hunaland; and, just before the dawn appeared in the east, he alighted
+at the door of the farmhouse where Odin and Hoenir still lay bound with
+thongs, and guarded by Fafnir and Regin.
+
+Then the farmer, Hreidmar, brought the otter's skin, and spread it upon
+the ground; and, lo! it grew, and spread out on all sides, until it
+covered an acre of ground. And he cried out, "Fulfil now your promise!
+Cover every hair of this hide with gold or with precious stones. If you
+fail to do this, then your lives, by your own agreement, are forfeited,
+and we shall do with you as we list."
+
+Odin took the magic net from Loki's shoulder; and opening it, he poured
+the treasures of the mountain elves upon the otter-skin. And Loki and
+Hoenir spread the yellow pieces carefully and evenly over every part
+of the furry hide. But, after every piece had been laid in its place;
+Hreidmar saw near the otter's mouth a single hair uncovered; and he
+declared, that unless this hair, too, were covered, the bargain would
+be unfulfilled, and the treasures and lives of his prisoners would be
+forfeited. And the Asas looked at each other in dismay; for not another
+piece of gold, and not another precious stone, could they find in the
+net, although they searched with the greatest care. At last Odin took
+from his bosom the ring which Loki had stolen from the dwarf; for he had
+been so highly pleased with its form and workmanship, that he had hidden
+it, hoping that it would not be needed to complete the payment of the
+ransom. And they laid the ring upon the uncovered hair. And now no
+portion of the otter's skin could be seen. And Fafnir and Regin, the
+ransom being paid, loosed the shackles of Odin and Hoenir, and bade the
+three huntsmen go on their way.
+
+Odin and Hoenir at once shook off their human disguises, and, taking
+their own forms again, hastened with all speed back to Asgard. But Loki
+tarried a little while, and said to Hreidmar and his sons,--
+
+"By your greediness and falsehood you have won for yourselves the Curse
+of the Earth, which lies before you. It shall be your bane. It shall
+be the bane of every one who holds it. It shall kindle strife between
+father and son, between brother and brother. It shall make you mean,
+selfish, beastly. It shall transform you into monsters. The noblest king
+among men-folk shall feel its curse. Such is gold, and such it shall
+ever be to its worshippers. And the ring which you have gotten
+shall impart to its possessor its own nature. Grasping, snaky, cold,
+unfeeling, shall he live; and death through treachery shall be his
+doom."
+
+Then he turned away, delighted that he had thus left the curse of
+Andvari with Hreidmar and his sons, and hastened northward toward
+the sea; for he wished to redeem the promise that he had made to the
+Ocean-queen, to bring back her magic net, and to decoy the richly laden
+ship into her clutches.
+
+No sooner were the strange huntsmen well out of sight than Fafnir and
+Regin began to ask their father to divide the glittering hoard with
+them.
+
+"By our strength and through our advice," said they, "this great store
+has come into your hands. Let us place it in three equal heaps, and then
+let each take his share and go his way."
+
+At this the farmer waxed very angry; and he loudly declared that he
+would keep all the treasure for himself, and that his sons should not
+have any portion of it whatever. So Fafnir and Regin, nursing their
+disappointment, went to the fields to watch their sheep; but their
+father sat down to guard his new-gotten treasure. And he took in his
+hand the glittering serpent-ring, and gazed into its cold ruby eyes:
+and, as he gazed, all his thoughts were fixed upon his gold; and there
+was no room in his heart for love toward his fellows, nor for deeds
+of kindness, nor for the worship of the All-Father. And behold, as he
+continued to look at the snaky ring, a dreadful change came over him.
+The warm red blood, which until that time had leaped through his veins,
+and given him life and strength and human feelings, became purple and
+cold and sluggish; and selfishness, like serpent-poison, took hold of
+his heart. Then, as he kept on gazing at the hoard which lay before him,
+he began to lose his human shape; his body lengthened into many scaly
+folds, and he coiled himself around his loved treasures,--the very
+likeness of the ring upon which he had looked so long.
+
+When the day drew near its close, Fafnir came back from the fields with
+his herd of sheep, and thought to find his father guarding the treasure,
+as he had left him in the morning; but instead he saw a glittering
+snake, fast asleep, encircling the hoard like a huge scaly ring of gold.
+His first thought was that the monster had devoured his father; and,
+hastily drawing his sword, with one blow he severed the serpent's head
+from its body. And, while yet the creature writhed in the death-agony,
+he gathered up the hoard, and fled with it beyond the hills of Hunaland,
+until on the seventh day he came to a barren heath far from the homes
+of men. There he placed the treasures in one glittering heap; and he
+clothed himself in a wondrous mail-coat of gold that was found among
+them, and he put on the Helmet of Dread, which had once been the terror
+of the mid-world, and the like of which no man had ever seen; and then
+he gazed with greedy eyes upon the fateful ring, until he, too, was
+changed into a cold and slimy reptile,--a monster dragon. And he coiled
+himself about the hoard; and, with his restless eyes forever open, he
+gloated day after day upon his loved gold, and watched with ceaseless
+care that no one should come near to despoil him of it. This was ages
+and ages ago; and still he wallows among his treasures on the Glittering
+Heath, and guards as of yore the garnered wealth of Andvari.[EN#10]
+
+When I, Regin, the younger brother, came back in the late evening to my
+father's dwelling, I saw that the treasure had been carried away; and,
+when I beheld the dead serpent lying in its place, I knew that a part of
+Andvari's curse had been fulfilled. And a strange fear came over me; and
+I left every thing behind me, and fled from that dwelling, never more
+to return. Then I came to the land of the Volsungs, where your father's
+fathers dwelt, the noblest king-folk that the world has ever seen. But
+a longing for the gold and the treasure, a hungry yearning, that would
+never be satisfied, filled my soul. Then for a time I sought to forget
+this craving. I spent my days in the getting of knowledge and in
+teaching men-folk the ancient lore of my kin, the Dwarfs. I taught them
+how to plant and to sow, and to reap the yellow grain. I showed them
+where the precious metals of the earth lie hidden, and how to smelt iron
+from its ores,--how to shape the ploughshare and the spade, the spear
+and the battle-axe. I taught them how to tame the wild horses of the
+meadows, and how to train the yoke-beasts to the plough; how to build
+lordly dwellings and mighty strongholds, and how to sail in ships across
+old AEgir's watery kingdom. But they gave me no thanks for what I had
+done; and as the years went by they forgot who had been their teacher,
+and they said that it was Frey who had given them this knowledge and
+skill. And I taught the young maidens how to spin and weave, and
+to handle the needle deftly,--to make rich garments, and to work in
+tapestry and embroidery. But they, too, forgot me, and said that it was
+Freyja who had taught them. Then I showed men how to read the mystic
+runes aright, and how to make the sweet beverage of poetry, that charms
+all hearts, and enlightens the world. But they say now that they had
+these gifts from Odin. I taught them how to fashion the tales of old
+into rich melodious songs, and with music and sweet-mouthed eloquence to
+move the minds of their fellow-men. But they say that Bragi taught them
+this; and they remember me only as Regin, the elfin schoolmaster, or
+at best as Mimer, the master of smiths. At length my heart grew bitter
+because of the neglect and ingratitude of men; and the old longing for
+Andvari's hoard came back to me, and I forgot much of my cunning and
+lore. But I lived on and on, and generations of short-lived men arose
+and passed, and still the hoard was not mine; for I was weak, and no man
+was strong enough to help me.
+
+Then I sought wisdom of the Norns, the weird women who weave the woof of
+every creature's fate.[EN#6] and [EN#7]
+
+"How long," asked I, "must I hope and wait in weary expectation of that
+day when the wealth of the world and the garnered wisdom of the ages
+shall be mine?"
+
+And the witches answered, "When a prince of the Volsung race shall come
+who shall excel thee in the smithying craft, and to whom the All-Father
+shall give the Shining Hope as a helper, then the days of thy weary
+watching, shall cease."
+
+"How long," asked I, "shall I live to enjoy this wealth and this wisdom,
+and to walk as a god among men? Shall I be long-lived as the Asa-folk,
+and dwell on the earth until the last Twilight comes?"
+
+"It is written," answered Skuld, "that a beardless youth shall see thy
+death. But go thou now, and bide thy time."
+
+Here Regin ended his story, and both he and Siegfried sat for a long
+time silent and thoughtful.
+
+"I know what you wish," said Siegfried at last. "You think that I am the
+prince of whom the weird sisters spoke; and you would have me slay the
+dragon Fafnir, and win for you the hoard of Andvari."
+
+"It is even so," answered Regin.
+
+"But the hoard is accursed," said the lad.
+
+"Let the curse be upon me," was the answer. "Is not the wisdom of the
+ages mine? And think you that I cannot escape the curse? Is there aught
+that can prevail against him who has all knowledge and the wealth of the
+world at his call?"
+
+"Nothing but the word of the Norns and the will of the All-Father,"
+answered Siegfried.
+
+"But will you help me?" asked Regin, almost wild with earnestness. "Will
+you help me to win that which is rightfully mine, and to rid the world
+of a horrible evil?"
+
+"Why is the hoard of Andvari more thine than Fafnir's?"
+
+"He is a monster, and he keeps the treasure but to gloat upon its
+glittering richness. I will use it to make myself a name upon the earth.
+I will not hoard it away. But I am weak, and he is strong and terrible.
+Will you help me?"
+
+"To-morrow," said Siegfried, "be ready to go with me to the Glittering
+Heath. The treasure shall be thine, and also the curse."
+
+"And also the curse," echoed Regin.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure IV. Fafnir, the Dragon.
+
+
+
+Regin took up his harp, and his fingers smote the strings; and the music
+which came forth sounded like the wail of the winter's wind through
+the dead treetops of the forest. And the song which he sang was full of
+grief and wild hopeless yearning for the things which were not to be.
+When he had ceased, Siegfried said,--
+
+"That was indeed a sorrowful song for one to sing who sees his hopes so
+nearly realized. Why are you so sad? Is it because you fear the curse
+which you have taken upon yourself? or is it because you know not what
+you will do with so vast a treasure, and its possession begins already
+to trouble you?"
+
+"Oh, many are the things I will do with that treasure!" answered Regin;
+and his eyes flashed wildly, and his face grew red and pale. "I will
+turn winter into summer; I will make the desert-places glad; I will
+bring back the golden age; I will make myself a god: for mine shall be
+the wisdom and the gathered wealth of the world. And yet I fear"--
+
+"What do you fear?"
+
+"The ring, the ring--it is accursed! The Norns, too, have spoken, and my
+doom is known. I cannot escape it."
+
+"The Norns have woven the woof of every man's life," answered Siegfried.
+"To-morrow we fare to the Glittering Heath, and the end shall be as the
+Norns have spoken."
+
+And so, early the next morning, Siegfried mounted Greyfell, and rode
+out towards the desert-land that lay beyond the forest and the barren
+mountain-range; and Regin, his eyes flashing with desire, and his feet
+never tiring, trudged by his side. For seven days they wended their
+way through the thick greenwood, sleeping at night on the bare ground
+beneath the trees, while the wolves and other wild beasts of the forest
+filled the air with their hideous howlings. But no evil creature dared
+come near them, for fear of the shining beams of light which fell
+from Greyfell's gleaming mane. On the eighth day they came to the open
+country and to the hills, where the land was covered with black bowlders
+and broken by yawning chasms. And no living thing was seen there, not
+even an insect, nor a blade of grass; and the silence of the grave was
+over all. And the earth was dry and parched, and the sun hung above them
+like a painted shield in a blue-black sky, and there was neither shade
+nor water anywhere. But Siegfried rode onwards in the way which Regin
+pointed out, and faltered not, although he grew faint with thirst and
+with the overpowering heat. Towards the evening of the next day they
+came to a dark mountain-wall which stretched far out on either hand, and
+rose high above them, so steep that it seemed to close up the way, and
+to forbid them going farther.
+
+"This is the wall!" cried Regin. "Beyond this mountain is the Glittering
+Heath, and the goal of all my hopes."
+
+And the little old man ran forwards, and scaled the rough side of the
+mountain, and reached its summit, while Siegfried and Greyfell were yet
+toiling among the rocks at its foot. Slowly and painfully they climbed
+the steep ascent, sometimes following a narrow path which wound along
+the edge of a precipice, sometimes leaping, from rock to rock, or over
+some deep gorge, and sometimes picking their way among the crags and
+cliffs. The sun at last went down, and one by one the stars came out;
+and the moon was rising, round and red, when Siegfried stood by Regin's
+side, and gazed from the mountain-top down upon the Glittering Heath
+which lay beyond. And a strange, weird scene it was that met his sight.
+At the foot of the mountain was a river, white and cold and still; and
+beyond it was a smooth and barren plain, lying silent and lonely in
+the pale moonlight. But in the distance was seen a circle of flickering
+flames, ever changing,--now growing brighter, now fading away, and now
+shining with a dull, cold light, like the glimmer of the glow-worm or
+the fox-fire. And as Siegfried gazed upon the scene, he saw the dim
+outline of some hideous monster moving hither and thither, and seeming
+all the more terrible in the uncertain light.
+
+"It is he!" whispered Regin, and his lips were ashy pale, and his knees
+trembled beneath him. "It is Fafnir, and he wears the Helmet of Terror!
+Shall we not go back to the smithy by the great forest, and to the life
+of ease and safety that may be ours there? Or will you rather dare to go
+forwards, and meet the Terror in its abode?"
+
+"None but cowards give up an undertaking once begun," answered
+Siegfried. "Go back to Rhineland yourself, if you are afraid; but you
+must go alone. You have brought me thus far to meet the dragon of the
+heath, to win the hoard of the swarthy elves, and to rid the world of
+a terrible evil. Before the setting of another sun, the deed which you
+have urged me to do will be done."
+
+Then he dashed down the eastern slope of the mountain, leaving Greyfell
+and the trembling Regin behind him. Soon he stood on the banks of the
+white river, which lay between the mountain and the heath; but the
+stream was deep and sluggish, and the channel was very wide. He paused
+a moment, wondering how he should cross; and the air seemed heavy with
+deadly vapors, and the water was thick and cold. While he thus stood in
+thought, a boat came silently out of the mists, and drew near; and the
+boatman stood up and called to him, and said,--
+
+"What man are you who dares come into this land of loneliness and fear?"
+
+"I am Siegfried," answered the lad; "and I have come to slay Fafnir, the
+Terror."
+
+"Sit in my boat," said the boatman, "and I will carry you across the
+river."
+
+And Siegfried sat by the boatman's side; and without the use of an oar,
+and without a breath of air to drive it forwards, the little vessel
+turned, and moved silently towards the farther shore.
+
+"In what way will you fight the dragon?" asked the boatman.
+
+"With my trusty sword Balmung I shall slay him," answered Siegfried.
+
+"But he wears the Helmet of Terror, and he breathes deathly poisons, and
+his eyes dart forth lightning, and no man can withstand his strength,"
+said the boatman.
+
+"I will find some way by which to overcome him."
+
+"Then be wise, and listen to me," said the boatman. "As you go up from
+the river you will find a road, worn deep and smooth, starting from
+the water's edge, and winding over the moor. It is the trail of Fafnir,
+adown which he comes at dawn of every day to slake his thirst at the
+river. Do you dig a pit in this roadway,--a pit narrow and deep,--and
+hide yourself within it. In the morning, when Fafnir passes over it, let
+him feel the edge of Balmung."
+
+As the man ceased speaking, the boat touched the shore, and Siegfried
+leaped out. He looked back to thank his unknown friend, but neither boat
+nor boatman was to be seen. Only a thin white mist rose slowly from the
+cold surface of the stream, and floated upwards and away towards the
+mountain-tops. Then the lad remembered that the strange boatman had worn
+a blue hood bespangled with golden stars, and that a gray kirtle was
+thrown over his shoulders, and that his one eye glistened and sparkled
+with a light that was more than human. And he knew that he had again
+talked with Odin. Then, with a braver heart than before, he went
+forwards, along the river-bank, until he came to Fafnir's trail,--a
+deep, wide furrow in the earth, beginning at the river's bank, and
+winding far away over the heath, until it was lost to sight in the
+darkness. The bottom of the trail was soft and slimy, and its sides had
+been worn smooth by Fafnir's frequent travel through it.
+
+In this road, at a point not far from the river, Siegfried, with his
+trusty sword Balmung, scooped out a deep and narrow pit, as Odin had
+directed. And when the gray dawn began to appear in the east he hid
+himself within this trench, and waited for the coming of the monster. He
+had not long to wait; for no sooner had the sky begun to redden in the
+light of the coming sun than the dragon was heard bestirring himself.
+Siegfried peeped warily from his hiding-place, and saw him coming far
+down the road, hurrying with all speed, that he might quench his thirst
+at the sluggish river, and hasten back to his gold; and the sound which
+he made was like the trampling of many feet and the jingling of many
+chains. With bloodshot eyes, and gaping mouth, and flaming nostrils, the
+hideous creature came rushing onwards. His sharp, curved claws dug
+deep into the soft earth; and his bat-like wings, half trailing on the
+ground, half flapping in the air, made a sound like that which is heard
+when Thor rides in his goat-drawn chariot over the dark thunder-clouds.
+It was a terrible moment for Siegfried, but still he was not afraid. He
+crouched low down in his hiding-place, and the bare blade of the trusty
+Balmung glittered in the morning light. On came the hastening feet and
+the flapping wings: the red gleam from the monster's flaming nostrils
+lighted up the trench where Siegfried lay. He heard a roaring and a
+rushing like the sound of a whirlwind in the forest; then a black,
+inky mass rolled above him, and all was dark. Now was Siegfried's
+opportunity. The bright edge of Balmung gleamed in the darkness one
+moment, and then it smote the heart of Fafnir as he passed. Some men say
+that Odin sat in the pit with Siegfried, and strengthened his arm and
+directed his sword, or else he could not thus have slain the Terror.
+But, be this as it may, the victory was soon won. The monster stopped
+short, while but half of his long body had glided over the pit; for
+sudden death had overtaken him. His horrid head fell lifeless upon
+the ground; his cold wings flapped once, and then lay, quivering and
+helpless, spread out on either side; and streams of thick black blood
+flowed from his heart, through the wound beneath, and filled the trench
+in which Siegfried was hidden, and ran like a mountain-torrent down the
+road towards the river. Siegfried was covered from head to foot with the
+slimy liquid, and, had he not quickly leaped from his hiding-place, he
+would have been drowned in the swift-rushing, stream.[EN#11]
+
+The bright sun rose in the east, and gilded the mountain-tops, and fell
+upon the still waters of the river, and lighted up the treeless plains
+around. The south wind played gently against Siegfried's cheeks and in
+his long hair, as he stood gazing on his fallen foe. And the sound of
+singing birds, and rippling waters, and gay insects,--such as had not
+broken the silence of the Glittering Heath for ages,--came to his ears.
+The Terror was dead, and Nature had awakened from her sleep of dread.
+And as the lad leaned upon his sword, and thought of the deed he had
+done, behold! the shining Greyfell, with the beaming, hopeful mane,
+having crossed the now bright river, stood by his side. And Regin, his
+face grown wondrous cold, came trudging over the meadows; and his heart
+was full of guile. Then the mountain vultures came wheeling downwards
+to look upon the dead dragon; and with them were two ravens, black as
+midnight. And when Siegfried saw these ravens he knew them to be Odin's
+birds,--Hugin, thought, and Munin, memory. And they alighted on the
+ground near by; and the lad listened to hear what they would say. Then
+Hugin flapped his wings, and said,--
+
+"The deed is done. Why tarries the hero?"
+
+And Munin said,--
+
+"The world is wide. Fame waits for the hero."
+
+And Hugin answered,--
+
+"What if he win the Hoard of the Elves? That is not honor. Let him seek
+fame by nobler deeds."
+
+Then Munin flew past his ear, and whispered,--
+
+"Beware of Regin, the master! His heart is poisoned. He would be thy
+bane."
+
+And the two birds flew away to carry the news to Odin in the happy halls
+of Gladsheim.
+
+When Regin drew near to look upon the dragon, Siegfried kindly accosted
+him: but he seemed not to hear; and a snaky glitter lurked in his eyes,
+and his mouth was set and dry, and he seemed as one walking in a dream.
+
+"It is mine now," he murmured: "it is all mine, now,--the Hoard of the
+swarthy elf-folk, the garnered wisdom of ages. The strength of the world
+is mine. I will keep, I will save, I will heap up; and none shall have
+part or parcel of the treasure which is mine alone."
+
+Then his eyes fell upon Siegfried; and his cheeks grew dark with wrath,
+and he cried out,--
+
+"Why are you here in my way? I am the lord of the Glittering Heath: I am
+the master of the Hoard. I am the master, and you are my thrall."
+
+Siegfried wondered at the change which had taken place in his old
+master; but he only smiled at his strange words, and made no answer.
+
+"You have slain my brother!" Regin cried; and his face grew fearfully
+black, and his mouth foamed with rage.
+
+"It was my deed and yours," calmly answered Siegfried. "I have rid the
+world of a Terror: I have righted a grievous wrong."
+
+"You have slain my brother," said Regin; "and a murderer's ransom you
+shall pay!"
+
+"Take the Hoard for your ransom, and let us each wend his way," said the
+lad.
+
+"The Hoard is mine by rights," answered Regin still more wrathfully. "I
+am the master, and you are my thrall. Why stand you in my way?"
+
+Then, blinded with madness, he rushed at Siegfried as if to strike him
+down; but his foot slipped in a puddle of gore, and he pitched headlong
+against the sharp edge of Balmung. So sudden was this movement, and so
+unlooked for, that the sword was twitched out of Siegfried's hand, and
+fell with a dull splash into the blood-filled pit before him; while
+Regin, slain by his own rashness, sank dead upon the ground. Full of
+horror, Siegfried turned away, and mounted Greyfell.[EN#12]
+
+"This is a place of blood," said he, "and the way to glory leads not
+through it. Let the Hoard still lie on the Glittering Heath: I will go
+my way from hence; and the world shall know me for better deeds than
+this."
+
+And he turned his back on the fearful scene, and rode away; and so
+swiftly did Greyfell carry him over the desert land and the mountain
+waste, that, when night came, they stood on the shore of the great North
+Sea, and the white waves broke at their feet. And the lad sat for a long
+time silent upon the warm white sand of the beach, and Greyfell waited
+at his side. And he watched the stars as they came out one by one, and
+the moon, as it rose round and pale, and moved like a queen across the
+sky. And the night wore away, and the stars grew pale, and the moon sank
+to rest in the wilderness of waters. And at day-dawn Siegfried looked
+towards the west, and midway between sky and sea he thought he saw dark
+mountain-tops hanging above a land of mists that seemed to float upon
+the edge of the sea.
+
+While he looked, a white ship, with sails all set, came speeding over
+the waters towards him. It came nearer and nearer, and the sailors
+rested upon their oars as it glided into the quiet harbor. A minstrel,
+with long white beard floating in the wind, sat at the prow; and the
+sweet music from his harp was wafted like incense to the shore. The
+vessel touched the sands: its white sails were reefed as if by magic,
+and the crew leaped out upon the beach.
+
+"Hail, Siegfried the Golden!" cried the harper. "Whither do you fare
+this summer day?"
+
+"I have come from a land of horror and dread," answered the lad; "and I
+would fain fare to a brighter."
+
+"Then go with me to awaken the earth from its slumber, and to robe the
+fields in their garbs of beauty," said the harper. And he touched the
+strings of his harp, and strains of the softest music arose in the still
+morning air. And Siegfried stood entranced, for never before had he
+heard such music.
+
+"Tell me who you are!" he cried, when the sounds died away. "Tell me who
+you are, and I will go to the ends of the earth with you."
+
+"I am Bragi," answered the harper, smiling. And Siegfried noticed then
+that the ship was laden with flowers of every hue, and that thousands
+of singing birds circled around and above it, filling the air with the
+sound of their glad twitterings.
+
+Now, Bragi was the sweetest musician in all the world. It was said by
+some that his home was with the song-birds, and that he had learned his
+skill from them. But this was only part of the truth: for wherever there
+was loveliness or beauty, or things noble and pure, there was Bragi;
+and his wondrous power in music and song was but the outward sign of
+a blameless soul. When he touched the strings of his golden harp, all
+Nature was charmed with the sweet harmony: the savage beasts of the wood
+crept near to listen; the birds paused in their flight; the waves of the
+sea were becalmed, and the winds were hushed; the leaping waterfall
+was still, and the rushing torrent tarried in its bed; the elves forgot
+their hidden treasures, and joined in silent dance around him; and the
+strom-karls and the musicians of the wood vainly tried to imitate him.
+And he was as fair of speech as he was skilful in song. His words were
+so persuasive that he had been known to call the fishes from the sea, to
+move great lifeless rocks, and, what is harder, the hearts of kings. He
+understood the voice of the birds, and the whispering of the breeze, the
+murmur of the waves, and the roar of the waterfalls. He knew the length
+and breadth of the earth, and the secrets of the sea, and the language
+of the stars. And every day he talked with Odin the All-Father, and with
+the wise and good in the sunlit halls of Gladsheim. And once every year
+he went to the North-lands, and woke the earth from its long winter's
+sleep, and scattered music and smiles and beauty everywhere.[EN#13]
+
+Right gladly did Siegfried agree to sail with Bragi over the sea; for
+he wot that the bright Asa-god would be a very different guide from
+the cunning, evil-eyed Regin. So he went on board with Bragi, and the
+gleaming Greyfell followed them, and the sailors sat at their oars. And
+Bragi stood in the prow, and touched the strings of his harp. And, as
+the music arose, the white sails leaped up the masts, and a warm south
+breeze began to blow; and the little vessel, wafted by sweet sounds and
+the incense of spring, sped gladly away over the sea.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure V. In AEgir's Kingdom.
+
+
+
+The vessel in which Siegfried sailed was soon far out at sea; for the
+balmy south wind, and the songs of the birds, and the music from Bragi's
+harp, all urged it cheerily on. And Siegfried sat at the helm, and
+guided it in its course. By and by they lost all sight of land, and the
+sailors wist not where they were; but they knew that Bragi, the Wise,
+would bring them safely into some haven whenever it should so please
+him, and they felt no fear. And the fishes leaped up out of the water
+as the white ship sped by on woven wings; and the monsters of the deep
+paused, and listened to the sweet music which floated down from above.
+After a time the vessel began to meet great ice-mountains in the
+sea,--mountains which the Reifriesen, and old Hoder, the King of the
+winter months, had sent drifting down from the frozen land of the north.
+But these melted at the sound of Bragi's music and at the sight of
+Siegfried's radiant armor. And the cold breath of the Frost-giants,
+which had driven them in their course, turned, and became the ally of
+the south wind.
+
+At length they came in sight of a dark shore, which stretched on either
+hand, north and south, as far as the eye could reach; and as they drew
+nearer they saw a line of huge mountains, rising, as it were, out of
+the water, and stretching their gray heads far above the clouds. And
+the overhanging cliffs seemed to look down, half in anger, half in pity,
+upon the little white winged vessel which had dared thus to sail through
+these unknown waters. But the surface of the sea was smooth as glass;
+and the gentle breeze drove the ship slowly forwards through the calm
+water, and along the rock-bound coast, and within the dark shadows of
+the mountain-peaks. Long ago the Frost-giants had piled great heaps of
+snow upon these peaks, and built huge fortresses of ice between,
+and sought, indeed, to clasp in their cold embrace the whole of the
+Norwegian land. But the breezes of the South-land that came with Bragi's
+ship now played among the rocky steeps, and swept over the frozen
+slopes above, and melted the snow and ice; and thousands of rivulets of
+half-frozen water ran down the mountain-sides, and tumbled into rocky
+gorges, or plunged into the sea. And the grass began to grow on the
+sunny slopes, and the flowers peeped up through the half-melted snow,
+and the music of spring was heard on every side. Now and then the little
+vessel passed by deep, dark inlets enclosed between high mountain-walls,
+and reaching many leagues far into land. But the sailors steered clear
+of these shadowy fjords; for they said that Ran, the dread Ocean-queen,
+lived there, and spread her nets in the deep green waters to entangle
+unwary seafaring men. And the sound of Bragi's harp awakened all
+sleeping things; and it was carried from rock to rock, and from
+mountain-height to valley, and was borne on the breeze far up the
+fjords, and all over the land.
+
+One day, as they were sailing through these quiet waters, beneath the
+overhanging cliffs, Bragi tuned his harp, and sang a song of sea. And
+then he told Siegfried a story of AEgir and his gold-lit hall.
+
+Old AEgir was the Ocean-king. At most times he was rude and rough, and
+his manners were uncouth and boisterous. But when Balder, the Shining
+One, smiled kindly upon him from above, or when Bragi played his harp by
+the seashore, or sailed his ship on the waters, the heart of the bluff
+old king was touched with a kindly feeling, and he tried hard to curb
+his ungentle passions, and to cease his blustering ways. He was one of
+the old race of giants; and men believe that he would have been a very
+good and quiet giant, had it not been for the evil ways of his wife, the
+crafty Queen Ran. For, however kind at heart the king might be, his good
+intentions were almost always thwarted by the queen. Ran could never be
+trusted; and no one, unless it were Loki, the Mischief-maker, could ever
+say any thing in her praise. She was always lurking among hidden rocks,
+or in the deep sea, or along the shores of silent fjords, and reaching
+out with her long lean fingers, seeking to clutch in her greedy grasp
+whatever prey might unwarily come near her. And many richly-laden
+vessels, and many brave seamen and daring warriors, had she dragged down
+to her blue-hung chamber in old AEgir's hall.
+
+And this is the story that Bragi told of
+
+
+
+The Feast in AEgir's Hall.
+
+
+
+It happened long ago, when the good folk at Gladsheim were wont to visit
+the mid-world oftener than now. On a day in early autumn Queen Ran,
+with her older daughters,--Raging Sea, Breaker, Billow, Surge, and
+Surf,--went out to search for plunder. But old AEgir staid at home, and
+with him his younger daughters,--fair Purple-hair, gentle Diver, dancing
+Ripple, and smiling Sky-clear. And as they played around him, and kissed
+his old storm-beaten cheeks, the heart of the king was softened into
+gentleness, and he began to think kindly of the green earth which
+bordered his kingdom, and of the brave men who lived there; but most of
+all did he think of the great and good Asa-folk, who dwell in Asgard,
+and overlook the affairs of the world. Then he called his servants,
+Funfeng and Elder, and bade them prepare a feast in his gold-lit hall.
+And he sent fleet messengers to invite the Asa-folk to come and partake
+of the good cheer. And his four young daughters played upon the beach,
+and smiled and danced in the beaming sunlight. And the hearts of many
+seafaring men were gladdened that day, as they spread their sails to the
+wind; for they saw before them a pleasant voyage, and the happy issue of
+many an undertaking.
+
+Long before the day had begun to wane, the Asa-folk arrived in a body
+at AEgir's hall; for they were glad to answer the bidding of the
+Ocean-king. Odin came, riding Sleipner, his eight-footed steed; Thor
+rode in his iron chariot drawn by goats; Frey came with Gullinburste,
+his golden-bristled boar. There, too, was the war-like Tyr, and blind
+Hoder, and the silent Vidar, and the sage Forsete, and the hearkening
+Heimdal, and Niord, the Ruler of the Winds, and Bragi, with his harp;
+and lastly came many elves, the thralls of the Asa-folk, and Loki, the
+cunning Mischief-maker. In his rude but hearty way old AEgir welcomed
+them; and they went down into his amber hall, and rested themselves upon
+the sea-green couches that had been spread for them. And a thousand
+fair mermaids stood around them, and breathed sweet melodies through
+sea-shells of rainbow hue, while the gentle white-veiled daughters of
+the Ocean-king danced to the bewitching music.
+
+Hours passed by, and the sun began to slope towards the west, and the
+waiting guests grew hungry and ill at ease; and then they began to
+wonder why the feast was so long in getting ready. At last the host
+himself became impatient; and he sent out in haste for his servants,
+Funfeng and Elder. Trembling with fear, they came and stood before him.
+
+"Master," said they, "we know that you are angry because the feast is
+not yet made ready; but we beg that your anger may not fall upon us. The
+truth is, that some thief has stolen your brewing-kettle, and we have no
+ale for your guests."
+
+Then old AEgir's brow grew dark, and his breath came quick and fast;
+and, had not Niord held the winds tightly clutched in his hand, there
+would have been a great uproar in the hall. Even as it was, the mermaids
+fled away in great fright, and the white-veiled Waves stopped dancing,
+and a strange silence fell upon all the company.
+
+"Some enemy has done this!" crier AEgir, as soon as he could speak.
+"Some enemy has taken away my brewing-kettle; and, unless we can find
+it, I fear our feast will be but a dry one."
+
+Then Thor said,--
+
+"If any one knows where this kettle is, let him speak, and I will bring
+it back; and I promise you you shall not wait long for the feast."
+
+But not one in all this company knew aught about the missing kettle. At
+last Tyr stood up and said,--
+
+"If we cannot find the same vessel that our host has lost, mayhap we
+may find another as good. I know a dogwise giant who lives east of the
+Rivers Elivagar, and who has a strong kettle, fully a mile deep, and
+large enough to brew ale for all the world."
+
+"That is the very kettle we want!" cried Thor. "Think you that we can
+get it?"
+
+"If we are cunning enough, we may," answered Tyr. "But old Hymer will
+never give it up willingly."
+
+"Is it Hymer of whom you speak?" asked Thor. "Then I know him well; and,
+willingly or not willingly he must let us have his kettle. For what is a
+feast without the gladsome ale?"
+
+Then Thor and Tyr set out on their journey towards the land of Elivagar;
+and they travelled many a league northwards, across snowy mountains
+and barren plains, until they came to the shores of the frozen sea. And
+there the sun rises and sets but once a year, and even in summer the sea
+is full of ice. On the lonely beach, stood Hymer's dwelling,--a dark
+and gloomy abode. Tyr knocked at the door; and it was opened by Hymer's
+wife, a strangely handsome woman, who bade them come in. Inside the hall
+they saw Hymer's old mother, sitting in the chimney-corner, and crooning
+over the smouldering fire. She was a horribly ugly old giantess, with
+nine hundred heads; but every head was blind and deaf and toothless. Ah,
+me! what a wretched old age that must have been!
+
+"Is your husband at home?" asked Thor, speaking to the pretty woman who
+had opened the door.
+
+"He is not," was the answer. "He is catching fish in the warm waters of
+the sheltered bay; or, mayhap, he is tending his cows in the open sea,
+just around the headland."
+
+For the great icebergs that float down from the frozen sea are called
+old Hymer's cows.
+
+"We have come a very long journey," said Tyr. "Will you not give
+two tired strangers food and lodging until they shall have rested
+themselves?"
+
+The woman seemed in nowise loath to do this; and she set before the two
+Asa-folk a plentiful meal of the best that she had in the house. When
+they had eaten, she told them that it would be far safer for them to
+hide themselves under the great kettles in the hall; for, she said, her
+husband would soon be home, and he might not be kind to them. So Thor
+and Tyr hid themselves, and listened for Hymer's coming. After a time,
+the great hall-door opened, and they heard the heavy steps of the giant.
+
+"Welcome home!" cried the woman, as Hymer shook the frost from his hair
+and beard, and stamped the snow from his feet. "I am so glad that you
+have come! for there are two strangers in the hall, and they have asked
+for you. One of them I know is Thor, the foe of the giants, and the
+friend of man. The other is the one-armed god of war, the brave Tyr.
+What can be their errand at Hymer's hall?"
+
+"Where are they?" roared Hymer, stamping so furiously, that even his
+deaf old mother seemed to hear, and lifted up her heads.
+
+"They are under the kettles, at the gable-end of the hall," answered the
+woman.
+
+Hymer cast a wrathful glance towards the place. The post at the end of
+the hall was shivered in pieces by his very look; the beam that upheld
+the floor of the loft was broken, and all the kettles tumbled down with
+a fearful crash. Thor and Tyr crept out from among the rubbish, and
+stood before old Hymer. The giant was not well pleased at the sight of
+such guests come thus unbidden to his hall. But he knew that his rude
+strength would count as nothing if matched with their skill and weapons:
+hence he deemed it wise to treat the two Asas as his friends, and to
+meet them with cunning and strategy.
+
+"Welcome to my hall!" he cried. "Fear no hurt from Hymer, for he was
+never known to harm a guest."
+
+And Thor and Tyr were given the warmest seats at the fireside. And the
+giant ordered his thralls to kill the fatted oxen, and to make ready a
+great feast in honor of his guests. And, while the meal was being got
+ready, he sat by Thor's side, and asked him many questions about what
+was going on in the great South-land. And Thor answered him pleasantly,
+meeting guile with guile. When the feast was in readiness, all sat down
+at the table, which groaned beneath its weight of meat and drink; for
+Hymer's thralls had killed three fat oxen, and baked them whole for
+this meal, and they had filled three huge bowls with ale from his great
+brewing-kettle. Hymer ate and drank very fast, and wished to make his
+guests fear him, because he could eat so much. But Thor was not to be
+taken aback in this way; for he at once ate two of the oxen, and quaffed
+a huge bowl of ale which the giant had set aside for himself. The giant
+saw that he was outdone, and he arose from the table, saying,--
+
+"Not all my cows would serve to feed two guests so hungry as these. We
+shall be obliged to live on fish now."
+
+He strode out of the hall without another word, and began getting his
+boat ready for a sail. But Thor followed him.
+
+"It is a fine day for fishing," said Thor gayly. "How I should like to
+go out with you!"
+
+"Such little fellows as you would better stay at home," growled Hymer.
+
+"But let me go with you," persisted Thor. "I can certainly row the boat
+while you fish."
+
+"I have no need of help from such a stunted pygmy," muttered the giant.
+"You could not be of the least use to me: you would only be in my way.
+Still, if you are bent on doing so, you may go, and you shall take all
+the risks. If I go as far as I do sometimes, and stay as long as I often
+do, you may make up your mind never to see the dry land again; for you
+will certainly catch your death of cold, and be food for the fishes--if,
+indeed, they would deign to eat such a scrawny scrap!"
+
+These taunting words made Thor so angry, that he grasped his hammer, and
+was sorely tempted to crush the giant's skull. But he checked himself,
+and coolly said,--
+
+"I pray you not to trouble yourself on my account I have set my head on
+going with you, and go I will. Tell me where I can find something that I
+can use for bait, and I will be ready in a trice."
+
+"I have no bait for you," roughly answered Hymer "You must look for it
+yourself."
+
+Half a dozen oxen, the very finest and fattest of Hymer's herd, were
+grazing on the short grass which grew on the sunnier slopes of the
+hillside; for not all of the giant's cattle had yet taken to the water.
+When Thor saw these great beasts, he ran quickly towards them, and
+seizing the largest one, which Hymer called the Heaven-breaker, he
+twisted off his head as easily as he would that of a small fowl, and ran
+back with it to the boat. Hymer looked at him in anger and amazement,
+but said nothing; and the two pushed the boat off from the shore. The
+little vessel sped through the water more swiftly than it had ever done
+before, for Thor plied the oars.
+
+In a moment the long, low beach was out of sight; and Hymer, who had
+never travelled so fast, began to feel frightened.
+
+"Stop!" he cried. "Here is the place to fish: I have often caught great
+store of flat-fish here. Let us out with our lines!"
+
+"No, no!" answered Thor; and he kept on plying the oars. "We are not yet
+far enough from shore. The best fish are still many leagues out."
+
+And the boat skimmed onwards through the waters, and the white spray
+dashed over the prow; and Hymer, now very much frightened, sat still,
+and looked at his strange fellow-fisherman, but said not a word. On and
+on they went; and the shore behind them first grew dim, and then sank
+out of sight; and the high mountain-tops began to fade away in the sky,
+and then were seen no more. And when at last the fishermen were so far
+out at sea that nothing was in sight but the rolling waters on every
+side, Thor stopped his rowing.
+
+"We have come too far!" cried the giant, trembling in every limb. "The
+great Midgard snake lies hereabouts. Let us turn back!"
+
+"Not yet," answered Thor quietly. "We will fish here a little while."
+
+Without loss of time he took from his pocket a strong hook, wonderfully
+made, to which he fastened a long line as strong as ten ships' cables
+twisted together; then he carefully baited the hook with the gory head
+of the Heaven-breaker ox, and threw it into the water. As the giant had
+feared, they were now right over the head of the great Midgard snake.
+The huge beast looked upward with his sleepy eyes, and saw the tempting
+bait falling slowly through the water; but he did not see the boat, it
+was so far above him. Thinking of no harm, he opened his leathern jaws,
+and greedily gulped the morsel down; but the strong iron hook stuck fast
+in his throat. Maddened by the pain, he began to lash his tail against
+the floor of the sea; and he twisted and writhed until the ocean was
+covered with foam, and the waves ran mountain-high. But Thor pulled hard
+upon the line above, and strove to lift the reptile's head out of the
+water; then the snake darted with lightning speed away, pulling the boat
+after him so swiftly, that, had not Thor held on to the oar-locks, he
+would have been thrown into the sea. Quickly he tightened his magic
+girdle of strength around him, and, standing up in the boat, he pulled
+with all his might. The snake would not be lifted. But the boat split in
+two; and Thor slid into the water, and stood upon the bottom of the sea.
+He seized the great snake in his hands, and raised his head clean above
+the water. What a scene of frightful turmoil was there then! The earth
+shook; the mountains belched forth fire; the lightnings flashed; the
+caves howled; and the sky grew black and red. Nobody knows what the end
+would have been, had not Hymer reached over, and cut the strong cord.
+The slippery snake glided out of Thor's hands, and hid himself in the
+deep sea; and every thing became quiet again.
+
+Silently Thor and Hymer sat in the broken boat, and rowed swiftly back
+towards land. Thor felt really ashamed of himself, because he had gained
+nothing by his venture. And the giant was not at all happy.
+
+When they reached the frozen shore and Hymer's cheerless castle again,
+they found Tyr there, anxiously waiting for them. He felt that they were
+tarrying too long in this dreary place; and he wished to be back among
+his fellows in old AEgir's hall. Hymer felt very cross and ugly because
+his boat had been broken; and, when they came into the hall, he said to
+Thor,--
+
+"You may think that you are very stout,--you who dared attack the
+Midgard snake, and lifted him out of the sea. Yet there are many little
+things that you cannot do. For instance, here is the earthen goblet from
+which I drink my ale. Great men, like myself, can crush such goblets
+between their thumbs and fingers; but such puny fellows as you will find
+that they cannot break it by any means."
+
+"Let me try!" cried Thor.
+
+He took the great goblet in his hands, and threw it with all his
+strength against a stone post in the middle of the hall. The post was
+shattered into a thousand pieces, but the goblet was unharmed.
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the giant. "Try again!"
+
+Thor did so. This time he threw it against a huge granite rock that
+stood like a mountain near the seashore. The rock crumbled in pieces and
+fell, but the goblet was whole as ever.
+
+"What a very stout fellow you are!" cried Hymer in glee. "Go home now,
+and tell the good Asa-folk that you cannot even break a goblet!"
+
+"Let me try once more," said Thor, amazed, but not disheartened.
+
+"Throw it against Hymer's forehead," whispered some one over his
+shoulder. "It is harder than any rock."
+
+Thor looked, and saw that it was the giant's handsome wife who had
+given him this kind advice. He took the goblet, and hurled it quickly,
+straight at old Hymer's head. The giant had no time to dodge. The
+vessel struck him squarely between the eyes, and was shattered into ten
+thousand little pieces. But the giant's forehead was unhurt.
+
+"That drink was rather hot!" cried Hymer, trying to joke at his ill
+luck. "But it doesn't take a very great man to break a goblet. There
+is one thing, however, that you cannot do. Yonder is my great
+brewing-kettle, a mile deep. No man has ever lifted it. Now, if you will
+carry it out of the hall, where it sits, you may have it for your own."
+
+"Agreed!" cried Thor. "It is a fair bargain; and, if I fail, I will go
+home and never trouble you again."
+
+Then he took hold of the edge of the great kettle, and lifted it with
+all his might. The floor of Hymer's hall broke under him, and the walls
+and roof came tumbling down; but he turned the kettle over his head,
+and walked away with it, the great rings of the vessel clattering at his
+heels. Tyr went before him, and cleared the way; and Hymer gazed
+after him in utter amazement. The two Asa-folk had fairly won the
+brewing-kettle.
+
+In due time they reached old AEgir's hall, where the guests were still
+waiting for them. Some said that they had been gone three days, but most
+agreed that it was only three hours. Be that as it may, AEgir's thralls,
+Funfeng and Elder, brewed great store of ale in the kettle which Thor
+had brought; and, when the guests were seated at the table, the foaming
+liquor passed itself around to each, and there was much merriment and
+glad good cheer. And old AEgir was so happy in the pleasant company of
+the Asa-folk, that men say that he forgot to blow and bluster for a full
+six months thereafter.[EN#14]
+
+Such was the story which the wise harper told to Siegfried as they
+sailed gayly along the Norwegian shore. And with many other pleasant
+tales did they beguile the hours away. And no one ever thought of
+danger, for the sky was blue and cloudless. And, besides this, Bragi
+himself was on board; and he could charm and control the rudest
+elements.
+
+One day, however, the sea became unaccountably ruffled. There was no
+wind; but yet the waves rose suddenly, and threatened to overwhelm the
+little ship. Quickly the sailors sprang to their oars, and tried by
+rowing to drive the vessel away from the shore and into the quieter
+waters of the open sea. But all their strength was of no avail: the
+swift stream carried the little bark onward in its course, as an autumn
+leaf is borne on the bosom of a mighty river. Then the whole surface
+of the water seemed lashed into fury. The waves formed hundreds of
+currents, each stronger than a mountain torrent, and each seeming to
+follow a course of its own. They clashed wildly against each other; they
+heaved, and boiled, and hissed, and threw great clouds of spray high
+into the air; they formed deep whirlpools, which twisted and twirled,
+and broke into a thousand eddies, and then plunged deep down into rocky
+caverns beneath, or laid bare the bottom of the sea. The helpless ship
+was carried round and round, swiftly and more swiftly still; and vain
+were the efforts of the crew to steer her out of the seething caldron
+of waters. Then the cheeks of the sailors grew white with fear; and they
+dropped their oars, and clung to the masts and ropes, and cried out,--
+
+"Alas, we are lost! This is old AEgir's brewing-kettle!"
+
+But Siegfried stood by the helm, and said,--
+
+"If that be true, then we may sup with him in his gold-lit hall."
+
+And all this time Bragi slept in the hold, and no one dared awaken him.
+Faster and faster the ship was carried round the seething pool. The
+flying spray was frozen in the air; and it filled the masts with snow,
+and pattered like heavy hail upon the deck. The light of the sun seemed
+shut out, and darkness closed around. A dismal chasm yawned deep before
+them, and in the gray gloom the ship's crew saw many wondrous things.
+Great sea-monsters swam among the rocks, and seemed not to heed the
+uproar above them. Lovely mermaids sat in their green-and-purple caves,
+and combed their tresses of golden hair; and thoughtful mermen groped
+among the seaweeds, searching hopefully for lost or hidden treasures.
+Then Siegfried caught a glimpse of the mighty AEgir, sitting in his
+banquet-room; and, as he quaffed his foaming ale, he called aloud to his
+daughters to leave their play, and come to their father in his gold-lit
+hall. And the white-veiled Waves answered to their names, and came
+at his call. First, Raging Sea entered the wide hall, and sat by the
+Ocean-king's side; then Billow, then Surge, then Surf, and Breakers;
+then came the Purple-haired, and the Diver; but AEgir's two youngest
+daughters, Laughing Ripple and Smiling Sky-clear, came not at their
+father's beck, but lingered to play among the rocks and in the open sea.
+
+So deeply engaged was Siegfried in watching this scene, that he did not
+notice Bragi, who now came upon the deck with his harp in his hand. And
+sweet music arose from among the dashing waves, and was heard far down
+in the deep sea-caverns, and even in AEgir's hall. And, when Siegfried
+looked up again, the eddying whirlpools, and the threatening waves, and
+the flying spray, were no more; but the ship was gliding over the quiet
+waters of a deep blue sea, and the sun was shining brightly in the clear
+sky above. Then an east wind filled the sails; and, as Bragi's music
+rose sweeter and higher, they glided swiftly away from the coast, and
+soon the snow-capped mountain-peaks grew dim in the distance, and then
+sank from sight.
+
+Many days they sailed over an unknown sea, and towards an unknown land;
+and none but Bragi knew what the end of their voyage would be. And yet
+no one doubted or was afraid, for the secrets of the earth and the sea
+were known to the sweet singer. After a time, the water became as smooth
+as glass: not a ripple moved upon its surface, and not the slightest
+breath of air stirred among the idly-hanging sails. Then the sailors
+went to their oars; but they seemed overcome with languor and
+sleepiness, and only when Bragi played upon his harp did they move their
+oars with their wonted strength and quickness. And at last they came in
+sight of a long, low coast, and a shelving beach up which the tide was
+slowly creeping in drowsy silence. And not half a league from the shore
+was a grand old castle, with a tall tower and many turrets, and broad
+halls and high battlements; and in the light of the setting sun every
+thing was as green as emerald or as the fresh grass of early spring. And
+a pale flickering light gleamed on the castle-walls, and the moat seemed
+filled with a glowing fire.
+
+The ship glided silently up to the sandy beach, and the sailors moored
+it to the shore. But Siegfried heard no sound upon the land, nor could
+he see any moving, living thing. Silence brooded everywhere, and the
+castle and its inmates seemed to be wrapped in slumber. The sentinels
+could be seen upon the ramparts, standing like statues of stone, and
+showing no signs of life; while above the barbacan gate the watchman was
+at his post, motionless and asleep.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure VI. Brunhild.
+
+
+
+Siegfried and the harper sat together in the little ship as it lay
+moored to the sandy shore; and their eyes were turned towards the
+sea-green castle and its glowing walls, and they looked in vain for
+any movement, or any sign of wakeful life. Every thing was still. Not a
+breath of air was stirring. The leaves of the trees hung motionless,
+as if they, too, were asleep. The great green banner on the tower's top
+clung around the flagstaff as if it had never fluttered to the breeze.
+No song of birds, nor hum of insects, came to their ears. There was
+neither sound nor motion anywhere.
+
+"Play your harp, good Bragi, and awaken all these sleepers," said
+Siegfried.
+
+Then the harper touched the magic strings, and strains of music, loud
+and clear, but sweet as a baby's breath, rose up in the still air,
+and floated over the quiet bay, and across the green meadows which lay
+around the castle-walls; and it was borne upward over the battlements,
+and among the shining turrets and towers, and was carried far out over
+the hills, and among the silent trees of the plain. And Bragi sung of
+the beginning of all things, and of whatsoever is beautiful on the land,
+or in the sea, or in the sky. And Siegfried looked to see every thing
+awakened, and quickened into life, as had oft been done before by
+Bragi's music; but nothing stirred. The sun went down, and the gray
+twilight hung over sea and land, and the red glow in the castle-moat
+grew redder still; and yet every thing slept. Then Bragi ended his song,
+and the strings of his harp were mute.
+
+"Music has no charms to waken from sleep like that," he said.
+
+And then he told Siegfried what it all meant; and, to make the story
+plain, he began by telling of Odin's bright home at Gladsheim and of the
+many great halls that were there.
+
+One of the halls in Gladsheim is called Valhal. This hall is so large
+and wide, that all the armies of the earth might move within it.
+Outside, it is covered with gold and with sun-bright shields. A fierce
+wolf stands guard before it, and a mountain-eagle hovers over it. It has
+five hundred and forty doors, each large enough for eight hundred heroes
+to march through abreast. Inside, every thing is glittering bright. The
+rafters are made of spears, and the ceiling is covered with shields,
+and the walls are decked with war-coats. In this hall Odin sets daily
+a feast for all the heroes that have been slain in battle. These sit
+at the great table, and eat of the food which Odin's servants have
+prepared, and drink of the heavenly mead which the Valkyries, Odin's
+handmaids, bring them.
+
+But the Valkyries have a greater duty. When the battle rages, and swords
+clash, and shields ring, and the air is filled with shouts and groans
+and all the din of war, then these maidens hover over the field of blood
+and death, and carry the slain heroes home to Valhal.[EN#15]
+
+One of Odin's Valkyries was named Brunhild, and she was the most
+beautiful of all the maidens that chose heroes for his war-host. But she
+was wilful too, and did not always obey the All-Father's behests. And
+when Odin knew that she had sometimes snatched the doomed from death,
+and sometimes helped her chosen friends to victory, he was very angry.
+And he drove her away from Gladsheim, and sent her, friendless and poor,
+to live among the children of men, and to be in all ways like them. But,
+as she wandered weary and alone over the earth, the good old King of
+Isenland saw her beauty and her distress, and pity and love moved
+his heart; and, as he had no children of his own, he took her for his
+daughter, and made her his heir. And not long afterward he died, and the
+matchless Brunhild became queen of all the fair lands of Isenland and
+the hall of Isenstein. When Odin heard of this, he was more angry still;
+and he sent to Isenstein, and caused Brunhild to be stung with the thorn
+of Sleep. And he said,--
+
+"She shall sleep until one shall come who is brave enough to ride
+through fire to awaken her."
+
+And all Isenland slept too, because Brunhild, the Maiden of Spring, lay
+wounded with the Sleepful thorn.
+
+* * * * *
+
+When Siegfried heard this story, he knew that the land which lay before
+them was Isenland, and that the castle was Isenstein, and that Brunhild
+was sleeping within that circle of fire.
+
+"My songs have no power to awaken such a sleeper," said Bragi. "A hero
+strong and brave must ride through the flame to arouse her. It is for
+this that I have brought you hither; and here I will leave you, while I
+sail onwards to brighten other lands with my music."
+
+Siegfried's heart leaped up with gladness; for he thought that here,
+at last, was a worthy deed for him to do. And he bade his friend Bragi
+good-by, and stepped ashore; and Greyfell followed him. And Bragi sat at
+the prow of the ship, and played his harp again; and the sailors plied
+their oars; and the little vessel moved swiftly out of the bay, and was
+seen no more. And Siegfried stood alone on the silent, sandy beach.
+
+As he thus stood, the full moon rose white and dripping from the sea;
+and its light fell on the quiet water, and the sloping meadows, and the
+green turrets of the castle. And the last notes of Bragi's harp came
+floating to him over the sea.
+
+Then a troop of fairies came down to dance upon the sands. It was the
+first sign of life that Siegfried had seen. As the little creatures drew
+near, he hid himself among the tall reeds which grew close to the shore;
+for he wished to see them at their gambols, and to listen to their
+songs. At first, as if half afraid of their own tiny shadows, they
+danced in silence; but, as the moon rose higher, they grew bolder, and
+began to sing. And their music was so sweet and soft, that Siegfried
+forgot almost every thing, else for the time: they sang of the pleasant
+summer days, and of cooling shades, and still fountains, and silent
+birds, and peaceful slumber. And a strange longing for sleep took hold
+of Siegfried; and his eyes grew heavy, and the sound of the singing
+seemed dim and far away. But just as he was losing all knowledge of
+outward things, and his senses seemed moving in a dream, the fairies
+stopped dancing, and a little brown elf came up from the sea, and
+saluted the queen of the tiny folk.
+
+"What news bring you from the great world beyond the water?" asked the
+queen.
+
+"The prince is on his way hither," answered the elf.
+
+"And what will he do?"
+
+"If he is brave enough, he will awaken the princess, and arouse the
+drowsy people of Isenstein; for the Norns have said that such a prince
+shall surely come."
+
+"But he must be the bravest of men ere he can enter the enchanted
+castle," said the queen; "for the wide moat is filled with flames, and
+no faint heart will ever dare battle with them."
+
+"But I will dare!" cried Siegfried; and he sprang from his hiding-place,
+forgetful of the little folk, who suddenly flitted away, and left him
+alone upon the beach. He glanced across the meadows at the green turrets
+glistening in the mellow moonlight, and then at the flickering flames
+around the castle walls, and he resolved that on the morrow he would at
+all hazards perform the perilous feat.
+
+In the morning, as soon as the gray dawn appeared, he began to make
+ready for his difficult undertaking. But, when he looked again at the
+red flames, he began to hesitate. He paused, uncertain whether to
+wait for a sign and for help from the All-Father, or whether to go
+straightway to the castle, and, trusting in his good armor alone, try
+to pass through the burning moat. While he thus stood in doubt, his eyes
+were dazzled by a sudden flash of light. He looked up. Greyfell came
+dashing across the sands; and from his long mane a thousand sunbeams
+gleamed and sparkled in the morning light. Siegfried had never seen the
+wondrous creature so radiant; and as the steed stood by him in all his
+strength and beauty he felt new hope and courage, as if Odin himself had
+spoken to him. He hesitated no longer, but mounted the noble horse; and
+Greyfell bore him swiftly over the plain, and paused not until he had
+reached the brink of the burning moat.
+
+Now, indeed, would Siegfried's heart have failed him, had he not been
+cheered by the sunbeam presence of Greyfell. For filling the wide,
+deep ditch, were angry, hissing flames, which, like a thousand
+serpent-tongues, reached out, and felt here and there, for what they
+might devour; and ever and anon they took new forms, and twisted and
+writhed like fiery snakes, and then they swirled in burning coils high
+over the castle-walls. Siegfried stopped not a moment. He spoke the
+word, and boldly the horse with his rider dashed into the fiery lake;
+and the vile flames fled in shame and dismay before the pure sunbeam
+flashes from Greyfell's mane. And, unscorched and unscathed, Siegfried
+rode through the moat, and through the wide-open gate, and into the
+castle-yard.
+
+The gate-keeper sat fast asleep in his lodge, while the chains and the
+heavy key with which, when awake, he was wont to make the great gate
+fast, lay rusting at his feet; and neither he, nor the sentinels on the
+ramparts above, stirred or awoke at the sound of Greyfell's clattering
+hoofs. As Siegfried passed from one part of the castle to another, many
+strange sights met his eyes. In the stables the horses slumbered in
+their stalls, and the grooms lay snoring by their sides. The birds sat
+sound asleep on their nests beneath the eaves. The watch-dogs, with
+fast-closed eyes, lay stretched at full-length before the open doors. In
+the garden the fountain no longer played, the half-laden bees had
+gone to sleep among the blossoms of the apple-trees, and the flowers
+themselves had forgotten to open their petals to the sun. In the
+kitchen the cook was dozing over the half-baked meats in front of the
+smouldering fire; the butler was snoring in the pantry; the dairy-maid
+was quietly napping among the milk-pans; and even the house-flies
+had gone to sleep over the crumbs of sugar on the table. In the great
+banquet-room a thousand knights, overcome with slumber, sat silent at
+the festal board; and their chief, sitting on the dais, slept, with his
+half-emptied goblet at his lips.
+
+Siegfried passed hurriedly from room to room and from hall to hall, and
+cast but one hasty glance at the strange sights which met him at every
+turn; for he knew that none of the drowsy ones in that spacious castle
+could be awakened until he had aroused the Princess Brunhild. In the
+grandest hall of the palace he found her. The peerless maiden, most
+richly dight, reclined upon a couch beneath a gold-hung canopy; and her
+attendants, the ladies of the court, sat near and around her. Sleep held
+fast her eyelids, and her breathing was so gentle, that, but for the
+blush upon her cheeks, Siegfried would have thought her dead. For long,
+long years had her head thus lightly rested on that gold-fringed pillow;
+and in all that time neither her youth had faded, nor her wondrous
+beauty waned.
+
+Siegfried stood beside her. Gently he touched his lips to that matchless
+forehead; softly he named her name,--
+
+"Brunhild!"
+
+The charm was broken. Up rose the peerless princess in all her
+queen-like beauty; up rose the courtly ladies round her. All over the
+castle, from cellar to belfry-tower, from the stable to the banquet
+hall, there was a sudden awakening, a noise of hurrying feet and
+mingled voices, and sounds which had long been strangers to the halls of
+Isenstein. The watchman on the tower, and the sentinels on the ramparts,
+yawned, and would not believe they had been asleep; the porter picked
+up his keys, and hastened to lock the long-forgotten gates; the horses
+neighed in their stalls; the watchdogs barked at the sudden hubbub; the
+birds, ashamed at having allowed the sun to find them napping, hastened
+to seek their food in the meadows; the servants hurried here and there,
+each intent upon his duty; the warriors in the banquet-hall clattered
+their knives and plates, and began again their feast; and their chief
+dropped his goblet, and rubbed his eyes, and wondered that sleep should
+have overtaken him in the midst of such a meal.[EN#16]
+
+And Siegfried, standing at an upper window, looked out over the
+castle-walls; and he saw that the flames no longer raged in the moat,
+but that it was filled with clear sparkling water from the fountain
+which played in the garden. And the south wind blew gently from the sea,
+bringing from afar the sweetest strains of music from Bragi's golden
+harp; and the breezes whispered among the trees, and the flowers opened
+their petals to the sun, and birds and insects made the air melodious
+with their glad voices. Then Brunhild, radiant with smiles, stood by
+the hero's side, and welcomed him kindly to Isenland and to her
+green-towered castle of Isenstein.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure VII. In Nibelungen Land.
+
+
+
+Every one in the castle of Isenstein, from the princess to the
+kitchen-maid, felt grateful to the young hero for what he had done. The
+best rooms were fitted up for his use, and a score of serving men and
+maidens were set apart to do his bidding, and ordered to be mindful of
+his slightest wish. And all the earl-folk and brave men, and all the
+fair ladies, and Brunhild, fairest of them all, besought him to make his
+home there, nor ever think of going back to Rhineland. Siegfried yielded
+to their persuasions, and for six months he tarried in the enchanted
+land in one long round of merry-making and gay enjoyment. But his
+thoughts were ever turned toward his father's home in the Lowlands
+across the sea, and he longed to behold again his gentle mother
+Sigelind. Then he grew tired of his life of idleness and ease, and he
+wished that he might go out again into the busy world of manly action
+and worthy deeds. And day by day this feeling grew stronger, and filled
+him with unrest.
+
+One morning, as he sat alone by the seashore, and watched the lazy tide
+come creeping up the sands, two ravens lighted near him. Glad was he to
+see them, for he knew them to be Hugin and Munin, the sacred birds of
+Odin, and he felt sure that they brought him words of cheer from the
+All-Father. Then Hugin flapped his wings, and said, "In idleness the
+stings of death lie hidden, but in busy action are the springs of life.
+For a hundred years fair Brunhild slept, but why should Siegfried sleep?
+The world awaits him, but it waits too long."
+
+Then Munin flapped his wings also, but he said nothing. And busy memory
+carried Siegfried back to his boyhood days; and he called to mind the
+wise words of his father Siegmund, and the fond hopes of his gentle
+mother, and he thought, too, of the noble deeds of his kinsfolk of the
+earlier days. And he rose in haste, and cried, "Life of ease, farewell!
+I go where duty leads. To him who wills to do, the great All-Father will
+send strength and help."
+
+While he spoke, his eyes were dazzled with a flash of light. He looked;
+and the beaming Greyfell, his long mane sparkling like a thousand
+sunbeams, dashed up the beach, and stood beside him. As the noble steed
+in all his strength and beauty stood before him, the youth felt fresh
+courage; for, in the presence of the shining hope which the All-Father
+had given him, all hinderances seemed to vanish, and all difficulties to
+be already overcome. He looked toward the sea again, and saw in the
+blue distance a white-sailed ship drawing swiftly near, its golden
+dragon-stem ploughing through the waves like some great bird of the
+deep. And as with straining, eager eyes, he watched its coming, he felt
+that Odin had sent it, and that the time had come wherein he must be up
+and doing. The hour for thriving action comes to us once: if not seized
+upon and used, it may never come again.
+
+The ship drew near the shore. The sailors rested on their oars.
+Siegfried and the steed Greyfell sprang upon the deck; then the sailors
+silently bent again to their rowing. The flapping sails were filled and
+tightened by the strong west wind; and the light vessel leaped from wave
+to wave like a thing of life, until Isenstein, with its tall towers and
+its green marble halls, sank from sight in the distance and the mist.
+And Siegfried and his noble steed seemed to be the only living beings
+on board; for the sailors who plied the oars were so silent and
+phantom-like, that they appeared to be nought but the ghosts of the
+summer sea-breezes. As the ship sped swiftly on its way, all the
+creatures in the sea paused to behold the sight. The mermen rested from
+their weary search for hidden treasures, and the mermaids forgot to comb
+their long tresses, as the radiant vessel and its hero-freight glided
+past. And even old King AEgir left his brewing-kettle in his great hall,
+and bade his daughters, the white-veiled Waves, cease playing until the
+vessel should safely reach its haven.
+
+When, at length, the day had passed, and the evening twilight had come,
+Siegfried saw that the ship was nearing land; but it was a strange
+land.[EN#17] Like a fleecy cloud it appeared to rest above the waves,
+midway between the earth and the sky; a dark mist hung upon it, and it
+seemed a land of dreams and shadows. The ship drew nearer and nearer
+to the mysterious shore, and as it touched the beach the sailors rested
+from their rowing. Then Siegfried and the horse Greyfell leaped ashore;
+but, when they looked back, the fair vessel that had carried them was
+nowhere to be seen. Whether it had suddenly been clutched by the
+greedy fingers of the Sea-queen Ran, and dragged down into her deep
+sea-caverns, or whether, like the wondrous ship Skidbladner, it had been
+folded up, and made invisible to the eyes of men, Siegfried never knew.
+The thick mists and the darkness of night closed over and around both
+hero and horse; and they dared not stir, but stood long hours in the
+silent gloom, waiting for the coming of the dawn.
+
+At length the morning came, but the light was not strong enough to
+scatter the fogs and thick vapors that rested upon the land. Then
+Siegfried mounted Greyfell; and the sunbeams began to flash from the
+horse's mane and from the hero's glittering mail-coat; and the hazy
+clouds fled upward and away, until they were caught and held fast by
+great mist-giants, who stood like sentinels on the mountain-tops. As
+the shining pair came up from the sea, and passed through the woods and
+valleys of the Nibelungen Land, there streamed over all that region such
+a flood of sunlight as had never before been seen.
+
+In every leafy tree, and behind every blade of grass, elves and fairies
+were hidden; and under every rock and in every crevice lurked cunning
+dwarfs. But Siegfried rode straight forward until he came to the steep
+side of a shadowy mountain. There, at the mouth of a cavern, a strange
+sight met his eyes. Two young men, dressed in princes' clothing, sat
+upon the ground: their features were all haggard and gaunt, and pinched
+with hunger, and their eyes wild with wakefulness and fear; and all
+around them were heaps of gold and precious stones,--more than a hundred
+wagons could carry away. And neither of the two princes would leave
+the shining hoard for food, nor close his eyes in sleep, lest the
+other might seize and hide some part of the treasure. And thus they had
+watched and hungered through many long days and sleepless nights, each
+hoping that the other would die, and that the whole inheritance might be
+his own.
+
+When they saw Siegfried riding near, they called out to him, and said,
+"Noble stranger, stop a moment! Come and help us divide this treasure."
+
+"Who are you?" asked Siegfried; "and what treasure is it that lies
+there?"
+
+"We are the sons of Niblung, who until lately was king of this Mist
+Land. Our names are Schilbung and the young Niblung," faintly answered
+the princes.
+
+"And what are you doing here with this gold and these glittering
+stones?"
+
+"This is the great Nibelungen Hoard, which our father not long ago
+brought from the South-land. It is not clear just how he obtained
+it.[EN#18] Some say that he got it unjustly from his brother, whose
+vassals had digged it from the earth. Others say that he found it
+lying on the Glittering Heath, where Fafnir the Dragon had guarded it
+zealously for ages past, until he was slain by a hero who cared nought
+for his gold. But, be this as it may, our father is now dead, and we
+have brought the hoard out of the cavern where he had hidden it, in
+order that we may share it between us equally. But we cannot agree, and
+we pray you to help us divide it."
+
+Then Siegfried dismounted from the horse Greyfell, and came near the two
+princes.
+
+"I will gladly do as you ask," said he; "but first I must know more
+about your father,--who he was, and whether this is really the Hoard of
+the Glittering Heath."
+
+Then Niblung answered, as well as his feeble voice would allow, "Our
+father was, from the earliest times, the ruler of this land, and the
+lord of the fog and the mist. Many strongholds, and many noble halls,
+had he in this land; and ten thousand brave warriors were ever ready to
+do his bidding. The trolls, and the swarthy elves of the mountains, and
+the giants of the cloudy peaks, were his vassals. But he did more than
+rule over the Nibelungen Land. Twice every year he crossed the sea and
+rambled through the Rhine valleys, or loitered in the moist Lowlands;
+and now and then he brought rich trophies back to his island home. The
+last time, he brought this treasure with him; but, as we have said, it
+is not clear how he obtained it. We have heard men say that it was the
+Hoard of Andvari, and that when Fafnir, the dragon who watched it, was
+slain, the hero who slew him left it to be taken again by the swarthy
+elves who had gathered it; but because of a curse which Andvari had
+placed upon it, no one would touch it, until some man would assume its
+ownership, and take upon himself the risk of incurring the curse. This
+thing, it is said, our father did. And the dwarf Alberich undertook to
+keep it for him; and he, with the help of the ten thousand elves who
+live in these caverns, and the twelve giants whom you see standing on
+the mountain-peaks around, guarded it faithfully so long as our father
+lived. But, when he died, we and our thralls fetched it forth from the
+cavern, and spread it here on the ground. And, lo! for many days we have
+watched and tried to divide it equally. But we cannot agree."
+
+"What hire will you give me if I divide it for you?" asked Siegfried.
+
+"Name what you will have," answered the princes.
+
+"Give me the sword which lies before you on the glittering heap."
+
+Then Niblung handed him the sword, and said, "Right gladly will we give
+it. It is a worthless blade that our father brought from the South-land.
+They say that he found it also on the Glittering Heath, in the trench
+where Fafnir was slain. And some will have it that it was forged by
+Regin, Fafnir's own brother. But how that is, I do not know. At any
+rate, it is of no use to us; for it turns against us whenever we try to
+use it."
+
+Siegfried took the sword. It was his own Balmung, that had been lost so
+long.
+
+Forthwith he began the task of dividing the treasure; and the two
+brothers, so faint from hunger and want of sleep that they could
+scarcely lift their heads, watched him with anxious, greedy eyes. First
+he placed a piece of gold by Niblung's side, and then a piece of like
+value he gave to Schilbung. And this he did again and again, until no
+more gold was left. Then, in the same manner, he divided the precious
+gem-stones until none remained. And the brothers were much pleased; and
+they hugged their glittering treasures, and thanked Siegfried for his
+kindness, and for the fairness with which he had given to each his
+own. But one thing was left which had not fallen to the lot of either
+brother. It was a ring of curious workmanship,--a serpent coiled, with
+its tail in its mouth, and with ruby eyes glistening and cold.
+
+"What shall I do with this ring?" asked Siegfried.
+
+"Give it to me!" cried Niblung.
+
+"Give it to me!" cried Schilbung.
+
+And both tried to snatch it from Siegfried's hand.
+
+But the effort was too great for them. Their arms fell helpless at their
+sides, their feet slipped beneath them, their limbs failed: they sank
+fainting, each upon his pile of treasures.
+
+"O my dear, dear gold!" murmured Niblung, trying to clasp it all in his
+arms,--"my dear, dear gold! Thou art mine, mine only. No one shall
+take thee from me. Here thou art, here thou shalt rest. O my dear, dear
+gold!" And then, calling up the last spark of life left in his famished
+body, he cried out to Siegfried, "Give me the ring!--the ring, I say!"
+
+He hugged his cherished gold nearer to his bosom; he ran his thin
+fingers deep down into the shining yellow heap; he pressed his pale lips
+to the cold and senseless metal; he whispered faintly, "My dear, dear
+gold!" and then he died.
+
+"O precious, precious gem-stones," faltered Schilbung, "how beautiful
+you are! And you are mine, all mine. I will keep you safe. Come, come,
+my bright-eyed beauties! No one but me shall touch you. You are mine,
+mine, mine!" And he chattered and laughed as only madmen laugh. And he
+kissed the hard stones, and sought to hide them in his bosom. But his
+hands trembled and failed, dark mists swam before his eyes; he fancied
+that he heard the black dwarfs clamoring for his treasure; he sprang up
+quickly, he shrieked--and then fell lifeless upon his hoard of sparkling
+gems.
+
+A strange, sad sight it was,--boundless wealth, and miserable death;
+two piles of yellow gold and sun-bright diamonds, and two thin, starved
+corpses stretched upon them. Some stories relate that the brothers were
+slain by Siegfried, because their foolish strife and greediness had
+angered him.[EN#19] But I like not to think so. It was the gold, and not
+Siegfried, that slew them.
+
+"O gold, gold!" cried the hero sorrowfully, "truly thou art the
+mid-world's curse; thou art man's bane. But when the bright spring-time
+of the new world shall come, and Balder shall reign in his glory, then
+will the curse be taken from thee, and thy yellow brightness will be the
+sign of purity and enduring worth; and then thou wilt be a blessing to
+mankind, and the precious plaything of the gods."
+
+But Siegfried had little time for thought and speech. A strange sound
+was heard upon the mountain-side. The twelve great giants who had stood
+as watchmen upon the peaks above were rushing down to avenge their
+masters, and to drive the intruder out of Nibelungen Land. Siegfried
+waited not for their onset; but he mounted the noble horse Greyfell,
+and, with the sword Balmung in his hand, he rode forth to meet his foes,
+who, with fearful threats and hideous roars, came striding toward him.
+The sunbeams flashed from Greyfell's mane, and dazzled the dull eyes of
+the giants, unused as they were to the full light of day. Doubtful,
+they paused, and then again came forward. But they mistook every tree in
+their way for an enemy, and every rock they thought a foe; and in their
+fear they fancied a great host to be before them. Did you ever see the
+dark and threatening storm-clouds on a summer's day scattered and put
+to flight by the bright beams of the sun? It was thus that Siegfried's
+giant foes were routed. One and all, they dropped their heavy clubs, and
+stood ashamed and trembling, not knowing what to do. And Siegfried made
+each one swear to serve him faithfully; and then he sent them back to
+the snow-covered mountain-peaks to stand again as watchmen at their
+posts.
+
+And now another danger appeared. Alberich the dwarf, the master of the
+swarthy elves who guarded the Nibelungen Hoard, had come out from his
+cavern, and seen the two princes lying dead beside their treasures, and
+he thought that they had been murdered by Siegfried; and, when he beheld
+the giants driven back to the mountain-tops, he lifted a little silver
+horn to his lips, and blew a shrill bugle-call. And the little brown
+elves came trooping forth by thousands: from under every rock, from
+the nooks and crannies and crevices in the mountain-side, from the deep
+cavern and the narrow gorge, they came at the call of their chief. Then,
+at Alberich's word, they formed in line of battle, and stood in order
+around the hoard and the bodies of their late masters. Their little
+golden shields and their sharp-pointed spears were thick as the blades
+of grass in a Rhine meadow. And Siegfried, when he saw them, was pleased
+and surprised; for never before had such a host of pygmy warriors stood
+before him.
+
+While he paused and looked, the elves became suddenly silent, and
+Siegfried noticed that Alberich stood no longer at their head, but had
+strangely vanished from sight.
+
+"Ah, Alberich!" cried the hero. "Thou art indeed cunning. I have heard
+of thy tricks. Thou hast donned the Tarnkappe, the cloak of darkness,
+which hides thee from sight, and makes thee as strong as twelve common
+men. But come on, thou brave dwarf!"
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, when he felt a shock which almost sent him
+reeling from his saddle, and made Greyfell plunge about with fright.
+Quickly, then, did Siegfried dismount, and, with every sense alert,
+he waited for the second onset of the unseen dwarf. It was plain that
+Alberich wished to strike him unawares, for many minutes passed in utter
+silence. Then a brisk breath of wind passed by Siegfried's face, and
+he felt another blow; but, by a quick downward movement of his hand, he
+caught the plucky elf-king, and tore off the magic Tarnkappe, and then,
+with firm grasp, he held him, struggling in vain to get free.
+
+"Ah, Alberich!" he cried, "now I know thou art cunning. But the
+Tarnkappe I must have for my own. What wilt thou give for thy freedom?"
+
+"Worthy prince," answered Alberich humbly, "you have fairly overcome
+me in fight, and made me your prisoner. I and all mine, as well as
+this treasure, rightfully belong to you. We are yours, and you we shall
+obey."
+
+"Swear it!" said Siegfried. "Swear it, and thou shalt live, and be the
+keeper of my treasures."
+
+And Alberich made a sign to his elfin host, and every spear was turned
+point downwards, and every tiny shield was thrown to the ground, and
+the ten thousand little warriors kneeled, as did also their chief, and
+acknowledged Siegfried to be their rightful master, and the lord of the
+Nibelungen Land, and the owner of the Hoard of Andvari.
+
+Then, by Alberich's orders, the elves carried the Hoard back into the
+cavern, and there kept faithful watch and ward over it. And they buried
+the starved bodies of the two princes on the top of the mist-veiled
+mountain; and heralds were sent to all the strongholds in Nibelungen
+Land, proclaiming that Siegfried, through his wisdom and might, had
+become the true lord and king of the land. Afterwards the prince, riding
+on the beaming Greyfell, went from place to place, scattering sunshine
+and smiles where shadows and frowns had been before. And the Nibelungen
+folk welcomed him everywhere with glad shouts and music and dancing; and
+ten thousand warriors, and many noble earl-folk, came to meet him, and
+plighted their faith to him. And the pure brightness of his hero-soul,
+and the gleaming sunbeams from Greyfell's mane,--the light of hope and
+faith,--lifted the curtain of mists and fogs that had so long darkened
+the land, and let in the glorious glad light of day and the genial
+warmth of summer.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure VIII. Siegfried's Welcome Home.
+
+
+
+In Santen Castle, one day, there was a strange uproar and confusion.
+Everybody was hurrying aimlessly about, and no one seemed to know just
+what to do. On every side there were restless whisperings, and hasty
+gestures, and loud commands. The knights and warriors were busy donning
+their war-coats, and buckling on their swords and helmets. Wise King
+Siegmund sat in his council-chamber, and the knowing men of the kingdom
+stood around him; and the minds of all seemed troubled with doubt, if
+not with fear.
+
+What could have caused so great an uproar in the once quiet old castle?
+What could have brought perplexity to the mind of the wisest king in
+all Rhineland? It was this: a herald had just come from the seashore,
+bringing word that a strange fleet of a hundred white-sailed vessels had
+cast anchor off the coast, and that an army of ten thousand fighting men
+had landed, and were making ready to march against Santen. Nobody had
+ever heard of so large a fleet before; and no one could guess who the
+strangers might be, nor whence they had come, nor why they should thus,
+without asking leave, land in the country of a peace-loving king.
+
+The news spread quickly over all the land. People from every part came
+hastening to the friendly shelter of the castle. The townsmen, with
+their goods and cattle, hurried within the walls. The sentinels on the
+ramparts paced uneasily to and fro, and scanned with watchful eye every
+stranger that came near the walls. The warders stood ready to hoist
+the drawbridge, and close the gate, at the first signal given by the
+watchman above, who was straining his eyes to their utmost in order to
+see the first approach of the foe.
+
+A heavy mist hung over the meadow-lands between Santen and the sea,
+and nothing was visible beyond the gates of the town. The ten thousand
+strange warriors might be within half a league of the castle, and yet
+the sharpest eagle-eye could not see them.
+
+All at once a clatter of horse's hoofs was heard; the dark mist rose up
+from the ground, and began to roll away, like a great cloud, into the
+sky; and then strange sunbeam-flashes were seen where the fog had lately
+rested.
+
+"They come!" cried one of the sentinels. "I see the glitter of their
+shields and lances."
+
+"Not so," said the watchman from his place on the tower above. "I see
+but one man, and he rides with the speed of the wind, and lightning
+flashes from the mane of the horse which carries him."
+
+The drawbridge was hastily hoisted. The heavy gates were quickly shut,
+and fastened with bolts and bars. Every man in the castle was at his
+post, ready to defend the fortress with his life. In a short time the
+horse and his rider drew near. All who looked out upon them were dazzled
+with the golden brightness of the hero's armor, as well as with
+the lightning gleams that flashed from the horse's mane. And some
+whispered,--
+
+"This is no man who thus comes in such kingly splendor. More likely
+it is Odin on one of his journeys, or the Shining Balder come again to
+earth."
+
+As the stranger paused on the outer edge of the moat, the sentinels
+challenged him,--
+
+"Who are you who come thus, uninvited and unheralded, to Santen?"
+
+"One who has the right to come," answered the stranger. "I am Siegfried;
+and I have come to see my father, the good Siegmund, and my mother, the
+gentle Sigelind."
+
+It was indeed Siegfried; and he had come from his kingdom in the
+Nibelungen Land, with his great fleet, and the noblest of his warriors,
+to see once more his boyhood's home, and to cheer for a time the hearts
+of his loving parents. For he had done many noble deeds, and had ruled
+wisely and well, and he felt that he was now not unworthy to be called
+the son of Siegmund, and to claim kinship with the heroes of the earlier
+days.
+
+As soon as it was surely known that he who stood before the castle-walls
+was the young prince who had been gone so many years, and about whom
+they had heard so many wonderful stories, the drawbridge was hastily let
+down, and the great gates were thrown wide open. And Siegfried, whose
+return had been so long wished for, stood once again in his father's
+halls. And the fear and confusion which had prevailed gave place to
+gladness and gayety; and all the folk of Santen greeted the returned
+hero with cheers, and joyfully welcomed him home. And in the whole world
+there was no one more happy than Siegmund and Sigelind.
+
+On the morrow the ten thousand Nibelungen warriors came to Santen; and
+Siegmund made for them a great banquet, and entertained them in a right
+kingly way, as the faithful liegemen of his son. And Siegfried, when he
+had given them rich gifts, sent them with the fleet back to Nibelungen
+Land; for he meant to stay for a time with his father and mother at
+Santen.
+
+When the harvest had been gathered, and the fruit was turning purple and
+gold, and the moon rode round and full in the clear autumn sky, a gay
+high-tide was held for Siegfried's sake; and everybody in the Lowland
+country, whether high or low, rich or poor, was asked to come to
+the feast. For seven days, nought but unbridled gayety prevailed in
+Siegmund's halls. On every hand were sounds of music and laughter, and
+sickness and poverty and pain were for the time forgotten. A mock-battle
+was fought on the grassy plain not far from the town, and the young men
+vied with each other in feats of strength and skill. Never before had
+so many beautiful ladies nor so many brave men been seen in Santen.
+And, when the time of jollity and feasting had drawn to an end, Siegmund
+called together all his guests, and gave to each choice gifts,--a festal
+garment, and a horse with rich trappings. And Queen Sigelind scattered
+gold without stint among the poor, and many were the blessings she
+received. Then all the folk went back to their homes with light hearts
+and happy faces.[EN#20]
+
+The autumn days passed quickly by, and Siegfried began to grow weary of
+the idle, inactive life in his father's halls; and Greyfell in his stall
+pined for the fresh, free air, and his mane lost all its brightness.
+When Siegmund saw how full of unrest his son had become, he said to
+him,--
+
+"Siegfried, I have grown old and feeble, and have no longer the strength
+of my younger days. My kingdom would fare better were a younger ruler
+placed over it. Take my crown, I pray you, and let me withdraw from
+kingly cares."
+
+But Siegfried would not listen to such an offer. He had his own kingdom
+of the Nibelungens, he said; and, besides, he would never sit on his
+father's throne while yet that father lived. And although he loved the
+pleasant companionship of his mother, and was delighted to listen to
+the wise counsels of his father, the craving for action, and the unrest
+which would not be satisfied, grew greater day by day. At last he
+said,--
+
+"I will ride out into the world again. Mayhap I may find some other
+wrong to right, or some other kingdom to win. It was thus that my kin,
+in the golden age long past, went faring over the land and sea, and met
+their doom at last. They were not home-abiders, nor tillers of the soil;
+but the world was their abiding-place, and they filled the hearts of
+men."
+
+And, when his father and mother heard this, they tried no longer to
+keep him with them; for they knew that it would be more cruel than the
+keeping of a caged bird away from the sunlight.
+
+"Only go not into Burgundy," said his father. "The kings of that country
+are not friendly to us, and they may do you harm. Hagen, the kinsman of
+the kings, and the chief of their fighting-men, is old and crafty, and
+he cannot brook a greater hero than himself."
+
+Siegfried laughed.
+
+"That is all the better reason why I should go to Burgundy-land," he
+said.
+
+"Then take ten thousand of my warriors," said his father, "and make
+yourself master of the land."
+
+"No, no!" cried Siegfried. "One kingdom is enough for me. My own
+Nibelungen Land is all I want. I will take my twelve Nibelungen knights
+that I have with me here, and we will fare forth to see the world and
+its beauties, and men's work; and, when we have tired with riding, we
+will sail across the sea to our Nibelungen home."
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure IX. The Journey to Burgundy-Land.
+
+
+
+For many days before Siegfried's departure, the queen, and all the women
+of the household, busily plied their needles; and many suits of rich
+raiment made they for the prince and his worthy comrades. At length the
+time for leave-taking came, and all the inmates of the castle went out
+to the gate to bid the heroes God-speed. Siegfried sat upon his noble
+horse Greyfell, and his trusty sword Balmung hung at his side. And his
+Nibelungen knights were mounted on lordly steeds, with gold-red saddles
+and silver trappings chased with gold; and their glittering helmets, and
+burnished shields, and war-coats of polished steel, when added to
+their noble bearing and manlike forms, made up a picture of beauty and
+strength such as no one in Santen had ever seen before, or would ever
+see again.
+
+"Only go not into Burgundy-land," were the parting words of Siegmund.
+
+And all who had come to bid them farewell wept bitterly as the young men
+rode out of the city, and were lost to sight in the distance.
+
+"Only go not into Burgundy-land!" These words of his father sounded
+still in Siegfried's ears; and he turned his horse's head towards the
+west and south; and they rode through the level country, and among the
+fields, from which the corn had already been gathered; and at night they
+slept in the open air, upon the still warm ground. Thus for many days
+they travelled. And they left the Lowlands far behind them, and Burgundy
+far to the left of them; and by and by they came to a country covered
+with high hills, and mountains that seemed to touch the sky. The crags
+and peaks were covered with snow, and ice lay all summer in the dales
+and in the deep gorges cleft long time ago by giant hands. Here it is
+that the rivers take their beginning. And here it is that the purple
+grapes and the rare fruits of milder climes are found; for the sun
+shines warm in the valleys and upon the plains, and the soil is
+exceeding rich. It is said that these mountains are midway between the
+cold regions of Jotunheim and the glowing gardens of Muspelheim, and
+that, in ages past, they were the scene of many battles between the
+giants who would overwhelm the earth,--these with ice, and those
+with fire. Here and there were frowning caves dug out of the solid
+mountain-side; while higher up were great pits, half-filled with ashes,
+where, it is said, the dwarf-folk, when they were mighty on earth, had
+their forges.
+
+Siegfried stopped not long in this land. Thoughts of the Nibelungen
+Land, and of his faithful liegemen who waited for his return, began to
+fill his mind. Then the heroes turned their horses' heads, and rode back
+towards the north, following the course of the River Rhine, as it wound,
+here and there, between hills and mountains, and through meadows where
+the grass was springing up anew, and by the side of woodlands, now
+beginning to be clothed in green again; for the winter was well over,
+and spring was hastening on apace. And as they rode down the valley of
+the Rhine they came, ere they were aware, into the Burgundian Land,
+and the high towers of King Gunther's castle rose up before them. Then
+Siegfried remembered again his father's words,--
+
+"Only go not into Burgundy-land."
+
+But it was now too late to go back, and they determined to stop for
+a few days with the Burgundian kings. They rode onwards through the
+meadows and the pleasant farming-lands which lay around the city; and
+they passed a wonderful garden of roses, said to belong to Kriemhild,
+the peerless princess of the Rhine country; and at last they halted
+before the castle-gate. So lordly was their bearing, that a company of
+knights came out to meet them, and offered, as the custom was, to take
+charge of their horses and their shields. But Siegfried asked that they
+be led at once to King Gunther and his brothers; and, as their stay
+would not be long, they said they would have no need to part with horses
+or with shields. Then they followed their guides, and rode through the
+great gateway, and into the open court, and halted beneath the palace
+windows.
+
+And the three kings--Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher--and their young
+sister, the matchless Kriemhild, looked down upon them from above, and
+hazarded many guesses as to who the lordly strangers might be. And all
+the inmates of the castle stood at the doors and windows, or gathered in
+curious groups in the courtyard, and gazed with open-mouthed wonder upon
+the rich armor and noble bearing of the thirteen heroes. But all eyes
+were turned most towards Siegfried and the wondrous steed Greyfell. Some
+of the knights whispered that this was Odin, and some that it was Thor,
+the thunderer, making a tour through Rhineland. But others said that
+Thor was never known to ride on horseback, and that the youth who sat
+on the milk-white steed was little like the ancient Odin. And the ladies
+who looked down upon the heroes from the palace windows said that this
+man could be no other than the Sunbright Balder, come from his home in
+Breidablik, to breathe gladness and sunshine into the hearts and lives
+of men.
+
+Only one among all the folk in the castle knew who the hero was who had
+ridden thus boldly into the heart of Burgundy-land. That one was
+Hagen, the uncle of the three kings, and the doughtiest warrior in all
+Rhineland. With a dark frown and a sullen scowl he looked out upon the
+little party, and already plotted in his mind how he might outwit, and
+bring to grief, the youth whose name and fame were known the whole world
+over. For his evil mind loved deeds of darkness, and hated the pure and
+good. By his side, at an upper window, stood Kriemhild, the peerless
+maiden of the Rhine; but her thoughts were as far from his thoughts as
+the heaven-smile on her face was unlike the sullen scowl on his grim
+visage. As the moon in her calm beauty is sometimes seen in the sky,
+riding gloriously by the side of a dark thunder-cloud,--the one more
+lovely, the other more dreadful, by their very nearness,--so seemed
+Kriemhild standing there by the side of Hagen.
+
+"Think you not, dear uncle," she said, "that this is the Shining Balder
+come to earth again?"
+
+"The gods have forgotten the earth," answered Hagen in surly tones. "But
+if, indeed, this should be Balder, we shall, without doubt, find another
+blind archer, who, with another sprig of mistletoe, will send him back
+again to Hela."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Kriemhild earnestly.
+
+But old Hagen said not a word in answer. He quietly withdrew from the
+room, and left the maiden and her mother, the good dame Ute, alone.
+
+"What does uncle Hagen mean by his strange words? and why does he look
+so sullen and angry?" asked Kriemhild.
+
+"Indeed, I know not," answered the queen-mother. "His ways are dark, and
+he is cunning. I fear that evil will yet come to our house through him."
+
+Meanwhile the three kings and their chiefs had gone into the courtyard
+to greet their unknown guests. Very kindly did Gunther welcome the
+strangers to his home; and then he courteously asked them whence they
+came, and what the favors they wished.
+
+"I have heard," answered Siegfried, "that many knights and heroes live
+in this land, and that they are the bravest and the proudest in the
+world. I, too, am a knight; and some time, if I am worthy, I shall be a
+king. But first I would make good my right to rule over land and folk;
+and for this reason I have come hither. If, indeed, you are as brave as
+all the world says you are, ride now to the meadows with us, and let us
+fight man to man; and he who wins shall rule over the lands of both. We
+will wager our kingdom and our heads against yours."
+
+King Gunther and his brothers were amazed at this unlooked-for speech.
+
+"Such is not the way to try where true worth lies!" they cried. "We have
+no cause of quarrel with you, neither have you any cause of quarrel with
+us. Why, then, should we spill each other's blood?"
+
+Again Siegfried urged them to fight with him; but they flatly refused.
+And Gernot said,--
+
+"The Burgundian kings have never wished to rule over folk that are not
+their own. Much less would they gain new lands at the cost of their best
+heroes' blood. And they have never taken part in needless quarrels. Good
+men in Burgundy are worth more than the broadest lands, and we will not
+hazard the one for the sake of gaining the other. No, we will not fight.
+But we greet you most heartily as our friends and guests."
+
+All the others joined in urging Siegfried and his comrades to dismount
+from their steeds, and partake of the cheer with which it was their use
+to entertain strangers. And at last he yielded to their kind wishes,
+and alighted from Greyfell, and, grasping King Gunther's hand, he
+made himself known. And there was great rejoicing in the castle and
+throughout all the land; and the most sumptuous rooms were set apart for
+the use of Siegfried and his Nibelungen knights; and a banquet was at
+once made ready; and no pains were spared in giving the strangers
+a right hearty welcome to the kingly halls of Burgundy. But Hagen,
+dark-browed and evil-eyed, stood silent and alone in his chamber and
+waited his time.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure X. Kriemhild's Dream.
+
+
+
+Early on the morrow morning, ere the sun had risen high, the peerless
+Kriemhild walked alone amid the sweet-scented bowers of her rose-garden.
+The dewdrops still hung thick on flower and thorn, and the wild birds
+carolled their songs of merry welcome to the new-born day. Every
+thing seemed to have put on its handsomest colors, and to be using
+its sweetest voice, on purpose to gladden the heart of the maiden. But
+Kriemhild was not happy. There was a shadow on her face and a sadness
+in her eye that the beauty and the music of that morning could not drive
+away.
+
+"What ails thee, my child?" asked her mother, Queen Ute, who met her.
+"Why so sad, as if thy heart were heavy with care? Has any one spoken
+unkindly, or has aught grievous happened to thee?"
+
+"Oh, no, dearest mother!" said Kriemhild. "It is nothing that saddens
+me,--nothing but a foolish dream. I cannot forget it."
+
+"Tell me the dream," said her mother: "mayhap it betokens something that
+the Norns have written for thee."
+
+Then Kriemhild answered, "I dreamed that I sat at my window, high up in
+the eastern tower; and the sun shone bright in the heavens, and the
+air was mild and warm, and I thought of nought but the beauty and the
+gladness of the hour. Then in the far north I saw a falcon flying. At
+first he seemed but a black speck in the sky; but swiftly he drew nearer
+and nearer, until at last he flew in at the open window, and I caught
+him in my arms. Oh, how strong and beautiful he was! His wings were
+purple and gold, and his eyes were as bright as the sun. Oh, a glorious
+prize I thought him! and I held him on my wrist, and spoke kind words to
+him. Then suddenly, from out of the sky above, two eagles dashed in at
+the window, and snatched my darling from me, and they tore him in pieces
+before my eyes, and laughed at my distress."
+
+"Thy dream," said Queen Ute, "is easy to explain. A king shall come from
+the north-land, and a mighty king shall he be. And he shall seek thee,
+and love thee, and wed thee, and thy heart shall overflow with bliss.
+The two eagles are the foes who shall slay him; but who they may be, or
+whence they may come, is known only to the Norns."
+
+"But I slept, and I dreamed again," said Kriemhild. "This time I sat in
+the meadow, and three women came to me. And they span, and they wove
+a woof more fair than any I have ever seen. And methought that another
+woof was woven, which crossed the first, and yet it was no whit less
+beautiful. Then the women who wove the woofs cried out, 'Enough!' And
+a fair white arm reached out and seized the rare fabrics, and tore them
+into shreds. And then the sky was overcast, and the thunder began to
+roll and the lightning to flash, and red fires gleamed, and fierce
+wolves howled around me, and I awoke."
+
+"This dream," said Queen Ute, "is more than I can understand. Only this
+I can see and explain, that in the dim future the woof of another's fate
+shall cross thy own. But trouble not thyself because of that which
+shall be. While yet the sun shines for thee, and the birds sing, and
+the flowers shed their sweet perfume, it is for thee to rejoice and
+be light-hearted. What the Norns have woven is woven, and it cannot be
+undone."[EN#21]
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XI. How the Spring-time Came.
+
+
+
+Siegfried, when he came to Gunther's castle, thought of staying there
+but a few days only. But the king and his brothers made every thing so
+pleasant for their honored guest, that weeks slipped by unnoticed, and
+still the hero remained in Burgundy.
+
+Spring had fairly come, and the weeping April clouds had given place to
+the balmy skies of May. The young men and maidens, as was their wont,
+made ready for the May-day games; and Siegfried and his knights were
+asked to take part in the sport.
+
+On the smooth greensward, which they called Nanna's carpet, beneath the
+shade of ash-trees and elms, he who played Old Winter's part lingered
+with his few attendants. These were clad in the dull gray garb which
+becomes the sober season of the year, and were decked with yellow
+straw, and dead, brown leaves. Out of the wood came the May-king and his
+followers, clad in the gayest raiment, and decked with evergreens and
+flowers. With staves and willow-withes they fell upon Old Winter's
+champions, and tried to drive them from the sward. In friendly fray
+they fought, and many mishaps fell to both parties. But at length the
+May-king won; and grave Winter, battered and bruised, was made prisoner,
+and his followers were driven from the field. Then, in merry sport,
+sentence was passed on the luckless wight, for he was found guilty of
+killing the flowers, and of covering the earth with hoar-frost; and
+he was doomed to a long banishment from music and the sunlight. The
+laughing party then set up a wooden likeness of the worsted winter-king,
+and pelted it with stones and turf; and when they were tired they threw
+it down, and put out its eyes, and cast it into the river. And then a
+pole, decked with wild-flowers and fresh green leaves, was planted in
+the midst of the sward, and all joined in merry dance around it. And
+they chose the most beautiful of all the maidens to be the Queen of May,
+and they crowned her with a wreath of violets and yellow buttercups; and
+for a whole day all yielded fealty to her, and did her bidding.
+
+It was thus that May Day came in Burgundy. And in the evening, when the
+party were seated in King Gunther's hall, Siegfried, at the command of
+the May-queen,--who was none other than Kriemhild the peerless,--amused
+them by telling the story of
+
+
+
+Idun and Her Apples.
+
+
+
+It is a story that Bragi told while at the feast in AEgir's hall. Idun
+is Bragi's wife. Very handsome is she; but the beauty of her face is by
+no means greater than the goodness of her heart. Right attentive is she
+to every duty, and her words and thoughts are always worthy and wise.
+A long time ago the good Asa-folk who dwell in heaven-towering Asgard,
+knowing how trustworthy Idun was, gave into her keeping a treasure
+which they would not have placed in the hands of any other person.
+This treasure was a box of apples, and Idun kept the golden key safely
+fastened to her girdle. You ask me why the gods should prize a box of
+apples so highly? I will tell you.
+
+Old age, you know, spares none, not even Odin and his Asa-folk. They all
+grow old and gray; and, if there were no cure for age, they would become
+feeble and toothless and blind, deaf, tottering, and weak minded. The
+apples which Idun guarded so carefully were the priceless boon of youth.
+Whenever the gods felt old age coming on, they went to her, and she gave
+them of her fruit; and, when they had tasted, they grew young and strong
+and handsome again. Once, however, they came near losing the apples,--or
+losing rather Idun and her golden key, without which no one could ever
+open the box.
+
+In those early days Odin delighted to come down now and then from his
+high home above the clouds, and to wander, disguised, among the woods
+and mountains, and by the seashore, and in wild desert places. For
+nothing pleases him more than to commune with Nature as she is found
+in the loneliness of vast solitudes, or in the boisterous uproar of the
+elements. Once on a time he took with him his friends Hoenir and Loki;
+and they rambled many days among the icy cliffs, and along the barren
+shores, of the great frozen sea. In that country there was no game, and
+no fish was found in the cold waters; and the three wanderers, as they
+had brought no food with them, became very hungry. Late in the afternoon
+of the seventh day, they reached some pasture-lands belonging to the
+giant Hymer, and saw a herd of the giant's cattle browsing upon the
+short grass which grew in the sheltered nooks among the hills.
+
+"Ah!" cried Loki: "after fasting for a week, we shall now have food in
+abundance. Let us kill and eat."
+
+So saying, he hurled a sharp stone at the fattest of Hymer's cows, and
+killed her; and the three quickly dressed the choicest pieces of flesh
+for their supper. Then Loki gathered twigs and dry grass, and kindled a
+blazing fire; Hoenir filled the pot with water from melted ice; and Odin
+threw into it the bits of tender meat. But, make the fire as hot as they
+would, the water would not boil, and the flesh would not cook.
+
+All night long the supperless three sat hungry around the fire; and,
+every time they peeped into the kettle, the meat was as raw and gustless
+as before. Morning came, but no breakfast. And all day Loki kept
+stirring the fire, and Odin and Hoenir waited hopefully but impatiently.
+When the sun again went down, the flesh was still uncooked, and their
+supper seemed no nearer ready than it was the night before. As they were
+about yielding to despair, they heard a noise overhead, and, looking up,
+they saw a huge gray eagle sitting on the dead branch of an oak.
+
+"Ha, ha!" cried the bird. "You are pretty fellows indeed! To sit hungry
+by the fire a night and a day, rather than eat raw flesh, becomes you
+well. Do but give me my share of it as it is, and I warrant you the rest
+shall boil, and you shall have a fat supper."
+
+"Agreed," answered Loki eagerly. "Come down and get your share."
+
+The eagle waited for no second asking. Down he swooped right over the
+blazing fire, and snatched not only the eagle's share, but also what the
+Lybians call the lion's share; that is, he grasped in his strong talons
+the kettle, with all the meat in it, and, flapping his huge wings,
+slowly rose into the air, carrying his booty with him. The three gods
+were astonished. Loki was filled with anger. He seized a long pole, upon
+the end of which a sharp hook was fixed, and struck at the treacherous
+bird. The hook stuck fast in the eagle's back, and Loki could not loose
+his hold of the other end of the pole. The great bird soared high
+above the tree-tops, and over the hills, and carried the astonished
+mischief-maker with him.
+
+But it was no eagle. It was no bird that had thus outwitted the hungry
+gods: it was the giant Old Winter, clothed in his eagle-plumage. Over
+the lonely woods, and the snow-crowned mountains, and the frozen sea,
+he flew, dragging the helpless Loki through tree-tops, and over jagged
+rocks, scratching and bruising his body, and almost tearing his arms
+from his shoulders. At last he alighted on the craggy top of an iceberg,
+where the storm-winds shrieked, and the air was filled with driving
+snow. As soon as Loki could speak, he begged the giant to carry him back
+to his comrades,--Odin and Hoenir.
+
+"On one condition only will I carry you back," answered Old Winter.
+"Swear to me that you will betray into my hands dame Idun and her golden
+key."
+
+Loki asked no questions, but gladly gave the oath; and the giant flew
+back with him across the sea, and dropped him, torn and bleeding and
+lame, by the side of the fire, where Odin and Hoenir still lingered. And
+the three made all haste to leave that cheerless place, and returned to
+Odin's glad home in Asgard.
+
+Some weeks after this, Loki, the Prince of Mischief-makers, went to
+Bragi's house to see Idun. He found her busied with her household cares,
+not thinking of a visit from any of the gods.
+
+"I have come, good dame," said he, "to taste your apples again; for I
+feel old age coming on apace."
+
+Idun was astonished.
+
+"You are not looking old," she answered. "There is not a single gray
+hair upon your head, and not a wrinkle on your brow. If it were not for
+that scar upon your cheek, and the arm which you carry in a sling you
+would look as stout and as well as I have ever seen you. Besides, I
+remember that it was only a year ago when you last tasted of my fruit.
+Is it possible that a single winter should make you old?"
+
+"A single winter has made me very lame and feeble, at least," said Loki.
+"I have been scarcely able to walk about since my return from the North.
+Another winter without a taste of your apples will be the death of me."
+
+Then the kind-hearted Idun, when she saw that Loki was really lame, went
+to the box, and opened it with her golden key, and gave him one of the
+precious apples to taste. He took the fruit in his hand, bit it, and
+gave it back to the good dame. She put it in its place again, closed the
+lid, and locked it with her usual care.
+
+"Your apples are not so good as they used to be," said Loki, making a
+very wry face. "Why don't you fill your box with fresh fruit?"
+
+Idun was amazed. Her apples were supposed to be always fresh,--fresher
+by far than any that grow nowadays. None of the gods had ever before
+complained about them; and she told Loki so.
+
+"Very well," said he. "I see you do not believe me, and that you mean to
+feed us on your sour, withered apples, when we might as well have golden
+fruit. If you were not so bent on having your own way, I could tell you
+where you might fill your box with the choicest of apples, such as Odin
+loves. I saw them in the forest over yonder, hanging ripe on the trees.
+But women will always have their own way; and you must have yours, even
+though you do feed the gods on withered apples."
+
+So saying, and without waiting to hear an answer, he limped out at the
+door, and was soon gone from sight.
+
+Idun thought long and anxiously upon the words which Loki had spoken;
+and, the more she thought, the more she felt troubled. If her husband,
+the wise Bragi, had been at home, what would she not have given? He
+would have understood the mischief-maker's cunning. But he had gone on
+a long journey to the South, singing in Nature's choir, and painting
+Nature's landscapes, and she would not see him again until the return
+of spring. At length she opened the box, and looked at the fruit. The
+apples were certainly fair and round: she could not see a wrinkle or a
+blemish on any of them; their color was the same golden-red,--like the
+sky at dawn of a summer's day; yet she thought there must be something
+wrong about them. She took up one of the apples, and tasted it. She
+fancied that it really was sour, and she hastily put it back, and locked
+the box again.
+
+"He said that he had seen better apples than these growing in the
+woods," said she to herself. "I half believe that he told the truth,
+although everybody knows that he is not always trustworthy. I think I
+shall go to the forest and see for myself, at any rate."
+
+So she donned her cloak and hood, and, with a basket on her arm, left
+the house, and walked rapidly away, along the road which led to the
+forest. It was much farther than she had thought, and the sun was almost
+down when she reached the edge of the wood. But no apple-trees were
+there. Tall oaks stretched their bare arms up towards the sky, as if
+praying for help. There were thorn-trees and brambles everywhere; but
+there was no fruit, neither were there any flowers, nor even green
+leaves. The Frost-giants had been there.
+
+Idun was about to turn her footsteps homewards, when she heard a wild
+shriek in the tree-tops over her head; and, before she could look up,
+she felt herself seized in the eagle-talons of Old Winter. Struggle as
+she would, she could not free herself. High up, over wood and stream,
+the giant carried her; and then he flew swiftly away with her, towards
+his home in the chill North-land; and, when morning came, poor Idun
+found herself in an ice-walled castle in the cheerless country of the
+giants. But she was glad to know that the precious box was safely locked
+at home, and that the golden key was still at her girdle.
+
+Time passed; and I fear that Idun would have been forgotten by all,
+save her husband Bragi, had not the gods begun to feel the need of her
+apples. Day after day they came to Idun's house, hoping to find the good
+dame and her golden key at home; and each day they went away some hours
+older than when they had come. Bragi was beside himself with grief, and
+his golden harp was unstrung and forgotten. No one had seen the missing
+Idun since the day when Loki had visited her, and none could guess what
+had become of her. The heads of all the folk grew white with age; deep
+furrows were ploughed in their faces; their eyes grew dim, and their
+hearing failed; their hands trembled; their limbs became palsied; their
+feet tottered; and all feared that Old Age would bring Death in his
+train.
+
+Then Bragi and Thor questioned Loki very sharply; and when he felt that
+he, too, was growing odd and feeble, he regretted the mischief he had
+done, and told them how he had decoyed Idun into Old Winter's clutches.
+The gods were very angry; and Thor threatened to crush Loki with his
+hammer, if he did not at once bring Idun safe home again.
+
+So Loki borrowed the falcon-plumage of Freyja, the goddess of love, and
+with it flew to the country of the giants. When he reached Old Winter's
+castle, he found the good dame Idun shut up in the prison-tower, and
+bound with fetters of ice; but the giant himself was on the frozen sea,
+herding old Hymer's cows. And Loki quickly broke the bonds that held
+Idun, and led her out of her prison-house; and then he shut her up in a
+magic nut-shell which he held between his claws, and flew with the speed
+of the wind back towards the South-land and the home of the gods. But
+Old Winter coming home, and learning what had been done, donned his
+eagle-plumage and followed swiftly in pursuit.
+
+Bragi and Thor, anxiously gazing into the sky, saw Loki, in Freyja's
+falcon-plumage, speeding homewards, with the nut-shell in his talons,
+and Old Winter, in his eagle-plumage, dashing after in sharp pursuit.
+Quickly they gathered chips and slender twigs, and placed them high upon
+the castle-wall; and, when Loki with his precious burden had flown past,
+they touched fire to the dry heap, and the flames blazed up to the sky,
+and caught Old Winter's plumage, as, close behind the falcon, he blindly
+pressed. And his wings were scorched in the flames; and he fell helpless
+to the ground, and was slain within the castle-gates. Loki slackened
+his speed; and, when he reached Bragi's house, he dropped the nut-shell
+softly before the door. As it touched the ground, it gently opened, and
+Idun, radiant with smiles, and clothed in gay attire, stepped forth,
+and greeted her husband and the waiting gods. And the heavenly music of
+Bragi's long-silent harp welcomed her home; and she took the golden key
+from her girdle, and unlocked the box, and gave of her apples to the
+aged company; and, when they had tasted, their youth was renewed.[EN#22]
+
+It is thus with the seasons and their varied changes. The gifts of
+Spring are youth and jollity, and renewed strength; and the music of air
+and water and all things, living and lifeless, follow in her train. The
+desolating Winter plots to steal her from the earth, and the Summer-heat
+deserts and betrays her. Then the music of Nature is hushed, and all
+creatures pine in sorrow for her absence, and the world seems dying of
+white Old Age. But at length the Summer-heat repents, and frees her from
+her prison-house; and the icy fetters with which Old Winter bound her
+are melted in the beams of the returning sun, and the earth is young
+again.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XII. The War with the North-kings.
+
+
+
+So swiftly and so pleasantly the days went by, that weeks lengthened
+into months, and the spring-time passed, and the summer came, and still
+Siegfried lingered in Burgundy with his kind friends. The time was spent
+in all manner of joyance,--in hunting the deer in the deep oak-woods,
+in riding over the daisied meadows or among the fields of corn, in manly
+games and sports, in music and dancing, in feasting and in pleasant
+talk. And of all the noble folk who had ever sat at Gunther's table, or
+hunted in the Burgundian woods, none were so worthy or so fair as the
+proud young lord of the Nibelungens.
+
+One day in early autumn a party of strange knights rode up to the
+castle, and asked to speak with the Burgundian kings. They were led
+straightway into the great hall; and Gunther and his brothers welcomed
+them, as was their wont, right heartily, and asked them from what
+country they had come, and what was their errand.
+
+"We come," they answered, "from the North country; and we bring word
+from our lords and kings, Leudiger and Leudigast."
+
+"And what would our kingly neighbors say to us?" asked Gunther.
+
+Then the strangers said that their lords had become very angry with the
+Burgundian kings, and that they meant, within twelve weeks from that
+day, to come with a great army, and lay the country waste, and besiege
+their city and castle. All this they had sworn to do unless the
+Burgundians would make peace with them upon such terms as Leudiger and
+Leudigast should please to grant.
+
+When Gunther and his brothers heard this, they were struck with dismay.
+But they ordered the messengers to be well cared for and handsomely
+entertained within the palace until the morrow, at which time they
+should have the Burgundians' answer. All the noblest knights and
+earl-folk were called together, and the matter was laid before them.
+
+"What answer shall we send to our rude neighbors of the North?" asked
+Gunther.
+
+Gernot and the young Giselher declared at once for war. Old Hagen and
+other knights, whose prudence was at least equal to their bravery, said
+but little. It was known, that, in the armies of the North-kings, there
+were at least forty thousand soldiers; but in Burgundy there were not
+more than thirty thousand fighting-men, all told. The North-kings'
+forces were already equipped, and ready to march; but the Burgundians
+could by no means raise and arm any considerable body of men in the
+short space of twelve weeks. It would be the part of wisdom to delay,
+and to see what terms could best be made with their enemies. Such were
+the prudent counsels of the older knights, but Gernot and the young
+chief Volker would not listen to such words.
+
+"The Burgundians are not cowards," said they. "We have never been foiled
+in battle; never have we been the vassals of a stranger. Why, then,
+shall we cringe and cower before such men as Leudiger and Leudigast?"
+
+Then Hagen answered, "Let us ask our friend and guest Siegfried. Let us
+learn what he thinks about this business. Everybody knows that he is as
+wise in council as he is brave in the field. We will abide by what he
+says."
+
+But Gunther and Gernot and the young Giselher were unwilling to do this;
+for it was not their custom to annoy their guests with questions which
+should be allowed to trouble themselves alone. And the kings and their
+counsellors went out of the council-chamber, each to ponder in silence
+upon the troublesome question.
+
+As Gunther, with downcast head and troubled brow, walked thoughtfully
+through the great hall, he unexpectedly met Siegfried.
+
+"What evil tidings have you heard?" asked the prince, surprised at the
+strange mien of the king. "What has gone amiss, that should cause such
+looks of dark perplexity?"
+
+"That is a matter which I can tell only to friends long tried and true,"
+answered Gunther.
+
+Siegfried was surprised and hurt by these words; and he cried out,--
+
+"What more would Gunther ask of me that I might prove my friendship?
+Surely I have tried to merit his esteem and trust. Tell me what troubles
+you, and I will further show myself to be your friend both tried and
+true."
+
+Then Gunther was ashamed of the words he had spoken to his guest; and he
+took Siegfried into his own chamber, and told him all; and he asked
+him what answer they should send on the morrow to the overbearing
+North-kings.
+
+"Tell them we will fight," answered Siegfried. "I myself will lead
+your warriors to the fray. Never shall it be said that my friends have
+suffered wrong, and I not tried to help them."
+
+Then he and Gunther talked over the plans which they would follow. And
+the clouds fled at once from the brow of the king, and he was no longer
+troubled or doubtful; for he believed in Siegfried.
+
+The next morning the heralds of the North-kings were brought again
+before Gunther and his brothers; and they were told to carry this word
+to their masters,--
+
+"The Burgundians will fight. They will make no terms with their enemies,
+save such as they make of their own free-will."
+
+Then the heralds were loaded with costly presents, and a company of
+knights and warriors went with them to the border-line of Burgundy; and,
+filled with wonder at what they had seen, they hastened back to their
+liege lords, and told all that had happened to them. And Leudiger
+and Leudigast were very wroth when they heard the answer which the
+Burgundians had sent to them; but, when they learned that the noble
+Siegfried was at Gunther's castle, they shook their heads, and seemed to
+feel more doubtful of success.
+
+Many and busy were the preparations for war, and in a very few days all
+things were in readiness for the march northwards. It was settled that
+Siegfried with his twelve Nibelungen chiefs, and a thousand picked
+men, should go forth to battle against their boastful enemies. The
+dark-browed Hagen, as he had always done, rode at the head of the
+company, and by his side was Siegfried on the noble horse Greyfell. Next
+came Gernot and the bold chief Volker, bearing the standard, upon which
+a golden dragon was engraved; then followed Dankwart and Ortwin, and the
+twelve worthy comrades of Siegfried; and then the thousand warriors,
+the bravest in all Rhineland, mounted on impatient steeds, and clad
+in bright steel armor, with broad shields, and plumed helmets, and
+burnished swords, and sharp-pointed spears. And all rode proudly out
+through the great castle-gate. And Gunther and the young Giselher and
+all the fair ladies of the court bade them God-speed.
+
+The little army passed through the forest, and went northwards, until,
+on the fifth day, they reached the boundaries of Saxon Land. And
+Siegfried gave spur to his horse Greyfell, and, leaving the little army
+behind him, hastened forwards to see where the enemy was encamped. As
+he reached the top of a high hill, he saw the armies of the North-kings
+resting carelessly in the valley beyond. Knights, mounted on their
+horses, rode hither and thither: the soldiers sauntered lazily among
+the trees, or slept upon the grass; arms were thrown about in great
+disorder, or stacked in piles near the smoking camp-fires. No one
+dreamed of danger; but all supposed that the Burgundians were still at
+home, and would never dare to attack a foe so numerous and so strong.
+
+For it was, indeed, a mighty army which Siegfried saw before him. Full
+forty thousand men were there; and they not only filled the valley, but
+spread over the hills beyond, and far to the right and left.
+
+While he stood at the top of the hill, and gazed upon this sight, a
+warrior, who had spied him from below, rode up, and paused before him.
+Like two black thunder-clouds, with lightning flashing between, the
+two knights stood facing each other, and casting wrathful glances from
+beneath their visors. Then each spurred his horse, and charged with fury
+upon the other; and the heavy lances of both were broken in shivers upon
+the opposing shields. Then, quick as thought, they turned and drew
+their swords, and hand to hand they fought. But soon Siegfried, by an
+unlooked-for stroke, sent his enemy's sword flying from him, broken in a
+dozen pieces, and by a sudden movement he threw him from his horse. The
+heavy shield of the fallen knight was no hinderance to the quick strokes
+of Siegfried's sword; and his glittering armor, soiled by the mud into
+which he had been thrown, held him down. He threw up his hands, and
+begged for mercy.
+
+"I am Leudigast the king!" he cried. "Spare my life. I am your
+prisoner."
+
+Siegfried heard the prayer of the discomfited king; and, lifting him
+from the ground, he helped him to remount his charger. But, while he was
+doing this, thirty warriors, who had seen the combat from below, came
+dashing up the hill to the rescue of their liege-lord. Siegfried faced
+about with his horse Greyfell, and quietly waited for their onset. But,
+as they drew near, they were so awed by the noble bearing and grand
+proportions of the hero, and so astonished at sight of the sunbeam mane
+of Greyfell, and the cold glitter of the blade Balmung, that in sudden
+fright they stopped, then turned, and fled in dismay down the sloping
+hillside, nor paused until they were safe among their friends.
+
+In the mean while Leudiger, the other king, seeing what was going on
+at the top of the hill, had caused an alarm to be sounded; and all his
+hosts had hastily arranged themselves in battle-array. At the same time
+Hagen and Gernot, and their little army of heroes, hove in sight, and
+came quickly to Siegfried's help, and the dragon-banner was planted upon
+the crest of the hill. The captive king, Leudigast, was taken to the
+rear, and a guard was placed over him. The champions of the Rhine formed
+in line, and faced their foes. The great army of the North-kings moved
+boldly up the hill: and, when they saw how few were the Burgundians,
+they laughed and cheered most lustily; for they felt that the odds was
+in their favor--and forty to one is no small odds.
+
+Then Siegfried and his twelve comrades, and Hagen and the thousand
+Burgundian knights, dashed upon them with the fury of the whirlwind.
+The lances flew so thick in the air, that they hid the sun from sight;
+swords flashed on every side; the sound of clashing steel, and horses'
+hoofs, and soldiers' shouts, filled earth and sky with a horrid din. And
+soon the boastful foes of the Burgundians were everywhere worsted, and
+thrown into disorder. Siegfried dashed hither and thither, from one part
+of the field to another, in search of King Leudiger. Thrice he cut his
+way through the ranks, and at last he met face to face the one for whom
+he sought.
+
+King Leudiger saw the flashing sunbeams that glanced from Greyfell's
+mane, he saw the painted crown upon the hero's broad shield, and then he
+felt the fearful stroke of the sword Balmung, as it clashed against
+his own, and cut it clean in halves. He dropped his weapons, raised his
+visor, and gave himself up as a prisoner.
+
+"Give up the fight, my brave fellows," he cried. "This is Siegfried the
+brave, the Prince of the Lowlands, and the Lord of Nibelungen Land. It
+were foolishness to fight against him. Save yourselves as best you can."
+
+This was the signal for a frightful panic. All turned and fled. Each
+thought of nothing but his own safety; and knights and warriors,
+horsemen and foot-soldiers, in one confused mass, throwing shields and
+weapons here and there, rushed wildly down the hill, and through the
+valley and ravines, and sought, as best they could, their way homeward.
+The Burgundian heroes were the masters of the field, and on the morrow
+they turned their faces joyfully towards Rhineland. And all joined in
+saying that to Siegfried was due the praise for this wonderful victory
+which they had gained.
+
+Heralds had been sent on the fleetest horses to carry the glad news to
+Burgundy; and when, one morning, they dashed into the court-yard of the
+castle, great was the anxiety to know what tidings they brought. And
+King Gunther, and the young Giselher, and the peerless Kriemhild,
+came out to welcome them, and eagerly to inquire what had befallen the
+heroes. With breathless haste the heralds told the story of all that had
+happened.
+
+"And how fares our brother Gernot?" asked Kriemhild.
+
+"There is no happier man on earth," answered the herald. "In truth,
+there was not a coward among them all; but the bravest of the brave was
+Siegfried. He it was who took the two kings prisoners; and everywhere in
+the thickest of the fight there was Siegfried. And now our little army
+is on its homeward march, with a thousand prisoners, and large numbers
+of the enemy's wounded. Had it not been for the brave Siegfried, no such
+victory could have been won."
+
+In a few days the Rhine champions reached their home. And gayly were the
+castle and all the houses in the city decked in honor of them. And all
+those who had been left behind went out to meet them as they came down
+from the forest-road, and drew near to the castle. And the young girls
+strewed flowers in their path, and hung garlands upon their horses;
+and music and song followed the heroes into the city, and through the
+castle-gate.
+
+When they reached the palace, the two prisoner kings, Leudiger and
+Leudigast, were loosed from their bonds, and handsomely entertained at
+Gunther's table. And the Burgundian kings assured them that they should
+be treated as honored guests, and have the freedom of the court and
+castle, if they would pledge themselves not to try to escape from
+Burgundy until terms of peace should be agreed upon. This pledge they
+gladly gave, and rich apartments in the palace were assigned for their
+use. Like favors were shown to all the prisoners, according to their
+rank; and the wounded were kindly cared for. And the Burgundians made
+ready for a gay high-tide,--a glad festival of rejoicing, to be held at
+the next full moon.
+
+When the day drew near which had been set for this high-tide, the folk
+from all parts of Rhineland began to flock towards the city. They
+came in companies, with music and laughter, and the glad songs of
+the spring-time. And all the knights were mounted on gallant horses
+caparisoned with gold-red saddles, from which hung numbers of tinkling
+silver bells. As they rode up the sands towards the castle-gate,
+with their dazzling shields upon their saddle-bows, and their gay and
+many-colored banners floating in the air, King Gernot and the young
+Giselher, with the noblest knights of the fortress, went courteously out
+to meet them; and the friendly greetings which were offered by the two
+young kings won the hearts of all. Thirty and two princes and more than
+five thousand warriors came as bidden guests. The city and castle were
+decked in holiday attire, and all the people in the land gave themselves
+up to enjoyment. The sick and the wounded, who until now had thought
+themselves at death's door, forgot their ailments and their pains as
+they heard the shouts of joy and the peals of music in the streets.
+
+In a green field outside of the city walls, arrangements had been made
+for the games, and galleries and high stages had been built for the
+lookers-on. Here jousts and tournaments were held, and the knights and
+warriors engaged in trials of strength and skill. When King Gunther saw
+with what keen enjoyment both his own people and his guests looked upon
+these games, and took part in the gay festivities, he asked of those
+around him,--
+
+"What more can we do to heighten the pleasures of the day?"
+
+And one of his counsellors answered,--
+
+"My lord, the ladies of the court, and the little children, pine in
+silence in the sunless rooms of the palace, while we enjoy the free air
+and light of heaven, the music, and the gay scenes before us. There is
+nothing wanting to make this day's joy complete, save the presence of
+our dear ones to share these pleasures with us."
+
+Gunther was delighted to hear these words; and he sent a herald to the
+palace, and invited all the ladies of the court and all the children to
+come out and view the games, and join in the general gladness.
+
+When Dame Ute heard the message which the herald brought from her kingly
+son, she hastened to make ready rich dresses and costly jewels wherewith
+to adorn the dames and damsels of the court. And, when all were in
+readiness, the peerless Kriemhild, with her mother at her side, went
+forth from the castle; and a hundred knights, all sword in hand, went
+with her as a body-guard, and a great number of noble ladies dressed in
+rich attire followed her. As the red dawn peers forth from behind gray
+clouds, and drives the mists and shadows away from earth, so came
+the lovely one. As the bright full moon in radiant splendor moves in
+queen-like beauty before her train of attendant stars, and outshines
+them all, so was Kriemhild the most glorious among all the noble ladies
+there. And the thousand knights and warriors paused in their games, and
+greeted the peerless princess as was due to one so noble and fair. Upon
+the highest platform, under a rich canopy of cloth-of-gold, seats were
+made ready for the maiden and her mother and the fair ladies in their
+train; and all the most worthy princes in Rhineland sat around, and the
+games were begun again.
+
+For twelve days the gay high-tide lasted, and nought was left undone
+whereby the joy might be increased. And of all the heroes and princes
+who jousted in the tournament, or took part in the games, none could
+equal the unassuming Siegfried; and his praises were heard on every
+hand, and all agreed that he was the most worthy prince that they had
+ever seen.
+
+When at last the festal days came to an end, Gunther and his brothers
+called their guests and vassals around them, and loaded them with costly
+gifts, and bade them God-speed. And tears stood in the eyes of all at
+parting.
+
+The captive kings, Leudiger and Leudigast, were not forgotten.
+
+"What will ye give me for your freedom?" asked King Gunther, half in
+jest.
+
+They answered,--
+
+"If you will allow us without further hinderance to go back to our
+people, we pledge our lives and our honor that we will straightway send
+you gold, as much as half a thousand horses can carry."
+
+Then Gunther turned to Siegfried, and said,--
+
+"What think you, friend Siegfried, of such princely ransom?"
+
+"Noble lord," said Siegfried, "I think you are in need of no such
+ransom. Friendship is worth much more than gold. If your kingly captives
+will promise, on their honor, never more to come towards Burgundy as
+enemies, let them go. We have no need of gold."
+
+"'Tis well said," cried Gunther highly pleased.
+
+And Leudiger and Leudigast, with tears of thankfulness, gladly made
+the asked-for promise, and on the morrow, with light hearts and costly
+gifts, they set out on their journey homewards.
+
+When all the guests had gone, and the daily routine of idle palace-life
+set in again, Siegfried began to talk of going back to Nibelungen
+Land. But young Giselher, and the peerless Kriemhild, and King Gunther,
+besought him to stay yet a little longer. And he yielded to their kind
+wishes. And autumn passed away with its fruits and its vintage, and grim
+old winter came howling down from the north, and Siegfried was still
+in Burgundy. And then old Hoder, the king of the winter months,
+came blustering through the Rhine valley; and with him were the
+Reifriesen,--the thieves that steal the daylight from the earth and
+the warmth from the sun. And they nipped the flowers, and withered the
+grass, and stripped the trees, and sealed up the rivers, and covered the
+earth with a white mantle of sorrow.
+
+But within King Gunther's wide halls there was joy and good cheer.
+And the season of the Yule-feast came, and still Siegfried tarried in
+Burgundy-land.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XIII. The Story of Balder.
+
+
+
+There was mirth in King Gunther's dwelling, for the time of the
+Yule-feast had come. The broad banquet hall was gayly decked with cedar
+and spruce and sprigs of the mistletoe; and the fires roared in the
+great chimneys, throwing warmth and a ruddy glow of light into every
+corner of the room. The long table fairly groaned under its weight of
+good cheer. At its head sat the kings and the earl-folk; and before
+them, on a silver platter of rare workmanship, was the head of a huge
+wild boar,--the festal offering to the good Frey, in honor of whom
+the Yule-feast was held. For now the sun, which had been driven by the
+Frost-giants far away towards the South-land, had begun to return, and
+Frey was on his way once more to scatter peace and plenty over the land.
+
+The harp and the wassail-bowl went round; and each one of the company
+sang a song, or told a story, or in some way did his part to add to the
+evening's enjoyment. And a young sea-king who sat at Siegfried's side
+told most bewitching tales of other lands which lie beyond Old AEgir's
+kingdom. Then, when the harp came to him, he sang the wondrous song of
+the shaping of the earth. And all who heard were charmed with the sweet
+sound and with the pleasant words. He sang of the sunlight and the south
+winds and the summer-time, of the storms and the snow and the sombre
+shadows of the North-land. And he sang of the dead Ymir, the giant whose
+flesh had made the solid earth, and whose blood the sea, and whose bones
+the mountains, whose teeth the cliffs and crags, and whose skull the
+heavens. And he sang of Odin, the earth's preserver, the Giver of life,
+the Father of all; and of the Asa-folk who dwell in Asgard; and of
+the ghostly heroes in Valhal. Then he sang of the heaven-tower of the
+thunder-god, and of the shimmering Asa-bridge, or rainbow, all afire;
+and, lastly, of the four dwarfs who hold the blue sky-dome above them,
+and of the elves of the mountains, and of the wood-sprites and
+the fairies. Then he laid aside his harp, and told the old but
+ever-beautiful story of the death of Balder the Good.
+
+
+
+The Story.
+
+
+
+Balder, as you know, was Odin's son; and he was the brightest and
+best of all the Asa-folk. Wherever he went, there were gladness and
+light-hearted mirth, and blooming flowers, and singing birds, and
+murmuring waterfalls. Balder, too, was a hero, but not one of the
+blustering kind, like Thor. He slew no giants; he never went into
+battle; he never tried to make for himself a name among the dwellers of
+the mid-world; and yet he was a hero of the noblest type. He dared to do
+right, and to stand up for the good, the true, and the beautiful. There
+are still some such heroes, but the world does not always hear of them.
+
+Hoder, the blind king of the winter months, was Balder's brother, and as
+unlike him as darkness is unlike daylight. While one rejoiced, and
+was merry and cheerful, the other was low-spirited and sad. While one
+scattered sunshine and blessings everywhere, the other carried with him
+a sense of cheerlessness and gloom. Yet the brothers loved each other
+dearly.
+
+One night Balder dreamed a strange dream, and when he awoke he could not
+forget it. All day long he was thoughtful and sad, and he was not his
+own bright, happy self. His mother, the Asa-queen, saw that something
+troubled him; and she asked,--
+
+"Whence comes that cloud upon your brow? Will you suffer it to chase
+away all your sunshine? and will you become, like your brother Hoder,
+all frowns and sighs and tears?"
+
+Then Balder told her what he had dreamed; and she, too, was sorely
+troubled, for it was a frightful dream, and foreboded dire disasters.
+Then both she and Balder went to Odin, and to him they told the cause
+of their uneasiness. And the All-Father also was distressed; for he knew
+that such dreams, dreamed by Asa-folk, were the forewarnings of evil. So
+he saddled his eight-footed steed Sleipner; and, without telling any one
+where he was going, he rode with the speed of the winds down into
+the Valley of Death. The dog that guards the gateway to that dark and
+doleful land came out to meet him. Blood was on the fierce beast's
+breast, and he barked loudly and angrily at the All-Father and his
+wondrous horse. But Odin sang sweet magic songs as he drew near; and the
+dog was charmed with the sound, and Sleipner and his rider went onward
+in safety. And they passed the dark halls of the pale-faced queen, and
+came to the east gate of the valley. There stood the low hut of a witch
+who lived in darkness, and, like the Norns, spun the thread of fate for
+gods and men.
+
+Odin stood before the hut, and sang a wondrous song of witchery and
+enchantment; and he laid a spell upon the weird woman, and forced her to
+come out of her dark dwelling, and to answer his questions.
+
+"Who is this stranger?" asked the witch. "Who is this unknown who calls
+me from my narrow home, and sets an irksome task for me? Long have I
+been left alone in my quiet house; nor recked I that the snow sometimes
+covered with its cold white mantle both me and my resting-place, or that
+the pattering rain and the gently falling dew often moistened the roof
+of my dwelling. Long have I rested quietly, and I do not wish now to be
+aroused."
+
+"I am Valtam's son," said Odin; "and I come to learn of thee. Tell me,
+I pray, for whom are the soft couches prepared that I saw in the broad
+halls of Death? For whom are the jewels, and the rings, and the rich
+clothing, and the shining shield?"
+
+"All are for Balder, Odin's son," she answered. "And the mead which has
+been brewed for him is hidden beneath the shining shield."
+
+Then Odin asked who would be the slayer of Balder, and she answered that
+Hoder was the one who would send the shining Asa to the halls of Death.
+
+"Who will avenge Balder, and bring distress upon his slayer?" asked
+Odin.
+
+"A son of Earth but one day old shall be Balder's avenger. Go thou now
+home, Odin; for I know thou art not Valtam's son. Go home; and none
+shall again awaken me, nor disturb me at my task, until the new day
+shall dawn, and Balder shall rule over the young world in its purity,
+and there shall be no more Death."
+
+Then Odin rode sorrowfully homeward; but he told no one of his journey
+to the Dark Valley, nor of what the weird witch had said to him.
+
+Balder's mother, the Asa-queen, could not rest because of the ill-omened
+dream that her son had had; and in her distress she called all the
+Asa-folk together to consider what should be done. But they were
+speechless with sorrow and alarm; and none could offer advice, nor set
+her mind at ease. Then she sought out every living creature, and every
+lifeless thing, upon the earth, and asked each one to swear that it
+would not on any account hurt Balder, nor touch him to do him harm. And
+this oath was willingly made by fire and water, earth and air, by all
+beasts and creeping things and birds and fishes, by the rocks and by the
+trees and all metals; for every thing loved Balder the Good.
+
+Then the Asa-folk thought that great honor was shown to Balder each time
+any thing refused to hurt him; and to show their love for him, as well
+as to amuse themselves, they often hewed at him with their battle-axes,
+or struck at him with their sharp swords, or hurled toward him their
+heavy lances. For every weapon turned aside from its course, and would
+neither mark nor bruise the shining target at which it was aimed; and
+Balder's princely beauty shone as bright and as pure as ever.
+
+When Loki the Mischief-maker saw how all things loved and honored
+Balder, his heart was filled with jealous hate, and he sought all over
+the earth for some beast or bird or tree or lifeless thing, that had
+not taken the oath. But he could find not one. Then, disguised as a fair
+maiden, he went to Fensal Hall, where dwelt Balder's mother. The fair
+Asa-queen was busy at her distaff, with her golden spindles, spinning
+flax to be woven into fine linen for the gods. And her maid-servant,
+Fulla of the flowing hair, sat on a stool beside her. When the queen saw
+Loki, she asked,--
+
+"Whence come you, fair stranger? and what favor would you ask of Odin's
+wife?"
+
+"I come," answered the disguised Loki, "from the plains of Ida, where
+the gods meet for pleasant pastime, as well as to talk of the weightier
+matters of their kingdom."
+
+"And how do they while away their time to-day?" asked the queen.
+
+"They have a pleasant game which they call Balder's Honor," was the
+answer. "The shining hero stands before them as a target, and each one
+tries his skill at hurling some weapon toward him. First Odin throws at
+him the spear Gungner, which never before was known to miss its mark;
+but it passes harmlessly over Balder's head. Then Thor takes up a huge
+rock, and hurls it full at Balder's breast; but it turns in its course,
+and will not smite the sun-bright target. Then Tyr seizes a battle-axe,
+and strikes at Balder as though he would hew him down; but the keen edge
+refuses to touch him: and in this way the Asa-folk show honor to the
+best of their number."
+
+The Asa-queen smiled in the glad pride of her mother-heart, and said,
+"Yes, every thing shows honor to the best of Odin's sons; for neither
+metal nor wood nor stone nor fire nor water will touch Balder to do him
+harm."
+
+"Is it true, then," asked Loki, "that every thing has made an oath to
+you, and promised not to hurt your son?"
+
+And the queen, not thinking what harm an unguarded word might do,
+answered, "Every thing has promised, save a little feeble sprig that men
+call the mistletoe. So small and weak it is, that I knew it could never
+harm any one; and so I passed it by, and did not ask it to take the
+oath."
+
+Then Loki went out of Fensal Hall, and left the Asa-queen at her
+spinning. And he walked briskly away, and paused not until he came to
+the eastern side of Valhal, where, on the branches of an old oak, the
+mistletoe grew. Rudely he tore the plant from its supporting branch, and
+hid it under his cloak. Then he walked leisurely back to the place where
+the Asa-folk were wont to meet in council.
+
+The next day the Asas went out, as usual, to engage in pleasant pastimes
+on the plains of Ida. When they had tired of leaping and foot-racing and
+tilting, they placed Balder before them as a target again; and, as
+each threw his weapon toward the shining mark, they laughed to see the
+missile turn aside from its course, and refuse to strike the honored
+one. But blind Hoder stood sorrowfully away from the others, and did not
+join in any of their sports. Loki, seeing this, went to him and said,--
+
+"Brother of the gloomy brow, why do you not take part with us in our
+games?"
+
+"I am blind," answered Hoder. "I can neither leap, nor run, nor throw
+the lance."
+
+"But you can shoot arrows from your bow," said Loki.
+
+"Alas!" said Hoder, "that I can do only as some one shall direct my aim,
+for I can see no target."
+
+"Do you hear that laughter?" asked Loki. "Thor has hurled the straight
+trunk of a pine-tree at your brother; and, rather than touch such a
+glorious mark; it has turned aside, and been shivered to pieces upon the
+rocks over there. It is thus that the Asa-folk, and all things living
+and lifeless, honor Balder. Hoder is the only one who hangs his head,
+and fears to do his part. Come, now, let me fit this little arrow in
+your bow, and then, as I point it, do you shoot. When you hear the gods
+laugh, you will know that your arrow has shown honor to the hero by
+refusing to hit him."
+
+And Hoder, thinking no harm, did as Loki wished. And the deadly arrow
+sped from the bow, and pierced the heart of shining Balder, and he
+sank lifeless upon the ground. Then the Asa-folk who saw it were struck
+speechless with sorrow and dismay; and, had it not been that the Ida
+plains where they then stood were sacred to peace, they would have
+seized upon Loki, and put him to death.
+
+Forthwith the world was draped in mourning for Balder the Good;
+the birds stopped singing, and flew with drooping wings to the far
+South-land; the beasts sought to hide themselves in their lairs and
+in the holes of the ground; the trees shivered and sighed until their
+leaves fell withered to the earth; the flowers closed their eyes, and
+died; the rivers stopped flowing, and dark and threatening billows
+veiled the sea; even the sun shrouded his face, and withdrew silently
+towards the south.
+
+When Balder's good mother heard the sad news, she left her golden
+spindle in Fensal Hall, and with her maidens hastened to the Ida-plains,
+where the body of her son still lay. Nanna, the faithful wife of Balder,
+was already there; and wild was her grief at sight of the lifeless
+loved one. And all the Asa-folk--save guilty Loki, who had fled for
+his life--stood about them in dumb amazement. But Odin was the most
+sorrowful of all; for he knew, that, with Balder, the world had lost its
+most gladsome life.
+
+They lifted the body, and carried it down to the sea, where the great
+ship "Ringhorn," which Balder himself had built, lay ready to be
+launched. And a great company followed, and stood upon the beach, and
+bewailed the untimely death of the hero. First came Odin, with his
+grief-stricken queen, and then his troop of handmaidens, the Valkyrien,
+followed by his ravens Hugin and Munin. Then came Thor in his goat-drawn
+car, and Heimdal on his horse Goldtop; then Frey, in his wagon, behind
+the boar Gullinbruste of the golden bristles. Then Freyja, in her
+chariot drawn by cats, came weeping tears of gold. Lastly, poor blind
+Hoder, overcome with grief, was carried thither on the back of one of
+the Frost-giants. And Old AEgir, the Ocean king, raised his dripping
+head above the water, and gazed with dewy eyes upon the scene; and the
+waves, as if affrighted, left off their playing, and were still.
+
+High on the deck they built the funeral-pile; and they placed the body
+upon it, and covered it with costly garments, and with woods of the
+finest scent; and the noble horse which had been Balder's they slew, and
+placed beside him, that he might not have to walk to the halls of Death.
+And Odin took from his finger the ring Draupner, the earth's enricher,
+and laid it on the pile. Then Nanna, the faithful wife, was overcome
+with grief, and her gentle heart was broken, and she fell lifeless at
+the feet of the Asa-queen. And they carried her upon the ship, and laid
+her by her husband's side.
+
+When all things were in readiness to set fire to the pile, the gods
+tried to launch the ship; but it was so heavy that they could not move
+it. So they sent in haste to Jotunheim for the stout giantess Hyrroken;
+and she came with the speed of the whirlwind, and riding on a wolf,
+which she guided with a bridle of writhing snakes.
+
+"What will you have me do?" she asked.
+
+"We would have you launch the great ship 'Ring horn,'" answered Odin.
+
+"That I will do!" roared the grim giantess. And, giving the vessel a
+single push, she sent it sliding with speed into the deep waters of the
+bay. Then she gave the word to her grisly steed, and she flew onwards
+and away, no one knew whither.
+
+The "Ringhorn" floated nobly upon the water,--a worthy bier for the body
+which it bore. The fire was set to the funeral-pile, and the red flames
+shot upwards to the sky; but their light was but a flickering beam when
+matched with the sun-bright beauty of Balder, whose body they consumed.
+
+Then the sorrowing folk turned away, and went back to their homes: a
+cheerless gloom rested heavily where light gladness had ruled before.
+And, when they reached the high halls of Asgard, the Asa-queen spoke,
+and said,--
+
+"Who now, for the love of Balder and his stricken mother, will undertake
+an errand? Who will go down into the Valley of Death, and seek for
+Balder, and ransom him, and bring him back to Asgard and the mid-world?"
+
+Then Hermod the Nimble, the brother of Balder, answered, "I will go. I
+will find him, and, with Hela's leave, will bring him back."
+
+And he mounted Sleipner, the eight-footed steed, and galloped swiftly
+away. Nine days and nine nights he rode through strange valleys and
+mountain gorges, where the sun's light had never been, and through
+gloomy darkness and fearful silence, until he came to the black river,
+and the glittering, golden bridge which crosses it. Over the bridge his
+strong horse carried him; although it shook and swayed and threatened to
+throw him into the raging, inky flood below. On the other side a maiden
+keeps the gate, and Hermod stopped to pay the toll.
+
+"What is thy name?" she asked.
+
+"My name is Hermod, and I am called the Nimble," he answered.
+
+"What is thy father's name?"
+
+"His name is Odin. Mayhap you have heard of him."
+
+"Why ridest thou with such thunderous speed? Five kingdoms of dead men
+passed over this bridge yesterday, and it shook not with their weight
+as it did with thee and thy strange steed. Thou art not of the pale
+multitude that are wont to pass this gate. What is thy errand? and why
+ridest thou to the domains of the dead?"
+
+"I go to find my brother Balder," answered Hermod. "It is but a short
+time since he unwillingly came down into these shades."
+
+"Three days ago," said the maiden, "Balder passed this way, and by his
+side rode the faithful Nanna. So bright was his presence, even here,
+that the whole valley was lighted up as it had never before been
+lighted. The black river glittered like a gem; the frowning mountains
+smiled for once; and Hela herself, the queen of these regions, slunk far
+away into her most distant halls. But Balder went on his way, and even
+now he sups with Nanna in the dark castle over yonder."
+
+Then Hermod rode forward till he came to the castle walls. These were
+built of black marble; and the iron gate was barred and bolted, and none
+who went in had ever yet come out. Hermod called loudly to the porter
+to open the gate and let him in; but no one seemed to hear nor heed him,
+for the words of the living are unknown in that place. Then he drew
+the saddle-girths more tightly around the horse Sleipner, and urged him
+forward. High up, the great horse leaped; and he sprang clear over the
+gates, and landed at the open door of the great hall. Leaving his steed,
+Hermod went boldly in; and there he found his brother Balder and the
+faithful Nanna seated at the festal board, and honored as the most
+worthy of all the guests. With Balder, Hermod staid until the night had
+passed; and many were the pleasant words they spoke. When morning came,
+Hermod went into the presence of Hela, and said,--
+
+"O mighty queen! I come to ask a boon of thee. Balder the Good, whom
+both gods and men loved, has been sent to dwell with thee here in thy
+darksome house; and all the world weeps for him, and has donned the garb
+of mourning, and cannot be consoled until his bright light shall shine
+upon them again. And the gods have sent me, his brother, to ask thee to
+let Balder ride back with me to Asgard, to his noble, sorrowing mother,
+the Asa-queen; for then will hope live again in the hearts of men, and
+happiness will return to the earth."
+
+The Death-queen was silent for a moment; and then she said in a sad
+voice, "Hardly can I believe that any being is so greatly loved by
+things living and lifeless; for surely Balder is not more the friend of
+earth than I am, and yet men love me not. But go thou back to Asgard;
+and, if every thing shall weep for Balder, then I will send him to
+you. But, if any thing shall refuse to weep, then I will keep him in my
+halls."
+
+So Hermod made ready to return home; and Balder gave him the ring
+Draupner to carry to his father as a keepsake; and Nanna sent to the
+queen-mother a rich carpet of purest green. Then the nimble messenger
+mounted his horse, and rode swiftly back over the dark river, and
+through the frowning valleys, until he at last reached Odin's halls.
+
+When the Asa-folk learned upon what terms they might have Balder again
+with them, they sent heralds all over the world to beseech every thing
+to mourn for him. And men and beasts, and creeping things, and birds and
+fishes, and trees and stones, and air and water,--all things, living and
+lifeless, joined in weeping for the lost Balder.
+
+But, as the heralds were on their way back to Asgard, they met a
+giantess named Thok, and they asked her to join in the universal grief.
+And she answered, "What good thing did Balder ever do for Thok? What
+gladness did he ever bring her? If she should weep for him, it would be
+with dry tears. Let Hela keep him in her halls."[EN#23]
+
+"And yet the day shall come," added the story-teller, "when the words of
+the weird woman to Odin shall prove true; and Balder shall come again to
+rule over a newborn world in which there shall be no wrong-doing and no
+more death."
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XIV. How Gunther Outwitted Brunhild.
+
+
+
+While still the festivities were at their height, an old man of noble
+mien, and with snow-white beard and hair, came into the great hall, and
+sang for the gay company. And some whispered that this must be Bragi,
+for surely such rare music could not be made by any other. But he sang
+not of spring, as Bragi does, nor yet of youth nor of beauty, nor like
+one whose home is with the song-birds, and who lives beside the babbling
+brooks and the leaping waterfalls. His song was a sorrowful one,--of
+dying flowers, and falling leaves, and the wailing winds of autumn, of
+forgotten joys, of blasted hopes, of a crushed ambition, of gray hairs,
+of uttering footsteps, of old age, of a lonely grave. And, as he sang,
+all were moved to tears by the mournful melody and the sad, sad words.
+
+"Good friend," said Siegfried, "thy music agrees not well with this time
+and place; for, where nothing but mirth and joy are welcome, thou hast
+brought sorrowful thoughts and gloomy forebodings. Come, now, and undo
+the harm thou hast done, by singing a song which shall tell only of
+mirth and gladness."
+
+The old man shook his head, and answered, "Were I Bragi; as some think
+I am, or were I even a strolling harper, I might do as you ask. But I am
+neither, and I know no gladsome songs. Men have called me a messenger of
+ill omen; and such, indeed, I have sometimes been, although through no
+wish of my own. I come as a herald from a far-off land, and I bear a
+message to all the kings and the noblest chiefs of Rhineland. If King
+Gunther will allow me, I will now make that message known."
+
+"Let the herald speak on," said Gunther graciously.
+
+"Far over the sea," said the herald, "there lies a dreamy land called
+Isenland; and in that land there is a glorious castle, with six and
+eighty towers, built of purest marble, green as grass. In that castle
+there lives the fairest of all Earth's daughters, Brunhild, the maiden
+of the spring-time. In the early days she was one of Odin's Valkyrien;
+and with other heavenly maidens it was her duty to follow, unseen, in
+the wake of armies, and when they met in battle to hover over the field,
+and with kisses to waken the dead heroes, and lead their souls away
+to Odin's glad banquet-hall. But upon a day she failed to do the
+All-Father's bidding, and he, in anger, sent her to live among men, and
+like them to be short-lived, and subject to old age and death. But the
+childless old king of Isenland took pity upon the friendless maiden, and
+called her his daughter, and made her his heir. Then Odin, still more
+angered, sent the thorn of sleep to wound the princess. And sleep seized
+upon every creature in Isenland, and silence reigned in the halls of the
+marble palace. For Odin said, 'Thus shall they all sleep until the hero
+comes, who will ride through fire, and awaken Brunhild with a kiss.'
+
+"At last the hero so long waited for came. He passed the fiery barrier
+safe, and awoke the slumbering maiden; and all the castle sprang
+suddenly into life again. And Brunhild became known once more as the
+most glorious princess in this mid-world. But the sun-bright hero who
+freed her from her prison of sleep vanished from Isenland, and no one
+knew where he went; but men say that he rides through the noble world,
+the fairest and the best of kings. And Brunhild has sought for him in
+many lands; and, although all folk have heard of his deeds, none know
+where he dwells. And so, as a last resort, she has sent heralds into
+every land to challenge every king to match his skill with hers in three
+games of strength,--in casting the spear, in hurling the heavy stone,
+and in leaping. The one who can equal her in these feats shall be king
+of Isenland, and share with her the throne of Isenstein. And by this
+means she hopes to find the long-absent hero; for she believes that
+there is no other prince on earth whose strength and skill are equal to
+her own. Many men have already risked their lives in this adventure, and
+all have failed.
+
+"And now, King Gunther," continued the herald, "I have come by her
+orders into Rhineland, and I deliver the challenge to you. If you
+accept, and are beaten, your life is forfeited. If you succeed, the
+fairest kingdom and the most beautiful queen in the world are yours; for
+you will have proved that you are at least the equal of the hero whom
+she seeks. What reply shall I carry back to Isenland?"
+
+King Gunther answered hastily, and as one dazed and in a dream, "Say
+that I accept the challenge, and that when the spring-time comes again,
+and the waters in the river are unlocked, I shall go to Isenland, and
+match my skill and strength with that of the fair and mighty Brunhild."
+
+All who stood around were greatly astonished at Gunther's reply; for,
+although his mind was somewhat weak, he was not given to rash and
+hazardous undertakings. And Siegfried, who was at his side, whispered,
+"Think twice, friend Gunther, ere you decide. You do not know the
+strength of this mighty but lovely warrior-maiden. Were your strength
+four times what it is, you could not hope to excel her in those feats.
+Give up this hasty plan, I pray you, and recall your answer to the
+challenge. Think no more of such an undertaking, for it surely will cost
+you your life."
+
+But these warnings, and the words of others who tried to dissuade him,
+only made Gunther the more determined; and he vowed that nothing should
+hinder him from undertaking the adventure. Then the dark-browed Hagen
+said,--
+
+"Our friend Siegfried seems to know much about Isenland and its
+maiden-queen. And indeed, if there is any truth in hearsay, he has had
+the best of means for learning. Now, if our good King Gunther has set
+his mind on going upon this dangerous enterprise, mayhap Siegfried would
+be willing to bear him company."
+
+Gunther was pleased with Hagen's words; and he said to Siegfried, "My
+best of friends, go with me to Isenland, and help me. If we do well in
+our undertaking, ask of me any reward you wish, and I will give it you,
+so far as in my power lies."
+
+"You know, kind Gunther," answered Siegfried, "that for myself I have
+no fear; and yet again I would warn you to shun the unknown dangers with
+which this enterprise is fraught. But if, after all, your heart is set
+upon it, make ready to start as soon as the warm winds shall have melted
+the ice from the river. I will go with you."
+
+The king grasped Siegfried's hand, and thanked him heartily.
+
+"We must build a fleet," said he. "A thousand fighting-men shall go with
+us, and we will land in Isenland with a retinue such as no other prince
+has had. A number of stanch vessels shall be built at once, and in the
+early spring they shall be launched upon the Rhine."
+
+Siegfried was amused at Gunther's earnestness, and he answered, "Do
+not think of taking such a following. You would waste twelve months in
+building and victualling such a fleet. You would take from Burgundy its
+only safeguard against foes from without; and, after you should reach
+Isenland, you would find such a large force to be altogether useless.
+Take my advice: have one small vessel built and rigged and victualled
+for the long and dangerous voyage; and, when the time shall come,
+you and I, and your kinsmen Hagen and Dankwart,--we four only,--will
+undertake the voyage and the emprise you have decided upon."
+
+Gunther knew that his friend's judgment in this matter was better than
+his own, and he agreed readily to all of Siegfried's plans.
+
+* * * * *
+
+When, at length, the winter months began to wane, many hands were busy
+making ready for the voyage. The peerless Kriemhild called together
+thirty of her maidens, the most skilful seamstresses in Burgundyland,
+and began the making of rich clothing for her brother and his
+friends.[EN#24] With her own fair hands she cut out garments from the
+rarest stuffs,--from the silky skins brought from the sunny lands of
+Lybia; from the rich cloth of Zazemang, green as clover; from the silk
+that traders bring from Araby, white as the drifted snow. For seven
+weeks the clever maidens and their gentle mistress plied their busy
+needles, and twelve suits of wondrous beauty they made for each of
+the four heroes. And the princely garments were covered with fine
+needle-work, and with curious devices all studded with rare and costly
+jewels; and all were wrought with threads of gold.
+
+Many carpenters and ship-builders were busy with axes and hammers, and
+flaming forges, working day and night to make ready a vessel new and
+stanch, to carry the adventurers over the sea. And great stores of
+food, and of all things needful to their safety or comfort, were brought
+together and put on board.
+
+Neither were the heroes themselves idle; for when not busy in giving
+directions to the workmen, or in overseeing the preparations that were
+elsewhere going on, they spent the time in polishing their armor (now
+long unused), in looking after their weapons, or in providing for the
+management of their business while away. And Siegfried forgot not his
+trusty sword Balmung, nor his cloak of darkness the priceless Tarnkappe,
+which he had captured from the dwarf Alberich in the Nibelungen Land.
+
+Then the twelve suits of garments which fair fingers had wrought were
+brought. And when the men tried them on, so faultless was the fit, so
+rare and perfect was every piece in richness and beauty, that even the
+wearers were amazed, and all declared that such dazzling and kingly
+raiment had never before been seen.
+
+At last the spring months had fairly vanquished all the forces of the
+cold North-land. The warm breezes had melted the snow and ice, and
+unlocked the river; and the time had come for Gunther and his comrades
+to embark. The little ship, well victualled, and made stanch and stout
+in every part, had been launched upon the Rhine; and she waited with
+flying streamers and impatient sails the coming of her crew. Down the
+sands at length they came, riding upon their steeds; and behind them
+followed a train of vassals bearing their kingly garments and their
+gold-red shields. And on the banks stood many of the noblest folk of
+Burgundy,--Gernot and the young Giselher, and Ute the queen-mother, and
+Kriemhild the peerless, and a number of earl-folk, and warriors, and
+fair dames, and blushing damsels. And the heroes bade farewell to their
+weeping friends, and went upon the waiting vessel, taking their steeds
+with them. And Siegfried seized an oar, and pushed the bark off from the
+shore.
+
+"I myself will be the steersman, for I know the way," he said.
+
+And the sails were unfurled to the brisk south wind, and the vessel sped
+swiftly toward the sea; and many fair eyes were filled tears as they
+watched it until it could be seen no more. And with sighs and gloomy
+forebodings the good people went back to their homes, and but few hoped
+ever again to see their king and his brave comrades.
+
+Driven by favorable winds, the trusty little vessel sailed gayly down
+the Rhine, and, ere many days had passed, was out in the boundless sea.
+For a long time the heroes sailed and rowed through Old AEgir's watery
+kingdom. But they kept good cheer, and their hearts rose higher and
+higher; for each day they drew nearer the end of their voyage and the
+goal of their hopes. At length they came in sight of a far-reaching
+coast and a lovely land; and not far from the shore they saw a noble
+fortress, with a number of tall towers pointing toward the sky.
+
+"What land is that?" asked the king.[EN#25]
+
+And Siegfried answered that it was Isenland, and that the fortress which
+they saw was the Castle of Isenstein and the green marble hall of the
+Princess Brunhild. But he warned his friends to be very wary when they
+should arrive at the hall.
+
+"Let all tell this story," said he: "say that Gunther is the king, and
+that I am his faithful vassal. The success of our undertaking depends on
+this." And his three comrades promised to do as he advised.
+
+As the vessel neared the shore, the whole castle seemed to be alive.
+From every tower and turret-window, from every door and balcony,
+lords and ladies, fighting-men and serving-men, looked out to see what
+strangers these were who came thus unheralded to Isenland. The heroes
+went on shore with their steeds, leaving the vessel moored to the bank;
+and then they rode slowly up the beach, and across the narrow plain, and
+came to the drawbridge and the great gateway, where they paused.
+
+The matchless Brunhild in her chamber had been told of the coming of the
+strangers; and she asked the maidens who stood around,--
+
+"Who, think you, are the unknown warriors who thus come boldly to
+Isenstein without asking leave? What is their bearing? Do they seem to
+be worthy of our notice? or are they some straggling beggars who have
+lost their way?"
+
+And one of the maidens, looking through the casement, answered, "The
+first is a king, I know, from his noble mien and the respect which his
+fellows pay to him. But the second bears himself with a prouder grace,
+and seems the noblest of them all. He reminds me much of the brave young
+Siegfried of former days. Indeed, it must be Siegfried; for he rides
+a steed with sunbeam mane, which can be none other than Greyfell. The
+third is a dark and gloomy man: he wears a sullen frown upon his brow,
+and his eyes seem to shoot quick glances around. How nervously he grasps
+his sword-hilt, as if ever guarding against surprise! I think his temper
+must be grim and fiery, and his heart a heart of flint. The fourth
+and last of the company is young and fair, and of gentle port. Little
+business has he with rude warriors; and many tears, methinks, would be
+shed for him at home should harm overtake him. Never before have I
+seen so noble a company of strangers in Isenland. Their garments are
+of dazzling lustre; their saddles are covered with gem-stones; their
+weapons are of unequalled brightness. Surely they are worthy of your
+notice."
+
+When Brunhild heard that Siegfried was one of the company, she was
+highly pleased, and she hastened to make ready to meet them in the great
+hall. And she sent ten worthy lords to open the gate, and to welcome the
+heroes to Isenland.
+
+When Siegfried and his comrades passed through the great gateway, and
+came into the castle-yard, their horses were led away to the stables,
+and the clanging armor and the broad shields and swords which they
+carried were taken from them, and placed in the castle armory. Little
+heed was paid to Hagen's surly complaint at thus having every means of
+defence taken away. He was told that such had always been the rule at
+Isenstein, and that he, like others, must submit.
+
+After a short delay the heroes were shown into the great hall, where the
+matchless Brunhild already was awaiting them. Clad in richest raiment,
+from every fold of which rare jewels gleamed, and wearing a coronet of
+pearls and gold, the warrior-maiden sat on a throne of snow-white ivory.
+Five hundred earl-folk and warriors, the bravest in Isenland, stood
+around her with drawn swords, and fierce, determined looks. Surely men
+of mettle less heroic than that of the four knights from Rhineland would
+have quaked with fear in such a presence.
+
+King Gunther and his comrades went forward to salute the queen. With
+a winning smile she kindly greeted them, and then said to Siegfried,
+"Gladly do we welcome you back to our land, friend Siegfried, We have
+ever remembered you as our best friend. May we ask what is your will,
+and who are these warriors whom you have with you?"
+
+"Most noble queen," answered he, "right thankful am I that you have
+not forgotten me, and that you should deign to notice me while in the
+presence of this my liege lord," and he pointed towards King Gunther.
+"The king of all Burgundy-land, whose humble vassal I am, has heard the
+challenge you have sent into different lands, and he has come to match
+his strength with yours."
+
+"Does he know the conditions?" asked Brunhild.
+
+"He does," was the answer. "In case of success, the fairest of women for
+his queen: in case of failure, death."
+
+"Yet scores of worthy men have made trial, and all have failed," said
+she. "I warn your liege lord to pause, and weigh well the chances ere he
+runs so great a risk."
+
+Then Gunther stepped forward and spoke:--
+
+"The chances, fairest queen, have all been weighed, and nothing can
+change our mind. Make your own terms, arrange every thing as pleases
+you best. We accept your challenge, and ask to make a trial of our
+strength."
+
+The warrior-maiden, without more words, bade her servants help her to
+make ready at once for the contest. She donned a rich war-coat, brought
+long ago from the far-off Lybian shores,--an armor which, it was said,
+no sword could dint, and upon which the heaviest stroke of spear fell
+harmless. Her hemlet was edged with golden lace, and sparkled all over
+with rich gem-stones. Her lance, of wondrous length, a heavy weight for
+three stout men, was brought. Her shield was as broad and as bright as
+the sun, and three spans thick with steel and gold.
+
+While the princess was thus arming herself, the heroes looked on with
+amazement and fear. But Siegfried, unnoticed, hastened quietly out of
+the hall, and through the open castle-gate, and sped like the wind to
+the seashore and to their little ship. There he arrayed himself in the
+Tarnkappe, and then, silent and unseen, he ran back to his friends in
+the great hall.
+
+"Be of good cheer," he whispered in the ears of the trembling Gunther.
+
+But the king could not see who it was that spoke to him, so well was
+the hero hidden in the cloak of darkness. Yet he knew that it must be
+Siegfried and he felt greatly encouraged.
+
+Hagen's frowning face grew darker, and the uneasy glances which shot
+from beneath his shaggy eyebrows were not those of fear, but of anger
+and deep anxiety. Dankwart gave up all as lost, and loudly bewailed
+their folly.
+
+"Must we, unarmed, stand still and see our liege lord slain for a
+woman's whim?" he cried. "Had we only our good swords, we might defy
+this maiden-queen and all her Isenland."
+
+Brunhild overheard his words. Scornfully she called to her servants,
+"Bring to these boasters their armor, and let them have their keen-edged
+swords. Brunhild has no fear of such men, whether they be armed or
+unarmed."
+
+When Hagen and Dankwart felt their limbs again enclosed in steel, and
+when they held their trusty swords in hand, their uneasiness vanished,
+and hope returned.
+
+In the castle-yard a space was cleared, and Brunhild's five hundred
+warriors stood around as umpires. The unseen Siegfried kept close by
+Gunther's side.
+
+"Fear not," he said. "Do my bidding, and you are safe. Let me take your
+shield. When the time comes, make you the movements, and trust me to do
+the work."
+
+Then Brunhild threw her spear at Gunther's shield. The mighty weapon
+sped through the air with the swiftness of lightning; and, when it
+struck the shield, both Gunther and the unseen Siegfried fell to the
+ground, borne down by its weight and the force with which it was thrown.
+Blood gushed from the nostrils of both; and sad would have been their
+fate if the friendly Tarnkappe had not hidden Siegfried from sight, and
+given him the strength of twelve giants. Quickly they rose. And Gunther
+seemed to pick up the heavy shaft, but it was really Siegfried who
+raised it from the ground. For one moment he poised the great beam in
+the air, and then, turning the blunt end foremost, he sent it flying
+back more swiftly than it had come. It struck the huge shield which
+Brunhild held before her, with a sound that echoed to the farthest
+cliffs of Isenland. The warrior-maiden was dashed to the earth; but,
+rising at once, she cried,--
+
+"That was a noble blow, Sir Gunther. I confess myself fairly outdone.
+But there are two chances yet, and you will do well if you equal me in
+those. We will now try hurling the stone, and jumping."
+
+Twelve men came forward, carrying a huge rough stone in weight a ton or
+more. And Brunhild raised this mass of rock in her white arms, and held
+it high above her head; then she swung it backwards once, and threw it a
+dozen fathoms across the castle-yard. Scarcely had it reached the ground
+when the mighty maiden leaped after, and landed just beside it. And the
+thousand lookers-on shouted in admiration. But old Hagen bit his unshorn
+lip, and cursed the day that had brought them to Isenland.
+
+Gunther and the unseen Siegfried, not at all disheartened, picked up the
+heavy stone, which was half buried in the ground, and, lifting it with
+seeming ease, threw it swiftly forward. Not twelve, but twenty, fathoms
+it flew; and Siegfried, snatching up Gunther in his arms, leaped after,
+and landed close to the castle-wall. And Brunhild believed that Gunther
+alone had done these great feats through his own strength and skill;
+and she at once acknowledged herself beaten in the games, and bade her
+vassals do homage to Gunther as their rightful liege lord.
+
+Alas that the noblest of men-folk should gave stooped to such deed of
+base deception! The punishment, although long delayed, came surely at
+last; for not even the highest are exempt from obedience to Heaven's
+behests and the laws of right.
+
+When the contest was ended, the unseen Siegfried ran quickly back to the
+little ship, and hastily doffed the magic Tarnkappe. Then, in his own
+form, he returned to the castle, and leisurely entered the castle-yard.
+When he met his pleased comrades and the vanquished maiden-queen, he
+asked in careless tones when the games would begin. All who heard his
+question laughed; and Brunhild said,--
+
+"Surely, Sir Siegfried, the old sleep-thorn of Isenstein must have
+caught you, and held you in your ship. The games are over, and Gunther,
+your liege lord, is the winner."
+
+At this news Siegfried seemed much delighted, as indeed he was. And all
+went together to the great banquet-hall, where a rich feast was served
+to our heroes and to the worthy earl-folk and warriors of Isenland.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XV. In Nibelungen Land Again.
+
+
+
+When the folk of Isenland learned that their queen had been outwitted
+and won by a strange chief from a far-off and unknown land, great was
+their sorrow and dismay; for they loved the fair maiden-queen, and they
+feared to exchange her mild reign for that of an untried foreigner. Nor
+was the queen herself at all pleased with the issue of the late contest.
+She felt no wish to leave her loved people, and her pleasant home, and
+the fair island which was her kingdom, to take up her abode in a strange
+land, as the queen of one for whom she could feel no respect. And every
+one wondered how it was that a man like Gunther, so commonplace, and so
+feeble in his every look and act, could have done such deeds, and won
+the wary warrior-maiden.
+
+"If it had only been Siegfried!" whispered the maidens among themselves.
+
+"If it had only been Siegfried!" murmured the knights and the
+fighting-men.
+
+"If it had only been Siegfried!" thought the queen, away down in the
+most secret corner of her heart. And she shut herself up in her room,
+and gave wild vent to her feelings of grief and disappointment.
+
+Then heralds mounted the swiftest horses, and hurried to every village
+and farm, and to every high-towered castle, in the land. And they
+carried word to all of Brunhild's kinsmen and liegemen, bidding them to
+come without delay to Isenstein. And every man arose as with one accord,
+and hastened to obey the call of their queen. And the whole land was
+filled with the notes of busy preparation for war. And day by day to the
+castle the warriors came and went, and the sound of echoing horse-hoofs,
+and the rattling of ready swords, and the ringing of the war-shields,
+were heard on every hand.
+
+"What means this treason?" cried Gunther in dismay. "The coy
+warrior-maiden would fain break her plighted word; and we, here in our
+weakness, shall perish from her wrath."
+
+And even old Hagen, who had never felt a fear when meeting a host in
+open battle, was troubled at the thought of the mischief which was
+brewing.
+
+"'Tis true, too true," he said, and the dark frown deepened on his face,
+"that we have done a foolish thing. For we four men have come to this
+cheerless land upon a hopeless errand; and, if we await the gathering of
+the storm, our ruin will be wrought." And he grasped his sword-hilt with
+such force, that his knuckles grew white as he paced fiercely up and
+down the hall.
+
+Dankwart, too, bewailed the fate that had driven them into this net,
+from which he saw no way of escape. And both the warriors besought King
+Gunther to take ship at once, and to sail for Rhineland before it was
+too late. But Siegfried said,--
+
+"What account will you give to the folk at home, if you thus go back
+beaten, outwitted, and ashamed? Brave warriors, indeed! we should be
+called. Wait a few days, and trust all to me. When Brunhild's warriors
+shall be outnumbered by our own, she will no longer hesitate, and our
+return to Rhineland shall be a triumphant one; for we shall carry the
+glorious warrior-queen home with us."
+
+"Yes," answered Hagen, mocking, "we will wait until her warriors are
+outnumbered by our own. But how long shall that be? Will the lightning
+carry the word to Burgundy? and will the storm-clouds bring our brave
+men from across the sea? Had you allowed King Gunther's plans to be
+followed, they would have been here with us now, and we might have
+quelled this treason at the first."
+
+And Dankwart said, "By this time the fields of the South-land are green
+with young corn, and the meadows are full of sweet-smelling flowers, and
+the summer comes on apace. Why should we stay longer in this chilly and
+fog-ridden land, waiting upon the whims of a fickle maiden,--as fickle
+as the winds themselves? Better face the smiles and the jeers of the
+folk at home than suffer shameful shipwreck in this cold Isenland."
+
+But Siegfried would not be moved by the weak and wavering words of his
+once valiant comrades.
+
+"Trust me," he said, "and all will yet be well. Wait here but a few days
+longer in quietness, while I go aboard ship, and fare away. Within three
+days I will bring to Isenstein a host of warriors such as you have never
+seen. And then the fickle fancies of Brunhild will flee, and she will no
+longer refuse to sail with us to the now sunny South-land."
+
+Hagen frowned still more deeply; and as he strode away he muttered,
+"He only wants to betray us, and leave us to die in this trap which he
+himself has doubtless set for us."
+
+But Gunther anxiously grasped the hand of Siegfried, and said, "Go! I
+trust you, and believe in you. But be sure not to linger, for no one
+knows what a day may bring forth in this uncertain and variable clime."
+
+Without saying a word in reply, Siegfried turned, and hastened down to
+the shore. Without any loss of time he unmoored the little ship, and
+stepped aboard. Then he donned his Tarnkappe, spread the sails, and
+seized the helm; and the vessel, like a bird with woven wings,
+sped swiftly out of the bay, and Isenstein, with its wide halls
+and glass-green towers, was soon lost to the sight of the invisible
+helmsman. For four and twenty hours did Siegfried guide the flying
+vessel as it leaped from wave to wave, and sent the white foam dashing
+to left and right like flakes of snow. And late on the morrow he came to
+a rock-bound coast, where steep cliffs and white mountain-peaks rose up,
+as it were, straight out of the blue sea. Having found a safe and
+narrow inlet, he moored his little bark; and, keeping the Tarnkappe well
+wrapped around him, he stepped ashore. Briskly he walked along the rough
+shore, and through a dark mountain-pass, until he came to a place well
+known to him,--a place where, years before, he had seen a cavern's
+yawning mouth, and a great heap of shining treasures, and two princes
+dying of hunger. But now, upon the selfsame spot there stood a frowning
+fortress, dark and gloomy and strong, which Siegfried himself had built
+in after-years; and the iron gates were barred and bolted fast, and no
+living being was anywhere to be seen.
+
+Loud and long did Siegfried, wrapped in his cloak of darkness, knock and
+call outside. At last a grim old giant, who sat within, and kept watch
+and ward of the gate, cried out,--
+
+"Who knocks there?"
+
+Siegfried, angrily and in threatening tones, answered,--
+
+"Open the gate at once, lazy laggard, and ask no questions. A stranger,
+who has lost his way among the mountains, seeks shelter from the storm
+which is coming. Open the gate without delay, or I will break it down
+upon your dull head."
+
+Then the giant in hot anger seized a heavy iron beam, and flung the gate
+wide open, and leaped quickly out to throttle the insolent stranger.
+Warily he glanced around on every side; but Siegfried was clad in the
+magic Tarnkappe, and the giant could see no one. Amazed and ashamed, he
+turned to shut the gate, and to go again to his place; for he began to
+believe that a foolish dream had awakened and deceived him. Then the
+unseen Siegfried seized him from behind; and though he struggled hard,
+and fought with furious strength, our hero threw him upon the ground,
+and bound him with cords of sevenfold strength.
+
+The unwonted noise at the gate rang through the castle, and awakened
+the sleeping inmates. The dwarf Alberich, who kept the fortress against
+Siegfried's return, and who watched the Nibelungen treasure, which was
+stored in the hollow hill, arose, and donned his armor, and hurried to
+the giant's help. A right stout dwarf was Alberich; and, as we have seen
+in a former adventure, he was as bold as stout. Armed in a war-coat of
+steel, he ran out to the gate, flourishing a seven-thonged whip, on each
+thong of which a heavy golden ball was hung. Great was his amazement
+and his wrath when he saw the giant lying bound and helpless upon the
+ground; and with sharp, eager eyes he peered warily around to see if,
+perchance, he might espy his hidden foe. But, when he could find no
+one, his anger grew hotter than before, and he swung his golden scourge
+fiercely about his head. Well was it for Siegfried then, that the
+Tarnkappe hid him from sight; for the dwarf kept pounding about in air
+so sturdily and strong, that, even as it was, he split the hero's shield
+from the centre to the rim. Then Siegfried rushed quickly upon the
+doughty little fellow, and seized him by his long gray beard, and threw
+him so roughly upon the ground, that Alberich shrieked with pain.
+
+"Spare me, I pray you," he cried. "I know that you are no mean knight;
+and, if I had not promised to serve my master Siegfried until death, I
+fain would acknowledge you as my lord."
+
+But Siegfried bound the writhing dwarf, and placed him, struggling and
+helpless, by the side of the giant.
+
+"Tell me, now, your name, I pray," said the dwarf; "for I must give an
+account of this adventure to my master when he comes."
+
+"Who is your master?"
+
+"His name is Siegfried; and he is king of the Nibelungens, and lord, by
+right, of the great Nibelungen Hoard. To me and to my fellows he long
+ago intrusted the keeping of this castle and of the Hoard that lies deep
+hidden in the hollow hill; and I have sworn to keep it safe until his
+return."
+
+Then Siegfried threw off his Tarnkappe, and stood in his own proper
+person before the wonder-stricken dwarf.
+
+"Noble Siegfried," cried the delighted Alberich, "right glad I am that
+you have come again to claim your own. Spare my life, and pardon me, I
+pray, and let me know what is your will. Your bidding shall be done at
+once."
+
+"Hasten, then," said Siegfried, loosing him from his bonds,--"hasten,
+and arouse my Nibelungen hosts. Tell them that their chief has come
+again to Mist Land, and that he has work for them to do."
+
+Then Alberich, when he had set the giant gatekeeper free, sent heralds
+to every town and castle in the land to make known the words and wishes
+of Siegfried. And the gallant Nibelungen warriors, when they heard that
+their liege lord had come again, sprang up joyously, and girded on
+their armor, and hastened to obey his summons. And soon the strong-built
+castle was full of noble men,--of earls, and the faithful liegemen
+who had known Siegfried of old. And joyful and happy were the words of
+greeting.
+
+In the mean while, Alberich had busied himself in preparing a great
+feast for his master and his master's chieftains. In the long low hall
+that the dwarfs had hollowed out within the mountain's heart, the table
+was spread, and on it was placed every delicacy that could be wished.
+There were fruits and wines from the sunny South-land, and snow-white
+loaves made from the wheat of Gothland, and fish from Old AEgir's
+kingdom, and venison from the king's wild-wood, and the flesh of many a
+fowl most delicately baked, and, near the head of the board, a huge wild
+boar roasted whole. And the hall was lighted by a thousand tapers, each
+held in the hands of a swarthy elf; and the guests were served by the
+elf-women, who ran hither and thither, obedient to every call. But
+Alberich, at Siegfried's desire, sat upon the dais at his lord's right
+hand. Merriment ruled the hour, and happy greetings were heard on every
+side. And, when the feast was at its height, a troop of hill-folk came
+dancing into the hall; and a hundred little fiddlers, perched in the
+niches of the wall, made merry music, and kept time for the busy,
+clattering little feet. And when the guests had tired of music and
+laughter, and the dancers had gone away, and the tables no longer
+groaned under the weight of good cheer Siegfried and his earls still
+sat at their places, and beguiled the hours with pleasant talk and with
+stories of the earlier days. And Alberich, as the master of the feast,
+told a tale of the dwarf-folk, and how once they were visited in their
+hill-home by Loki the Mischief-maker.
+
+
+
+Alberich's Story.
+
+
+
+My story begins with the Asa-folk, and has as much to do with the gods
+as with my kinsmen the dwarfs. It happened long ago, when the world was
+young, and the elf-folk had not yet lost all their ancient glory.
+
+Sif, as you all know, is Thor's young wife, and she is very fair. It is
+said, too, that she is as gentle and lovable as her husband is rude
+and strong; and that while he rides noisily through storm and wind,
+furiously fighting the foes of the mid-world, she goes quietly about,
+lifting up the down-trodden, and healing the broken-hearted. In the
+summer season, when the Thunderer has driven the Storm-giants back to
+their mist-hidden mountain homes, and the black clouds have been rolled
+away, and piled upon each other in the far east, Sif comes gleefully
+tripping through the meadows, raising up the bruised flowers, and with
+smiles calling the frightened birds from their hiding-places to frolic
+and sing in the fresh sunshine again. The growing fields and the
+grassy mountain slopes are hers; and the rustling green leaves, and the
+sparkling dewdrops, and the sweet odors of spring blossoms, and the glad
+songs of the summer-time, follow in her footsteps.
+
+Sif, as I have said, is very fair; and, at the time of my story, there
+was one thing of which she was a trifle vain. That was her long silken
+hair, which fell in glossy waves almost to her feet. On calm, warm days,
+she liked to sit by the side of some still pool, and gaze at her own
+beauty pictured in the water below, while, like the sea-maidens of old
+AEgir's kingdom, she combed and braided her rich, flowing tresses.
+And in all the mid-world nothing has ever been seen so like the golden
+sunbeams as was Sif's silken hair.
+
+At that time the cunning Mischief-maker, Loki, was still living with the
+Asa-folk. And, as you well know, this evil worker was never pleased save
+when he was plotting trouble for those who were better than himself.
+He liked to meddle with business which was not his own, and was always
+trying to mar the pleasures of others. His tricks and jokes were seldom
+of the harmless kind, and yet great good sometimes grew out of them.
+
+When Loki saw how proud Sif was of her long hair, and how much time
+she spent in combing and arranging it, he planned a very cruel piece of
+mischief. He hid himself in a little rocky cavern, near the pool where
+Sif was wont to sit, and slily watched her all the morning as she
+braided and unbraided her flowing silken locks. At last, overcome by the
+heat of the mid-day sun, she fell asleep upon the grassy bank. Then the
+Mischief-maker quietly crept near, and with his sharp shears cut off all
+that wealth of hair, and shaved her head until it was as smooth as
+her snow-white hand. Then he hid himself again in the little cave, and
+chuckled with great glee at the wicked thing he had done.
+
+By and by Sif awoke, and looked into the stream; but she started quickly
+back with horror and affright at the image which she saw. She felt of
+her shorn head; and, when she learned that those rich waving tresses
+which had been her joy and pride were no longer there, she knew not what
+to do. Hot, burning tears ran down her cheeks, and with sobs and shrieks
+she began to call aloud for Thor. Forthwith there was a terrible uproar.
+The lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled, and an earthquake shook
+the rocks and trees. Loki, looking out from his hiding-place, saw that
+Thor was coming, and he trembled with fear; for he knew, that, should
+the Thunderer catch him, he would have to pay dearly for his wicked
+sport. He ran quickly out of the cavern, and leaped into the river, and
+changed himself into a salmon, and swam as swiftly as he could away from
+the shore.
+
+But Thor was not so easily fooled; for he had long known Loki, and was
+acquainted with all his cunning ways. So when he saw Sif bewailing her
+stolen hair, and beheld the frightened salmon hurrying alone towards
+the deep water, he was at no loss to know whose work this mischief was.
+Straightway he took upon himself the form of a sea-gull, and soared high
+up over the water. Then, poising a moment in the air, he darted, swift
+as an arrow, down into the river. When he arose from the water, he held
+the struggling salmon tightly grasped in his strong talons.
+
+"Vile Mischief-maker!" cried Thor, as he alighted upon the top of
+a neighboring crag: "I know thee who thou art; and I will make thee
+bitterly rue the work of this day. Limb from limb will I tear thee, and
+thy bones will I grind into powder."
+
+Loki, when he saw that he could not by any means get away from the angry
+Thunderer, changed himself back to his own form, and humbly said to
+Thor,--
+
+"What if you do your worst with me? Will that give back a single hair to
+Sif's shorn head? What I did was only a thoughtless joke, and I really
+meant no harm. Do but spare my life, and I will more than make good the
+mischief I have done."
+
+"How can that be?" asked Thor.
+
+"I will hie me straight to the secret smithies of dwarfs," answered
+Loki; "and those cunning little kinsmen of mine shall make golden
+tresses for fair Sif, which will grow upon her head like other hair, and
+cause her to be an hundred-fold more beautiful than before."
+
+Thor knew that Loki was a slippery fellow, and that he did not always do
+what he promised, and hence he would not let him go. He called to Frey,
+who had just come up, and said,--
+
+"Come, cousin Frey, help me to rid the world of this sly thief. While I
+hold fast to his raven hair, and his long slim arms, do you seize him by
+the heels, and we will give his limbs to the fishes, and his body to the
+birds, for food."
+
+Loki, now thoroughly frightened, wept, and kissed Frey's feet, and
+humbly begged for mercy. And he promised that he would bring from the
+dwarf's smithy, not only the golden hair for Sif, but also a mighty
+hammer for Thor, and a swift steed for Frey. So earnest were his
+words, and so pitiful was his plea, that Thor at last set the trembling
+Mischief-maker free, and bade him hasten away on his errand. Quickly,
+then, he went in search of the smithy of the dwarfs.
+
+He crossed the desert moorlands, and came, after three days, to the
+bleak hill-country, and the rugged mountain-land of the South. There the
+earthquake had split the mountains apart, and dug dark and bottomless
+gorges, and hollowed out many a low-walled cavern, where the light
+of day was never seen. Through deep, winding ways, and along narrow
+crevices, Loki crept; and he glided under huge rocks, and downward
+through slanting, crooked clefts, until at last he came to a great
+underground hall, where his eyes were dazzled by a light which was
+stronger and brighter than day; for on every side were glowing fires,
+roaring in wonderful little forges, and blown by wonderful little
+bellows And the vaulted roof above was thickly set with diamonds and
+precious stones, that sparkled and shone like thousands of bright stars
+in the blue sky. And the little dwarfs, with comical brown faces,
+and wearing strange leathern aprons, and carrying heavy hammers, were
+hurrying here and there, each busy at his task. Some were smelting pure
+gold from the coarse rough rocks; others were making precious gems, and
+rich rare jewels, such as the proudest king would be glad to wear. Here,
+one was shaping pure, round pearls from dewdrops and maidens' tears;
+there, another wrought green emeralds from the first leaves of spring.
+So busy were they all, that they neither stopped nor looked up when Loki
+came into their hall, but all kept hammering and blowing and working, as
+if their lives depended upon their being always busy.
+
+After Loki had curiously watched their movements for some time, he spoke
+to the dwarf whose forge was nearest to him, and made known his errand.
+But the little fellow was fashioning a flashing diamond, which he called
+the Mountain of Light; and he scarcely looked up as he answered,--
+
+"I do not work in gold. Go to Ivald's sons: they will make whatever you
+wish."
+
+To Ivald's sons, then, in the farthest and brightest corner of the hall,
+Loki went. They very readily agreed to make the golden hair for Sif,
+and they began the work at once. A lump of purest gold was brought, and
+thrown into the glowing furnace; and it was melted and drawn, and melted
+and drawn, seven times. Then it was given to a little brown elf with
+merry, twinkling eyes, who carried it with all speed to another part of
+the great hall, where the dwarfs' pretty wives were spinning. One of
+the little women took the yellow lump from the elf's hands, and laid it,
+like flax, upon her spinning-wheel. Then she sat down and began to spin;
+and, as she span, the dwarf-wives sang a strange, sweet song of the old,
+old days when the dwarf-folk ruled the world. And the tiny brown elves
+danced gleefully around the spinner, and the thousand little anvils rang
+out a merry chorus to the music of the singers. And the yellow gold was
+twisted into threads, and the threads ran into hair softer than silk,
+and finer than gossamer. And at last the dwarf-woman held in her hand
+long golden tresses ten times more beautiful than the amber locks that
+Loki had cut from Sif's fair head. When Ivald's sons, proud of their
+skill, gave the rare treasure to the Mischief-maker, Loki smiled as if
+he were well pleased; but in his heart he was angry because the dwarfs
+had made so fair a piece of workmanship. Then he said,--
+
+"This is, indeed, very handsome, and will be very becoming to Sif. Oh,
+what an uproar was made about those flaxen tresses that she loved so
+well! And that reminds me that her husband, the gruff old Giant-killer,
+wants a hammer. I promised to get him one; and, if I fail, he will
+doubtless be rude with me. I pray you make such a hammer as will be of
+most use to him in fighting the Jotuns, and you may win favor both for
+yourselves and me."
+
+"Not now," said the elder of Ivald's sons. "We cannot make it now; for
+who would dare to send a present to Thor before he has offered one to
+Odin, the great All-Father?"
+
+"Make me, then, a gift for Odin," cried Loki; "and he will shelter me
+from the Thunderer's wrath."
+
+So the dwarfs put iron into their furnace, and heated it to a glowing
+white-heat; and then they drew it out, and rolled it upon their anvils,
+and pounded it with heavy hammers, until they had wrought a wondrous
+spear, such as no man had ever seen. Then they inlaid it with priceless
+jewels, and plated the point with gold seven times tried.
+
+"This is the spear Gungner," said they. "Take it to the great All-Father
+as the best gift of his humble earth-workers."
+
+"Make me now a present for Frey the gentle," said Loki. "I owe my life
+to him; and I have promised to take him a swift steed that will bear him
+everywhere."
+
+Then Ivald's sons threw gold into the furnace, and blew with their
+bellows until the very roof of the great cave-hall seemed to tremble,
+and the smoke rolled up the wide chimney, and escaped in dense fumes
+from the mountain-top. When they left off working, and the fire died
+away, a fairy ship, with masts and sails, and two banks of long oars,
+and a golden dragon stem, rose out of the glowing coals; and it grew in
+size until it filled a great part of the hall, and might have furnished
+room for a thousand warriors with their arms and steeds. Then, at a word
+from the dwarfs, it began to shrink, and it became smaller and smaller
+until it was no broader than an oak-leaf. And the younger of Ivald's
+sons folded it up like a napkin, and gave it to Loki, saying,--
+
+"Take this to Frey the gentle. It is the ship Skidbladner. When it is
+wanted for a voyage, it will carry all the Asa-folk and their weapons
+and stores; and, no matter where they wish to go, the wind will always
+drive it straight to the desired port. But, when it is not needed, the
+good Frey may fold it up, as I have done, and carry it safely in his
+pocket."
+
+Loki was much pleased; and, although he felt disappointed because he had
+no present for Thor, he heartily thanked the dwarfs for their kindness;
+and taking the golden hair, and the spear Gungner, and the ship
+Skidbladner, he bade Ivald's sons good-by, and started for home. But,
+before he reached the narrow doorway which led out of the cave, he met
+two crooked-backed dwarfs, much smaller and much uglier than any he had
+seen before.
+
+"What have you there?" asked one of them, whose name was Brok.
+
+"Hair for Sif, a spear for Odin, and a ship for Frey," answered Loki.
+
+"Let us see them," said Brok.
+
+Loki kindly showed them the strange gifts, and told them, that, in
+his belief, no dwarfs in all the world had ever before wrought such
+wonderful things.
+
+"Who made them?" inquired Brok.
+
+"Ivald's sons."
+
+"Ah! Ivald's sons sometimes do good work, but there are many other
+dwarfs who can do better. For instance, my brother Sindre, who stands
+here, can make three other treasures altogether as good as those you
+have."
+
+"It cannot be!" cried Loki.
+
+"I tell you the truth," said the dwarf. "And, to show you that I mean
+just what I say, I will wager against your head all the diamonds in
+the ceiling above us, that he will make not only as good treasures, but
+those which the Asas will esteem much higher."
+
+"Agreed!" cried Loki,--"agreed! I take the wager. Let your brother try
+his skill at once."
+
+The three went straightway to Sindre's forge, and the brothers began
+their task. When the fire was roaring hot, and the sparks flew from the
+chimney like showers of shooting-stars, Sindre put a pig-skin into the
+furnace, and bade Brok blow the bellows with all his might, and never
+stop until he should speak the word. The flames leaped up white and
+hot, and the furnace glowed with a dazzling light, while Brok plied the
+bellows, and Sindre, with unblinking eyes, watched the slowly changing
+colors that played around the melted and shapeless mass within. While
+the brothers were thus intent upon their work, Loki changed himself to
+a great horse-fly, and settled upon Brok's hand, and bit him without
+mercy. But the dwarf kept on blowing the bellows, and stopped not until
+his brother cried out,--
+
+"Enough!"
+
+Then Sindre drew out of the flickering blue flames a huge wild boar with
+long tusks of ivory, and golden bristles that glittered and shone like
+the beams of the sun.
+
+"This is Golden Bristle," said the dwarf. "It is the gift of Brok and
+his brother to the gentle Frey. His ship Skidbladner can carry him only
+over the sea; but Golden Bristle shall be a trusty steed that will bear
+him with the speed of the wind over the land or through the air."
+
+Next the dwarfs threw gold into the furnace, and Brok plied the bellows,
+and Sindre gazed into the flames, as before. And the great horse-fly
+buzzed in Brok's face, and darted at his eyes, and at last settled upon
+his neck, and stung him until the pain caused big drops of sweat to roll
+off of his forehead. But the dwarf stopped not nor faltered, until his
+brother again cried out,--
+
+"Enough!"
+
+This time Sindre drew out a wondrous ring of solid gold, sparkling all
+over with the rarest and most costly jewels.
+
+"This is the ring Draupner," said he. "It is well worthy to be worn on
+Odin's finger. Every ninth day eight other rings, equal to it in every
+way, shall drop from it. It shall enrich the earth, and make the desert
+blossom as the rose; and it shall bring plentiful harvests, and fill the
+farmers' barns with grain, and their houses with glad good cheer. Take
+it to the All-Father as the best gift of the earth-folk to him and to
+mankind."
+
+After this the dwarfs took iron which had been brought from the
+mountains of Norse Land; and, after beating it upon their bellows until
+it glowed white and hot, Sindre threw it into the furnace.
+
+"This shall be the gift of gifts," said he to Brok. "Ply the bellows
+as before, and do not, for your life, stop or falter until the work is
+done."
+
+But as Brok blew the bellows, and his brother gazed into the glowing
+fire, the horse-fly came again. This time he settled between the dwarf's
+eyes, and stung his eyelids until the blood filled his eyes, and ran
+down his cheeks, and blinded him so that he could not see. At last,
+in sore distress, and wild with pain, Brok let go of the bellows, and
+lifted his hand to drive the fly away. Then Sindre drew his work out of
+the furnace. It was a blue steel hammer, well made in every way, save
+that the handle was half an inch too short.
+
+"This is the mighty Mjolner," said Sindre to Loki, who had again taken
+his proper shape. "The Thunderer may have the hammer that you promised
+him; although it is our gift, and not yours. The stoutest giant will not
+be able now to cope with Thor. No shield nor armor, nor mountain-wall,
+nor, indeed, any thing on earth, shall be proof against the
+lightning-strokes of Mjolner."
+
+And Brok took the three treasures which Sindre had fashioned, and went
+with Loki to Asgard, the home of the Asa-folk. And they chose Odin and
+Thor and Frey to examine and judge which was best,--Loki's three gifts,
+the work of Ivald's sons; or Brok's three gifts, the work of Sindre.
+When the judges were seated, and all were in readiness, Loki went
+forward and gave to Odin the spear Gungner, that would always hit
+the mark; and to Frey he gave the ship Skidbladner, that would sail
+whithersoever he wished. Then he gave the golden hair to Thor, who
+placed it upon the head of fair Sif; and it grew there, and was a
+thousand-fold more beautiful than the silken tresses she had worn
+before.
+
+After the Asas had carefully looked at these treasures, and talked of
+their merits, little Brok came humbly forward and offered his gifts. To
+Odin he gave the precious ring Draupner, already dropping richness. To
+Frey he gave the boar Golden Bristle, telling him that wherever he chose
+to go this steed would serve him well, and would carry him faster than
+any horse, while his shining bristles would light the way on the darkest
+night or in the gloomiest path. At last he gave to Thor the hammer
+Mjolner, and said that it, like Odin's spear, would never miss the mark,
+and that whatever it struck, it would crush in pieces, and whithersoever
+it might be hurled, it would come back to his hand again.
+
+Then the Asas declared at once that Thor's hammer was the best of all
+the gifts, and that the dwarf had fairly won the wager. But, when
+Brok demanded Loki's head as the price of the wager, the cunning
+Mischief-maker said,--
+
+"My head is, by the terms of our agreement, yours; but my neck is my
+own, and you shall not on any account touch or harm it."[EN#26]
+
+So Brok went back to his brother and his smithy without the head of
+Loki, but he was loaded with rich and rare presents from the Asa-folk.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XVI. How Brunhild Was Welcomed Home.
+
+
+
+When the next morning's sun arose, and its light gilded the mountain
+peaks, and fell in a flood of splendor down upon the rich uplands and
+the broad green fields of Nibelungen Land, Siegfried, with his earls and
+mighty men, rode through the valley, and down to the seashore. There a
+pleasant sight met his eyes: for the little bay was white with the sails
+of a hundred gold-beaked vessels which lay at anchor; and on the sandy
+beach there stood in order three thousand island warriors,--the bravest
+and the best of all the Nibelungens,--clad in armor, and ready to hear
+and to do their master's bidding. And Siegfried told them why he had
+thus hastily called them together; and he gave to each one rich gifts
+of gold and jewels and costly raiment. Then he chose from among them
+one thousand of the most trustworthy, who should follow him back to
+Isenland; and these went aboard the waiting vessels, amid the cheers
+and the farewells of their comrades who were left behind. And when every
+thing was in readiness, the anchors were hoisted and the sails were set,
+and the little fleet, wafted by pleasant winds, sailed out of the bay,
+and eastward across the calm blue sea. And Siegfried's vessel, with a
+golden dragon banner floating from the masthead, led all the rest.
+
+On the fourth day after Siegfried's departure from Isenland, Dankwart
+and grim old Hagen sat in a room of the castle at Isenstein. Outside and
+below they heard the fair-haired warriors of Queen Brunhild pacing to
+and fro, and ready, at a word, to seize upon the strangers, and either
+to put them to death, or to drive them forever from the land.
+Old Hagen's brows were closely knit, and his face was dark as a
+thunder-cloud, and his hands played nervously with his sword-hilt, as he
+said,--
+
+"Where now is Gunther, the man whom we once called king?"
+
+"He is standing on the balcony above, talking with the queen and her
+maidens," answered Dankwart.
+
+"The craven that he is!" cried Hagen hoarsely. "Once he was a king, and
+worthy to be obeyed; but now who is the king? That upstart Siegfried has
+but to say what shall be done, and our master Gunther, blindly and like
+a child, complies. Four days ago we might have taken ship, and sailed
+safely home. Now our vessel is gone, the boasted hero is gone, and
+nothing is left for us to do but to fight and die."
+
+"But we are sure of Odin's favor," returned Dankwart; and a wild light
+gleamed from his eyes, and he brandished his sword high over his head.
+"A place in Valhal is promised to us; for, him who bravely dies with
+his blood-stained sword beside him and his heart unrent with fears, the
+All-Father's victory-wafters will gently carry home. Even now, methinks,
+I sit in the banqueting-hall of the heroes, and quaff the flowing mead."
+
+* * * * *
+
+In the mean while Gunther stood with Queen Brunhild at an upper window,
+and looked out upon the great sea that spread forever and away towards
+the setting sun. And all at once, as if by magic, the water was covered
+with white-sailed ships, which, driven by friendly winds and the helping
+hands of AEgir's daughters and the brawny arms of many a stalwart
+oarsman, came flying towards the bay.
+
+"What ships are those with the snow-white sails and the dragon-stems?"
+asked Brunhild, wondering.
+
+Gunther gazed for a moment towards the swift-coming fleet, and his eyes
+were gladdened with the sight of Siegfried's dragon-banner floating from
+the vessel in the van. A great load seemed lifted from his breast,
+for now he knew that the hoped-for help was at hand. And, smiling he
+answered the queen,--
+
+"Those white-sailed ships are mine. My body-guard--a thousand of my
+trustiest fighting-men--are on board, and every man is ready to die for
+me."
+
+And as the vessels came into the harbor, and the sailors furled the
+sails, and cast the anchors into the sea, Siegfried was seen standing on
+the golden prow of his ship, arrayed in princely raiment, with his earls
+and chiefs around him. And their bright armor glittered in the sunlight,
+and their burnished shields shone like so many golden mirrors. A fairer
+sight had the folk of Isenstein never seen.
+
+Long and earnestly Queen Brunhild gazed, and then, turning away, she
+burst into tears; for she knew that she had been again outwitted, and
+that it was vain for her to struggle against the Norns' decrees. Then,
+crushing back the grief and the sore longing that rose in her heart, she
+spoke again to Gunther, and her eyes shone stern and strange.
+
+"What now will you have me do?" she asked; "for you have fairly won
+me, and my wayward fancies shall no longer vex you. Shall I greet your
+friends with kindness, or shall we send them back again over the sea?"
+
+"I pray you give them welcome to the broad halls of Isenstein," he
+answered; "for no truer, nobler men live than these my liegemen."
+
+So the queen sent word to Siegfried and his Nibelungen warriors to leave
+the ships and come ashore. And she herself, as radiant now as a morning
+in May, went down to meet them and welcome them. Then she had a great
+feast made in honor of the heroes, and the long, low-raftered feast-hall
+rang with the sounds of merriment, instead of with the clash of arms.
+The fair-haired, blue-eyed warriors of the queen sat side by side with
+the tall strangers from over the sea. And in the high-seat was Brunhild,
+her face exceeding pale, yet beauteous to behold; and by her side sat
+Gunther, smiling and glad, and clad in his kingly raiments. And around
+them were the earls and chieftains, and many a fair lady of Isenland,
+and Hagen, smiling through his frowns, and Dankwart, now grown fearless,
+and Siegfried sad and thoughtful. Mirth and gladness ruled the hour, and
+not until the morning star began to fade in the coming sunlight lid the
+guests retire to rest.
+
+Only a few days longer did the heroes tarry in Isenland; for the mild
+spring days were growing warmer, and all faces were southward turned,
+and the queen herself was anxious to haste to her South-land home. When,
+at last, the time for leave-taking came, the folk of Isenland gathered
+around to bid their queen Godspeed. Then Brunhild called to Dankwart,
+and gave him her golden keys, and bade him unlock her closets where her
+gold and jewels were stored, and to scatter with hands unstinted her
+treasures among the poor. And many were the tearful blessings, and many
+the kind words said, as the radiant queen went down to the waiting,
+white-winged vessel, and stepped aboard with Gunther and the heroes of
+the Rhine. But she was not to go alone to the land of strangers; for
+with her were to sail a hundred fair young damsels, and more than
+fourscore noble dames, and two thousand blue-eyed warriors, the bravest
+of her land.
+
+When all had gone on board the waiting fleet, the anchors were hoisted,
+and the sails were unfurled to the breeze; and amid the tearful
+farewells of friends, and the joyful shouting of the sailors, the
+hundred heavy-laden vessels glided from the bay, and were soon far out
+at sea. And the sorrowing folk of Isenland turned away, and went back to
+their daily tasks, and to the old life of mingled pain and pleasure, of
+shadow and sunshine; and they never saw their loved warrior-queen again.
+
+The gay white fleet, with its precious cargo of noble men and fair
+ladies, sped swiftly onwards through Old AEgir's kingdom; and it seemed
+as if Queen Ran had forgotten to spread her nets, so smooth and quiet
+was the sea; and the waves slept on the peaceful bosom of the waters:
+only Ripple and Sky-clear danced in the wake of the flying ships, and
+added to the general joy. And on shipboard music and song enlivened the
+dragging hours; and from morn till eve no sounds were heard, save those
+of merriment and sport, and glad good cheer. Yet, as day after day
+passed by, and no sight met their eyes but the calm blue waters beneath,
+and the calm blue sky above, all began to wish for a view, once more, of
+the solid earth, and the fields, and the wild greenwood. But the ships
+sailed steadily onward, and every hour brought them nearer and nearer to
+the wished-for haven.
+
+At length, on the ninth day, they came in sight of a long, flat coast,
+stretching far away towards the Lowlands, where Old AEgir and his
+daughters--sometimes by wasting warfare, sometimes by stealthy
+strategy--ever plot and toil to widen the Sea-king's domains. When the
+sailors saw the green shore rising up, as it were, out of the quiet
+water, and the wild woodland lying dense and dark beyond, and when they
+knew that they were nearing the end of their long sea-voyage, they rent
+the air with their joyful shouts. And a brisker breeze sprang up, and
+filled the sails, and made the ships leap forward over the water, like
+glad living creatures.
+
+It was then that the thought came to King Gunther that he ought to send
+fleet heralds to Burgundy-land to make known the happy issue of his
+bold emprise, and to tell of his glad home-coming, with Brunhild, the
+warrior-maiden, as his queen. So he called old Hagen to him, and told
+him of his thoughts, and asked him if he would be that herald.
+
+"Nay," answered the frowning chief. "No bearer of glad tidings am I. To
+every man Odin has given gifts. To some he has given light hearts, and
+cheery faces, and glad voices; and such alone are fitted to carry good
+news and happy greetings. To others he has given darker souls, and less
+lightsome faces, and more uncouth manners; and these may bear the brunt
+of the battle, and rush with Odin's heroes to the slaughter: but they
+would be ill at ease standing in the presence of fair ladies, or telling
+glad tidings at court. Let me still linger, I pray, on board this narrow
+ship, and send your friend Siegfried as herald to Burgundy-land. He is
+well fitted for such a duty."
+
+So Gunther sent at once for Siegfried, to whom, when he had come, he
+said,--
+
+"My best of friends, although we are now in sight of land, our voyage
+still is a long one; for the river is yet far away, and, when it is
+reached, its course is winding, and the current will be against us, and
+our progress must needs be slow. The folk at home have had no tidings
+from us since we left them in the early spring; and no doubt their
+hearts grow anxious, and they long to hear of our whereabouts, and
+whether we prosper or no. Now, as we near the headland which juts out
+dark and green before us, we will set you on shore, with the noble
+Greyfell, and as many comrades as you wish, to haste with all speed to
+Burgundy, to tell the glad news of our coming to the loved ones waiting
+there."
+
+Siegfried at first held back, and tried to excuse himself from
+undertaking this errand,--not because he felt any fear of danger, but
+because he scorned to be any man's thrall, to go and do at his beck and
+bidding. Then Gunther spoke again, and in a different tone.
+
+"Gentle Siegfried," he said, "if you will not do this errand for my
+sake, I pray that you will undertake it for the sake of my sister, the
+fair Kriemhild, who has so long waited for our coming."
+
+Then willingly did the prince agree to be the king's herald. And on the
+morrow the ship touched land; and Siegfried bade his companions a short
+farewell, and went ashore with four and twenty Nibelungen chiefs,
+who were to ride with him to Burgundy. And, when every thing was in
+readiness, he mounted the noble Greyfell, as did also each warrior his
+favorite steed, and they galloped briskly away; and their glittering
+armor and nodding plumes were soon lost to sight among the green trees
+of the wood. And the ship which bore Gunther and his kingly party
+weighed anchor, and moved slowly along the shore towards the distant
+river's mouth.
+
+For many days, and through many strange lands, rode Siegfried and his
+Nibelungen chiefs. They galloped through the woodland, and over a stony
+waste, and came to a peopled country rich in farms and meadows, and
+dotted with pleasant towns. And the folk of that land wondered greatly
+at sight of the radiant Siegfried, and the tall warriors with him, and
+their noble steeds, and their sunbright armor. For they thought that it
+was a company of the gods riding through the mid-world, as the gods were
+wont to do in the golden days of old. So they greeted them with smiles,
+and kind, good words, and scattered flowers and blessings in their way.
+
+They stopped for a day in Vilkina-land, where dwelt one Eigill, a
+famous archer, who, it is said, was a brother of Veliant, Siegfried's
+fellow-apprentice in the days of his boyhood. And men told them this
+story of Eigill. That once on a time old Nidung, the king of that land,
+in order to test his skill with the bow, bade him shoot an apple, or, as
+some say, an acorn, from the head of his own little son. And Eigill
+did this; but two other arrows, which he had hidden beneath his coat,
+dropped to the ground. And when the king asked him what these were for
+he answered, "To kill thee, wretch, had I slain my child."[EN#27]
+
+After this our heroes rode through a rough hill-country, where the
+ground was covered with sharp stones, and the roads were steep and hard.
+And their horses lost their shoes, and were so lamed by the travel,
+that they were forced to turn aside to seek the house of one Welland, a
+famous smith, who re-shod their steeds, and entertained them most
+kindly three days and nights. And it is said by some that Welland is but
+another name for Veliant, and that this was the selfsame foreman whom we
+knew in Siegfried's younger days. But, be this as it may, he was at this
+time the master of all smiths, and no one ever wrought more cunningly.
+And men say that his grandfather was Vilkinus, the first king of that
+land; and that his grandmother, Wachitu, was a fair mermaid, who lived
+in the deep green sea; and that his father, Wada, had carried him,
+when a child, upon his shoulders through water five fathoms deep, to
+apprentice him to the cunning dwarfs, from whom he learned his trade.
+And if this story is true, he could not have been Veliant. He was wedded
+to a beautiful lady, who sometimes took the form of a swan, and flew
+away to a pleasant lake near by, where, with other swan-maidens, she
+spent the warm summer days among the reeds and the water-lilies. And
+many other strange tales were told of Welland the smith: how he had once
+made a boat from the single trunk of a tree, and had sailed in it all
+around the mid-world; how, being lame in one foot, he had forged a
+wondrous winged garment, and flown like a falcon through the air;
+and how he had wrought for Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon hero, a gorgeous
+war-coat that no other smith could equal.[EN#28] And so pleasantly did
+Welland entertain his guests that they were loath to leave him; but on
+the fourth day they bade him farewell, and wended again their way.
+
+Now our heroes rode forward, with greater speed than before, across many
+a mile of waste land, and over steep hills, and through pleasant wooded
+dales. Then, again, they came to fair meadows, and broad pasture-lands,
+and fields green with growing corn; and every one whom they met blessed
+them, and bade them a hearty God-speed. Then they left the farmlands
+and the abodes of men far behind them; and they passed by the shore of a
+sparkling lake, where they heard the swan-maidens talking to each other
+as they swam among the rushes, or singing in silvery tones of gladness
+as they circled in the air above. Then they crossed a dreary moor, where
+nothing grew but heather; and they climbed a barren, stony mountain,
+where the feet of men had never been, and came at last to a wild, dark
+forest, where silence reigned undisturbed forever.
+
+It was the wood in which dwells Vidar, the silent god, far from the
+sound of man's busy voice, in the solemn shade of century-living oaks
+and elms. There he sits in quiet but awful grandeur,--strong almost as
+Thor, but holding his mighty strength in check. Hoary and gray, he sits
+alone in Nature's temple, and communes with Nature's self, waiting for
+the day when Nature's silent but resistless forces shall be quickened
+into dread action. His head is crowned with sear and yellow leaves,
+and long white moss hangs pendent from his brows and cheeks, and his
+garments are rusted with age. On his feet are iron shoes, with soles
+made thick with the scraps of leather gathered through centuries past;
+and with these, it is said, he shall, in the last great twilight of the
+mid-world, rend the jaws of the Fenris-wolf.[EN#29]
+
+"Who is this Fenris-wolf?" asked one of the Nibelungens as they rode
+through the solemn shadows of the wood.
+
+And Siegfried thereupon related how that fierce creature had been
+brought up and cared for by the Asa-folk; and how, when he grew large
+and strong, they sought to keep him from doing harm by binding him with
+an iron chain called Leding. But the strength of the monster was so
+great, that he burst the chain asunder, and escaped. Then the Asas made
+another chain twice as strong, which they called Drome. And they called
+to the wolf, and besought him to allow them to bind him again, so that,
+in bursting the second chain, he might clear up all doubts in regard to
+his strength. Flattered by the words of the Asas, the wolf complied;
+and they chained him with Drome, and fastened him to a great rock. But
+Fenris stretched his legs, and shook himself, and the great chain was
+snapped in pieces. Then the Asas knew that there was no safety for them
+so long as a monster so huge and terrible was unbound; and they besought
+the swarthy elves to forge them another and a stronger chain. This the
+elves did. They made a most wondrous chain, smooth as silk, and soft as
+down, yet firmer than granite, and stronger than steel. They called it
+Gleipner; and it was made of the sinews of a bear, the footsteps of a
+cat, the beard of a woman, the breath of a fish, the sweat of a bird,
+and the roots of a mountain. When the Asas had obtained this chain, they
+lured the Fenris-wolf to the rocky Island of Lyngve, and by flattery
+persuaded him to be bound again. But this he would not agree to do until
+Tyr placed his hand in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. Then they
+tied him as before, and laughingly bade him break the silken cord. The
+huge creature stretched himself as before, and tried with all his might
+to burst away; but Gleipner held him fast, and the worst that he could
+do was to bite off the hand of unlucky Tyr. And this is why Tyr is
+called the one-armed god.
+
+"But it is said," added Siegfried, "that in the last twilight the
+Fenris-wolf will break his chain, and that he will swallow the sun, and
+slay the great Odin himself, and that none can subdue him save Vidar the
+Silent."
+
+It was thus that the heroes conversed with each other as they rode
+through the silent ways of the wood.
+
+At length, one afternoon in early summer, the little company reached the
+Rhine valley; and looking down from the sloping hill-tops, green with
+growing corn, they saw the pleasant town of the Burgundians and the high
+gray towers of Gunther's dwelling. And not long afterwards they rode
+through the streets of the old town, and, tired and travel-stained,
+halted outside of the castle-gates. Very soon it became noised about
+that Siegfried and a company of strange knights, fair and tall, had come
+again to Burgundy and to the home of the Burgundian kings. But when it
+was certainly known that neither Gunther the king, nor Hagen of the evil
+eye, nor Dankwart his brother, had returned, the people felt many
+sad misgivings; for they greatly feared that some hard mischance had
+befallen their loved king. Then Gernot and the young Giselher, having
+heard of Siegfried's arrival, came out with glad but anxious faces to
+greet him.
+
+"Welcome, worthy chief!" they cried. "But why are you alone? What are
+your tidings? Where is our brother? and where are our brave uncles,
+Hagen and Dankwart? And who are those strange, fair men who ride with
+you? And what about Brunhild, the warrior-maiden? Alas! if our brother
+has fallen by her cruel might, then woe to Burgundy! Tell us quickly all
+about it!"
+
+"Have patience, friends!" answered Siegfried. "Give me time to speak,
+and I will gladden the hearts of all the folk of Burgundy with my news.
+Your brother Gunther is alive and well; and he is the happiest man in
+the whole mid-world, because he has won the matchless Brunhild for his
+bride. And he is ere now making his way up the river with a mighty fleet
+of a hundred vessels and more than two thousand warriors. Indeed, you
+may look for him any day. And he has sent me, with these my Nibelungen
+earls, to bid you make ready for his glad home-coming."
+
+Then, even before he had alighted from Greyfell, he went on to tell of
+the things that had happened at Isenstein; but he said nothing of the
+part which he had taken in the strange contest. And a crowd of eager
+listeners stood around, and heard with unfeigned joy of the happy
+fortune of their king.
+
+"And now," said Siegfried to Giselher, when he had finished his story,
+"carry the glad news to your mother and your sister; for they, too, must
+be anxious to learn what fate has befallen King Gunther."
+
+"Nay," answered the prince, "you yourself are the king's herald, and you
+shall be the one to break the tidings to them. Full glad they'll be to
+hear the story from your own lips, for long have they feared that
+our brother would never be seen by us again. I will tell them of your
+coming, but you must be the first to tell them the news you bring."
+
+"Very well," answered Siegfried. "It shall be as you say."
+
+Then he dismounted from Greyfell, and, with his Nibelungen earls, was
+shown into the grand hall, where they were entertained in a right kingly
+manner.
+
+When Kriemhild the peerless, and Ute her mother, heard that Siegfried
+had come again to Burgundy, and that he brought news from Gunther the
+king, they hastened to make ready to see him. And, when he came before
+them, he seemed so noble, so bright, and so glad, that they knew he bore
+no evil tidings.
+
+"Most noble prince," said Kriemhild, trembling in his presence, "right
+welcome are you to our dwelling! But wherefore are you come? How fares
+my brother Gunther? Why came he not with you back to Burgundy-land? Oh!
+undone are we, if, through the cruel might of the warrior-queen, he has
+been lost to us."
+
+"Now give me a herald's fees!" cried Siegfried, laughing. "King Gunther
+is alive and well. In the games of strength to which fair Brunhild
+challenged him, he was the winner. And now he comes up the Rhine with
+his bride, and a great retinue of lords and ladies and fighting-men.
+Indeed, the sails of his ships whiten the river for miles. And I am
+come by his desire to ask that every thing be made ready for his glad
+home-coming and the loving welcome of his peerless queen."
+
+Great was the joy of Kriemhild and her queenly mother when they heard
+this gladsome news; and they thanked the prince most heartily for all
+that he had done.
+
+"You have truly earned a herald's fee," said the lovely maiden, "and
+gladly would I pay it you in gold; for you have cheered us with pleasant
+tidings, and lightened our minds of a heavy load. But men of your noble
+rank take neither gifts nor fees, and hence we have only to offer our
+deepest and heartiest thanks."
+
+"Not so," answered Siegfried gayly. "Think not I would scorn a fee. Had
+I a kingdom of thirty realms, I should still be proud of a gift from
+you."
+
+"Then, you shall have your herald's fee!" cried Kriemhild; and she sent
+her maidens to fetch the gift. And with her own lily hands she gave him
+twenty golden bracelets, richly inwrought with every kind of rare and
+costly gem-stones. Happy, indeed, was Siegfried to take such priceless
+gift from the hand of so peerless a maiden; and his face shone radiant
+with sunbeams as he humbly bowed, and thanked her. But he had no need
+for the jewels, nor wished he to keep them long: so he gave them, with
+gracious wishes, to the fair young maidens at court.
+
+From this time forward, for many days, there was great bustle in
+Gunther's dwelling. On every side was heard the noise of busy hands,
+making ready for the glad day when the king should be welcomed home.
+The broad halls and the tall gray towers were decked with flowers, and
+floating banners, and many a gay device; the houses and streets of the
+pleasant burgh put on their holiday attire; the shady road which led
+through Kriemhild's rose-garden down to the river-banks was dusted and
+swept with daily care; and the watchman was cautioned to keep on the
+lookout every moment for the coming of the expected fleet. And heralds
+had been sent to every burgh and castle, and to every countryside in
+Burgundy, announcing the happy home-coming of Gunther and his bride, and
+bidding every one, both high and low, to the glad merry-making.
+
+On the morning of the eleventh day, ere the sun had dried the dew from
+the springing grass, the keen-eyed watchman, in his perch on the topmost
+tower, cried out in happy accents to the waiting folk below,--
+
+"They come at last! I see the white-winged ships still far down the
+stream. But a breeze springs up from the northward, and the sailors are
+at the oars, and swift speed the hastening vessels, as if borne on the
+wings of the wind. Ride forth, O ye brave and fair, to welcome the fair
+and the brave!"
+
+Then quickly the king-folk, and the warriors, and fair ladies, mounted
+their ready steeds, and gayly through the gates of the castle they rode
+out river-wards. And Ute, the noble queen-mother, went first. And the
+company moved in glittering array, with flying banners, and music, and
+the noisy flourish of drums, adown the rose-covered pathway which led
+to the water's side. And the peerless Kriemhild followed, with a hundred
+lovely maidens, all mounted on snow-white palfreys; and Siegfried, proud
+and happy, on Greyfell, rode beside her.
+
+When the party reached the river-bank, a pleasant sight met their eyes;
+for the fleet had now drawn near, and the whole river, as far as the
+eye could reach, glittered with the light reflected from the shield-hung
+rails and the golden prows of the swift-coming ships. King Gunther's own
+vessel led all the rest; and the king himself stood on the deck, with
+the glorious Brunhild by his side. Nearer and nearer the fresh breeze
+of the summer morning wafted the vessel to the shore, where stood
+the waiting multitude. Softly the golden dragon glided in to the
+landing-place, and quickly was it moored to the banks; then Gunther,
+clad in his kingly garments, stepped ashore, and with him his lovely
+queen. And a mighty shout of welcome, and an answering shout of
+gladness, seemed to rend the sky as the waiting hosts beheld the sight.
+And the queen-mother Ute, and the peerless Kriemhild, and her kingly
+brothers, went forward to greet the pair. And Kriemhild took Brunhild by
+the hand, and kissed her, and said,--
+
+"Welcome, thrice welcome, dear sister! to thy home and thy kindred and
+thy people, who hail thee as queen. And may thy days be full of joyance,
+and thy years be full of peace!"
+
+Then all the folk cried out their goodly greetings; and the sound of
+their glad voices rang out sweet and clear in the morning air, and rose
+up from the riverside, and was echoed among the hill-slopes, and carried
+over the meadows and vineyards, to the farthest bounds of Burgundy-land.
+And the matchless Brunhild, smiling, returned the happy greeting; and
+her voice was soft and sweet, as she said,--
+
+"O kin of the fair Rhineland, and folk of my new-found home! may your
+days be summer sunshine, and your lives lack grief and pain; and may
+this hour of glad rejoicing be the type of all hours to come!"
+
+Then the lovely queen was seated in a golden wain which stood in waiting
+for her; and Gunther mounted his own war-steed; and the whole company
+made ready to ride to the castle. Never before had so pleasant a sight
+been seen in Rhineland, as that glorious array of king-folk and lords
+and ladies wending from river to fortress along the rose-strewn roadway.
+Foremost went the king, and by his side was Siegfried on the radiant
+Greyfell. Then came the queen's golden wain, drawn by two snow-white
+oxen, which were led with silken cords by sweet-faced maidens; and
+in it, on an ivory throne deep-carved with mystic runes, sat glorious
+Brunhild. Behind rode the queen-mother and her kingly sons, and frowning
+Hagen, and Dankwart, and Volker, and all the earl-folk and mighty
+warriors of Burgundy and of Nibelungen Land. And lastly came Kriemhild
+and her hundred damsels, sitting on their snow-white steeds. And they
+rode past the blooming gardens, and through the glad streets of the
+burgh, and then, like a radiant vision, they entered the castle-halls;
+and the lovely pageant was seen no more.
+
+For twelve days after this, a joyful high-tide was held at the castle;
+and the broad halls rang with merriment and music and festive mirth.
+And games and tournaments were held in honor of the king's return.
+Brave horsemen dashed here and there at break-neck speed, or contended
+manfully in the lists; lances flew thick in the air; shouts and glad
+cries were heard on every hand; and for a time the most boisterous
+tumult reigned. But gladness and good-feeling ruled the hour, and no one
+thought of aught but merry-making and careless joy. At length, when
+the days of feasting were past, the guests bade Gunther and his queen
+farewell; and each betook himself to his own home, and to whatsoever
+his duty called him. And one would have thought that none but happy days
+were henceforth in store for the kingly folk of Burgundy. But alas!
+too soon the cruel frost and the cold north winds nipped the buds and
+blossoms of the short summer, and the days of gladness gave place to
+nights of gloom.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XVII. How Siegfried Lived in Nibelungen Land.
+
+
+
+When the twelve-days' high-tide at King Gunther's home-coming had
+been brought to an end, and the guests had all gone to their homes,
+Siegfried, too, prepared to bid farewell to the Rhineland kings, and to
+wend to his own country. But he was not to go alone; for Kriemhild, the
+peerless princess, was to go with him as his bride. They had been wedded
+during the merry festivities which had just closed, and that event had
+added greatly to the general joy; for never was there a fairer or a
+nobler pair than Siegfried the fearless, and Kriemhild the peerless.
+
+"It grieves my heart to part with you," said Gunther, wringing
+Siegfried's hand. "It will fare but ill with us, I fear, when we no
+longer see your radiant face, or hear your cheery voice."
+
+"Say not so, my brother," answered Siegfried; "for the gods have many
+good things in store for you. And, if ever you need the help of my arm,
+you have but to say the word, and I will hasten to your aid."
+
+Then the Burgundian kings besought the hero to take the fourth part
+of their kingdom as his own and Kriemhild's, and to think no more of
+leaving them. But Siegfried would not agree to this. His heart yearned
+to see his father and mother once again, and then to return to his own
+loved Nibelungen Land. So he thanked the kings for their kind offer, and
+hastened to make ready for his intended journey.
+
+Early on Midsummer Day the hero and his bride rode out of Gunther's
+dwelling, and turned their faces northward. And with them was a noble
+retinue of warriors,--five hundred brave Burgundians, with Eckewart as
+their chief,--who had sworn to be Queen Kriemhild's vassals in her new,
+far-distant home. Thirty and two fair maidens, too, went with her. And
+with Siegfried were his Nibelungen earls.
+
+As the company rode down the sands, and filed gayly along the
+river-road, it seemed a lovely although a sad sight to their kinsmen
+who gazed after them from the castle-towers. Fair and young were all the
+folk; and the world, to most, was still untried. And they rode, in the
+morning sunlight, away from their native land, nor recked that never
+again would they return. Each warrior sat upon a charger, richly geared
+with gilt-red saddle, and gorgeous bridle, and trappings of every hue;
+and their war-coats were bright and dazzling; and their spears glanced
+in the sun; and their golden shields threw rays of resplendent light
+around them. The maidens, too, were richly dight in broidered cloaks
+of blue, and rare stuffs brought from far-off Araby; and each sat on a
+snow-white palfrey geared with silken housings, and trappings of bright
+blue.
+
+For some days the company followed the course of the river, passing
+through many a rich meadow, and between lovely vineyards, and fields of
+yellow corn. Then they rode over a dreary, barren waste, and through
+a wild greenwood, and reached, at last, the hills which marked the
+beginning of King Siegmund's domains. Then Siegfried sent fleet heralds
+before them to carry to his father the tidings of his coming with
+his bride, fair Kriemhild. Glad, indeed, were old King Siegmund and
+Siegfried's gentle mother when they heard this news.
+
+"Oh, happy is the day!" cried the king. "Thrice happy be the day that
+shall see fair Kriemhild a crowned queen, and Siegfried a king in the
+throne of his fathers!"
+
+And they showered upon the heralds who had brought the happy news rich
+fees of gold and silver, and gave them garments of silken velvet. And on
+the morrow they set out, with a train of earl-folk and lovely ladies,
+to meet their son and his bride. For one whole day they journeyed to
+the old fortress of Santen, where in former days the king's dwelling had
+been. There they met the happy bridal-party, and fond and loving were
+the hearty greetings they bestowed upon Kriemhild and the radiant
+Siegfried. Then, without delay, they returned to Siegmund's kingly hall;
+and for twelve days a high tide, more happy and more splendid than
+that which had been held in Burgundy, was made in honor of Siegfried's
+marriage-day. And, in the midst of those days of sport and joyance,
+the old king gave his crown and sceptre to his son; and all the people
+hailed Siegfried, king of the broad Lowlands, and Kriemhild his lovely
+queen.
+
+Old stories tell how Siegfried reigned in peace and glad contentment in
+his fatherland; and how the joyous sunshine shone wherever he went, and
+poured a flood of light and warmth and happiness into every nook and
+corner of his kingdom; and how, at length, after the gentle Sigelind
+had died, he moved his court to that other country of his,--the far-off
+Nibelungen Land. And it is in that strange, dream-haunted land, in a
+strong-built mountain fortress, that we shall next find him.
+
+Glad were the Nibelungen folk when their own king and his lovely wife
+came to dwell among them; and the mists once more were lifted, and the
+skies grew bright and clear, and men said that the night had departed,
+and the better days were near. Golden, indeed, and most glorious, was
+that summer-time; and long to be remembered was Siegfried's too brief
+reign in Nibelungen Land. And, ages afterward, folk loved to sing of his
+care for his people's welfare, of his wisdom and boundless lore, of his
+deeds in the time of warring, and the victories gained in peace. And
+strong and brave were the men-folk, and wise and fair were the women,
+and broad and rich were the acres, in Siegfried's well-ruled land. The
+farm-lands were yellow with the abundant harvests, fruitful orchards
+grew in the pleasant dales, and fair vineyards crowned the hills. Fine
+cities sprang up along the seacoast, and strong fortresses were built
+on every height. Great ships were made, which sailed to every land, and
+brought home rich goods from every clime,--coffee and spices from India,
+rich silks from Zazemang, fine fruits from the Iberian shore, and soft
+furs, and ivory tusks of the sea-beast, from the frozen coasts of the
+north. Never before was country so richly blessed; for Siegfried taught
+his people how to till the soil best, and how to delve far down into the
+earth for hidden treasures, and how to work skilfully in iron and bronze
+and all other metals, and how to make the winds and the waters, and even
+the thunderbolt, their thralls and helpful servants. And he was as great
+in war as in peace; for no other people dared harm, or in any way impose
+upon, the Nibelungen folk, or any of his faithful liegemen.
+
+It is told how, once on a time, he warred against the Hundings, who
+had done his people an injury, and how he sailed against them in a long
+dragon-ship of a hundred oars. When he was far out in the mid-sea, and
+no land was anywhere in sight, a dreadful storm arose. The lightnings
+flashed, and the winds roared, and threatened to carry the ship to
+destruction. Quickly the fearful sailors began to reef the sails, but
+Siegfried bade them stop.
+
+"Why be afraid?" he cried. "The Norns have woven the woof of every man's
+life, and no man can escape his destiny. If the gods will that we should
+drown, it is folly for us to strive against fate. We are bound to the
+shore of the Hundings' land, and thither must our good ship carry us.
+Hoist the sails high on the masts, even though the wind should tear them
+into shreds, and split the masts into splinters!"
+
+The sailors did as they were bidden; and the hurricane caught the ship
+in its mighty arms, and hurried it over the rolling waves with the speed
+of lightning. And Siegfried stood calmly at the helm, and guided the
+flying vessel. Presently they saw a rocky point rising up out of the
+waters before them; and on it stood an old man, his gray cloak streaming
+in the wind, and his blue hood tied tightly down over his head.
+
+"Whose ship is that which comes riding on the storm?" cried the man.
+
+"King Siegfried's ship," answered the man at the prow. "There lives no
+braver man on earth than he."
+
+"Thou sayest truly," came back from the rock. "Lay by your oars, reef
+the sails, and take me on board!"
+
+"What is your name?" asked the sailor, as the ship swept past him.
+
+"When the raven croaks gladly over his battle-feast, men call me Hnikar.
+But call me now Karl from the mountain, Fengr, or Fjolner. Reef, quick,
+your sails, and take me in!"
+
+The men, at Siegfried's command, obeyed. And at once the wind ceased
+blowing, and the sea was calm, and the warm sun shone through the rifted
+clouds, and the coast of Hundings Land lay close before them. But when
+they looked for Fjolner, as he called himself, they could not find him.
+
+One day Siegfried sat in his sun-lit hall in Nibelungen Land; and
+Kriemhild, lovely as a morning in June, sat beside him. And they talked
+of the early days when alone he fared through the mid-world, and alone
+did deeds of wondrous daring. And Siegfried bethought him then of the
+glittering Hoard of Andvari, and the cave and the mountain fortress,
+where the faithful dwarf Alberich still guarded the measureless
+treasure.
+
+"How I should like to see that mountain fastness and that glittering
+hoard!" cried Kriemhild.
+
+"You shall see," answered the king.
+
+And at once horses were saddled, and preparations were made for a
+morning's jaunt into the mountains. And, ere an hour had passed,
+Siegfried and his queen, and a small number of knights and ladies,
+were riding through the passes. About noon they came to Alberich's
+dwelling,--a frowning fortress of granite built in the mountain-side.
+The gate was opened by the sleepy giant who always sat within, and the
+party rode into the narrow court-yard. There they were met by Alberich,
+seeming smaller and grayer, and more pinched and wan, than ever before.
+
+"Hail, noble master!" cried he, bowing low before Siegfried. "How can
+Alberich serve you to-day?"
+
+"Lead us to the treasure-vaults," answered the king. "My queen would
+fain feast her eyes upon the yellow, sparkling hoard."
+
+The dwarf obeyed. Through a narrow door they were ushered into a long,
+low cavern, so frowning and gloomy, that the queen started back in
+affright. But, re-assured by Siegfried's smiling face, she went forward
+again. The entrance-way was lighted by little torches held in the hands
+of tiny elves, who bowed in humble politeness to the kingly party. But,
+when once beyond the entrance-hall, no torches were needed to show the
+way; for the huge pile of glittering gold and sparkling jewels, which
+lay heaped up to the cavern's roof, lighted all the space around with a
+glory brighter than day.
+
+"There is the dwarf's treasure!" cried Siegfried. "Behold the Hoard of
+Andvari, the gathered wealth of the ages! Henceforth, fair Kriemhild, it
+is yours--all yours, save this serpent-ring."
+
+"And why not that too?" asked the queen; for she admired its glittering
+golden scales, and its staring ruby eyes.
+
+"Alas!" answered he, "a curse rests upon it,--the curse which Andvari
+the ancient laid upon it when Loki tore it from his hand. A miser's
+heart--selfish, cold, snaky--is bred in its owner's being; and he
+thenceforth lives a very serpent's life. Or, should he resist its
+influence, then death through the guile of pretended friends is sure to
+be his fate."
+
+"Then why," asked the queen,--"why do you keep it yourself? Why do you
+risk its bane? Why not give it to your sworn foe, or cast it into the
+sea, or melt it in the fire, and thus escape the curse?"
+
+Siegfried answered by telling how, when in the heyday of his youth, he
+had slain Fafnir, the keeper of this hoard, upon the Glittering Heath;
+and how, while still in the narrow trench which he had dug, the blood of
+the horrid beast had flown in upon him, and covered him up.
+
+"And this I have been told by Odin's birds," he went on to say, "that
+every part of my body that was touched by the slimy flood was made
+forever proof against sword and spear, and sharp weapons of every kind.
+Hence I have no cause to fear the stroke, either of open foes or of
+traitorous false friends."
+
+"But was all of your body covered with the dragon's blood? Was there no
+small spot untouched?" asked the queen, more anxious now than she had
+ever seemed to be before she had known aught of her husband's strange
+security from wounds.
+
+"Only one very little spot between the shoulders was left untouched,"
+answered Siegfried. "I afterwards found a lime-leaf sticking there, and
+I know that the slimy blood touched not that spot. But then who fears a
+thrust in the back? None save cowards are wounded there."
+
+"Ah!" said the queen, toying tremulously with the fatal ring, "that
+little lime-leaf may yet bring us unutterable woe."
+
+But Siegfried laughed at her fears; and he took the serpent-ring, and
+slipped it upon his forefinger, and said that he would wear it there,
+bane or no bane, so long as Odin would let him live.
+
+Then, after another long look at the heaps of glittering gold and
+priceless gem-stones, the company turned, and followed Alberich back,
+through the gloomy entranceway and the narrow door, to the open air
+again. And mounting their steeds, which stood ready, they started
+homewards. But, at the outer gate, Siegfried paused, and said to the
+dwarf at parting,--
+
+"Hearken, Alberich! The Hoard of Andvari is no longer mine. I have made
+a present of it to my queen. Hold it and guard it, therefore, as hers
+and hers alone; and, whatever her bidding may be regarding it, that do."
+
+"Your word is law, and shall be obeyed," said the dwarf, bowing low.
+
+Then the drowsy gate-keeper swung the heavy gate to its place, and the
+kingly party rode gayly away.
+
+On their way home the company went, by another route, through the narrow
+mountain pass which led towards the sea, and thence through a rocky
+gorge between two smoking mountains. And on one side of this road a
+great cavern yawned, so dark and deep that no man had ever dared to step
+inside of it. And as they paused before it, and listened, they heard,
+away down in its dismal depths, horrid groans, sad moanings, and faint
+wild shrieks, so far away that it seemed as if they had come from the
+very centre of the earth. And, while they still listened, the ground
+around them trembled and shook, and the smoking mountain on the other
+side of the gorge smoked blacker than before.
+
+"Loki is uneasy to-day," said Siegfried, as they all put spurs to their
+horses, and galloped swiftly home.
+
+It was the Cavern of the Mischief-maker which the party had visited;
+and that evening, as they again sat in Siegfried's pleasant hall, they
+amused themselves by telling many strange old tales of the mid-world's
+childhood, when the gods, and the giants, and the dwarf-folk, had their
+dwelling on the earth. But they talked most of Loki, the flame, the
+restless, the evil-doer. And this, my children, is the story that was
+told of the Doom of the Mischief-maker.[EN#30]
+
+
+
+The Story.
+
+
+
+You have heard of the feast that old AEgir once made for the Asa-folk in
+his gold-lit dwelling in the deep sea; and how the feast was hindered,
+through the loss of his great brewing-kettle, until Thor had obtained
+a still larger vessel from Hymer the giant. It is very likely that
+the thief who stole King AEgir's kettle was none other than Loki the
+Mischief-maker; but, if this was so, he was not long unpunished for his
+meanness.
+
+There was great joy in the Ocean-king's hall, when at last the banquet
+was ready, and the foaming ale began to pass itself around to the
+guests. But Thor, who had done so much to help matters along, could not
+stay to the merry-making: for he had heard that the Storm-giants were
+marshalling their forces for a raid upon some unguarded corner of the
+mid-world; and so, grasping his hammer Mjolner, he bade his kind host
+good-by, and leaped into his iron car.
+
+"Business always before pleasure!" he cried, as he gave the word to his
+swift, strong goats, and rattled away at a wonderful rate through the
+air.
+
+In old AEgir's hall glad music resounded on every side; and the gleeful
+Waves danced merrily as the Asa-folk sat around the festal-board, and
+partook of the Ocean-king's good fare. AEgir's two thralls, the faithful
+Funfeng and the trusty Elder, waited upon the guests, and carefully
+supplied their wants. Never in all the world had two more thoughtful
+servants been seen; and every one spoke in praise of their quickness,
+and their skill, and their ready obedience.
+
+Then Loki, unable to keep his hands from mischief, waxed very angry,
+because every one seemed happy and free from trouble, and no one noticed
+or cared for him. So, while good Funfeng was serving him to meat, he
+struck the faithful thrall with a carving-knife, and killed him. Then
+arose a great uproar in the Ocean-king's feast-hall. The Asa-folk rose
+up from the table, and drove the Mischief-maker out from among them; and
+in their wrath they chased him across the waters, and forced him to hide
+in the thick greenwood. After this they went back to AEgir's hall, and
+sat down again to the feast. But they had scarcely begun to eat, when
+Loki came quietly out of his hiding-place, and stole slyly around to
+AEgir's kitchen, where he found Elder, the other thrall, grieving sadly
+because of his brother's death.
+
+"I hear a great chattering and clattering over there in the feast-hall,"
+said Loki. "The greedy, silly Asa-folk seem to be very busy indeed, both
+with their teeth and their tongues. Tell me, now, good Elder, what they
+talk about while they sit over their meat and ale."
+
+"They talk of noble deeds," answered Elder. "They speak of gallant
+heroes, and brave men, and fair women, and strong hearts, and willing
+hands, and gentle manners, and kind friends. And for all these they have
+words of praise, and songs of beauty; but none of them speak well of
+Loki, the thief and the vile traitor."
+
+"Ah!" said Loki wrathfully, twisting himself into a dozen different
+shapes, "no one could ask so great a kindness from such folk. I must go
+into the feast-hall, and take a look at this fine company, and listen to
+their noisy merry-making. I have a fine scolding laid up for those good
+fellows; and, unless they are careful with their tongues, they will find
+many hard words mixed with their ale."
+
+Then he went boldly into the great hall, and stood up before the
+wonder-stricken guests at the table. When the Asa-folk saw who it was
+that had darkened the doorway, and was now in their midst, a painful
+silence fell upon them, and all their merriment was at an end. And Loki
+stretched himself up to his full height, and said to them,--
+
+"Hungry and thirsty come I to AEgir's gold lit hall. Long and rough was
+the road I trod, and wearisome was the way. Will no one bid me welcome?
+Will none give me a seat at the feast? Will none offer me a drink of the
+precious mead? Why are you all so dumb? Why so sulky and stiff-necked,
+when your best friend stands before you? Give me a seat among you,--yes,
+one of the high-seats,--or else drive me from your hall! In either case,
+the world will never forget me. I am Loki."
+
+Then one among the Asa-folk spoke up, and said, "Let him sit with us.
+He is mad; and when he slew Funfeng, he was not in his right mind. He is
+not answerable for his rash act."
+
+But Bragi the Wise, who sat on the innermost seat, arose, and said,
+"Nay, we will not give him a seat among us. Nevermore shall he feast
+or sup with us, or share our good-fellowship. Thieves and murderers we
+know, and will shun."
+
+This speech enraged Loki all the more; and he spared not vile words,
+but heaped abuse without stint upon all the folk before him. And by main
+force he seized hold of the silent Vidar, who had come from the forest
+solitudes to be present at the feast, and dragged him away from the
+table, and seated himself in his place. Then, as he quaffed the foaming
+ale, he flung out taunts and jeers and hard words to all who sat around,
+but chiefly to Bragi the Wise. Then he turned to Sif, the beautiful wife
+of Thor, and began to twit her about her golden hair.
+
+"Oh, how handsome you were, when you looked at your bald head in the
+mirror that day! Oh, what music you made when your hands touched your
+smooth pate! And now whose hair do you wear?"
+
+And the wretch laughed wickedly, as he saw the tears welling up in poor
+Sif's eyes.
+
+Then suddenly a great tumult was heard outside. The mountains shook
+and trembled; and the bottom of the sea seemed moved; and the waves,
+affrighted and angry, rushed hither and thither in confusion. All the
+guests looked up in eager expectation, and some of them fled in alarm
+from the hall. Then the mighty Thor strode through the door, and up
+to the table, swinging his hammer, and casting wrathful glances at the
+Mischief-maker. Loki trembled, and dropped his goblet, and sank down
+upon his knees before the terrible Asa.
+
+"I yield me!" he cried. "Spare my life, I pray you, and I will be your
+thrall forever!"
+
+"I want no such thrall," answered Thor. "And I spare your life on one
+condition only,--that you go at once from hence, and nevermore presume
+to come into the company of Asa-folk."
+
+"I promise all that you ask," said Loki, trembling more than ever. "Let
+me go."
+
+Thor stepped aside; and the frightened culprit fled from the hall, and
+was soon out of sight. The feast was broken up. The folk bade AEgir a
+kind farewell, and all embarked on Frey's good ship Skidbladner; and
+fair winds wafted them swiftly home to Asgard.
+
+Loki fled to the dark mountain gorges of Mist Land, and sought for a
+while to hide himself from the sight of both gods and men. In a deep
+ravine by the side of a roaring torrent, he built himself a house of
+iron and stone, and placed a door on each of its four sides, so that he
+could see whatever passed around him. There, for many winters, he lived
+in lonely solitude, planning with himself how he might baffle the gods,
+and regain his old place in Asgard. And now and then he slipped slyly
+away from his hiding-place, and wrought much mischief for a time among
+the abodes of men. But when Thor heard of his evil-doings, and sought
+to catch him, and punish him for his evil deeds, he was nowhere to be
+found. And at last the Asa-folk determined, that, if he could ever be
+captured, the safety of the world required that he should be bound hand
+and foot, and kept forever in prison.
+
+Loki often amused himself in his mountain home by taking upon him his
+favorite form of a salmon, and lying listlessly, beneath the waters
+of the great Fanander Cataract, which fell from the shelving rocks a
+thousand feet above him. One day while thus lying, he bethought himself
+of former days, when he walked the glad young earth in company with
+the All-Father. And among other things he remembered how he had once
+borrowed the magic net of Ran, the Ocean-queen, and had caught with it
+the dwarf Andvari, disguised, as he himself now was, in the form of a
+slippery salmon.
+
+"I will make me such a net!" he cried. "I will make it strong and good;
+and I, too, will fish for men."
+
+So he took again his proper shape, and went back to his cheerless home
+in the ravine. And he gathered flax and wool and long hemp, and spun
+yarn and strong cords, and wove them into meshes, after the pattern of
+Queen Ran's magic net; for men had not, at that time, learned how to
+make or use nets for fishing. And the first fisherman who caught fish in
+that way is said to have taken Loki's net as a model.
+
+Odin sat, on the morrow, in his high hall of Hlidskialf, and looked
+out over all the world, and saw, even to the uttermost corners, what
+men-folk were everywhere doing. When his eye rested upon the dark line
+which marked the mountain-land of the Mist Country, he started up in
+quick surprise, and cried out,
+
+"Who is that who sits by the Fanander Force, and ties strong cords
+together?"
+
+But none of those who stood around could tell, for their eyes were not
+strong enough and clear enough to see so far.
+
+"Bring Heimdal!" then cried Odin.
+
+Now, Heimdal the White dwells among the blue mountains of sunny
+Himminbjorg, where the rainbow, the shimmering Asa-bridge, spans the
+space betwixt heaven and earth. He is the son of Odin, golden-toothed,
+pure-faced, and clean-hearted; and he ever keeps watch and ward over the
+mid-world and the homes of frail men-folk, lest the giants shall break
+in, and destroy and slay. He rides upon a shining steed named Goldtop;
+and he holds in his hand a horn called Gjallar-horn, with which, in
+the last great twilight, he shall summon the world to battle with
+the Fenris-wolf and the sons of Loki. This watchful guardian of the
+mid-world is as wakeful as the birds. And his hearing is so keen, that
+no sound on earth escapes him,--not even that of the rippling waves upon
+the seashore, nor of the quiet sprouting of the grass in the meadows,
+nor even of the growth of the soft wool on the backs of sheep. And his
+eyesight, too, is wondrous clear and sharp; for he can see by night as
+well as by day, and the smallest thing, although a hundred leagues away,
+cannot be hidden from him.
+
+To Heimdal, then, the heralds hastened, bearing the words which Odin
+had spoken. And the watchful warder of the mid-world came at once to the
+call of the All-Father.
+
+"Turn your eyes to the sombre mountains that guard the shadowy Mist-land
+from the sea," said Odin, "Now look far down into the rocky gorge in
+which the Fanander Cataract pours, and tell me what you see."
+
+Heimdal did as he was bidden.
+
+"I see a shape," said he, "sitting by the torrent's side. It is Loki's
+shape, and he seems strangely busy with strong strings and cords."
+
+"Call all our folk together!" commanded Odin. "The wily Mischief-maker
+plots our hurt. He must be driven from his hiding-place, and put where
+he can do no further harm."
+
+Great stir was there then in Asgard. Every one hastened to answer Odin's
+call, and to join in the quest for the Mischief-maker. Thor came on
+foot, with his hammer tightly grasped in his hands, and lightning
+flashing from beneath his red brows. Tyr, the one-handed, came with
+his sword. Then followed Bragi the Wise, with his harp and his sage
+counsels; then Hermod the Nimble, with his quick wit and ready hands;
+and, lastly, a great company of elves and wood-sprites and trolls.
+Then a whirlwind caught them up in its swirling arms, and carried
+them through the air, over the hill-tops and the country-side, and
+the meadows and the mountains, and set them down in the gorge of the
+Fanander Force.
+
+But Loki was not caught napping. His wakeful ears had heard the tumult
+in the air, and he guessed who it was that was coming. He threw the net,
+which he had just finished, into the fire, and jumped quickly into the
+swift torrent, where, changing himself into a salmon, he lay hidden
+beneath the foaming waters.
+
+When the eager Asa-folk reached Loki's dwelling, they found that he whom
+they sought had fled; and although they searched high and low, among the
+rocks and the caves and the snowy crags, they could see no signs of the
+cunning fugitive. Then they went back to his house again to consult what
+next to do. And, while standing by the hearth, Kwaser, a sharp-sighted
+elf, whose eyes were quicker than the sunbeam, saw the white ashes of
+the burned net lying undisturbed in the still hot embers, the woven
+meshes unbroken and whole.
+
+"See what the cunning fellow has been making!" cried the elf. "It must
+have been a trap for catching fish."
+
+"Or rather for catching men," said Bragi; "for it is strangely like the
+Sea-queen's net."
+
+"In that case," said Hermod the Nimble, "he has made a trap for himself;
+for, no doubt, he has changed himself, as is his wont, to a slippery
+salmon, and lies at this moment hidden beneath the Fanander torrent.
+Here are plenty of cords of flax and hemp and wool, with which he
+intended to make other nets. Let us take them, and weave one like the
+pattern which lies there in the embers; and then, if I mistake not, we
+shall catch the too cunning fellow."
+
+All saw the wisdom of these words, and all set quickly to work. In
+a short time they had made a net strong and large, and full of fine
+meshes, like the model among the coals. Then they threw it into the
+roaring stream, Thor holding to one end, and all the other folk pulling
+at the other. With great toil, they dragged it forwards, against the
+current, even to the foot of the waterfall. But the cunning Loki crept
+close down between two sharp stones, and lay there quietly while the net
+passed harmlessly over him.
+
+"Let us try again!" cried Thor. "I am sure that something besides dead
+rocks lies at the bottom of the stream."
+
+So they hung heavy weights to the net, and began to drag it a
+second time, this time going down stream. Loki looked out from his
+hiding-place, and saw that he would not be able to escape again by lying
+between the rocks, and that his only chance for safety was either to
+leap over the net, and hide himself behind the rushing cataract itself,
+or to swim with the current out to the sea. But the way to the sea was
+long, and there were many shallow places; and Loki had doubts as to
+how old AEgir would receive him in his kingdom. He feared greatly to
+undertake so dangerous and uncertain a course. So, turning upon his
+foes, and calling up all his strength, he made a tremendous leap high
+into the air, and clean over the net. But Thor was too quick for him. As
+he fell towards the water, the Thunderer quickly threw out his hand, and
+caught the slippery salmon, holding him firmly by the tail.
+
+When Loki found that he was surely caught, and could not by any means
+escape, he took again his proper shape. Fiercely did he struggle with
+mighty Thor, and bitter were the curses which he poured down upon his
+enemies. But he could not get free. Into the deep, dark cavern, beneath
+the smoking mountain, where daylight never comes, nor the warmth of
+the sun, nor the sound of Nature's music, the fallen Mischief-maker was
+carried. And they bound him firmly to the sharp rocks, with his face
+turned upwards toward the dripping roof; for they said that nevermore,
+until the last dread twilight, should he be free to vex the world with
+his wickedness. And Skade, the giant wife of Niord and the daughter of
+grim Old Winter, took a hideous poison snake, and hung it up above Loki,
+so that its venom would drop into his upturned face. But Sigyn, the
+loving wife of the suffering wretch, left her home in the pleasant halls
+of Asgard, and came to his horrible prison-house to soothe and comfort
+him; and evermore she holds a basin above his head, and catches in it
+the poisonous drops as they fall. When the basin is filled, and she
+turns to empty it in the tar-black river that flows through that home
+of horrors, the terrible venom falls upon his unprotected face, and Loki
+writhes and shrieks in fearful agony, until the earth around him
+shakes and trembles, and the mountains spit forth fire, and fumes of
+sulphur-smoke.
+
+And there the Mischief-maker, the spirit of evil, shall lie in torment
+until the last great day and the dread twilight of all mid-world things.
+How strange and how sad, that, while Loki lies thus bound and harmless,
+evil still walks the earth, and that so much mischief and such dire
+disasters were prepared for Siegfried and the folk of Nibelungen Land!
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XVIII. How the Mischief Began to Brew.
+
+
+
+One day a party of strangers came to Siegfried's Nibelungen dwelling,
+and asked to speak with the king.
+
+"Who are you? and what is your errand?" asked the porter at the gate.
+
+"Our errand is to the king, and he will know who we are when he sees
+us," was the answer.
+
+When Siegfried was told of the strange men who waited below, and of
+the strange way in which they had answered the porter's question, he
+asked,--
+
+"From what country seem they to have come? For surely their dress and
+manners will betray something of that matter to you. Are they South-land
+folk, or East-land folk? Are they from the mountains, or from the sea?"
+
+"They belong to none of the neighbor-lands," answered the earl who had
+brought the word to the king. "No such men live upon our borders. They
+seem to have come from a far-off land; for they are travel-worn, and
+their sea-stained clothing betokens a people from the south. They are
+tall and dark, and their hair is black, and they look much like those
+Rhineland warriors who came hither with our lady the queen. And they
+carry a blood-red banner with a golden dragon painted upon it."
+
+"Oh, they must be from Burgundy!" cried the queen, who had overheard
+these words. And she went at once to the window to see the strangers,
+who were waiting in the courtyard below.
+
+There, indeed, she saw thirty tall Burgundians, clad in the gay costume
+of Rhineland, now faded and worn with long travel. But all save one were
+young, and strangers to Kriemhild. That one was their leader,--an old
+man with a kind face, and a right noble bearing.
+
+"See!" said the queen to Siegfried: "there is our brave captain Gere,
+who, ever since my childhood, has been the trustiest man in my brother
+Gunther's household. Those men are from the fatherland, and they bring
+tidings from the dear old Burgundian home."
+
+"Welcome are they to our Nibelungen Land!" cried the delighted king.
+
+And he ordered that the strangers should be brought into the castle,
+and that the most sumptuous rooms should be allotted to them, and a
+plenteous meal prepared, and every thing done to entertain them in a
+style befitting messengers from Kriemhild's fatherland. Then Gere, the
+trusty captain, was led into the presence of the king and queen. Right
+gladly did they welcome him, and many were the questions they asked
+about their kin-folk, and the old Rhineland home.
+
+"Tell us, good Gere," said Siegfried, "what is thy message from our
+friends; for we are anxious to know whether they are well and happy, or
+whether some ill luck has overtaken them. If any harm threatens them,
+they have but to speak, and I, with my sword and my treasures, will
+hasten to their help."
+
+"They are all well," answered the captain. "No ill has befallen them,
+and no harm threatens them. Peace rules all the land; and fair weather
+and sunshine have filled the people's barns, and made their hearts glad.
+And thus it has been ever since Gunther brought to his dwelling the
+warrior-maiden Brunhild to be his queen. And this is my errand and the
+message that I bring: King Gunther, blessed with happiness, intends
+to hold a grand high-tide of joy and thanksgiving at the time of the
+harvest-moon. And nothing is wanting to complete the gladness of that
+time, but the sight of you and the peerless Kriemhild in your old places
+at the feast. And it is to invite you to this festival of rejoicing that
+I have come, at the king's command, to Nibelungen Land."
+
+Siegfried sat a moment in silence, and then thoughtfully answered,--
+
+"It is a long, long journey from this land to Burgundy, and many dangers
+beset the road; and my own people would sadly miss me while away, and I
+know not what mishaps might befall."
+
+Then Gere spoke of the queen-mother Ute, now grown old and feeble,
+who wished once more, ere death called her hence, to see her daughter
+Kriemhild. And he told how all the people, both high and low, yearned
+for another sight of the radiant hero who in former days had blessed
+their land with his presence and his noble deeds. And his persuasive
+words had much weight with Siegfried, who said at length,--
+
+"Tarry a few days yet for my answer. I will talk with my friends and the
+Nibelungen earls; and what they think best, that will I do."
+
+For nine days, then, waited Gere at Siegfried's hall; but still the king
+put off his answer.
+
+"Wait until to-morrow," he said each day, for his heart whispered dim
+forebodings.
+
+At length, as midsummer was fast drawing near, the impatient captain
+could stay no longer; and he bade his followers make ready to go back
+forthwith to Burgundy. When the queen saw that they were ready to
+take their leave, and that Gere could wait no longer upon the king's
+pleasure, she urged her husband to say to Gunther that they would come
+to his harvest festival. And the lords and noble earl-folk added their
+persuasions to hers.
+
+"Send word back to the Burgundian king," said they, "that you will go,
+as he desires. We will see to it that no harm comes to your kingdom
+while you are away."
+
+So Siegfried called Gere and his comrades into the ball, and loaded them
+with costly gifts such as they had never before seen, and bade them say
+to their master that he gladly accepted the kind invitation he had sent,
+and that, ere the harvest high-tide began, he and Kriemhild would be
+with him in Burgundy.
+
+And the messengers went back with all speed, and told what wondrous
+things they had seen in Nibelungen Land, and in what great splendor
+Siegfried lived. And, when they showed the rare presents which had been
+given them, all joined in praising the goodness and greatness of the
+hero-king. But old chief Hagen frowned darkly as he said,--
+
+"It is little wonder that he can do such things, for the Shining Hoard
+of Andvari is his. If we had such a treasure, we, too, might live in
+more than kingly grandeur."
+
+Early in the month of roses, Siegfried and his peerless queen, with a
+retinue of more than a thousand warriors and many fair ladies, started
+on their long and toilsome journey to the South-land. And the folk who
+went with them to the city gates bade them mane tearful farewells, and
+returned to their homes, feeling that the sunshine had gone forever from
+the Nibelungen Land. But the sky was blue and cloudless, and the breezes
+warm and mild, and glad was the song of the reapers as adown the seaward
+highway the kingly company rode. Two days they rode through Mist Land,
+to the shore of the peaceful sea. Ten days they sailed on the waters.
+And the winds were soft and gentle; and the waves slept in the sunlight,
+or merrily danced in their wake. But each day, far behind them, there
+followed a storm-cloud, dark as night, and the pleasant shores of Mist
+Land were hidden forever behind it. Five days they rode through the
+Lowlands, and glad were the Lowland folk with sight of their hero-king.
+Two days through the silent greenwood, and one o'er the barren moor, and
+three amid vineyards and fields, and between orchards fruitful and fair,
+they rode. And on the four and twentieth day they came in sight of the
+quiet town, and the tall gray towers, where dwelt the Burgundian kings.
+And a great company on horseback, with flashing shields and fine-wrought
+garments and nodding plumes, came out to meet them. It was King Gernot
+and a thousand of the best men and fairest women in Burgundy; and they
+welcomed Siegfried and Kriemhild and their Nibelungen-folk to the fair
+land of the Rhine. And then they turned, and rode back with them to the
+castle. And, as the company passed through the pleasant streets of the
+town, the people stood by the wayside, anxious to catch sight of the
+radiant Siegfried on his sunbright steed, and of the peerless Kriemhild,
+riding on a palfrey by his side. And young girls strewed roses in their
+pathway, and hung garlands upon their horses; and every one shouted,
+"Hail to the conquering hero! Hail to the matchless queen!"
+
+When they reached the castle, King Gunther and Giselher met them, and
+ushered them into the old familiar halls, where a right hearty welcome
+greeted them from all the kingly household. And none seemed more glad
+in this happy hour than Brunhild the warrior-queen, now more gloriously
+beautiful than even in the days of yore.
+
+When the harvest-moon began to shine full and bright, lighting up the
+whole world from evening till morn with its soft radiance, the gay
+festival so long looked forward to began. And care and anxiety, and the
+fatigues of the long journey, were forgotten amid the endless round of
+pleasure which for twelve days enlivened the whole of Burgundy. And the
+chiefest honors were everywhere paid to Siegfried the hero-king, and to
+Kriemhild the peerless queen of beauty.
+
+Then Queen Brunhild called to mind, how, on a time, it had been told
+her in Isenland that Siegfried was but the liegeman and vassal of King
+Gunther; and she wondered why such honor should be paid to an underling,
+and why the king himself should treat him with so much respect. And as
+she thought of this, and of the high praises with which every one spoke
+of Kriemhild, her mind became filled with jealous broodings. And soon
+her bitter jealousy was turned to deadly hate; for she remembered then,
+how, in the days long past, a noble youth, more beautiful and more
+glorious than the world would ever see again, had awakened her from the
+deep sleep that Odin's thorn had given; and she remembered how Gunther
+had won her by deeds of strength and skill which he never afterwards
+could even imitate; and she thought how grand indeed was Kriemhild's
+husband compared with her own weak and wavering and commonplace lord.
+And her soul was filled with sorrow and bitterness and deepest misery,
+when, putting these thoughts together, she believed that she had in some
+way been duped and cheated into becoming Gunther's wife.
+
+When at last the gay feast was ended, and most of the guests had gone
+to their homes, she sought her husband, and thus broached the matter to
+him.
+
+"Often have I asked you," said she, "why your sister Kriemhild was given
+in marriage to a vassal, and as often have you put me off with vague
+excuses. Often, too, have I wondered why your vassal, Siegfried, has
+never paid you tribute for the lands which he holds from you, and why he
+has never come to render you homage. Now he is here in your castle; but
+he sets himself up, not as your vassal, but as your peer. I pray you,
+tell me what such strange things mean. Was an underling and a vassal
+ever known before to put himself upon a level with his liege lord?"
+
+Gunther was greatly troubled, and he knew not what to say; for he feared
+to tell the queen how they had deceived her when he had won the games at
+Isenstein, and how the truth had ever since been kept hidden from her.
+
+"Ask me not to explain this matter further than I have already done,"
+he answered. "It is enough that Siegfried is the greatest of all my
+vassals, and that his lands are broader even than my own. He has helped
+me out of many straits, and has added much to the greatness and strength
+of my kingdom: for this reason he has never been asked to pay us
+tribute, and for this reason we grant him highest honors."
+
+But this answer failed to satisfy the queen.
+
+"Is it not the first duty of a vassal," she asked, "to help his liege
+lord in every undertaking? If so, Siegfried has but done his duty, and
+you owe him nothing. But you have not told me all. You have deceived me,
+and you would fain deceive me again. You have a secret, and I will find
+it out."
+
+The king made no answer, but walked silently and thoughtfully away.
+
+It happened one evening, not long thereafter, that the two queens sat
+together at an upper window, and looked down upon a company of men in
+the courtyard below. Among them were the noblest earl-folk of Burgundy,
+and Gunther the king, and Siegfried. But Siegfried towered above all the
+rest; and he moved like a god among men.
+
+"See my noble Siegfried!" cried Kriemhild in her pride. "How grandly he
+stands there! What a type of manly beauty and strength! No one cares to
+look at other men when he is near."
+
+"He maybe handsome," answered Brunhild sadly; "and, for aught I know, he
+may be noble. But what is all that by the side of kingly power? Were he
+but the peer of your brother Gunther, then you might well boast."
+
+"He is the peer of Gunther," returned Kriemhild. "And not only his peer,
+but more; for he stands as high above him in kingly power and worth as
+in bodily stature."
+
+"How can that be?" asked Brunhild, growing angry. "For, when Gunther so
+gallantly won me at Isenstein, he told me that Siegfried was his vassal;
+and often since that time I have heard the same. And even your husband
+told me that Gunther was his liege lord."
+
+Queen Kriemhild laughed at these words, and answered, "I tell you again
+that Siegfried is a king far nobler and richer and higher than any other
+king on earth. Think you that my brothers would have given me to a mere
+vassal to be his wife?"
+
+Then Brunhild, full of wrath, replied, "Your husband is Gunther's vassal
+and my own, and he shall do homage to us as the humblest and meanest of
+our underlings. He shall not go from this place until he has paid all
+the tribute that has so long been due from him. Then we shall see who is
+the vassal, and who is the lord."
+
+"Nay," answered Kriemhild. "It shall not be. No tribute was ever due;
+and, if homage is to be paid, it is rather Gunther who must pay it."
+
+"It shall be settled once for all!" cried Brunhild, now boiling over
+with rage. "I will know the truth. If Siegfried is not our vassal, then
+I have been duped; and I will have revenge."
+
+"It is well," was the mild answer. "Let it be settled, once for all;
+and then, mayhap, we shall know who it was who really won the games at
+Isenstein, and you for Gunther's wife."
+
+And the two queens parted in wrath.[EN#31]
+
+Kriemhild's anger was as fleeting as an April cloud, which does but
+threaten, and then passes away in tears and sunshine. But Brunhild's was
+like the dread winter storm that sweeps down from Niflheim, and brings
+ruin and death in its wake. She felt that she had been cruelly wronged
+in some way, and that her life had been wrecked, and she rested not
+until she had learned the truth.
+
+It was Hagen who at last told her the story of the cruel deceit that
+had made her Gunther's wife; and then her wrath and her shame knew no
+bounds.
+
+"Woe betide the day!" she cried,--"woe betide the day that brought me to
+Rhineland, and made me the wife of a weakling and coward, and the jest
+of him who might have done nobler things!"
+
+Hagen smiled. He had long waited for this day.
+
+"It was Siegfried, and Siegfried alone, who plotted to deceive you,"
+he said. "Had it not been for him, you might still have been the happy
+maiden-queen of Isenland. And now he laughs at you, and urges his queen,
+Kriemhild, to scorn you as she would an underling."
+
+"I know it, I know it," returned the queen in distress. "And yet how
+grandly noble is the man! How he rushed through the flames to awaken me,
+when no one else could save! How brave, how handsome,--and yet he has
+been my bane. I can have no peace while he lives."
+
+Hagen smiled again, and a strange light gleamed from his dark eye. Then
+he said, "Truly handsome and brave is he, but a viler traitor was never
+born. He even now plots to seize this kingdom, and to add it to his
+domain. Why else should he bring so great a retinue of Nibelungen
+warriors to Burgundy? I will see King Gunther at once, and we will put
+an end to his wicked projects."
+
+"Do even so, good Hagen," said Brunhild. "Take him from my path, and
+bring low the haughty pride of his wife, and I shall be content."
+
+"That I will do!" cried Hagen. "That I will do! Gunther is and shall be
+the king without a peer; and no one shall dare dispute the worth and the
+queenly beauty of his wife."
+
+Then the wily chief sought Gunther, and with cunning words poisoned his
+weak mind. The feeble old king was easily made to believe that Siegfried
+was plotting against his life, and seeking to wrest the kingdom from
+him. And he forgot the many kind favors he had received at the hero's
+hand. He no longer remembered how Siegfried had slain the terror of the
+Glittering Heath, and freed the Burgundians from many a fear; and how
+he had routed the warlike hosts of the North-land, and made prisoners
+of their kings; and how he had brought his voyage to Isenland to a happy
+and successful ending. He forgot, also, that Siegfried was his sister's
+husband. He had ears and mind only for Hagen's wily words.
+
+"While this man lives," said the dark-browed chief, "none of us are
+safe. See how the people follow him! Hear how they shout at his coming!
+They look upon him as a god, and upon Gunther as a nobody. If we are
+wise, we shall rid ourselves of so dangerous a man."
+
+"It is but a week until he takes his leave of us, and goes back to his
+own home in Nibelungen Land. Watch him carefully until that time, but do
+him no harm. When he is once gone, he shall never come back again," said
+the king. But he spoke thus, not because of any kind feelings towards
+Siegfried, but rather because he feared the Nibelungen hero.
+
+"He has no thought of going at that time," answered Hagen. "He speaks of
+it, only to hide his wicked and traitorous plots. Instead of going home,
+his plans will then be ready for action, and it will be too late for
+us to save ourselves. Still, if you will not believe me, take your own
+course. You have been warned."
+
+The cunning chief arose to leave the room; but Gunther, now thoroughly
+frightened, stopped him.
+
+"Hagen," he said, "you have always been my friend, and the words which
+you say are wise. Save us and our kingdom now, in whatsoever way you may
+deem best. I know not what to do."
+
+Then the weak king and the warrior-chief talked long together in low,
+hoarse whispers. And, when they parted, shame and guilt were stamped in
+plain lines on Gunther's face, from which they were nevermore erased;
+and he dared not lift his gaze from the floor, fearing that his eyes
+would betray him, if seen by any more pure-hearted than he. But a smile
+of triumph played under the lurking gleams of Hagen's eye; and he walked
+erect and bold, as if he had done a praiseworthy deed.
+
+That night a storm came sweeping down from the North, and the cold rain
+fell in torrents; and great hailstones pattered on the roofs and towers
+of the castle, and cruelly pelted the cattle in the fields, and the
+birds in the friendly shelter of the trees. And old Thor fought
+bravely with the Storm-giants; and all night long the rattle of his
+chariot-wheels, and the heavy strokes of his dread hammer, were heard
+resounding through the heavens. In his lonely chamber Hagen sat and
+rubbed his hands together, and grimly smiled.
+
+"The time so long waited for has come at last," he said.
+
+But the guilty king, unable to sleep, walked restlessly to and fro, and
+trembled with fear at every sound of the storm-gust without.
+
+When day dawned at last, a sad scene met the eyes of all beholders. The
+earth was covered with the broken branches of leafy trees; the flowers
+and shrubs were beaten pitilessly to the ground; and here and there lay
+the dead bodies of little feathered songsters, who, the day before, had
+made the woods glad with their music.
+
+The sun had scarcely risen above this sorrowful scene, gilding the gray
+towers and turrets and the drooping trees with the promise of
+better things, than a strange confusion was noticed outside of the
+castle-gates. Thirty and two horsemen wearing the livery of the
+North-lands stood there, and asked to be led to the Burgundian kings.
+
+"Who are you? and what is your errand?" asked the gate-keeper.
+
+"We come as heralds and messengers from Leudiger and Leudigast, the
+mighty kings of the North," they answered. "But our errand we can tell
+to no man save to Gunther your king, or to his brothers Gernot and
+Giselher."
+
+Then they were led by the king's command into the council-hall, where
+sat Gunther, Gernot, and the noble Giselher; and behind them stood their
+uncle and chief, brave old Hagen.
+
+"What message bring you from our old friends Leudiger and Leudigast?"
+asked Gunther of the strangers.
+
+"Call them not your friends," answered the chief of the company. "We
+bring you this message from our liege lords, whom you may well count as
+enemies. Many years ago they were sorely beaten in battle, and suffered
+much hurt at your hands. And they vowed then to avenge the injury, and
+to wipe out the disgrace you had caused them, just so soon as they were
+strong enough to do so. Now they are ready, with fifty thousand men, to
+march into your country. And they swear to lay waste your lands, and to
+burn your towns and villages and all your castles, unless you at once
+acknowledge yourselves their vassals, and agree to pay them tribute.
+This is the kings' message. And we were further ordered not to wait for
+an answer, but to carry back to them without delay your reply, whether
+you will agree to their terms or no."
+
+King Gunther, as was his wont, turned to Hagen for advice.
+
+"Send for Siegfried," whispered the chief.
+
+It was done. And soon the hero came into the hall. His kingly grace and
+warlike bearing were such that Gunther dared not raise his guilty eyes
+from the ground; and Hagen's furtive glances were, for the moment,
+freighted with fear and shame. The message of the heralds was repeated
+to Siegfried; and Gunther said,--
+
+"Most noble friend, you hear what word these traitorous kings dare send
+us. Now, we remember, that, long years ago, you led us against them,
+and gave us a glorious victory. We remember, too, how, by your counsel,
+their lives were spared, and they were sent home with costly gifts. It
+is thus they repay our kindness. What answer shall we send them?"
+
+"Say that we will fight," answered Siegfried at once. "I will lead my
+brave Nibelungens against them, and they shall learn how serious a thing
+it is to break an oath, or to return treason for kindness."
+
+The news soon spread through all the town and through the country-side,
+that Leudiger and Leudigast, with fifty thousand men, were marching into
+Burgundy, and destroying every thing in their way. And great flight and
+confusion prevailed. Men and women hurried hither and thither in dismay.
+Soldiers busily sharpened their weapons, and burnished their armor,
+ready for the fray. Little children were seen cowering at every sound,
+and anxious faces were found everywhere.
+
+When Queen Kriemhild saw the busy tumult, and heard the shouts and cries
+in the street and the courtyard, and learned the cause of it all, she
+was greatly troubled, and went at once to seek Siegfried. When she found
+him, she drew him aside, and besought him not to take part in the war
+which threatened, but to hasten with all speed back to their own loved
+Nibelungen Land.
+
+"And why would my noble queen wish me thus to play the part of a coward,
+and to leave my friends when they most need my help?" asked Siegfried in
+surprise.
+
+"I would not have you play the coward," answered Kriemhild, and hot
+tears stood in her eyes. "But some unseen danger overhangs. There are
+other traitors than Leudiger and Leudigast, and men to be more feared
+than they. Last night I dreamed a fearful dream, and it follows me
+still. I dreamed that you hunted in the forest, and that two wild boars
+attacked you. The grass and the flowers were stained with your gore,
+and the cruel tusks of the beasts tore you in pieces, and no one came
+to your help. And I cried out in my distress, and awoke; and the
+storm-clouds roared and threatened, and the hail pattered on the roof,
+and the wind and rain beat against the windowpanes. Then I slept again,
+and another dream, as fearful as the first, came to me. I dreamed that
+you rode in the forest, and that music sprang up in your footsteps, and
+all things living called you blessed, but that suddenly two mountains
+rose up from the ground, and their high granite crags toppled over, and
+fell upon you, and buried you from my sight forever. Then I awoke again,
+and my heart has ever since been heavy with fearful forebodings. I know
+that some dread evil threatens us; yet, what it is, I cannot tell. But
+go not out against the North-kings. Our Nibelungen-folk wait too long
+for your coming."
+
+Siegfried gayly laughed at his queen's fears, and said, "The woof of
+every man's fate has been woven by the Norns, and neither he nor his
+foes can change it. When his hour comes, then he must go to meet his
+destiny."
+
+Then he led her gently back to her room in the castle, and bade her a
+loving farewell, saying, "When the foes of our Burgundian hosts are put
+to flight, and there is no longer need for us here, then will we hasten
+back to Nibelungen Land. Have patience and hope for a few days only, and
+all will yet be well. Forget your foolish dreams, and think only of my
+glad return."
+
+It was arranged, that, in the march against the North-kings, Siegfried
+with his Nibelungens should take the lead; while Hagen, with a picked
+company of fighting-men, should bring up the rear. Every one was eager
+to join in the undertaking; and no one, save King Gunther and his
+cunning counsellor, and Ortwin and Dankwart, knew that the pretended
+heralds from the North-kings were not heralds at all, but merely the
+false tools of wicked Hagen. For the whole was but a well-planned plot,
+as we shall see, to entrap unwary, trusting Siegfried.
+
+Soon all things were in readiness for the march; but, as the day was now
+well spent, it was agreed, that, at early dawn of the morrow, the little
+army should set out. And every one went home to put his affairs in
+order, and to rest for the night.
+
+Late that evening old Hagen went to bid Siegfried's queen good-by.
+Kriemhild had tried hard to drown her gloomy fears, and to forget her
+sad, foreboding dreams; but it was all in vain, for deep anxiety still
+rested heavily upon her mind. Yet she welcomed her dark-browed uncle
+with the kindest words.
+
+"How glad I am," she said, "that my husband is here to help my kinsfolk
+in this their time of need! I know right well, that, with him to lead,
+you shall win. But, dear uncle, remember, when you are in the battle,
+that we have always loved you, and that Siegfried has done many
+kindnesses to the Burgundians; and, if any danger threaten him, turn
+it aside, I pray you, for Kriemhild's sake. I know that I merit Queen
+Brunhild's anger, because of the sharp words I lately spoke to her; but
+let not my husband suffer blame for that which is my fault alone."
+
+"Kriemhild," answered Hagen, "no one shall suffer blame,--neither
+Siegfried nor yourself. We are all forgetful, and sometimes speak hasty
+words; but that which we say in angry thoughtlessness should not be
+cherished up against us. There is no one who thinks more highly of
+Siegfried than I, and there is nothing I would not do to serve him."
+
+"I should not fear for him," said she, "if he were not so bold and
+reckless. When he is in the battle, he never thinks of his own safety.
+And I tremble lest at some time he may dare too much, and meet his
+death. If you knew every thing, as I do, you would fear for him too."
+
+"What is it?" asked Hagen, trying to hide his eagerness,--"what is it
+that gives you cause for fear? Tell me all about it, and then I will
+know the better how to shield him from danger. I will lay down my life
+for his sake."
+
+Then Kriemhild, trusting in her uncle's word, and forgetful of every
+caution, told him the secret of the dragon's blood, and of Siegfried's
+strange bath, and of the mischief-working lime-leaf.
+
+"And now," she added, "since I know that there is one spot which a
+deadly weapon might reach, I am in constant fear that the spear of
+an enemy may, perchance, strike him there. Is there not some way of
+shielding that spot?"
+
+"There is," answered Hagen. "Make some mark, or put some sign, upon his
+coat, that I may know where that spot is. And, when the battle rages, I
+will ride close behind him, and ward off every threatened stroke."
+
+And Kriemhild joyfully promised that she would at once embroider a
+silken lime-leaf on the hero's coat, just over the fatal spot. And
+Hagen, well pleased, bade her farewell, and went away.
+
+Without delay the chief sought the weak-minded Gunther, and to him he
+related all that the trustful Kriemhild had told him. And, until the
+midnight hour, the two plotters sat in the king's bed-chamber, and laid
+their cunning plans. Both thought it best, now they had learned the
+fatal secret, to give up the sham march against the North-kings, and to
+seek by other and easier means to lure Siegfried to his death.
+
+"The chiefs will be much displeased," said Gunther. "For all will come,
+ready to march at the rising of the sun. What shall we do to please
+them, and make them more ready to change their plans?"
+
+Hagen thought a moment, and then the grim smile that was wont to break
+the dark lines of his face when he was pleased spread over his features.
+
+"We will have a grand hunt in the Odenwald to-morrow," he hoarsely
+whispered.
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XIX. How They Hunted in the Odenwald.
+
+
+
+Next morning, at earliest daybreak, while yet the stars were bright, and
+the trees hung heavy with dew-drops, and the clouds were light and high,
+King Siegfried stood with his warriors before the castle-gate. They
+waited but for the sunrise, and a word from Gunther the king, to ride
+forth over dale and woodland, and through forest and brake and field, to
+meet, as they believed, the hosts of the North-land kings. And Siegfried
+moved among them, calm-faced and bright as a war-god, upon the radiant
+Greyfell. And men said, long years afterward, that never had the shining
+hero seemed so glorious to their sight. Within the spacious courtyard a
+thousand Burgundian braves stood waiting, too, for the signal, and the
+king's word of command. And at their head stood Hagen, dark as a cloud
+in summer, guilefully hiding his vile plots, and giving out orders for
+the marching. There, too, were honest Gernot, fearless and upright, and
+Giselher, true as gold; and neither of them dreamed of evil, or of the
+dark deed that day was doomed to see. Close by the gate was Ortwin,
+bearing aloft the blood-red dragon-banner, which the Burgundians were
+wont to carry in honor of Siegfried's famous fight with Fafnir. And
+there was Dankwart, also, ever ready to boast when no danger threatened,
+and ever willing to do chief Hagen's bidding. And next came Volker the
+Fiddler good, with the famed sword Fiddle-bow by him, on which, it
+is said, he could make the sweetest music while fighting his foes in
+battle.
+
+At length the sun began to peep over the eastern hills, and his beams
+fell upon the castle-walls, and shot away through the trees, and over
+the meadows, and made the dewdrops glisten like myriads of diamonds
+among the dripping leaves and blossoms. And a glad shout went up from
+the throats of the waiting heroes; for they thought that the looked-for
+moment had come, and the march would soon begin. And the shout was
+echoed from walls to turrets, and from turrets to trees, and from trees
+to hills, and from the hills to the vaulted sky above. And nothing was
+wanting now but King Gunther's word of command.
+
+Suddenly, far down the street, the sound of a bugle was heard, and then
+of the swift clattering of horses' hoofs coming up the hill towards the
+castle.
+
+"Who are they who come thus to join us at the last moment?" asked Hagen
+of the watchman above the gate.
+
+"They are strangers," answered the watchman; "and they carry a
+peace-flag."
+
+In a few moments the strange horsemen dashed up, and halted some
+distance from the castle-gate, where Siegfried and his heroes stood.
+
+"Who are you? and what is your errand?" cried Hagen, in the king's name.
+
+They answered that they were heralds from the North-land kings, sent
+quickly to correct the message of the day before; for their liege
+lords, Leudiger and Leudigast, they said, had given up warring against
+Burgundy, and had gone back to their homes. And they had sent humbly to
+ask the Rhineland kings to forget the rash threats which they had made,
+and to allow them to swear fealty to Gunther, and henceforth to be his
+humble vassals, if only they might be forgiven.
+
+"Right cheerfully do we forgive them!" cried Gunther, not waiting to
+consult with his wise men. "And our forgiveness shall be so full, that
+we shall ask neither fealty nor tribute from them."
+
+Then he turned to Siegfried, and said, "You hear, friend Siegfried, how
+this troublesome matter has been happily ended. Accept our thanks, we
+pray you, for your proffered help; for, without it, it might have gone
+but roughly with us in a second war with the Northland kings. But now
+you are free to do what pleases you. If, as you said yesterday, you
+would fain return to Nibelungen Land, you may send your warriors on the
+way to-day, for they are already equipped for the journey. But abide you
+with us another day, and to-morrow we will bid you God-speed, and you
+may easily overtake your Nibelungen friends ere they have reached our
+own boundaries."
+
+Siegfried was not well pleased to give up an undertaking scarce begun,
+and still less could he understand why the king should be so ready to
+forgive the affront which the North-land kings had offered him. And
+he was not slow in reading the look of shame and guilt that lurked in
+Gunther's face, or the smile of jealous hate that Hagen could no longer
+hide. Yet no word of displeasure spoke he, nor seemed he to understand
+that any mischief was brewing; for he feared neither force nor guile.
+So he bade his Nibelungens to begin their homeward march, saying that he
+and Kriemhild, and the ladies of her train, would follow swiftly on the
+morrow.
+
+"Since it is your last day with us," said Gunther, grown cunning through
+Hagen's teaching, "what say you, dear Siegfried, to a hunt in Odin's
+Wood?"
+
+"Right glad will I be to join you in such sport," answered Siegfried.
+"I will change my war-coat for a hunting-suit, and be ready within an
+hour."
+
+Then Siegfried went to his apartments, and doffed his steel-clad armor,
+and searched in vain through his wardrobe for his favorite hunting-suit.
+But it was nowhere to be found; and he was fain to put on the rich
+embroidered coat which he sometimes wore in battle, instead of a
+coat-of-mail. And he did not see the white lime-leaf that Kriemhild with
+anxious care had worked in silk upon it. Then he sought the queen, and
+told her of the unlooked-for change of plans, and how, on the morrow,
+they would ride towards Nibelungen Land; but to-day he said he had
+promised Gunther to hunt with him in the Odenwald.
+
+But Kriemhild, to his great surprise, begged him not to leave her, even
+to hunt in the Odenwald. For she had begun to fear that she had made a
+great mistake in telling Hagen the story of the lime-leaf; and yet she
+could not explain to Siegfried the true cause of her uneasiness.
+
+"Oh, do not join in the hunt!" she cried. "Something tells me that
+danger lurks hidden in the wood. Stay in the castle with me, and help me
+put things in readiness for our journey homewards to-morrow. Last night
+I had another dream. I thought that Odin's birds, Hugin and Munin, sat
+on a tree before me. And Hugin flapped his wings, and said, 'What more
+vile than a false friend? What more to be feared than a secret foe?
+Harder than stone is his unfeeling heart; sharper than the adder's
+poison-fangs are his words; a snake in the grass is he!' Then Munin
+flapped his wings too, but said nothing. And I awoke, and thought at
+once of the sunbright Balder, slain through Loki's vile deceit. And, as
+I thought upon his sad death, a withered leaf came fluttering through
+the casement, and fell upon my couch. Sad signs and tokens are these, my
+husband; and much grief, I fear, they foretell."
+
+But Siegfried was deaf to her words of warning, and he laughed at the
+foolish dream. Then he bade her farewell till even-tide, and hastened to
+join the party of huntsmen who waited for him impatiently at the gate.
+
+When the party reached the Odenwald, they separated; each man taking his
+own course, and following his own game. Siegfried, with but one trusty
+huntsman and his own fleet-footed hound, sought at once the wildest and
+thickest part of the wood. And great was the slaughter he made among the
+fierce beasts of the forest; for nothing that was worthy of notice could
+hide from his sight, or escape him. From his lair in a thorny thicket, a
+huge wild boar sprang up; and with glaring red eyes, and mouth foaming,
+and tusks gnashing with rage, he charged fiercely upon the hero. But,
+with one skilful stroke from his great spear, Siegfried laid the beast
+dead on the heather. Next he met a tawny lion, couched ready to spring
+upon him; but, drawing quickly his heavy bow, he sent a quivering arrow
+through the animal's heart. Then, one after another, he slew a buffalo,
+four bisons, a mighty elk with branching horns, and many deers and stags
+and savage beasts.
+
+At one time the hound drove from its hiding-place another wild boar,
+much greater than the first, and far more fierce. Quickly Siegfried
+dismounted from his horse, and met the grizzly creature as it rushed
+with raving fury towards him. The sword of the hero cleft the beast in
+twain, and its bloody parts lay lifeless on the ground. Then Siegfried's
+huntsman, in gay mood, said, "My lord, would it not be better to rest a
+while! If you keep on slaughtering at this rate, there will soon be no
+game left in Odenwald."
+
+Siegfried laughed heartily at the merry words, and at once called in
+his hound, saying, "You are right! We will hunt no more until our good
+friends have joined us."
+
+Soon afterward the call of a bugle was heard; and Gunther and Hagen and
+Dankwart and Ortwin, with their huntsmen and hounds, came riding up.
+
+"What luck have you had, my friends?" asked Siegfried.
+
+Then Hagen told what game they had taken,--a deer, a young bear, and two
+small wild boars. But, when they learned what Siegfried had done, the
+old chief's face grew dark, and he knit his eyebrows, and bit his lips
+in jealous hate: for four knights, ten huntsmen, and four and twenty
+hounds, had beaten every bush, and followed every trail; and yet the
+Nibelungen king, with but one follower and one hound, had slain ten
+times as much game as they.
+
+While they stood talking over the successes of the day, the sound of a
+horn was heard, calling the sportsmen together for the mid-day meal; and
+knights and huntsmen turned their steeds, and rode slowly towards the
+trysting-place. Suddenly a huge bear, roused by the noise of baying
+hounds and tramping feet, crossed their pathway.
+
+"Ah!" cried Siegfried, "there goes our friend Bruin, just in time to
+give us a bit of fun, and some needed sport at dinner. He shall go with
+us, and be our guest!"
+
+With these words he loosed his hound, and dashed swiftly forwards after
+the beast. Through thick underbrush and tangled briers, and over fallen
+trees, the frightened creature ran, until at last it reached a steep
+hillside. There, in a rocky cleft, it stood at bay, and fought fiercely
+for its life. When Siegfried came up, and saw that his hound dared not
+take hold of the furious beast, he sprang from his horse, and seized
+the bear in his own strong arms, and bound him safely with a stout cord.
+Then he fastened an end of the cord to his saddle-bows, and remounted
+his steed. And thus he rode through the forest to the place where the
+dinner waited, dragging the unwilling bear behind him, while the dog
+bounded gayly along by his side.
+
+No nobler sight had ever been seen in that forest than that which
+Gunther's people saw that day. The Nibelungen king was dressed as well
+became so great a hero. His suit was of the speckled lynx's hide and
+rich black silk, upon which were embroidered many strange devices,
+with threads of gold. (But, alas! between the shoulders was the silken
+lime-leaf that Queen Kriemhild's busy fingers had wrought.) His cap was
+of the blackest fur, brought from the frozen Siberian land. Over his
+shoulder was thrown his well-filled quiver, made of lion's skin; and in
+his hands he carried his bow of mulberry,--a very beam in size, and so
+strong that no man save himself could bend it. A golden hunting-horn was
+at his side, and his sunbright shield lay on his saddle-bow; while his
+mighty sword, the fire-edged Balmung, in its sheath glittering with
+gemstones, hung from his jewelled belt.
+
+The men who stood around chief Hagen, and who saw the hero coming thus
+god-like through the greenwood, admired and trembled; and Dankwart
+whispered a word of caution to his dark-browed brother. But the old
+chief's face grew gloomier than before; and he scowled fiercely upon the
+faint-hearted Dankwart, as he hoarsely whispered in return,--
+
+"What though he be Odin himself, still will I dare! It is not I: it is
+the Norns, who shape every man's fate."
+
+When Siegfried reached the camp with his prize, the huntsmen shouted
+with delight; and the hounds howled loudly, and shook their chains, and
+tried hard to get at the shaggy beast. The king leaped to the ground,
+and unloosed the cords which bound him; and at the same time the hounds
+were unleashed, and set upon the angry, frightened creature. Hemmed in
+on every side, the bear rushed blindly forwards, and leaped over the
+fires, where the cooks were busy with the dinner. Pots and kettles were
+knocked about in great confusion, and the scared cooks thrown sprawling
+upon the ground; and many a dainty dish and savory mess was spoiled. The
+bear fled fast down the forest road, followed by the baying hounds and
+the fleet-footed warriors. But none dared shoot an arrow at him for fear
+of killing the dogs; and it seemed as if he would surely escape, so
+fast he ran away. Then Siegfried bounded forwards, swifter than a
+deer, overtook the bear, and with one stroke of the sword gave him his
+death-blow. And all who saw this feat of strength and quickness wondered
+greatly, and felt that such a hero must indeed be without a peer.
+
+When Gunther's cooks had made the dinner ready, the company sat down on
+the grass, and all partook of a merry meal; for the bracing air and the
+morning's sport had made sharp appetites. But, when they had eaten, they
+were surprised to find that there was nothing to drink. Indeed, there
+was neither wine nor water in the camp.
+
+"How glad I am," said Siegfried gayly, "that I am not a huntsman by
+trade, if it is a huntsman's way to go thus dry! Oh for a glass of wine,
+or even a cup of cold spring-water, to quench my thirst!"
+
+"We will make up for this oversight when we go back home," said Gunther;
+and his heart was black with falsehood. "The blame in this matter should
+rest on Hagen, for it was he who was to look after the drinkables."
+
+"My lord," said Hagen, "I fell into a mistake by thinking that we would
+dine, not here, but at the Spessart Springs; and thither I sent the
+wine."
+
+"And is there no water near?" asked Siegfried.
+
+"Yes," answered Hagen. "There is a cool, shady spring not far from
+here, where the water gushes in a clear, cold stream from beneath a
+linden-tree. Do but forgive me for the lack of wine, and I will lead you
+to it. It is a rare spring, and the water is almost as good as wine."
+
+"Better than wine for me!" cried Siegfried. And he asked to be shown to
+the spring at once.
+
+Hagen arose, and pointed to a tree not far away, beneath whose spreading
+branches Siegfried could see the water sparkling in the sunlight.
+
+"Men have told me," said the chief, "that the Nibelungen king is very
+fleet of foot, and that no one has ever outstripped him in the race.
+Time was, when King Gunther and myself were spoken of as very swift
+runners; and, though we are now growing old, I fancy that many young men
+would, even now, fail to keep pace with us. Suppose we try a race to the
+spring, and see which of the three can win."
+
+"Agreed!" cried Siegfried. "We will run; and, if I am beaten, I will
+kneel down in the grass to him who wins. I will give the odds in your
+favor too; for I will carry with me my spear, and my shield, and my
+helmet and sword, and all the trappings of the chase, while you may doff
+from your shoulders whatever might hinder your speed."
+
+So Gunther and Hagen laid aside all their arms, and put off their
+heavy clothing; but Siegfried took up his bow and quiver, and his heavy
+shield, and his beamlike spear. Then the word was given, and all three
+ran with wondrous speed. Gunther and his chief flew over the grass as
+light-footed as two wild panthers: but Siegfried sped swift as an arrow
+shot from the hand of a skilful bowman. He reached the spring when yet
+the others were not half way to it. He laid his spear and sword, and
+bow and quiver of arrows, upon the ground, and leaned his heavy shield
+against the linden-tree; and then he waited courteously for King Gunther
+to come up, for his knightly honor would not allow him to drink until
+his host had quenched his thirst.
+
+Gunther, when he reached the spring, stooped over, and drank heartily
+of the cool, refreshing water; and, after he had risen, Siegfried knelt
+upon the grass at the edge of the pool to quaff from the same gushing
+fountain. Stealthily then, and with quickness, did chief Hagen hide his
+huge bow and his quiver, and his good sword Balmung, and, seizing the
+hero's spear, he lifted it in air, and with too steady aim struck the
+silken lime-leaf that the loving Kriemhild had embroidered. Never in all
+the wide mid-world was known a deed more cowardly, never a baser act.
+The hero was pierced with his own weapon by one he had deemed his
+friend. His blood gushed forth in torrents, and dyed the green grass
+red, and discolored the sparkling water, and even filled the face and
+eyes of vile Hagen.
+
+Yet, in the hour of death, King Siegfried showed how noble was his soul,
+how great his strength of will. Up he rose from his bended knees, and
+fiercely glanced around. Then, had not the evil-eyed chief, who never
+before had shunned a foe, fled with fleet-footed fear, quick vengeance
+would have overtaken him. In vain did the dying king look for his bow
+and his trusty sword: too safely had they been hidden. Then, though
+death was fast dimming his eyes, he seized his heavy shield, and sprang
+after the flying Hagen. Swift as the wind he followed him, quickly he
+overtook him. With his last strength he felled the vile wretch to the
+ground, and beat him with the shield, until the heavy plates of brass
+and steel were broken, and the jewels which adorned it were scattered
+among the grass. The sound of the heavy blows was heard far through the
+forest; and, had the hero's strength held out, Hagen would have had his
+reward.[EN#32] But Siegfried, weak and pale from the loss of blood, now
+staggered, and fell among the trampled flowers of the wood.
+
+Then with his last breath he thus upbraided his false friends:--
+
+"Cowards and traitors, ye! A curse shall fall upon you. My every care
+has been to serve and please you, and thus I am requited. Bitterly shall
+you rue this deed. The brand of traitor is set upon your foreheads, and
+it shall be a mark of loathing and shame to you forever."
+
+Then the weak old Gunther began to wring his hands, and to bewail the
+death of Siegfried. But the hero bade him hush, and asked him of what
+use it was to regret an act which could have been done only by his leave
+and sanction.
+
+"Better to have thought of tears and groans before," said he. "I have
+always known that you were a man of weak mind, but never did I dream
+that you could lend yourself to so base a deed. And now, if there is
+left aught of manliness in your bosom, I charge you to have a care for
+Kriemhild your sister. Long shall my loved Nibelungen-folk await my
+coming home."
+
+The glorious hero struggled in the last agony. The grass and flowers
+were covered with his blood; the trees shivered, as if in sympathy
+with him, and dropped their leaves upon the ground; the birds stopped
+singing, and sorrowfully flew away; and a solemn silence fell upon the
+earth, as if the very heart of Nature had been crushed.
+
+And the men who stood around--all save the four guilty ones--bowed their
+heads upon their hands, and gave way to one wild burst of grief. Then
+tenderly they took up Siegfried, and laid him upon a shield, with his
+mighty weapons by him. And, when the sorrowing Night had spread her
+black mantle over the mid-world, they carried him silently out of the
+forest, and across the river, and brought him, by Gunther's orders,
+to the old castle, which now nevermore would resound with mirth and
+gladness. And they laid him at Kriemhild's door, and stole sadly away to
+their own places, and each one thought bitterly of the morrow.[EN#33]
+
+
+
+
+
+Adventure XX. How the Hoard Was Brought to Burgundy.
+
+
+
+And what was done on the morrow?
+
+Too sad is the tale of Kriemhild's woe and her grief for the mighty
+dead. Let us pass it by in tearful, pitying silence, nor wish to awaken
+the echoes of that morning of hopeless anguish which dawned on the cold
+and cheerless dwelling of the kings. For peace had fled from Burgundy,
+nevermore to return.
+
+Siegfried was dead. Faded, now, was the glory of the Nibelungen Land,
+and gone was the mid-world's hope.
+
+It is told in ancient story, how men built a funeral-pile far out on the
+grassy meadows, where the quiet river flows; and how, in busy silence,
+they laid the sun-dried beams of ash and elm together, and made ready
+the hero's couch; and how the pile was dight with many a sun-bright
+shield, with war-coats and glittering helms, and silks and rich dyed
+cloths from the South-land, and furs, and fine-wrought ivory, and
+gem-stones priceless and rare; and how, over all, they scattered sweet
+spices from Araby, and the pleasantest of all perfumes. Then they
+brought the golden Siegfried, and laid him on his couch; and beside him
+were his battered shield, and Balmung with its fire-edge bare. And,
+as the sun rose high in heaven, the noblest earl-folk who had loved
+Siegfried best touched fire to the funeral-pile. And a pleasant breeze
+from the Southland fanned the fire to a flame, and the white blaze
+leaped on high, and all the folk cried out in mighty agony to the gods.
+
+Such was the story that men told to each other when the world was still
+young, and the heroes were unforgotten.[EN#34] And some said, too, that
+Brunhild, the fair and hapless queen, died then of a broken heart and of
+a hopeless, yearning sorrow, and that she was burned with Siegfried on
+that high-built funeral-pile.
+
+"They are gone,--the lovely, the mighty, the hope of the ancient earth:
+It shall labor and bear the burden as before the day of their birth:...
+It shall yearn, and be oft-times holpen, and forget their deeds no more,
+Till the new sun beams on Balder and the happy sealess shore."[EN#35]
+
+Another and much later story is sometimes told of these last sad
+days,--how the hero's body was laid in a coffin, and buried in the quiet
+earth, amid the sorrowful lamentations of all the Rhineland folk; and
+how, at Kriemhild's earnest wish, it was afterwards removed to the place
+where now stands the little minster of Lorsch. As to which of these
+stories is the true one, it is not for me to say. Enough it is to know
+that Siegfried was dead, and that the spring-time had fled, and the
+summer-season with all its golden glories had faded away from Rhineland,
+and that the powers of darkness and of cold and of evil had prevailed.
+
+To this day the city where was the dwelling of the Burgundian kings is
+called Worms, in remembrance of the dragon, or worm, which Siegfried
+slew; and a figure of that monster was for many years painted upon
+the city arms, and borne on the banner of the Burgundians. And, until
+recently, travellers were shown the Reisen-haus,--a stronghold, which,
+men say, Siegfried built; and in it were many strange and mighty
+weapons, which, they claim, were wielded by the hero. The lance which
+was shown there was a great beam nearly eighty feet in length; and the
+war-coat, wrought with steel and gold, and bespangled with gem-stones,
+was a wonder to behold. And now, in the Church of St. Cecilia, you may
+see what purports to be the hero's grave. And a pleasant meadow, not far
+from the town, is still called Kriemhild's Rose-garden; while farther
+away is the place called Drachenfels, or the dragon's field, where, they
+say, Siegfried met Fafnir. But whether it is the same as the Glittering
+Heath of the ancient legend, I know not.
+
+And what became of the Hoard of Andvari?
+
+The story is briefly told.[EN#36] When the days of mourning were past,
+and the people had gone back sadly to their homes, Queen Kriemhild began
+to speak of returning to the land of the Nibelungens. But Ute, her aged
+mother, could not bear to part with her, and besought her to stay, for
+a while at least, in the now desolate Burgundian castle. And Gernot and
+Giselher, her true and loving brothers, added their words of entreaty
+also. And so, though heart-sick, and with many misgivings, she agreed to
+abide for a season in this cheerless and comfortless place. Many days,
+even months, dragged by, and still she remained; for she found it still
+harder and harder to tear herself away from her mother, and all that her
+heart held dear. Yet never, for three years and more, did she even speak
+to Gunther, or by any sign show that she remembered him. And, as for
+Hagen, no words could utter the deep and settled hate she felt towards
+him. But the dark-browed chief cared nought either for love or hate; and
+he walked erect, as in the days of yore, and he smiled and frowned alike
+for both evil and good. And he said, "It was not I: it was the Norns,
+who wove the woof of his life and mine."
+
+The years went by on leaden wings, and brought no sunlight to Gunther's
+dwelling; for his days were full of sadness, and his nights of fearful
+dreams. At length he said to chief Hagen, "If there is aught in the
+mid-world that can drive away this gloom, I pray thee to help me find
+it; for madness steals upon me."
+
+"There is one thing," answered Hagen, "which might brighten our land
+again, and lift up your drooping spirits, and bring gladness to your
+halls."
+
+"What is that?" asked the king.
+
+"It is the Nibelungen Hoard," said the chief. "It is the wondrous
+treasure of Andvari, which Siegfried gave as a gift to Kriemhild. If it
+were ours, we might become the masters of the world."
+
+"But how can we obtain it?"
+
+"It is Kriemhild's," was the answer. "But she does not care for it;
+neither could she use it if she wished. If you could only gain her favor
+and forgiveness, I feel sure that she would let you do with it as you
+wish."
+
+Then Gunther besought his younger brothers to intercede for him with
+Kriemhild, that she would so far forgive him as to look upon his face,
+and speak with him once more. And this the queen at last consented to
+do. And, when Gunther came into her presence, she was so touched at
+sight of his haggard face and whitened locks, and his earnest words
+of sorrow, that she forgave him the great wrong that he had done, and
+welcomed him again as her brother. And he swore that never would he
+again wrong her or hers, nor do aught to grieve her. But it was not
+until a long time after this, that he proposed to her that they should
+bring the Hoard of Andvari away from the Nibelungen Land.
+
+"For, if it were here, dear sister," he said, "it might be of great use
+to you."
+
+"Do whatever seems best to you," answered Kriemhild. "Only remember the
+oath that you have given me."
+
+Then Gunther, because he was anxious to see the wondrous Hoard, but more
+because he was urged on by Hagen, made ready to send to the Nibelungen
+Land to bring away the treasure by Kriemhild's command. Eight thousand
+men, with Gernot and Giselher as their leaders, sailed over the sea in
+stanch vessels, and landed on the Nibelungen shore. And when they told
+who they were, and whence they came, and showed the queen's signet-ring,
+they were welcomed heartily by the fair-haired folk of Mist Land,
+who gladly acknowledged themselves the faithful liegemen of the loved
+Kriemhild.
+
+When the Burgundians made known their errand to Alberich the dwarf,
+who still held watch and ward over the mountain stronghold, he was much
+amazed, and he grieved to part with his cherished treasure.
+
+"But," said he to his little followers, who stood around him by
+thousands, each anxious to fight the intruders,--"but there is Queen
+Kriemhild's order and her signet-ring, and we must, perforce, obey. Yet
+had we again the good Tarnkappe which Siegfried took from us, the Hoard
+should never leave us."
+
+Then sadly he gave up the keys, and the Burgundians began to remove the
+treasure. For four whole days and nights they toiled, carrying the Hoard
+in huge wagons down to the sea. And on the fifth day they set sail, and
+without mishap arrived in good time at Worms. And many of Alberich's
+people, the swarthy elves of the cave, came with Gernot to Rhineland;
+for they could not live away from the Hoard. And it is said, that hidden
+among the gold and the gem-stones was the far-famed Wishing-rod, which
+would give to its owner the power of becoming the lord of the wide
+mid-world.
+
+And the vast treasure was stored in the towers and vaults of the castle.
+And Queen Kriemhild alone held the keys, and lavishly she scattered the
+gold wherever it was needed most. The hungry were fed, the naked were
+clothed, the sick were cared for; and everybody near and far blessed the
+peerless Queen of Nibelungen Land.
+
+Then Hagen, always plotting evil, whispered to King Gunther, and said,
+"It is dangerous to suffer your sister to hold so vast a treasure. All
+the people are even now ready to leave you, and follow her. She will yet
+plot to seize the kingdom, and destroy us."
+
+And he urged the king to take the keys and to make the Nibelungen Hoard
+his own.
+
+But Gunther answered, "I have already done too great a wrong. And I have
+sworn to my sister never to harm her again, or to do aught that will
+grieve her."
+
+"Let the guilt, then, rest on me," said Hagen. And he strode away, and
+took the keys from Kriemhild by force.
+
+When Gernot and Giselher heard of this last vile act of the evil-eyed
+chief, they waxed very angry, and vowed that they would help their
+sister regain that which was her own. But the wary Hagen was not to be
+foiled; for, while the brothers were away from the burgh, he caused the
+great Hoard to be carried to the river, at a place called Lochheim,
+and sunk, fathoms deep, beneath the water. And then, for fear of the
+vengeance which might be wreaked upon him, he fled from Rhineland, and
+hid himself for a while among the mountains and the barren hill-country
+of the South.
+
+And this was the end of the fated Hoard of Andvari.
+
+
+
+
+
+The After Word.
+
+
+
+Such is the story of Siegfried (or Sigurd), as we gather it from various
+German and Scandinavian legends. In this recital I have made no attempt
+to follow any one of the numerous originals, but have selected here
+and there such incidents as best suited my purpose in constructing one
+connected story which would convey to your minds some notion of the
+beauty and richness of our ancient myths. In doing this, I have drawn,
+now from the Volsunga Saga, now from the Nibelungen Lied, now from one
+of the Eddas, and now from some of the minor legends relating to the
+great hero of the North. These ancient stories, although differing
+widely in particulars, have a certain general relationship and agreement
+which proves beyond doubt a common origin. "The primeval myth," says
+Thomas Carlyle, "whether it were at first philosophical truth, or
+historical incident, floats too vaguely on the breath of men: each has
+the privilege of inventing, and the far wider privilege of borrowing
+and new modelling from all that preceded him. Thus, though tradition
+may have but one root, it grows, like a banian, into a whole overarching
+labyrinth of trees."
+
+If you would follow the tradition of Siegfried to the end; if you would
+learn how, after the great Hoard had been buried in the Rhine, the curse
+of the dwarf Andvari still followed those who had possessed it, and how
+Kriemhild wreaked a terrible vengeance upon Siegfried's murderers,--you
+must read the original story as related in the Volsung Myth or in the
+Nibelungen Song. Our story ends with Siegfried.
+
+The episodes which I have inserted here and there--the stories of AEgir,
+and of Balder, and of Idun, and of Thor--do not, as you may know, belong
+properly to the legend of Siegfried; but I have thrown them in, in order
+to acquaint you with some of the most beautiful mythical conceptions of
+our ancestors.
+
+A grand old people were those early kinsmen of ours,--not at all so
+savage and inhuman as our histories would sometimes make us believe. For
+however mistaken their notions may have been, and however ignorant they
+were, according to our ideas of things, they were strong-hearted, brave
+workers; and, so far as opportunity was afforded them, they acted well
+their parts. What their notions were of true manhood,--a strong mind in
+a strong body, good, brave, and handsome,--may be learned from the story
+of Siegfried.
+
+
+End of The Story of Siegfried.
+
+
+
+
+
+The Story of Siegfried Endnotes.
+
+
+
+[EN#1] Siegfried's Boyhood.
+
+"All men agree that Siegfried was a king's son. He was born, as we here
+have good reason to know, 'at Santen in Netherland,' of Siegmund and the
+fair Siegelinde; yet by some family misfortune or discord, of which the
+accounts are very various, he came into singular straits during boyhood,
+having passed that happy period of life, not under the canopies of
+costly state, but by the sooty stithy, in one Mimer, a blacksmith's
+shop."--Thomas Carlyle, The Nibelungen Lied.
+
+The older versions of this story represent Siegfried, under the name of
+Sigurd, as being brought up at the court of the Danish King Hialprek;
+his own father Sigmund having been slain in battle, as related in this
+chapter. He was early placed under the tuition of Regin, or Regino, an
+elf, who instructed his pupil in draughts, runes, languages, and various
+other accomplishments.--See Preface to Vollmer's Nibelunge Not, also the
+Song of Sigurd Fafnisbane, in the Elder Edda, and the Icelandic Volsunga
+Saga.
+
+
+
+[EN#2]--Mimer.
+
+"The Vilkinasaga brings before us yet another smith, Mimer, by whom not
+only is Velint instructed in his art, but Sigfrit (Siegfried) is brought
+up,--another smith's apprentice. He is occasionally mentioned in the
+later poem of Biterolf, as Mime the Old. The old name of Munster in
+Westphalia was Mimigardiford; the Westphalian Minden was originally
+Mimidun; and Memleben on the Unstrut, Mimileba.. .. The elder Norse
+tradition names him just as often, and in several different connections.
+In one place, a Mimingus, a wood-satyr, and possessor of a sword and
+jewels, is interwoven into the myth of Balder and Hoder. The Edda gives
+a higher position to its Mimer. He has a fountain, in which wisdom
+and understanding lie hidden: drinking of it every morning, he is the
+wisest, most intelligent, of men. To Mimer's fountain came Odin, and
+desired a drink, but did not receive it till he had given one of his
+eyes in pledge, and hidden it in the fountain: this accounts for Odin
+being one-eyed.... Mimer is no Asa, but an exalted being with whom the
+Asas hold converse, of whom they make use,--the sum total of wisdom,
+possibly an older Nature-god. Later fables degraded him into a
+wood-sprite, or clever smith."--Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, I. p. 379.
+
+Concerning the Mimer of the Eddas, Professor Anderson says, "The name
+Mimer means the knowing. The Giants, being older than the Asas, looked
+deeper than the latter into the darkness of the past. They had witnessed
+the birth of the gods and the beginning of the world, and they foresaw
+their downfall. Concerning both these events, the gods had to go to
+them for knowledge. It is this wisdom that Mimer keeps in his
+fountain."--Norse Mythology, p 209.
+
+In the older versions of the legend, the smith who cared for Siegfried
+(Sigurd) is called, as we have before noticed, Regin. He is thus
+described by Morris:--
+
+     "The lore of all men he knew,
+     And was deft in every cunning, save the dealings of the
+     sword.
+     So sweet was his tongue-speech fashioned, that men
+     trowed his every word.
+     His hand with the harp-strings blended was the mingler
+     of delight
+     With the latter days of sorrow: all tales he told
+     aright.
+     The Master of the Masters in the smithying craft was
+     he;
+     And he dealt with the wind and the weather and the
+     stilling of the sea;
+     Nor might any learn him leech-craft, for before that
+     race was made,
+     And that man-folk's generation, all their life-days had
+     he weighed."
+
+     Sigurd the Volsung, Bk. II.
+
+
+[EN#3]--The Sword.
+
+"By this sword Balmung also hangs a tale. Doubtless it was one of those
+invaluable weapons sometimes fabricated by the old Northern smiths,
+compared with which our modern Foxes and Ferraras and Toledos are mere
+leaden tools. Von der Hagen seems to think it simply the sword Mimung
+under another name; in which case, Siegfried's old master, Mimer, had
+been the maker of it, and called it after himself, as if it had been his
+son."--Carlyle, on the Nibelungen Lied, note.
+
+In Scandinavian legends, the story of Mimer and Amilias is given,
+differing but slightly from the rendering in this chapter.--See Weber
+and Jamieson's Illustrations of Northern Antiquities.
+
+In the older versions of the myth, the sword is called Gram, or the
+Wrath. It was wrought from the shards, or broken pieces, of Sigmund's
+sword, the gift of Odin. It was made by Regin for Sigurd's (Siegfried's)
+use, and its temper was tested as here described.
+
+
+
+[EN#4]--Sigmund The Volsung.
+
+Sigmund the Volsung, in the Volsunga Saga, is represented as the father
+of Sigurd (Siegfried); but there is such a marked contrast between him,
+and the wise, home-abiding King Siegmund of the later stories, that I
+have thought proper to speak of them here as two different individuals.
+The word "Sigmund," or "Siegmund," means literally the mouth of victory.
+The story of the Volsungs, as here supposed to be related by Mimer, is
+derived mainly from the Volsunga Saga.
+
+
+
+[EN#5]--Siegfried's Journey Into The Forest.
+
+
+
+"In the shop of Mimer, Siegfried was nowise in his proper element, ever
+quarrelling with his fellow-apprentices, nay, as some say, breaking the
+hardest anvils into shivers by his too stout hammering; so that Mimer,
+otherwise a first-rate smith, could by no means do with him there. He
+sends him, accordingly, to the neighboring forest to fetch charcoal,
+well aware that a monstrous dragon, one Regin, the smith's own brother,
+would meet him, and devour him. But far otherwise it proved."--Carlyle,
+on The Nibelungen Lied.
+
+
+
+[EN#6]--The Norns.
+
+The Norns are the Fates, which watch over man through life. They are
+Urd the Past, Verdande the Present, and Skuld the Future. They approach
+every new-born child, and utter his doom. They are represented as
+spinning the thread of fate, one end of which is hidden by Urd in the
+far east, the other by Verdande in the far west. Skuld stands ready
+to rend it in pieces. --See Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, p. 405, also
+Anderson's Norse Mythology, p. 209.
+
+The three weird women in Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth represent a
+later conception of the three Norns, now degraded to mere witches.
+
+Compare the Norns with the Fates of the Greek Mythology. These, also,
+are three in number. They sit clothed in white, and garlanded, singing
+of destiny. Clotho, the Past, spins; Lachesis, the Present, divides; and
+Atropos, the Future, stands ready with her shears to cut the thread.
+
+
+
+[EN#7]--The Idea of Fatality.
+
+Throughout the story of the Nibelungs and Volsungs, of Sigurd and of
+Siegfried,--whether we follow the older versions or the mote recent
+renderings,--there is, as it were, an ever-present but indefinable
+shadow of coming fate, "a low, inarticulate voice of Doom," foretelling
+the inevitable. This is but in consonance with the general ideas of
+our Northern ancestors regarding the fatality which shapes and controls
+every man's life. These ideas are embodied in more than one ancient
+legend. We find them in the old Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf. "To
+us," cries Beowulf in his last fight, "to us it shall be as our Weird
+betides,--that Weird that is every man's lord!" "Each man of us shall
+abide the end of his life-work; let him that may work, work his doomed
+deeds ere death comes!" Similar ideas prevailed among the Greeks. Read,
+for example, that passage in the Iliad describing the parting of Hector
+and Andromache, and notice the deeper meaning of Hector's words.
+
+
+
+[EN#8]--Regin.
+
+
+
+As we have already observed (EN#1), the older versions of this myth
+called Siegfried's master and teacher Regin, while the more recent
+versions call him Mimer. We have here endeavored to harmonize the two
+versions by representing Mimer as being merely Regin in disguise.
+
+
+
+[EN#9]--Gripir.
+
+"A man of few words was Gripir; but he knew of all deeds that had been;
+And times there came upon him, when the deeds to be were seen: No sword
+had he held in his hand since his father fell to field, And against the
+life of the slayer he bore undinted shield: Yet no fear in his heart
+abided, nor desired he aught at all: But he noted the deeds that had
+been, and looked for what should befall." Morris's Sigurd the Volsung,
+Bk. II.
+
+
+[EN#10]--The Hoard.
+
+This story is found in both the Elder and the Younger Eddas, and is
+really the basis upon which the entire plot of the legend of Sigurd, or
+Siegfried, is constructed. See also EN#18.
+
+
+
+[EN#11]--The Dragon.
+
+The oldest form of this story is the Song of Sigurd Fafnisbane, in the
+Elder Edda. The English legend of St. George and the Dragon was probably
+derived from the same original sources. A similar myth may be found
+among all Aryan peoples. Sometimes it is a treasure, sometimes a
+beautiful maiden, that the monster guards, or attempts to destroy. Its
+first meaning was probably this: The maiden, or the treasure, is the
+earth in its beauty and fertility. "The monster is the storm-cloud.
+The hero who fights it is the sun, with his glorious sword, the
+lightning-flash. By his victory the earth is relieved from her peril.
+The fable has been varied to suit the atmospheric peculiarities of
+different climes in which the Aryans found themselves.... In Northern
+mythology the serpent is probably the winter cloud, which broods over
+and keeps from mortals the gold of the sun's light and heat, till in the
+spring the bright orb overcomes the powers of darkness and tempest, and
+scatters his gold over the face of the earth." This myth appears in a
+great variety of forms among the Scandinavian and German nations. In
+the Eddas, Sigurd (Siegfried) is represented as roasting the heart of
+Fafnir, and touching it to his lips. We have ventured to present a less
+revolting version.--See Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages.
+
+"The slaying of the dragon Fafnir reminds us of Python, whom Apollo
+overcame; and, as Python guarded the Delphic Oracle, the dying Fafnir
+prophesies."--Jacob Grimm.
+
+
+
+[EN#12.]
+
+In order to harmonize subsequent passages in the story as related in
+different versions, we here represent Siegfried as turning his back
+upon the Glittering Heath, and leaving the Hoard to some other hero or
+discoverer. In the Younger Edda, Siegfried (Sigurd) rides onward until
+he comes to Fafnir's bed, from which "he took out all the gold, packed
+it in two bags, and laid it on Grane's (Greyfell's) back, then got on
+himself and rode away."
+
+
+
+[EN#13]--BRAGI. This episode of Bragi and his vessel is no part of the
+original story of Siegfried, but is here introduced in order to acquaint
+you with some of the older myths of our ancestors. Bragi was the
+impersonation of music and eloquence, and here represents the music of
+Nature,--the glad songs and sounds of the spring-time. "Above any other
+god," says Grimm, "one would like to see a more general veneration of
+Bragi revived, in whom was vested the gift of poetry and eloquence....
+He appears to have stood in pretty close relation to AEgir."
+
+
+
+[EN#14]--AEgir.
+
+"AEgir was the god presiding over the stormy sea. He entertains the
+gods every harvest, and brews ale for them. The name still survives
+in provincial English for the sea-wave on rivers."--Anderson's Norse
+Mythology. See Carlyle's Heroes and Hero-Worship.
+
+
+
+[EN#15]--The Valkyries.
+
+See Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, p. 417, and Anderson's Norse Mythology,
+p. 265.
+
+
+
+[EN#16]--Brunhild.
+
+In the Elder Edda, Brunhild's inaccessible hall stands on a mountain,
+where she was doomed to sleep under her shield until Sigurd should
+release her. In the Nibelungen Lied, she is represented as ruling
+in Isenland, an island far over the sea. The well-known story of the
+Sleeping Beauty is derived from this myth.
+
+
+
+[EN#17]--Nibelungen Land.
+
+"Vain were it to inquire where that Nibelungen Land specially is.
+Its very name is Nebel-land, or Nifl-land, the land of Darkness, of
+Invisibility.... Far beyond the firm horizon, that wonder-bearing
+region swims on the infinite waters, unseen by bodily eye, or, at
+most, discerned as a faint streak hanging in the blue depths, uncertain
+whether island or cloud."--Carlyle, on The Nibelungen Lied.
+
+
+
+[EN#18]--Schilbung and Nibelung.
+
+"Old King Nibelung, the former lord of the land, had left, when he died,
+a mighty hoard concealed within a mountain-cavern. As Siegfried rode
+past the mountain-side alone, he found Schilbung and Nibelung, the
+king's sons, seated at the mouth of the cavern surrounded by more gold
+and precious stones than a hundred wagons could bear away. Espying
+Siegfried, they called upon him to settle their dispute, offering him
+as reward their father's mighty sword Balmung."--Auber Forestier's
+Translation of the Nibelungen Lied.
+
+We have here made some slight variations from the original versions.
+(See also EN#12.)
+
+An ancient legend relates how King Schilbung had obtained the Hoard in
+the upper Rhine valley, and how he was afterwards slain by his brother
+Niblung. This Niblung possessed a magic ring in the shape of a coiled
+serpent with ruby eyes. It had been presented to him by a prince named
+Gunthwurm, who had come to him in the guise of a serpent, desiring the
+hand of his daughter in marriage. This ring, according to the Eddas, was
+the one taken by Loki from the dwarf Andvari, and was given by Sigurd
+(Siegfried) to Brunhild in token of betrothal. It was the cause of all
+the disasters that afterwards occurred.--See W. Jordan's Sigfridssaga.
+See also EN#10.
+
+
+
+[EN#19]
+
+     "... Siegfried the hero good
+     Failed the long task to finish: this stirred their
+     angry mood.
+     The treasure undivided he needs must let remain,
+     When the two kings indignant set on him with their
+     train;
+     But Siegfried gripped sharp Balmung (so hight their
+     father's sword),
+     And took from them their country, and the beaming,
+     precious hoard."
+     The Nibelungenlied, Lettsom, 96, 97
+
+
+
+[EN#20]--Siegfried's Welcome Home.
+
+In the Nibelungen Lied this is our first introduction to the hero. The
+"High-tide" held in honor of Siegfried's coming to manhood, and which we
+suppose to have occurred at this time, forms the subject of the Second
+Adventure in that poem.
+
+
+
+[EN#21]--Kriemhild's Dream.
+
+This forms the subject of the first chapter of the Nibelungen Lied. "The
+eagles of Kriemhild's dream," says Auber Forestier, "are winter-giants,
+whose wont it was to transform themselves into eagles; while the pure
+gods were in the habit of assuming the falcon's form."
+
+
+
+[EN#22]--Idun.
+
+The story of Idun and her Apples is related in the Younger Edda. It is
+there represented as having been told by Bragi himself to his friend
+AEgir. This myth means, that the ever-renovating spring (Idun) being
+taken captive by the desolating winter (Thjasse), all Nature (all
+the Asa-folk) languishes until she regains her freedom through the
+intervention of the summer's heat (Loki). --See Anderson's Norse
+Mythology.
+
+
+
+[EN#23]--Balder.
+
+The story of Balder is, in reality, the most ancient form of the
+Siegfried myth. Both Balder and Siegfried are impersonations of the
+beneficent light of the summer's sun, and both are represented as being
+treacherously slain by the powers of winter. The errand of Hermod to
+the Halls of Death (Hela) reminds us of the errand of Hermes to Hades
+to bring back Persephone to her mother Demetre. We perceive also a
+resemblance in this story to the myth of Orpheus, in which that hero is
+described as descending into the lower regions to bring away his wife
+Eurydice.
+
+
+
+[EN#24]
+
+The making of rich clothing for the heroes is frequently referred to in
+the Nibelungen Lied. Carlyle says, "This is a never-failing preparative
+for all expeditions, and is always specified and insisted on with a
+simple, loving, almost female impressiveness."
+
+
+
+[EN#25]--The Winning of Brunhild.
+
+The story of the outwitting of Brunhild, as related in the pages which
+follow, is essentially the same as that given in the Nibelungen Lied. It
+is quite different from the older versions.
+
+
+
+[EN#26]--Sif.
+
+Sif corresponds to the Ceres of the Southern mythology. (See Grimm, p.
+309.) The story of Loki and the Dwarfs is derived from the Younger Edda.
+It has been beautifully rendered by the German poet Oelenschlager, a
+translation of whose poem on this subject may be found in Longfellow's
+Poets and Poetry of Europe.
+
+
+
+[EN#27]--Eigill.
+
+Eigill is the original William Tell. The story is related in the Saga
+of Thidrik. For a full history of the Tell myth, see Grimm's Teutonic
+Mythology, p. 380, and Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages,
+p. 110.
+
+
+
+[EN#28]--Welland the Smith.
+
+The name of this smith is variously given as Weland, Wieland, Welland,
+Volundr, Velint etc. The story is found in the Vilkina Saga, and was one
+of the most popular of middle age myths. (See Grimm's Mythology.) Sir
+Walter Scott, in his novel of Kenilworth, has made use of this legend in
+introducing the episode of Wayland Smith.
+
+
+
+[EN#29]--Vidar[FN#1] the Silent.
+
+"Vidar is the name of the silent Asa. He has a very thick shoe, and he
+is the strongest next to Thor. From him the gods have much help in all
+hard tasks."--The Younger Edda (Anderson's translation).
+
+[FN#1] The word Vidar means forest.
+
+
+
+[EN#30]--Loki.
+
+"Loki, in nature, is the corrupting element in air, fire, and water. In
+the bowels of the earth he is the volcanic flame, in the sea he appears
+as a fierce serpent, and in the lower world we recognize him as pale
+death. Like Odin, he pervades all nature. He symbolizes sin, shrewdness,
+deceitfulness, treachery, malice etc."--Anderson's Mythology, p. 372.
+
+He corresponds to the Ahriman of the Persians, to the Satan of the
+Christians, and remotely to the Prometheus of the Greeks.
+
+
+
+[EN#31]--The Quarrel of the Queens.
+
+In the ancient versions, the culmination of this quarrel occurred while
+the queens were bathing in the river: in the Nibelungen Lied it happened
+on the steps leading up to the door of the church.
+
+
+
+[EN#32]--Hagen.
+
+Hagen corresponds to the Hoder of the more ancient myth of Balder. In
+the Sigurd Sagas he is called Hogni, and is a brother instead of an
+uncle, of Gunther (Gunnar).
+
+
+
+[EN#33]--The Death of Siegfried.
+
+This story is related here essentially as found in the Nibelungen
+Lied. It is quite differently told in the older versions. Siegfried's
+invulnerability save in one spot reminds us of Achilles, who also was
+made invulnerable by a bath, and who could be wounded only in the heel.
+
+
+
+[EN#34]--The Burial of Siegfried.
+
+The story of the burning of Siegfried's body upon a funeral-pile, as
+related of Sigurd in the older myths, reminds us of the burning of
+Balder upon the ship "Ringhorn." (See p. 162.) The Nibelungen Lied
+represents him as being buried in accordance with the rites of the
+Roman-Catholic Church. This version of the story must, of course, have
+been made after the conversion of the Germans to Christianity. "When
+the Emperor Frederick III. (1440-93) visited Worms after his Netherlands
+campaign," says Forestier, "he undertook to have the mighty hero's bones
+disinterred, probably in view of proving the truth of the marvellous
+story then sung throughout Germany; but, although he had the ground dug
+into until water streamed forth, no traces of these became manifest."
+
+
+
+[EN#35]--Morris: Sigurd the Volsung, Bk. III.
+
+
+[EN#36]--The Hoard.
+
+The story of bringing the Hoard from Nibelungen Land belongs to the
+later versions of the myth, and fitly closes the First Part of the
+Nibelungen Lied. Lochheim, the place where the Hoard was sunk, was not
+far from Bingen on the Rhine.
+
+
+
+[EN#37]--a Short Vocabulary of the Principal Proper Names Mentioned in
+this Story.
+
+   AEGIR. The god of the sea.
+   ALBERICH and ANDVARI. Dwarfs who guard the great Hoard.
+   ASA. A name applied to the gods of the Norse mythology.
+   ASGARD. The home of the gods.
+   BALDER. The god of the summer sunlight.
+   BRAGI. The god of eloquence and of poetry.
+   DRAUPNER. Odin's ring, which gives fertility to the earth.
+   FAFNIR. The dragon whom Siegfried slays.
+   FENRIS-WOLF. The monster who in the last twilight slays
+   Odin.
+   FREYJA. The goddess of love.
+   REY. The god of peace and plenty.
+   GRIPIR. The giant who gives wise counsel to Siegfried
+   (Sigurd).
+   GUNTHER. In the older myths called Gunnar.
+   HEIMDAL. The heavenly watchman.
+   HELA. The goddess of death.
+   HERMOD. The quick messenger who is sent to Hela for Balder.
+   HODER. The winter-god. He slays Balder.
+   HOENIR. One of the three most ancient gods.
+   HUGIN. Odin's raven, Thought.
+   IDUN. The goddess of spring.
+   IVALD. A skilful dwarf.
+   JOTUNHEIM. The home of the giants.
+   KRIEMHILD. In the older myths called Gudrun.
+   LOKI. The mischief-maker. The god of evil.
+   MIMER. In the later German mythology a skilful smith. In the
+   older mythology a wise giant.
+   NORNS. The three Fates,--Urd, Verdande, and Skuld.
+   ODIN. The chief of the gods.
+   REGIN. The teacher of Sigurd, by whom he is slain.
+   SIEGFRIED. In the older myths called Sigurd.
+   SIF. Thor's wife.
+   SLEIPNER. Odin's eight-footed horse.
+   TYR. The god of war.
+   THOR. The god of thunder. The foe of the giants.
+   VALHAL. The hall of the slain.
+   VALKYRIES. The choosers of the slain. Odin's handmaidens.
+   VIDAR. The silent god.
+   YMIR. The huge giant out of whose body the world was made.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Siegfried, by James Baldwin
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