When it bows with the wind of the summer and the hid spears draw anigh;
The white flame licks his raiment and sweeps through Greyfell's mane,
And bathes both hands of Sigurd and the hilts of Fafnir's bane,
And winds about his war-helm and mingles with his hair,
But nought his raiment dusketh or dims his glittering gear;
Then it falls and fades and darkens till all seems left behind,
And dawn and the blaze is swallowed in mid-mirk stark and blind. . . .

Then before him Sigurd sees a shield-hung castle, surmounted by a golden buckler, instead of a banner, which rings against the flag-staff. And he enters and finds the form of one asleep — in armor cap-a-pie.

So he draweth the helm from the head, and, lo, the brow snow-white, And the smooth unfurrowed cheeks, and the wise lips breathing light; And the face of a woman it is, and the fairest that ever was born, Shown forth to the empty heavens and the desert world forlorn: But he looketh, and loveth her sore, and he longeth her spirit to move, And awaken her heart to the world, that she may behold him and love. And he toucheth her breast and her hands, and he loveth her passing sore; And he saith, “Awake! I am Sigurd," but she moveth never the more. . . .

Then with his bright blade Sigurd rends the ring-knit mail that encloses her, "till nought but the rippling linen is wrapping her about,"

Then a flush cometh over her visage and a sigh upheaveth her breast,
And her eyelids quiver and open, and she wakeneth into rest;
Wide-eyed on the dawning she gazeth, too glad to change or smile,
And but little moveth her body, nor speaketh she yet for a while;
And yet kneels Sigurd, moveless, her wakening speech to heed,
While soft the waves of the daylight o'er the starless heavens speed,
And the gleaming vines of the Shield-burg yet bright and brighter grow,
And the thin moon hangeth her horns dead-white in the golden glow.
Then she turned and gazed on Sigurd, and her eyes met the Volsung's eyes.
And mighty and measureless now did the tide of his love arise,

For their longing had met and mingled, and he knew of her heart that she loved,
As she spake unto nothing but him and her lips with the speech-flood moved.

Brynhild, it was, the Valkyrie, who long time had lain in that enchanted sleep that Odin, her father, had poured over her.

dooming her to mortal awakening and to mortal love, for the evil she had wrought of old when she espoused the cause in battle of those whom the Norns had predestined to death. Her might none but the fearless awaken; and her had Sigurd awakened; and she loved him, for he was without fear and godlike. And she taught him many wise sayings; and they plighted troth, one to the other, both then and again; and Sigurd gave her the ring of Andvari. But they were not destined to dwell together in wedlock; and Brynhild, foreseeing the future, knew even this.

Sigurd was to wed with another than Brynhild. And it befell in this wise. In the land of the Niblungs (Nibelungs, Nibelungen) dwelt Gudrun, daughter of Giuki, the Niblung king. And Gudrun dreamed a dream in which a fair hawk feathered with feathers of gold alighted upon her wrist. She went to Brynhild for the interpretation of the dream. "The hawk," said Brynhild, "is Sigurd." And so it came to pass. Sigurd visiting the court of the Niblungs, was kindly entreated by King Giuki and his three sons, Gunnar, Hogni, and Guttorm; and he performed deeds of valor such that they honored him. But after many days, Grimhild, the mother of Gudrun, administered to Sigurd a magic potion that removed from him all memory of Brynhild. So Sigurd loved and wedded the fair Gudrun. Indeed he soon joined others in urging his wife's brothe Gunnar, a doughty warrior, to sue for the hand of Brrself. But Brynhild would have no one that could not ride

h the flames drawn up

around her hall. After Gunnar had made two unsuccessful attempts, Sigurd, assuming the form of King Gunnar, mounted Greyfell and rode for the second time through the flames of Hindfell. Then still wearing the semblance of Gunnar he gained the consent of Brynhild to the union, and exchanged rings with her, she giving him none other than the ancient Ring of Andvari back again. But even this did not recall to Sigurd's memory his former ride and his former love. Returning to the land of the Niblungs, he announced the success of his undertaking; and told all things to Gudrun, giving her the fatal ring that he had regained from Brynhild.

In ten days came Brynhild by agreement to the Hall of the Niblungs, and, though she knew well the deceit that had been practised on her, she made no sign; nay, was wedded according to her promise to King Gunnar. But as they sat at the weddingfeast, the charm of Grimhild was outworn,- Sigurd looked upon Gunnar's bride, and knew the Brynhild of old, the Valkyrie, whom he had loved; "And Byrnhild's face drew near him with eyes grown stern and strange."

But, apparently, all went well till the young queens, one day, bathing in the Water of the Niblungs, fell into contention on a matter of privilege. Brynhild claimed precedence in entering the river on the ground that Gunnar was the liege lord of Sigurd. Gudrun, white with wrath, flashed out the true story of the ride through the flames, and thrust in Brynhild's face the Andvari ring. Consumed with jealousy, Brynhild plotted revenge. She loved Sigurd still, and he, since he had regained his memory, could not overcome his love for her. But the insult from Gudrun Brynhild would not brook. By her machinations, Guttorm, the brother of Gudrun, was incited to slay Sigurd. He, accordingly, stabbed the

hero while asleep, but Sigurd, throwing Gram at the assassin, cut him in twain before he could escape.

Woe me! how the house of the Niblungs by another cry was rent,
The wakening wail of Gudruas she shrank in the river of blood
From the breast of the mighty Sigurd: he heard it and understood,

And rose up on the sword of torm, and turned from the country of death,
And spake words of loving-kindness as he strove for life and breath;
"Wail not, O child of the Niblungs! I am smitten, but thou shalt live,

In remembrance of our glory, mid the gifts the gods shall give!

. . . It is Brynhild's deed," he murmured, "and the woman that loves me well;

Nought now is left to repent of, and the tale abides to tell.

I have done many deeds in my life-days, and all these, and my love, they

lie

In the hollow hand of Odin till the day of the world go by.

I have done and I may not undo, I have given and I take not again;

Art thou other than I, Allfather, wilt thou gather my glory in vain?"

So ended the life of Sigurd. Brynhild grieved a season, then dealt herself a mortal wound, and was burned on the funeral pyre beside Sigurd the Volsung.

In time Gudrun became the queen of Atli, the Budlung. He, in order to obtain the hoard of Sigurd, which had passed into the hands of the Niblungs, - Gudrun's brothers, - bade them visit him in Hunland. Fully warned by Gudrun, they still accepted the invitation, and arriving at the hall of Atli, were after a fearful conflict slain. But they did not surrender the hoard that lay concealed at the bottom of the Rhine. Gudrun with the aid of Niblung, her brother Hogni's son, in the end slew Atli, set fire to his hall and brought ruin on the Budlung folk. Then leaping into the sea she was borne with Swanhild, her daughter by Sigurd, to the realm of King Jonakr, who became her third husband. Swanhild, "fairest of all women, eager-eyed as her father, so that few durst look under the brows of her," met, by stress of love and treachery, a foul end in a foreign land, trampled under foot of horses.

Finally Gudrun sent her sons by Jonakr to avenge their half-sister's death; and so bereft of all her kin, and consumed with sorrow, she called upon her ancient lover, Sigurd, to come and look upon her, as he had promised, from his abiding-place among the dead. And thus had the words of her sorrow an end.

Her sons slew King Jormunrek, the murderer of Swanhild, but were themselves done to death, by the counsel and aid of a certain man, seeming ancient and one-eyed, — Odin the forefather of the Volsungs, the same that had borne Sigi fellowship, and that struck the sword into Branstock of Volsung's hall, and that faced Sigmund and shattered Gram in the hour of Sigmund's need, and that brought Sigurd the matchless horse Greyfell, and oft again had appeared to the kin of the Volsungs; the same god now wrought the end of the Niblungs. The hoard and the ring of Andvari had brought confusion on all into whose hands they fell.

In the German version of

§ 186. The Lay of the Nibelungs.1. this story called the Nibelungenlied-certain variations of name, incident, and character appear. Sigurd is Siegfried, dwelling in Xanten near the Rhine, the son of Siegmund and Siegelind, king and queen of the Netherlands. Gudrun is Kriemhild, sister of Gunther (Gunnar), king of the Burgundians, and niece of Hagen (Hogni), a warrior of dark and sullen mien, cunning, but withal loyal and brave, the foe of the glorious Siegfried. Siegfried weds Kriemhild, takes her to the Netherlands and lives happily with her, enjoying the moneys of the Nibelungen hoard, which he had taken not from a dwarf, as in the Norse version, but from two princes, the sons of King Nibelung. Meanwhile Gunther dwells in peace in the Burgundian land, husband of the proud Brunhild, whom Siegfried had won for him by stratagem not altogether unlike that of the Norse story. For the Brunhild of the Yssel-land had declared that she would marry no man save him who should surpass her in athletic contest. This condition Siegfried, wearing the Tarnkappe, a cloak that rendered him invisible, had fulfilled for Gunther. He had also succored poor Gunther after his marriage with Brunhild. For that heroine, in contempt of Gunther's strength, had bound him hand and foot and suspended him from a nail on their bed-room wall. By agreement Siegfried had again assumed Gunther's form, and after a fearful tussle with the queen had reduced her to submission, taking from her the ring and girdle which were the secret sources of her strength, and leaving her to imagine that she had been conquered by her bridegroom, Gunther. The ring and girdle Siegfried had bestowed upon Kriemhild, unwisely telling her at the same time the story of Brunhild's defeat. Although the Nibelungenlied offers no explanation, it is evident that the injured queen of Yssel-land had recognized Siegfried during this ungallant intrigue; and we are led to infer that there had been some previous acquaintance and passage of love between them.

At any rate, Siegfried and Kriemhild, retiring to the Nether

1 See Commentary, § 186.