Part 27 (1/2)

At once Hagen made off. But Sieglind called after him: ?Stay, Sir Knight; credit me, you are too much in haste. For the lord of these lands, who is called Else, and his brother, Knight Gelfrat, will make it go hard with you an ye cross their dominions. Guard you carefully and deal wisely with the ferryman, for he is liegeman unto Gelfrat, and if he will not cross the river to you, call for him, and say thou art named Amelrich, a hero of this land who left it some time agone.?

No more spake Hagen to the swan-maidens, but searching up the river banks, he found an inn upon the farther sh.o.r.e. Loudly he called across the flood. ?Come for me, ferryman,? he said, ?and I will bestow upon thee an armlet of ruddy gold.?

Now the ferryman was a n.o.ble and did not care for service, and those who helped him were as proud as he. They heard Hagen calling, but recked not of it. Loudly did he call across the water, which resounded to his cries. Then, his patience exhausted, he shouted:

?Come hither, for I am Amelrich, liegeman to Else, who left these lands because of a great feud.? As he spake he raised his spear, on which was an armlet of bright gold, cunningly fas.h.i.+oned.

The haughty ferryman took an oar and rowed across, but when he arrived at the farther bank he spied not him who had cried for pa.s.sage.

At last he saw Hagen, and in great anger said: ?You may be called Amelrich, but you are not like him whom I thought to be here, for he was my brother. You have lied to me and there you may stay.?

Hagen attempted to impress the ferryman by kindness, but he refused to listen to his words, telling the warrior that his lords had enemies, wherefore he never conveyed strangers across the river. Hagen then offered him gold, and so angry did the ferryman become that he struck at the Nibelung with his rudder oar, which broke over Hagen?s head. But the warrior smote him so fiercely with his sword that he struck his head off and cast it on the ground. The skiff began to drift down the stream, and Hagen, wading into the water, had much ado to secure it and bring it back. With might and main he pulled, and in turning it the oar snapped in his hand. He then floated down stream, where he found his lords standing by the sh.o.r.e. They came down to meet him with many questionings, but Gunther, espying the blood in the skiff, knew well what fate the ferryman had met with.

Hagen then called to the footmen to lead the horses into the river that they might swim across. All the trappings and baggage were placed in the skiff, and Hagen, playing the steersman, ferried full many mighty warriors into the unknown land. First went the knights, then the men-at-arms, then followed nine thousand footmen. By no means was Hagen idle on that day.

On a sudden he espied the king?s chaplain close by the chapel baggage, leaning with his hands upon the relics, and recalling that the wise women had told him that only this priest would return and none other of the Nibelungs, he seized him by the middle and cast him from the skiff into the Danube.

?Hold, Sir Hagen, hold!? cried his comrades. Giselher grew wroth; but Hagen only smiled.

Then said Sir Gernot of Burgundy: ?Hagen, what availeth you the chaplain?s death? Wherefore have ye slain the priest??

But the clerk struck out boldly, for he wished to save his life. But this Hagen would not have and thrust him to the bottom. Once more he came to the surface, and this time he was carried by the force of the waves to the sandy sh.o.r.e. Then Hagen knew well that naught might avail against the tidings which the mermaids had told him, that not a Nibelung should return to Burgundy.

When the skiff had been unloaded of baggage and all the company had been ferried across, Hagen broke it in pieces and cast it into the flood.

When asked wherefore he had done so, and how they were to return from the land of the Huns back to the Rhine, Hagen said:

?Should we have a coward on this journey who would turn his back on the Huns, when he cometh to this stream he will die a shameful death.?

In pa.s.sing through Bavaria the Burgundians came into collision with Gelfrat and his brother Else, and Gelfrat was slain. They were received at Bechlarn by Rudiger, who treated them most hospitably and showered many gifts upon them, bestowing upon Gernot his favourite sword, on Gunther a n.o.ble suit of armour, and on Hagen a famous s.h.i.+eld. He accompanied the strangers to the court of Etzel, where they were met first of all by Dietrich of Bern, who warned them that Kriemhild prayed daily for vengeance upon them for the murder of Siegfried. When Kriemhild beheld Hagen, her archenemy, she wept. Hagen saw, and ?bound his helmet tighter.?

?We have not made a good journey to this feast,? he muttered.

Kriemhild?s Welcome

?Ye are welcome, n.o.bles and knights,? said Kriemhild. ?I greet you not for your kins.h.i.+p. What bring ye me from Worms beyond the Rhine that ye should be so welcome to me here? Where have ye put the Nibelung treasure? It is mine as ye know full well, and ye should have brought it me to Etzel?s court.?

Hagen replied that he had been ordered by his liege lords to sink it in the Rhine, and there must it lie till doomsday.

At this Kriemhild grew wroth. Hagen went on to say that he had enough to do to carry his s.h.i.+eld and breastplate. The Queen, alarmed, desired that all weapons should be placed in her charge, but to this Hagen demurred, and said that it was too much honour for such a bounteous princess to bear his s.h.i.+eld and other arms to his lodging.

Kriemhild lamented, saying that they appeared to think that she planned treachery against them; but to this Dietrich answered in great anger that he had forewarned Gunther and his brothers of her treacherous intentions. Kriemhild was greatly abashed at this, and without speaking a word she left the company; but ere she went she darted furious glances upon them, from which they well saw with what a dangerous foe they had to deal. King Etzel then asked who Hagen might be, and was told his name and lineage and that he was a fierce and grim warrior. Etzel then recognized him as a warrior who had been a hostage with him along with Walthar of Spain and who had done him yeoman service.

Events March

This last pa.s.sage connects the Nibelungenlied with the Latin poem of Walthar of Aquitaine. Indeed, the great German epic contains repeated allusions to this work of the ninth or tenth century, which is dealt with later in this book.

Events now march quickly. Kriemhild offered gold untold to him who would slay Hagen, but although her enemy was within her grasp, so doughty was the warrior and so terrible his appearance that none dared do battle with him. A Hun was killed by accident in a tournament, but Etzel protected his Burgundian guests. At length Blodelin was bribed by Kriemhild to attack Dankwart with a thousand followers. Dankwart?s men were all slain, but he himself made good his escape by fighting his way through the closely packed Hunnish ranks. Dankwart rushed to the hall where the Burgundians were feasting with the Huns, and in great wrath acquainted Hagen with the treacherous attempt which had been made upon his life.

?Haste ye, brother Hagen,? he cried, ?for as ye sit there our knights and squires lie slain in their chambers.?

?Who hath done this deed?? asked Hagen.

?Sir Blodelin with his carles. But he breathes no longer, for myself I parted his head from his body.?