AT ETZELBURG.
Great as was the that had come upon the people and the royal
house, the of the had yet to be to as as
possible. King Etzel was too full of his own to to
business of any kind, so Dietrich and Hildebrand gave all necessary
orders, and themselves helped in the sad work.
All the were with every honour, save and the hero of
Tronje, who was forgotten. The grave-mounds were and closed,
before the old master the warrior, headless
trunk still in the audience-hall. Hildebrand ordered that he should
receive burial. So a was prepared for him, and
there he was with all his armour, the good Balmung,
which was to be taken to Siegfried's grave, according to Chriemhild's
wish. Many of the Huns with the procession; they neither
wept for the man right hand had brought
so much on their native land. Next flowers decked
the other grave-mounds, while on Hagen's and alone were
to be seen, in the of which a had its home.
All who had gone near to the to it carefully,
maintained that it had only one like the hero of Tronje, and were
firmly that it was the his had taken.
[Illustration: ETZEL BESIDE CHRIEMHILD'S BIER.]
AT BECHELAREN.
Dietrich and Hildebrand sent news to Bechelaren and to Worms of all
that had occurred. They the Swemmeling as their
ambassador, for they that he was tender-hearted, and would break
the news as as possible.
The Margravine and her sat by an open window, the
clouds that rose in the east. Godelinde anxious, a
presentiment of her, and she not telling
her daughter.
She said that she news was coming, for she had the
night that Queen Helche had appeared to her, by the
Burgundians, and many other in full armour. "The queen," added
Godelinde, "said that she all these to go with her. She
took your father and Giselher by the hand, and them away, the
others following. I to join the procession, but she to me
to go back. Then they all in a mist, out of which a hill
seemed to like--"
She was by of arrival. It was the of
mourners who had come under Swemmeling's guidance. The Margravine
recognised Rüdiger's and armour, and the meaning of her was
clear to her. But in the of all her grief, she to keep up,
that she might her daughter, who sat at her side, with
terror.
The joined the ladies. The Margravine rose to meet him, and
said it was needless for him to tell his tale, for she what had
happened. A moments later, they were able to to what
Swemmeling had to say; so they asked him how the Rüdiger had met
with his death. He took up his harp, and sang a song of the who
had their faith, and had in the of life. He told
how they come to the of Woden and of Freya, how they over
earth and sea, and how they speak to their friends in the of the
wind and in the of the leaves, and thus them in
their sorrow.
After that he gave them all the of what had at
Etzelburg. On the day Swemmeling had to continue his journey.
A after his departure, the Margravine died of grief, and
Dietelinde was left alone. She alone for a long time, but when
Dietrich the land of the Amelungs, he took the from
Bechelaren, and her to his wife, the Herrat, at whose
court she the love of a warrior, she married.
Swemmeling his way to Worms as as he could.
AT WORMS.
Meanwhile were going on very at Worms. Queen Ute would
sit by the hour together, many a ditty, but
seldom speaking. Queen Brunhild would by her the
death of Baldur, which she from old patterns. Curiously enough,
the white god was not like the pattern, but Siegfried.
"Look, mother Ute," she said. "Is it not that, in of all
my efforts, the picture will Siegfried, as he looked that day
when he out for the last time. It is a sad story, and
reminds me of an old that I used to in my childhood, in
Isenland, in which a was for the of a
magic sword. It to me that when Hagen comes back, I must him
to give me Siegfried's sword, Balmung, that I may it to the
dead hero. Otherwise I that Burgundy will as Isenland
suffered through the of that other sword."
"Neither Hagen any of the others will return to this house, on
which the of rests, as yet unexpiated," said mother Ute;
and, off, she to one of her strange, ditties,
which was so that none to it without a shiver.
About this time Swemmeling arrived, and told the of the journey
to the land of the Huns, of the the Burgundians had
met with from King Etzel, and then of the quarrel, the battle, and its
fatal results. No plaints, no weeping, no questions, the
minstrel's tale. When he came to an end, the Lady Ute said:
"It is a sad tale, very, very sad, but it not have been
otherwise, for much blood was needed to wash away the of
murder from this house."
Neither did Brunhild weep. She all necessary for the
comfort of her guests. She asked that the good Balmung should be
given to her, and, looking at the blood-stains on the blade,
she said:
"Grim Hagen this out of Siegfried's grave. I will take it
back to the hero, now that it has been in the blood of his
murderer, that he may in peace."
She to the grave-mound with the sword, and did not return that
day, the night. When they her, they her lying
dead Siegfried's coffin, on which she had Balmung.
The Lady Ute on for many a day, and as she span, she
hummed a song of the snake-queen who her own brood.
The Burgundian nobles, and all the people, for their royal
house and the heroes. But when in the kingdom, they
united, and the son of Gunther and Brunhild to the throne,
appointing men to act as for the king so long as he
remained a child.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: GUDRUN]
_THE HEGELING LEGEND._
