Tale XXIX: How Hartmut Was Taken Prisoner

Wâ-te loud was storming; then went he towards the hallThat stood before the gateway. On every side did fallThe din of sword-blades clashing, of groaning and of weeping.Hartmut was in bondage; ill luck alone his liegemen, too, were reaping.

With him were also taken eighty warriors brave;The others all were slaughtered. Hartmut his life did save,But to a ship was carried, and fast and long they kept him.Not yet was sorrow ended; greater ills must they know who now bewept him.

Though often from the stronghold Wâ-te’s men they drove,Both with slings and arrows, yet still he grimly strove,And won from them the castle. The heavy bolts were brokenThat once the gates had fastened; at this fair women wept, with fear outspoken.

Horant, the lord of Denmark, Queen Hilda’s flag now bore;Him followed many warriors, he might not wish for more.Up to a palace tower that high its walls was rearing,Far above all others, the Hegeling men the banner soon were bearing.

As I have told already, the castle now was won:To those they found within it grimmest deeds were done.Great was the crowd on-pressing, for booty to enrich them.Then cried the stern old Wâ-te: “Where are now the sacks, and youths to fetch them?”

Now was broken open many a well-filled room;Loud was the din and uproar that from within did come:But all were not like-minded who the halls were thronging;While wounds were dealt by many, others for plunder searched, for riches longing.

They bore so much from the castle, as we have heard it told,That such a heavy burden two ships could never hold:Richest silken clothing, silver and gold, were taken,To load the ships on the waters; tho’ much they took, yet much must be forsaken.

Now within the castle joy was all unknown.To all the folk there gathered the greatest wrongs were done;Men alike and women were slain who there were dwelling:To children in their cradles, even to them, the foemen death were dealing.

Irold then to Wâ-te thus his mind made known:“Of harm to you these children devil-a-bit have done.They indeed are blameless, nor hate to our kin were showing;For the love of God, I beg you, spare the poor babes, some pity now bestowing.”

The aged Wâ-te answered: “Thou hast the mind of a child;Tho’ now in the cradle wailing, say, wouldst thou have willedThat I should leave them living? As soon as they are older,They never can be trusted; to trust a Saxon wild would be no bolder.”

Blood throughout the castle flowed on every side.Those who saw the slaughter, how bitterly they cried!Now the high-born Ortrun, filled with care and sorrow,Sought Gu-drun, kind maiden: she feared yet greater wrongs before the morrow.

Then, her head low bending before the lovely maid,She said: “Gu-drun, my lady, have pity on my need,And, in my sharpest sorrow, leave me not forsaken;I trust me to your kindness, or else my life will by your friends be taken.”

“Gladly will I shield you,” she answered, “if I can;Ever to do you kindness, and help you, I am fain.I will gain for you forgiveness; no more for life be fearing.Your maids and women also must stand near me, my care they, too, are sharing.”

“This doth make me happy,” the youthful Ortrun said.With three and thirty maidens, she was kindly kept and fed;Warriors two and sixty there the ladies guarded:If they should gain their freedom, their keepers would be slain, and thus rewarded.

The old and wicked Gerlind ran to Gu-drun in haste;As if she were her bondwoman, herself at her feet she cast,Saying: “Most high-born lady, thou alone canst save usFrom Wâ-te and his followers; else will his wrath, I ween, of life bereave us.”

To her said Hilda’s daughter: “I hear you asking nowThat I to you be friendly; how should I kindness show?Nought that e’er I wished for to grant me were you willing:To me you showed but hatred; and now my heart with hate for you is swelling.”

That Ortrun then was near him Wâ-te became aware:He his teeth was gnashing, and straight up-stood he there;Now his eyes were flashing; his yard-wide beard was flowing;And all were sorely frightened, and feared what the Sturmisch lord would next be doing.

Over him blood was streaming, with it his clothes were wet.Tho’ Gu-drun was glad to see him, she had liked it better yetIf he, in mood less wrathful, had come for her to greet him;Such fear they all were feeling, I ween that no one there was glad to meet him.

To meet her friend, old Wâ-te, went Gu-drun alone;Then said Hilda’s daughter, with sad and care-fraught tone:“Welcome art thou, Wâ-te! How glad would be my greeting,If now these folk so many no evil from thy hand should here be meeting.”

“I thank you, fair young maiden! Are you Queen Hilda’s child?Who are these many women, whom here you seek to shield?”“This,” said Gu-drun, in answer, “is Ortrun, high in breeding;I beg you, Wâ-te, spare her: her women here your wrath are sorely dreading.

“Those there are wretched maidens, from far across the sea,Brought from the Hegeling kingdom by Ludwig’s men with me.But you are wet and bloody; do not come so near us:For all your help we thank you, nor in our woe do scorn the love you bear us.”

Wâ-te went on further, and Herwic soon he found,And with him youthful Ortwin, as king in Ortland owned.Irold was there and Morunc; Fru-te had thither hasted:None of these were idle; many they slew, nor soon from slaughter rested.

Quickly then came Hergart, the lady of a duke,And said: “Gu-drun, good lady, on me with kindness look,—On me, a wretched woman. Forget not that we everHave been and are your handmaids; and let me, lady, lose thy friendship never.”

Gu-drun in anger answered: “Stand back, come not so near!Whatever we poor maidens of wrong have had to fear,For all you wept but little, and cared for it but slightly.Not much do I care either whether for you it now goes ill or rightly.

“You still among my maidens may linger, if you choose.”Now the stern old Wâ-te looked round among his foes,To find the wicked Gerlind, whom he in wrath was seeking.That devilish crone, with her women, the kindness of Gu-drun was now bespeaking.

Grimly then old Wâ-te stood before the hall,And said: “Gu-drun, my lady, send down, with her maidens all,The old and wicked Gerlind, who made you wash by the water;And with her send her kinsmen, who in our land so many knights did slaughter.”

The lovely maiden answered: “Not one of them is here.”Then Wâ-te, in his anger, went in and to her came near;He said: “Now show me quickly the women I am seeking;Else shall they, with your maidens, all alike in the grave their home be making.”

Wâ-te was sorely angry, of this was she aware.A wink of her eye then gave him a lovely maiden there,And he knew the old she-devil, on whom her glance was turning.“Tell me,” he said, “Queen Gerlind, for other maids to wash are you still yearning?”

Then by the hand he took her, and dragged her thence away;The while the wicked Gerlind sank down in sore dismay.Said Wâ-te, wild to madness: “Most lofty queen, I warn you,Never again, at your bidding, shall my ladies wash for you; they now can scorn you.”

I ween that when he brought her without the palace gate,All looked on to witness what he would do in his hate.Then by the hair he grasped her, no one a whit he dreaded,His wrath indeed was bitter, and at once the evil queen he there beheaded.

Loudly shrieked the maidens, their fright at this was sore.Back again went Wâ-te, and said: “Who is there more,Who to the queen owns kinship? To me you now must show her;However high she holds her, I yet to earth her head will quickly lower.”

Sobbing then and weeping, the child of Hettel said:“Let these with me find shelter, who now to me have fled,To ask of me forgiveness, here my love bespeaking.This is the well-born Ortrun, who with her Norman maids my help is seeking.”

Those who were forgiven she bade stand further back.Then, in mood unfriendly, the angry Wâ-te spake:“Where shall I find young Hergart, now of a lord the lady,Who here within this kingdom to take the love of the king’s great lord was ready?”

None of them would tell him, but he to her came near,And said: “Were you the owner of all this kingdom here,Who could in you be looking to see so proud a bearing?Ill have you served your lady, here in the land where you her lot were sharing.”

Then all cried out together: “Let her now go free.”But the aged Wâ-te answered: “That can never be;I have the care of the women; behold my overseeing!”With a stroke he her beheaded, while the maids in fright behind Gu-drun were fleeing.

Now from the bloody struggle there was a rest for all.Then the brave King Herwic came to Ludwig’s hall,Leading in his warriors, with stains of blood upon them.Gu-drun her welcome gave him; her love for him was shown, and kindness done them.

Soon the knightly Herwic his sword from his side unbound:He then shook off his armor into his shield on the ground,And stood before the ladies; iron-stained was his body.That day, for love of his lady, he oft on the field had hewn a pathway bloody.

With him came Ortwin also, who was of Ortland king.When Irold came with Morunc, the clothes they off did flingWorn outside their armor, for they were over-heated.They wished to see the ladies, and hoped by them they would be kindly greeted.

When now the Danish warriors were both with slaughter spent,They laid aside their weapons, and before the ladies went.Shields no longer bore they, their helmets were unfastened;A very loving welcome to give to both the knights Gu-drun then hastened.

Irold and Morunc with him then most lowly bowedBefore the lovely maiden. How well her bearing showedThat to see these guests so lordly she was indeed most willing!Right glad and happy truly the child of the Hegeling Hilda now was feeling.

Alike they all were thinking, both lords and all their men:“Since now we have the castle,— the stronghold Kassiane,—Of the land are we the masters, and everything is ours.”Soon bade the aged Wâ-te that men should burn with fire the palace with its towers.

The Danish Fru-te answered: “That may never be;In this my queenly lady to live must now be free.Bid that from out the castle men the dead shall carry;Then ’twill be the better for all our knights who in the land shall tarry.

“Very strong is the castle, wide it is and good;Bid from the walls now everywhere to wash away the blood,That for a home the maidens may not dislike it wholly:Then the land of Hartmut we will raid throughout, and see it fully.”

They did as Fru-te bade them, for wise he was, in truth;They bore from out the castle many who there, forsooth,Were sorely slashed and wounded, and many who were dying:Then to the waves they carried those who before the gates in death were lying.

They to the sea intrusted four thousand of the dead;This to them was toilsome, but Fru-te thus had bade.The work that they were doing not as yet was ended;Then in Ludwig’s castle the maid Ortrun was held, now ill-befriended.

Two and sixty warriors and thirty maidens fairWith her were also taken. Then said Gu-drun: “Forbear!The maids are in my keeping, my word to them I plighted:Wâ-te may do as he wishes with the knights he seized, until my wrongs are righted.”

Siegfried, king of Moorland, found a welcome warm,As should to knights be granted after the battle-storm.Thanks to that worthy warrior were by the ladies given,That he from the land of Karadie so far had come, and so well for them had striven.

To the care of the Danish Horant they their foes did giveWho in the castle of Kassian still were left alive.To him was Gu-drun intrusted, and all her maidens near her:To her was he a kinsman; they so might hope that he would kindness bear her.

Him they made the master of forty towers strong,And six wide, roomy dwellings, that stood the shore along.Over three rich palaces to him was lordship granted,And there Gu-drun, the maiden, with him must stay, and nought she ever wanted.

To guard their ships on the waters others now they bade;Then back to castle Kassian Hartmut, the knight, was ledWith many of his kinsmen, who in the fight were taken;There the Norman ladies, seized with the knights, were held, by hope forsaken.

They bade that care be taken that none from them might flee;A thousand of their brave ones must the women oversee:They, with the men from Denmark, kept guard in many places.Wâ-te, meanwhile, with Fru-te, sought other foes, and shields to hew in pieces.

Thirty thousand warriors with them the war-path shared.Fire was thrown on all sides; flames now flashed and flared.Throughout the land, the dwellings everywhere were burning;And now the brave young Hartmut, sad at heart, his first true woe was learning.

The warriors from Sturmland, and they of the Danish land,Broke down the well-built castles on every hill and strand.They took away more plunder than foemen ever carried;Many lovely women the Hegelings seized, the while the land they harried.

Before the friends of Hilda came back thro’ the wasted land,Six and twenty castles fell beneath their hand.Happy went they homeward; proud were they of their raiding;Soon of those there taken a thousand or more to Hilda they were leading.

Throughout the Norman kingdom was Hilda’s banner seen,Waving now unhindered; back again her menBore it down to the sea-sand, where they had left their lady.Here would they stay no longer; to seek their homes they all were glad and ready.

Those who still were resting within King Hartmut’s hallsDown to their friends came riding from out the castle walls.Gladly both old and youthful now each other greeted;Then asked they of Denmark: “Youths, what luck in the raid hath you awaited?”

To them King Ortwin answered: “We there have done so wellThat I to those who helped me my thanks must ever tell.Our foes are well rewarded, tho’ sore has been the fighting,For all the wrongs they did us; a thousand-fold have we ourselves been righting.”

Then spake the aged Wâ-te: “Who best can tarry hereTo guard for us this kingdom? Bid now Gu-drun, the fair,Come down again to meet us; soon shall we be goingTo Hilda’s land of the Hegelings; and what we bring we will to her be showing.”

Then said they all together, both the old and young:“To Horant and to Morunc doth the warder’s task belong;They, and a thousand with them, here in this land must tarry.”’Twas done as they had bidden; but those who went did many a hostage carry.

When to go back to Hegeling they now made up their minds,Then to their ships they carried goods of many kinds,All they once brought with them, and all they had of plunder.Gladly they bore their booty; on this their friends at home would look with wonder.

Hartmut now was bidden to leave his father’s hall,With all his bravest warriors, five hundred men in all;They now were held in bondage who had in strife been taken,And won from their foes thereafter many a weary day, of hope forsaken.

Ortrun took they likewise, the fair and high-born maid;On her and on her maidens a heavy woe they laid:As they away from fatherland far from friends were carried,They well might know the sorrows felt by Gu-drun and her maids, who with them tarried.

Those whom they had taken they bore with them away.The castles, overmastered, henceforth must own the swayOf Morunc and of Horant: when they homeward started,They left in the Norman kingdom a thousand of their men, all fearless-hearted.

“Now do I beseech you,” to them young Hartmut spake,“That in my father’s kingdom my freedom I may take;If this to me be granted, I pledge my life and riches.”The aged Wâ-te answered: “Now in our hands to keep you wisdom teaches.

“Why it is I know not, that ’tis my nephew’s willTo carry home young Hartmut, who him would gladly kill,And take from him his riches. Even before the morrow,Were only my nephew willing, I would see that his foe no more in bonds should sorrow.”

Then spake the youthful Ortwin: “What gain to us would comeIf we should slay our foemen here in their land and home?Hartmut and his kindred may better things be hoping;Them will I bring to my mother, as well beseems a knight to wrong ne’er stooping.”

All their goods and riches down to the ships were brought;With gold and gems and clothing, and horses they were fraught.Her whom they had sought for they were homeward bringing:They who once went mourning now on their way were heard in gladness singing.