Adventure XI: How Siegfried and his Wife journeyed Home

Now so soon as the guests of Gunther had wended all away,Then spake the Son of Siegmund unto them of his vassal-array:"Time is it we made us ready to our fatherland to ride."Right glad to hear that saying was the heart of Kriemhild the bride.Then spake she unto her husband: "How soon is thy mind to depart?So hastily hence to be faring is nowise after mine heart,Ere my brethren divide me my portion of the land of Burgundy."But vexed was the soul of Siegfried that such her desire should be.Then came unto him the Princes, and with one voice spake all three:"We do thee to wit, Lord Siegfried, that for aye are we bound untotheeIn loyalty of service, so long as life shall remain."Unto this their gracious tender low bowed that royal thane."We will give thee withal thy portion," the young lord Giselhercried,"Of all that we hold in possession, of our castles and manors wide,And of all this mighty kingdom the rule whereof we claim.Yea, thou receivest with Kriemhild thine own full share of the same."Made answer then to the Princes the son of Siegmund the King,When he heard the speech of their kindness and their royal offering:"God seal unto you by His blessing your heritage all your life,And therewithal its people: but this my beloved wife,No need hath she of the portion that ye so freely would give.Where she shall reign a crowned queen--if to see that day we live--There shall she be far richer than any the wide world through.For all that beside ye have proffered I am ever beholden to you."Then answered the Lady Kriemhild: "Though lightly thou reck of myland,As touching the thanes Burgundian not so doth the matter stand:For the escort-royal homeward these may no king disdain.Let my loving brethren give me of these for my princely train."

Answered and spake Lord Gernot: "Whomsoever thou wilt, take thou.Thou shalt find here many that gladly will ride with thee, I trow.There be good knights thirty hundred; take thee a thousand of theseFor thy palace-retainers." Kriemhild 'gan send forth messagesUnto Hagen of Troneg and Ortwein, and asked that mighty twainIf they and their kinsmen accepted Kriemhild for suzerain.But an answer of scornful anger from Hagen her message won:"Unto no one on earth can Gunther pass us as chattels on!Let other escort-vassals with you on your journey go.The Law of the Men of Troneg full well by this should ye know:We be bound to abide with our liege-lord the King in hall and field,And to them which have had our homage, our homage ever to yield."

So they spake no more of the matter, but they dight them for theway;And Kriemhild took for escort of her noble palace-arrayTwo-and-thirty maidens, and of knights five hundred men;And Eckwart Lord of the Marches went forth with Kriemhild then.All these took leave of their people, from the henchman unto theknight,The stately dame and the handmaid, even as was meet and right:With manifold clasping and kissing was wrought that sundering.So fared they forth blithe-hearted from the land of Gunther the King.

Far on the way with them kinsfolk for friendship and honour fared.Unto Burgundy's uttermost marches for their resting was lodgingpreparedWheresoe'er in the land of Gunther they chose to abide for the night.Therewithal to the old king Siegmund were messengers sent forthright,To bear unto him the tidings and to Siegelind the QueenThat his son and the Daughter of Uta full soon at his gates should beseen,Kriemhild the Fair, from the City of Worms, from the Rhine-stronghold.Never could welcomer tidings in the ears of these be told."Happy am I," cried Siegmund, "that I live to see the dayWhen in this land Kriemhild the Lovely shall be crowned for royalsway!Henceforth shall my father's kingdom yet higher in honour stand,For now shall my son, my Siegfried, himself be king of the land."Then Siegelind gave to the heralds for vesture the velvet redAnd the massy gold and the silver, their guerdon for tidings sped.She joyed beyond words for the story, she had gotten her heart'sdesire.And all her palace-maidens made ready their fairest attire.Each told unto other what escort drew with Siegfried near;And they gave command that the craftsmen should the ranks of thehigh-seats rearWherefrom all friends should behold him crowned their king ere long.Then rode forth onward to meet them King Siegmund's vassal-throng.

If ever was royaller welcome, thereof have I heard not yetThan this wherewith were the heroes in the land of Siegmund met.Forth to the meeting with Kriemhild did Siegfried's mother rideWith many a lovely lady and valiant knight at her side.A day's march rode they, or ever those guests they might behold.Home-dwellers and far-comers alike were restless-souledTill they met at the last by a fortress with towers encompassedround,Xanten its name, where Siegfried and Kriemhild ere long should becrowned.With smiling lips King Siegmund and Siegelind greeted thereWith kisses on loving kisses Queen Uta's daughter fairAnd Siegfried the Knight--for his safety had their hearts been longin pain;--And they gave withal glad welcome unto all his escort-train.

Into the hall of Siegmund the long-desired led they;And unto the winsome handmaids was many a hand straightwayUpreached, from the palfreys to lift them: knights many of highdegreeWaited on those fair ladies with eager courtesy.How splendid soever the bridal had been where Rhine-river flowed,This day far goodlier raiment on the hero-guests they bestowedFor the marriage-feast, than ever had arrayed them in all their days.Of the wealth of their kingdom marvels are sung in the minstrels'praise.So sat they high in honour amid all that heart desired.In what gold-broidered vesture were the palace-pages attired!With needlework laid were their garments and the gemstone's starrysheenBy the heedful care provided of Siegelind the Queen.

Then in his leal friends' presence did Siegmund rise and say:"Be it known unto all my lovers and all my folk this dayThat from this hour forward Siegfried the crown of my lordship shallwear."And with joy that proclamation did the men of the Netherland hear.Unto Siegfried his crown he committed, his land, and the power of thesword.Henceforth was he lord and master: as he spake in judgment's award,As he visited for transgression, his word was the whole land's law,So that under the lord of Kriemhild all men bowed down in awe.

In the midst of such high honour he lived--this witness is true--Doing crowned kings' judgment and justice, till onward the tenth yeardrew.And now to the fair Queen Kriemhild was born at the last a sonIn whom for the kinsmen of Siegfried all hope and desire were won.They bare to the font baptismal the babe, and they chose him a name,The name of his uncle Gunther--thereof could he take no shame.So he grew unto man like his kinsman, a valiant lord should he be.And with watchful love, as behoved them, they nurtured him heedfully.Now it came to pass that in those days did the Lady Siegelind die,And to Uta's noble daughter passed all her majesty,As beseemed so royal a lady in the land where her lord bare sway:Yet sorely for her they lamented whom death had taken away.

Now also beside Rhine-river, as the olden minstrels sing,In that fair land Burgundian unto Gunther the mighty kingThe Queen, even Brunhild the lovely, had also borne a son.Siegfried, for love of the Hero, they named that little one.Ah, with what care exceeding they watched his childhood-days!Wise warders Gunther appointed to rear him in wisdom's ways,Even all that for noble manhood and knightly should stand him instead.--Ah me, what woes from his kinsfolk lighted on that child's head!

Through the golden years was the story aye published far and wideIn what fashion those valiant barons in princely pomp and prideLived in the land of Siegmund through the happy-fleeting days.Yea, Gunther withal with his kinsfolk dwelt amid all men's praise.All the land of the Niblungs was bowed under Siegfried's sway,--Such wealth had none of his kinsfolk as gathered in that Hoardlay--With all the knights of Schilbung and the slain kings'treasure-store;And for this cause heart-uplifted was the hero yet the more.Yea, a Hoard, of treasures the hugest that ever hero won,Save the lords that of old possessed it, had Siegfried gained forhis own,The which by the Misty Mountain his right hand took in fight,When he dealt for its sake the death-stroke unto many a stalwartknight.He was crowned with the fulness of honour--yea, had his portion beenless,Yet of that noble warrior all men must needs confessThat of all knights this was the chiefest that ever backed a steed.Men dreaded his might--and reason had they in veriest deed!