The Fall of the Niebelungs | Page 7

hie from . It irked him that none
knew it.
Ortwin of Metz, a goodly man of high courage, spake to the king then, "Since we know
naught thereof, bid to thee Hagen mine uncle, and show them to him. For he hath
knowledge of the mighty men of all lands; and what he knoweth he will tell us."
The king summoned Hagen with his vassals, and he drew night with proud step, and
asked the king his will.
"Strange knights are come to my court that none knoweth. If thou hast ever seen them
afore, tell me thereof truly."
"That will I," spake Hagen, and went to the window, and looked down on the strangers
below. The show of them and their equipment pleased him, but he had not seen them
afore in Burgundy. And he said, "From wheresoever they be come, they must be princes,
or princes' envoys. Their horses are good, and wonderly rich their vesture. From whatso
quarter they hie, they be seemly men. But for this I vouch, that, though I never saw
Siegfried, yonder knight that goeth so proud is, of a surety, none but he. New adventures
he bringeth hither. By this hero's hand fell the brave Nibelungs, Shilbung and Nibelung,
the high princes. Wonders hath he wrought by his prowess. I have heard tell that on a day
when he rode alone, he came to a mountain, and chanced on a company of brave men that
guarded the Nibelung's hoard, whereof he knew naught. The Nibelung men had, at that
moment, made an end of bringing it forth from a hole in the hill, and oddly enow, they
were about to share it. Siegfried saw them and marvelled thereat. He drew so close that
they were ware of him, and he of them. Whereupon one said, 'Here cometh Siegfried, the
hero of the Netherland!' Strange adventure met he amidst of them. Shilbung and

Nibelung welcomed him, and with one accord the princely youths asked him to divide the
treasure atween them, and begged this so eagerly that he could not say them nay. The tale
goeth that he saw there more precious stones than an hundred double waggons had
sufficed to carry, and of the red Nibelung gold yet more. This must bold Siegfried divide.
In guerdon therefor they gave him the sword of the Nibelungs, and were ill paid by
Siegfried for the service. He strove vainly to end the task, whereat they were wroth. And
when he could not bear it through, the kings, with their men, fell upon him. But with their
father's sword, that hight Balmung, he wrested from them both hoard and land. The
princes had twelve champions - stark giants, yet little it bested them. Siegfried slew them
wrathfully with his hand, and, with Balmung, vanquished seven hundred knights; and
many youths there, afraid of the man and his sword, did homage for castles and land. He
smote the two kings dead. Then he, himself, came in scathe by Albric, that would have
avenged the death of his masters then and there, till that he felt Siegfried's exceeding
might. When the dwarf could not overcome him, they ran like lions to the mountain,
where Siegfried won from Albric the cloudcloak that hight Tarnkappe. Then was
Siegfried, the terrible man, master of the hoard. They that had dared the combat lay slain;
and he bade carry the treasure back whence the Nibelungs had brought it forth; and he
made Albric the keeper thereof, after that he had sworn an oath to serve him as his man,
and to do all that he commanded him."
"These are his deeds," said Hagen; "bolder knight there never was. Yet more I might tell
of him. With his hand he slew a dragon, and bathed him in its blood, that his skin is as
horn, and no weapon can cut him, as hath been proven on him ofttimes."
"Let us welcome the young lord, that we come not in his hate. So fair is he of his body
that one may not look unfriendly thereon; with his strength he hath done great deeds."
Then spake the great king, "Belike thou sayest sooth. Knightly he standeth there as for
the onset - he and his warriors with him. We will go down to him and greet him."
"Thou mayest do that with honour," answered Hagen; "for he is of high birth, even a
great king's son. By Christ, there is somewhat in his bearing that showeth he hath ridden
hither on no slight matter."
The king of the land said, "He is right welcome, for I perceive that he is brave and noble,
the which shall profit him in Burgundy."
Gunther went out to Siegfried. The king and his men gave the strangers