The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs | Page 5

and main;
Then Gunthiof, and then Hunthiof, they
wearied them in vain; Nought was the might of Agnar; nought Helgi
could avail; Sigi the tall and Solar no further brought the tale,
Nor
Geirmund the priest of the temple, nor Gylfi of the wood.
At last by the side of the Branstock Sigmund the Volsung stood, And
with right hand wise in battle the precious sword-hilt caught, Yet in a
careless fashion, as he deemed it all for nought: When lo, from floor to
rafter went up a shattering shout, For aloft in the hand of Sigmund the
naked blade shone out As high o'er his head he shook it: for the sword
had come away From the grip of the heart of the Branstock, as though
all loose it lay.
A little while he stood there mid the glory of the hall,
Like the best of the trees of the garden, when the April sunbeams fall
On its blossomed boughs in the morning, and tell of the days to be;

Then back unto the high-seat he wended soberly;
For this was the
thought within him; Belike the day shall come When I shall bide here
lonely amid the Volsung home,
Its glory and sole avenger, its
after-summer seed.
Yea, I am the hired of Odin, his workday will to
speed, And the harvest-tide shall be heavy.--What then, were it come
and past And I laid by the last of the sheaves with my wages earned at
the last?
He lifted his eyes as he thought it, for now was he come to his place,
And there he stood by his father and met Siggeir face to face, And he
saw him blithe and smiling, and heard him how he spake: "O best of
the sons of Volsung, I am merry for thy sake And the glory that thou
hast gained us; but whereas thine hand and heart
Are e'en now the
lords of the battle, how lack'st thou for thy part A matter to better the
best? Wilt thou overgild fine gold Or dye the red rose redder? So I
prithee let me hold
This sword that comes to thine hand on the day I
wed thy kin. For at home have I a store-house; there is mountain-gold
therein The weight of a war-king's harness; there is silver plenteous
store; There is iron, and huge-wrought amber, that the southern men
love sore, When they sell me the woven wonder, the purple born of the
sea; And it hangeth up in that bower; and all this is a gift for thee: But
the sword that came to my wedding, methinketh it meet and right, That
it lie on my knees in the council and stead me in the fight."
But Sigmund laughed and answered, and he spake a scornful word:
"And if I take twice that treasure, will it buy me Odin's sword, And the
gift that the Gods have given? will it buy me again to stand Betwixt
two mightiest world-kings with a longed-for thing in mine hand That
all their might hath missed of? when the purple-selling men Come
buying thine iron and amber, dost thou sell thine honour then? Do they
wrap it in bast of the linden, or run it in moulds of earth? And shalt
thou account mine honour as a matter of lesser worth? Came the sword
to thy wedding, Goth-king, to thine hand it never came, And thence is
thine envy whetted to deal me this word of shame."
Black then was the heart of Siggeir, but his face grew pale and red, Till
he drew a smile thereover, and spake the word and said: "Nay, pardon

me, Signy's kinsman! when the heart desires o'ermuch It teacheth the
tongue ill speaking, and my word belike was such. But the honour of
thee and thy kindred, I hold it even as mine, And I love you as my
heart-blood, and take ye this for a sign. I bid thee now King Volsung,
and these thy glorious sons, And thine earls and thy dukes of battle and
all thy mighty ones, To come to the house of the Goth-kings as
honoured guests and dear And abide the winter over; that the dusky
days and drear May be glorious with thy presence, that all folk may
praise my life, And the friends that my fame hath gotten; and that this
my new-wed wife Thine eyes may make the merrier till she bear my
eldest born." Then speedily answered Volsung: "No king of the earth
might scorn Such noble bidding, Siggeir; and surely will I come
To
look upon thy glory and the Goths' abundant home.
But let two
months wear over, for I have many a thing
To shape and shear in the
Woodland, as befits a people's king: And thou meanwhile here abiding
of all my goods shalt