The Story of Siegfried Read online

  In a few days the Rhine champions reached their home. And gayly were thecastle and all the houses in the city decked in honor of them. And allthose who had been left behind went out to meet them as they came downfrom the forest-road, and drew near to the castle. And the young girlsstrewed flowers in their path, and hung garlands upon their horses;and music and song followed the heroes into the city, and through thecastle-gate.

  When they reached the palace, the two prisoner kings, Leudiger andLeudigast, were loosed from their bonds, and handsomely entertained atGunther's table. And the Burgundian kings assured them that they shouldbe treated as honored guests, and have the freedom of the court andcastle, if they would pledge themselves not to try to escape fromBurgundy until terms of peace should be agreed upon. This pledge theygladly gave, and rich apartments in the palace were assigned for theiruse. Like favors were shown to all the prisoners, according to theirrank; and the wounded were kindly cared for. And the Burgundians madeready for a gay high-tide,--a glad festival of rejoicing, to be held atthe next full moon.

  When the day drew near which had been set for this high-tide, the folkfrom all parts of Rhineland began to flock towards the city. Theycame in companies, with music and laughter, and the glad songs ofthe spring-time. And all the knights were mounted on gallant horsescaparisoned with gold-red saddles, from which hung numbers of tinklingsilver bells. As they rode up the sands towards the castle-gate,with their dazzling shields upon their saddle-bows, and their gay andmany-colored banners floating in the air, King Gernot and the youngGiselher, with the noblest knights of the fortress, went courteously outto meet them; and the friendly greetings which were offered by the twoyoung kings won the hearts of all. Thirty and two princes and more thanfive thousand warriors came as bidden guests. The city and castle weredecked in holiday attire, and all the people in the land gave themselvesup to enjoyment. The sick and the wounded, who until now had thoughtthemselves at death's door, forgot their ailments and their pains asthey heard the shouts of joy and the peals of music in the streets.

  In a green field outside of the city walls, arrangements had been madefor the games, and galleries and high stages had been built for thelookers-on. Here jousts and tournaments were held, and the knights andwarriors engaged in trials of strength and skill. When King Gunther sawwith what keen enjoyment both his own people and his guests looked uponthese games, and took part in the gay festivities, he asked of thosearound him,--

  "What more can we do to heighten the pleasures of the day?"

  And one of his counsellors answered,--

  "My lord, the ladies of the court, and the little children, pine insilence in the sunless rooms of the palace, while we enjoy the free airand light of heaven, the music, and the gay scenes before us. There isnothing wanting to make this day's joy complete, save the presence ofour dear ones to share these pleasures with us."

  Gunther was delighted to hear these words; and he sent a herald to thepalace, and invited all the ladies of the court and all the children tocome out and view the games, and join in the general gladness.

  When Dame Ute heard the message which the herald brought from her kinglyson, she hastened to make ready rich dresses and costly jewels wherewithto adorn the dames and damsels of the court. And, when all were inreadiness, the peerless Kriemhild, with her mother at her side, wentforth from the castle; and a hundred knights, all sword in hand, wentwith her as a body-guard, and a great number of noble ladies dressed inrich attire followed her. As the red dawn peers forth from behind grayclouds, and drives the mists and shadows away from earth, so camethe lovely one. As the bright full moon in radiant splendor moves inqueen-like beauty before her train of attendant stars, and outshinesthem all, so was Kriemhild the most glorious among all the noble ladiesthere. And the thousand knights and warriors paused in their games, andgreeted the peerless princess as was due to one so noble and fair. Uponthe highest platform, under a rich canopy of cloth-of-gold, seats weremade ready for the maiden and her mother and the fair ladies in theirtrain; and all the most worthy princes in Rhineland sat around, and thegames were begun again.

  For twelve days the gay high-tide lasted, and nought was left undonewhereby the joy might be increased. And of all the heroes and princeswho jousted in the tournament, or took part in the games, none couldequal the unassuming Siegfried; and his praises were heard on everyhand, and all agreed that he was the most worthy prince that they hadever seen.

  When at last the festal days came to an end, Gunther and his brotherscalled their guests and vassals around them, and loaded them with costlygifts, and bade them God-speed. And tears stood in the eyes of all atparting.

  The captive kings, Leudiger and Leudigast, were not forgotten.

  "What will ye give me for your freedom?" asked King Gunther, half injest.

  They answered,--

  "If you will allow us without further hinderance to go back to ourpeople, we pledge our lives and our honor that we will straightway sendyou gold, as much as half a thousand horses can carry."

  Then Gunther turned to Siegfried, and said,--

  "What think you, friend Siegfried, of such princely ransom?"

  "Noble lord," said Siegfried, "I think you are in need of no suchransom. Friendship is worth much more than gold. If your kingly captiveswill promise, on their honor, never more to come towards Burgundy asenemies, let them go. We have no need of gold."

  "'Tis well said," cried Gunther highly pleased.

  And Leudiger and Leudigast, with tears of thankfulness, gladly madethe asked-for promise, and on the morrow, with light hearts and costlygifts, they set out on their journey homewards.

  When all the guests had gone, and the daily routine of idle palace-lifeset in again, Siegfried began to talk of going back to NibelungenLand. But young Giselher, and the peerless Kriemhild, and King Gunther,besought him to stay yet a little longer. And he yielded to their kindwishes. And autumn passed away with its fruits and its vintage, and grimold winter came howling down from the north, and Siegfried was stillin Burgundy. And then old Hoder, the king of the winter months,came blustering through the Rhine valley; and with him were theReifriesen,--the thieves that steal the daylight from the earth andthe warmth from the sun. And they nipped the flowers, and withered thegrass, and stripped the trees, and sealed up the rivers, and covered theearth with a white mantle of sorrow.

  But within King Gunther's wide halls there was joy and good cheer.And the season of the Yule-feast came, and still Siegfried tarried inBurgundy-land.

  Adventure XIII. The Story of Balder.

  There was mirth in King Gunther's dwelling, for the time of theYule-feast had come. The broad banquet hall was gayly decked with cedarand spruce and sprigs of the mistletoe; and the fires roared in thegreat chimneys, throwing warmth and a ruddy glow of light into everycorner of the room. The long table fairly groaned under its weight ofgood cheer. At its head sat the kings and the earl-folk; and beforethem, on a silver platter of rare workmanship, was the head of a hugewild boar,--the festal offering to the good Frey, in honor of whomthe Yule-feast was held. For now the sun, which had been driven by theFrost-giants far away towards the South-land, had begun to return, andFrey was on his way once more to scatter peace and plenty over the land.

  The harp and the wassail-bowl went round; and each one of the companysang a song, or told a story, or in some way did his part to add to theevening's enjoyment. And a young sea-king who sat at Siegfried's sidetold most bewitching tales of other lands which lie beyond Old AEgir'skingdom. Then, when the harp came to him, he sang the wondrous song ofthe shaping of the earth. And all who heard were charmed with the sweetsound and with the pleasant words. He sang of the sunlight and the southwinds and the summer-time, of the storms and the snow and the sombreshadows of the North-land. And he sang of the dead Ymir, the giant whoseflesh had made the solid earth, and whose blood the sea, and whose bonesthe mountains, whose teeth the cliffs and crags, and whose skull theheavens. And he sang of Odin, the earth's preserver, the Giver of life,the Father o
f all; and of the Asa-folk who dwell in Asgard; and ofthe ghostly heroes in Valhal. Then he sang of the heaven-tower of thethunder-god, and of the shimmering Asa-bridge, or rainbow, all afire;and, lastly, of the four dwarfs who hold the blue sky-dome above them,and of the elves of the mountains, and of the wood-sprites andthe fairies. Then he laid aside his harp, and told the old butever-beautiful story of the death of Balder the Good.

  The Story.

  Balder, as you know, was Odin's son; and he was the brightest andbest of all the Asa-folk. Wherever he went, there were gladness andlight-hearted mirth, and blooming flowers, and singing birds, andmurmuring waterfalls. Balder, too, was a hero, but not one of theblustering kind, like Thor. He slew no giants; he never went intobattle; he never tried to make for himself a name among the dwellers ofthe mid-world; and yet he was a hero of the noblest type. He dared to doright, and to stand up for the good, the true, and the beautiful. Thereare still some such heroes, but the world does not always hear of them.

  Hoder, the blind king of the winter months, was Balder's brother, and asunlike him as darkness is unlike daylight. While one rejoiced, andwas merry and cheerful, the other was low-spirited and sad. While onescattered sunshine and blessings everywhere, the other carried with hima sense of cheerlessness and gloom. Yet the brothers loved each otherdearly.

  One night Balder dreamed a strange dream, and when he awoke he could notforget it. All day long he was thoughtful and sad, and he was not hisown bright, happy self. His mother, the Asa-queen, saw that somethingtroubled him; and she asked,--

  "Whence comes that cloud upon your brow? Will you suffer it to chaseaway all your sunshine? and will you become, like your brother Hoder,all frowns and sighs and tears?"

  Then Balder told her what he had dreamed; and she, too, was sorelytroubled, for it was a frightful dream, and foreboded dire disasters.Then both she and Balder went to Odin, and to him they told the causeof their uneasiness. And the All-Father also was distressed; for he knewthat such dreams, dreamed by Asa-folk, were the forewarnings of evil. Sohe saddled his eight-footed steed Sleipner; and, without telling any onewhere he was going, he rode with the speed of the winds down intothe Valley of Death. The dog that guards the gateway to that dark anddoleful land came out to meet him. Blood was on the fierce beast'sbreast, and he barked loudly and angrily at the All-Father and hiswondrous horse. But Odin sang sweet magic songs as he drew near; and thedog was charmed with the sound, and Sleipner and his rider went onwardin safety. And they passed the dark halls of the pale-faced queen, andcame to the east gate of the valley. There stood the low hut of a witchwho lived in darkness, and, like the Norns, spun the thread of fate forgods and men.

  Odin stood before the hut, and sang a wondrous song of witchery andenchantment; and he laid a spell upon the weird woman, and forced her tocome out of her dark dwelling, and to answer his questions.

  "Who is this stranger?" asked the witch. "Who is this unknown who callsme from my narrow home, and sets an irksome task for me? Long have Ibeen left alone in my quiet house; nor recked I that the snow sometimescovered with its cold white mantle both me and my resting-place, or thatthe pattering rain and the gently falling dew often moistened the roofof my dwelling. Long have I rested quietly, and I do not wish now to bearoused."

  "I am Valtam's son," said Odin; "and I come to learn of thee. Tell me,I pray, for whom are the soft couches prepared that I saw in the broadhalls of Death? For whom are the jewels, and the rings, and the richclothing, and the shining shield?"

  "All are for Balder, Odin's son," she answered. "And the mead which hasbeen brewed for him is hidden beneath the shining shield."

  Then Odin asked who would be the slayer of Balder, and she answered thatHoder was the one who would send the shining Asa to the halls of Death.

  "Who will avenge Balder, and bring distress upon his slayer?" askedOdin.

  "A son of Earth but one day old shall be Balder's avenger. Go thou nowhome, Odin; for I know thou art not Valtam's son. Go home; and noneshall again awaken me, nor disturb me at my task, until the new dayshall dawn, and Balder shall rule over the young world in its purity,and there shall be no more Death."

  Then Odin rode sorrowfully homeward; but he told no one of his journeyto the Dark Valley, nor of what the weird witch had said to him.

  Balder's mother, the Asa-queen, could not rest because of the ill-omeneddream that her son had had; and in her distress she called all theAsa-folk together to consider what should be done. But they werespeechless with sorrow and alarm; and none could offer advice, nor sether mind at ease. Then she sought out every living creature, and everylifeless thing, upon the earth, and asked each one to swear that itwould not on any account hurt Balder, nor touch him to do him harm. Andthis oath was willingly made by fire and water, earth and air, by allbeasts and creeping things and birds and fishes, by the rocks and by thetrees and all metals; for every thing loved Balder the Good.

  Then the Asa-folk thought that great honor was shown to Balder each timeany thing refused to hurt him; and to show their love for him, as wellas to amuse themselves, they often hewed at him with their battle-axes,or struck at him with their sharp swords, or hurled toward him theirheavy lances. For every weapon turned aside from its course, and wouldneither mark nor bruise the shining target at which it was aimed; andBalder's princely beauty shone as bright and as pure as ever.

  When Loki the Mischief-maker saw how all things loved and honoredBalder, his heart was filled with jealous hate, and he sought all overthe earth for some beast or bird or tree or lifeless thing, that hadnot taken the oath. But he could find not one. Then, disguised as a fairmaiden, he went to Fensal Hall, where dwelt Balder's mother. The fairAsa-queen was busy at her distaff, with her golden spindles, spinningflax to be woven into fine linen for the gods. And her maid-servant,Fulla of the flowing hair, sat on a stool beside her. When the queen sawLoki, she asked,--

  "Whence come you, fair stranger? and what favor would you ask of Odin'swife?"

  "I come," answered the disguised Loki, "from the plains of Ida, wherethe gods meet for pleasant pastime, as well as to talk of the weightiermatters of their kingdom."

  "And how do they while away their time to-day?" asked the queen.

  "They have a pleasant game which they call Balder's Honor," was theanswer. "The shining hero stands before them as a target, and each onetries his skill at hurling some weapon toward him. First Odin throws athim the spear Gungner, which never before was known to miss its mark;but it passes harmlessly over Balder's head. Then Thor takes up a hugerock, and hurls it full at Balder's breast; but it turns in its course,and will not smite the sun-bright target. Then Tyr seizes a battle-axe,and strikes at Balder as though he would hew him down; but the keen edgerefuses to touch him: and in this way the Asa-folk show honor to thebest of their number."

  The Asa-queen smiled in the glad pride of her mother-heart, and said,"Yes, every thing shows honor to the best of Odin's sons; for neithermetal nor wood nor stone nor fire nor water will touch Balder to do himharm."

  "Is it true, then," asked Loki, "that every thing has made an oath toyou, and promised not to hurt your son?"

  And the queen, not thinking what harm an unguarded word might do,answered, "Every thing has promised, save a little feeble sprig that mencall the mistletoe. So small and weak it is, that I knew it could neverharm any one; and so I passed it by, and did not ask it to take theoath."

  Then Loki went out of Fensal Hall, and left the Asa-queen at herspinning. And he walked briskly away, and paused not until he came tothe eastern side of Valhal, where, on the branches of an old oak, themistletoe grew. Rudely he tore the plant from its supporting branch, andhid it under his cloak. Then he walked leisurely back to the place wherethe Asa-folk were wont to meet in council.

  The next day the Asas went out, as usual, to engage in pleasant pastimeson the plains of Ida. When they had tired of leaping and foot-racing andtilting, they placed Balder before them as a target again; and, aseach threw his weapon toward the shining mark, they
laughed to see themissile turn aside from its course, and refuse to strike the honoredone. But blind Hoder stood sorrowfully away from the others, and did notjoin in any of their sports. Loki, seeing this, went to him and said,--

  "Brother of the gloomy brow, why do you not take part with us in ourgames?"

  "I am blind," answered Hoder. "I can neither leap, nor run, nor throwthe lance."

  "But you can shoot arrows from your bow," said Loki.

  "Alas!" said Hoder, "that I can do only as some one shall direct my aim,for I can see no target."

  "Do you hear that laughter?" asked Loki. "Thor has hurled the straighttrunk of a pine-tree at your brother; and, rather than touch such aglorious mark; it has turned aside, and been shivered to pieces upon therocks over there. It is thus that the Asa-folk, and all things livingand lifeless, honor Balder. Hoder is the only one who hangs his head,and fears to do his part. Come, now, let me fit this little arrow inyour bow, and then, as I point it, do you shoot. When you hear the godslaugh, you will know that your arrow has shown honor to the hero byrefusing to hit him."

  And Hoder, thinking no harm, did as Loki wished. And the deadly arrowsped from the bow, and pierced the heart of shining Balder, and hesank lifeless upon the ground. Then the Asa-folk who saw it were struckspeechless with sorrow and dismay; and, had it not been that the Idaplains where they then stood were sacred to peace, they would haveseized upon Loki, and put him to death.

  Forthwith the world was draped in mourning for Balder the Good;the birds stopped singing, and flew with drooping wings to the farSouth-land; the beasts sought to hide themselves in their lairs andin the holes of the ground; the trees shivered and sighed until theirleaves fell withered to the earth; the flowers closed their eyes, anddied; the rivers stopped flowing, and dark and threatening billowsveiled the sea; even the sun shrouded his face, and withdrew silentlytowards the south.