The Story of Siegfried Read online

  Odin and Hoenir at once shook off their human disguises, and, takingtheir own forms again, hastened with all speed back to Asgard. But Lokitarried a little while, and said to Hreidmar and his sons,--

  "By your greediness and falsehood you have won for yourselves the Curseof the Earth, which lies before you. It shall be your bane. It shallbe the bane of every one who holds it. It shall kindle strife betweenfather and son, between brother and brother. It shall make you mean,selfish, beastly. It shall transform you into monsters. The noblest kingamong men-folk shall feel its curse. Such is gold, and such it shallever be to its worshippers. And the ring which you have gottenshall impart to its possessor its own nature. Grasping, snaky, cold,unfeeling, shall he live; and death through treachery shall be hisdoom."

  Then he turned away, delighted that he had thus left the curse ofAndvari with Hreidmar and his sons, and hastened northward towardthe sea; for he wished to redeem the promise that he had made to theOcean-queen, to bring back her magic net, and to decoy the richly ladenship into her clutches.

  No sooner were the strange huntsmen well out of sight than Fafnir andRegin began to ask their father to divide the glittering hoard withthem.

  "By our strength and through our advice," said they, "this great storehas come into your hands. Let us place it in three equal heaps, and thenlet each take his share and go his way."

  At this the farmer waxed very angry; and he loudly declared that hewould keep all the treasure for himself, and that his sons should nothave any portion of it whatever. So Fafnir and Regin, nursing theirdisappointment, went to the fields to watch their sheep; but theirfather sat down to guard his new-gotten treasure. And he took in hishand the glittering serpent-ring, and gazed into its cold ruby eyes:and, as he gazed, all his thoughts were fixed upon his gold; and therewas no room in his heart for love toward his fellows, nor for deedsof kindness, nor for the worship of the All-Father. And behold, as hecontinued to look at the snaky ring, a dreadful change came over him.The warm red blood, which until that time had leaped through his veins,and given him life and strength and human feelings, became purple andcold and sluggish; and selfishness, like serpent-poison, took hold ofhis heart. Then, as he kept on gazing at the hoard which lay before him,he began to lose his human shape; his body lengthened into many scalyfolds, and he coiled himself around his loved treasures,--the verylikeness of the ring upon which he had looked so long.

  When the day drew near its close, Fafnir came back from the fields withhis herd of sheep, and thought to find his father guarding the treasure,as he had left him in the morning; but instead he saw a glitteringsnake, fast asleep, encircling the hoard like a huge scaly ring of gold.His first thought was that the monster had devoured his father; and,hastily drawing his sword, with one blow he severed the serpent's headfrom its body. And, while yet the creature writhed in the death-agony,he gathered up the hoard, and fled with it beyond the hills of Hunaland,until on the seventh day he came to a barren heath far from the homesof men. There he placed the treasures in one glittering heap; and heclothed himself in a wondrous mail-coat of gold that was found amongthem, and he put on the Helmet of Dread, which had once been the terrorof the mid-world, and the like of which no man had ever seen; and thenhe gazed with greedy eyes upon the fateful ring, until he, too, waschanged into a cold and slimy reptile,--a monster dragon. And he coiledhimself about the hoard; and, with his restless eyes forever open, hegloated day after day upon his loved gold, and watched with ceaselesscare that no one should come near to despoil him of it. This was agesand ages ago; and still he wallows among his treasures on the GlitteringHeath, and guards as of yore the garnered wealth of Andvari.[EN#10]

  When I, Regin, the younger brother, came back in the late evening to myfather's dwelling, I saw that the treasure had been carried away; and,when I beheld the dead serpent lying in its place, I knew that a part ofAndvari's curse had been fulfilled. And a strange fear came over me; andI left every thing behind me, and fled from that dwelling, never moreto return. Then I came to the land of the Volsungs, where your father'sfathers dwelt, the noblest king-folk that the world has ever seen. Buta longing for the gold and the treasure, a hungry yearning, that wouldnever be satisfied, filled my soul. Then for a time I sought to forgetthis craving. I spent my days in the getting of knowledge and inteaching men-folk the ancient lore of my kin, the Dwarfs. I taught themhow to plant and to sow, and to reap the yellow grain. I showed themwhere the precious metals of the earth lie hidden, and how to smelt ironfrom its ores,--how to shape the ploughshare and the spade, the spearand the battle-axe. I taught them how to tame the wild horses of themeadows, and how to train the yoke-beasts to the plough; how to buildlordly dwellings and mighty strongholds, and how to sail in ships acrossold AEgir's watery kingdom. But they gave me no thanks for what I haddone; and as the years went by they forgot who had been their teacher,and they said that it was Frey who had given them this knowledge andskill. And I taught the young maidens how to spin and weave, andto handle the needle deftly,--to make rich garments, and to work intapestry and embroidery. But they, too, forgot me, and said that it wasFreyja who had taught them. Then I showed men how to read the mysticrunes aright, and how to make the sweet beverage of poetry, that charmsall hearts, and enlightens the world. But they say now that they hadthese gifts from Odin. I taught them how to fashion the tales of oldinto rich melodious songs, and with music and sweet-mouthed eloquence tomove the minds of their fellow-men. But they say that Bragi taught themthis; and they remember me only as Regin, the elfin schoolmaster, orat best as Mimer, the master of smiths. At length my heart grew bitterbecause of the neglect and ingratitude of men; and the old longing forAndvari's hoard came back to me, and I forgot much of my cunning andlore. But I lived on and on, and generations of short-lived men aroseand passed, and still the hoard was not mine; for I was weak, and no manwas strong enough to help me.

  Then I sought wisdom of the Norns, the weird women who weave the woof ofevery creature's fate.[EN#6] and [EN#7]

  "How long," asked I, "must I hope and wait in weary expectation of thatday when the wealth of the world and the garnered wisdom of the agesshall be mine?"

  And the witches answered, "When a prince of the Volsung race shall comewho shall excel thee in the smithying craft, and to whom the All-Fathershall give the Shining Hope as a helper, then the days of thy wearywatching, shall cease."

  "How long," asked I, "shall I live to enjoy this wealth and this wisdom,and to walk as a god among men? Shall I be long-lived as the Asa-folk,and dwell on the earth until the last Twilight comes?"

  "It is written," answered Skuld, "that a beardless youth shall see thydeath. But go thou now, and bide thy time."

  Here Regin ended his story, and both he and Siegfried sat for a longtime silent and thoughtful.

  "I know what you wish," said Siegfried at last. "You think that I am theprince of whom the weird sisters spoke; and you would have me slay thedragon Fafnir, and win for you the hoard of Andvari."

  "It is even so," answered Regin.

  "But the hoard is accursed," said the lad.

  "Let the curse be upon me," was the answer. "Is not the wisdom of theages mine? And think you that I cannot escape the curse? Is there aughtthat can prevail against him who has all knowledge and the wealth of theworld at his call?"

  "Nothing but the word of the Norns and the will of the All-Father,"answered Siegfried.

  "But will you help me?" asked Regin, almost wild with earnestness. "Willyou help me to win that which is rightfully mine, and to rid the worldof a horrible evil?"

  "Why is the hoard of Andvari more thine than Fafnir's?"

  "He is a monster, and he keeps the treasure but to gloat upon itsglittering richness. I will use it to make myself a name upon the earth.I will not hoard it away. But I am weak, and he is strong and terrible.Will you help me?"

  "To-morrow," said Siegfried, "be ready to go with me to the GlitteringHeath. The treasure shall be thine, and also the curse."

  "And also the curse," echoed R
egin.

  Adventure IV. Fafnir, the Dragon.

  Regin took up his harp, and his fingers smote the strings; and the musicwhich came forth sounded like the wail of the winter's wind throughthe dead treetops of the forest. And the song which he sang was full ofgrief and wild hopeless yearning for the things which were not to be.When he had ceased, Siegfried said,--

  "That was indeed a sorrowful song for one to sing who sees his hopes sonearly realized. Why are you so sad? Is it because you fear the cursewhich you have taken upon yourself? or is it because you know not whatyou will do with so vast a treasure, and its possession begins alreadyto trouble you?"

  "Oh, many are the things I will do with that treasure!" answered Regin;and his eyes flashed wildly, and his face grew red and pale. "I willturn winter into summer; I will make the desert-places glad; I willbring back the golden age; I will make myself a god: for mine shall bethe wisdom and the gathered wealth of the world. And yet I fear"--

  "What do you fear?"

  "The ring, the ring--it is accursed! The Norns, too, have spoken, and mydoom is known. I cannot escape it."

  "The Norns have woven the woof of every man's life," answered Siegfried."To-morrow we fare to the Glittering Heath, and the end shall be as theNorns have spoken."

  And so, early the next morning, Siegfried mounted Greyfell, and rodeout towards the desert-land that lay beyond the forest and the barrenmountain-range; and Regin, his eyes flashing with desire, and his feetnever tiring, trudged by his side. For seven days they wended theirway through the thick greenwood, sleeping at night on the bare groundbeneath the trees, while the wolves and other wild beasts of the forestfilled the air with their hideous howlings. But no evil creature daredcome near them, for fear of the shining beams of light which fellfrom Greyfell's gleaming mane. On the eighth day they came to the opencountry and to the hills, where the land was covered with black bowldersand broken by yawning chasms. And no living thing was seen there, noteven an insect, nor a blade of grass; and the silence of the grave wasover all. And the earth was dry and parched, and the sun hung above themlike a painted shield in a blue-black sky, and there was neither shadenor water anywhere. But Siegfried rode onwards in the way which Reginpointed out, and faltered not, although he grew faint with thirst andwith the overpowering heat. Towards the evening of the next day theycame to a dark mountain-wall which stretched far out on either hand, androse high above them, so steep that it seemed to close up the way, andto forbid them going farther.

  "This is the wall!" cried Regin. "Beyond this mountain is the GlitteringHeath, and the goal of all my hopes."

  And the little old man ran forwards, and scaled the rough side of themountain, and reached its summit, while Siegfried and Greyfell were yettoiling among the rocks at its foot. Slowly and painfully they climbedthe steep ascent, sometimes following a narrow path which wound alongthe edge of a precipice, sometimes leaping, from rock to rock, or oversome deep gorge, and sometimes picking their way among the crags andcliffs. The sun at last went down, and one by one the stars came out;and the moon was rising, round and red, when Siegfried stood by Regin'sside, and gazed from the mountain-top down upon the Glittering Heathwhich lay beyond. And a strange, weird scene it was that met his sight.At the foot of the mountain was a river, white and cold and still; andbeyond it was a smooth and barren plain, lying silent and lonely inthe pale moonlight. But in the distance was seen a circle of flickeringflames, ever changing,--now growing brighter, now fading away, and nowshining with a dull, cold light, like the glimmer of the glow-worm orthe fox-fire. And as Siegfried gazed upon the scene, he saw the dimoutline of some hideous monster moving hither and thither, and seemingall the more terrible in the uncertain light.

  "It is he!" whispered Regin, and his lips were ashy pale, and his kneestrembled beneath him. "It is Fafnir, and he wears the Helmet of Terror!Shall we not go back to the smithy by the great forest, and to the lifeof ease and safety that may be ours there? Or will you rather dare to goforwards, and meet the Terror in its abode?"

  "None but cowards give up an undertaking once begun," answeredSiegfried. "Go back to Rhineland yourself, if you are afraid; but youmust go alone. You have brought me thus far to meet the dragon of theheath, to win the hoard of the swarthy elves, and to rid the world ofa terrible evil. Before the setting of another sun, the deed which youhave urged me to do will be done."

  Then he dashed down the eastern slope of the mountain, leaving Greyfelland the trembling Regin behind him. Soon he stood on the banks of thewhite river, which lay between the mountain and the heath; but thestream was deep and sluggish, and the channel was very wide. He pauseda moment, wondering how he should cross; and the air seemed heavy withdeadly vapors, and the water was thick and cold. While he thus stood inthought, a boat came silently out of the mists, and drew near; and theboatman stood up and called to him, and said,--

  "What man are you who dares come into this land of loneliness and fear?"

  "I am Siegfried," answered the lad; "and I have come to slay Fafnir, theTerror."

  "Sit in my boat," said the boatman, "and I will carry you across theriver."

  And Siegfried sat by the boatman's side; and without the use of an oar,and without a breath of air to drive it forwards, the little vesselturned, and moved silently towards the farther shore.

  "In what way will you fight the dragon?" asked the boatman.

  "With my trusty sword Balmung I shall slay him," answered Siegfried.

  "But he wears the Helmet of Terror, and he breathes deathly poisons, andhis eyes dart forth lightning, and no man can withstand his strength,"said the boatman.

  "I will find some way by which to overcome him."

  "Then be wise, and listen to me," said the boatman. "As you go up fromthe river you will find a road, worn deep and smooth, starting fromthe water's edge, and winding over the moor. It is the trail of Fafnir,adown which he comes at dawn of every day to slake his thirst at theriver. Do you dig a pit in this roadway,--a pit narrow and deep,--andhide yourself within it. In the morning, when Fafnir passes over it, lethim feel the edge of Balmung."

  As the man ceased speaking, the boat touched the shore, and Siegfriedleaped out. He looked back to thank his unknown friend, but neither boatnor boatman was to be seen. Only a thin white mist rose slowly from thecold surface of the stream, and floated upwards and away towards themountain-tops. Then the lad remembered that the strange boatman had worna blue hood bespangled with golden stars, and that a gray kirtle wasthrown over his shoulders, and that his one eye glistened and sparkledwith a light that was more than human. And he knew that he had againtalked with Odin. Then, with a braver heart than before, he wentforwards, along the river-bank, until he came to Fafnir's trail,--adeep, wide furrow in the earth, beginning at the river's bank, andwinding far away over the heath, until it was lost to sight in thedarkness. The bottom of the trail was soft and slimy, and its sides hadbeen worn smooth by Fafnir's frequent travel through it.

  In this road, at a point not far from the river, Siegfried, with histrusty sword Balmung, scooped out a deep and narrow pit, as Odin haddirected. And when the gray dawn began to appear in the east he hidhimself within this trench, and waited for the coming of the monster. Hehad not long to wait; for no sooner had the sky begun to redden in thelight of the coming sun than the dragon was heard bestirring himself.Siegfried peeped warily from his hiding-place, and saw him coming fardown the road, hurrying with all speed, that he might quench his thirstat the sluggish river, and hasten back to his gold; and the sound whichhe made was like the trampling of many feet and the jingling of manychains. With bloodshot eyes, and gaping mouth, and flaming nostrils, thehideous creature came rushing onwards. His sharp, curved claws dugdeep into the soft earth; and his bat-like wings, half trailing on theground, half flapping in the air, made a sound like that which is heardwhen Thor rides in his goat-drawn chariot over the dark thunder-clouds.It was a terrible moment for Siegfried, but still he was not afraid. Hecrouched low down in his hiding-place, and the bare blade of
the trustyBalmung glittered in the morning light. On came the hastening feet andthe flapping wings: the red gleam from the monster's flaming nostrilslighted up the trench where Siegfried lay. He heard a roaring and arushing like the sound of a whirlwind in the forest; then a black,inky mass rolled above him, and all was dark. Now was Siegfried'sopportunity. The bright edge of Balmung gleamed in the darkness onemoment, and then it smote the heart of Fafnir as he passed. Some men saythat Odin sat in the pit with Siegfried, and strengthened his arm anddirected his sword, or else he could not thus have slain the Terror.But, be this as it may, the victory was soon won. The monster stoppedshort, while but half of his long body had glided over the pit; forsudden death had overtaken him. His horrid head fell lifeless uponthe ground; his cold wings flapped once, and then lay, quivering andhelpless, spread out on either side; and streams of thick black bloodflowed from his heart, through the wound beneath, and filled the trenchin which Siegfried was hidden, and ran like a mountain-torrent down theroad towards the river. Siegfried was covered from head to foot with theslimy liquid, and, had he not quickly leaped from his hiding-place, hewould have been drowned in the swift-rushing, stream.[EN#11]