The Story of Siegfried Page 8

  "She shall sleep until one shall come who is brave enough to ridethrough fire to awaken her."

  And all Isenland slept too, because Brunhild, the Maiden of Spring, laywounded with the Sleepful thorn.

  * * * * *

  When Siegfried heard this story, he knew that the land which lay beforethem was Isenland, and that the castle was Isenstein, and that Brunhildwas sleeping within that circle of fire.

  "My songs have no power to awaken such a sleeper," said Bragi. "A herostrong and brave must ride through the flame to arouse her. It is forthis that I have brought you hither; and here I will leave you, while Isail onwards to brighten other lands with my music."

  Siegfried's heart leaped up with gladness; for he thought that here,at last, was a worthy deed for him to do. And he bade his friend Bragigood-by, and stepped ashore; and Greyfell followed him. And Bragi sat atthe prow of the ship, and played his harp again; and the sailors pliedtheir oars; and the little vessel moved swiftly out of the bay, and wasseen no more. And Siegfried stood alone on the silent, sandy beach.

  As he thus stood, the full moon rose white and dripping from the sea;and its light fell on the quiet water, and the sloping meadows, and thegreen turrets of the castle. And the last notes of Bragi's harp camefloating to him over the sea.

  Then a troop of fairies came down to dance upon the sands. It was thefirst sign of life that Siegfried had seen. As the little creatures drewnear, he hid himself among the tall reeds which grew close to the shore;for he wished to see them at their gambols, and to listen to theirsongs. At first, as if half afraid of their own tiny shadows, theydanced in silence; but, as the moon rose higher, they grew bolder, andbegan to sing. And their music was so sweet and soft, that Siegfriedforgot almost every thing, else for the time: they sang of the pleasantsummer days, and of cooling shades, and still fountains, and silentbirds, and peaceful slumber. And a strange longing for sleep took holdof Siegfried; and his eyes grew heavy, and the sound of the singingseemed dim and far away. But just as he was losing all knowledge ofoutward things, and his senses seemed moving in a dream, the fairiesstopped dancing, and a little brown elf came up from the sea, andsaluted the queen of the tiny folk.

  "What news bring you from the great world beyond the water?" asked thequeen.

  "The prince is on his way hither," answered the elf.

  "And what will he do?"

  "If he is brave enough, he will awaken the princess, and arouse thedrowsy people of Isenstein; for the Norns have said that such a princeshall surely come."

  "But he must be the bravest of men ere he can enter the enchantedcastle," said the queen; "for the wide moat is filled with flames, andno faint heart will ever dare battle with them."

  "But I will dare!" cried Siegfried; and he sprang from his hiding-place,forgetful of the little folk, who suddenly flitted away, and left himalone upon the beach. He glanced across the meadows at the green turretsglistening in the mellow moonlight, and then at the flickering flamesaround the castle walls, and he resolved that on the morrow he would atall hazards perform the perilous feat.

  In the morning, as soon as the gray dawn appeared, he began to makeready for his difficult undertaking. But, when he looked again at thered flames, he began to hesitate. He paused, uncertain whether towait for a sign and for help from the All-Father, or whether to gostraightway to the castle, and, trusting in his good armor alone, tryto pass through the burning moat. While he thus stood in doubt, his eyeswere dazzled by a sudden flash of light. He looked up. Greyfell camedashing across the sands; and from his long mane a thousand sunbeamsgleamed and sparkled in the morning light. Siegfried had never seen thewondrous creature so radiant; and as the steed stood by him in all hisstrength and beauty he felt new hope and courage, as if Odin himself hadspoken to him. He hesitated no longer, but mounted the noble horse; andGreyfell bore him swiftly over the plain, and paused not until he hadreached the brink of the burning moat.

  Now, indeed, would Siegfried's heart have failed him, had he not beencheered by the sunbeam presence of Greyfell. For filling the wide,deep ditch, were angry, hissing flames, which, like a thousandserpent-tongues, reached out, and felt here and there, for what theymight devour; and ever and anon they took new forms, and twisted andwrithed like fiery snakes, and then they swirled in burning coils highover the castle-walls. Siegfried stopped not a moment. He spoke theword, and boldly the horse with his rider dashed into the fiery lake;and the vile flames fled in shame and dismay before the pure sunbeamflashes from Greyfell's mane. And, unscorched and unscathed, Siegfriedrode through the moat, and through the wide-open gate, and into thecastle-yard.

  The gate-keeper sat fast asleep in his lodge, while the chains and theheavy key with which, when awake, he was wont to make the great gatefast, lay rusting at his feet; and neither he, nor the sentinels on theramparts above, stirred or awoke at the sound of Greyfell's clatteringhoofs. As Siegfried passed from one part of the castle to another, manystrange sights met his eyes. In the stables the horses slumbered intheir stalls, and the grooms lay snoring by their sides. The birds satsound asleep on their nests beneath the eaves. The watch-dogs, withfast-closed eyes, lay stretched at full-length before the open doors. Inthe garden the fountain no longer played, the half-laden bees hadgone to sleep among the blossoms of the apple-trees, and the flowersthemselves had forgotten to open their petals to the sun. In thekitchen the cook was dozing over the half-baked meats in front of thesmouldering fire; the butler was snoring in the pantry; the dairy-maidwas quietly napping among the milk-pans; and even the house-flieshad gone to sleep over the crumbs of sugar on the table. In the greatbanquet-room a thousand knights, overcome with slumber, sat silent atthe festal board; and their chief, sitting on the dais, slept, with hishalf-emptied goblet at his lips.

  Siegfried passed hurriedly from room to room and from hall to hall, andcast but one hasty glance at the strange sights which met him at everyturn; for he knew that none of the drowsy ones in that spacious castlecould be awakened until he had aroused the Princess Brunhild. In thegrandest hall of the palace he found her. The peerless maiden, mostrichly dight, reclined upon a couch beneath a gold-hung canopy; and herattendants, the ladies of the court, sat near and around her. Sleep heldfast her eyelids, and her breathing was so gentle, that, but for theblush upon her cheeks, Siegfried would have thought her dead. For long,long years had her head thus lightly rested on that gold-fringed pillow;and in all that time neither her youth had faded, nor her wondrousbeauty waned.

  Siegfried stood beside her. Gently he touched his lips to that matchlessforehead; softly he named her name,--

  "Brunhild!"

  The charm was broken. Up rose the peerless princess in all herqueen-like beauty; up rose the courtly ladies round her. All over thecastle, from cellar to belfry-tower, from the stable to the banquethall, there was a sudden awakening, a noise of hurrying feet andmingled voices, and sounds which had long been strangers to the halls ofIsenstein. The watchman on the tower, and the sentinels on the ramparts,yawned, and would not believe they had been asleep; the porter pickedup his keys, and hastened to lock the long-forgotten gates; the horsesneighed in their stalls; the watchdogs barked at the sudden hubbub; thebirds, ashamed at having allowed the sun to find them napping, hastenedto seek their food in the meadows; the servants hurried here and there,each intent upon his duty; the warriors in the banquet-hall clatteredtheir knives and plates, and began again their feast; and their chiefdropped his goblet, and rubbed his eyes, and wondered that sleep shouldhave overtaken him in the midst of such a meal.[EN#16]

  And Siegfried, standing at an upper window, looked out over thecastle-walls; and he saw that the flames no longer raged in the moat,but that it was filled with clear sparkling water from the fountainwhich played in the garden. And the south wind blew gently from the sea,bringing from afar the sweetest strains of music from Bragi's goldenharp; and the breezes whispered among the trees, and the flowers openedtheir petals to the sun, and birds and insects made the air melodiouswith their glad voices. T
hen Brunhild, radiant with smiles, stood bythe hero's side, and welcomed him kindly to Isenland and to hergreen-towered castle of Isenstein.

  Adventure VII. In Nibelungen Land.

  Every one in the castle of Isenstein, from the princess to thekitchen-maid, felt grateful to the young hero for what he had done. Thebest rooms were fitted up for his use, and a score of serving men andmaidens were set apart to do his bidding, and ordered to be mindful ofhis slightest wish. And all the earl-folk and brave men, and all thefair ladies, and Brunhild, fairest of them all, besought him to make hishome there, nor ever think of going back to Rhineland. Siegfried yieldedto their persuasions, and for six months he tarried in the enchantedland in one long round of merry-making and gay enjoyment. But histhoughts were ever turned toward his father's home in the Lowlandsacross the sea, and he longed to behold again his gentle motherSigelind. Then he grew tired of his life of idleness and ease, and hewished that he might go out again into the busy world of manly actionand worthy deeds. And day by day this feeling grew stronger, and filledhim with unrest.

  One morning, as he sat alone by the seashore, and watched the lazy tidecome creeping up the sands, two ravens lighted near him. Glad was he tosee them, for he knew them to be Hugin and Munin, the sacred birds ofOdin, and he felt sure that they brought him words of cheer from theAll-Father. Then Hugin flapped his wings, and said, "In idleness thestings of death lie hidden, but in busy action are the springs of life.For a hundred years fair Brunhild slept, but why should Siegfried sleep?The world awaits him, but it waits too long."

  Then Munin flapped his wings also, but he said nothing. And busy memorycarried Siegfried back to his boyhood days; and he called to mind thewise words of his father Siegmund, and the fond hopes of his gentlemother, and he thought, too, of the noble deeds of his kinsfolk of theearlier days. And he rose in haste, and cried, "Life of ease, farewell!I go where duty leads. To him who wills to do, the great All-Father willsend strength and help."

  While he spoke, his eyes were dazzled with a flash of light. He looked;and the beaming Greyfell, his long mane sparkling like a thousandsunbeams, dashed up the beach, and stood beside him. As the noble steedin all his strength and beauty stood before him, the youth felt freshcourage; for, in the presence of the shining hope which the All-Fatherhad given him, all hinderances seemed to vanish, and all difficulties tobe already overcome. He looked toward the sea again, and saw in theblue distance a white-sailed ship drawing swiftly near, its goldendragon-stem ploughing through the waves like some great bird of thedeep. And as with straining, eager eyes, he watched its coming, he feltthat Odin had sent it, and that the time had come wherein he must be upand doing. The hour for thriving action comes to us once: if not seizedupon and used, it may never come again.

  The ship drew near the shore. The sailors rested on their oars.Siegfried and the steed Greyfell sprang upon the deck; then the sailorssilently bent again to their rowing. The flapping sails were filled andtightened by the strong west wind; and the light vessel leaped from waveto wave like a thing of life, until Isenstein, with its tall towers andits green marble halls, sank from sight in the distance and the mist.And Siegfried and his noble steed seemed to be the only living beingson board; for the sailors who plied the oars were so silent andphantom-like, that they appeared to be nought but the ghosts of thesummer sea-breezes. As the ship sped swiftly on its way, all thecreatures in the sea paused to behold the sight. The mermen rested fromtheir weary search for hidden treasures, and the mermaids forgot to combtheir long tresses, as the radiant vessel and its hero-freight glidedpast. And even old King AEgir left his brewing-kettle in his great hall,and bade his daughters, the white-veiled Waves, cease playing until thevessel should safely reach its haven.

  When, at length, the day had passed, and the evening twilight had come,Siegfried saw that the ship was nearing land; but it was a strangeland.[EN#17] Like a fleecy cloud it appeared to rest above the waves,midway between the earth and the sky; a dark mist hung upon it, and itseemed a land of dreams and shadows. The ship drew nearer and nearerto the mysterious shore, and as it touched the beach the sailors restedfrom their rowing. Then Siegfried and the horse Greyfell leaped ashore;but, when they looked back, the fair vessel that had carried them wasnowhere to be seen. Whether it had suddenly been clutched by thegreedy fingers of the Sea-queen Ran, and dragged down into her deepsea-caverns, or whether, like the wondrous ship Skidbladner, it had beenfolded up, and made invisible to the eyes of men, Siegfried never knew.The thick mists and the darkness of night closed over and around bothhero and horse; and they dared not stir, but stood long hours in thesilent gloom, waiting for the coming of the dawn.

  At length the morning came, but the light was not strong enough toscatter the fogs and thick vapors that rested upon the land. ThenSiegfried mounted Greyfell; and the sunbeams began to flash from thehorse's mane and from the hero's glittering mail-coat; and the hazyclouds fled upward and away, until they were caught and held fast bygreat mist-giants, who stood like sentinels on the mountain-tops. Asthe shining pair came up from the sea, and passed through the woods andvalleys of the Nibelungen Land, there streamed over all that region sucha flood of sunlight as had never before been seen.

  In every leafy tree, and behind every blade of grass, elves and fairieswere hidden; and under every rock and in every crevice lurked cunningdwarfs. But Siegfried rode straight forward until he came to the steepside of a shadowy mountain. There, at the mouth of a cavern, a strangesight met his eyes. Two young men, dressed in princes' clothing, satupon the ground: their features were all haggard and gaunt, and pinchedwith hunger, and their eyes wild with wakefulness and fear; and allaround them were heaps of gold and precious stones,--more than a hundredwagons could carry away. And neither of the two princes would leavethe shining hoard for food, nor close his eyes in sleep, lest theother might seize and hide some part of the treasure. And thus they hadwatched and hungered through many long days and sleepless nights, eachhoping that the other would die, and that the whole inheritance might behis own.

  When they saw Siegfried riding near, they called out to him, and said,"Noble stranger, stop a moment! Come and help us divide this treasure."

  "Who are you?" asked Siegfried; "and what treasure is it that liesthere?"

  "We are the sons of Niblung, who until lately was king of this MistLand. Our names are Schilbung and the young Niblung," faintly answeredthe princes.

  "And what are you doing here with this gold and these glitteringstones?"

  "This is the great Nibelungen Hoard, which our father not long agobrought from the South-land. It is not clear just how he obtainedit.[EN#18] Some say that he got it unjustly from his brother, whosevassals had digged it from the earth. Others say that he found itlying on the Glittering Heath, where Fafnir the Dragon had guarded itzealously for ages past, until he was slain by a hero who cared noughtfor his gold. But, be this as it may, our father is now dead, and wehave brought the hoard out of the cavern where he had hidden it, inorder that we may share it between us equally. But we cannot agree, andwe pray you to help us divide it."

  Then Siegfried dismounted from the horse Greyfell, and came near the twoprinces.

  "I will gladly do as you ask," said he; "but first I must know moreabout your father,--who he was, and whether this is really the Hoard ofthe Glittering Heath."

  Then Niblung answered, as well as his feeble voice would allow, "Ourfather was, from the earliest times, the ruler of this land, and thelord of the fog and the mist. Many strongholds, and many noble halls,had he in this land; and ten thousand brave warriors were ever ready todo his bidding. The trolls, and the swarthy elves of the mountains, andthe giants of the cloudy peaks, were his vassals. But he did more thanrule over the Nibelungen Land. Twice every year he crossed the sea andrambled through the Rhine valleys, or loitered in the moist Lowlands;and now and then he brought rich trophies back to his island home. Thelast time, he brought this treasure with him; but, as we have said, itis not clear how he obtained it. We have heard men say that
it was theHoard of Andvari, and that when Fafnir, the dragon who watched it, wasslain, the hero who slew him left it to be taken again by the swarthyelves who had gathered it; but because of a curse which Andvari hadplaced upon it, no one would touch it, until some man would assume itsownership, and take upon himself the risk of incurring the curse. Thisthing, it is said, our father did. And the dwarf Alberich undertook tokeep it for him; and he, with the help of the ten thousand elves wholive in these caverns, and the twelve giants whom you see standing onthe mountain-peaks around, guarded it faithfully so long as our fatherlived. But, when he died, we and our thralls fetched it forth from thecavern, and spread it here on the ground. And, lo! for many days we havewatched and tried to divide it equally. But we cannot agree."

  "What hire will you give me if I divide it for you?" asked Siegfried.

  "Name what you will have," answered the princes.

  "Give me the sword which lies before you on the glittering heap."

  Then Niblung handed him the sword, and said, "Right gladly will we giveit. It is a worthless blade that our father brought from the South-land.They say that he found it also on the Glittering Heath, in the trenchwhere Fafnir was slain. And some will have it that it was forged byRegin, Fafnir's own brother. But how that is, I do not know. At anyrate, it is of no use to us; for it turns against us whenever we try touse it."