YEARS passed by, and Brunhilda had come to love her husband very dearly.
They had one child, a little boy whom they had named Siegfried.
Kriemhild, meanwhile, had been living very happily with her husband in
Niederland. They had had two great sorrows, the death of the old king
and that of the queen, and all the people of Niederland still mourned
the loss of these two.
Then there arrived one day in Niederland a messenger from the King and
Queen of Burgundy, inviting Siegfried and Kriemhild to attend a great
feast which was to be held in Worms. They accepted with pleasure.
Kriemhild was anxious to see her mother and brothers again, for she
loved them dearly. So they started for Burgundy.
For some days after they arrived in Worms everything went happily. But
then the tournaments began, and Siegfried won every honor as he had
done in days gone by, for he had lost none of his wonderful strength.
Both the queens were present at the contests, and as he overthrew one
knight after another, Kriemhild looked at him lovingly, and said that he
was the best and greatest king the world had ever seen, and that no king
could stand against him; all paid him tribute.
Brunhilda replied: "All except Gunther; next to him Siegfried is the
most powerful king on earth; but strong as your husband is, he could
never hold his own against Gunther."
Kriemhild controlled her temper, and made no reply, but that evening
when they attended vespers, Kriemhild attempted to enter the cathedral
first. Brunhilda interfered, saying:
"The wife of a vassal should never precede the wife of his lord!"
"And who says that King Siegfried is Gunther's vassal?" demanded
Kriemhild.
"I have his own word for it," Brunhilda replied. "When they first
appeared in Ireland, Siegfried approached me, saying: 'I come to
represent the King of Burgundy; I am his vassal, he is my lord.'"
Then Kriemhild lost all patience, for well she knew by what trick
Gunther had won his bride. She cried:
"And do you think that Gunther overthrew you in the tilt? Gunther only
pretended to fight. It was Siegfried, made invisible by his tarnhelm,
who did the real fighting; it was Siegfried who hurled the javelin
which unhorsed you; it was Siegfried who threw the heavy stone, and he
it was, invisible to you, but holding Gunther in his arms, who sprang
over the stone, and vanquished you," she declared.
Looking at Kriemhild's heaving breast and blazing eye, Brunhilda knew
she spoke the truth. And at the same time, there flashed across her mind
something that Gunther had once said to her about Siegfried being
greater than she knew.
[Illustration: "IT WAS SIEGFRIED WHO DID THE REAL FIGHTING"]
And now she fell into a royal rage, and her indignation knew no bounds.
There was but one way of atonement; Siegfried must die for the deceit
practiced on her. So she went to Hagen, Gunther's uncle, who had
promised always to defend her rights, and demanded Siegfried's life.
When Hagen first spoke to Gunther of the matter, Gunther would not hear
of the plan to do away with Siegfried, and vowed that no harm should
befall the man with whom he had sworn blood brothership ere they set
out for Ireland. But Brunhilda was firm in her resolve; nothing less
than his death would satisfy her honor, nor wipe out the stain of his
deceit.
And finally Gunther gave an unwilling consent. However, they could not
fall upon Siegfried, and kill him in cold blood, so Hagen made a clever
plan: they would receive a false summons to war. Accordingly, a few days
later, a messenger rode posthaste into Worms, bearing the false tidings
that the enemy was approaching.
Then everything was in great confusion, and Gunther assembled his hosts,
and set out to meet the enemy. Siegfried accompanied him, to render what
assistance he could, for he loved his kinsman as a brother. Just before
the army started on the march, Kriemhild went to Hagen, and begged him
to watch over her husband, and see to it that no one attacked him from
behind, for she explained that Siegfried could not be wounded anywhere
except in the spot on his back where the linden-leaf had fallen.
Hagen readily promised. He craftily suggested that Kriemhild should sew
some mark above the spot, so that he might know exactly when danger
threatened. Kriemhild fell in at once with his plan; with loving care
she stitched a white silk cross upon her husband's clothes. Then Gunther
and his troops rode away.
After they had ridden some distance, they were met by another
messenger, with the false tidings that the enemy had begun a retreat.
Gunther appeared to be overjoyed at the news, and suggested that a
mighty hunt should be held, to celebrate the occasion. The troops were
dispatched back to Worms, and the royal party set out for the chase,
which they greatly enjoyed.
When the dinner-horn sounded for the hunters to assemble to their meal,
Siegfried appeared, dragging a live bear behind him. He was received
with shouts of applause. They at once proceeded to kill and roast the
bear. Every one was in the best of spirits, and as hungry as could be;
but when they sat down to eat, it was discovered that the wine was
missing; Hagen had purposely left it behind.
Siegfried, especially, was very thirsty, and playfully chided Hagen for
forgetting so important an article. Thereupon Hagen said that he knew of
a spring, not far away, where Siegfried might quench his thirst, and
dared him to run a race there. Siegfried accepted the challenge, and
easily won the race, as Hagen knew he would.
He had laid aside his weapons, and was already kneeling to drink, when
Hagen came up behind him. "Ha, ha," laughed Siegfried, "I have won the
race, and am therefore entitled to the first drink."
[Illustration: "THE HERO HURLED IT WITH ALL HIS MIGHT AT HAGEN"]
"You are," answered Hagen quietly, picking up Siegfried's sword, and
poising it above the spot where Kriemhild had sewn the white cross;
and without saying another word, he drove it home with such force that
the point of it pierced Siegfried's breast.
In agony, the hero sprang to his feet, and seizing his shield, hurled it
with all his might at Hagen, throwing him to the ground. Then he, too,
fell, and the blood from his wounds stained the grass a deep crimson;
and thus died Siegfried, the great and mighty hero, calling upon
Kriemhild with his last breath to avenge his foul murder.
Then they placed his body on his shield and carried it back to Worms,
and laid it at Kriemhild's door. Next morning, as she was going to mass,
her waiting-maid, who preceded her on the way out, suddenly gave a
scream, and cried:
"Go back, go back, and do not come this way, for here lies the body of a
dead warrior."
But Kriemhild's heart misgave her, and she would not go back, and when
she saw the body she uttered a great cry, for she knew instantly that
it was Siegfried.
She bade the servants carry it inside, and lay it on his bed, and her
grief knew no bounds. Then she sent for Gunther, and wildly accused him
of the deed, and he as wildly denied his guilt. Then she said:
"If you are indeed innocent, you need not fear to stand in the presence
of the dead."
Gunther was not afraid, and went with her into the death chamber. While
they were standing there, looking at Siegfried, Hagen suddenly entered
the room, and lo! all the dead man's wounds began to bleed afresh.
She knew by this sign that Hagen was guilty of her husband's death, and
she swore undying vengeance. She supposed that he had killed him to gain
possession of his vast riches, and she determined to spoil his plan. But
Hagen was as crafty as he was clever, and so he induced Brunhilda to
give him the gold ring as a reward for his services to her. She knew
nothing of its great value, and she hated it now because it reminded her
of the false Siegfried. So she willingly gave it to Hagen, whom she
considered her greatest benefactor.
No sooner had he the ring in his possession than he journeyed to
Niederland, and there by its magic power he gained possession of the
Rhine gold. It took him fourteen days and nights to remove the treasure
from the cave on the heath. He then sunk it in the Rhine, where he
intended to leave it hidden until after Kriemhild's death; but no
sooner had he flung it into the river than the Rhine nymphs seized it
for their own, determined to guard it so well this time that never again
should their father, the God of the Rhine, have occasion to bewail its
loss, and their unfaithfulness.
When Kriemhild reached Niederland, and found that the gold had been
stolen from Fafner's cave, she was even more determined than before that
she would be revenged upon Hagen.
X