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[Illustration: _How Hartmut sued for Gudrun_]
_Life Stories for Young People_
GUDRUN
_Translated from the German of
Ferdinand Schmidt_
BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
_Translator of "Memories," etc._
WITH THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.]
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1906
Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1906
Published September 22, 1906
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
Translator's Preface
The charming story of "Gudrun" is a romance of the old heroic period,
written by some unknown poet of Austria or Bavaria in the thirteenth
century. Next to the "Nibelungen Lied," it is the most important of the
German epic poems. Indeed some of the personæ in "Gudrun" are found in
the "Lied," though varying in personal characteristics, probably because
they were taken from different legends. The scenes of "Gudrun" are
principally laid along the shores of the North Sea and in Normandy. The
men and women in this poem resemble generally those in the "Lied." The
same elemental passions are depicted. The men are brave, vigorous
heroes, rejoicing in battle and feats of prowess; the women are
beautiful, constant, and courageous. There are many fine delineations of
character in the original, as well as vigorous sketches of northern
scenery. The figure of Gudrun stands out in bold relief among the
maidens. There are few more beautiful characters, indeed, in the poems
of the old heroic period, and it adds to the charm of the epic that she
does not suffer the tragic fate of Kriemhild in the "Nibelungen Lied,"
but that her constancy and devotion are rewarded by her ultimate reunion
with her knightly lover, King Herwig. There are many serious passages,
but from the very first there is the conviction that Gudrun and Herwig,
in spite of all the dangers and vicissitudes through which they pass,
will in the end be reunited. And so it happens. Gudrun's name is always
spoken by her people with reverence. "Her courage and constancy were
extolled by them, and in after days her fame was as radiant as the stars
in the heavens."
G. P. U.
Chicago, July 1, 1906.
Contents
I. The Maiden and the Princely Suitor 11
II. The Contest 17
III. Siegfried's Revenge 23
IV. Hartmut Captures Gudrun 26
V. The Evil Tidings 30
VI. The Battle on the Wulpensand 34
VII. Gudrun's Danger 40
VIII. The Reception 43
IX. Gudrun's Test 46
X. Ortrun 51
XI. Gudrun's Trials 54
XII. On the Wulpensand 57
XIII. The Tale of Hagen and the Griffin 62
XIV. The Welcome Message 78
XV. The Two Knights 83
XVI. Danger and Stratagem 93
XVII. The Morning 102
XVIII. Hartmut Fights with Ortwin and Horant 110
XIX. Ludwig Fights with Herwig 114
XX. Hartmut Fights with Wate 117
XXI. Gudrun and Ortrun 120
XXII. Retribution 123
XXIII. The Home Coming 129
Illustrations
How Hartmut Sued for Gudrun _Frontispiece_
Gudrun on the Strand 78
Gudrun's Deliverance 126
Gudrun
Chapter I
The Maiden and the Princely Suitor
There once lived in Denmark a mighty King named Hetel, whose fame spread
far and wide. His wife Hilda bore him two children, a son and a daughter
called Ortwin and Gudrun, who were endowed with such surpassing strength
and beauty that as they grew to manhood and womanhood the whole country
rang with their praises. Ortwin's master-in-arms was Count Wate, a hero
who loved the strife and tumult of battle better than making merry with
fair dames, and from him the young prince acquired skill in all knightly
exercises. Gudrun grew up so tall and strong that she too could have
wielded a sword with credit had such feats been seemly for a maiden, and
when the brother and sister stood side by side, all who beheld them
declared no sculptor could have wrought anything half so beautiful.
Princes came from far and near to seek Gudrun in marriage, but her
haughty father, King Hetel, sent them all away, some departing in
sorrow, others with bitterness and anger in their hearts. Among those
attracted by the fame of Gudrun's beauty was Siegfried, King of
Moreland, to whom seven princes did homage as their lord. With a
splendid retinue he appeared at Hetel's court to sue for the hand of the
maiden, only to share the fate of all her other suitors. Filled with
rage and chagrin he took his departure, vowing never to rest till he had
wrought vengeance on the proud monarch.
In Normandy at this time there lived a prince named Hartmut who no
sooner heard of Gudrun than he too was seized with the desire to make
her his wife. His mother, Queen Gerlinda, gladly assented to his wishes,
for she was an overbearing and ambitious woman and longed to see her son
distinguished above all the other princely wooers. But his father, King
Ludwig, said to him:
"How do we know if this Gudrun be as fair as report paints her? Yet were
she the very flower of maidenhood, it would profit thee little, for
bethink thee how far our realm doth lie from Denmark! Never would her
parents permit their only daughter to go so far from them."
Hartmut was not to be moved from his purpose by these remonstrances,
however, and Gerlinda said: "Let messengers be despatched thither, and I
will bestow gold upon them, besides costly apparel."
But Ludwig, foreboding evil, continued; "King Hetel and his wife Hilda
are well known to me. Haughty and overbearing are they both and 'tis
like their daughter will prove the same."
"Be that as it may," replied Hartmut, "I cannot live if Gudrun be not
mine. In truth if I may not win her in peaceful fashion then will I go
with an army and wrest her from them by force of arms!"
Gerlinda too urged and entreated the King, till at last he yielded and
consented to Hartmut's making the attempt. "As to an army," he said,
"there is yet time enough for that: let us first see what may be
peacefully accomplished."
Accordingly Hartmut chose sixty knights from the noblest houses in the
land, to lay his suit before King Hetel; they set out forthwith, attired
in rich garments, their spotless armor shining in the sun, while twelve
superb sumpter horses followed, led by retainers and laden with gold and
silver. Full a hundred days passed before they reached the borders of
Hetel's kingdom, where they found a warlike people, most of them going
about in helm and mail. They asked where the King was to be found and
were shown the way to the royal castle, Hegelingen. As they rode up to
it the people came flocking about them full of eager curiosity to gaze
at the splendid strangers, while the King ordered sumptuous lodgings to
be prepared for them.
On the twelfth day they were summoned before Hetel who, seated on a
shining throne and surrounded by his vassals, received them graciously
and asked their errand. One of the knights stepped forward and delivered
to him the letter containing King Ludwig's suit for his son Hartmut; but
scarcely had he learned its contents when his brow darkened and he cried
angrily:
"Now, by my faith! doth Ludwig dare to dishonor my crown with such
proposals? Let him seek a Queen for his son where'er it pleaseth him,
but approach not my throne with his presumptuous desires!"
At these words there was a stir among the Norman knights, and their
swords seemed to rattle in their sheaths; but they restrained
themselves, and one ventured to reply: "Hartmut is well worthy to be thy
son-in-law, O King! for truly there is no braver knight alive!"
Thereupon Queen Hilda, who sat beside the King, lifted her head
haughtily and said: "Knowst thou not that thy prince was liegeman to my
father, King Hagen, whose fame hath surely reached thine ears? And shall
the son of my father's vassal lead our child homeward as his bride?"
Therewith the knights were dismissed, and the next morning they left the
court. Full of hope and impatience Hartmut looked forward to their
return, but their appearance, when at last they rode into the courtyard,
boded him little good. Reluctantly they made known the answer of Hetel
and Hilda to his suit; whereat Ludwig foamed with rage, and Gerlinda
burst into a storm of angry tears, but Hartmut asked one of the knights
whether the maiden was really so beautiful as it was said.
"In truth, my lord," he replied, "so fair is she that he who once
beholds her must ever bear her image in his heart."
"Now may God chastise King Hetel for the affront he hath dealt to me and
to my house! But for the maiden, she shall yet be mine, I swear!"
These words gladdened Gerlinda's heart. "Ha!" she cried, trembling with
passion, "may I but live to behold her here!"