Page:The Nibelungenlied - tr. Shumway - 1909.pdf/317



ready were now Bloedel’s warriors. A thousand hauberks strong, they hied them to where Dankwart sate at table with the squires. Then the very greatest hate arose among the heroes. When Sir Bloedel drew near the tables, Dankwart, the marshal, greeted him in courteous wise. “Welcome, Sir Bloedel, in our house. In truth me-wondereth at thy coming. What doth it mean?”

“Forsooth, thou needst not greet me,” so spake Bloedel; “for this coming of mine doth mean thine end. Because of Hagen, thy brother, by whom Siegfried was slain, thou and many other knights must suffer here among the Huns.”

“Not so, Sir Bloedel,” quoth Dankwart, “else this journey to your court might rue us sore, I was but a little child when Siegfried lost his life. I know not what blame King Etzel’s wife could put on me.”

“Of a truth, I wot not how to tell you of these tales; thy kinsmen, Gunther and Hagen, did the deed. Now ward you, ye wanderers, ye may not live. With your death must ye become Kriemhild’s pledge.”

“And ye will not turn you,” quoth Dankwart, “then do my entreaties rue me; they had better far been spared.”

The doughty knight and brave sprang up from the table; a sharp weapon, mickle and long, he drew and