Page:The Nibelungenlied - tr. Shumway - 1909.pdf/387

Rh translated for the sake of completeness. They are spoken by Siegfried.

palaces. See note 2 to page 6.

surcoat, which here translates the M.H.G. wâfenhemde, is a light garment of cloth or silk worn above the armor.

Azagouc. See Zazamanc, note 1 to page 48. This strophe is evidently a late interpolation, as it contradicts the description given above.

weights. The M. H. G. messe (Lat. massa) is just as indefinite as the English expression. It was a mass or lump of any metal, probably determined by the size of the melting-pot.

Adventure VIII. This whole episode, in which Siegfried fetches men to aid Gunther in ease of attempted treachery on Brimhild’s part, is of late origin and has no counterpart in the older versions. It is a further development of Siegfried’s fight in which he slew Schilbung and Nibelung and became the ruler of the Nibelung land. The fight with Alberich is simply a repetition of the one in the former episode.

rest (M. H. G. rast), originally ‘repose,’ then used as a measure of distance, as here.

knobs, round pieces of metal fastened to the scourge.

cunning is to be taken here in the Biblical sense of ‘knowing.’ The M. H. G. listig which it here translates, denotes ‘skilled’ or ‘learned’ in various arts and is a standing epithet of dwarfs.

mulled wine translates M. H. G. lûtertranc, a claret mulled with herbs and spice and left to stand until clear.

mark. See note 1 to page 32.

fillets were worn only by married women.

ferran, a gray colored cloth of silk and wool; from O. F. ferrandine.

clasps or brooches were used to fasten the dresses in front.

chaplet (O. F. chaplet, dim. of chapel, M. H. G. schapel or schapelîn) or wreath was the headdress especially of unmarried girls, the hair being worn flowing. It was often of flowers or leaves, but not infrequently of gold and silver. (See Weinhold, Deutsche Frauen im Mittelalter$2$, I, 387.)