Page:The Nibelungenlied - tr. Shumway - 1909.pdf/393

Rh Folker’s. The nine thousand foot soldiers mentioned here are a later interpolation, as the Thidreksaga speaks of only a thousand all told.

Eastern Frankland, or East Franconia, is the ancient province of Franconia Orientalis, the region to the east of the Spessart forest, including the towns of Fulda, Würzburg and Bamberg. In Biterolf Dietlieb journeys through Eastern Frankland to the Danube.

Swanfield (M. H. G. Swanevelde) is the ancient province of Sualafeld between the Rezat and the Danube.

Gelfrat is a Bavarian lord and the brother of Else, mentioned below. Their father’s name was also Else.

wise women, a generic name for all supernatural women of German mythology. While it is not specifically mentioned, it is probable that the wise women, or mermaids, as they are also called here, were ‘swan maidens,’ which play an important rôle in many legends and are endowed with the gift of prophecy. They appear in the form of swans, and the strange attire of the wise women mentioned here refers to the so-called swan clothes which they wore and which enabled Hagen to recognize them as supernatural beings. On bathing they lay aside this garment, and he who obtains possession of it has them in his power. This explains their eagerness to give Hagen information, if he will return their garments to them. For an account of them see Grimm’s Mythologie $4$, 355.

Aldrian is not an historical personage; the name is merely a derivative of aldiro, ‘the elder,’ and signifies ‘ancestor,’ just as Uta means ‘ancestress.’ In the Thidreksaga Aldrian is the king of the Nibelung land and the father of Gunther, Giselher, and Gernot, whereas Hagen is the son of an elf by the same mother.

Else appears also in Biterolf; in the Thidreksaga he is called Elsung, the younger, as his father bore the same name. See note to page 206, 1.

Amelrich is the ferryman’s brother.

spear. It was the custom to offer presents on a spear point, perhaps to prevent the recipient from treacherously using his sword. Compare the similar description in the Hildebrandslied, 37, where we are told that gifts should be received with the spear.