Page:The lay of the Nibelungs; (IA nibelungslay00hortrich).pdf/91

III.]

With grief Siegmund and Sieglind accorded his request;

Whom Siegfried sought to comfort, as tenderly he pressed,

He said: “Ye must not weep now through any care for me;

And fear not lest my life be in any jeopardy.”

Sad-hearted were the warriors, and many a maiden wept;

Doubtless their hearts foreboded mischance for those who leapt

That day into the saddle,— they dreamt these friends lay dead,—

They had good cause for mourning, in sooth there was much need!

Upon the seventh morning, at Worms, on the Rhine shore,

Arrived the gallant horsemen; the raiment that they wore

With ruddy gold was flashing, and all their trappings shone:

The chargers of bold Siegfried went pacing smoothly on.

Their bucklers were new-wrought ones, and light and broad beside,

And bright their helmets glittered, as unto court did ride

Siegfried, the gallant chieftain, in royal Gunther’s land.

Such fine-apparelled heroes were ne’er seen on that strand.

Their long-swords’ points hung downwards unto the spurs they wore;

And sharp, too, were the javelins which these bold heroes bore.

The one that Siegfried carried was two spans in the blade,

Its twofold edge was deadly, and ghastly wounds it made.

All gilded were the bridles they lightly held in hand;

And silken were their horse-girths; so came they to that land.

The folk began on all sides on them to gape and stare,

Then many of Gunther’s people ran forth to meet them there.