Epos; for though she is as gentle and mild as a Madonna till her love is wounded, after that she nourishes a desire of vengeance on the murderers of her husband, as insatiate and inexorable as that which the son of Peleus, in the Iliad, nurses against the son of Atreus for the rape of the lovely Briseïs. In fact, as the great work of Homer might be more fully designated the wrath of Achilles, so the most significant desig- "A dream was dreamed by Kriemhild, the virtuous and the gay, Till two fierce eagles tore it; to her there could not be To her mother Uta at once the dream she told; But she the threatening future could only thus unfold- God shield him in his mercy, or thou must lose him straight.' A mate for me! What say'st thou, dearest mother mine? I'll live and die a maiden, and end as I began, Nor (let what else befall me) will suffer woe for man.' Nay!' said the anxious mother, renounce not marriage so; 'No more,' the maiden answered, no more, dear mother, say; So in her lofty virtue, fancy-free and gay, He was the self-same falcon she in her dream had seen, two distinct parts or acts-the famous "In Netherland there flourished a prince of lofty kind, (Whose father hight Siegmund, his mother Siegelind) In a sumptuous castle, down by the Rhine's fair side; Men did call it Xanten; 'twas famous far and wide." This princely youth, who, like the Spanish Cid, is perfect even to the smallest hair on his beard, after hav ing employed his early days, like an- lungen, which epithet, however, in the first part, is applied to certain distant Scandinavian vassals of Siegfried. The origin of this name has caused much dispute amongst the learned. terrible monster, in bestial or human guise, that came in his way, is dubbed knight with the stroke of the chivalrous sword, in due form, and a festival is held in honour of the event, the description of which occupies the "second adventure." Like a dutiful "While Siegelind and Siegmund yet lived and flourished there, 'Gainst those whose pride o'erweening disturbed the peaceful land. None ventur'd to defy him; since weapons first he took, But even the sturdy mail-clad he- other serious occupation, and that, of course, was love. With the entrance on this new career, the third adventure is occupied. At length he heard a rumour how a lovely maid In Burgundy was dwelling, the fairest of the fair; For her he won much pleasure, but dash'd with toil and care." Siegfried opens his determination this rumour, and take to wife none to his parents to follow the fortune of other than "The bright Burgundian maiden, best gem of Gunther's throne, Whose far-renowned beauty stands unapproached alone." This resolution, of course, as is the fortune of true love, meets with opposition, at first, from the parents of the youth; but with a calm and decided answer, such as true love knows how to give, the difficulty is overcome. "Dearest father mine, The love of high-born women for ever I'll resign Rather than play the wooer but where my heart is set." Forthwith, therefore, he sets out on an expedition to Worms, predetermined, after the common fashion of mediæval love-romances, to marry the woman whom he had never seen; for in these matters, rumour, it was thought-that plays so falsely else where-could not err. To make the "On the seventh fair morning, by Worms along the strand, Their shields were new and massy, and like flame they glowed; Down to their spurs, loud clanging, reached the swords they wore; Their golden-coloured bridles firm they held in hand: Then many of Gunther's liegemen swift to meet them ran." Then follows the formal reception at the court of Worms, and, as on all great festival occasions in those days, a tournament is held, where the stranger knight, of course, acquits himself like a god rather than a man, to the admiration of all beholders, but specially of the gentle ladies, who, on occasions when propriety did not allow them publicly to appear, enjoy the dear delight of gazing on bearded swordsmen even more exquisitely from behind a window. "At court the lovely ladies were asking evermore, He ever was the foremost, whate'er the game they played. When in the court contending, fierce squire and hardy knight, Oft Kriemhild through her windows would look, herself unseen- But though Kriemhild saw Siegfried through the window, Siegfried remained with Gunther a whole year, "Nor all that weary season a single glimpse could gain Of her who after brought him such pleasure and such pain." Like the disciples of Pythagoras, the amorous knights of those days had first to serve a long apprenticeship of the severe discipline of abstinence, before they were permitted to kiss the hand of beauty, or to meet even its distant glance. The fourth adventure, therefore, goes on to tell how Siegfried showed his prowess by fighting with the Saxons, who had come under the guidance of their king, Ludeger the Bold, and leagued with him King Ludegast of Denmark, to attack the realm of the Burgundians. Coming home, like a Mars-subduing Diomede, from this fierce encounter, the knight of the Netherland is at length deemed worthy to be introduced to his destined fair. Another tourney is held, at which Kriemhild publicly appears. "Now went she forth the loveliest, as forth the morning goes, Many a stone full precious flashed from her vesture bright; As the moon arising out glitters every star, With not less of serene beauty, and a quiet naturalness that is peculiar to him, the old bard describes the feel ings of Siegfried on first coming within the sweet atmosphere of woman's love. "There stood he, the high-minded, beneath her star-bright eye, He bowed with soft emotion, and thanked the blushing fair; That in the warmth of passion he pressed her lily hand, No more in pride of summer, nor in bloom of May, When she, than May more blooming, more bright than summer's pride, Then thought full many a champion, 'Would this had happ'd to me, Or closer e'en than Siegfried'; well were I then, I swear," of Iceland, " far beyond the sea," who, being of a masculine temper and strength, had determined to submit herself to no male lord who had not proved himself worthy to wield the marital sceptre, by actually mastering his spouse in strong physical con-flict. "There was a queen high-seated afar beyond the sea, For beauty she was matchless, for strength without a peer; She threw the stone, and bounded behind it to the mark; E'en thus for the stern virgin had many a suitor died. so awful a part; only with this difference, that in the Niebelungen, as in the Odyssey, the punishment overtakes the offending parties, and not, as in the tragedians, their sons and grandsons. But to proceed: Siegfried, like Jack the Giant-killer, though commencing his career as a single mortal with no miraculous power, had in the course of his chivalrous exploits, and as the reward of his extraordinary prowess, got possession of certain wonder-working instruments, that rendered him, when he chose to use them, sure of victory against mere mortal strength. With the aid of these, Siegfried, for the sake of the love of Kriemhild, had determined (secretly and unfairly) to assist Gunther in subduing the stout Brunhild. "I have heard strange stories of wild dwarfs, how they fare : From cuts and stabs of foemen; him none can bear or see And now with him the cloud-cloak took fair Siegelind's son, The bold and ready champions made ready for the way. So, as I said, bold Siegfried the cloud-cloak bore along; Besides, in that strange cloud-cloak was such deep virtue found, live in au age when a Napoleon would have sought to make an impression on the vulgar by "wearing the plain dress of the Institute;" nor has he the slightest conception of the soul of poetry beating in a breast of which the exterior vesture is the "hodden grey," or the plain plaid of our Scotch Muse. We shall quote this one passage to serve for many similar, with which the poem is studded: "So with kind dismissal away the warriors strode; Then quick the fair queen summon'd, from bow'rs where they abode, Who in works of the needle were the chief for craft and skill. Silks from far Arabia, white as driven snow, And others from Zazamanc, green as grass doth grow, They deck'd with stones full precious; Kriemhild the garments plann'd And cut them to just measure, with her own lily hand. Of the hides of foreign fishes were linings finely wrought, Such then were seen but rarely, and choice and precious thought; Now of the rich apparel hear we fresh marvels tell. From the land of Morocco and from the Libyan coast, E'er since the chiefs were purposed the martial queen to win, Many a stone full precious gleam'd from Arabian gold; |