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-
nation for this mediæval Iliad of the
Germans would be the revenge of
Kriemhild. After naming these, and
other notable personages of the Bur-
gundian court at Worms, the poet
makes use of a dream, as Eschylus
in the Agamemnon uses an omen, to
open up, in a fitful glimpse of pro-
phecy, the general burden and fateful
issue of his tale.

"A dream was dreamed by Kriemhild, the virtuous and the gay,
How a wild young falcon she trained for many a day,

Till two fierce eagles tore it; to her there could not be
In all the world such sorrow as this perforce to see.

To her mother Uta at once the dream she told;

But she the threatening future could only thus unfold-
"The falcon that thou trainedst is sure a noble mate;

God shield him in his mercy, or thou must lose him straight.'

A mate for me! What say'st thou, dearest mother mine?
Ne'er to love, assure thee, my heart will I resign.

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;
Wouldst thou true heartfelt pleasure taste ever here below,
Man's love alone can give it. Thou'rt fair as eye can see :
A fitting mate God send thee, and naught will wanting be.'

'No more,' the maiden answered, no more, dear mother, say;
From many a woman's fortune, this truth is clear as day,
That falsely smiling pleasure with pain requites us ever.
I from both will keep me, and thus will sorrow never.'

So in her lofty virtue, fancy-free and gay,
Lived the noble maiden many a happy day;
Nor one more than another found favour in her sight;
Still, at the last, she wedded a far-renowned knight.

He was the self-same falcon she in her dream had seen,
Foretold by her wise mother. What vengeance took the queen
On her nearest kinsmen, who him to death had done!
That single death atoning died many a mother's son."
With these words ends the very
short first canto, or, in the phraseology
of the bard, "adventure" of the poem.
The second introduces us to the most
prominent male character in the first
part of the poem--for it is divided into

two distinct parts or acts-the famous
SIEGFRIED, "with the horny hide,"
as the old German chap-book has it,
which any of our readers may have for
a groschen or two in Leipzig, and not
more, we suppose, than a sixpence here.

"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-
cient Hercules and Theseus, in at-
tacking and overcoming every sort of

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
son, as well as a fearless knight, he
will accept no royal honours, or
share in the official dignities of govern-
ment, so as long as his father and
mother live.

"While Siegelind and Siegmund yet lived and flourished there,
Full little recked their offspring the royal crown to wear.
He only would be master, and exercise command,

'Gainst those whose pride o'erweening disturbed the peaceful land.

None ventur'd to defy him; since weapons first he took,
The bed of sloth but seldom the noble knight could brook!
He only sought for battles: his prowess-gifted hand
Won him renown eternal in every foreign strand."

But even the sturdy mail-clad he-
roes of mediæval knighthood some-
times tired of "battles ;" and when
they were thus aweary, they had one
""Twas seldom tear or sorrow the warrior's breast assayed;

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
necessary impression on so mighty a
king as Gunther, the Prince of the
Netherland is pranked out most gor-
geously with all that woman's needle
can produce of chivalrous embroidery ;
and, thus accoutred,—

"On the seventh fair morning, by Worms along the strand,
In knightly guise were pricking the death-defying band;
The ruddy gold fair glittered on every riding vest;
Their steeds they meetly governed, all pacing soft abreast.

Their shields were new and massy, and like flame they glowed;
As bright, too, shone their helmets; while bold Siegfried rode
Straight to the court of Gunther to woo the stately maid.
Eye never looked on champions so gorgeously arrayed.

Down to their spurs, loud clanging, reached the swords they wore;
Sharp and well-tempered lances the chosen champions bore;
One, two spans broad or better, did Siegfried sternly shake,
With keen and cutting edges grim and ghastly wounds to make.

Their golden-coloured bridles firm they held in hand:
Silken were their poitrals: so rode they through the land.
On all sides the people to gaze on them began;

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,
Who was the stately stranger that so rich vesture wore,
At once so strong of presence and so strong of hand?
When many a one gave answer, "Tis the King of Netherland.'

He ever was the foremost, whate'er the game they played.
Still in his inmost bosom he bore one lovely maid,
Whom he beheld had never, and yet to all preferred;
She too of him, in secret, spoke many a kindly word.

When in the court contending, fierce squire and hardy knight,
As fits the young and noble, waged the mimic fight,

Oft Kriemhild through her windows would look, herself unseen-
Then no other pleasure needed the gentle Queen."

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,
From misty clouds out-beaming: then all his weary woes
Left him in heart who bore her, and so long time had done.
He saw there stately standing the fair, the peerless one.

Many a stone full precious flashed from her vesture bright;
Her rosy blushes darted a softer, ruddier light.
Whate'er might be his wishes, each could not but confess
He ne'er on earth had witnessed such perfect loveliness.

As the moon arising out glitters every star,
That through the clouds so purely glimmers from afar,
E'en so love-breathing Kriemhild dimmed every beauty nigh.
Well might, at such a vision, many a bold heart beat high."

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,
His cheek as fire all glowing; then said she modestly,
'Sir Siegfried, you are welcome, noble knight and good!'
Yet loftier at that greeting rose his lofty mood.

He bowed with soft emotion, and thanked the blushing fair;
Love's strong constraint together impelled the enamoured pair;
Their longing eyes encountered, their glances, every one,
Bound knight and maid for ever; yet all by stealth was done.

That in the warmth of passion he pressed her lily hand,
I do not know for certain, but well can understand.
"Twere surely past believing they ventured not on this;
Two loving hearts, so meeting, else had done amiss.

No more in pride of summer, nor in bloom of May,
Knew he such heart-felt pleasure as on this happy day,

When she, than May more blooming, more bright than summer's pride,
His own, a dream no longer, was standing by his side.

Then thought full many a champion, 'Would this had happ'd to me,
To be with lovely Kriemhild, as Siegfried bold I see,

Or closer e'en than Siegfried'; well were I then, I swear,"
None yet was champion who so deserved a queen."
Thus far well. But his probation
was not yet finished. Before finally
joining hand and heart with the peer-
less sister of King Gunther, Siegfried
must assist her brother in a yet more
difficult work than anything that he
had hitherto achieved-in gaining the
love of Brunhild, a doughty princess

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,
None wielded sceptre a mightier than she;

For beauty she was matchless, for strength without a peer;
Her love to him she offered who could pass her at the spear.

She threw the stone, and bounded behind it to the mark;
At three games each suitor, with sinews stiff and stark,
Must conquer the fierce maiden whom he sought to wed,
Or, if in one successless, straight must lose his head.

E'en thus for the stern virgin had many a suitor died.
This heard a noble warrior, who dwelt the Rhine beside,
And forthwith resolved he to win her for his wife;
Thereby full many a hero thereafter lost his life."
Doubtful of his single strength to
subdue so mettlesome a maid, Gunther
enters into a compact with Siegfried
to assist him in his enterprise-by fair
means or foul, as it appears; and in
this evil compact, and the underhand
work to which it gives rise, lies al-
ready visible before the unveiled eye
of the reader, the little black spot
on the fair blue of the epic sky,
which is destined (and the bard is
ever forward to hint this catas-
trophe,) at a day though distant yet
sure, to dilate into a wide-spreading
cloud, and to burst in a fearful deluge
that shall sweep hundreds and thou-
sands of the guilty and the guiltless
into destruction. This is neither more
nor less than the dark old doctrine of
retribution, which in the Greek trage-
dians, and especially Eschylus, plays

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 :
They dwell in hollow mountains; and for protection wear
A vesture, that hight cloud-cloak, marvellous to tell;
Whoever has it on him, may keep him safe and well

From cuts and stabs of foemen; him none can bear or see
As soon as he is in it, but see and hear can he
Whate'er he will around him, and thus must needs prevail;
He grows besides far stronger: so goes the wondrous tale.

And now with him the cloud-cloak took fair Siegelind's son,
The same the unconquered warrior, with labour hard, had won
From the stout dwarf Albrecht, in successful fray.

The bold and ready champions made ready for the way.

So, as I said, bold Siegfried the cloud-cloak bore along;
When he but put it on him, he felt him wondrous strong:
Twelve men's strength then had he in his single body laid.
By trains and close devices he wooed the haughty maid.

Besides, in that strange cloud-cloak was such deep virtue found,
That whosoever wore it, though thousands stood around,
Might do whatever pleased him, unseen of friend and foe:
Thus Siegfried won fair Brunhild, which brought him bitterest woe."
In order the more surely to afford
his necessary aid, Siegfried appeared
among the attendants of Gunther, in
the character of a subordinate vassal.
Having thus arranged matters, they
set out for the far island of the sea.
And here, as in many other passages,
it is noticeable with what a childlike,
almost girlish delight, the old bard
expatiates on the gay dress of his
mighty men. He evidently did not

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,
Thirty maids, her brother's purpose to fulfil,

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;
Fine silk was sewn above them, to suit the wearers well,

Now of the rich apparel hear we fresh marvels tell.

From the land of Morocco and from the Libyan coast,
The best silk and the finest is worn and valued most
By kin of mightiest princes; of such had they good store:
Well Kriemhild show'd the favour that she the wearers bore.

E'er since the chiefs were purposed the martial queen to win,
In their sight was precious the goodly ermelin.
With coal-black spots besprinkled on whiter ground than snow,
E'en now the pride of warriors at every festal show.

Many a stone full precious gleam'd from Arabian gold;
That the women were not idle, scarcely need be told.
Within seven weeks, now ready was the vesture bright;
Ready too the weapons of each death-daring knight."