IX
KRIEMHILD AND BRUNHILDA'S QUARREL
Years passed by, and Brunhilda had come to love her husband very dearly. They had one child, a little boy whom they had named Siegfried. Kriemhild, meanwhile, had been living very happily with her husband in Niederland. They had had two great sorrows, the death of the old king and that of the queen, and all the people of Niederland still mourned the loss of these two.
Then there arrived one day in Niederland a messenger from the King and Queen of Burgundy, inviting Siegfried and Kriemhild to attend a great feast which was to be held in Worms. They accepted with pleasure. Kriemhild was anxious to see her mother and brothers again, for she loved them dearly. So they started for Burgundy.
For some days after they arrived in Worms everything went happily. But then the tournaments began, and Siegfried won every honor as he had done in days gone by, for he had lost none of his wonderful strength. Both the queens were present at the contests, and as he overthrew one knight after another, Kriemhild looked at him lovingly, and said that he was the best and greatest king the world had ever seen, and that no king could stand against him; all paid him tribute.
Brunhilda replied: "All except Gunther; next to him Siegfried is the most powerful king on earth; but strong as your husband is, he could never hold his own against Gunther."
Kriemhild controlled her temper, and made no reply, but that evening when they attended vespers, Kriemhild attempted to enter the cathedral first. Brunhilda interfered, saying:
"The wife of a vassal should never precede the wife of his lord!"
"And who says that King Siegfried is Gunther's vassal?" demanded Kriemhild.
"I have his own word for it," Brunhilda replied. "When they first appeared in Ireland, Siegfried approached me, saying: 'I come to represent the King of Burgundy; I am his vassal, he is my lord.'"
Then Kriemhild lost all patience, for well she knew by what trick Gunther had won his bride. She cried:
"And do you think that Gunther overthrew you in the tilt? Gunther only pretended to fight. It was Siegfried, made invisible by his tarnhelm, who did the real fighting; it was Siegfried who hurled the javelin which unhorsed you; it was Siegfried who threw the heavy stone, and he it was, invisible to you, but holding Gunther in his arms, who sprang over the stone, and vanquished you," she declared.
Looking at Kriemhild's heaving breast and blazing eye, Brunhilda knew she spoke the truth. And at the same time, there flashed across her mind something that Gunther had once said to her about Siegfried being greater than she knew.
"IT WAS SIEGFRIED WHO DID THE REAL FIGHTING"
And now she fell into a royal rage, and her indignation knew no bounds. There was but one way of atonement; Siegfried must die for the deceit practiced on her. So she went to Hagen, Gunther's uncle, who had promised always to defend her rights, and demanded Siegfried's life.
When Hagen first spoke to Gunther of the matter, Gunther would not hear of the plan to do away with Siegfried, and vowed that no harm should befall the man with whom he had sworn blood brothership ere they set out for Ireland. But Brunhilda was firm in her resolve; nothing less than his death would satisfy her honor, nor wipe out the stain of his deceit.
And finally Gunther gave an unwilling consent. However, they could not fall upon Siegfried, and kill him in cold blood, so Hagen made a clever plan: they would receive a false summons to war. Accordingly, a few days later, a messenger rode posthaste into Worms, bearing the false tidings that the enemy was approaching.
Then everything was in great confusion, and Gunther assembled his hosts, and set out to meet the enemy. Siegfried accompanied him, to render what assistance he could, for he loved his kinsman as a brother. Just before the army started on the march, Kriemhild went to Hagen, and begged him to watch over her husband, and see to it that no one attacked him from behind, for she explained that Siegfried could not be wounded anywhere except in the spot on his back where the linden-leaf had fallen.
Hagen readily promised. He craftily suggested that Kriemhild should sew some mark above the spot, so that he might know exactly when danger threatened. Kriemhild fell in at once with his plan; with loving care she stitched a white silk cross upon her husband's clothes. Then Gunther and his troops rode away.
After they had ridden some distance, they were met by another messenger, with the false tidings that the enemy had begun a retreat.
Gunther appeared to be overjoyed at the news, and suggested that a mighty hunt should be held, to celebrate the occasion. The troops were dispatched back to Worms, and the royal party set out for the chase, which they greatly enjoyed.
When the dinner-horn sounded for the hunters to assemble to their meal, Siegfried appeared, dragging a live bear behind him. He was received with shouts of applause. They at once proceeded to kill and roast the bear. Every one was in the best of spirits, and as hungry as could be; but when they sat down to eat, it was discovered that the wine was missing; Hagen had purposely left it behind.
Siegfried, especially, was very thirsty, and playfully chided Hagen for forgetting so important an article. Thereupon Hagen said that he knew of a spring, not far away, where Siegfried might quench his thirst, and dared him to run a race there. Siegfried accepted the challenge, and easily won the race, as Hagen knew he would.
He had laid aside his weapons, and was already kneeling to drink, when Hagen came up behind him. "Ha, ha," laughed Siegfried, "I have won the race, and am therefore entitled to the first drink."
"THE HERO HURLED IT WITH ALL HIS MIGHT AT HAGEN"
"You are," answered Hagen quietly, picking up Siegfried's sword, and poising it above the spot where Kriemhild had sewn the white cross; and without saying another word, he drove it home with such force that the point of it pierced Siegfried's breast.
In agony, the hero sprang to his feet, and seizing his shield, hurled it with all his might at Hagen, throwing him to the ground. Then he, too, fell, and the blood from his wounds stained the grass a deep crimson; and thus died Siegfried, the great and mighty hero, calling upon Kriemhild with his last breath to avenge his foul murder.
Then they placed his body on his shield and carried it back to Worms, and laid it at Kriemhild's door. Next morning, as she was going to mass, her waiting-maid, who preceded her on the way out, suddenly gave a scream, and cried:
"Go back, go back, and do not come this way, for here lies the body of a dead warrior."
But Kriemhild's heart misgave her, and she would not go back, and when she saw the body she uttered a great cry, for she knew instantly that it was Siegfried.
She bade the servants carry it inside, and lay it on his bed, and her grief knew no bounds. Then she sent for Gunther, and wildly accused him of the deed, and he as wildly denied his guilt. Then she said:
"If you are indeed innocent, you need not fear to stand in the presence of the dead."
Gunther was not afraid, and went with her into the death chamber. While they were standing there, looking at Siegfried, Hagen suddenly entered the room, and lo! all the dead man's wounds began to bleed afresh.
She knew by this sign that Hagen was guilty of her husband's death, and she swore undying vengeance. She supposed that he had killed him to gain possession of his vast riches, and she determined to spoil his plan. But Hagen was as crafty as he was clever, and so he induced Brunhilda to give him the gold ring as a reward for his services to her. She knew nothing of its great value, and she hated it now because it reminded her of the false Siegfried. So she willingly gave it to Hagen, whom she considered her greatest benefactor.
No sooner had he the ring in his possession than he journeyed to Niederland, and there by its magic power he gained possession of the Rhine gold. It took him fourteen days and nights to remove the treasure from the cave on the heath. He then sunk it in the Rhine, where he intended to leave it hidden until after Kriemhild's death; but no sooner had he flung it into the river than the Rhine nymphs seized it for their own, determined to guard it so well this time that never again should their father, the God of the Rhine, have occasion to bewail its loss, and their unfaithfulness.
When Kriemhild reached Niederland, and found that the gold had been stolen from Fafner's cave, she was even more determined than before that she would be revenged upon Hagen.
