Then Hiordis wept sore and answered: "Naught would I care if but one Volsung was left to avenge thee and my father."
And Sigmund said: "A son shall be born to thee who shall be mightier than I. Our boy shall be the noblest and most famed of all the Volsung race. See to it that thou keep the pieces of my good sword, for from it he shall fashion a goodly blade, and shall work many a great work therewith, and his name shall abide and flourish as long as the world shall endure.
"But now am I weary, and would fain go to join my kindred that have gone before me."
All through the night Hiordis kept watch beside him, till, at the dawn, he died.
And as the queen mourned over the lifeless body she heard the sound of many ships upon the seashore, and she said to her handmaid: "Let us now exchange garments and flee into the woods, and do thou play the part of king's daughter, and I will be thy handmaid."
Then there came up a great band of Vikings from the shore, and their leader was Alf, son of the King of Denmark. And they saw how a great company of men lay slain, and also how two women had escaped into the woods.
So Alf bade his followers go seek the maidens, and bring them before him. This they did, and when he questioned them, the handmaid spoke as though she were queen, and answered for both, and told of the fall of King Sigmund, and who it was who had brought the war trouble into the land.
Then the prince asked if they knew where the wealth of the king was hidden, and the maiden replied: "Ay, we know full well where it is laid."
And she guided them to the place, and this pleased the prince, and he put the treasure aboard his ships, and took the women also with him. But first he gave ear to the tale of Sigmund, and it won his admiration, and he caused the king to be buried as beseemed his rank and valour.
Then did Hiordis and the handmaid sail away with Alf to his own land.