“God bless thee ever, my own true love,
Of service slight will thy girdle prove.”
And when to the Castle gate they won,
His mother stood there and leaned thereon.
“Welcome, my son, thou art welcome twice,
And thy fair young bride she is welcome thrice.
“I ne’er have seen a bride so pale
Come travelling over hill and dale.”
“If pale she be is a wonder slight,
When she has witness’d so hard a fight.
“God grant I may retain my breath
Whilst parting presents I bequeath.
“To my father I give my courser tall,
O mother I pray thee a priest to call.
“And unto my brother, who’s standing near,
I give Gulborg whom I love so dear.”
“O willingly her to wife I’d take,
If, brother, ’twere not for the black sin’s sake.”
“May the Lord God me in my trouble aid,
So sure as she is for me a maid.