Then spake the kingly Herwic: “I too will go with thee;

To live or die I am ready, seeking the maid to free.

To you she is a sister, but to me for a wife they gave her;

To her am I ever faithful, nor for a day uncared-for will I leave her.”

[1156]

Then quoth Wâ-te angrily: “’Tis childish thus to speak,

Brave and chosen warriors: such risks you should not seek,

And this for truth I tell you. Spurn you not my warning;

Should you be found by Hartmut, you’ll on his gallows hang, your rashness mourning.”

[1157]