Trembling, cold, and shivering, the maids before them stood;
Then the knightly Herwic spake, in kindly mood:
“I would, most lovely ladies, if we might be so daring,
And if no shame it gave you, that on the shore our cloaks you would be wearing.”
[1233]
Hilda’s daughter answered: “May God your kindness bless;
We cannot take your mantles, but we thank you none the less.
No eye shall ever see me manly clothing wearing.”
If only the maidens knew it, much greater ills would they yet be often bearing.
[1234]