Then said old Hagen’s grandchild: “At last my lot is bright,

With hope and gladness beaming. If they my back shall smite

With rods, from now till morning, I trow it will not kill me;

But soon shall those who wronged us know themselves the ills they chose to deal me.

[1271]

“These clothes I should be washing down to the tide I’ll bear,

And fling them into the water,” said the maiden fair;

“Their freedom I will give them, even as ’tis fitting

That I, a queen, should do it; hence they may float away, no hindrance meeting.”

[1272]