Brunhilda fell back in dismay as the gleaming eye of Wotan met her own; and instantly Hunding plunged his sword into the heart of his defenseless foe. Sieglinda fell senseless to the ground. Brunhilda, gathering up the fragments of the sword, hurried to her side, and, lifting her to the saddle, rode off at lightning speed through the clouds.
Siegmund’s lifeless body lay at the feet of Wotan. Remorsefully he gazed upon the brave young warrior he would fain have spared. The sight of Hunding was more than he could bear. With a backward wave of his hand Wotan cried fiercely: “Go, knave! Kneel before Fricka and tell her how well Wotan avenged her slight!”
And at these words Hunding staggered and fell lifeless to the ground; for no mortal man could stand before the scornful wave of Wotan’s hand, unless he were of the race of Heroes who know not fear.
So Hunding died; but there was no Valkyrie to bear him to Valhalla. All his life he had been a tyrant and a bully, and such men, were they the best fighters in the world, could find no favor with the warrior-maidens.
“Now for Brunhilda!” cried Wotan, his voice causing the very trees to quake and shiver. “She who has dared to defy and disobey me! Terrible shall be her punishment, though she be my best-loved child.”
He sprang on his war-horse and followed where the parted clouds showed Brunhilda’s recent track.
BRUNHILDA’S SLEEP GUARDED BY LOKI’S FIERY ARM
By Constance Maud
On the summit of a lofty mountain the Valkyrie sisters met after the day’s toil, to await their father Wotan, and present him with the heroes they had gathered from the battlefields on earth.