Tale XIV: How Hettel Sent Tidings from Herwic’s Land

Hettel then sent tidings, / to still their fears at home.
To the fair and high-born ladies / men with news did come,
That unto the old and youthful, / throughout the stormy fighting,
Good luck had aye befallen; / and now, with hope must they for them be waiting.

He bade his men to tell them / how Siegfried was besieged,
While he with all his followers / war against him waged,
To help the lord of Sealand, / loved by Gu-drun, his daughter;
That all, as they were able, / daily fought for her, and for him who sought her.

Hettel’s queen, fair Hilda, / the hope began to have
That luck would follow Herwic / and all his warriors brave;
And, as their worth befitted, / all might well be speeding.
Then said Gu-drun: “God grant it, / that they our friends may back in health be leading.”

By Wâ-te’s men from Sturmland, / the foes from Alzabie
And all who came from Moorland / were kept away from the sea;
Sadly must they tarry / within the sheltering castle:
In Wâ-te and in Fru-te / foes they had with whom they ill could wrestle.

Loudly swore King Hettel / the castle ne’er to leave;
That he and all his followers / still to the end would strive,
Till those to him had yielded / who now the Moor befriended.
Unwise had been their inroad, / and this for them one day in sorrow ended.

Meanwhile the spies of Hartmut, / whom he had thither sent,
Tho’ little good they looked for, / from the Norman border went;
Ever to learn what happened / they a watch were keeping,
And from the stormy warfare / they hoped that Hettel might no gain be reaping.

Now they saw that Siegfried, / the Moorland king high-born,
Was kept within the castle, / besieged both eve and morn;
Thence could he sally never, / and this he knew with sorrow;
His lands so far were lying, / he little help from them could hope to borrow.

The Norman errand-bearers, / sent forth their watch to make
By Ludwig and young Hartmut, / to them now hastened back:
The happy news they carried, / and soon at home were giving,
That Hettel, the king, and Herwic / were busy now, in warfare ever striving.

To them the lord of Normandy / thanks for the tidings gave,
And asked them: “Can you tell us / how long those foemen brave,
The men from the land of Karadie, / will in Sealand tarry,
Fighting ’gainst its warriors, / till they, their wrongs avenged, of war are weary?”

One of them made answer: / “The truth you now may hear:
There they yet must linger / more than another year.
Never from their stronghold / will the Hegelings free them;
They there so well are guarded, / that on their homeward way none e’er shall see them.”

Then the knight of Normandy, / the daring Hartmut, spake:
“This frees my heart from sorrow, / and hope in me doth wake!
If they are now beleaguered, / then are we well befriended;
We must to Hegeling hasten, / ere Hettel’s fight with Siegfried shall be ended.”

Ludwig and young Hartmut / had both the selfsame mind,—
Had they ten thousand fighters / whom they at once could find,
Gu-drun they might lay hold on, / and to their home might carry,
Before her father, Hettel, / came back again from the land where he did tarry.

Hartmut’s mother, Gerlind, / earnestly gave thought
To wreak her wrath on Hettel, / that he to harm be brought,
Because her dear son Hartmut / he shamefully had slighted.
She wished the aged Wâ-te / and Fru-te might be hanged, for the help they plighted.

Then spake the old she-devil: / “Good knights, your hire behold!
If you will now ride thither, / my silver and my gold,
That will I give you freely,— / but women shall not share it.
I care not if Hettel and Hilda / shall rue their wrong, and ne’er again will dare it.”

Quoth Ludwig, Hartmut’s father: / “We from our Norman land
Forthwith must make an inroad: / soon will I have at hand
Twenty thousand fighters / whom I for war will gather;
With these it will be easy / to seize Gu-drun, and bear her from her father.”

Then spake the youthful Hartmut: / “Might ever this betide,
That Hilda’s lovely daughter / I here should see my bride,
I would not take in barter / for that a princedom fairest;
Then might we here together / pass our lives, each one to the other dearest.”

Busily his followers, / hour by hour, gave thought
How they could do his wishes. / A host King Ludwig brought
To lead against the Hegelings; / well were they outfitted.
How should Hilda know it, / that soon thereby her welfare would be blighted?

The wife of Ludwig also / helped them as she could.
For this she plotted ever, / that fair Gu-drun be wooed,
And, as the bride of Hartmut, / to Normandy be carried;
She did her best most busily / that the maid one day should to her son be married.

Ludwig said to Hartmut, / his well belovéd son:
“Think well, O knight most worthy, / no toil we now must shun,
Until our foes are mastered / and from their lands are driven.
Reward the guests who help us; / to our men at home by me shall gifts be given.”

These they soon were sharing, / all and every one.
Never yet in Suabia / gifts so rich were known,
Of steeds for war or burden, / saddles, and shields fair shining;
I ween they were gladly given: / Ludwig ne’er before such thanks was winning.

Quickly all made ready / to start upon their way.
Sailors were found by Ludwig; / skilful men were they,
Who the deep sea-pathways / knew, and well could follow;
Hard must they be toiling / to win their wages high upon the billow.

Now, in seemly measure, / fit were they to go.
Throughout the lands and highways / soon the news did grow
That Ludwig and young Hartmut / home and land were leaving.
They yet would see much sorrow, / when they erelong their Hegeling foe were braving.

When to the shore they had ridden, / ships were floating there,
That workmen well had builded, / the knights away to bear;
Gerlind’s gold and riches / had made them strong and steady.
Nor Wâ-te the old nor Fru-te / of this knew aught, nor were for their coming ready.

With three and twenty thousand / they sailed the waters o’er.
Now for Gu-drun young Hartmut / a weight of sorrow bore:
This, before his followers, / to hide he was not earnest;
He hoped to meet King Hettel, / and him to overcome in strife the sternest.

As yet they knew not fully / how they his land could reach.
To the sons of many a mother / the raid did sorrow teach.
Near to the shores of Ortland / the rolling billows bore them,
Before ’twas known to Hettel: / now Hilda’s castle rose in sight before them.

The warriors led by Hartmut / were still twelve miles away;
Yet had they come already / over the wide, deep sea,
Unto the land of the Hegelings, / and to its shores so nearly
That castles, towers, and palaces / in Hilda’s town they all could see most clearly.

Ludwig, king of Normandy, / bade that on the sand
They now should drop the anchors; / he then gave word to land
To all his men together, / and bade them do it quickly:
They now had come so near them, / they feared the Hegeling bands would gather thickly.

Then bore they up the weapons, / with shields and helmets good,
That they had with them carried / over the heaving flood:
They to fight made ready; / yet they at first bethought them
To send through the land their runners, / to learn if friendly helpers might be brought them.