Tale XXX: How Gudrun Was Brought Home to Hilda

Homeward the men of the Hegelings / gladly took their way;
But many whom they carried / erewhile across the sea
Now lay dead and wounded; / these must they be leaving:
Three thousand men or over / were mourned by friends, who tears to each were giving.

Now their ships went smoothly, / the winds for them were good:
Bearing home their booty / they came in happy mood.
How it was done I know not, / they sent on men before them
Unto the Hegeling ladies: / of what had them befallen they tidings bore them.

With all their speed they hastened,— / that I well can say,—
And reached at last their kingdom,— / I cannot tell the day.
Never a tale so happy / had Lady Hilda gladdened
As this that now they told her: / Ludwig was slain, who long her life had saddened.

She asked: “Still lives my daughter, / and all her maiden band?”
They answered: “Herwic brings her, / his own, again to her land.
Ne’er to so brave a warrior / it hath befallen better.
Ortrun, too, they are bringing, / and Hartmut, her brother; these in bonds they fetter.”

“A happy tale you bring me,” / said then the well-bred queen;
“My life with care and sadness / by them hath cumbered been.
If e’er my eyes behold them, / ill shall they be faring:
Through them have I much sorrow, / untold and openly, for years been bearing.

“The news that you have brought me / a rich reward shall gain;
For you my heart have lightened / of hopeless woe and pain.
Gold I give you freely, / and this I do most rightly.”
They said: “Most noble lady, / to make us rich we need your gold but slightly.

“Of the booty we have gotten / we’re bringing home so much,
You need not think us scornful / if your gold we do not touch:
Indeed, our boats are heavy / with shining gold they’re bearing.
Over all our riches / keepers we have, who well for it are caring.”

Then did Lady Hilda, / when she the tidings heard
That guests so dear were coming, / for food and drink give word;
For stools and benches, also, / on which they should be seated.
She of all was thoughtful, / that they might feel that they were fitly greeted.

Now at Matelan castle / none were idle found;
Down on the sandy beaches / and on the level ground
Workmen quickly gathered, / who nought of toil abated
That fair Gu-drun and Herwic, / as them beseemed, should worthily be seated.

I cannot tell you truly / if aught upon the sea
Of ill had them befallen. / Six long weeks it must be
Ere Ortwin’s men saw Matelan / at length before them looming.
They brought with them their lady, / and many well-bred maids with her were coming.

When now they reached their homeland, / this for truth we hear,
Their search and strife for the lady / had lasted full a year:
It was upon a May-time / their foes they home were bringing.
Their toils were not forgotten, / but, as they came, the strand with shouts was ringing.

Soon as Matelan castle / now from the ships was seen,
Of sackbuts and of trumpets / loud began the din,
Of horns as well as fluting, / and drums that men were beating.
The ships of the aged Wâ-te / at last in a harbor good their rest were meeting.

After these came also / Ortland’s warriors brave;
Then Hilda with her ladies / to them a welcome gave.
Out from Matelan’s castle / she to the shore went riding;
Gu-drun they saw was coming, / with well-bred maidens wont to do her bidding.

Alighted from their horses, / and standing on the sand,
Were Hilda and all her ladies. / Then, leading by the hand
Gu-drun, the lovely maiden, / came Irold, proud and knightly.
Though Hilda well had known her, / yet now she knew her not, nor others rightly.

Hilda, among the followers / a hundred women saw;
She said: “I know not truly / which one from me should draw
A mother’s loving welcome; / unknown to me is my daughter:
I give to all my greeting / who here with her have come across the water.”

“This is your long-lost daughter,” / by Irold she was told;
Hilda to her stepped nearer. / Could ever wealth or gold
Outweigh the bliss that filled them, / as each the other greeted,
And welcome gave with kisses? / Now from their hearts had all their sorrow fleeted.

To Irold and his kinsmen / kind greeting Hilda said;
Then to the aged Wâ-te / a lowly bow she made.
“Welcome, knight of Sturmland! / bravely thou hast striven!
Who can e’er reward thee, / unless to thee both land and crown are given?”

He to the lady answered: / “To help you all I may,
For that am I most willing, / e’en to my latest day.”
Then, for love, she kissed him, / and Ortwin thus she greeted.
Now came Herwic also, / with proud and worthy knights, as him befitted.

Ortrun, the Norman maiden, / then by the hand he led.
Gu-drun besought her mother / kindly to meet the maid:
“Dear lady, greet with kisses / this good and high-born maiden;
Oft in my years of sorrow / my life with help and kindness she did gladden.”

“To none will I give kisses / who is to me unknown.
Who are this maiden’s kinsmen? / What name doth the lady own,
That you should bid me kiss her, / and be so friendly with her?”
He said: “Her name is Ortrun; / she from the Norman kingdom cometh hither.”

“Never shall I kiss her; / how can you ask for this?
If I should bid them kill her / I should not do amiss.
Truly have her kinsmen / filled my life with sorrow;
They fed their eyes upon it, / and gladness all the while from this did borrow.”

Gu-drun to Hilda answered: / “Ne’er hath this lovely maid
The word to any given / that wrong on you be laid.
Bethink you now, dear mother, / would blame to me be owing
Should our men slay her kinsmen? / To the luckless maid, I beg, your love be showing.”

Gu-drun in vain besought her, / until at last, with tears,
The maid now begged her mother; / then gave she willing ears,
And said: “I can no longer / see you sadly weeping:
If e’er the maiden helped you, / for this shall she, in my land, her life be keeping.”

Then the stately Hilda / kissed King Ludwig’s child,
And greeted other ladies, / e’en as Gu-drun had willed.
Then came also Hildeburg, / from far-off lands brought thither,
Erst with her found washing. / Now, by the hand, Sir Fru-te led her hither.

Then Gu-drun said further: / “Mother, most dear to me,
Your greeting give to Hildeburg. / What better can there be
Than true and faithful friendship? / Gold and jewels even,
Whate’er the kingdom holdeth, / to Hildeburg most rightly should be given.”

Then said to her Queen Hilda: / “To me it hath been told
How she both weal and sorrow / hath borne with you of old.
Never shall I sit happy / beneath the crown I’m wearing,
Till I indeed reward her / for all the ills that she with you was sharing.”

At once she kissed the maiden, / and others, too, as well.
Then Hilda said to Fru-te: / “No shame for this I feel,—
That I have come to meet you / and those whom you are leading.
Good knights, you all are welcome / into the Hegeling land, now homeward speeding.”

As they with thanks were bowing, / and she her greeting gave,
Siegfried, king of Moorland, / drew nearer on the wave,
And with his warriors, shouting, / up to the beach was springing:
A merry song from Araby / were all, as best they might, together singing.

Queen Hilda him awaited / till on the shore he stood.
Then to the lord of Karadie / a greeting warm she showed:
“Sir Siegfried, king of Moorland, / welcome to you is given;
It ne’er shall be forgotten / how you to right my wrongs have ever striven.”

“Lady, if I have helped you, / to do it I was glad.
Now must I hasten thither / to where my home I’ve had
Since early days of boyhood, / ere I thence had ridden
To war against King Herwic; / henceforth to strive with him it is forbidden.”

Then they their ships unloaded, / and up they bore on the sand
The many things brought with them / into Queen Hilda’s land.
The night was drawing nearer, / the air was colder growing;
The guests no longer waited: / to seek a shelter they in haste were going.

Then with the guests Queen Hilda / rode up on to the plain.
Before great Matelan castle / huts and tents were seen
Bedecked with gold and shining; / there the guests were seated
Upon rich seats made ready: / within the tents were all most kindly treated.

Such wealth, at Hilda’s bidding, / was brought up to the land,
That none need leave behind him / his pledge or bond to stand.
Never in giving freely / could any host be vying
With this most high-born widow: / no guest need wine or other cheer be buying.

There the weary rested / until five days were gone.
The greatest care and kindness / unto the guests were shown;
But Hartmut greatly sorrowed— / no happiness it gave him—
Until the lovely maiden / begged Queen Hilda would in freedom leave him.

Then Ortwin went with his sister / where Hilda had her seat.
She said: “My dearest mother, / never this forget,—
We must not reward with evil / him who a wrong is doing.
Of your worthy name bethink you; / you should on Hartmut smile, forgiveness showing.”

She answered: “Dearest daughter, / you do not ask aright:
I at the hands of Hartmut / the greatest ills have met;
He must atone in bondage / for all his wrongful dealing.”
Then at the feet of Hilda / Gu-drun fell down, with sixty maidens, kneeling.

Then spake the lady Ortrun: / “In freedom let him live;
To you will he be faithful, / for this my word I give.
Be to my brother friendly, / nor of your love be sparing;
’Twill be to you an honor / if he again the kingly crown be wearing.”

His friends all wept together / that he in bondage sat,
Wearing chains so heavy; / their eyes with tears were wet:
Much they pitied Hartmut, / no more his kingdom swaying.
On him and on his followers / fetters fast and strongest now were weighing.

Then spake to them Queen Hilda: / “Leave your weeping now;
Their chains will I unloosen; / they to my court may go:
But not to seek their freedom / they their word must give me,
And with an oath must swear it,— / not hence to ride unbidden, nor to leave me.”

Now the noble bondsmen / were from chains set free.
Gu-drun then bade these warriors / to bathe them in the sea;
Then, in finest clothing, / men to court must lead them.
Knights were they most worthy; / and so the more, good luck did ever speed them.

There among the others / Hartmut now was seen;
Never a braver warrior / or better knight had been:
E’en now, amid his sorrows, / such a mien was he wearing,
It seemed as if a pencil / had drawn him there, and a parchment him was bearing.

Now on him with kindness / did all the ladies look,
While he, their friendship trusting, / greater boldness took.
Ill-will, that erst was borne him, / none were longer feeling;
It was by all forgotten / what wounds they erst had been to each other dealing.

Herwic now bethought him / from the land of the Hegeling
How he might be going. / He bade his men to bring
His clothing and his weapons, / and on the horses load them:
When this was known to Hilda, / to let them go no ready will she showed them.

She said: “My good Lord Herwic, / I beg you longer stay!
All your love and kindness / a weight on me doth lay.
Not yet with my good wishes / may you hence be riding;
Before you yet shall leave me, / there shall be high times for the guests with me abiding.”

To her Lord Herwic answered: / “Lady, you know the way,
How those who send their kinsmen / to lands which others sway
Again at home to see them / are always greatly longing:
With pain our friends are waiting / until again they see us homeward thronging.”

Then spake again Queen Hilda: / “Grudge not, I beg, to me
One happiness and honor, / for none can greater be;
Herwic, king most worthy, / the boon now deign to give me,
That I, poor lonely woman, / may see my daughter crowned, ere she shall leave me.”

For this was he unwilling; / but still she begged and bade:
Thereby those held in bondage / were soon from sorrow freed.
When now at last he told her / that to do it he was willing,
Then the Lady Hilda / was glad in heart, and rest of mind was feeling.

Seats were made at her bidding, / yet more and better still,
Which many knights with honor, / near Hilda, soon did fill,
When came the high times merry, / that now were widely bruited.
To crown Gu-drun, the fair one, / King Herwic bade, for him it now well suited.

Of those who him had followed / there went away not one
Before at Matelan castle / the high times were begun.
Then by Lady Hilda / was clothing kindly given
To sixty maids or over: / for praise and honor she had ever striven.

To full a hundred women / clothing good she gave:
None of those were slighted, / but all her care did have,
Who from their homes were taken; / these had clothes the rarest.
The gifts indeed were wondrous / that Hilda gave, of queens the best and fairest.

Irold must guard the treasure; / to dwell in Hilda’s home
That knight erelong was bidden, / and quickly did he come:
Wâ-te, he of Sturmland, / must carve the meat at table;
They also sent for Fru-te, / to come to her as soon as he was able.

Her cup-bearer she made him; / thereon thus spake the knight:
“That will I be most gladly, / if now you think it right.
A fief you then will give me, / with banners twelve to show it;
Then am I lord in Denmark.” / Queen Hilda smiled, but never thought to do it.

To Fru-te thus she answered: / “That gift is not for thee;
For still your nephew Horant / Daneland’s lord must be.
You, in his stead, for friendship, / must now our cup be filling;
And, while he is with the Normans, / kindly to care for him must you be willing.”

The men and maids in waiting / all to their tasks were set:
Silken clothes were called for; / a hoard both rich and great,
In rooms and chests long treasured, / Queen Hilda bade them open.
These were brought by stewards, / and all the guests to them were freely holpen.

Of these the very lowest / had clothing of the best.
If others than the Normans / were bidden to the feast,
Or why they called them thither, / I have no way of telling:
Full thirty thousand were they / whom there they brought, in Norman lands once dwelling.

Clothes for all were wanted, / but where could these be found?
If e’en the wealth of Araby / any there had owned,
I ween he could no better / or finer clothes have given
Than now they shared so freely: that this should be, Gu-drun her best had striven.

Soon as this lovely maiden / by the guests had now her seat,
She sent for her brother Ortwin, / and did his coming wait,
That she the word might give him / to be fair Ortrun’s lover;
She, King Ludwig’s daughter, / beside Gu-drun was seated then, as ever.

Ortwin, lord of Ortland, / made haste to his sister’s bower:
Him welcomed many a maiden / who sat with her that hour.
Then, from her seat arising, / by the hand she kindly took him;
And him aside then leading, / at the further end of the hall she thus bespoke him,

Saying: “Dearest brother, / hear what for you is best;
All that I shall tell you / comes from a faithful breast.
If you for bliss are hoping, / so long as you are living,
Then for Hartmut’s sister / you must, as best you may, henceforth be striving.”

To her young Ortwin answered: / “Now think you this is well?
I and her brother Hartmut / never as friends can feel;
We slew their father Ludwig, / and, when to me she’s wedded,
Of him will she be thinking; / then with her sighs I oft shall be upbraided.”

“You such love must show her / that for him she will not long.
If now this word I give you, / ’tis from a love as strong
As I have had for any, / or e’er in my life was feeling.
Should she to you be wedded, / your bliss with her will be beyond all telling.”

Then said her knightly brother: / “If she to you is known,
And now you think the Hegelings / will her for a mistress own,
Gladly will I love her,— / a maid of such high-breeding.”
Him Gu-drun then answered: / “You’ll ne’er a sorry day with her be leading.”

Of this he spoke to others, / but Hilda’s word was nay;
He told it unto Herwic, / to hear what he would say,
Who held it right and worthy; / then to Fru-te speaking,
That friend would have him woo her, / “for many knights will she your own be making.

“Soothed should be the hatred / that we each other bore;
Of how it may be ended, / I now will tell you more;
Then,” said the Danish Fru-te, / whose word was ever heeded,
“Hildeburg, the maiden, / to young King Hartmut also must be wedded.”

The wise and upright Herwic / with faithful words thus spake:
“I deem it right and fitting / the maiden him should take;
When in the land of Hartmut / she is queen and lady,
A thousand lordly castles / to own her sway will there be glad and ready.”

Then to the high-born Hildeburg / Gu-drun the fair thus spake,
With words unheard by others: / “Care for your weal I’ll take;
If I may well reward you, / my friend and playmate dearest,
For all the love you’ve shown me, / soon in the Norman land a crown thou wearest.”

To her then said fair Hildeburg: / “For me it were not well
To give my troth to any / who ne’er his love did tell,
Nor unto me, in fondness, / e’er his heart was turning;
Should we grow old together, / I fear between us oft there’ll be heart-burning.”

Her Gu-drun thus answered: / “Give not a thought to that:
I soon will send to Hartmut, / and bid him answer straight
Whether he now would like it / if from his pledge I free him,
As well as all his followers, / and send him home, that his friends again may see him.

“If he his thanks shall tell me, / I then in turn will bid
That he by deeds shall show it, / and shall my wishes heed.
I then will freely ask him / if he will wed a maiden,
That I and all my kinsmen / may him with love and friendship ever gladden.”

To her they brought young Hartmut, / king of the Norman land,
And with him came old Fru-te. / Near her, on either hand,
Proud Hildeburg and Ortrun / within her bower were sitting;
If the lady’s word they heeded, / their many woes they both would be forgetting.

Hartmut, the son of Ludwig, / went through the palace hall;
To him a friendly greeting / was given by one and all,
Alike both high and lowly / from their seats arising.
None than he was braver; / no worth or greatness e’er in him was missing.

He by Gu-drun, fair lady, / to seat himself was told;
And neither of the others / her greeting did withhold.
Then said Queen Hilda’s daughter: / “I beg you to be sitting
Near my faithful maidens, / who washed with me for your knights, as was befitting.”

“This in scorn you bid me, / fair and lovely queen!
Whatever wrong was done you / truly gives me pain:
’Twas by my mother’s wishes / that this from me was hidden;
To keep it from my father, / and from his knights as well, were all men bidden.”

To him the maiden answered: / “My wish I may not hide:
I now, in truth, Sir Hartmut, / must speak with you aside.
I and yourself, we only, / may hear what I am saying.”
Hartmut then bethought him: / “May God now grant she is not falsely playing.”

No one else but Fru-te / allowed she to come near;
Then the high-born maiden / said in Hartmut’s ear:
“If you to me will hearken, / and do what I shall tell you
With ready heart and freely, / now of all your sorrows I will heal you.”

“Well I know your wisdom,” / then young Hartmut said;
“Of aught that is unworthy / I need not be afraid.
My heart for nothing wishes, / unless to do your bidding:
Gladly, high-born lady, / to all that you shall say will I give heeding.”

She said: “My wish I tell you, / and now your life would cheer;
I, and my kinsmen with me, / will give you a helpmeet fair.
To keep both land and honor / you may thus be seeking,
And of the hate we bore you / none shall evermore a word be speaking.”

“Who is it, say, fair lady, / that you for me will choose?
Ere yet my love I give her, / life would I rather lose
Than ever that my kinsmen / her with scorn were eying;
For me it were far better / that I in death upon the field were lying.”

“I will give your sister Ortrun, / the maid beloved and fair,
To be a wife to my brother, / himself to me most dear.
You must wed with Hildeburg, / of a king the well-born daughter:
Never a dearer maiden / you in the world could find, where’er you sought her.”

“If this indeed may happen,” / then young Hartmut said,
“And now your brother Ortwin / shall take that lovely maid,
My dear-loved sister, Ortrun, / and she to him is wedded,
Then I will woo fair Hildeburg; / thus hate will end, nor longer shall be dreaded.”

She said: “To this I’ve brought him; / his troth to her he gave.
If now ’twould make you happy / your father’s lands to have,
And again within his castles / that you should soon be living,
You well may wed with Hildeburg, / and there the queenly crown to her be giving.”

He said: “That pledge I gladly, / and on it give my hand;
As soon as the king of Ortland / shall with my sister stand,
And both the crown have taken, / then I, no more forbearing,
Will, with lovely Hildeburg, / among our men our lands and fiefs be sharing.”

When he his word had plighted, / then said the high-born maid:
“Now will I do gladly / a further friendly deed;
Unto the lord of Karadie / for a wife will I be giving
The sister of King Herwic, / that she with him may evermore be living.”

I ween that never hatred / was smoothed as now was done:
Brave knights who long were foemen / now became as one.
Fru-te, the lord of Daneland, / thought it right and fitting
Soon to send for Ortwin; / also the Moorland king must them be meeting.

When they to court were coming, / finest clothes they wore.
The news Gu-drun had told them / others to Wâ-te bore;
To Irold, too, they gave it, / as soon as he came thither;
This aside they talked of, / and fitting speech long time they held together.

Then spake the aged Wâ-te: / “Peace we can never know
Until Ortrun and Hartmut / to Hilda, the queen, shall go,
And ask of her forgiveness, / down at her feet low bending.
Only if she allows it, / can we be friends, and hatred have an ending.”

Then spake Gu-drun, the high-born: / “This I can truly say:
To them is she not unfriendly; / Ortrun wears to-day
Such clothes as by my mother / to me and my maids were given.
I’ll gladly gain forgiveness; / in me they all may trust, from home now riven.”

Within a ring of maidens / Ortrun then they set,
And with her also Hildeburg, / of birth both high and meet:
Ortwin then and Hartmut / led them out to wed them.
“I hope,” said Lady Hilda, / “that now, forever, we our friends have made them.”

When to his side young Ortwin / did the maiden Ortrun bring,
Lovingly and kindly, / he took a golden ring,
And this upon the finger / of her fair white hand he fitted.
Then far off were driven / the many woes that late her life had greeted.

Hartmut around fair Hildeburg / then his arms did throw;
Each on the hand of the other / did a golden ring bestow.
The lovely maid was blameless, / and sorrow gave him never;
Of him and of fair Hildeburg / nothing their faithful hearts thro’ life could sever.

Then said Queen Hilda’s daughter: / “Herwic, my lord most dear,
Say, does the land of your fathers / lie to us so near
That men could bring your sister, / if this by us were needed,
Here to my mother’s kingdom, / that she to the lord of Karadie may now be wedded?”

To her King Herwic answered: / “This will I say to you:
Your men, if they will hasten, / in twelve days’ time can go;
But if any to your kingdom / the maiden would be leading,
Ill luck, I ween, awaits him, / unless with him my own good knights be speeding.”

Then answered Hilda’s daughter: / “Your help, I beg you, grant;
By doing this, of happiness / you nought shall ever want.
To your men both food and clothing / my mother will be giving;
Only bring us the maiden, / that I may thank you, long as you are living.”

To her then said Lord Herwic: / “How can she be clad?
The mighty lord of Karadie / a waste of my kingdom made;
There he burned my castles, / and of her clothes bereft her.”
Then said the king of Moorland: / “Her would I woo, if only a smock were left her.”

To bring the maid then Herwic / a hundred warriors sent;
He bade his men to hasten / when on their way they went.
He begged that Wâ-te and Fru-te / would with them go riding:
This was to them a burden; / but yet the worthy knights both did his bidding.

With greatest speed they hastened, / both by day and night,
Until they found the maiden. / Wâ-te they feared would fight,—
’Gainst this did Herwic’s liegemen / give their careful heeding.
Soon from her home the lady, / with four and twenty maids, the knights were leading.

By Wâ-te they were guided / from the castle down to the sand:
Two ships they found, with row-boats, / lying by the strand;
One of these they seized on, / and, helped by breezes blowing,
They fast away were sailing: / throughout twelve days they to their homes were going.

When to the land of the Hegelings / they had brought the maid,
Many knights bethought them / over the sand to speed,
To meet the lovely lady, / and all with banners hasted.
They who had brought the maiden / had kept their oaths, nor from the task had rested.

How could any maiden / a better welcome find?
Gu-drun went forth to meet her, / and gave her greeting kind;
Hilda, with many ladies, / to see the maiden hasted:
Nor came King Herwic’s sister / all alone, though with fire her land was wasted.

She from home was followed / by full three hundred men.
Now when the kingly Herwic / his sister met again,
He, to show her honor, / rode forward, proudly dashing;
So did many others: / loud were the shields of the knights together clashing.

Four kings both rich and mighty / rode to meet her there;
Thereon the knights ’gan wrangle / which of the ladies fair
Was loveliest and fairest. / Long their time they wasted,
For all alike were worthy; / on this at last their wordy war they rested.

The fair Gu-drun then kissed her / and those who with her came.
They walked along the seashore, / till a tent was seen by them,
With richest silken hangings; / while they stood thereunder,
What now to her should happen / gave to Herwic’s sister greatest wonder.

Now the king of Karadie / forthwith to come they bade;
Then they asked the maiden: / “Will you this man now wed?
Kingdoms nine most mighty / have for their master owned him.”
With him were knights full many, / yellow in hue, now standing all around him.

His father and his mother / were not of faith the same;
But him, so light in color, / one might a Christian name.
Like to gold, spun finely, / the hair on his head was lying:
She would choose unwisely / if she to him her love were now denying.

She was slow her love to grant him, / as oft one sees a maid;
But she to him was given. / The worthy knight then said:
“So well I like this lady, / from love I ne’er can free me.
Never will I leave her, / and as her husband men erelong shall see me.”

At last this knight and maiden / each their troth did plight:
Both of them scarce waited / till day should turn to night,
When, from others hidden, / they should their bliss be owning.
Soon, ’mid knightly warriors, / daughters of four rich kings were hallowed for the crowning.