Part 31

(St. XLV.) There certainly seems some confusion here. The only people who had injured Gunther in Hungary were the Huns who had massacred the yeomen, and these were not present in the hall. If, on the other hand, he suspected that the Huns in the hall were privy to it, why allow Etzel and Kriemhild to depart without so much as an observation? Why, as Lachmann has observed, does not Dietrich think it necessary even to make a request in their behalf? It is easy to remove these objections by declaring everything spurious between St. XXX and St. XII, Thirty-fourth Adventure, but unfortunately, though St. XXIV, Twenty-eighth Adventure, which brings Etzel and Kriemhild into the hall, is not admitted into Lachmann's Lays, it is clear from stanzas XII-XIV, Thirty-third Adventure (1898-1900 L.), which form part of his Eighteenth Lay, that both Etzel and Kriemhild were present in the hall when the fighting began, and indeed Lachmann admits that the plan of his Eighteenth Lay requires that they should quit it. The composer however of the lay, who surely ought to know his own plan best, seems to have been of a different opinion, for, after having set the Huns and Burgundians by the ears in the hall, and put Dankwart and Volker to keep the door, he has left us to guess the final result of these serious preliminary arrangements. The 7,000 Huns massacred here are no doubt the same as the 7,000 who accompanied Kriemhild to church at St. XX, Thirty-first Adventure, and the same perhaps as the men of Kriemhild mentioned at St. XX, Thirtieth Adventure. These last had _attempted_ mischief, and Gunther may here take the will for the deed.

(St. LVIII.) The meaning of this stanza is anything but clear. From the original, and the two readings _von_ and _vor_, it would seem doubtful whether Hagan laments that he sat at a distance from Folker or that he took precedence of him.

THIRTY-FOURTH ADVENTURE

(St. XI.) I must confess I cannot see any inconsistency between the first line of this stanza and the third of the preceding one; but there is certainly a discrepancy between the second line, in which both Hagan and Folker are mentioned as scoffing at Etzel, and the two stanzas immediately following, which confine the invectives to Hagan. (St. XII.) Lachmann's Nineteenth Lay begins here and ends with St. V, Thirty-sixth Adventure. Scarcely any of the whole twenty begin and end so unappropriated as this.

(St. XIX, XX, XXI.) I have arranged these stanzas as Simrock and Beta have done. Braunfels places them XX, XIX, XXI.

THIRTY-FIFTH ADVENTURE

(St. XX.) I have here, without intending it, stumbled on an interior ryhme, _sounded confounded_. Still I can assure Professor Lachmann that the stanza is genuine.

THIRTY-SIXTH ADVENTURE

(St. VI.) Here begins Lachmann's Twentieth Lay.

(St. IX.) Here they are described as coming _ûz dem hûse_, which seems to contradict Kriemhild's exhortation at St. XX, not to let the Burgundians come _für den sal_. Perhaps they here merely come out of the hall into a vestibule at the top of the staircase, so as to speak with Etzel and Kriemhild, but not into the open air. So at St. V, Thirty-ninth Adventure, Gunther and Hagan are said to be outside the house, but at St. XXV, same Adventure, Hagan rushes down from the staircase to attack Dietrich. From St. XXVI, Thirty-sixth Adventure, the staircase seems to have been of no great length.

THIRTY-SEVENTH ADVENTURE

(St. XVII.) Compare stanzas CXV, CXVI, Twentieth Adventure.

(St. LIX.) It is odd, that the hall, which must have been the principal eating-hall in the castle, is here called Kriemhild's. Von der Hagen thinks Kriemhild had appropriated it by having attempted to set it on fire, but arson is an odd kind of title. He supposes, too, it may be the hall mentioned at St. IV, Twenty-ninth Adventure; yet it seems strange that Etzel should have received his guests anywhere but in his own hall.

(St. XCI.) This stanza, as Professor Lachmann justly observes, cannot belong to Hagan, but is appropriate to Giselher, who is mentioned immediately after. Still there is an awkwardness here.

THIRTY-EIGHTH ADVENTURE

(St. II.) The king himself has come to the feast, has made one of the party, that is, has been slaughtered with the rest. See Lachmann's note (St. 2173 L.).

(St. XLIII.) I have with Simrock and Beta followed the reading of the Lassberg manuscript, _struchen_ for _stieben_. The latter is explained by Braunfels and von der Hagen with reference to the flying out of sparks from armor, but this effect follows in the next line. To an Englishman the reading _stieben_ appears to bear a comical resemblance to our vulgar phrase, "dusting a man's jacket."

(St. LXXXIX.) The Amelungers' land was Bern, that is Verona, the hereditary possession of Dietrich: who was driven from it by his uncle Ermanrich, Emperor of Rome. He took refuge with Etzel, and remained in exile 30 or 32 years. For what further relates to him and the Amelungers see the notes to Sts. IV and V, Twenty-eighth Adventure.

THIRTY-NINTH ADVENTURE

(St. V.) The phrase, outside the house, _ûzen an dem hûse_, appears to mean merely outside the hall. They seem to have stood in a sort of vestibule at the top of the stairs that led down into the courtyard. Compare St. IX, Thirty-sixth Adventure, and the note.

(St. IX.) I have ventured, in conformity with the original, to talk of "joys lying slain," though certainly the phrase seems harsh in English. One manuscript reads _freunde_ friends, instead of _freuden_ joys.

(St. XXI.) Walter of Spain ran away with Hildegund from the court of Etzel, as that monarch himself informs us in an earlier part of this poem. As the young hero was passing with her through the Vosges or Wask mountains, he was attacked by Gunther with twelve knights, among whom was Hagan. The latter however, "for old acquaintance' sake," refused to fight against Walter, and persevered in his refusal, till the Spaniard had killed eleven knights, and Gunther himself was in danger. At last, after all three were wounded, they made up matters. According to the Vilkina Saga, Walter, after slaying the eleven knights, put Hagan to flight, and then, having lighted a fire, sat down with Hildegund to dine on the chine of a wild boar. As he was thus agreeably employed, Hagan fell upon him by surprise but was pelted so severely by Walter with the bones of the wild boar, that he escaped with difficulty, and, even as it was, lost an eye.--See W. Grimm's "Deutsche Heldensage," p. 91. The Latin poem "Waltharius," which is translated from a lost German one, gives a more dignified account of the matter. There also Hagano refuses to fight at first, and says

"Eventum videam, nec consors sim spoliorum," Dixerat, et collem petiit mox ipse propinquum, Descendensque ab equo consedit, et aspicit illo.

Eleven knights are killed, but next day, after Walter has left a stronghold, where he could be attacked by only one at a time, he is assailed on his march by Gunther and Hagan, and the fight continues till Gunther has lost a foot, Walter his right hand, and Hagan his right eye and twice three grinders. The combatants are then reconciled. For the situation of this field of battle, see "_Lateinische Gedichte des 10. und 11. Jahrhunderts_" by J. Grimm and Schmeller, p. 123.

(St. XLVI.) This stanza, which is in the Lassberg manuscript only, has been added apparently, like others, to soften the character of Kriemhild.

(St. LII.) Harrow and welaway. Old exclamations of distress or anger.

Harrow and welaway! After so wicked deed, why liv'st thou lenger day?

"Faerie Queene," II, viii. 46.

(St. LVII.) The _edeln knehte_ here, and the _vil manic rîche kneht_ of St. XXXIV, in both passages associated with knights, were no doubt of a far superior station to that of the mere _knehte_, 9,000 of whom followed Gunther into Hungary. These last we may call yeomen, the other, squires. The _edeln burgære_ (St. XXXV, Seventeenth Adventure), seem to have been not the mere townsfolk, but the chiefs of the corporation the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council of Worms.

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Transcriber's note:

Some initial characters and final punctuation were replaced.

Quotation marks have been changed to allow the modern reader to follow a quotation from one stanza to the next.

Inconsistent hyphenation and spellings were retained.

Pg 295: (stout and ruet) changed to (stout and true)

Pg 395: Greek: proselthon, internal terminal sigma retained.