Boundlessly angry at Otacher was he,
the trustiest thane in Theotrich’s service,
ever front in the folk-rank, too fain for battle,
famous was he among fighting-men bold!
30I believe not he lives.” . . .
Hildebrand spake, Herebrand’s son:[1]—
“But High-God knows, in heaven above,
that thou never yet with such near-kin man,
hero brave, hast held thy parley!”
35He unwound from his arm the winding rings,
of kaiser-gold wrought, that the king had given him,
Lord of the Huns: “In love now I give it thee.”
Hathubrand spake, Hildebrand’s son:—
“With the spear should a man receive his gifts,
40point against point . . .
Thou art over-crafty, thou agéd Hun,—
enthrallst me with speech to o’erthrow me with spear.
Old as thou’st grown, bear’st only guile!
Seafaring folk[2] have said to me,
45come west over Wendelsea,—War hath seized him.
Dead is Hildebrand, Herebrand’s son!”
- ↑ The italicized words are Möller’s conjectural emendation; they make only slight changes, and restore the verse. The original runs: “ ‘The mighty God is my witness,’ quoth Hildebrand, ‘from heaven above, that in spite of this [i.e. ‘that thou hast said.’ Probably the preceding gap is a large one and much talk has passed between the warriors] thou hast never yet parleyed [Scherer translates “fought”] with a man so near of kin.’ ” The quoth Hildebrand is a singer’s aside, such as is often thrust into the text of ballads, and lies outside of the metrical scheme.
- ↑ Compare Beowulf, vv. 377, 411. Wentilseo is the Anglo-Saxon Wendelsæ, the Mediterranean. “War [probably personified] hath seized him” is a familiar phrase in Beowulf.
need,” etc. The “he” of the next line, of course, is Hildebrand, who is enraged because Otacher forces him to leave wife and child.
