Page:The lay of the Nibelungs; (IA nibelungslay00hortrich).pdf/118

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THE LAY OF THE NIBELUNGS.
[ADV.

230.

“And many a girl’s betrothed one ne’er rose from off that ground.
Upon the brazen helmets one heard his blows resound;
And from the death-wounds spurted hot streams of crimson blood:
In all his acts is Siegfried a gallant knight and good.


231.

“What doughty deeds were wrought by Ortwein, of Metz the lord!
How ever many foemen he came at with his sword,
There did he leave them lying— the better part were dead;
And yet no less of Gernot, your brother, might be said.

232.

“For he did work such ruin as ne’er was seen in fight.
In truth, one must confess here of each well-proven knight
Among the proud Burgundians, that they all bravely bore
Themselves, and kept their honour untarnished evermore.


233.

“Full many an empty saddle their handiwork did show;
And with their bright swords’ clashing loud did the field echo.
The Rhenish heroes truly, so fell a riding made,
’Twere better for their foemen if they at home had stayed.


234.

“The two bold knights of Tronje did work much dire distress,
What time the charging armies did one another press.
And many a warrior perished beneath bold Hagen’s hand;—
There’s much to tell of him yet here in Burgundian land.


235.

“Sindold and Hunold also, who were King Gernot’s men,
And the bold warrior Runold, such doughty deeds did then,
That Ludeger the Saxon must rue, until he die,
That ever he thy kinsmen did on the Rhine defy.