Legends of the Middle Ages | Page 7

not only found therein a record of the past,
but gems of literature which are only now beginning to receive the
appreciation they deserve.
[Sidenote: Origin of poem of Gudrun.] Among these manuscripts is the
poem "Gudrun," belonging to the twelfth or thirteenth century. It is
evidently compiled from two or more much older lays which are now
lost, which are alluded to in the Nibelungenlied. The original poem was
probably Norse, and not German like the only existing manuscript, for
there is an undoubted parallel to the story of the kidnaping of Hilde in
the Edda. In the Edda, Hilde, the daughter of Högni, escapes from
home with her lover Hedin, and is pursued by her irate father. He
overtakes the fugitives on an island, where a bloody conflict takes place,
in which many of the bravest warriors die. Every night, however, a

sorceress recalls the dead to life to renew the strife, and to exterminate
one another afresh.
The poem "Gudrun," which is probably as old as the Nibelungenlied,
and almost rivals it in interest, is one of the most valuable remains of
ancient German literature. It consists of thirty-two songs, in which are
related the adventures of three generations of the heroic family of the
Hegelings. Hence it is often termed the "Hegeling Legend."
[Sidenote: Kidnaping of Hagen.] The poem opens by telling us that
Hagen was the son of Sigeband, King of Ireland, which was evidently a
place in Holland, and not the well-known Emerald Isle. During a great
feast, when countless guests were assembled around his father's
hospitable board, this prince, who was then but seven years of age, was
seized by a griffin and rapidly borne away.
"Young Hagen, loudly crying, was filled with dire dismay; The bird
with mighty pinions soared high with him away." Gudrun (Dippold's
tr.).
The cries of the child, and the arrows of Sigeband's men at arms, were
equally ineffectual in checking the griffin, which flew over land and
sea, and finally deposited its prey in its nest on the top of a great cliff
on a desert island. One of the little griffins, wishing to reserve this
delicate morsel for its own delectation, caught the boy up in its talons
and flew away to a neighboring tree. The branch upon which it perched
was too weak to support a double load, however, and as it broke the
frightened griffin dropped Hagen into a thicket. Undismayed by the
sharp thorns, Hagen quickly crept out of the griffin's reach and took
refuge in a cave, where he found three little girls who had escaped from
the griffins in the same way.
[Sidenote: The three maidens.] One of these children was Hilde, an
Indian princess; the second, Hildburg, daughter of the King of Portugal;
and the third belonged to the royal family of Isenland. Hagen
immediately became the protector of these little maidens, spending
several years in the cave with them. He ventured out only when the
griffins were away, to seek berries or shoot small game with a bow
which he had made in imitation of those he had seen in his father's hall.
Years passed by before Hagen found the corpse of an armed warrior,
which had been washed ashore during a storm. To appropriate the
armor and weapons for which he had so long and vainly sighed was the

youth's first impulse; his second was to go forth and slay the griffins
which had terrorized him and his little companions for so many years.
The griffins being disposed of, the young people roamed about the
island at will, keeping a sharp lookout for any passing vessel which
might convey them home. At last a sail came in sight! Hagen, the first
to see it, climbed up on a rock and shouted with all his young strength
to attract the crew's attention.
"With might young Hagen shouted, and did not cease to shout, Howe'er
the roaring tempest the wild waves tossed about." Gudrun (Dippold's
tr.).
The sailors reluctantly drew near, gazing fearfully upon the three
maidens, who, clad in furs and moss, resembled mermaids or wood
nymphs. But when they heard their story they gladly took them on
board. It was only when the island was out of sight, and when they
were in mid-ocean, that Hagen discovered that he had fallen into the
hands of Count Garadie, his father's inveterate enemy, who now
proposed to use his power to treat the young prince as a slave. But
Hagen's rude fare, and the constant exposure of the past few years, had
so developed his strength and courage that he now flew into a
Berserker rage,[1] flung thirty men one after another into the sea, and
so terrified his would-be master that he promised to bear him and the
three maidens in