Introductory Note
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Bellows, Henry Adams
Of his queen the lover | none may call me.”
29. In a swoon she sank | when Sigurth died;
So hard she smote | her hands together
That all the cups | in the cupboard rang,
And loud in the courtyard | cried the geese.
30. Then Brynhild, daughter | of Buthli, laughed,
Only once, | with all her heart,
When as she lay | full loud she heard
The grievous wail | of Gjuki’s daughter.
[430]
31. Then Gunnar, monarch | of men, spake forth:
“Thou dost not laugh, | thou lover of hate,
In gladness there, | or for aught of good;
Why has thy face | so white a hue,
Mother of ill? | Foredoomed thou art.
32. “A worthier woman | wouldst thou have been
If before thine eyes | we had Atli slain;
If thy brother’s bleeding | body hadst seen
And the bloody wounds | that thou shouldst bind.”
Brynhild spake:
33. “None mock thee, Gunnar! | thou hast mightily fought,
But thy hatred little | doth Atli heed;
Longer than thou, | methinks, shall he live,
And greater in might | shall he ever remain.
[431]
34. “To thee I say, | and thyself thou knowest,
That all these ills | thou didst early shape;
No bonds I knew, | nor sorrow bore,
And wealth I had | in my brother’s home.
35. “Never a husband | sought I to have,
Before the Gjukungs | fared to our land;
Three were the kings | on steeds that came,—
Need of their journey | never there was.
36. “To the hero great | my troth I gave
Who gold-decked sat | on Grani’s back;
Not like to thine | was the light of his eyes,
(Nor like in form | and face are ye,)
Though kingly both | ye seemed to be.
37. “And so to me | did Atli say
That share in our wealth | I should not have, [432]