Chapter XIX: 159 (2)

Then Attila rode forth to war, and Erica commanded that Theodoric, the son of Waldemar, should be brought into the palace, and every day she had dainty dishes set before him, and provided him with warm baths, and delighted his soul with gifts of jewels. But Theodoric of Verona, who was also sore wounded, was left under the care of an ignorant and idle nurse, and his wounds were not tended, and were like to become gangrened. So before many days were passed, the son of Waldemar was again whole, and clothed him with his coat and greaves of mail and put his shining helmet on his head, and mounted his horse and rode from the palace. Queen Erka implored him to stay, saying that her head was the pledge of his abiding; but he answered that he had been all too long already in Hun-land, and would ride forth to his own country. Then the queen, in her terror and despair, sought Theodoric of Verona, where he lay in his ungarnished chamber with his gangrened wounds; and he, though he could not forbear to reproach her for her little kindness to him, and though his wounds made riding grievous and fighting well-nigh impossible, yet yielded to her prayers and tears, and rode forth after the son of Waldemar. Striking spurs into the good steed Falke, he rode fast and far, and came up at length with the fugitive. "Return", he cried, "for the life's sake of thy cousin, Erka; and she and I together will reconcile thee to Attila, and I will give thee silver and gold". But Waldemar's son utterly refused to return and to be reconciled with either of his enemies, and scoffed at the foul wounds of his namesake. "If thou wilt not return for silver and gold, nor to save the life of thy cousin, Erka, thou shalt stay for thine own honour's sake, for I challenge thee here to combat; and never shalt thou be called aught but a 'Nithing' if thou ridest away when challenged by one wounded man". At these words the son of Waldemar had no choice but to stay and fight. The battle was long and desperate, and once both champions, sore weary, leaned upon their shields and rested a space, while he of Verona in vain renewed to the son of Waldemar his offers of peace and friendship; but the combat began again with fury, and at last, with one mighty sword-stroke, Theodoric of Verona struck the right side of the neck of the other Theodoric so that his head rolled off on the left side, and the victor rode back to Susat with that trophy at his saddle-bow. Queen Erka, when her cousin's head was thrown by Theodoric at her feet, wept and bitterly lamented that so many of her kindred should lose their lives for her sake.

At length, after many days, Theodoric was healed of his wounds, and went with Attila on one more expedition into Russia, in the course of which they took the cities of Smolensko and Pultowa, and Theodoric slew King Waldemar on the battle-field.

And now had Theodoric been twenty winters in Hun-land. He had fought in many great battles, and had gained broad lands for his host-friend, Attila. His young brother, Diether, who had been brought as a babe from Verona, had grown into a goodly stripling; and the two sons of Attila, Erp and Ortwin, who had grown up with him, loved him as a brother; and Erka, their mother, loved Diether as her own son. Great, too, was the reverence shown to Theodoric, who sat at the high-seat by the side of Attila, and was honoured as his chief counsellor and friend.

But Theodoric's heart pined for his home and his lost kingdom, and one day he sought the presence of Queen Erka and poured out the longings of his soul. "Good friend, Theodoric", said she, "I will be the first to aid thee in thine endeavour. I will send with thee my two sons, Erp and Ortwin, and a thousand well-armed knights. And now will I seek Attila, my lord, and adjure him to help thee". Attila at first took it ill that Theodoric came not himself to urge his suit, but when Erka had persuaded him that it was not from pride but from modesty that he made the request through her, and when she said that she was willing to send her own sons into danger for his sake, Attila gladly yielded, and bade his trusty friend Rudiger, with a body of chosen knights, accompany Theodoric and his exiled followers back to their own land.

Then Queen Erka called her two sons to her and showed them the coats of mail and the greaves of mail, bright as silver and of hardest steel, but embellished with ruddy gold, and the helmets and the thick red shields that she had prepared for their first day of battle. "Now be brave", said she, weeping, "oh, fair sons of mine, even as your arms are strong: for great as is my longing that you return in safety to my embraces, I long yet more that all men should say that you bore yourselves as brave men and heroes in the fight". And then she armed Diether in like manner, and said: "Dear foster-son, behold here my sons Erp and Ortwin, whom I have armed for war to help thee and Theodoric in the recovery of your kingdom. You three youths, who are now here, have loved one another so dearly that never were you in any game in which you could not be on the same side and give one another help. Now you ride forth to war for the first time: keep well together and help one another in this great game on which you are now entering". "May God help me, dear lady", said Diether, "that I may bring back both thy sons safe and sound; but if they fall in the storm of war, I will not live to tell the tale".

Of the clang of iron and steel in all the armourers' shops at Susat, of the stillness which fell upon the shouting host when Attila, from a high tower, gave his orders to the army, of the setting forth of the gallant band, ten thousand knights with many followers, it needs not to be told at length. Enough, they crossed the mountains and entered the land that had been theirs; and Theodoric, to take no unknightly advantage of his foe, sent messengers to Rome to apprise Hermanric of his coming and challenge him to battle outside the walls of Ravenna. [171]

[Footnote 171: I here deviate from the text of the "Wilkina-Saga", which puts the battle-field at Gronsport on the banks of the Moselle. This is evidently due to the influence of the Muenster and Bremen traditions,]

Hermanric, too old to go forth himself to war, gave the chief command to the false counsellor, Sibich. Under him were Reinald and Witig, both of whom had been friends and comrades of Theodoric in times past, and were most unwilling to fight against him, though thirsting for battle with any number of Huns. It was appointed, therefore, that Sibich, bearing Hermanric's banner, should fight against Theodoric and his Amalungs, Reinald against the gallant Rudiger, and Witig against the two sons of Attila. The whole army of Hermanric numbered seventeen thousand men. And now were the two armies drawn up on the opposite banks of a river, and it was the night before the battle. Master Hildebrand, desiring to learn the position of the enemy, rode some way up the stream till he found a ford by which he crossed to the other side. It was so dark that he had almost ridden up against another knight coming in the opposite direction, before either perceived the other. Dark as it was they soon recognised one another by their voices, though they had not met for twenty years. The stranger was Reinald, who had come forth on the same errand as Hildebrand. No blows were fought; only friendly words were exchanged, with lamentations over this miserable war between the brother Amalungs, and curses on the false Sibich, whose intrigues had brought it to pass. Then the moon shone forth, and Reinald showed Hildebrand from afar the great yellow tent with three golden tufts where the traitor Sibich was sleeping; and the green tent with the silver tuft in which Witig and his Amalungs were dreaming of battle with the Huns; and the black tent, then empty of its lord, that was the tent of Reinald himself. And Hildebrand told Reinald the ordering of the troops of Theodoric, showing him Theodoric's tent with five poles and a golden tuft, and the tent of the sons of Attila, made of red silk with nine poles and nine tufts of gold; and the green tent of Margrave Rudiger. Then the two warriors kissed each other and wished one another well through the day of battle, and so they parted. And when Reinald, returning to the camp, told whom he had met, Sibich wished to send him to slay Master Hildebrand before he returned to his friends. But Reinald would in no wise permit so unknightly a deed, saying that Sibich must first slay him and all his friends ere such a thing should befall.

When day dawned Theodoric set forward his array and bade all his trumpets blow. They rode up the stream to the ford which Hildebrand had discovered the night before, and crossed thereby. And Sibich and Witig, seeing them approach, sounded their trumpets and marshalled their men. Theodoric, seeing the false Sibich's banner waving, cried to his followers: "Forward, my men! Strike this day with all your courage and knighthood. Ye have striven often against the Russians and the Wilkina-men, and have mostly gotten the victory; but now in this strife we fight for our own land and realm, and for the deathless glory that will be ours if we win our land back again". Then he spurred his brave old steed Falke through the thickest ranks of the enemy, raising ever and anon his good sword Ecke-sax and letting it fall, with every blow felling a warrior or his horse to the ground. Likewise his brave standard-bearer Wildeber, who went before him, hewed down the ranks of the foe. Against him came Walter, Sibich's standard-bearer, who rode in hero-mood towards him, and aiming the banner-staff full against his breast, pierced him through, the staff coming out through his shoulders. But Wildeber, though wounded to the death, lopped off with his sword the end of the banner-staff, and then riding fiercely at Walter struck him on his thigh so terrible a blow that the sword cut right through the coat of mail and stuck fast in the saddle below. Then did both the standard-bearers fall from their horses and lie dead on the field side by side.

When Sibich saw his standard droop and the brave knight Walter fall, he turned his horse and fled from the field, and all his division of the army with him. Theodoric and his men rode after them fast and far, and wrought dire havoc among them, but when Theodoric was miles away from the battle-plain he was overtaken by one of his men, his horse all covered with foam, who brought him evil tidings from another part of the field.

For Witig, when he saw the flight of Sibich, not terrified but all the more enraged, had ridden fiercely towards the place where the banner of Attila's sons was waving and had struck down their standard-bearer. "Seest thou", said Ortwin to Helfric, his sworn henchman, "what evil that base dog, Witig, is doing? He has slain our brave standard-bearer; let us ride up to him and stop his deadly work". So spake Ortwin, but in the fierce fray that followed both he and his good comrade Helfric, and then his brother Erp, fell dead around Witig and his standard-bearer. Oh! then, great was the wrath of the young Diether--who meanwhile had fought and killed the standard-bearer of Witig--when he saw both of his foster-brothers slain. Eager to avenge them, he struck oft and hard at Witig's armour. "Art thou Diether, King Theodoric's brother?" cried Witig; "for his sake I am loth to do thee any hurt. Ride away and fight with some other man". "Since my young lords Erp and Ortwin are dead, and thou, base hound, hast slain them, I care not for my life unless I can have thine". So said Diether, and struck with all his might on Witig's helmet. The helmet, of hardest steel, resisted the blow, but the sword, glancing off, descended on the neck of Witig's war-horse, Schimming, and severed its head from its body. "God knows", cried Witig, as he sprang to earth, "that I fight now but to save mine own life". And with that he grasped the handle of his sword Mimung with both hands and struck Diether so terrible a blow that he clove his body in twain.

These were the tidings which the breathless knight brought to Theodoric and which stayed him in his pursuit of the fugitives. "Ah! how have I sinned", said he "that so evil a day should come upon me? Here am I untouched by a wound, but my dearest brother is dead and my two young lords also. Never may I now return to Hun-land, but here will I die or avenge them". And with that he turned and set spurs to Falke and rode so swiftly that none of his men could keep up with him; and so full was he of rage and fury that a hot breath, like sparks of fire, came forth from his mouth, and no living man might dare to stand before him. And when he reached Witig, who was riding Diether's horse, his own being slain, Witig, like all others turned to flee from that terrible countenance. "Evil dog", cried Theodoric, "if thou hast any courage stand and wait till I come up to thee and avenge the death of my brother". "I slew him against my will". said Witig, "and because I had no other way to save my life; and if I can pay forfeit for his blood with any quantity of gold and silver, that will I gladly do". But still he fled as fast as his steed could carry him, down the course of a stream to where it poured itself into a lake, and still Theodoric rode after him. But when Theodoric hurled his spear, in that very moment Witig sank beneath the waters of the lake and the spear-shaft was driven deep into the shore, and there it may be seen to this day. But some men thought that Witig was received by a mermaid and kept hidden in her cave for many days. For his grandfather had been born long ago of this mermaid, having been begotten by Wilkinus, King of Norway.

So the battle had been won by Theodoric and his allies (for in other parts of the field the Margrave Rudiger had vanquished Reinald) yet was it a bootless victory by reason of the death of Attila's sons. And Theodoric, riding back to the battle-field, came where his brother Diether was lying; and lamented him saying: "There liest thou; my brother Diether. This is the greatest sorrow that has befallen me, that thou art thus untimely slain". And then he came to the place where lay the young princes, with their stout coats of mail and their strong helmets, which had not been able to save them from death, and he said: "Dear young lords, this is the greatest of my sorrows that I have lost you; and how shall I now return to Susat? God knows that I would gladly have many a gaping wound, if only you might be whole again". Then he bade Rudiger lead back the army to its king, for he would neither claim his own kingdom nor return to the palace of Susat, after he had cost Attila the lives of so many brave knights and of his own sons. So Rudiger returned to the palace, but Theodoric and Master Hildebrand dwelt in a little hut in the neighbourhood of the city of Susat.

When Rudiger stood in the presence of Attila, who asked him of the welfare of Theodoric and of the host, he made answer: "King Theodoric lives, and the Huns have been conquerors in the battle, yet have we had evil fortune, since we have lost the young lords, Erp and Ortwin". Then Queen Erka and almost all who were in the palace-hall lifted up their voices and wept. And Rudiger told Attila how Diether and many another brave knight had fallen in the battle. But Attila answered with steadfast soul: "It has happened now as it ever does. They fall in the fight for whom it is so appointed, and neither mail nor muscle avails them anything. My sons Erp and Ortwin and their foster-brother Diether had the best arms that could be fashioned in the smithy, yet there they all lie dead". And after a space he added: "Where is my good friend, King Theodoric?" "He and Master Hildebrand are sitting together in a mean hut, and they have laid their arms aside and dare not come into thy presence, O King! because they have lost the young lords". Then Attila sent two knights to beg Theodoric to come into his presence, but he would not for grief and shame. Then Queen Erka rose up weeping and went with her maidens to the cottage where Theodoric abode: and when she entered it she said: "My good friend, Theodoric! how did my sons fare in the war, and fought they as good knights ere they fell?" But Theodoric, with mournful face, answered: "Lady! they fought as good knights and parried the blows bravely, and neither of them would part from the other". And with that she went up to him and threw her arms round his neck and said: "Good friend! King Theodoric! come now into the palace-hall to King Attila, and take thy welcome there, and be merry once more. Often before now have the brave men for whom it was appointed, fallen in the battle; and they who live still must take thought for themselves, since it profits not to be ever bewailing the dead". So Theodoric went with the queen into the palace-hall, and Attila stood up and gave him a kiss of welcome and bade him sit beside him on the high-seat. Thus he returned to Attila's palace, where he dwelt for yet many years, and all was friendship between them as before.

Two years after this Queen Erka fell sick of a grievous disease and lay at the point of death. Sending for Theodoric, she rehearsed to him how he had ever been the best friend of her husband and herself; and as it might well happen that this sickness would sever that long friendship, she desired to give him fifteen marks of red gold in a beaker and a costly purple robe, as memorials of the same, and she prayed him to take her young kinswoman, Herauda,[172] to wife. Theodoric said: "Good lady and queen! thy sickness is doubtless a dangerous one. True friendship hast thou ever shown to me and mine; and better it were for Attila to lose the half of his kingdom than to lose thee". Thereat he wept like a child and could say no more words, but went quickly forth of the chamber.

[Footnote 172: Or Herrat.]

Then Erka desired to see her dear friend, Master Hildebrand, and spake to him too of the true friendship which was now about to be severed, in remembrance whereof she gave him a ring of gold. And then sending for Attila she spake to him of her coming death. "Thus wilt thou become a widower", said she, "but so thou wilt not long remain. Choose, therefore, a good and loving wife, for if thou choosest a wicked woman she may work much harm to thee and many others beside. Good King Attila! take no wife out of Nibelungen-land, nor from the race of Aldrian, for if thou dost, thou wilt sorely repent of it, and harm unspeakable will be wrought to thee and the children whom she may bear thee". Soon after she had spoken these words, she gave up the ghost; and great was the lamentation in all Hun-land when they heard that the good Queen Erka was no more in life.

The warning given by the dying queen was, like most such warnings, unheeded. After three years of widowerhood, Attila sent one of his nephews into Nibelungen-land[173] to ask for the hand of Chriemhild,[174] daughter of Aldrian, loveliest and wisest of the women of her time; but maddened by secret grief for the loss of her first husband, Siegfried,[175] who had been slain by her brothers, Hagen[176] and King Gunther. The suit prospered; with strange blindness of heart, King Gunther gave his consent to the union of the sister who was his deadliest enemy with the mightiest king in Europe. For seven years Chriemhild waited for her revenge; then came that invitation to the Nibelungs to visit the court of Attila, which, in the infatuation of their souls, King Gunther and his brethren accepted, taking with them a chosen band of a thousand warriors. The scheme of vengeance prepared by Chriemhild, the quarrel which she provoked at the banquet, the terrible slaughter suffered and inflicted by the Nibelungs in the palace garden, their desperate rush into the palace-hall, the stand made therein by their ever-dwindling band on the pavement which was slippery with the gore of heroes--all this has been sung by a hundred minstrels, and need not here be repeated. We have only to do with the share Theodoric and his friends took in the fatal combat. Long the Amalungs stood utterly aloof from the fray, grieving sorely that so many of their friends on both sides were falling by one another's hands. For to the Nibelungs, as well as to Attila and the Huns, were they bound by the ties of guest-friendship, and in happier days Theodoric had ridden with Gunther and with Hagen, to test the mettle of their knights against the chivalry of Britain. So Theodoric and his men stood on the battlement of his palace, which looked down on the garden of Attila, and watched from afar the ghastly conflict. But at length they saw the good Margrave Rudiger, the ally of the Amals on so many a hard-fought battle-field, fall by the hand of his own daughter's husband, the young prince, Giselher; and then could Theodoric bear it no longer, but cried, saying: "Now is my best friend, Margrave Rudiger, dead. Take your weapons, comrades, and let us avenge his fall". He descended into the street. He forced his way into the palace-hall. Terrible was the clang of the strong sword Ecke-sax on the helmets of the Nibelungs. Many of them fell before him, but alas! many of his faithful Amals fell there also, far from their home. At length, in all that stately palace-hall, there remained but four men still able to deal blows, and these were Theodoric and Master Hildebrand of the Amalungs, Hagen and Giselher of their foes. And Hagen stood up to fight with Theodoric, and Giselher with Hildebrand. Then, as King Attila came from his tower to watch the combat, Hagen shouted to him: "It were a knightly deed to let young Giselher go unhurt, for he is innocent of the death of Siegfried the Swift". "Yea, truly", said Giselher; "Chriemhild, my sister, knows that I was a little child of five years old in my mother's bed when her husband was killed. I am innocent of this blood-feud, yet care I not to live now that my brethren are slain". Therewith he closed in fight with Master Hildebrand, and soon received his death-wound from the old hero.

[Footnote 173: Burgundy.]

[Footnote 174: In the "Wilkina-Saga", Grimhild.]

[Footnote 175: In the "Wilkina-Saga", Sigurd.]

[Footnote 176: In the "Nibelungen-lied", Hagen is only a kinsman; in the "Wilkina-Saga", a brother of Gunther and Chriemhild.]

Now there remained but one terrible encounter, that between Hagen and Theodoric. Hagen said: "It seems that here our friendship must come to an end, great as it has ever been. Let us each fight bravely for his life, and knight-like, call on no man for aid". Theodoric answered: "Truly, I will let none meddle in this encounter, but will fight it with warlike skill and knightliness". They fought long and hard, and exchanged grievous blows, and both were weary and both were wounded. Then Theodoric waxed exceeding wroth with himself for not overcoming his foe, and said: "Truly, this is a shame for me to stand here all the day and not to be able to vanquish the elfin's son". "Why should the elfin's son be worse than the son of the devil himself?" answered Hagen.[177] At that Theodoric was seized with such fury that fiery breath issued from his mouth. Hagen's coat of mail was heated red-hot by this breath of fire, and he was forced to cry out: "I give myself up. Anything to end this torture and doff my red-hot armour. If I were a fish, and not a man, I should be broiled in this burning panoply". Then Theodoric sat down and began to unbrace his adversary's armour; and while he was doing this, Queen Chriemhild came into the hall with a blazing torch, which she thrust into the mouth of one after another of the prostrate warriors, her brothers, to see if they were already dead, and to slay them if they were still living. Beholding this, Theodoric said to Attila: "See how that devil, Chriemhild, thy wife, torments her brethren, the noble heroes. See how many brave men, Huns and Amalungs and Nibelungs, have yielded up their life for her sake. And in like fashion would she bring thee and me to death, if she had the power". "Truly, she is a devil", answered Attila. "Do thou slay her; and it had been a good deed if thou hadst done it seven nights ago. Then would many a noble knight be still living who now is dead". And with that Theodoric sprang up and clove Chriemhild in twain.

[Footnote 177: The myth of Hagen's being begotten by an elfin apparition while King Aldrian was absent from his realm is mentioned in the "Wilkina-Saga" (Cap. 150), but there has been no previous allusion to the alleged demonic origin of Theodoric.]

Theodoric bore the sore-wounded Hagen to his palace and bound up his wounds; but they were mortal, and in a few days Hagen died, having bequeathed to the woman who nursed him the secret of the great Nibelung hoard, for the sake of which he had slain Siegfried the Swift.

In the terrible encounter there had fallen one thousand Nibelungs, being all their host, and four thousand Huns and Amalungs. No battle is more celebrated in the old German Sagas than this. But Hun-land was wasted by reason of the death of so many valiant warriors, and thus had come to pass all the evil which the good Queen Erka had foretold.

And now after thirty-two years of exile, and with so many of his brave followers dead, Theodoric's heart pined more than ever for his native land, and he said to Master Hildebrand: "I would rather die in Verona than live any longer in Hun-land". To return with an army was hopeless, so scanty a remnant was left of the Amalungs. The only hope was to steal back secretly and try if it were possible to find friends enough in the old home to win back the crown. Master Hildebrand knew of one thing which made the outlook less desperate: "I have heard that the Duke who rules over Verona is a brave knight named Alebrand; and I cannot but think that this is my son, born of my wife, Uta, shortly after I fled hither". So they got together four horses, two for Theodoric and Hildebrand, one for the lady, Herauda, Theodoric's wife, and one to carry their raiment and store of silver and gold; and after leave taken of Attila, who wept bitterly at Theodoric's departure, and prayed him to stay till he could fit out another army for his service, they set forth from Susat and rode westward night and day, avoiding the towns and the haunts of wayfarers. On their road they were met by a band of two and thirty knights commanded by Earl Elsung, a kinsman of that Elsung of Verona, whom Theodoric's grandfather, Samson, had slain. The blood-feud was now old, but Elsung yearned to avenge it on Theodoric. The lady Herauda wept when she saw so many well-armed knights approaching, but Theodoric bade her be of joyous heart till she saw one of her two protectors fall, and that, he deemed, would never be. And in truth, in the fight that followed, so well did the aged Hildebrand wield the sword Gram, the wondrous sword of Siegfried the Swift, and such mighty blows dealt Theodoric with Ecke-sax, that Earl Elsung himself and sixteen of his men were left dead on the field. The rest fled, all but a nephew of Elsung, a brave young knight. Him also Hildebrand vanquished in fight, and from him, as ransom for his life, the victors received great tidings from Amalungen-land. For he told them that Hermanric was grievously sick, and that the remedies which the false Sibich had persuaded him to resort to had left him far weaker than before, and, in short, the great Hermanric was already as good as dead.

They came next in their journey to a castle which was held by Duke Lewis and his son Conrad. To them Master Hildebrand, riding forward, made himself known, and from them he received joyous welcome. They rode back with him into the forest, where Theodoric was tarrying with the Lady Herauda, and bent the knee before him. For they had heard that Hermanric was dead, and though the false Sibich aspired to be king after him, both they and all the people in those parts chose rather to obey Theodoric, and had sent a messenger into Hun-land to pray him to return. Theodoric received Duke Lewis graciously, but would not enter into his castle, for he had sworn that Verona should be the first stronghold in Amalungen-land within whose walls he would enter.

Now of Verona the lord was (as Hildebrand had heard) his son Alebrand, born after he had left the country. He was a brave knight, and a courteous, but fiery, and when the aged Hildebrand, riding towards Verona, met him in the way, the two champions rushed at one another, and fought long and desperately. The battle ceased from the mere weariness of the fighters once and again. At every pause each knight, the old and the young, asked the other of his name, and each refused to tell his name till he had heard that of his antagonist. And this, though all the time Hildebrand more than guessed that it was his own son from whom he was receiving, and to whom he was dealing, such dreadful blows. At length, after Hildebrand had given his opponent a great gaping wound in the thigh, he fell upon him and bore him to the earth, and then with his sword at his breast said: "Tell me thy name or thou shalt die". "I care not for life", said the other, "since so old a man has vanquished me". "If thou wilt preserve thy life, tell me straightway if thou art my son Alebrand; if so, I am thy father, Hildebrand". "If thou art my father Hildebrand, I am thy son Alebrand", said the younger hero. And with that they both arose, threw their arms around each other's necks, and kissed one another; and both were right glad, and they mounted their horses and rode towards Verona. From the gates the Lady Uta, Alebrand's mother, was coming forth to meet her son; but she wept and wailed when she saw his streaming wound, and said: "Oh, my son, why art thou so sore wounded, and who is that aged man that is following thee?" Alebrand answered: "For this wound I need have no shame, sith it was given me by my father, Hildebrand, and it is he who rides behind me". Then was the mother overjoyed, and greeted her husband lovingly, and with great gladness they entered into the city, where Hildebrand tarried for the night, and the Lady Uta bound up the wounds of Alebrand.[178]

[Footnote 178: The combat between Hildebrand and Alebrand, the impetuous father and the impetuous son, too proud to let words take the place of blows, is, with some variations, a favourite theme of German minstrels. In the "Hildebrands-hed" (beginning of the 9th century) the son is named Hadubrand, and he insists on the fight because he looks upon the so-called Hildebrand as an imposter (Grimm: "Deutsche Heldensage", 25).]

After this Theodoric's course was easy. He was received with joyous welcome by the citizens of his native Verona, as he rode through the streets on his faithful Falke, Master Hildebrand of the long white beard holding high his banner. Alebrand handed back to his keeping Verona and all Amalungen-land, which he had received to hold from the dead Hermanric. Theodoric sat in the high-seat of the palace; the people brought him rich presents, and all the nobles took him for their rightful lord and ruler.

The false Sibich marched against him with a larger army, thirteen thousand to Theodoric's eight thousand; but Theodoric and Hildebrand rode as they pleased through the armed throng, dealing death on every side; and Duke Alebrand, engaging Sibich in single combat, after long fight, waxed exceeding wroth, and smiting a dreadful blow, clove him through from the shoulder to the saddle-bow. Then all the Romans gave up the strife, and fell at Theodoric's feet, praying him to be their lord. So was Theodoric crowned in the city of Rome; and now he was king over all the lands which had once owned the sway of Hermanric.

It needs not to tell at length of the deeds of Theodoric after he had recovered his kingdom. He caused a statue to be cast in copper of himself, seated on his good steed Falke, and this statue many pilgrims to Rome have seen.[179]

[Footnote 179: It is suggested that this is probably the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill.]

Also a statue of himself, standing on a high tower, brandishing his good sword Ecke-sax towards the north; and this statue is at Verona.

In his old age he and many of his subjects turned to the Christian faith. One of those that were baptized along with him was Master Hildebrand, who died soon after his conversion, being either one hundred and eighty or two hundred years old. Theodoric's wife, Herauda, died also about this time, a good woman and much loved of the people for all her gracious deeds, even as her cousin, Erka, had been loved by the Huns. After Herauda's death Theodoric married Isold, widow of Hertnit, King of Bergara,[180] whose husband had been slain by a terrible dragon, which Theodoric vanquished. She was fair to look upon and wise of heart.

[Footnote 180: Identified by Von der Hagen with Garda; but is it not Bulgaria?] And after these things it came to pass that old King Attila died, being enticed by Aldrian, the son of Hagen, into the cave where the great Nibelung hoard lay hidden. And when he was in the recesses of the mountain, gloating over the wondrous treasure, Aldrian passed swiftly forth and closed the doors of the cave and left him to perish of hunger in the midst of the greatest treasure that was in the world. Thus Aldrian avenged the death of his father and of all the Nibelungs. But Theodoric was made king over Hun-land by the help of his friends in that realm, and thus he became the mightiest king in the world.

Of all his old warriors only Heime was left, and Heime had buried himself in a convent, where he sang psalms every day with the monks, and did penance for his sins. Theodoric, hearing that he was there, sought him out, but long time Heime denied that he was Heime. "Much snow has fallen", said Theodoric, "on my head and on thine since our steeds drank the stream dry in Friesland. Our hair was then yellow as gold, and fell in curls over our shoulders; now is it white as a dove". And then he plied him with one memory after another of the joyous old times of the battle and the banquet, till at length Heime confessed, and said: "Good lord Theodoric, I do remember all of which thou hast spoken, and now will I go forth with thee from this place". And with that he fetched his armour from the convent-chest, and his good old steed Rispa from the convent-stable, and once more rode gladly after his lord. After doing many more brave deeds, he fell in battle with a giant, the biggest and clumsiest of his tribe. Theodoric, riding forth alone, sought out the giant's lair, and with his good sword Ecke-sax avenged the death of his friend; and that was the last battle that the son of Dietmar fought with mortal foe.

The years of Theodoric's old age were given to the chase of the beasts of the forest, for he was still a mighty hunter when his other strength was gone.[181]

[Footnote 181: It is probably the following legend that is commemorated on the facade of the church of S. Zenone of Verona, where Theodoric is represented as chasing a stag and met by the Devil.]

One day as he was bathing at the place which is still called "Theodoric's Bath", a groom called out to him: "My lord! a stag has just rushed past, the greatest and the finest that ever I saw in my life". With that Theodoric wrapped a bathing-cloak round him, and calling for his horse, prepared to set off in chase of the stag. The horse was long in coming, and meanwhile a mighty steed, coal-black, suddenly appeared before him. Theodoric sprang upon the strange charger's back, and it flew off with him as swiftly as a bird. His best groom on his best horse followed vainly behind. "My lord", cried he, "when wilt thou come back, that thou ridest so fast and far". But Theodoric knew by this time that it was no earthly steed that he was bestriding, and from which he vainly tried to unclasp his legs. "I am ill-mounted", cried he to the groom. "This must be the foul fiend on which I ride. Yet will I return, if God wills and Holy Mary". With that he vanished from his servant's sight, and since then no man has seen and no man ever will see Theodoric of Verona. Yet some German minstrels say that it has been opened to them in dreams that he has found grace at last, because in his death-ride he called on the names of God and the Virgin Mary.[182]

[Footnote 182: Another version of the "Wilkina-Saga" gives a different account of the death of Theodoric. According to this, Witig, after he sank in the lake, was received by his mermaid ancestress and borne away to Zealand. Here he abode a long time, till he heard of the return and recovered might of Theodoric. Then, fearing his resentment, he betook himself to a certain island, and having made an image of Theodoric, laid a strict charge upon the boatman who ferried passengers across that he should carry over none who was like that image. Theodoric, hearing that Witig yet lived in Denmark, went thither, and, having disfigured himself so that the boatman did not recognise him, found Witig (whose sword Mimung he had hidden away), and challenged him to single combat. The battle of the boys was thus renewed between the two snow-bearded men, and was fatal to both. Witig fell down dead by his own bedside; and Theodoric, stricken with incurable wounds, journeyed through Holstem and Saxony to Swabia. Here he went to the border of a lake, and drawing the sword Mimung out of its sheath, hurled it afar into the waters, so that it should never again come into the hands of man. He then went into a little Swabian town, and the next day died there of his wounds. He strictly forbade his servants to make mention of his name or rank, and was buried in that town as a merchant. It is needless to remark on the resemblance of one part of this story to the "Passing of Arthur".]

I have thus endeavoured to bring before the reader (I hope not with undue prolixity) the chief events in the life of the mythical Theodoric of the Middle Ages. Still, as late as the sixteenth century the common people loved to talk of this mighty hero. The Bavarian "Chronicle" (translated and continued about 1580) says: "Our people sing and talk much about 'Dietrich von Bern.' You would not soon find an ancient king who is so well known to the common people amongst us, or about whom they have so much to say".[183] What they had to say was, as the reader will have observed, strangely removed from the truth of history. How all this elaborate superstructure of romance could be reared on the mere name of Theodoric of Verona is almost inconceivable to us, till we call to mind that the minstrels were in truth the novelists of the Middle Ages, not pretending or desiring to instruct, but only to amuse and interest their hearers, and to beguile the tedium of existence in dull baronial castles.

[Footnote 183: See Grimm's "Deutsche Heldensage", 341.]

Of the thousand and one details contained in the foregoing narrative, there are not more than three or four which correspond with the life of the real Theodoric, He was, as the Saga says, of Amal lineage. His father's name, Theudemir, is fairly enough represented by Dietmar. He was for some years of his life (but not his middle or later life) a wanderer more or less dependent on the favour of a powerful sovereign. His life during this period did get entangled with that of another Theodoric, even as the life of the hero of Saga becomes entangled with the life of Theodoric of Russia. After subduing all his enemies, he did eventually rule in Rome, and erect statues to himself there and at Verona. Ravenna and Verona were the places of his most frequent residence. In his mature years, when his whole soul was set on the maintenance of _civilitas_, he might very fitly have spoken such words as he is said to have used to Witig in his boyhood, "I will establish such peace in my father's realm and mine, that it shall not be in the power of every wandering adventurer to challenge me to single combat". Moreover, throughout all the wild vagaries of the narrative, character, that mysterious and indestructible essence, is not wholly lost. No two books can be more absolutely unlike one another than the "Wilkina-Saga" and the "Various Letters of Cassiodorus", yet the same hot-tempered, impulsive, generous man is pourtrayed to us by both.

As for the other names introduced, they are, of course, brought in at the cost of the strangest anachronisms. The cruel uncle, Hermanric, is really a remote collateral ancestor who died nearly eighty years before Theodoric was born. The generous host and ally, Attila, died two years before his birth, and the especial gladness of that birth was that it occurred at the same time with a signal victory of the Amal kings over the sons of Attila. To take an illustration from modern history, the general framework of the "Wilkina-Saga" is about as accurate as a romance would be which should represent Queen Victoria as driven from her throne by the Old Pretender, remaining for thirty years an exile at the court of Napoleon, and at length recovering her kingdom on the Old Pretender's death.[184]

[Footnote 184: Possibly we have in the career of Witig, the craftsman's son, successively the sworn friend and the deadly foe of Theodoric and his house, some remembrance of the life of the low-born Witigis, in his youth a valiant soldier of Theodoric, in his old age the slayer of Theodahad, and the hated husband of Amalasuentha.]

But, as has been often and well pointed out, the most marvellous thing in these old German Sagas is the utter disappearance from them of that Roman Empire which at the cost of such giant labour the Teutonic nations had overthrown. The Roman Imperator, the Roman legions, even the Catholic priests with their pious zeal against Arianism, count for nothing in the story. Just as the knightly warriors prick to and fro on their fiery steeds to the court of Arthur of Britain, with no mention of the intervening sea, so these German bards link together the days of Chivalry and the old barbarian life which Tacitus paints for us in the "Germania", without apparently any consciousness of the momentous deed which the German warriors had in the meanwhile performed, full of significance for all succeeding generations of men, the overthrow of the Empire of Rome.

INDEX.

Adamantius, official under Zeno, 83 et seq. Ad Decimum, battle of, 300 Ad Ensem, battle of (Scheggia), 364 Adda, battle of, 122 Adige, Odovacar in the valley of the, 260 Adnanople, battle of, 15 Aetius, the last of the Romans, 94 Africa, recovery of, 298; conquest complete, 302; Belisarius in, 321 Agapetus, Senator, 282 Agnellus, Bishop of Ravenna, (ninth century) 123, 249, 289 Agrammatus, 145 Agriculture, state of, among the Germans, 54 Alamanni, conflict with Clovis, 189 et seq Alaric, descendant of Balthae, sack of Rome, 410 A.D., 393; made King of Visigoths, 15 et seq. Alaric II., son of Euric, King of Visigoths, 490 A.D., 121; an Anan, 177; canal of, 184 et seq; letter of Theodoric to, 198; stress of, 200; defeat of and death, 201; sons of, 204; slayer of, honoured, 222 Alban mountains, 355.

Albinus, Roman patrician, accused of disloyalty, 267 et seq., 293 fate unknown, 281 Alexander the Logothete, 342 Alfred, King, translator of Boethius,276 Alpris, 376 Alps, passes across, 203, 212 Amal family, pedigree of, 8, 9; insult to, 36; extinction of one branch, 58; in Saga literature, 167 Amalaberga, niece of Theodoric, 242 et seq. Amalafrid the Goth, son of above, 243 Amalafrida, sister of Theodoric, 118, 266, 298 Amalaric, grandson of Theodoric, 204, 305 Amalasuentha, daughter of Theodoric, 189; marriage of, 257; character of, 292; guardian of her son Athalaric, 293 et seq.; education of Athalaric by, 295; negotiations with Justinian, 306 et seq., interview with Alexander, 311; message to Justinian, 312; summons Theodahad, 313; death of, 315 Amalungs, (see Amal) Amboise, meeting of kings near, 197 Ammatas, attack on Carthage, 300 Ammianus Marcellinus quoted, 13 Arnmiasr brother of Swanhilda, 13 Anastasius, successor to Zeno, as Eastern Emperor, 133; recognises royalty of Theodoric, 138; character of, 207; marries Ariadne, 208; suspected of heresy, 210; excommunicated, 211; makes Clovis consul, 221; death of, 228, 258 Ancona, 362 Anderida, 356 _Anecdoton Holderi_, 277 Angouleme, 202 Anician _gens_, 263 _Anonymus Valesii_ (probably Bishop Maximilian), quoted, 112, 128, 260, 285, 288 Anthemus, Emperor, 41 Antonina, wife of Belisarius, 348 Anzalas, 365 _et seq._; Apennines, battle of the, 365 Appian Way, 142 Aqueducts in Italy, 141 Aquileia, siege of, 26 Aquitania taken by Clovis, 203 Archbishop John, 123 Ardaric, King of the Gepidae, 24, 29 Arevagni marries King of Toulouse, 185 Ariadne, widow of Leo I. and wife of Zeno, 66 Arian, creed, 117; league, 175, 194, 266, 305; churches at Ravenna, 251 _et seq._ Arians, in Spain, 258; persecution of, 259, 281 _et seq_; measures in behalf of, 284 Arles, walls rebuilt at, 143, 202 _et seq._ Armies, supplies, 113; size of, 317 Arthur, King of Bertangenland (Saga), 379; daughter of, 393 Asbad, 367 Aspar, barbarian in Imperial service, 36; an Arian, 64 Assemblies, deliberative, among Goths, 57 Ataulfus, scheme of, 4, 17, 25; quoted, 137 Athalaric, grandson to Theodoric, proclaimed heir, 162, 257; succeeds Theodoric, 293; ruled by his mother, 295; death of, 313 Athanaric, Judge of the Visigoths, 13, 38, 202 Athanasians, creed of the, 177; persecution of, 181 Attila, the might of, 18; accession of, 19 _et seq._; progress of, 22; crosses the Alps, 26; directions to Milanese artist, 27; death of, 28; invasion of, 93; sons of (Saga), 403 _et seq_; and Theodoric (Saga), 411 Augofleda, wife of Theodoric, 188 Augustulus excluded from Empire, 108 Augustus, title of, 95; calls for popular general as, 210 Aurelian, Emperor, 10, 327 Austrasia, 242 Austria (Pannonia), 213 Austrians in Italy, 369; military frontier of the, 216 Auvergne, 202 Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, 191 Azof, Sea of, crossed by Huns, 12, 40.

Babai, Sclavonic chief, 50 Baduila, form of name "Totila", 343 Balamber, King of the Huns, 13 Balan, horse of Belisarius, 329 Balaton, Lake, home of Theodoric, 38, 46 Balder the beautiful, 178 _Balistae_, 332 Balkan peninsula, 182 Balthae, descendants of, 15 Barcelona, Gesalic appears in, 205 Basiliscus, rebellion against Zeno, 71 _et seq._; bad generalship of, 98 Bavarian "Chronicle", 424 Bayard, loyalty of, 70 Belgium desolated, 22 Belisarius, occupation of Rome, 104; general of Justinian, 299 _et seq._ pre-eminent, 317 _et seq._ in Rome, 327; at Ravenna, 337; stratagem of, 338; returns East to conduct Persian war, 341; disliked by Emperor, 347; retakes Rome, 358 Bercea, 59 Berserker folly, 125 Bessarabia, 202 Bessas, commander at Rome, 350 Bishop Peter, letter of Theodoric to, 261 Bleda, brother of Attila, 19 Boccaccio, story of, 245 Boethius, 195, 256; translation of Aristotle, 263; "Consolation of Philosophy", 265, 276; defends Albinus, 271; defends himself, 271; trial of, 275; death of, 276, 281; Christianity of, 277; poem of, 279 Bolsena, Lake of, 314 Bosphorus fleet leaves for Africa, 299 _Breviarum Alaricianum_ (also Aniam), 184 Briancon, Cottian Alps crossed near, 203 Britain, civilisation in, 26; complaints from, 94; ceded to Goths, 336 Brussels, entry of Burgundian Duke into, 241 Brutti (Calabria), gold mines in, 142, 321 Brutus, 91 Bulgarians first appearance in Balkan peninsula, 89 Bulla, 302 Burgundians, 185, 203 Burgundy, ancient kingdom of, 185; approach of war in, 197; monarchy, fall of, 304 Byzantine Emperor, 369.

Cabinet of the Emperor, 152 Cadiz, 297 Caesar, army of, 317 Caesena, faithful to Odovacar, 122 Calabria, corn from, 169; Romans in, 346 Cambray, 226 Camp of March, 199 Campus Vogladensis (_Vouille_), 297 Canale Corsini, 290 Candavian mountains, 83 Cannae, defeat of, 15 Cannius, story of, 272 Cappadocia, fortress in, 72 Caprae, 368 Caput-Vada, 300 Capys' address to Romulus, 319 Carcassonne, fortress of, 202 Carinthia, 99 Carthage, held by Gaiseric, 96 _et seq._; Belisarius in, 300; mutiny at, 321 Cassiodorus, letters of (_Variae_), quoted, 103,140-144,148,160, 161, 166, 195-214, 218, 239; career of, 160 _et seq._; Gothic history of, destroyed, 166; _Variae_ of, 167; state papers for Theodoric, 172; opinion of Jews, 261; writes speech for child-king, 293; censures Theodahad, 310; remains in service, dies, 340 Castorius, 158 _et seq._ Catalaunian Plains, 23 _et seq._ Catana, walls of, 143 Catholic, persecutions, 128; Church protected by Theodoric, 182; churches to be delivered to Arians, 285 Ceolfrid, Abbot of Jarrow, 340 Cerdic, 70 Chalons, battle of, 25 Chararic, last of Salian kings, 225 Charlemagne restores Western Empire, 104 Charles V., 205 Chaucer, translation of Boethius, 276 Childeric, King of the Franks, 186 China, court of, 152 Chosroes Nushirvan, 296 Christianity modified, 176 Chronology, invention of, 230 Churches, Sophia, 42, 72; St. Genovefa, 193; Holy Apostles, 227; St. Maria Maggiore, 231; Santa Croce, 241; St. Vitale, 246; St. Apollinare Dentro, (formerly St. Martin), 246, 248 _et seq._; Ecclesia Ursiana (Catholic), 251; San Spirito, 251; St. Maria in Cosmedia, 252; St. Stephen, 262; St. Theodore, 251 Circus Maximus, 237 City life, advantages of, 46 Classis, naval emporium, 123; port of Ravenna, 244; representation of, 249 Claudius, Emperor, 10; steward of Gothic money, 85 Clepsydra, invented by Boethius, 196 Cloderic, son of Sigebert, 223 Clovis, title of, 131; conversion of, 186; meets Alanc, 197; letter to, 198; saluted as Consul, 221; destruction of rivals, 222; proclaimed King of the Ripuarians, 225; death of, 227; died at enmity with Pope, 228 Cocas, deserter from Imperial army, 365 Code of Justinian, 297 _Codex, Argenteus_, 179; _Amiatinus_, 340; Collatinus, 91 Colonia, 224 Colossaeus, appointed governor of Pannonia Sermiensis, 214, 236, _et seq._ Como, brazen statue stolen at, 143 "Consolation of Philosophy", English translations of, 276; style of, 280; Constantine, contact with Visigoths, 11 Constantinople, Emperors at, 11; weak rulers at, 21; Theodoric sent to, 37; in 380 A.D., 38; gates of, 41; monuments at, 43; life in, 46; wall of, 79; Theodonc at, 111; embassy to, 132; riots in, 209; displeased at Theodoric, 215; races at, 239; reconciliation between Pope and Emperor at, 259 Constantius, visits Rome, 230; army of, 317 Consulate, Theodoric raised to the, 91 Consuls appointed by Theodoric, 135 Consulship, 153; codicils of, 221 Corrado Ricci, quoted, 289 Corsica, naval engagement at, 98 Cromwell, treatment of body of, 291 Crotona, 362 Cunigast, Gothic minister, 265 Cyprian, accuser in King's Court, 267; charges others of treason, 271 Cyrrhus, new settlement of Ostrogoths, 63.