So I have no part in that which is rightfully mine, and I would that thou shouldst win it for thyself, O Siegfried.

Then up sprang Siegfried and cried, "Forge thou me a sword of power, and I will go up with thee against thy brother, and get thee the gold thou cravest."

And Regin rejoiced that his plan worked, and they went back to the hall of the kings, speaking of the sword that should be forged. After some days he put a sword into the hands of Siegfried, and the lad, looking at it, laughed in mirth.

"Why dost thou laugh?" asked the master.

"Because thy hand hath lost its skill. See!" and Siegfried smote the sword upon the anvil so that it flew in pieces.

Then Regin forged yet another, and said, "Hard art thou to please. Mayhap this may be to thy mind."

And Siegfried looked at it, and smote it upon the anvil, so that it split in half. Then he looked keenly upon Regin and frowned, saying: "Mayhap thou also art a traitor like thy kin. Is it thy will that Fafnir should slay me, and so thou forgest me swords of wood? Canst thou do no better than that?" And he turned from the smithy and went to his mother; but Regin was angered at his words and hated him. The Queen sat broidering with her maidens, when her son cast himself down by her side, and seeing that he spoke not, she said: "What ails my son? Needs he aught that the King

and I can give him?”

"All love and much honor have I ever from thee, mother mine, and for this I owe thee all thanks and obedience. Yet one thing I lack. Have I heard aright that thou hast the pieces of the sword that my father, Sigmund, gave thee at his death?"

"It is true," the Queen said, but her heart was sad, for she knew that their parting time had come.

"Fain would I have them, for with no sword but Gram can I do my life's work."

Then she led him to her treasure chamber, and from its silken coverings in the old oak chest she drew the pieces of the sword, glittering and bright, and she gave them to Siegfried with a kiss.

Blithely went the lad forth, but his mother looked after him, wistful, yet rejoicing because the prophecies of Sigmund were to be fulfilled, and her son with the eyes like stars, should be the hero of all the ages.

At the smithy door Regin met him, frowning. "Will naught serve thee but Gram?" he asked in wrath.

"Naught but Gram!" Siegfried said, and laughed. "Gram shall slay the serpent; take it and do thy best."

Regin took it and shut himself for many days in the smithy with his men, and after much labor the sword was wrought; but the smiths told how, as Regin bore it from the forge, fire ran adown its edge. To Siegfried, waiting at the smithy door, he gave the sword, saying sullenly, "If this be not good, then indeed is my craft gone.

Then Siegfried took the sword and smote the anvil, to test its strength, and the anvil broke in pieces, but the sword held firm. Then ran he joyfully down to the stream and cast therein a lock of wool, and as it floated down, it met the edge of Gram, and the lock became two, and Siegfried laughed again.

Then said Regin, "Bethink thee, now thou hast a sword to thy mind, of thy promise to go up against Fafnir!"

After a while the lad spoke. "Tomorrow will I ride with thee to the Waste, Regin, if thou wilt; maybe I shall slay thy brother."

"Two shall go forth," said Regin, gloomily, "but neither shall return."

"No matter," quoth Siegfried, "we will try our best for the hoard!"

Ere the dawn Siegfried arose, and going silently, he went to his mother and kissed her gently, for he knew he should see

her no more; then saddling Grane, he rode forth to the Lonesome Waste, with Regin at his side. Ever inland and upward they rode as the days went by, leaving meadows, trees, and all green things behind. At last they came out upon the Waste beside a mountain torrent where Fafnir was wont to drink, and Siegfried traced the broad band of slime that he made as he crawled back and forth. "Surely," said he, "this dragon brother of thine is greater than all other serpents, from the breadth of his track?"

"Yea," said Regin. "But dig thou a pit in his path and sit therein; then canst thou stab him from beneath. As for me, since in naught can I help thee, I will get me to a place of safety"; and he rode down the rocks.

Then Siegfried put Grane in shelter, and as he returned there met him a graybeard with one eye, who asked him whither he went and what he was about to do, and Siegfried told him. "That counsel is evil," said the Ancient One; "bide thou here and dig many pits, else the dragon's blood will flow into one and drown thee as thou standest." And ere the youth could answer he was gone.

So Siegfried spent the night in digging pits in the path of Fafnir; and at early dawn, as he sat in the largest, he felt the trembling of the earth, and knew that Fafnir was nigh. Snorting and spitting venom as he went, the great serpent crept slowly on, fearing naught, and as he passed over the pit, Siegfried thrust up Gram with all his strength behind the dragon's left shoulder, and drew it forth black to the hilt; and Fafnir's blood gushed forth and covered Siegfried as he stood, save only in one spot between his shoulders, where a dead leaf had lighted. Then he leaped from the pit and stood afar off, as the mighty serpent lashed out in the pain of his death wound, crying, "Who art thou, and whence, thou that are the undoing of Fafnir?"

"I am Siegfried, son of Sigmund, the Volsung. Tell me of the days that are to come to me." For all men believed

that to the dying was the future clear, and Siegfried wished to see what he would foretell.

"I see evil come unto thee from the gold, Andvari's hoard, and from the fatal ring. Take thy horse and ride away, and flee from the evil."

"Nay," quoth Siegfried, "for thy gold I came, and without it will I not go. Without gold can not man live."

Then Fafnir poured forth words of wisdom; and as the sun went down he quivered and lay a chill gray heap upon the Waste, and the sunset light shone upon the bright hair of the Golden Siegfried, as, sword in hand, he looked down on Fafnir's huge body.

Then came Regin, who had watched from afar, hastening to greet Siegfried. "Hail, lord and conqueror!" he cried, "henceforth shalt thou be known throughout the ages as the slayer of Fafnir."

"Small aid wert thou," laughed Siegfried, "hiding while I fought."

"Yet," said Regin, grimly, "were it not for the sword I forged, thou hadst now lain low before Fafnir. And since he was my brother, and thou hast slain him, for atonement shalt thou roast me his heart with fire, that I may eat it."

"That will I," said Siegfried, and he set to gather sticks while Regin slept, and the birds gathered round, and he set Fafnir's heart upon a stick to roast. When it should have been ready, Siegfried laid his fingers upon it, and the fat, hissing out, burnt them so that he put them in his mouth to cool; and behold straightway he knew the words of the woodpeckers that chattered as they hopped around.

The first said, "Thou foolish Siegfried, to roast for Regin. Eat thou the heart and so become wisest of men." The second said, "Thou crafty Regin, that wouldst betray the trusting youth." The third said, "Smite thou the crafty one, Siegfried, and become thyself lord of the gold." The fourth said, "That is good counsel, to take the treasure and hie

over the mountains to sleeping Brynhild."* The fifth fluttered and said, "Siegfried is a fool if he spareth him whose brother he has just slain."

Then up sprang Siegfried, saying, "Regin shall not plot my death. He shall follow his brother." And he smote Regin with Gram, so that his head rolled away. Then he leapt on Grane and rode by the dragon's slimy trail until he came to the great cavern; and although it was now night, the cavern shone with a light as of day, by reason of the golden shine of the Hoard.

So he set Andvari's ring on his finger, and put on the golden mail and the helmet of darkness, and putting the Hoard into two chests, he fastened them upon the back of Grane, being minded to walk himself because of their weight. But Grane stirred not, and Siegfried was troubled what he should do, for even he dared not smite the horse. Then he looked into the eyes of Grane and knew what was in his mind, so he gathered up the reins and leaped upon his back, and the gray horse tossed his mane for joy and galloped over the Waste, turning southward, steady and untiring.

-Katherine F. Boult

In what ways

Questions: In what things was Siegfried trained? does this story remind you of The Argonauts? Do you know what happened later to Siegfried because one small place on his back was not covered by the blood of Fafnir? Does this strongly suggest one of the old Greek stories? Why was Siegfried anxious to hear Fafnir's last words? Did Siegfried follow Fafnir's advice? While we know that this story of Siegfried is not true, does it help us to learn something of a people who set Siegfried as their greatest hero? Do you think the world has changed its notion of a hero since the days of Jason and Siegfried? Do you think this notion will change still more?

Pleasure Reading:

Boult's Heroes of the Norselands

Baldwin's Story of Siegfried

Mabie's Norse Stories

Bradish's Old Norse Stories

Church's Heroes of Chivalry and Romance