About these days so merry new tales were told on the morrow;
And though they now were mirthful, they came to know deep gloom and heavy sorrow.
When the guests were seated beside their kingly host,
There came to them a player, and proudly made his boast
That he, before all others, (who should indeed believe him?)
Was far more skilled in playing, and even the greatest lords their ear must give him.
Outside, a lovely maiden was leading by the hand
The little son of Sigeband who swayed the Irish land;
With him were likewise women who to the boy gave heeding,
And friendly kinsmen also, who carefully taught the child, and oversaw his breeding.
Within the great king’s palace was heard a din and shout;
All were there heard laughing, the roomy walls throughout.
The guardians of young Hagen crowded up too nearly,
And thus lost sight of the maiden, together with the child they loved so dearly.
The evil luck of their master to him that day drew near,
And brought to him and U-te sudden woe and fear.
Sent by the wicked devil, from afar his herald hasted
To them in their happy kingdom; they were by this with sorrow sorely wasted.
It was a strong, wild griffin had quickly thither flown;
From the little boy of Sigeband, who ever care had known,
Came ill luck to his father, who soon of this was tasting.
His son, so well-belovèd, to him was lost, with the mighty bird far hasting.
A shadow now came o’er them, from wings that bore him fleet,
As if a cloud had risen; great strength had the bird, I weet.
The guests, in pastime busy, no thought to this had given,
And the maid, with the child she was leading, was standing now alone, unheeded even.
Beneath the weight of the griffin forest trees broke down;
And now the trusty maiden looked where the bird had flown;
Then she herself sought shelter, and left the child forsaken.
Hearing a tale so startling, one truly might the whole for a wonder reckon.
The griffin soon alighted, and in his claws he held
The little child, gripped tightly, while with fear it quailed.
His ghastly mood and anger the bird was harshly showing;
This must knights and kinsmen long bewail, with sorrow ever growing.
The boy was sorely frightened, and began aloud to shriek;
Higher the mighty griffin flew, with outstretched beak;
To the clouds above them floating he his prey was bearing.
Sigeband, lord of Ireland, loudly wept, his outcries never sparing.
His friends and all his kinsmen the sorry tale soon heard;
They, in the death of his offspring, his bitter sorrow shared.
Downcast were he and his lady, and all their loss felt nearly;
Sorely they wept together, mourning the boy, now torn from them so early.
In this their mood so gloomy, the happy, merry plays
Must now be sadly ended. Before their frightened gaze,
The griffin so had robbed them that all for home now started,
Sober, and filled with sadness. They truly felt forlorn, and heavy-hearted.
The king was bitterly weeping, his breast with tears was wet;
The high-born queen besought him his sorrows to forget,
Thus wisely to him speaking: “Should all in death be stricken,
There must be an end of all things; it is the will of God their lives hath taken.”
Now all would hence be faring, but the queen to them did say:
“I beg you, knights and warriors, longer with us to stay;
Our gifts of gold and silver, that here for you are ready,
You should not think of meanly; our love for you is ever true and steady.”
The knights to her bowed lowly, and then began they all
To say how they were thankful. The king, thereon, did call
For silken stuffs, the richest, for all who there yet tarried;
They had ne’er been cut nor opened; and from far-off lands had erst to the king been carried.
He gave them also horses, both palfreys and war-steeds;
The horses out of Ireland were tall and of hardy breeds.
Red gold was likewise given, and silver without weighing;
The king with care had bidden outfit good for his guests, no longer staying.
Soon as the queen was willing, each her leave now takes,
Both lovely maids and women; each one herself bedecks
With gifts that made her fairer; all new clothes are wearing.
The high times now are ended; Sigeband’s land they leave, and are homeward faring.
Tale II
How Hagen Slew the Griffin
Hagen, falling from the grasp of one of the young griffins, crawls into a cave, where he finds three young daughters of kings, who had also been carried off by the griffins. He grows up in their company. At last, one day, he wanders with them to the seashore, where he finds a ship whose master, a lord from Karadie, he persuades to rescue them from their exile.
Of how their stay was ended I will speak no longer here;
Now I tell you further of the rushing flight in the air,
That the child with the angry griffin far away was bearing.
For this his friends and kinsmen long in their hearts were heavy sorrow wearing.
Because the Lord so willed it the child was not yet dead;
But, none the less, he later a life of sadness led,
After the harsh old griffin back to his nestlings bore him.
When on their prey they gloated, hard toil enough the boy had now before him.
Soon as the bird that bore him did on his nest alight,
He dropped the boy he carried, and in his claws held tight;
One of the young ones caught him: that he did not devour him
Thanks to God thereafter were given, far and wide, for the watch kept o’er him.
Else the birds had slain him, and with their claws had torn.
Now listen all with wonder, and his bitter sorrow learn:
Hear how the king of Ireland then from death was shielded;
Him a young bird now carried, strongly clutched, and naught of his grip he yielded.
From tree to tree in the forest he with the boy took flight;
The bird a little too boldly trusted his strength and might.
Upon a branch he lighted, but now to the ground must flutter,
For he was much too heavy; in the nest to have longer staid had methinks been better.
The child, while the bird was falling, broke from him away,
And hid among the bushes, a little, lorn estray;
Well-nigh was he to starving, ’twas long since food he tasted.
Yet on a day long after the hopes of women in Ireland on him rested.
God doth many a wonder, truly one may say.
By the craft of the mighty griffin, it came to pass one day,
Three daughters fair of princes had been taken thither,
And now near by were dwelling. No man can tell how there they lived
