forgetfulness
and compel him to yield to her will.

The king and queen had three sons, Gunnar, Hoegni, and Guttorm,
who were brave young men, and one daughter, Gudrun, the gentlest
as well as the most beautiful of maidens. All welcomed Sigurd most
warmly, and Giuki invited him to tarry awhile. The invitation was
very agreeable after his long wanderings, and Sigurd was glad to
stay and share the pleasures and occupations of the Niblungs. He
accompanied them to war, and so distinguished himself by his valour,
that he won the admiration of Grimhild and she resolved to secure him
as her daughter's husband. One day, therefore, she brewed one of her
magic potions, and when he had partaken of it at the hand of Gudrun,
he utterly forgot Brunhild and his plighted troth, and all his love
was diverted unto the queen's daughter.

"But the heart was changed in Sigurd; as though it ne'er had been
His love of Brynhild perished as he gazed on the Niblung Queen:
Brynhild's beloved body was e'en as a wasted hearth,
No more for bale or blessing, for plenty or for dearth."

Although there was not wanting a vague fear that he had forgotten
some event in the past which should rule his conduct, Sigurd asked for
and obtained Gudrun's hand, and their wedding was celebrated amid the
rejoicings of the people, who loved the young hero very dearly. Sigurd
gave his bride some of Fafnir's heart to eat, and the moment she
had tasted it her nature was changed, and she began to grow cold and
silent to all except him. To further cement his alliance with the two
eldest Giukings (as the sons of Giuki were called) Sigurd entered the
"doom ring" with them, and the three young men cut a sod which was
placed upon a shield, beneath which they stood while they bared and
slightly cut their right arms, allowing their blood to mingle in the
fresh earth. Then, when they had sworn eternal friendship, the sod
was replaced.

But although Sigurd loved his wife and felt a true fraternal affection
for her brothers, he could not lose his haunting sense of oppression,
and was seldom seen to smile as radiantly as of old. Giuki had now
died, and his eldest son, Gunnar, ruled in his stead. As the young
king was unwedded, Grimhild, his mother, besought him to take a wife,
suggesting that none seemed more worthy to become Queen of the Niblungs
than Brunhild, who, it was reported, sat in a golden hall surrounded
by flames, whence she had declared she wou