ded unto death, Sigurd raised himself in bed, and seizing
his renowned sword which hung beside him, he flung it with all his
remaining strength at the flying murderer, cutting him in two as
he reached the door. Then, with a last whispered farewell to the
terrified Gudrun, Sigurd sank back and breathed his last.

"'Mourn not, O Gudrun, this stroke is the last
of ill;
Fear leaveth the House of the Niblungs on this breaking of
the morn;
Mayst thou live, O woman beloved, unforsaken, unforlorn!'

'It is Brynhild's deed,' he murmured, 'and the woman that loves
me well;
Nought now is left to repent of, and the tale abides to tell.
I have done many deeds in my life-days; and all these, and my love,
they lie
In the hollow hand of Odin till the day of the world go by.
I have done and I may not undo, I have given and I take not again:
Art thou other than I, Allfather, wilt thou gather my glory
in vain?'"

Sigurd's infant son was slain at the same time, and poor Gudrun mourned
over her dead in silent, tearless grief; while Brunhild laughed aloud,
thereby incurring the wrath of Gunnar, who repented, too late, that
he had not taken measures to avert the dastardly crime.

The grief of the Niblungs found expression in the public funeral
celebration which was shortly held. A mighty pyre was erected, to
which were brought precious hangings, fresh flowers, and glittering
arms, as was the custom for the burial of a prince; and as these sad
preparations took shape, Gudrun was the object of tender solicitude
from the women, who, fearing lest her heart would break, tried to open
the flood-gate of her tears by recounting the bitterest sorrows they
had known, one telling of how she too had lost all she held dear. But
these attempts to make her weep were utterly vain, until at length
they laid her husband's head in her lap, bidding her kiss him as if
he were still alive; then her tears began to flow in torrents.

The reaction soon set in for Brunhild also; her resentment was all
forgotten when she saw the body of Sigurd laid on the pyre, arrayed
as if for battle in burnished armour, with the Helmet of Dread at his
head, and accompanied by his steed, which was to be burned with him,
together with several of his faithful servants who would not survive
his loss. She withdrew to her apartment, and after distributing her
possessions among her hand