reason for guarding the secret.
Proudly informing her, since it now depends upon him alone, it will
remain secret forever, Hagen so exasperates Kriemhild that, drawing
from its scabbard the sword which once belonged to Siegfried, she hews
off her prisoner's head with one revengeful stroke! Although neither
her husband nor Hildebrand have been quick enough to forestall this
crime, the latter is so exasperated by Kriemhild's cruelty that he now
slays her in his turn.

Hildebrand the aged, fierce on Kriemhild sprung;
To the death he smote her as his sword he swung.
Sudden and remorseless he his wrath did wreak.
What could then avail her her fearful thrilling shriek!

It is, therefore, in the presence of her corpse that Dietrich and
Etzel utter the loud lament with which the Nibelungenlied closes.

There is, however, another poem called the Nibelungenklage, or the
Lament of the Nibelungs, wherein Etzel, Dietrich, Hildebrand, Bishop
Pilgrin, and the rest utter successive laments over the slain. Then
the spoil of the Burgundians is sent back to Worms, where these
lamentations are continued, each mourner reciting the deeds of the man
whose fate he bewails. This poem is, however, greatly inferior to the
real Nibelungenlied, and was evidently not composed by the same bard.

"'Tis more than I can tell you what afterward befell,
Save that there was weeping for friends belov'd so well
Knights and squires, dames and damsels, were seen lamenting all.
So here I end my story. This is the Nibelungers' Fall."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 29: See the author's "Legends of the Middle Ages."]

[Footnote 30: All the quotations in this chapter are from Lettsom's
translation of "The Nibelungenlied."]

[Footnote 31: See the author's "Legends of the Rhine."]

STORY OF THE HOLY GRAIL

The Anglo-Norman trouveres rightly considered the Story of the Holy
Grail the central point of interest of the Arthurian cycle, or the
grand climax in the legend.

So many versions of the tale have been written by poets of different
nationalities and different ages--all of whom have added
characteristic touches to the story--that, instead of following the
text of any one particular version, a general outline of the two
principal Holy Grail legends will be given here. Although all the
poets do not mention the origin of the Holy Grail, or sacred vessel, a
few trace its history back to the very beginning. They claim that
when Lucifer sto