So Gunnar agreed, and Hoegni took the gold, and, standing on a great
rock in the midst of the river, he flung it, with a huge splash, into
the water.

"Down then and whirling outward the ruddy gold fell forth,
As a flame in the dim grey morning flashed out a kingdom's worth;
Then the waters roared above it, the wan water and the foam
Flew up o'er the face of the rock-wall as the tinkling gold fell home,
Unheard, unseen, forever, a wonder and a tale,
Till the last of earthly singers from the sons of men shall fail."

Not yet, however, had the curse of that gold-hoard been entirely
fulfilled. For when the brave Niblungs reached the hall of Atli, they
found no welcome awaiting them, but sharp swords and hostile looks.
Fiercely they fought, but to no avail, and at length all were slain
save only Gunnar and Hoegni.

Then Atli had each brought before him in turn, fast bound as they
were, and promised to give freedom to him who would first reveal to
him the hiding-place of the gold-hoard. But they laughed in contempt,
even when they were put to the torture in his presence.

Then Hoegni, being weary of his life in chains, made an agreement with
Gunnar, so that when next King Atli asked the latter to tell him the
secret, he replied that he had made an oath not to reveal the
hiding-place while Hoegni lived, but that when he saw his brother was
dead, he would do all that Atli bade him. So they killed Hoegni, and
the Battle Maidens carried him away to the joys of Valhalla. But when
they showed proofs of his death to his brother, and bade him tell the
whereabouts of the hoard, Gunnar laughed a proud laugh and declared
that now the secret rested with him alone, and it should never be
revealed.

So, in his fury of disappointment, the king ordered him to be thrown,
with chained hands, into a den full of poisonous serpents; and his
harp was flung in after him. Then did Gunnar sit smiling in their
midst, and played with his toes upon the instrument until all the
creatures, save one, were fast asleep.

But this one serpent, whom men say was the witch-mother of Atli in
disguise, bit Gunnar in the side, and thus died the last of the
Niblungs.

Of that race Gudrun still remained, and she now planned a thing which
should avenge the blood of her kinsmen and end her own unhappy life.

So she took the sword of Sigurd, which Gunnar had given into her
hands, and slew Atli and placed him dead upon a ship. And when