.
35 Of myself and my sorrows I may say in truth
That I was happy once as the Heodenings' scop,
Dear to my lord. Deor was my name.
Many winters I found a worthy following,
Held my lord's heart, till Heorrenda came,
40 The skillful singer, and received the land-right
That the proud helm of earls had once promised to me!
That has passed over: so this may depart!

1. _Weland_, or Wayland; the blacksmith of the Norse gods. He is
represented as being the son of Wada (see _Widsith_, v. 22, note).

8. _Beadohild_ was violated by Weland, and this stanza refers to the
approaching birth of her son Widia (or Wudga). (See _Widsith_, vv.
124, 130, and _Waldhere_, B, vv. 4-10.)

14. The exact meaning of the third strophe as here translated is not
clear. To make it refer to the story of Nithhad and Weland, it is
necessary to make certain changes suggested by Professor Tupper
(_Modern Philology_, October, 1911; _Anglia_, xxxvii, 118). Thus
amended, this stanza would read: "Of the violation of (Beadu)hild many
of us have heard. The affections of the Geat (i.e., Nithhad) were
boundless, so that sorrowing love deprived him of all sleep." This
grief of Nithhad would be that caused by the killing of his sons and
the shame brought on his daughter. Thus the first three stanzas of the
poem would refer to (1) Weland's torture, (2) Beadohild's shame, and
(3) Nithhad's grief.

18. Strophe four refers to Theodoric the Goth (see _Widsith_, v. 115, and
_Waldhere_, B, v. 4, note). He was banished to Attila's court for
thirty years.

19. _Maerings:_ a name applied to the Ostrogoths.

21. _Eormanric_ was king of the Goths and uncle to Theodoric. He died
about 375 A.D. He put his only son to death, had his wife torn to
pieces, and ruined the happiness of many people. For an account of his
crimes see the notes to _Widsith_, v. 8.

36. See, for the connection of the _Heodenings___ and the sweet-singing
_Heorrenda_, the note to _Widsith_, v. 21.

WALDHERE

[Critical text and translation: Dickins, _Runic and Heroic Poems_, p. 56.

Date: Probably eighth century.

Information as to the story is found in a number of continental sources.
Its best known treatment is in a Latin poem, _Waltharius_, by Ekkehard of
St. Gall, dating from the first half of the tenth century. Ekkehar