BOOK
and his brothers had thrown the hoard into the Rhine — the water which receives Endymion as he plunges into his dreamless sleep ; and
the secret of it is lost when Gunnar is cast into a pit full of snakes, all of whom, like Orpheus, he lulls to sleep by his harping, except one
which flies at his heart, and kills him — a tale told over again in the
transparent myth of Thora, Aslauga, and Ragnar Lodbrog. Thus
the beings who, though they might be akin to the mist and cold of
night, had made a covenant of peace and friendship with Sigurd, are
all gone, and to Gudrun remains the task of avenging them. The
story of her vengeance is practically a repetition of the legend of
Medeia. Like the Kolcliian woman, she slays the two sons whom
she had borne to Atli ; but the ferocity of the Northern sentiment
colours the sequel in which we see a sunset as blood-red and
stormy as that in which Herakles rose from earth to the mansions of
the undying gods. Gudrun makes Atli eat the flesh and drink the
blood of his sons ; and then, having slain him as he sleeps, by the
aid of the son of her brother Hogni, she sets fire to the hall, and
consumes everything Avithin it. The shades of autumn .are now fast
closing in, and Gudrun, weary of her life, hastens to the sea shore to
end her woes by plunging into the deep. But the waters carry her
over to the land of King Jonakr, who makes her his bride, and she
now becomes the mother of three sons, Saurli, Hamdir, and Erp,
whose raven black hair marks them as the children of clouds and
darkness. Once more the magic wheel revolves, and in the fortunes
of Svanhild, the daughter of Sigurd and Gunnar, we see the destiny
of the fateful Helen. Like her, Svanhild is the most beautiful of
women, and Hermanric, the Gothic king, sends his son Randver to
woo her for him ; but the young man is advised by the treacherous
Bikki to woo her for himself, and he follows the counsel which
chimes in only too well with his own inclinations, as with those of
Svanhild Hermanric orders that his son shall be hanged. Presently
he receives a plucked hawk which Randver had sent to show him
the weakness of parents who deprive themselves of the support of
their children, and he gives orders to stop the execution. The
messenger comes too late, Randver is already slain , and Svanhild is
trampled to death by the steeds of Hermanric's horsemen as she
combs out her golden locks. But Hermanric must pay the penalty
for his ill-doing not less than Sigurd oi Atli. Gudrun's command
goes forth to her three Niflung sons, Saurli, Hamdir, and Erp, to
avenge Svanhild ; and thus, armed with helmets and cased in mail
which no weapons can pierce, they take the way to the house of
Hermanric. As they go, the Niflungs quarrel among thcnifclves,
