all, so that she should be the first
to see it there when on her way to early mass. As he fully expected,
Kriemhild immediately recognized her husband, and fell senseless upon him;
but when she had recovered consciousness she declared, while loudly
bewailing her loss, that Siegfried was the victim of an assassination.

"'Woe's me, woe's me forever! sure no fair foeman's sword
Shiver'd thy failing buckler; 'twas murder stopp'd thy breath.
Oh that I knew who did it! death I'd requite with death!'"
_Nibelungenlied_ (Lettsom's
tr.).

By her orders a messenger was sent to break the mournful tidings to the
still sleeping Siegmund and the Nibelungs. They hastily armed and rallied
about her, and would have fallen upon the Burgundians, to avenge their
master's death, had she not restrained them, bidding them await a suitable
occasion, and promising them her support when the right time came.

[Sidenote: Detection of Siegfried's murderer.] The preparations for a
sumptuous funeral were immediately begun, and all lent a willing hand, for
Siegfried was greatly beloved at Worms. His body was therefore laid in
state in the cathedral, where all came to view it and condole with
Kriemhild; but when Gunther drew near to express his sorrow, she refused to
listen to him until he promised that all those present at the hunt should
touch the body, which at the murderer's contact would bleed afresh. All
stood the test and were honorably acquitted save Hagen, at whose touch
Siegfried's blood began to flow.

"It is a mighty marvel, which oft e'en now we spy,
That when the blood-stain'd murderer comes to the murder'd nigh,
The wounds break out a-bleeding; then too the same befell,
And thus could each beholder the guilt of Hagen tell."
_Nibelungenlied_ (Lettsom's
tr.).

Once more Kriemhild restrained the angry Nibelung warriors from taking
immediate revenge, and, upheld by Gernot and Giselher, who really
sympathized with her grief, she went through the remainder of the funeral
ceremonies and saw her hero duly laid at rest.

Kriemhild's mourning had only begun. All her days and nights were now spent
in bitter weeping. This sorrow was fully shared by Siegmund, who, however,
finally roused himself and proposed a return home. Kriemhild was about to
accompany him, when her relatives persuaded her to remai