ed upon Dietrich to set him
free, provided he would forswear all his malicious propensities and spend
the remainder of his life in doing good.

When this promise had been given, Laurin was set free; and after marrying
Kunhild, he went to live with her in the beautiful Rose Garden and the
underground palace, which peasants and simple-hearted Alpine hunters have
often seen, but which the worldly wise and skeptical have always sought in
vain.

[Sidenote: Rose Garden at Worms.] The mere fact of his having come off
victor in one Rose Garden affair made Dietrich hail with joy the tidings
brought by a wandering minstrel, that at Worms, on the Rhine, Kriemhild
(Grimhild, Gutrun, etc.), the Burgundian princess, had a similar garden.
This was guarded by twelve brave knights, ever ready to try their skill
against an equal number of warriors, the prize of the victor being a rose
garland and kisses from the owner of this charming retreat.

Eager to accept this challenge, Dietrich selected Hildebrand, Wittich,
Wolfhart, and five other brave men; but as he could think of no others
worthy to share in the adventure, Hildebrand suggested that Ruediger of
Bechlaren, Dietlieb of Steiermark, and his own brother, the monk Ilsan,
would be only too glad to help them. This little band soon rode into Worms,
where Dietrich and his men covered themselves with glory by defeating all
Kriemhild's champions, and winning the rose garlands as well as the kisses.

The knights, if we are to believe the ancient poem, appreciated the latter
reward highly, with the exception of the rude monk Ilsan, who, we are told,
scrubbed the princess's delicate cheek with his rough beard until the blood
flowed.

[Illustration: THE VICTORIOUS HUNS.--Checa.]

"And when Chrimhild, the queen, gave him kisses fifty-two,
With his rough and grisly beard full sore he made her rue,
That from her lovely cheek 'gan flow the rosy blood:
The queen was full of sorrow, but the monk it thought him good."
_Heldenbuch_ (Weber's tr.).

Then Ilsan carried his garlands back to the monastery, where he jammed them
down upon the monks' bald pates, laughing aloud when he saw them wince as
the sharp thorns pierced them.

On his way home Dietrich visited Etzel, King of the Huns, and further
increased his train by accepting the services of Amalung, Hornbogi's son,
and of Herbrand the wide-traveled. On his arrival at Bern, he fou