is the king of both, and now
I go to obey with thee.

"Surely some good in me there lay,
To beget the noble one."
The old man smiled like a winter day,
And fell beside his son.

II "O lady, thy lover is dead," they cried;
"He is dead, but hath slain the foe;
He hath left his name to be magnified
In a song of wonder and woe."

"Alas! I am well repaid," said she,
"With a pain that stings like joy:
For I feared, from his tenderness to me,
That he was but a feeble boy.

"Now I shall hold my head on high,
The queen among my kind;
If ye hear a sound, 'tis only a sigh
For a glory left behind."

The first three times I sang these songs they both wept passionately.
But after the third time, they wept no more. Their eyes shone, and their
faces grew pale, but they never wept at any of my songs again.

CHAPTER XXI

"I put my life in my hands."--The Book of Judges.

At length, with much toil and equal delight, our armour was finished.
We armed each other, and tested the strength of the defence, with many
blows of loving force. I was inferior in strength to both my brothers,
but a little more agile than either; and upon this agility, joined to
precision in hitting with the point of my weapon, I grounded my hopes of
success in the ensuing combat. I likewise laboured to develop yet more
the keenness of sight with which I was naturally gifted; and, from the
remarks of my companions, I soon learned that my endeavours were not in
vain.

The morning arrived on which we had determined to make the attempt,
and succeed or perish--perhaps both. We had resolved to fight on foot;
knowing that the mishap of many of the knights who had made the attempt,
had resulted from the fright of their horses at the appearance of the
giants; and believing with Sir Gawain, that, though mare's sons might
be false to us, the earth would never prove a traitor. But most of our
preparations were, in their immediate aim at least, frustrated.

We rose, that fatal morning, by daybreak. We had rested from all labour
the day before, and now were fresh as the lark. We bathed in cold
spring water, and dressed ourselves in clean garments, with a sense of
preparation, as for a solemn festivity. When we had broken our fast,
I took an old lyre, which I had found in the to