n;
And the mint and the blossomed woodruff they strew before their feet,
And their arms of welcome take them, and they kiss them soft and sweet,
And they go forth into the feast-hall, the many-pillared house;
Most goodly were its hangings and its webs were glorious
With tales of ancient fathers, and the Swans of the Goths on the sea,
And weaponed Kings on the island, and great deeds yet to be;
And the host of Odin's Choosers, and the boughs of the fateful Oak,
And the gush of Mimir's Fountain, and the Midworld-Serpent's yoke.

So therein the maidens enter, but Gudrun all out-goes,
As over the leaves of the garden shines the many-folded rose:
Amidst and alone she standeth; in the hall her arms shine white,
And her hair falls down behind her like a cloak of the sweet-breathed
night,
As she casts her cloak to the earth, and the wind of the flowery tide
Runs over her rippling raiment and stirs the gold at her side.
But she stands and may scarce move forward, and a red flush lighteth
her face
As her eyes seek out Queen Brynhild in the height of the golden place.

But lo, as a swan on the sea spreads out her wings to arise
From the face of the darksome ocean when the isle before her lies,
So Brynhild arose from her throne and the fashioned cloths of blue
When she saw the Maid of the Niblungs, and the face of Gudrun knew;
And she gathers the laps of the linen, and they meet in the hall,
they twain,
And she taketh her hands in her hands and kisseth her sweet and fain:
And she saith: "Hail, sister and queen! for we deem thy coming kind:
Though forsooth the hall of Brynhild is no weary way to find:
How fare the kin of the Niblungs? is thy mother happy and hale,
And the ancient of days, thy father, the King of all avail?"

"It is well with my house," said Gudrun, "and my brethren's days are
fair,
And my mother's morns are joyous, and her eves have done with care;
And my father's heart is happy, and the Niblung glory grows,
And the land in peace is lying 'neath the lily and the rose:
But love and the mirth of summer have moved my heart to come
To look on thy measureless beauty, and seek thy glory home."

"O be thou welcome!" said Brynhild; "it is good when queen-folk meet.
Come now, O goodly sister, and sit in my golden seat:
There are lovely hours before us, and t