ueen herself was anxious to haste to her South-land home. When,
at last, the time for leave-taking came, the folk of Isenland gathered
around to bid their queen Godspeed. Then Brunhild called to Dankwart,
and gave him her golden keys, and bade him unlock her closets where her
gold and jewels were stored, and to scatter with hands unstinted her
treasures among the poor. And many were the tearful blessings, and many
the kind words said, as the radiant queen went down to the waiting,
white-winged vessel, and stepped aboard with Gunther and the heroes of
the Rhine. But she was not to go alone to the land of strangers; for
with her were to sail a hundred fair young damsels, and more than
fourscore noble dames, and two thousand blue-eyed warriors, the bravest
of her land.

When all had gone on board the waiting fleet, the anchors were hoisted,
and the sails were unfurled to the breeze; and amid the tearful
farewells of friends, and the joyful shouting of the sailors, the
hundred heavy-laden vessels glided from the bay, and were soon far out
at sea. And the sorrowing folk of Isenland turned away, and went back to
their daily tasks, and to the old life of mingled pain and pleasure, of
shadow and sunshine; and they never saw their loved warrior-queen again.

The gay white fleet, with its precious cargo of noble men and fair
ladies, sped swiftly onwards through Old AEgir's kingdom; and it seemed
as if Queen Ran had forgotten to spread her nets, so smooth and quiet
was the sea; and the waves slept on the peaceful bosom of the waters:
only Ripple and Sky-clear danced in the wake of the flying ships, and
added to the general joy. And on shipboard music and song enlivened the
dragging hours; and from morn till eve no sounds were heard, save those
of merriment and sport, and glad good cheer. Yet, as day after day
passed by, and no sight met their eyes but the calm blue waters beneath,
and the calm blue sky above, all began to wish for a view, once more, of
the solid earth, and the fields, and the wild greenwood. But the ships
sailed steadily onward, and every hour brought them nearer and nearer to
the wished-for haven.

At length, on the ninth day, they came in sight of a long, flat coast,
stretching far away towards the Lowlands, where Old AEgir and his
daughters--sometimes by wasting warfare, sometimes by stealthy
strategy--ever plot and toil to widen the Sea-king's domains. When the
sailors saw the green shore rising up, as it we