ho was slain. Because a King sought for
me I changed clothes with my serving-maid, my wish being to baffle those
who might be sent to carry me away.

"Know that I am Hiordis, a King's daughter. Many men came to my father
to ask for me in marriage, and of those that came there were two whom I
heard much of: one was King Lygni and the other was King Sigmund of the
race of the Volsungs. The King, my father, told me it was for me to
choose between these two. Now King Sigmund was old, but he was the most
famous warrior in the whole world, and I chose him rather than King
Lygni.

"We were wed. But King Lygni did not lose desire of me, and in a while
he came against King Sigmund's kingdom with a great army of men. We hid
our treasure by the seashore, and I and my maid watched the battle from
the borders of the forest. With the help of Gram, his wondrous sword,
and his own great warrior strength, Sigmund was able to harry the great
force that came against him. But suddenly he was stricken down. Then was
the battle lost. Only King Lygni's men survived it, and they scattered
to search for me and the treasure of the King.

"I came to where my lord lay on the field of battle, and he raised
himself on his shield when I came, and he told me that death was very
near him. A stranger had entered the battle at the time when it seemed
that the men of King Lygni must draw away. With the spear that he held
in his hand he struck at Sigmund's sword, and Gram, the wondrous sword,
was broken in two pieces. Then did King Sigmund get his death-wound. 'It
must be I shall die,' he said, 'for the spear against which my sword
broke was Gungnir, Odin's spear. Only that spear could have shattered
the sword that Odin gave my fathers. Now must I go to Valhalla, Odin's
Hall of Heroes.'

"'I weep,' I said, 'because I have no son who might call himself of the
great race of the Volsungs.'

"'For that you need not weep,' said Sigmund, 'a son will be born to you,
my son and yours, and you shall name him Sigurd. Take now the broken
pieces of my wondrous sword and give them to my son when he shall be of
warrior age.'

"Then did Sigmund turn his face to the ground and the death-struggle
came on him. Odin's Valkyrie took his spirit from the battlefield. And I
lifted up the broken pieces of the sword, and with my serving-maid I
went and hid in a deep dell in the forest. Then your husband and your
son found us and they brought us to your kingdom where we have