The king and his kindred voided then the land, the very best among them that one might find. Only Hagen alone remained at home, through the hatred he bare to Kriemhild, and did so willingly. Before the king was come again, Hagen had taken the treasure quite and sunk it all at Loche, (4) in the Rhine. He weened to use it, but that might not be. The lordings came again and with them many men. With her maids and ladies Kriemhild gan bewail her passing loss, for sore it grieved them. Gladly would Giselher have helped in all good faith. All spake alike: "He hath done wrong." Hagen avoided the princes' wrath, until he gained their favor. They did him naught, but Kriemhild might never have borne him greater hate. Before Hagen of Troneg thus hid the treasure, they had sworn with mighty oaths that it should lie concealed as long as any one of them might live. Later they could not give it to themselves or any other. Kriemhild's mind was heavy with fresh sorrow over her husband's end, and because they had taken from her all her wealth. Her plaints ceased not in all her life, down to her latest day. After Siegfried's death, and this is true, she dwelt with many a grief full thirteen years, that she could not forget the warrior's death. She was true to him, as most folk owned. ENDNOTES: (1) "Marriage morning gift" was the gift which it was customary for the bridegroom to give the bride on the morning after the bridal night. On this custom see Weinhold, "Deutsche Frauen im Mittelalter", i, p. 402. (2) "Alberich", see Adventure III, note 8. It is characteristic of the poem that even this dwarf is turned into a knight. (3) "Wishing-rod", a magic device for discovering buried treasure. Cf. Grimm, "Deutsche Mythologie," ii, 813. (4) "Loche", according to Piper, is the modern "Locheim" in the Rhine province. ADVENTURE XX. How King Etzel (1) Sent To Burgundy For Kriemhild. That was in a time when Lady Helca (2) died and the king Etzel sought another wife, that his friends advised his marriage to a proud widow in the Burgundian land, hight Lady Kriemhild. Since fair Helca was dead, they spake: "Would ye gain a noble wife, the highest and the best king ever won, then take this same lady; the stalwart Siegfried was her husband." Then spake the mighty king: "How might that chance, sith I am heathen and be christened not a whit, whereas the lady is a Christian and therefore would not plight her troth? It would be a marvel, and that ever happed." The doughty warriors answered: "What if she do it, perchance, for the sake of your high name and your mickle goods? One should at least make a trial for the noble dame. Well may ye love the stately fair." The noble king then spake: "Which of you be acquaint with the people and the land by the Rhine?"