(St. XX.) I have here, without intending it, stumbled on an interior ryhme, _sounded confounded_. Still I can assure Professor Lachmann that the stanza is genuine. THIRTY-SIXTH ADVENTURE (St. VI.) Here begins Lachmann's Twentieth Lay. (St. IX.) Here they are described as coming _ûz dem hûse_, which seems to contradict Kriemhild's exhortation at St. XX, not to let the Burgundians come _für den sal_. Perhaps they here merely come out of the hall into a vestibule at the top of the staircase, so as to speak with Etzel and Kriemhild, but not into the open air. So at St. V, Thirty-ninth Adventure, Gunther and Hagan are said to be outside the house, but at St. XXV, same Adventure, Hagan rushes down from the staircase to attack Dietrich. From St. XXVI, Thirty-sixth Adventure, the staircase seems to have been of no great length. THIRTY-SEVENTH ADVENTURE (St. XVII.) Compare stanzas CXV, CXVI, Twentieth Adventure. (St. LIX.) It is odd, that the hall, which must have been the principal eating-hall in the castle, is here called Kriemhild's. Von der Hagen thinks Kriemhild had appropriated it by having attempted to set it on fire, but arson is an odd kind of title. He supposes, too, it may be the hall mentioned at St. IV, Twenty-ninth Adventure; yet it seems strange that Etzel should have received his guests anywhere but in his own hall. (St. XCI.) This stanza, as Professor Lachmann justly observes, cannot belong to Hagan, but is appropriate to Giselher, who is mentioned immediately after. Still there is an awkwardness here. THIRTY-EIGHTH ADVENTURE (St. II.) The king himself has come to the feast, has made one of the party, that is, has been slaughtered with the rest. See Lachmann's note (St. 2173 L.). (St. XLIII.) I have with Simrock and Beta followed the reading of the Lassberg manuscript, _struchen_ for _stieben_. The latter is explained by Braunfels and von der Hagen with reference to the flying out of sparks from armor, but this effect follows in the next line. To an Englishman the reading _stieben_ appears to bear a comical resemblance to our vulgar phrase, "dusting a man's jacket." (St. LXXXIX.) The Amelungers' land was Bern, that is Verona, the hereditary possession of Dietrich: who was driven from it by his uncle Ermanrich, Emperor of Rome. He took refuge with Etzel, and remained in exile 30 or 32 years. For what further relates to him and the Amelungers see the notes to Sts. IV and V, Twenty-eighth Adventure. THIRTY-NINTH ADVENTURE (St. V.) The phrase, outside the house, _ûzen an dem hûse_, appears to mean merely outside the hall. They seem to have stood in a sort of vestibule at the top of the stairs that led down into the courtyard. Compare St. IX, Thirty-sixth Adventure, and the note. (St. IX.) I have ventured, in conformity with the original, to talk of "joys lying slain," though certainly the phrase seems harsh in English. One manuscript reads _freunde_ friends, instead of _freuden_ joys.