(St. XXI.) Walter of Spain ran away with Hildegund from the court of Etzel, as that monarch himself informs us in an earlier part of this poem. As the young hero was passing with her through the Vosges or Wask mountains, he was attacked by Gunther with twelve knights, among whom was Hagan. The latter however, "for old acquaintance' sake," refused to fight against Walter, and persevered in his refusal, till the Spaniard had killed eleven knights, and Gunther himself was in danger. At last, after all three were wounded, they made up matters. According to the Vilkina Saga, Walter, after slaying the eleven knights, put Hagan to flight, and then, having lighted a fire, sat down with Hildegund to dine on the chine of a wild boar. As he was thus agreeably employed, Hagan fell upon him by surprise but was pelted so severely by Walter with the bones of the wild boar, that he escaped with difficulty, and, even as it was, lost an eye.--See W. Grimm's "Deutsche Heldensage," p. 91. The Latin poem "Waltharius," which is translated from a lost German one, gives a more dignified account of the matter. There also Hagano refuses to fight at first, and says "Eventum videam, nec consors sim spoliorum," Dixerat, et collem petiit mox ipse propinquum, Descendensque ab equo consedit, et aspicit illo. Eleven knights are killed, but next day, after Walter has left a stronghold, where he could be attacked by only one at a time, he is assailed on his march by Gunther and Hagan, and the fight continues till Gunther has lost a foot, Walter his right hand, and Hagan his right eye and twice three grinders. The combatants are then reconciled. For the situation of this field of battle, see "_Lateinische Gedichte des 10. und 11. Jahrhunderts_" by J. Grimm and Schmeller, p. 123. (St. XLVI.) This stanza, which is in the Lassberg manuscript only, has been added apparently, like others, to soften the character of Kriemhild. (St. LII.) Harrow and welaway. Old exclamations of distress or anger. Harrow and welaway! After so wicked deed, why liv'st thou lenger day? "Faerie Queene," II, viii. 46. (St. LVII.) The _edeln knehte_ here, and the _vil manic rîche kneht_ of St. XXXIV, in both passages associated with knights, were no doubt of a far superior station to that of the mere _knehte_, 9,000 of whom followed Gunther into Hungary. These last we may call yeomen, the other, squires. The _edeln burgære_ (St. XXXV, Seventeenth Adventure), seem to have been not the mere townsfolk, but the chiefs of the corporation the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council of Worms. * * * * * Transcriber's note: Some initial characters and final punctuation were replaced. Quotation marks have been changed to allow the modern reader to follow a quotation from one stanza to the next. Inconsistent hyphenation and spellings were retained. Pg 295: (stout and ruet) changed to (stout and true)