At first she thought that he merely mocked her, but he protested that he was weary of exile, was anxious to escape, and would have fled ere this but that it grieved him to leave her alone at the Hunnish court.  Her reply is one characteristic of women in medieval days.

“Let my lord command,” she said; “I am ready for his love to bear evil hap or good.”

She then provided him, out of the treasure-chests of Attila, with helm, hauberk, and breast-plate.  They filled two chests with Hunnish money in the shape of golden rings, placed four pairs of sandals on the top and several fish-hooks, and Walthar told Hildegund that all must be ready in a week’s time.

The Escape

On the seventh day after this Walthar gave a great feast to Attila, his nobles, and his household.  He pressed food and wine on the Huns, and when their platters were clear and the tables removed, he handed to the king a splendid carven goblet, full to the brim of the richest and oldest wine.  This Attila emptied at a draught, and ordered all his men to follow his example.  Soon the wine overcame the Huns, who, pressed by Walthar, caroused so deeply that all were at last rendered unconscious.

Walthar gave the sign to Hildegund, and they slipped from the hall and from the stable took his noble war-horse Lion, so named for his courage.  They hung the treasure-chests like panniers on each flank of the charger, and taking with them some food for the journey, set off.  Hildegund took the reins, Walthar in full armour sitting behind her.  All night they did not draw rein, and during the day they hid in the gloomy woods.  At every breath, at the snapping of a twig, or the chirping of a bird, Hildegund trembled.  They avoided the habitations of men and skirted the mountains, where but few faces were to be seen, and so they made good their flight.

But the Huns, roused from their drunken sleep, gazed around stupidly and cried loudly for Walthar, their boon companion as they thought, but nowhere was he to be found.  The queen, too, missed Hildegund and, realizing that the pair had escaped, made loud wail through the palace.  Angry and bewildered, Attila could touch neither food nor drink.  Enraged at the manner in which he had been deceived, he offered great gifts to him who would bring back Walthar in chains; but none of the Hunnish champions considered themselves fit for such a task, and at length the hue and cry ceased, and Walthar and Hildegund were left to make their way back to Aquitaine as best they could.

Full of the thought that they were being pursued, Walthar and the maiden fled onward.  He killed the birds of the wood and caught fish to supply them with food.  His attitude to Hildegund was one of the deepest chivalry, and he was ever mindful for her comfort.  Fourteen days had passed when at last, issuing from the darkness of the forest, they beheld the silver Rhine gleaming in the sunlight and spied the towers of Worms.  At length he found