So they climb the burg of
Hindfell, and hand in hand they fare,
Till all about and above them
is nought but the sunlit air,
And there close they cling
together rejoicing in their mirth;
For far away beneath them
lie the kingdoms of the earth,
And the garths of men-folk’s
dwellings and the streams that water them,
And the rich and plenteous
acres, and the silver ocean’s hem,
And the woodland wastes and
the mountains, and all that holdeth all;
The house and the ship and
the island, the loom and the mine and the
stall,
The beds of bane and healing,
the crafts that slay and save,
The temple of God and the
Doom-ring, the cradle and the grave.
Then spake the Victory-Wafter:
“O King of the Earthly Age,
As a God thou beholdest the
treasure and the joy of thine heritage,
And where on the wings of
his hope is the spirit of Sigurd borne?
Yet I bid thee hover awhile
as a lark alow on the corn;
Yet I bid thee look on the
land ’twixt the wood and the silver sea
In the bight of the swirling
river, and the house that cherished me!
There dwelleth mine earthly
sister and the king that she hath wed;
There morn by morn aforetime
I woke on the golden bed;
There eve by eve I tarried
mid the speech and the lays of kings;
There noon by noon I wandered
and plucked the blossoming things;
The little land of Lymdale
by the swirling river’s side,
Where Brynhild once was I
called in the days ere my father died;
The little land of Lymdale
’twixt the woodland and the sea,
Where on thee mine eyes shall
brighten and thine eyes shall beam on
me.”
“I shall seek thee there,”
said Sigurd, “when the day-spring is begun,
Ere we wend the world together
in the season of the sun.”
“I shall bide thee there,”
said Brynhild, “till the fulness of the
days,
And the time for the glory
appointed, and the springing-tide of
praise.”
From his hand then draweth
Sigurd Andvari’s ancient Gold;
There is nought but the sky
above them as the ring together they hold,
The shapen ancient token,
that hath no change nor end,
No change, and no beginning,
no flaw for God to mend:
Then Sigurd cries: “O
Brynhild, now hearken while I swear,
That the sun shall die in
the heavens and the day no more be fair,
If I seek not love in Lymdale
and the house that fostered thee,
And the land where thou awakedst
’twixt the woodland and the sea!”
And she cried: “O
Sigurd, Sigurd, now hearken while I swear
That the day shall die for
ever and the sun to blackness wear,
Ere I forget thee, Sigurd,
as I lie ’twixt wood and sea
In the little land of Lymdale
and the house that fostered me!”
Then he set the ring on her
finger and once, if ne’er again,
They kissed and clung together,
and their hearts were full and fain.