In those days there erupted a quarrel between Dietrich’s two new friends: Etzel the king of the Huns and Osantrix the mighty king of the Wiltzi. The reason for this quarrel was as follows.
As Etzel searched year after year for a wife, [his advisors] suggested Helke the daughter of King Osantrix. He, therefore, sent ambsassadors to the king of the Wiltzi to plead his case. The proud Osantrix, however, refused the Hun the hand of his daughter and the envoys were forced to return having failed in their task.
Among the leaders of these envoys there was a young duke by the name Rodolf who had had the opportunity to see Osantrix’ both daughters: Helke the older one and the younger Bertha who was just fifteen. Since he grew particularly fond of the recently bloomed Bertha, he announced to Etzel that there could not be found on the whole Earth more beautfiul maidens as the two royal daughters.
So Etzel thought to try again and sent for Rüdiger the duke of Bechelaren [Rüdiger von Bechelaren or Rytygier?], who was considered as the smartest and most cunning man among all the heroes of the Huns and who, already as a young man, had come to know Osantrix Etzle entrusted him with the task and ordered him to head out north once again and to have an honest talk with the king of the Wiltzi. “But if Osantrix should refuse this time as well” Etzel concluded his speech “you should not hide from him that he should then quickly prepare his kingdom for my army of Huns.”
Osantrix received his old friend Rüdiger graciously and hosted him with great honors for three days. But in the morning of the fourth day, Rüdiger wnet before the king’s throne and spoke thus: “Allow me, o’ king that I should fulfill my embassy from the land of the Huns. King Etzel, whose rule is greatly respected in all the lands, sends you greetings through me and wishes you and your kingdom God’s blessing. He is so inflamed with love for your daughter that he cannot be held back from her and for this reason asks through me once more for he hand. By reason of his great heroism, Etzel has become most famous among kings and it would certainly make sense to have him as a friend and son in law.”
“You choose your words well Rüdiger,” answered Osantrix, “and fulfills your master’s embassy well but it does not sit well with me that I should give my daughter to the king of the Huns who is of much lower birth than me, especially since I love my child more than all my kingdom and country. You are always welcome in my hall old friend but king Etzel should not hold out hope to become my son in law and my heir!”
“If you refuse the king of the Huns your daughter’s hand great lord,” replied Rüdiger darkly, “then you should expect that he will cause great harm to your lands. Thus, be prepared that he should move against your with his armies.”
“You are a brave man, Rüdiger,” said Osantrix laughing, “you faithfully fulfill the tasks that are given to you and you shall not come to harm from that. The king of the Huns may come when he pleases, we fear him not! He will soon come to feel that the men of the Wiltzi have sharp swords and use them often.”
As Rüdiger returned with this message, Etzel commanded to blast the war horn and quickly gathered his troops so as to avenge humiliation done unto him. Very shortly he had collected more than ten thousand men, with whom he went out, without tarrying, against Osantrix. With sword and pike he crossed the borderlands and ravaged and burned everywhere he came.
Given the unexpected swiftness of the assault, Osantrix was at first able to send only a small army against Etzel which army was led by king Aspilian who owed Osantrix allegiance. Yet with this host were Aspilian’s three giant brothers – Aventrod, Etgir and Widold – each of whom possessed the strength of fifty men. Trusting in his giants, Aspilian bravely faced the numerically superior Hun army. The giants bested many men – Widold alone killed three hundred – but eventually they were overcome by the great numbers and had to seek safety in flight. King Etzel had his men gave chase and most of the remnants of Aspilian’s army were destroyed – yet the three brothers escaped for they ran faster than even the nimble stallions of the Huns. They went to Osantrix and announced to him the approach of the victroious Huns. On hearing this, the king immediately raised all able-bodied men of his land and moved towards the enemy with more than fifteen thousand fighters. The three brothers went ahead of the host and, upon encountering the Huns, used their heavy iron rods to strike down all who stood in their way. Osantrix drove bravely forth and so it happened that as the day came to an end, Etzel had lost the battle and had to flee into the thicket of the nearby woods. Osantrix pursued him to the edge of the forest but did not think it wise to enter the dense woods in the middle of the dark night. So he ordered his tents erected close to the border of the forest in order to continue the chase in the morning.
Among Etzel’s warriors there was in the first row the bold duke Rodolf who had pleaded Etzel’s case for Helke and who spoke the language of the Wiltzi. It was he with three hundred of the best Hunnic riders who crept in the middle of the night to the edge of the forest and slew Osantrix’ watch. With that done, he stormed into the middle of Osantrix’ camp together with his Hun warriors, all armed to the teeth. Blowing loud horns and screaming wild cries he brought down all that came his way. The Wiltzi were taken by surprise and in their dismay were only slowly gathering themselves. And so it passed that Rodolf and his men were able to slay a thousand without losing a single man.
Thereupon Rodolf returned to Etzel in the woods and so through his boldness achieved that Osantrix and his confused army could not continue their pursuit of the Huns come next morning but rather had to first arrange themselves. And so Etzel could complete his escape untouched. But Rodolf did not accompany him. Rather with Etzel’s agreement he took his three hundred swords and surreptitiously followed the Wiltzi host. For he thought to try one more time to obtain Helke and to achieve that with cunning which force failed to bring about. And as he became aware that Osantrix turned back to his capital, he stopped in a great and thick forest and so spoke to his companions: “This wood is uninhabited and no human tracks are visible anywhere nearby. You can take a rest here and turn one of these rock heights into a watchtower in which you can wait until I return. I plan, for the benefit of our master, to make my way into Osantrix’ fortress under the guise of a traveling knight. But if when winter has passed and the spring comes to this country I had not yet returned then you should return home and bring news to King Etzel that I have found death in his service.”
He left them his rich clothes and almost all the gold and silver, put on an old soldier’s uniform and rode away without companions, his head hidden by the deep fallen rim of a hat. AS he came in the vicinity of the Wiltzi fortress, he combed his hair in the fashion of an old man and smeared his face with the juice of a certain root so that he had the appearance of a very old man.Bent deeply over his steed’s neck, he rode to the king’s hall and humbly asked permission to enter. As this was allowed, he walked at a slow pace to Osantrix’ throne and spoke so: “Grant me an audience, by your royal grace, o’ mighty lord!” Thereupon the king answered suspiciously: “You speak our language with a foreign accent, just like a Hun. Who are you and what do you desire here?” “I was born in the Hunlands,” answered Rodolf, “and was a respected man there like my father. I am called Sigurd and I have fled Etzel’s wrath. Since we refused to ride with him, he cursed out our entire clan: he had laid low with the sword both of my brothers and had the same fate prepared for me had I not fled his wrath. Though before I departed the Hunlands, I burned down five of King Etzel’s outposts and killed all the living there. I then came here for I knew that you hate the king of the Huns as much as I do.”
“You performed a good deed there,” replied Osantrix, “if this is so, I shall give you property in my country and will take you up among my companions.”
“I will gladly remain at your court,” said Rodolf, “if you grant me a house and a position and if your entourage should prove friendly towards me.” The king thought this was well spoken and took him in among his men. Rodolf spent the entire winter there under the name ‘Sigurd of the Hunlands’ and earned the king’s full trust. Yet his goal of seeing and speaking to the king’s daughters he did not achieve for the maidens were very carefully guarded in a tower and were and were never allowed to come down to the court.
At the beginning of spring, there arrived a king from Swabia by the name of Nordung who intended to lobby for the hand of Helke, the older of the daughters. Nordung was a mighty and brave king in the prime of his manhood and Osantrix was not averse to granting him Helke’s hand for therewith he could gain an ally against the treacherous Etzel. To the king – who did not wish to have anything to do with female matters – there seemed no one more suitable to bring up this matter with his daughter as the old Sigurd of the Hunlands – a man who had always proven himself extraordinarily polite and skillful. And so he spoke to Sigurd thusly: “You have earned the full trust of my heart, o’ Sigurd, for you have always shown yourself here to be a wise, virtuous man. Indeed, you have proven more faithful and more discrete than any other of my entourage. Thus, I have chosen you as an important messenger. You will go to the tower to my daughter Helke and you will investigate her heart to see whether she would be inclined to accept king Nordung’s request. I have selected you so that nothing should prematurely become known of this whole matter. Take heed that no one should learn of this affair!”
Sigurd was thrilled to have been selected for this task but he did not let on and asked the king rather to send another for, as he said, he garb and weaponry were not of the kind that would allow him to enter into the presence of a king’s daughter. Thereupon, Osantrix quickly gave him the most exquisite garments and weapons and thus endowed did Sigurd make his way towards the tower. When Helke heard that a messenger was coming to her sent by her father, she received him, surrounded by her female servants, exceptionally well and spoke: “You must be a wise and a clever man if my father had sent you, a foreigner, to me; very well, tell us the message that the that the king gave you!” To this Sigurd answered: “The king, o’ noble maiden, had sent me with a matter that no one should know other than you and your sister Bertha. For this reason, I ask you should promise us your silence and come with me down there to the garden. Your servants can see us there talking but none will be able to hear us.”
On hearing this, to listen to Sigurd’s message, Helke asked her sister to take two cushions to the garden and walked down with Bertha and the messenger to a shady tree under which there stood a stone bench. After both maidens had been sworn to silence, Sigurd announced then Nordung’s purpose but, since he saw that Bertha did not seem pleased with this news, he stood up straight, tossed aside the hair that had been covering his brow and spoke with flashing eyes and trembling voice thusly: “Now can you finally learn the whole truth, beautiful ladies! Till now I have deceived men and women, deceived your father, deceived king Nordung and deceived the two of you. I am not Sigurd the Old but Rodolf the duke and emissary of king Etzel. Once already have I witnessed your great beauty and have reported that there is no one on man’s Earth that can be compared to you, whether in grace, in virtue or in charm. That is why he had sent me once more to you, Helke and I have pledged my life to win both of you for you should know that I am enflamed with love for your sister Bertha and I will either have her or perish. Bertha grew red as she heard this confession but Helke was pale in surprise and anger. “Do you hear what this traitor says, sister?” she cried out, “he is notSigurd but Rodolf, Etzel’s man who had previously slain five hundred of our greatest heroes and who now wants to deceive our father and us. Hurry up and call our father, so that he should take this fabulist prisoner and have him hanged from the highest tower of the castle!”
“Before this should pass and you have broken your promise to me,” cried Rodolf with a threatening voice and grasping his sword, “you will die both with me. So think this over well high queens and do not refuse me an agreement to take to Etzel. You do not need to sit forever in a lonely tower for he will give you all that you could want: beautiful, great palaces, many virtuous knights and high-born ladies in waiting. Dukes will carry your clothes so that you will become the first Queen of the world.”
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