Thus ends the first part of the Lay of the Nibelungen. The second part is
sometimes called the Need or Fall of the Nibelungen.
While Kriemhild was bewailing her loss and revolving plans for revenge,
Etzel, King of the Huns, who had heard of the charms of Siegfried's widow,
sent the noble Margrave Ruedeger into Burgundy with proposals for her hand.
Guenther and his brothers begged Kriemhild to accept the offer; their
counsellors advised it; only the sage Hagan protested. He knew too well
how Kriemhild longed for revenge. "When once she gets among the Huns, she
will make us rue the day," said he.
But the others laughed at Hagan's scruples. The land of the Huns was far
away, and they need never set foot in it. Moreover, it was their duty to
make Kriemhild happy.
Moved by the eloquence of Ruedeger, Kriemhild consented to wed Etzel, and
set out in great state to meet the king.
She was splendidly entertained along the way, tarried a short time at the
home of the Margrave Ruedeger, and at Tulna met the great monarch Etzel,
riding to meet her, among his hosts of Russians, Polacks, Greeks, and
Wallachians.
The splendid wedding-feast was held at Vienna. Kriemhild was received with
the greatest honor, and so lavish was she of the gold and jewels she had
brought with her, and so gracious to the attendant Huns, that every one
loved her, and willingly worked her will.
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