Nibelungenlied

Dancwart reaches Hagen with “his armor all streaming with blood and his strong sword naked in his hands” (242). He relays what happened and assures his brother that the blood on him “comes from the wounds of other men” (242). Hagen orders Dancwart to guard the door as he converses with the Hunnish knights.

Hagen proceeds to tease the Huns: “I wonder what the Hunnish knights have to whisper about here in the hall […] I fancy they would rather be quit of the doorkeeper and of the court-gossip he has told the Burgundians” (242). He proposes a toast to the dead and decapitates Ortlieb. This gory action sends the Hunnish knights into a frenzy. Hagen, Volker, Gunther, Gernot, and Giselher slaughter them while Dancwart refuses to let anyone leave the hall.

Kriemhild begs Dietrich to help her and Etzel. He grants her request by shouting “with might and main so that his voice resounded like a wisent-horn” (245). The fighting halts, and Gunther allows Etzel, Kriemhild, and Rüdiger to leave. Once removed from the bloodbath, Etzel complains about Volker and his fighting