138 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



of Berne sent Herbort to woo for him a certain princess named Hilde, 

 whose father did not encourage wooers. Herbort, by a fantastic 

 device of his own, finally gained admission to the maiden, and stated 

 his errand to her. "How does Dietrich of Berne look?" inquired 

 Hilde. "Draw me a picture of him." Herbort drew on the wall a 

 very ugly, frightful looking face. "Heaven forbid," exclaimed the 

 princess, "that I should be married to such a monster!" And then 

 she added, "But why do you woo me for Dietrich of Berne, and not 

 for yourself?" — a question which has the familiar ring of Priscilla's 

 "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" 



The Walther Saga gives us an important secondary character 

 in the person of Hildigunde. 1 It was her wise co-operation in the 

 plans of Walther which made possible their escape from the court 

 of the Huns. The two were hostages at Attila's court. They had 

 been betrothed by their parents, while they were still in the cradle, 

 and fate seemed to favor the arrangement. For, though Attila had 

 often wished to give Walther a Hunnish wife, and thus bind him the 

 more closely to his adopted land, the youth always declined the honor 

 on one pretense or another, and Attila finally ceased to trouble him. 

 Walther planned the flight very carefully, how he was to give a banquet 

 to Attila and his men, and ply them with wine until they should sleep 

 over into the next day. Hildigunde, who carried the keys to the 

 queen's treasures, was to fill two chests with gold, and have ready 

 the four pairs of shoes for Walther, and the iron hooks to catch 

 fish and birds by the way. On the journey, Hildigunde kept guard 

 while Walther slept. And after the fight she bound up the wounds, 

 and poured out the wine for the men who survived. Hildigunde's 

 part is that of the loyal, clever, ready young woman who helps to 

 make things move, not by her own ingenuity, but by faithfully doing 

 what she is told. 



The wife of Ortnit, 2 on the other hand, has the elements of the 

 real heroine, though she does not chance to be the central figure in 

 her story. When Ortnit set out to kill the dragon, he demanded 

 from his wife a promise that, if he never returned, she would give her 



• Waltharius. 



* "Ortnit," Deutsches Heldenbuch, B. 3; " Wolfdietrich," Deutsche* Heldenbuch, B. 3, 4. 



