WOMEN IN THE GERMANIC HERO-SAGAS 1 39 



hand to no one but the avenger of his death. Ortnit did not kill the 

 dragon, but himself fell a victim to it. His wife was left alone, and 

 his land without a ruler. Many suitors came for the hand of the 

 queen, but she refused them all, in accordance with her vow to wait 

 for the man who should wield the avenging sword, and bring back 

 to her the proofs of his conquest. Years passed. The queen clung 

 to her vow, and her people one by one fell away from her, because 

 her land was being plundered, and she refused to give them a new 

 master. At last she was deprived of her kingdoms and her gold, 

 and she lived with her women in sorrow day and night. But the 

 avenger appeared at last. A stranger in search of adventure came 

 riding by and heard her lamentations in the darkness. He imme- 

 diately set out against the dragon, slew it after a fierce fight, and 

 came back to claim his reward in the hand of the faithful woman. 



Ingibjorg 1 represents the type of woman who, through no fault 

 of her own, is the cause of a deadly feud between two men. She was 

 the most beautiful and gifted maiden in all the Scandinavian lands. 

 And two men wished to marry her. Her father, unwilling to offend 

 either one of them, left the choice to Ingibjorg. She chose Hjalmarr, 

 a man of great honor in her own land, rather than Angantyr, who was 

 a Berserkr, and one of whom no one spoke aught but ill. Angantyr 

 immediately challenged Hjalmarr to single combat, and the next 

 midsummer they met. Hjalmarr killed his opponent, but himself 

 received a deadly wound, and never came back to Ingibjorg. The 

 maiden who was the innocent cause of the strife soon followed her 

 lover in death. 



The loyalty of one woman to another, though not the main 

 motif of any saga, appears several times as an incidental motif. 

 When Signi, 2 in the Hagbart Saga, announces her intention to share 

 the death of her lover, the maidens in her following declare their 

 willingness to go with her. And they all die together at the given 

 signal. The generous affection of Gudrun's 3 faithful companion, 

 Hildiburg, who stood by her through all her troubles, reminds us of 

 Celia's friendship for Rosalind. And the mild Ortrun, Gudrun's 



• "Hervarar Saga," Fornaldar S0gur I, p. 411. 



» Saxonis, Lib. VII. J Kudrun. 



