Gudrun · Chapter
How the Hegelings Went Home to Their Own Land explained
The Hegelings return home and report to Queen Hilda the death of King Hettel and the failure of their campaign.
What happens
The Hegelings return home and report to Queen Hilda the death of King Hettel and the failure of their campaign. Hilda mourns deeply, but Wâ-te counsels patience until the young knights come of age to wage a new war against the Normans. Herwic arrives and vows vengeance for Gudrun's abduction. Plans are made to build ships and gather warriors for a future invasion. Hilda also orders restitution to pilgrims whose ships were taken, and founds a church and cloister at the Wulpensand in memory of the fallen.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Endurance
Hilda and the Hegelings endure the grief of Hettel's death and Gudrun's captivity, yet they resolve to wait and prepare for future vengeance.
Family and Kinship
The bonds of family drive the narrative: Hilda mourns her husband and daughter, Ortwin grieves his father, and Herwic seeks to reclaim his betrothed.
Honor and Reputation
Wâ-te and Herwic speak of restoring honor through future battle, and Hilda insists on making amends to the pilgrims to avoid a curse.
Characters to notice
- Hilda
Queen Hilda mourns the death of her husband Hettel and the loss of her daughter Gudrun, but she begins to plan for revenge and orders restitution to pilgrims.
- Wâ-te
Wâ-te returns from battle, delivers the grim news of Hettel's death, and advises waiting until the young knights are grown before launching a new campaign.
- Herwic
Herwic arrives at Hilda's court, shares her grief, and vows to make Hartmut pay for stealing Gudrun.
- Ortwin
Ortwin, Hilda's son, returns from Ortland and joins the mourning for his father Hettel.
- Hettel
King Hettel is remembered as having been killed in the battle on the Wulpensand.
- Gudrun
Gudrun is mentioned as being held captive by the Normans, the cause of Hilda's sorrow and the motivation for future war.
- Fru-te
Fru-te advises Hilda that Gudrun cannot be freed until the kingdom is again full of warriors.
- Siegfried
Siegfried, lord of Moorland, offers to sail whenever the time for war comes.
Key passages
“Woe's me! said Lady Hilda, what sorrows must we fear? The men of the aged Wâ-te shattered shields now bear; Slowly step the horses, with armor heavy-loaded. Some evil has befallen.”
Hilda sees Wâ-te's men returning with damaged shields and slow horses, and she fears bad news.
Hilda's intuition of disaster upon seeing the weary, battle-worn troops.
“Thus spake the Sturmisch Wâ-te: Your loss I may not hide, Nor falsehood will I tell you; all in the fight have died.”
Wâ-te bluntly tells Hilda that all the men died in battle.
Wâ-te delivers the harsh truth of Hettel's death and the army's destruction.
“My arm shall never falter, nor heart from care be free, Till Hartmut feels my anger, who stole the maid from me, And dared from home to tear her, death to many dealing.”
Herwic vows to never rest until he makes Hartmut pay for abducting Gudrun.
Herwic's oath of vengeance for Gudrun's kidnapping.
“To wait for this were long; Meanwhile Gudrun, my daughter, held by foemen strong, Must in a far-off kingdom be kept in bondage bitter.”
Hilda laments that waiting for the young knights to grow up will leave Gudrun in captivity for years.
Hilda's anguish over the delay in rescuing her daughter.
“There she bade to be builded a minster fair and wide; A house for the sick, and a cloister built they at its side, Near where the slain were buried.”
Hilda ordered the construction of a church, hospital, and cloister near the burial site of the fallen.
Hilda's pious commemoration of the dead at the Wulpensand.
