Waltarius: Pars Secunda

Ecce quater denos sol circumflexerat orbes,
Ex quo Pannonica fuerat digressus ab urbe.
Ipso quippe die, numerum qui clauserat istum, 430
Venerat ad fluvium iam vespere tum mediante,
Scilicet ad Rhenum, qua cursus tendit ad urbem
Nomine Wormatiam regali sede nitentem.
Illic pro naulo pisces dedit antea captos
Et mox transpositus graditur properanter anhelus. 435
Orta dies postquam tenebras discusserat atras,
Portitor exsurgens praefatam venit in urbem
Regalique coco, reliquorum quippe magistro,
Detulerat pisces, quos vir dedit ille viator.

Behold, forty days the sun had revolved his orbs
since he had departed from the Pannonian city.
On that very day, he who had completed that number, 430
had come by evening now to the river meanwhile,
namely to the Rhine, where its course tends to the city
called Wormatia, gleaming with a royal seat.
There for a ferry-fare he had given fish previously caught
and soon having crossed he proceeds forward panting. 435
When day, after it had scattered the dark shades, had arisen,
the ferryman rising came to the aforesaid city
and to the royal cook, indeed the master of the rest,
he had carried the fish which that man, the traveler, had given.

Hos dum pigmentis condisset et apposuisset 440

While he was seasoning these with pigments and had set them out 440

Regi Gunthario, miratus fatur ab alto:
«Istius ergo modi pisces mihi Francia numquam
Ostendit; reor externis a finibus illos.
Dic mihi quantocius: cuias homo detulit illos?»
Ipseque respondens narrat, quod nauta dedisset.               445
Accersire hominem princeps praecepit eundem;
Et, cum venisset, de re quaesitus eadem
Talia dicta dedit causamque ex ordine pandit:
«Vespere praeterito residebam litore Rheni
Conspexique viatorem propere venientem               450
Et veluti pugnae certum per membra paratum:
Aere etenim penitus fuerat, rex inclite, cinctus
Gesserat et scutum gradiens hastamque coruscam.
Namque viro forti similis fuit, et licet ingens
Asportaret onus, gressum tamen extulit acrem.               455

To King Guntharius, marveling, he speaks from on high:
«France never showed me fishes of this sort before;
I judge them from foreign borders.
Tell me at once: what man brought them?»
And he himself, answering, relates that the sailor had given them.               445
The prince ordered that very man to be summoned;
And when he had come, questioned about the matter, he gave the same words and unfolds the cause in order:
«On the previous evening I was sitting on the shore of the Rhine
and caught sight of a traveler coming quickly               450
and as if through his limbs prepared certainly for battle:
for he had been girded all over with bronze, renowned king,
and bore a shield, marching, and a glittering spear.
For he was like a strong man, and although he carried a huge burden,
yet his step he put forth keenly.               455

Hunc incredibili formae decorata nitore
Assequitur calcemque terit iam calce puella.
Ipsaque robustum rexit per lora caballum
Scrinia bina quidem dorso non parva ferentem,
Quae, dum cervicem sonipes discusserit altam 460
Atque superba cupit glomerare volumina crurum,
Dant sonitum, ceu quis gemmis illiserit aurum.
Hic mihi praesentes dederat pro munere pisces.»
His Hagano auditis (ad mensam quippe resedit)
Laetior in medium prompsit de pectore verbum: 465
«Congaudete mihi, quaeso, quia talia novi!

Him, adorned with an incredible brightness of form,
the girl now follows at heel and rubs his heel with her own heel.
And she herself held the sturdy horse by the reins
bearing indeed two chests not small upon his back,
which, while the swift-steed has shaken its high neck 460
and proudly desires to gather the volumes of his legs,
they give a sound, as if someone with gems had struck gold.
“This one had given me these fishes as a present.”
These things heard by Haganus (for he indeed sat down at the table)
more joyful, he brought forth from his breast a word into the midst: 465
“Rejoice with me, I pray, for I have learned such things!

Waltharius collega meus remeavit ab Hunis.»
Guntharius princeps ex hac ratione superbus
Vociferatur, et omnis ei mox aula reclamat:
Congaudete mihi, iubeo, quia talia vixi! 470

“Waltharius my colleague returned from the Huns.”
Guntharius prince, proud on account of this tale,
cries out, and immediately the whole hall replies to him:
“Rejoice with me, I order, for such things I have lived through!” 470

Gazam, quam Gibicho regi transmisit eoo,
Nunc mihi cunctipotens huc in mea regna remisit.»
Haec ait et mensam pede perculit exiliensque
Ducere equum iubet et sella componere sculpta
Atque omni de plebe viros secum duodenos 475
Viribus insignes, animis plerumque probatos
Legerat. inter quos simul ire Haganona iubebat.
Qui memor antiquae fidei sociique prioris
Nititur a coeptis dominum transvertere rebus.

«Gaza, which he had sent to King Gibicho thither,
now the all-powerful has sent back to me here into my realms.»
He says this and smites the table with his foot, and rushing forth
commands to lead out the horse and to set the carved saddle in place
and to choose from the whole commonalty twelve men with him 475
distinguished in strength, for the most part approved in spirit
he had enrolled; among whom he at once bade Haganon go.
Who, mindful of ancient fidelity and of former partnership,
strives by his undertakings to overturn the lord of affairs.

Rex tamen econtra nihilominus instat et infit: 480
«Ne tardate, viri, praecingite corpora ferro
Fortia, squamosus thorax iam terga recondat.
Hic tantum gazae Francis deducat ab oris?»
Instructi telis (nam iussio regis adurget)
Exibant portis, te Waltharium cupientes 485

Rex tamen econtra nihilominus instat et infit: 480
«Delay not, men, gird your strong bodies with iron
Let the scaly breastplate now cover the backs.
Shall he lead away only the treasure from the Franks' shores?»
Equipped with spears (for the king's command urges them)
they marched out through the gates, desiring thee, Waltharius 485

Cernere et imbellem lucris fraudare putantes.
Sed tamen omnimodis Hagano prohibere studebat,
At rex infelix coeptis resipiscere non vult.
Interea vir magnanimus de flumine pergens
Venerat in saltum iam tum Vosagum vocitatum. 490
Nam nemus est ingens, spatiosum, lustra ferarum
Plurima habens, suetum canibus resonare tubisque.

To behold and, deeming them unwarlike, to defraud for gains.
But nevertheless he strove by every means to prevent Hagano,
Yet the unhappy king does not wish to repent of his undertakings.
Meanwhile the magnanimous man, coming from the river,
had already come into the wood then called Vosagus. 490
For the grove is immense, spacious, having very many lairs of beasts,
accustomed to resound with dogs and trumpets.

Sunt in secessu bini montesque propinqui,
Inter quos licet angustum specus extat amoenum,
Non tellure cava factum, sed vertice rupum: 495
Apta quidem statio latronibus illa cruentis.
Angulus hic virides ac vescas gesserat herbas.
«Huc», mox ut vidit iuvenis, «huc» inquit «eamus,
His iuvat in castris fessum componere corpus.»
Nam postquam fugiens Avarum discesserat oris, 500

There are in the recess two neighboring mounts,
between which a narrow pleasant cave stands,
not hollowed out in the earth, but a rock at the summit: 495
That station indeed was fitting for bloody brigands.
This nook had borne green and nourishing herbs.
"Hither," soon as the youth saw, "hither," he says, "let us go;
it pleases to lay down the weary body in these camps."
For after fleeing he had departed from Avarus' shore, 500

Non aliter somni requiem gustaverat idem
Quam super innixus clipeo; vix clauserat orbes.
Bellica tum demum deponens pondera dixit
Virginis in gremium fusus: «circumspice caute,
Hiltgunt, et nebulam si tolli videris atram, 505
Attactu blando me surgere commonitato,
Et licet ingentem conspexeris ire catervam,
Ne excutias somno subito, mi cara, caveto!
Nam procul hinc acies potis es transmittere puras.

Not otherwise had the same man tasted the rest of sleep
than leaning upon his shield; he had scarcely closed his eyes.
Then at last, laying aside his warlike weights, he said
having lain upon the maiden's lap: «look around cautiously,
Hiltgunt, and if you see the black mist lifted, 505
with a gentle touch remind me to rise,
and though you may behold a huge host approaching,
beware that you do not shake me suddenly from sleep, my dear!
For from here you are able to send the battle-lines across clear spaces.

Instanter cunctam circa explora regionem!» 510
Haec ait atque oculos concluserat ipse nitentes
Iamque diu satis optata fruitur requiete.
Ast ubi Guntharius vestigia pulvere vidit,
Cornipedem rapidum saevis calcaribus urget
Exultansque animis frustra sic fatur ad auras: 515

Search closely the whole surrounding region at once!» 510
He said this, and himself had closed his shining eyes
And now for a long while enjoys the long-sought rest in quiet.
But when Guntharius saw footprints in the dust,
He urges on his swift horse with cruel spurs
And exulting in spirit, in vain thus cries to the breezes: 515

«Accelerate, viri, iam nunc capietis euntem,
Numquam hodie effugiet, furata talenta relinquet.»
Inclitus at Hagano contra mox reddidit ista:
«Unum dico tibi, regum fortissime, tantum:
Si totiens tu Waltharium pugnasse videres 520
Atque nova totiens, quotiens ego, caede furentem,
Numquam tam facile spoliandum forte putares.
Vidi Pannonias acies, cum bella cierent
Contra aquilonares sive australes regiones.
Illic Waltharius propria virtute coruscus 525
Hostibus invisus, sociis mirandus obibat.

«Hasten, men, even now you will seize him as he goes,
Today he will never escape, he will leave behind the stolen talents.»
But the famed Hagano in turn soon returned these words:
«One thing I tell you, O most brave of kings, only this:
If so often you had seen Waltharius fight 520
And so often anew, as often I, raging with slaughter,
You would never, by chance, think him so easily to be despoiled.
I saw Pannonian battle-lines, when they raised wars
Against northern or southern regions.
There Waltharius, flashing by his own virtue, 525
Hated by enemies, wonderful among his comrades, made his way.

Quisquis ei congressus erat, mox Tartara vidit.
O rex et comites, experto credite, quantus
In clipeum surgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam.»
Sed dum Guntharius male sana mente gravatus 530

Whoever had met him, soon saw Tartarus.
O king and comrades, believe one who has experienced it, how great he rises against the shield, with what a whirlwind he hurls the spear.»
Sed dum Guntharius male sana mente gravatus 530

Nequaquam flecti posset, castris propiabant.
At procul aspiciens Hiltgunt de vertice montis
Pulvere sublato venientes sensit et ipsum
Waltharium placido tactu vigilare monebat.
Qui caput attollens scrutatur, si quis adiret. 535
Eminus illa refert quandam volitare phalangem.

They could in no wise be turned aside; they hastened toward the camp.
But Hiltgunt, looking from afar from the summit of the mountain,
perceived them coming with dust upraised and by a gentle touch admonished even Waltharius to be watchful.
He, raising his head, scans whether anyone approaches 535
From afar she reports that some phalanx is sweeping forward.

Ipse oculos tersos somni glaucomate purgans
Paulatim rigidos ferro vestiverat artus
Atque gravem rursus parmam collegit et hastam
Et saliens vacuas ferro transverberat auras 540
Et celer ad pugnam telis prolusit amaram.
Comminus ecce coruscantes mulier videt hastas
Ac stupefacta nimis: «Hunos hic» inquit «habemus!»
In terramque cadens effatur talia tristis:
«Obsecro, mi senior, gladio mea colla secentur, 545

He himself, wiping his eyes cleansed of the glaucoma of sleep,
gradually had clad his rigid limbs in iron
and again took up his heavy shield and spear
and, leaping, he cleaves the vacant airs with his sword 540
and swift to the fight he rushed forward with bitter weapons.
Close at hand, behold, the woman sees the flashing spears
and, altogether stupefied, says: “These Huns we have here!”
and falling to the ground she utters such sad words:
“I beg you, my elder, let my necks be cut by the sword, 545

Ut, quae non merui pacto thalamo sociari,
Nullius ulterius patiar consortia carnis.»
Tum iuvenis: «cruor innocuus me tinxerit?» inquit
Et: «quo forte modo gladius potis est inimicos
Sternere, tam fidae si nunc non parcit amicae?               550
Absit quod rogitas; mentis depone pavorem!
Qui me de variis eduxit sacpe periclis,
Hic valet hic hostes, credo, confundere nostros.»
Haec ait atque oculos tollens effatur ad ipsam:
«Non assunt Avares hic, sed Franci nebulones,               555
Cultores regionis et» - en galeam Haganonis
Aspicit et noscens iniunxit talia ridens:
«Et meus hic socius Hagano collega veternus.»
Hoc heros dicto introitum stationis adibat,
Inferius stanti praedicens sic mulieri:               560

That I, who did not deserve by pact to be joined in the thalamus, shall endure no further consortia of flesh.
Then the youth: "Has innocent blood stained me?" he says,
and: "By what possible means is the sword able to lay low enemies,
if now it spares so faithful a friend?"               550
"Far be what you ask; put away the fear of your mind!
He who has often brought me out of various perils,
that man can, I believe, confound our enemies here."
He says this and, raising his eyes, addresses her:
"These are not Avars here, but Frankish rascals,               555
men of the region and" — behold, he spies Haganon's helmet
and, recognizing it, laughs and bids such words:
"And this old colleague of Hagano is my companion."
With that said the hero approached the station's entrance,
speaking thus to the woman who stood below:               560

«Hac coram porta verbum modo iacto superbum:
Hinc nullus rediens uxori dicere Francus
Praesumet se impune gazae quid tollere tantae.»
Necdum sermonem complevit, humotenus ecce
Corruit et veniam petiit, quia talia dixit.               565
Postquam surrexit, contemplans cautius omnes:
«Horum, quos video, nullum Haganone remoto
Suspicio; namque ille meos per proelia mores
Iam didicit, tenet hic etiam sat callidus artem.
Quam si forte volente deo intercepero solam,               570
Tunc» ait «ex pugna tibi, Hiltgunt sponsa, reservor.»
Ast ubi Waltharium tali statione receptum
Conspexit Hagano, satrapae mox ista superbo
Suggerit: «o senior, desiste lacessere bello
Hunc hominem! pergant primum, qui cuncta requ irant,               575

«Having just cast this proud word here before the gate:
From now on no Frank returning will presume to tell his wife
that he has without penalty taken any part of so great a treasure.»
He had not yet completed his speech, when, lo, he fell to the ground to that extent
and begged pardon, because he had spoken such things. 565
After he rose, surveying all more cautiously:
«Of those whom I see, not one, with Hagano removed, is to be suspected;
for that man has already learned my ways through battles, and this one also quite skilfully holds the art.
But if by chance, God willing, I intercept only one,570
then,» he said, «from the fight I am reserved for you, Hiltgunt, my bride.»
But when he saw Waltharius received at such a post by Hagano, he forthwith suggested these things
to that proud satrap: «O lord, cease provoking this man to war!
Let those go first who seek after all things,» 575

Et genus et patriam nomenque locumque relictum,
Vel si forte petat pacem sine sanguine praebens
Thesaurum. Per responsum cognoscere homonem
Possumus, et si Waltharius remoratur ibidem
(Est sapiens), forsan vestro concedet honori.»               580
Praecipit ire virum cognomine rex Camalonem,
Inclita Mettensi quem Francia miserat urbi
Praefectum, qui dona ferens devenerat illo
Anteriore die, quam princeps noverit ista.
Qui dans frena volat rapidoque simillimus euro               585
Transcurrit spatium campi iuvenique propinquat
Ac sic obstantem compellat: «dic, homo, quisnam
Sis aut unde venis, quo pergere tendis?»
Heros magnanimus respondit talia dicens:
«Sponte tua venias an huc te miserit ullus,               590

And both his race and fatherland and name and the place left behind,
Or if perchance he seeks peace, offering treasure without blood.
By an answer we can recognize the man,
and if Waltharius delays there (he is wise), perhaps he will yield to your honor.» 580
The king bids a man named Camalo go,
a renowned man sent by France to the city of Metz as prefect,
who, bringing gifts, had arrived on that
previous day, before the prince learned these things.
He, giving the reins, flies and most like the swift east wind
runs across the field and approaches the youth
and thus addressing him as he stands in the way: «Say, man, who
are you or whence do you come, to what place do you tend?»
The magnanimous hero answered saying such things:
«Do you come of your own will or has some one sent you here,» 590

Scire velim.» Camalo tunc reddidit ore superbo:
«Noris Guntharium regem tellure potentem
Me misisse tuas quaesitum pergere causas.»
His auscultatis suggesserat hoc adolescens:
«Ignoro penitus, quid opus sit forte viantis 595
Scrutari causas, sed promere non trepidamus.
Waltharius vocor, ex Aquitanis sum generatus.
A genitore meo modicus puer obsidis ergo
Sum datus ad Hunos; ibi vixi nuncque recessi
Concupiens patriam dulcemque revisere gentem.» 600
Missus ad haec: «tibi iam dictus per me iubet heres,
Ut cum scriniolis equitem des atque puellam.

“I would like to know.” Then Camalo returned with a proud mouth:
“You will know Guntharius the king, powerful in the land,
sent me to inquire the reasons why you proceed.”
After hearing these things the youth proposed this answer:
“I utterly do not know what need there might be, by chance, for travelers
595
to scrutinize reasons, but we do not shrink from declaring them.
I am called Waltharius, I was born of the Aquitanians.
By my father, as a small boy, I was therefore given as a hostage
to the Huns; there I lived and now I have returned,
longing to revisit my fatherland and my sweet people.” 600
Sent in reply to this: “the heir already bids you through me,
that you hand over, with the little chests, a horse and the girl.

Quod si promptus agis, vitam concedet et artus.»
Waltharius contra fidenter protulit ista:
«Stultius effatum me non audisse sophistam 605

"But if you act promptly, he will grant life and limbs."
Waltharius, on the contrary, boldly put forth these words:
"I have never heard a sophist speak more foolishly." 605

Arbitror. En memoras, quod princeps, nescio vel quis,
Promittat, quod non retinet nec fors retinebit.
An deus est, ut iure mihi concedere possit
Vitam?

I suppose. Behold, you remember that a prince, I know not who exactly,
promises what he does not retain nor will fortune retain.
Is he a god, that by right he can grant me
life?

num manibus tetigit? num carcere trusit
Vel post terga meas torsit per vincula palmas? 610
At tamen ausculta: si me certamine laxat
(Aspicio, ferratus adest, ad proelia venit),
Armillas centum de rubro quippe metallo
Factas transmittam, quo nomen regis honorem.»
Tali responso discesserat ille recepto, 615
Principibus narrat, quod protulit atque resumpsit.
Tunc Hagano ad regem: «porrectam suscipe gazam,
Hac potis es decorare, pater, tecum comitantes,
Et modo de pugna palmam revocare memento!

Did he touch me with his hands? Did he thrust me into prison
Or twist my hands behind my back through chains? 610
But listen nevertheless: if he frees me by contest
(I see, he comes armed, he comes to battles),
I will send across a hundred armlets, made indeed of red metal,
by which the name of the king shall be honored.»
With that answer he had departed having received it, 615
He relates to the chiefs what he advanced and then resumed.
Then to Hagan the king: «receive the proffered treasure,
with this you are able to adorn yourself, father, accompanied by your retinue,
and remember only to reclaim the palm from the fight!»

Ignotus tibi Waltharius et maxima virtus. 620

Waltharius is unknown to you, and greatest virtue. 620

Ut mihi praeterita portendit visio nocte,
Non, si conserimus, nos prospera cuncta sequentur.
Visum quippe mihi te colluctarier urso,
Qui post conflictus longos tibi mordicus unum
Crus cum poplite ad usque femur decerpserat omne 625
Et mox auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem
Me petit atque oculum cum dentibus eruit unum.»
His animadversis clamat rex ille superbus:
«Ut video, genitorem imitaris Hagathien ipse.
Hic quoque perpavidam gelido sub pectore mentem 630
Gesserat et multis fastidit proelia verbis.»
Tunc heros magnam iuste conceperat iram,
Si tamen in dominum licitum est irascier ullum.

As a vision by night foretold to me the past,
Not, if we do battle, will all prosperous things follow us.
For it seemed to me that you were wrestling with a bear,
which after long conflicts, with a nasty bite had torn from you one entire lower leg
with the hollow of the knee up even to the thigh 625
and soon, coming to aid and bearing weapons,
attacked me and with its teeth tore out one eye.»
At these words the proud king cried out:
«As I see, you yourself imitate your sire Hagathien.
He too had carried a terror-struck mind under a cold breast 630
and scorned many battles with words.»
Then the hero conceived a great and just anger,
if indeed it is lawful for a subject to be angry with his lord.

«En» ait «in vestris consistant omnia telis.
Est in conspectu, quem vultis, dimicet omnis. 635

«Behold,» he said, «let all things rest on your weapons. He is in sight whom you wish; let every one fight.» 635

Comminus astatis, nec iam timor impedit ullum;
Eventum videam nec consors sim spoliorum.»
Dixerat et collem petiit mox ipse propinquum
Descendensque ab equo consedit et aspicit illo.
Post haec Guntharius Camaloni praecipit aiens: 640
«Perge et thesaurum reddi mihi praecipe totum.
Quodsi cunctetur (scio, tu vir fortis et audax),
Congredere et bello devictum mox spoliato!»
Ibat Mettensis Camalo metropolitanus,
Vertice fulva micat cassis, de pectore thorax, 645
Et procul acclamans: «heus, audi» dixit «amice!

Stand close at hand, and no longer may fear hinder anything;
let me see the event, nor be partner in the spoils.»
He had spoken, and soon himself sought the nearby hill,
and, descending from his horse, sat down and looks at him.
Post haec Guntharius Camaloni praecipit aiens: 640
«Go on and command that the whole treasure be returned to me.
But if he delays (I know you, man strong and audax),
Engage him and, conquered in war, soon despoil him!»
The Mettan metropolitan Camalo was going,
a tawny helmet gleams on his brow, a thorax on his breast, 645
and from afar shouting: «heus, listen» he said, «friend!»

Regi Francorum totum transmitte metallum,
Si vis ulterius vitam vel habere salutem!»
Conticuit paulum verbo fortissimus heros,
Opperiens propius hostem adventare ferocem. 650

Deliver all the metal to the king of the Franks,
"If you wish to have life any longer or to hold safety!"
The most valiant hero was silent for a little at the word,
Awaiting the fierce enemy to come nearer. 650

Advolitans missus vocem repetiverat istam:
[«Regi Francorum totum transmitte metallum!»
Tum iuvenis constans responsum protulit istud:
«Quid quaeris vel quid reddi, importune, coartas?
Numquid Gunthario furabar talia regi? 655
Aut mihi pro lucro quicquam donaverat ille,
Ut merito usuram me cogat solvere tantam?
Num pergens ego dampna tuli vestrae regioni,
Ut vel hinc iuste videar spoliarier a te?
Si tantam invidiam cunctis gens exhibet ista, 660
Ut calcare solum nulli concedat eunti,
Ecce viam mercor, regi transmitto ducentas
Armillas.

Fluttering, the envoy had repeated that cry:
[«Deliver all the metal to the King of the Franks!»
Then the steadfast youth forthwith made this answer:
«What do you seek or what do you demand returned, importunate one?               655
Was I stealing such things for Guntharius to give to the king?
Or had he bestowed anything on me for profit, so that he might rightly compel me to pay so great a usury?
Did I, passing through, bring losses on your region, that I should even here be justly seen to be plundered by you?               660
If that people shows such envy towards all, that it grants no one the right to tread the soil in passing,
behold, I purchase the way; I transmit two hundred bracelets to the king.»]

Pacem donet modo bella remittens."
Haec postquam Camalo percepit corde ferino,
«Amplificabis» ait «donum, dum scrinia pandis. 665

"May he grant peace now, sending back wars."
After Camalo perceived these things with a savage heart, «You will increase the gift,» he said, «while you open the chests.» 665

Consummare etenim sermones nunc volo cunctos:
Aut quaesita dabis aut vitam sanguine fundes.»
Sic ait et triplicem clipeum collegit in ulnam
Et crispans hastile micans vi nititur omni
Ac iacit. At iuvenis devitat cautior ictum. 670
Hasta volans casso tellurem vulnere mordit.
Waltharius tandem: «si sic placet», inquit «agamus!»
Et simul in dictis hastam transmisit.

For I now wish to finish all words: either you will give what is sought, or you will pour out your life in blood.
Thus he said, and drawing a triple shield upon his forearm
and brandishing the spear-shaft, glittering, he exerts all his force
and throws it. But the young man more cautiously avoids the blow; 670
the flying spear, striking the ground, bites an empty wound.
Waltharius at last: "If thus it pleases," he says, "let us do it!"
And at the same moment with his words he thrusts the spear.

at illa
Per laevum latus umbonis transivit, et ecce
Palmam, qua Camalo mucronem educere coepit, 675
Confixit femori transpungens terga caballi.
Nec mora, dum vulnus sentit sonipes, furit atque
Excutiens dorsum sessorem sternere temptat;
Et forsan faceret, ni lancea fixa teneret.
Interea parmam Camalo dimisit et, hastam 680

but she
Passed over the left side with the bosses, and behold
the palm, by which Camalo had begun to draw forth his point, 675
She fixed in the thigh, transfixing the horse’s flanks.
Nor delay, while the steed feels the wound, it rages and
shaking off its rider strives to overthrow the saddle-bearer;
And perhaps it would have done so, if the spear fixed had not held it.
Meanwhile she let go Camalo’s parma and, the spear 680

Complexus laeva, satagit divellere dextram.
Quod mox perspiciens currit celeberrimus heros
Et pede compresso capulo tenus ingerit ensem;
Quem simul educens hastam de vulnere traxit.
Tunc equus et dominus hora cecidere sub una. 685
Et dum forte nepos conspexerat hoc Camalonis,
Filius ipsius Kimo eognomine fratris,
Quem referunt quidam Scaramundum nomine dictum,
Ingemit et lacrimis compellat tristior omnes:
«Haec me prae cunctis heu respicit actio rerum. 690
Nunc aut commoriar vel carum ulciscar amicum.»
Namque angusta loci solum concurrere soli
Cogebant, nec quisquam alii succurrere quivit.

Having embraced with his left hand, he strives to wrench away the right. Which soon perceiving the most famed hero runs, and with his foot pressed, he drives the sword in as far as the hilt; whom at the same time drawing out he dragged the spear from the wound. Then horse and master at one hour fell beneath one and the same. 685
And while by chance the nephew had beheld this of Camalo, the son of that same Kimo, by the by-name of his brother, whom some report called by the name Scaramundus, he groans and, more sad than all, addresses them with tears: «Alas, this act of things looks upon me before all. 690
Now either I shall die with him or I shall avenge my dear friend.» For the narrowness of the place compelled them to converge only together on that ground, nor was anyone else able to come to aid.

Advolat infelix Scaramundus iam moriturus,
Bina manu lato crispans hastilia ferro. 695

Unhappy Scaramundus flies at him, now about to die, clutching two spear-shafts in both hands, the broad iron curving, 695

Qui dum Waltharium nullo terrore videret
Permotum fixumque loco consistere in ipso,
Sic ait infrendens et equinam vertice caudam
Concutiens: «in quo fidis? vel quae tua spes est?
Non ego iam gazam nec rerum quidque tuarum 700
Appeto, sed vitam cognati quaero perempti.»
Ille dehinc: «si convincar, quod proelia primus
Temptarim seu quid merui, quod talia possim
Iure pati, absque mora tua me transverberet hasta.»
Necdum sermonem concluserat, en Scaramundus 705
Unum de binis hastile retorsit in illum
Confestimque aliud.

While he saw Waltharius thus unmoved by any terror, standing fixed in the same spot, he says, snarling and shaking the horse’s tail with his crest: «In whom do you trust? or what is your hope? I no longer seek your treasure nor the things of yours 700
I aim at, but I seek the life of my slain kinsman.»
He then: «If I be convicted, that I first tried battles or deserved anything, that I can rightly suffer such things, let your spear transfix me without delay.»
Not yet had he finished his speech, behold Scaramundus 705
wrenched one of the two spear‑shafts at him and straightway the other.

Quorum celeberrimus heros
Unum devitat, quatit ex umbone secundum.
Tunc aciem gladii promens Scaramundus acuti
Proruit in iuvenem cupiens praescindere frontem, 710

Of whom the most celebrated hero
avoids one, and smites the second from the umbo.
Then Scaramundus, brandishing the edge of his sharp sword,
rushed upon the youth, desiring to cut away his brow, 710

Effrenique in equo propius devectus ad illum
Non valuit capiti libratum infindere vulnus,
Sed capulum galeae impegit: dedit illa resultans
Tinnitus ignemque simul transfudit ad auras.
Sed non cornipedem potuit girare superbum, 715
Donec Waltharius sub mentum cuspidis ictum
Fixerat et sella moribundum sustulit alta.
Qui caput orantis proprio mucrone recidens
Fecit cognatum pariter fluitare cruorem.

And borne nearer to him on the unbridled horse he could not inflict a wound poised for the head, but struck the rim of the helmet: that blow, recoiling, gave a ringing and at the same time poured fire into the airs. Sed non cornipedem potuit girare superbum, 715
Until Waltharius fixed the spear’s blow beneath the chin and raised the dying man from the high saddle. He, severing the head of the pleading man with his own point, made his kinsman’s blood likewise flow.

Hunc ubi Guntharius conspexit obisse superbus, 720
Hortatur socios pugnam renovare furentes:
«Aggrediamur eum nec respirare sinamus,
Donec deficiens lassescat; et inde revinctus
Thesauros reddet luet et pro sanguine poenas.»
Tertius en Werinhardus abit bellumque lacessit, 725

When Guntharius, proud, perceived that this man had fallen, 720
he urges his comrades to renew the furious fight:
“Let us attack him and not allow him to draw breath,
until, failing, he grows weary; and then, bound again,
he will give back the treasures, atone and pay penalties for the blood.”
Lo, Werinhardus departs as the third and provokes the war, 725

Quamlibet ex longa generatus stirpe nepotum,
O vir clare, tuus cognatus et artis amator,
Pandare, qui quondam iussus confundere foedus
In medios telum torsisti primus Achivos.
Hic spernens hastam pharetram gestavit et arcum, 730
Eminus emissis haud aequo Marte sagittis
Waltharium turbans. contra tamen ille virilis
Constitit opponens clipei septemplicis orbem,
Saepius eludens venientes providus ictus.

Though born from a long stock of descendants,
O illustrious man, your kinsman and lover of art, Pandare,
who once, being ordered to confound a treaty,
first hurled a spear into the midst of the Achaeans.
Hic spernens hastam pharetram gestavit et arcum, 730
From afar, sending arrows in unequal war, he harried Waltharius.
But that man, manly, stood against him, setting before him the round of a sevenfold shield,
more often eluding the incoming, provident blows.

Nam modo dissiluit, parmam modo vergit in austrurn 735
Telaque discussit, nullum tamen attigit illum.
Postquam Pandarides se consumpsisse sagittas
Incassum videt, iratus mox exerit ensem
Et demum advolitans has iactitat ore loquelas:
«O si ventosos lusisti, callide, iactus, 740

For now it burst apart, now the parma leans to the south 735
and he scattered the shafts, yet they touched him not at all.
When Pandarides sees that he has consumed his arrows
in vain, he, angry, forthwith draws his sword
and at last, swooping on, utters these words with his mouth:
«O if you have sported with windy throws, craftily cast,» 740

Forsan vibrantis dextrae iam percipis ictum.»
Olli Waltharius ridenti pectore adorsus:
«Iamque diu satis expecto certamina iusto
Pondere agi. Festina, in me mora non erit ulla.«
Dixerat et toto conixus corpore ferrum 745
Conicit. Hasta volans pectus reseravit equinum:
Tollit se arrectum quadrupes et calcibus auras
Verberat effundensque equitem cecidit super illum.

"Perhaps you already perceive the stroke of the quivering right hand."
To him Waltharius, addressing with a laughing heart:
"I have long enough awaited that contests be weighed with just balance.
Make haste; in me there shall be no delay."

Dixerat et toto conixus corpore ferrum 745
He had spoken, and striving with his whole body he hurled the iron.
The flying spear opened the horse's chest:
The four-footed beast reared up and beat the air with its heels
and, casting off the rider, fell down upon him.

Accurrit iuvenis et ei vi diripit ensem.
Casside discussa crines complectitur albos 750
Multiplicesque preces nectenti dixerat heros:
«Talia non dudum iactabas dicta per auras.»
Haec ait et truncum secta cervice reliquit.
Sed non dementem tria visa cadavera terrent
Guntharium: iubet ad mortem properare vicissim. 755

Accurs a youth and with force tears the sword from him.
With his helmet cast off he clasps his white hair 750
And the hero had spoken manifold prayers to the one binding him:
«You were not long ago casting such words through the airs.»
He says these things and, having cut the neck, left the trunk.
But the three corpses seen do not terrify Guntharius the mad; he orders him in turn to hasten to death. 755

En a Saxonicis oris Ekivrid generatus
Quartus temptavit bellum, qui pro nece facta
Cuiusdam primatis eo diffugerat exul.
Quem spadix gestabat equus maculis variatus.
Hic ubi Waltharium promptum videt esse duello, 760
«Dic» ait «an corpus vegetet tractabile temet
Sive per aerias fallas, maledicte, figuras.

Lo, from Saxon shores Ekivrid born
the fourth essayed war, who for a murder done
of some primate had thither fled an exile.
A bay horse bearing him, variegated with spots.
When here he saw Waltharius ready for the duel, 760
"Say," he says, "whether thou art a living body, tractable thyself,
or by aerial deceits, maledict one, art thou shapes and figures."

Saltibus assuetus faunus mihi quippe videris.»
Illeque sublato dedit haec responsa cachinno:
«Celtica lingua probat te ex illa gente creatum, 765
Cui natura dedit reliquas ludendo praeire.
At si te propius venientem dextera nostra
Attingat, post Saxonibus memorare valebis,
Te nunc in Vosago fauni fantasma videre.»
«Attemptabo quidem, quid sis», Ekivrid ait, ac mox 770

“You indeed seem to me a faun, one accustomed to the groves.”
And he, lifting up his voice, gave this answer with a laugh:
“The Celtic tongue proves you born of that people, 765
to whom Nature has granted to surpass others in play. But if our right hand touch you as you come nearer,
you will be able to be remembered after the Saxons; for now you see the phantom of a faun in the Vosges.”
“I will indeed try what you are,” said Ekivrid, and soon 770

Ferratam cornum graviter iacit. Illa retorto
Emicat amento; quam durus fregerat umbo.
Waltharius contra respondit cuspide missa:
«Haec tibi silvanus transponit munera faunus.

He flings the iron-bound horn heavily. She, from the twisted thong, flashes forth in a frenzy; which a hard boss had shattered.
Waltharius, in turn, answered with a spear sent: "The sylvanus, the wood-spirit, transfers these gifts to you, O faunus."

Aspice, num mage sit telum penetrabile nostrum. » 775
Lancea taurino contextum tergore lignum
Diffidit ac tunicam scindens pulmone resedit.
Volvitur infelix Ekivrid rivumque cruoris
Evomit: en mortem fugiens incurrit eandem.

Behold, see whether our weapon is the more penetrable. 775
The lance, its shaft bound with bull-hide along the back,
pierced through and, tearing the tunic, lodged in the lung.
Unhappy Ekivrid rolls and spews a river of gore:
see, fleeing death he runs headlong into the same.

Cuius equum iuvenis post tergum in gramen abegit. 780
Tunc a Gunthario clipeum sibi postulat ipsum
Quintus ab inflato Hadawardus pectore lusus.
Qui pergens hastam sociis dimisit habendam,
Audax in solum confisus inaniter ensem.
Et dum conspiceret deiecta cadavera totam 785

Whose horse the youth drove behind his back into the grass; 780
Then from Gunthar he demanded the very shield for himself;
Quintus, by Hadaward from his inflated breast struck as a play.
Who, going on, let the spear be given to his comrades to hold,
bold, trusting in the ground, vainly plunged his sword. And while he beheld the fallen corpses all 785

Conclusisse viam nec equum transire valere,
Dissiliens parat ire pedes. Stetit acer in armis
Waltharius laudatque virum, qui praebuit aequam
Pugnandi sortem. Hadawart tum dixit ad illum:
«O versute dolis ac fraudis conscie serpens, 790
Occultare artus squamoso tegmine suetus
Ac veluti coluber girum collectus in unum
Tela tot evitas tenui sine vulneris ictu
Atque venenatas ludis sine more sagittas!

Finding the road closed and unable to cross with his horse,
springing down he prepares to go on foot. Fierce he stood in arms; Waltharius praises the man who offered an even lot of fighting. Then Hadawart said to him:
«O craftily conscious serpent of guile and fraud, 790
accustomed to hide thy limbs with a scaly covering,
and like a serpent gathered into a single coil
you avoid so many weapons with a thin, unwounding stroke,
and fling venomous shafts as if without the usual rule!»

Numquid et iste, putas, astu vitabitur ictus, 795
Quem propius stantis certo libramine mittit
Dextra manus? neque enim is teli seu vulneris auctor.
Audi consilium: parmam deponito pictam!

Do you think even that blow will be evaded by craft, 795
which the right hand of him standing sends nearer with a sure balance? Nor is he the author of the missile or of the wound. Hear counsel: put down the painted parma!

Hanc mea sors quaerit, regis quoque sponsio praestat.
Nolo quidem laedas, oculis quia complacet istis. 800

My fate seeks this, and the king's pledge also grants it. I do not, indeed, wish to harm you, because it pleases those eyes. 800

Sin alias, licet et lucem mihi dempseris almam,
Assunt hic plures socii carnisque propinqui,
Qui, quamvis volucrem simules pennasque capessas,
Te tamen immunem numquam patientur abire.»
Belliger at contra nil territus intulit ista: 805
«De reliquis taceo, clipeum defendere curo.
Pro meritis, mihi crede, bonis sum debitor illi.
Hostibus iste meis se opponere saepe solebat
Et pro vulneribus suscepit vulnera nostris.

«But otherwise, even if you have deprived me of life-giving light,
here more companions and close kinsmen of the flesh assemble,
who, although you pretend to be winged and don feathers,
yet they will never permit you to go off unharmed.»
Belliger, however, terrified by nothing, uttered these words: 805
«Of the rest I am silent; I care to defend the shield.
For merits, believe me, I am indebted to that man for good things.
He was often wont to set himself against my enemies
and for our wounds he took upon himself wounds.»

Quam sit oportunus hodie mihi, cernis et ipse; 810
Non cum Walthario loquereris forsan, abesset.
Viribus o summis hostem depellere cures,
Dextera, ne rapiat tibi propugnacula muri!
Tu clavum umbonis studeas retinere, sinistra,
Atque ebori digitos circumfer glutine fixos! 815

How timely he is for me today, you yourself perceive; 810
Perhaps he would not have been absent, had you spoken with Waltharius.
With might, O highest, strive to drive off the enemy,
Right Hand, lest he seize from you the bulwarks of the wall!
You, Left, be zealous to hold the rudder by the umbons,
And smear with glue the fingers fixed around the ivory! 815

Istic ne ponas pondus, quod tanta viarum
Portasti spatia, ex Avarum nam sedibus altis!»
Ille dehinc: «invitus agis, si sponte recusas.
Nec solum parmam, sed equum cum virgine et auro
Reddes: tum demum scelerum cruciamina pendes.» 820
Haec ait et notum vagina diripit ensem.
Inter se variis terrarum partibus orti
Concurrunt.

Do not set down there the load which you have borne across so many stretches of roads,
for from the lofty seats of the Avars!
He then: "You act unwillingly, if you refuse of your own accord.
And not only the shield, but the horse with the maiden and the gold
you will return: then at last you will hang the tortures of your crimes." 820
He says these things and tears the familiar sword from its sheath.
Rising from diverse parts of the lands,
they run together and clash with one another.

Stupuit Vosegus haec fulmina et ictus.
Olli sublimes animis ac grandibus armis,
Hic gladio fidens, hic acer et arduus hasta, 825
Inter se multa et valida vi proelia miscent.
Non sic nigra sonat percussa securibus ilex,
Ut dant tinnitus galeae clipeique resultant.

Vosegus stood amazed at these thunderbolts and strokes.
Those lofty in spirit and with great arms,
this one trusting in the sword, this one fierce and towering with the spear, 825
among themselves mingle many and mighty battles with force.
Not so does the black oak sound when struck by axes,
as the ringing that helmets and shields give and re-echo.

Mirantur Franci, quod non lassesceret heros
Waltharius, cui nulla quies spatiumve dabatur. 830

The Franks marvel that the hero Waltharius did not grow weary, to whom no rest or interval was allotted. 830

Emicat hic impune putans iam Wormatiensis
Alte et sublato consurgit fervidus ense,
Hoc ictu memorans semet finire duellum.
Providus at iuvenis ferientem cuspide adacta
Intercepit et ignarum dimittere ferrum 835
Cogebat: procul in dumis resplenduit ensis.
Hic ubi se gladio spoliatum vidit amico,
Accelerare fugam fruticesque volebat adire.

He darts forward here, thinking himself now safe, the Wormatian;
high, and with his sword uplifted, he springs up hotly,
thinking by this blow to finish the duel.
But the wary youth intercepted him, the spear driven home, and forced the unknowing man to let drop his iron 835
he compelled him: far off in the bushes the sword flashed.
When this man saw himself stripped of his sword by his foe,
he sought to hasten his flight and to make for the shrubs.

Alpharides fretus pedibus viridique iuventa
Insequitur dicens: «quonam fugis? accipe scutum!» 840
Sic ait atque hastam manibus levat ocius ambis
Et ferit. Ille cadit, clipeus superintonat ingens.

Alpharides, relying on his feet and green youth,
In pursuit he cries: «Whither do you flee? take the shield!» 840
Thus he speaks and quickly lifts the spear with both hands
and strikes. He falls; the huge shield rings aloud above.

Nec tardat iuvenis: pede collum pressit et hasta
Divellens parmam telluri infixerat illum.
Ipse oculos vertens animam sufflavit in auram. 845

Nor does the youth delay: with his foot he pressed the neck and, tearing away the parma, had fixed him to the earth with his spear.
He himself, turning his eyes, breathed his soul into the air. 845

Sextus erat Patavrid. Soror hunc germana Haganonis
Protulit ad lucem. Quem dum procedere vidit,
Vocibus et precibus conatur avunculus inde
Flectere proclamans: «quonam ruis?

Sextus was a Patavrid. His full sister of Haganon (Haganonis) brought him to light.
Whom, while he saw advance, his uncle there with voices and prayers strives to turn, proclaiming: "Whither do you rush?"

aspice mortem,
Qualiter arridet! desiste! en ultima Parcae 850
Fila legunt.

behold death,
How it smiles! cease! lo at the last the Parcae 850
They gather the threads.

O care nepos, te mens tua fallit.
Desine! Waltharii tu denique viribus impar.»
Infelix tamen ille means haec omnia sprevit;
Arsit enim venis laudem captare cupiscens.

O dear grandson, your mind deceives you.
Cease! You are at length unequal to Waltharius in strength.»
Unhappy he, however, spurned all these things;
for he burned in his veins, eager to win renown.

Tristatusque Hagano suspiria pectore longa 855
Traxit et has imo fudit de corde loquelas:
«O vortex mundi, fames insatiatus habendi,
Gurges avaritiae, cunctorum fibra malorum!
O utinam solum gluttires dira metallum
Divitiasque alias homines impune remittens! 860

And sorrowing Hagan drew long sighs from his breast 855
and from the innermost heart poured forth these words:
«O whirlpool of the world, insatiate hunger for possessing,
gulf of avarice, the fibre/source of all evils!
O that you alone would swallow up the dreadful metal
and send back other men's riches with impunity!» 860

Sed tu nunc homines perverso numine perflans
Incendis, nullique suum iam sufficit. Ecce
Non trepidant mortem pro lucro incurrere turpem.
Quanto plus retinent, tanto sitis ardet habendi.

But you now, breathing upon men with perverse divinity,
you set them afire, and now no one's own suffices them. Behold
they do not fear to incur a shameful death for gain.
The more they retain, the more a thirst for possessing burns.

Externis modo vi modo furtive potiuntur 865
Et, quod plus renovat gemitus lacrimasque ciebit,
Caeligenas animas Erebi fornace retrudunt.
Ecce ego dilectum nequeo revocare nepotem;
Instimulatus enim de te est, o saeva cupido.
En caecus mortem properat gustare nefandam 870
Et vili pro laude cupit descendere ad umbras.

Sometimes by force, sometimes furtively they get possession from outsiders 865
And, what will more renew groans and rouse tears, they thrust the heaven-born souls back into the furnace of Erebus.
Behold, I cannot call back my beloved grandson;
for a fierce desire has been kindled about you, O savage longing.
See, blind, he hastens to taste the accursed death 870
and for base praise desires to descend to the shades.

Heu mihi care nepos, quid matri, perdite, mandas ?
Quis nuper ductam refovebit, care, maritam,
Cui nec, rapte spei, pueri ludicra dedisti?
Quis tibi nam furor est? unde haec dementia venit?» 875

Alas for me, dear grandson, what do you, O ruinous one, entrust to your mother?
Who, dear one, will cherish the woman lately led away as a wife,
to whom, seized by hope, you did not give the boy’s playthings?
Quis tibi nam furor est? unde haec dementia venit? 875

Sic ait et gremium lacrimis conspersit obortis,
Et longum «formose, vale» singultibus edit.
Waltharius, licet alonge, socium fore maestum
Attendit, clamorque simul pervenit ad aures.
Unde incursantem sic est affatus equestrem: 880
«Accipe consilium, iuvenis clarissime, nostrum
Et te conservans melioribus utere fatis.

Desine, nam tua te fervens fiducia fallit!
Heroum tot cerne neces et cede duello,
Ne suprema videns hostes facias mihi plures.» 885
«Quid de morte mea euras» ait ille «tyranne?
Est modo pugnandum tibimet, non sermocinandum.»
Dixit et in verbo nodosam destinat hastam,
Cuspide quam propria divertens transtulit heros.

Cease, for your hot confidence deceives you!
Behold so many deaths of heroes and yield in single combat,
Lest, seeing your end, you make the enemies more numerous for me.» 885
«What care you for my death, tyrant?» he said; «Now there must be fighting with you, not parlance.»
He spoke, and at the word aimed a knotted spear,
Which the hero, diverting with his own spear-point, shifted aside.

Quae subvecta choris ac viribus acta furentis 890

Which, borne away by choruses and by the forces of the raging one 890

In castrum venit atque pedes stetit ante puellae.
Ipsa metu perculsa sonum prompsit muliebrem.
At postquam tenuis redit in praecordia sanguis,
Paulum suspiciens spectat, num viveret heros.

He came into the camp and stood at the girl's feet.
She herself, struck with fear, uttered a womanly cry.
But when a faint blood returned into her praecordia,
she, looking up a little, looks to see whether the hero lived.

Tum quoque vir fortis Francum discedere bello 895
Iussit; at ille furens gladium nudavit et ipsum
Incurrens petiit vulnusque a vertice librat.
Alpharides parmam demum concusserat aptam
Et spumantis apri frendens de more tacebat.
Ille ferire volens se pronior omnis ad ictum 900
Exposuit, sed Waltharius sub tegmine flexus
Delituit corpusque suum contraxit, et ecce
Vulnere delusus iuvenis recidebat ineptus.

Then likewise the brave man ordered the Frank to depart from the war 895
but he, raging, bared his sword and, running at him, sought him and aimed a wound from the crown of the head.
Alpharides had at length struck the shield fitted to him
and, gnashing like a foaming boar, was silent in the custom.
He, wishing to strike, bent altogether more forward for the blow 900
exposed himself, but Waltharius, bent beneath the covering,
hid himself and drew in his body, and behold
the youth, deceived by the wound, fell down senseless.

Finis erat, nisi quod genibus tellure refixis
Belliger accubuit calibemque sub orbe cavebat. 905

It was the end, were it not that, with his knees driven back into the earth,
Belliger sank down and watched over his sword beneath his shield. 905

Hic dum consurgit, pariter se subrigit ille
Ac citius scutum trepidus sibi praetulit atque
Frustra certamen renovare parabat. At illum
Alpharides fixa gladio petit ocius hasta
Et mediam clipei dempsit vasto impete partem, 910
Hamatam resecans loricam atque ilia nudans.
Labitur infelix Patavrid sua viscera cernens
Silvestrique ferae corpus, animam dedit Orco.

While he rose up here, that one likewise raised himself
and trembling more quickly held his shield before him, and
in vain was preparing to renew the contest. But Alpharides,
his spear fixed, assailed him swifter than the sword,
and with a mighty onslaught tore away the central part of the shield, 910
cutting away the hooked cuirass and stripping the groin.
The unlucky Patavrid slid down, beholding his entrails
and the body of the forest boar, and yielded his life to Orcus.

Hunc sese ulturum spondens Gerwitus adivit,
Qui forti subvectus equo supra volat omnem 915
Stragem, quae angustam concluserat obvia callem.
Et dum bellipotens recidisset colla iacentis,
Venit et ancipitem vibravit in ora bipennem
(Istius ergo modi Francis tunc arma fuere).
Vir celer obiecit peltam frustravit et ictum, 920

Gerwitus, vowing that he would avenge this, came up,
Who, borne on a strong horse, flew above all 915
the carnage which had closed the narrow road in front.
And while the war‑mighty one had cut the necks of those lying (dead),
he came and swung a two‑edged axe at the face of the double‑faced one
(For such then were the arms of the Franks).
The swift man interposed his pelt and foiled the blow, and the strike, 920

Ac retro saliens hastam rapiebat amicam
Sanguineumque ulva viridi dimiserat ensem.
Hic vero metuenda virum tum bella videres.
Sermo quidem nullus fuit inter Martia tela:
Sic erat adverso mens horum intenta duello. 925
Is furit, ut caesos mundet vindicta sodales,
Ille studet vitam toto defendere nisu
Et, si fors dederit, palmam retinere triumphi.

And leaping back he snatched a friendly spear
and had cast the blood-stained sword into the green sedge.
Here indeed then you would see the man's wars to be dread-worthy.
There was indeed no speech among the martial weapons:
Thus the mind of these men was intent upon the opposing duel. 925
One rages, that he with vengeance cleanse the slain comrades,
the other strives to defend life with his whole effort
and, if fortune grants, to retain the palm of triumph.

Hic ferit, ille cavet; petit ille, reflectitur iste:
Ad studium fors et virtus miscentur in unum. 930
Longa tamen cuspis breviori depulit hostem
Armatum telo, girat sed et ille caballum
Atque fatigatum cupiebat fallere homonem.
Iam magis atque magis irarum mole gravatus
Waltharius clipeum Gerwiti sustulit imum, 935

He strikes here, that one wards off; that one attacks, this one is thrown back:
To the endeavor chance and virtue are mingled into one. 930
Yet with a longer spear he drove the enemy from the shorter
Armed with the weapon; but he also turns his horse
And wished to deceive the weary man.
Now more and more, burdened by the mass of wrath,
Waltharius lifted up the lowest part of Gerwit's shield, 935

Transmissoque femur penetraverat inguine ferrum.
Qui post terga ruens clamorem prodidit atrum
Exitiumque dolens pulsabat calcibus arvum.
Hunc etiam truncum caesa cervice reliquit.

And with the thigh having been pierced the iron had penetrated the groin.
He who, rushing after the back, gave forth a dark cry and, grievous at his destruction, beat the field with his heels.
He even left this trunk, his neck cut, behind.

Idem Wormatiae campis comes extitit ante. 940
Tunc primum Franci coeperunt forte morari
Et magnis precibus dominum decedere pugna
Deposcunt. Furit ille miser caecusque profatur:
«Quaeso, viri fortes et pectora saepe probata,
Ne fors haec cuicumque metum, sed conferat iram. 945
Quid mihi, si Vosago sic sic inglorius ibo?
Mentem quisque meam sibi vindicet.

At the same time a count appeared before on the fields of Worms. 940
Then for the first time the Franks began by chance to delay
and with great entreaties demand that their lord withdraw from the fight.
The wretch raves and, blind, speaks:
«I beg you, brave men and hearts often proved,
That this fortune bring fear to no one, but grant wrath instead. 945
What is it to me, if to Vosagus thus, thus I go unglorious?
Let each man claim my mind for himself.

En ego partus
Ante mori sum, Wormatiam quam talibus actis
Ingrediar. Petat hic patriam sine sanguine victor?
Hactenus arsistis hominem spoliare metallis; 950

Behold I, born before I die,
I shall enter Wormatia, which after such deeds I will enter.
Shall this victor seek his fatherland without bloodshed?
Hitherto have you dared to strip a man of his metals; 950

Nunc ardete, viri, fusum mundare cruorem,
Ut mors abstergat mortem, sanguis quoque sanguem,
Soleturque necem sociorum plaga necantis!»
His animum dictis demens incendit et omnes
Fecerat immemores vitae simul atque salutis. 955
Ac velut in ludis alium praecurrere quisque
Ad mortem studuit; sed semita, ut antea dixi,
Cogebat binos bello decernere solos.
Vir tamen illustris dum cunctari videt illos,
Vertice distractas suspendit in arbore cristas 960
Et ventum captans sudorem tersit anhelus.
Ecce repentino Randolf athleta caballo
Praevertens reliquos hunc importunus adivit
Ac mox ferrato petiit sub pectore conto.

Nunc ardete, viri, fusum mundare cruorem,
Now burn, men, to cleanse the poured blood,
Ut mors abstergat mortem, sanguis quoque sanguem,
That death may wipe away death, and blood likewise by blood,
Soleturque necem sociorum plaga necantis!»
And so the slaughter of comrades may be expiated by the blow that kills!»
His animum dictis demens incendit et omnes
With these words the madman kindled their spirits and made all
Fecerat immemores vitae simul atque salutis.               955
forgetful alike of life and of safety.
Ac velut in ludis alium praecurrere quisque
And as in games each strove to outrun another to death;
Ad mortem studuit; sed semita, ut antea dixi,
yet the course, as I said before, forced that
Cogebat binos bello decernere solos.
two alone be chosen for the war.
Vir tamen illustris dum cunctari videt illos,
But the illustrious man, seeing them hesitate,
Vertice distractas suspendit in arbore cristas               960
hung the crests torn from his helmet upon a tree top
Et ventum captans sudorem tersit anhelus.
and, gasping for breath, the panting man wiped away his sweat.
Ecce repentino Randolf athleta caballo
Behold, suddenly Randolf the athlete on a horse,
Praevertens reliquos hunc importunus adivit
overtaking the rest, aggressively approached him
Ac mox ferrato petiit sub pectore conto.

and soon with an iron-shod shaft sought his breast.

Et nisi duratis Wielandia fabrica giris 965

And if the Wielandian workshop had not been hardened by repeated turnings, 965

Obstaret, spisso penetraverit ilia ligno.
Ille tamen subito stupefactus corda pavore
Munimen clipei obiecit mentemque recepit.
Nec tamen et galeam fuerat sumpsisse facultas.

It would have obstructed, had that spear pierced the thick wood.
He, however, suddenly stupefied with panic, threw the shield’s bulwark before his breast and recovered his wits.
Nor, however, was there opportunity even to have taken up a helmet.

Francus at emissa gladium nudaverat hasta               970
Et feriens binos Aquitani vertice crines
Abrasit, sed forte cutem praestringere summam
Non licuit; rursumque alium vibraverat ictum
Et praeceps animi directo obstamine scuti
Impegit calibem, nec quivit viribus ullis               975
Elicere. Alpharides retro, se fulminis instar
Excutiens, Francum valida vi fudit ad arvum
Et super assistens pectus conculcat et inquit:
«En pro calvitio capitis te vertice fraudo,
Ne fiat ista tuae de me iactantia sponsae.»               980

Francus, however, having sent forth the spear, had bared his sword               970
And striking off the twin locks on the Aquitanian's crown of head
Abrased them, but by chance it was not permitted to cut the outermost skin;
It did not succeed; and again he had hurled another stroke
And, headlong in spirit, against the straight obstruction of the shield
He struck the helmet, nor could he with any strength               975
Draw it out. Alpharides, shaking himself back like a thunderbolt,
Having shaken him off, flung Francus with mighty force to the field
And standing over him tramples his chest and says:
«Behold, for the baldness of your head I deprive you of your summit-crown,
Lest that vaunting of your bride against me come to pass.»               980

Vix effatus haec truncavit colla precantis.
At nonus pugnae Helmnod successit, et ipse
Insertum triplici gestabat fune tridentem,
Quem post terga quidem socii stantes tenuerunt,
Consiliumque fuit, dum cuspis missa sederet 985
In clipeo, cuncti pariter traxisse studerent,
Ut vel sic hominem deiecissent furibundum;
Atque sub hac certum sibi spe posuere triumphum.
Nec mora, dux totas fundens in brachia vires
Misit in adversum magna cum voce tridentem 990
Edicens: «ferro tibi finis, calve, sub isto!»
Qui ventos penetrans iaculorum more coruscat,
Quod genus aspidis ex alta sese arbore tanto
Turbine demittit, quo cuncta obstantia vincat.

Scarcely having spoken these words he cut the neck of the suppliant.
But the ninth of the fight, Helmnod, advanced, and he himself
was bearing a trident fixed with a triple rope,
which his comrades standing behind held indeed,
and the plan was that, while the point, once hurled, should lodge 985
in the shield, all together they would strive to pull it,
so that thus they might have thrown the raging man down;
and under this certain hope they set their triumph.
Nor was there delay: the leader, pouring all his strength into his arms,
sent the trident against him with a great voice 990
crying: “An end to you by iron, bald one, under this!”
Which, cleaving the winds, flashes like a band of javelins,
of the sort that an asp lets itself down from a high tree with so great a whirling motion,
by which it overcomes every opposing thing.

Quid moror? umbonem sciderat peltaque resedit. 995

Why do I delay? he had torn away the umbo and the pelta sank back down. 995

Clamorem Franci tollunt saltusque resultat,
Obnixique trahunt restim simul atque vicissim,
Nec dubitat princeps tali se aptare labori.
Manarunt cunctis sudoris flumina membris.
Sed tamen haec inter velut aesculus astitit heros 1000
Quae non plus petit astra comis quam Tartara fibris,
Contempnens omnes ventorum immota fragores.

They raise a cry, the Franks, and the leaps rebound,
and straining they pull the rein together and in turn,
nor does the prince doubt to fit himself to such toil.
Rivers of sweat flowed from all their limbs.
Yet nevertheless this hero stood among them like an oak 1000
who seeks the stars with his locks no more than Tartarus with its fibres,
scorning all the unmoved crashes of the winds.

Certabant hostes hortabanturque viritim,
Ut, si non quirent ipsum detrudere ad arvum
Munimen clipei saltem extorquere studerent, 1005
Quo dempto vivus facile caperetur ab ipsis.
Nomina quae restant edicam iamque trahentum:
Nonus Eleuthir erat, Helmnod cognomine dictus,
Argentina quidem decimum dant oppida Trogum,
Extulit undecimum pollens urbs Spira Tanastum, 1010

The enemies strove and urged on man by man,
That, if they did not succeed in thrusting him himself down to the field,
they at least endeavored to wrench away the bulwark of his shield, 1005
by which removed he could easily be taken alive by them.
The names that remain I will now declare of those drawing forth:
The ninth was Eleuthir, called by the surname Helmnod,
the town of Trogum indeed gives the tenth Argentina,
the powerful city Spira Tanastum raised the eleventh, 1010

Absque Haganone locum rex supplevit duodenum.
Quattuor hi adversum summis conatibus unum
Contendunt pariter multo varioque tumultu.
Interea Alpharidi vanus labor incutit iram,
Et qui iam pridem nudarat casside frontem, 1015
In framea tunicaque simul confisus aena
Omisit parmam primumque invasit Eleuthrin.

With Haganon absent the king filled the twelfth place.
These four against one contend alike with the greatest efforts,
in a very varied tumult.
Meanwhile Alpharid’s vain labour stirs up anger,
and he who long before had bared his brow of helmet, 1015
trusting at once in spear and in bronze cuirass and tunic,
let go his parma and first attacked Eleuthrin.

Huic galeam findens cerebrum diffudit et ipsam
Cervicem resecans pectus patefecit, at aegrum
Cor pulsans animam liquit mox atque calorem. 1020
Inde petit Trogum haerentem in fune nefando.
Qui subito attonitus recidentis morte sodalis
Horribilique hostis conspectu coeperat acrem
Nequiquam temptare fugam voluitque relicta
Arma recolligere, ut rursum repararet agonem 1025

He splitting his helmet poured out the brain and, cutting away even the neck, laid open the breast, but the ailing heart, beating, soon let go the life and the warmth. 1020
Thence he makes for Trogus, clinging to the nefarious rope. He, suddenly stunned at the death of his companion falling and at the horrible sight of the foe, had begun to strive fiercely; in vain he would attempt flight and, his arms left behind, to gather them up again, that he might renew the contest. 1025

(Nam cuncti funem tracturi deposuerunt
Hastas cum clipeis). Sed quanto maximus heros
Fortior extiterat, tanto fuit ocior, olli
Et cursu capto suras mucrone recidit
Ac sic tardatum praevenit et abstulit eius 1030
Scutum. Sed Trogus quamvis de vulnere lassus,
Mente tamen fervens saxum circumspicit ingens,
Quod rapiens subito obnixum contorsit in hostem
Et proprium a summo clipeum fidit usque deorsum.
Sed retinet fractum pellis superaddita lignum. 1035
Moxque genu posito viridem vacuaverat aedem
Atque ardens animis vibratu terruit auras,
Et si non quivit virtutem ostendere factis,
Corde tamen habitum patefecit et ore virilem.

(For all who were about to haul the rope laid aside spears with shields). But the greater the hero had proved stronger, the swifter was he to that man, and with a running thrust he lopped the calves with his point and so anticipated the one slowed and snatched away his shield 1030
But Trogus, although weary from the wound, yet fervent in mind, gazes about at a huge stone, which, seizing it, he suddenly with all his force hurled at the foe and struck the opposing shield from top to bottom. Yet the added leather holds the broken wood together. 1035
And then, setting his knee, he laid bare the green shrine and, burning in spirit, with a brandishing terrified the airs, and if he could not show his valor in deeds, yet he revealed a manly bearing in his heart and a virile mien in his speech.

Nec manes ridere videns audaciter infit: 1040

Nor, seeing the shades laugh, does he boldly speak: 1040

«O mihi si clipeus vel sic modo adesset amicus!
Fors tibi victoriam de me, non inclita virtus
Contulit. Ad scutum mucronem hic tollito nostrum!»
Tum quoque subridens «venio iam» dixerat heros
Et cursu advolitans dextram ferientis ademit. 1045
Sed cum athleta ictum libraret ab aure secundum
Pergentique animae valvas aperire studeret,
Ecce Tanastus adest telis cum rege resumptis
Et socium obiecta protexit vulnere pelta.

«O if only the shield, friend, were even now present to me thus!
Perhaps fortune has granted you victory over me, not renowned virtue.
Lift here our shield against the point of the blade!»
Then also smiling he had said, «I come now,» and running up he snatched away the right hand of the striker. 1045
But when the athlete poised the blow aside from the ear
and strove to open the valves of his departing soul,
behold Tanastus is present, weapons resumed with the king,
and with a buckler thrown before, he shielded his comrade from the wound.

Hinc indignatus iram convertit in ipsum 1050
Waltharius humerumque eius de cardine vellit
Perque latus ducto suffudit viscera ferro.
«Ave!» procumbens submurmurat ore Tanastus.
Quo recidente preces contempsit promere Trogus
Conviciisque sui victorem incendit amaris, 1055

Then, indignant, he turned his wrath upon him 1050
Waltharius tore his shoulder from the socket
and, with the sword drawn through his side, soaked his entrails in iron.
"Hail!" Tanastus murmurs as he falls, with a fainting mouth.
With him falling thus, Trogus scorned to utter prayers
and kindled the victor with his bitter taunts, 1055

Seu virtute animi, seu desperaverat. Exin
Alpharides: «morere» inquit «et haec sub Tartara transfer
Enarrans sociis, quod tu sis ultus eosdem.»
His dictis torquem collo circumdedit aureum.
Ecce simul caesi volvuntur pulvere amici, 1060
Crebris foedatum ferientes calcibus arvum.

Whether by the courage of his soul, or because he had despaired. Then Alpharides: "Die," he says, "and carry these things down beneath Tartarus, recounting to your comrades that you have avenged the same." With these words he put a golden torque about his neck. Behold, at once the friends, struck, are rolled in the dust, 1060
making the field defiled by repeated tramples of their hooves.