But on he went, blowing his horn, until at length the sea of flames slowly sank to earth.

The redness of the sky gave way to blue, and all grew clear and beautiful.

Siegfried looked upon the sleeping figure.

All the world seemed wrapped in silence. Not a leaf moved on the trees.

There was not a sound to mar that perfect sleep.

Siegfried looked in wonder at the shining coat of mail.

"It is some valiant knight," he whispered.

"How heavy seems the armor. It should be lifted so that he may rest better."

Carefully Siegfried lifted the glittering shield and laid it to one side.

Eagerly he raised the helmet. There fell a ma.s.s of waving golden hair.

"A burst of glorious sunshine," whispered Siegfried.

Then he sought to loosen the rings that held the coat of mail.

Finding it difficult, he drew his sword and cut them.

The shining armor fell jingling to the ground.

The soft white folds of her woman's gown fell loosely about her.

Siegfried started back and stared in silence.

He trembled from head to foot.

He pressed his hand to his fast-beating heart.

"At last!" he cried. "At last! I know what fear is."

THE AWAKENING

At length Siegfried went softly to Brunhilde's side.

He stood and looked upon her sweet, heroic face, and love came into his heart.

Bending low, he tenderly kissed her.

Brunhilde slowly opened her eyes.

She looked up at the blue sky and the smiling sun, and cried:--

"All hail to thee, thou glorious sun in heaven!"

The flowers slowly opened their petals, the birds began to sing.

Brunhilde's horse awoke and neighed his glad call.

Brunhilde looked upon Siegfried.

Slowly her memory returned.

As she remembered Wotan's words: "Only he who knows no fear may claim you for his bride," she knew at last her hero had come.

She looked into Siegfried's strong, brave face, and as he told her of his love, she no longer wished to go back to Valhalla.

She knew that she loved Siegfried with all her heart, and she promised to be his bride.

She told him that she would always be happy when she was by his side.

GOETTERDAEMMERUNG

A SONG OF THE PAST

One very dark night, three Norns came to the mountain crest to spin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THREE NORNS CAME TO THE MOUNTAIN CREST TO SPIN]

If you had seen them, you would have called them witches.

They spun the thread of fate.

They were very, very old. The eldest was almost as old as the world.

They were tall and gaunt, and wore long black gowns.

Their faces and hands were deep-wrinkled with age, and their hair was as white as the snow.

They had come up from the great, dark earth-hole, where they lived, and now they crouched upon the rocks to spin their thread.

The eldest was the first to spin the thread, and as she spun, she sang a song about the past, when Wotan and his happy family lived out of doors upon the mountain-side.

She sang of the time when he split from the world's ash tree the piece of wood from which he made the magic spear, which had ruled the world for so many hundreds of years.

She sang of Freya's apples, and of the strength and youth of the giant family.

At length her voice wavered, the strange, weird song ceased, and she tossed the thread to the second Norn.