Rune Poems - House of Dubhros

Hildebrand 83
Hadubrand, the son of Hildebrand, replied: "With the
spear should one receive a gift, point to point. Thou
art of exceeding guile, old Hun. Thou seekest to decoy
me with thy words and wilt aim thy spear at me. Thou
hast grown old in the practice of treachery. Seafarers
who went westwards over the Vandal Sea, have told me
that he fell in battle. Dead is Hildebrand, the
*****
Heribrand."
Then spake Hildebrand, the son of Heribrand.
son of
"
By thy garb I see full well that thou hast a generous
lord at home ; thou art no outcast in this land."
" Woe now is me, Almighty God," quoth Hildebrand.
"An evil fate is come upon me. Sixty summers and
winters have I wandered in exile from my native land
and I was ever stationed in the forefront of the host:
yet no man dealt me my deathblow before any stronghold.
But now mine own son will smite me with his sword, slay
me with his brand, or I must be his slayer. Yet now if
thy prowess avail thee, thou canst easily win the harness of
so old a man, carry off the spoils, if thou hast any right to
them. Now were he the craven of the easterners who
49. waltant : got cf. AS. wealdend god, OS. waldand god.
50. sehstic, i.e. 30 summers and 30 winters, a relic of the counting by
seasons (misseri). It is worth noting that Wolf-Dietrich was likewise in
exile for 30 years ; cf. Chadwick, Heroic Age, p. 155.
In pi"5riks saga, c. 396 (Bertelsen, n. 331), the exile lasted 32 years.
51. sceotantero, simply " warriors" ; cf. Beowulf, v. 1155, etc.
52. banun ni gifasta ; cf. Elene, v. 477 :
Ne meahton hie swa disige deaf offfmtan.
53. suasat, "own"; cf. AS. swses, and Asmundarsaga Kappabana,
c. ix. :
Liggr par inn svdsi sonr at hofffi.
54. breton mit sinu billiu ; wk vb, cf. AS. breodwian (Miillenhoff ). For
the phrase, cf. Exodus, v. 199 : billum abreotan.
eddo ih imo ti banin werdan ; cf. Heliand, v. 644 :
and Beowulf, v. 587 :
hogda im te banin uuerffon;
Jyeah ffu fiinum broffrum to banan wurde.
55. ibu dir din ellen taoc, a common phrase in the poetic diction of the
old Teutonic languages ; cf. Andreas, v. 460 : gif his ellen deah, etc.
56. Cf. Waldhere, B 17.
57. ibu du dar enic reht habes, either "if you can make good your
claim" or "if you have justice on your side." ,
68. ostarliuto, Huns rather than Ostrogoths; cf. Asmundar saga,
where Hildibrandr is styled Htinakappi.