ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;

iegfried and the Dragon.-Mayence.-Boat Journey.-Stories of the Cast

ravel at the fifth meeting of the Cl

n forests, and past fields which had heaped up harvests for a thousand years. Spires gleamed o

Attila drove his cavalry of devastation over the Rhine. Here lived the hero of German classic song,-Siegfried. The cathedral has a monumen

cannot do otherw

e. It is lofty and gloomy. Worms itself is a sh

figure. He stands with his Bible in his hands, and his face upturned to heaven. Around him are the figures of the great reformers before the Reformation: Wycliffe, of England; Waldo, of France; Huss, of Bohemia; and Sa

TWEEN FRANK

beneath a tree, when his companions sou

, 'were there as many devils as

e tiles on them everywhere met our eye

R'S H

here tel

RIED AND THE N

em. These latter tribes called themselves Deutsch, or the people. They settled between the Alps and the Baltic Sea. In time they ca

ERMANS ON AN

is day of worship was the fourth of th

news from earth. His temples were stone altars on des

ll, and thither he transported the soul

The heavens were peopled with minor gods, as well as the great gods, and the spirits

r and Virgil. The early German hero was Siegfried, and the song or epic that

of them was accustomed to change himself into an otter when he went to the river to fish. As he was fishing one d

ed Loki severely, and demanded of him that he should fill the otter's s

u the treasure you ask," said Loki;

er to secure it to himself, and then turned into a dragon or

nd. He was so strong that he could catch wild lions and hang them by the tail over the

d the birds told him that Reginn intended to kill him

in Old Deutsch, and the Germans calle

is skin so hard that nothing could hurt him except in one spot. A leaf

this woman would fill a volume. She had learned where his one vulnerable spot lay.

the latter sought to destroy Siegfried's life. His wife went

is invulnerabl

cept in

know th

es

ent over it, and I shall

sewed a patch on her husband's garment between

ER OF SI

ed entered into it as a champion. He rode forth in

hat the wine shou

wn on their breasts to drink from the streams when

ht in his

. He threw himself on his breast to drink, exposing his ba

ed by a conspirato

rifted on. The scene has been portrayed in art and song, and has left its impress on the poetic associ

de, near the landing-place of the Rhine steamers. The balconies and windows

ristian era. Here the Twenty-second Roman legion came, after its return from the conquest of Jerusalem, and brought Christianity with it, through some of its early converts. It was one

waldsen's statue of the great inventor announces to the trave

elightful zigzag we had ever ma

e world lies between Mayence and Cologne. If you take the railroad you will merely escape it in a few hours; if a steamboat, your

ndred islands. Its banks are continuous vineyards. Here is the famous district called the R

YE

ide ruins and convents, as well as on their low artificial trellises, a

ght hangs over the scene; the river is calm, and the boat drifts along in an atmosphere in wh

in sight

there,' said

I asked

ause-

t Bingen,-at Bing

p, tender voice the beginning of a po

he Legion lay d

's nursing, there was d

eside him, while his

ing glances, to hea

altered, as he took

ermore shall see my

a token to some dis

Bingen,-at Binge

visited the chapel of St. Rochus, on a hill near the town, because one of our party had so

island meadow fringed with osier twigs. It is little better than a square tower of a common village church, nor is there any truth in the story that Southey's poem has associated with it. Poor Bishop Hatto,

dignity of Archbishop of Mayence. He built a strong tower on t

they importuned him. He bade them go into a large granary, one day, promising them relief. When they had entered the buildin

cries of the dying for mercy

aid, 'hear th

ins to the bishop's palace. They filled all the rooms an

tower on the Rhi

afest place

igh, and the sh

is strong, and

o fearfully

d the Rhine w

s tower, and b

doors, and lo

down and cl

scream made

and saw two

from whence the

d looked; it wa

he grew more fe

screaming, m

rats that wer

swam over the

climbed the sh

tower their

k for which t

o be told by th

y come, and by m

ad never been

had never been w

s knees the

d faster his

and louder

f their teeth

windows, and

walls, helter-sk

ceiling, and up

d the left, from

without, from

nce to the b

ed their teeth a

pick the bi

the flesh fr

sent to do jud

in which the boatman sai

mean by robber cas

t passed their estates. The tax was regarded as unjust, and hence the l

stone ship at anchor in the river. It was formerly a rock, with one litt

felt that his end was near. He desired to die where he could hear the waves of the Rhine.

ls. They are in the Middle Rhine, or between Mayence and Bonn. The Middle Rhine has some thirty conspicuous castle

N THE

seemed a gateway to some new scene

ed. Dark rocks projected into th

h me, and I looked up to a high rock with an

to us quiet

the Lore

sently

is the

LORE

UL STORY OF

, repeated it in ver

iated with the noblest scenery of the river, with poetry and music. It is hardly equal to such legends a

e mere song would indicate. The origin and de

see at night the form of a beautiful nymph on the "Lei," or high rock of the river. Her limbs were moulded of air; a veil of mist and gems covered her face; her hair was long and golde

Lore, the enchantress. They believed that her fav

think that they saw a form of mist, very bright and lovely, a

rstition such a sto

e boatmen displeased her, she entranced them by her song, and drew them into the whirlpools under the rocks, where they disappeared forever. To the landsmen who offend

en summers, was delicate in health. Instead of devoting himself

ry and flute-like, and breathed the emotional sentiment of the heart of youth. As the boat drew near the Lei, Lore, the encha

swer him, but h

cter changed. He became rugged and manly, and abandoned the arts fo

t steeds, and ventured into places and merrily

ared from the rocks. The change that came over his person and chara

When alone, crossing a wild mountain or a ravine, he would se

o-ho-

sweet voice

-o-

follow

o-ho-

-o-

ed him towa

by a spirit, and that a spell was upon him, which boded destruction.

purple mist lay on the forests and river, and the moon poured he

rose and went into the woods. The song filled the air like a shower of golden notes. He followed it. It retreated. He went on

s being thrill with love. He was about to enter the grotto, when, oh thought of darkness and horror! the recollectio

o him. He was never himself again. He dreamed co

to follow the voice. It inflamed his love. His will, his senses,

good priest

ter, what s

ell, or it will e

he boat drifted near the Lei. The moon rose in full splend

te and filled th

r seemed entranced with the spiritual melody. Herman wa

e of the Virgin, let

xed on the rock. Ther

the oar, to tur

er drifted the b

and n

her white ligh

and n

was a

s shivered

lf, and floated on t

he was neve

ories were told by other members of the Club, but they w

meeting with a free transl

ic school of poets, and his illustrations of the power of mind over matter, in both prose and poetry, are often

OLD CAT

ts of the d

aming, wei

fins of old

t, renown

once sat

in pomp

wn still re

lchion rus

to the ki

red in dar

in his hands,

of immo

the castl

s the war

rch's sword

he vaults o

he vernal

e minstrel

t's song the

poet liv