me. (#5:) But the maid would not stir from the slain; with shield and spear I long gave her shelter till shield and spear (:#5) were hewn from my hand in the fray. (#62) Wounded and weaponless, there I stood (#62) – and saw the maiden die: (#60:) I was harried by the wild hunt (:#60) – on the lifeless bodies she lay dead. (#66: Turning to Sieglinde with a look of sorrowful fervour: [[ #70 voc: ]] now you know, you questioning woman, why Friedmund is not my name (:#70)!
(He stands up and walks over to the hearth: [[ #71: ]] Sieglinde turns pale and stares, deeply shaken, at the ground.)
Hunding: (rising to his feet) I know an unruly race: what others hold dear they deem unholy: (more forcefully) they’re hated by all – and by me. (#67) I was called to vengeance, to seek requital for kinsmen’s blood: I came too late and now come home to find the fleeing traitor’s trace here inside my own house. – (advancing downstage) My house, Woelfing, protects you today; for the night I have taken you in: (more animatedly: #67:) but with sturdy weapons defend yourself in the morning; I choose the day for the fight; you’ll pay me tribute for all who died.
(#63: With an anxious gesture, Sieglinde steps between the two men)
[Hunding orders Sieglinde out and to make his night drink.]
(For a moment, Sieglinde remains where she is, undecided and pensive. #63. Then she turns, slowly and with hesitant steps, to the stillroom. There she pauses once again and remains standing, lost in thought, with her face half turned away. With quiet resolve she opens the cupboard, fills a drinking-horn and shakes some spices into it from a container. She then turns to Siegmund in order to meet his gaze, which he keeps permanently fixed on her. She notices that Hunding is watching them and turns at once to the bedchamber. On the steps she turns round once again, gazes yearningly at Siegmund and indicates with her eyes, continuously and with eloquent explicitness, a particular spot in the ash-tree’s trunk. #40 or #64?; #57. Hunding flares up and drives her on her away with a violent gesture. With a final glance at Siegmund (#57), she goes into the bedchamber and closes the door behind her. Hunding takes down his weapons from the tree-trunk. #67)
