When Fafnir was impaled by the two warriors’ fighting brands, the smitten serpent collapsed on the ground, and his life fluid flowed into the trenches dug throughout the battlefield. In celebration, Siegfried cut out Fafnir’s heart as an offering to Brunhild, and the twain bathed in the worm’s blood that flooded the pits. Their skins became hardened in impenetrable dragon-hide, but their immortality was betrayed by a linden leaf resting between their shoulder blades.
“Oh, wise swan-maiden!” Siegfried declared. “I’ve never met a lady so fair nor a hero so bold; only to you can I give an oath of eternal fidelity!”
“Yes, it must be so,” Brunhild reciprocated. “When first cursed by Odin, I vowed only to marry the greatest champion and king that lived. After warring countless battles and felling many kings, to you, I’ve never seen a superior. Now, let’s split this heart as meed between two warriors, for the next meal we share will be as husband and wife.”
After devouring Fafnir’s heart, Siegfried learned the language of birds, but the wise shield-maiden began to weep.
“My swan-maiden, what ill misgivings have fell upon you? Are we not to marry, and you to become high Queen of Netherlands? What evil power dared transgress you? Tell me, and the last thing they’ll feel is Gram’s fatal kiss!”
“No, that is not how the Fates permit,” Brunhild sobbed. “It is your destiny to forget our encounter and become enthralled under the spell of Lady Ute, Queen of the Burgundians. You will become compelled to drink her potion and forget our tidings. Every time you try to remember me, thenceforth, your mind will shatter into smaller pieces and become lulled into a deeper slumber, each more irreconcilable than the last. One day, you will meet her daughter, Lady Kriemhild, a woman of no equal in piety or beauty, and then your heart will know love again.” Katharina continued in greater hysterics, “I will become forced to marry a man I never loved! My heart will become agony, my mind will become fury, I will become Hell! I will watch the two of you in holy matrimony and cry because of what will never be! I will curse the Fates, and I will plot your demise! I will send—”
Raphael embraced Katharina and kissed her on the cheek. He grabbed the finest ring of red gold from Fafnir’s hoard and gently took Katharina’s hand. Slowly putting on the ring, he looked into her eyes and softly vowed:
Devour my heart and take my ring; now sing
Your fated wisdom and the dirge we bring.
Let Death or gods come, still, I will not give;
Through you and your love, I forever live.
This sacred truth, my life, I bestow;
This forbidden bond, only we shall know.
Let centuries pass and generations sail,
Together ‘gainst all powers, we’ll prevail.
Now go and ride on ‘cross the rolling plane,
My Brunhild brave, until we meet again.