[2] The gray old cathedral in which they knelt together still
stands; but of Valdemar's strong castle only a grass-grown hill is
left. It was the privilege of a bride in those days to ask a gift of
her husband on the morning after the wedding, and have it granted
without question. Two boons did Dagmar crave,
"right early in the morning, long before it was day":
one, that the plow-tax might be forgiven the peasant, and that those
who for rising against it had been laid in irons be set free; the
other, that the prison door of Bishop Valdemar be opened. Bishop
Valdemar was the arch-enemy of the King. The first request he
granted; but the other he refused for cause:
An' he comes out, Bishop Valdemar,
Widow he makes you this year.
And he did his worst; for in the end the King yielded to Dagmar's
prayers, and much mischief came of it.
[Footnote 2: Pronounced Reebe, in two syllables.]
Seven years the good queen lived. Seven centuries have not dimmed
the memory of them, or of her. The King was away in a distant part
of the country when they sent to him in haste with the message that
the queen was dying. The ballad tells of his fears as he sees
Dagmar's page coming, and they proved only too true.
The king his checker-board shut in haste,
The dice they rattled and rung.
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