The Story of Siegfried
By James Baldwin
And an excellent smith he became. No one could do more work than he, and none wrought with more excellent skill. The heaviest chains and the most substantial bolts, for prison or treasure-house, were but as toys in his stout hands, so easily and quickly did he beat them into shape. And he was like cunning in the work of the most delicate and brittle kind. Ornaments of gold and silver, studded with the rarest jewels, were fashioned into beautiful forms by his deft fingers. And among Mimer’s apprentices, none learned the master’s lore so readily nor gained the master’s favour more. One morning, the master, Mimer, came to the smithy with a troubled look.
It was clear that something had gone amiss, and what it was the apprentices soon learned from the smith himself. Never, until lately, had anyone questioned Mimer’s right to be called the foremost smith in all the world, but now a rival had come forward. An unknown upstart—one Amilias, in Burgundy—had made a suit of armour, which, he boasted, no stroke of the sword could dint, and no blow of spear could scratch. He had sent a challenge to all other smiths, both in the Rhine country and elsewhere, to equal that piece of workmanship or else acknowledge themselves his underlings and vassals. For many days had Mimer himself toiled, alone and vainly, trying to forge a sword whose edge the boasted armour of Amilias could not foil, and now, in despair, he came to ask the help of his pupils and apprentices.
“Who among you is skilful enough to forge such a sword?” he asked. One after another, the pupils shook their heads. Valiant, the foreman of the apprentices, said, “I have heard much about that wonderful armour and its extreme hardness, and I doubt if any skill can make a sword with the edge so sharp and true as to cut into it. The best that can be done is to try to make another war coat whose temper shall equal that of Amilias’s armour.”
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James Baldwin
James Baldwin (1841–1925) was an American educator and administrator.
Biography.
He served as the superintendent of Indiana’s school system for 18 years. Then, he became a widely published textbook editor and children’s author on legends, mythology, biography, and literature. James Baldwin was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, on December 15, 1841. He became an educator and administrator in that state starting at 24. He served as the superintendent of Indiana’s school system for 18 years.
He was one of the most prolific authors of school books for children at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. In addition to the Baldwin Readers (1897), he co-authored the Harper Readers (1888) and the Expressive Readers (1911). He wrote over thirty books about famous people in history and retold classical stories. His publications numbered 54 volumes. It is estimated that 26 million copies of his works are sold worldwide, including in China and Indonesia. A self-educated man, he became a school superintendent before working as an editor for Harper’s and later for the American Book Company.
He wrote over fifty books, including Fifty Famous Stories Retold (1896) and Abraham Lincoln, a True Life (1904). James Baldwin died at his home in South Orange, New Jersey, on September 1, 1925.
James Baldwin
