DURING THE NARRATION of the battle against the infidels, there is no mention of Constantin, who does not personally take part in the attempt to execute Rother. This serves to create some narrative distance between him and his infidel allies. The narrator moves the focus from the battlefield to the city by following the path of one of the minstrels, who has escaped death with only a shaved head and a beating at the hands of Grimme, as he returns to the court to report what has transpired. He warns them that Rother will now hang them all, unless they flee. Hanging Constantin would, of course, be the perfect response to his having actively encouraged Rother's hanging by the infidels. It is not without irony that the narrator mentions Constantin's wealth and might at the very moment his vassals prepare to abandon him and flee for their lives, and he sits helplessly awaiting the fate he so richly deserves:

Constantin has reached his low point, and he would no doubt be even unhappier, were he aware of Grimme's plans for him. Grimme proposes that they fetch Rother's wife, then burn Constantinople to the ground and slay all its inhabitants, including Constantin — the “good” queen seems forgotten here — sparing only those who manage to flee the burning city and evade the watchful eye of Witold, who will guard the city's gate (lines 4387–96).