Page:The Nibelungenlied - tr. Shumway - 1909.pdf/103

Rh Then spake King Gunther: “Never was woman born so strong and bold that I might not vanquish her with mine own hand.”

“Be still,” spake Siegfried, “ye little know her strength.”

“So will I advise you,” spake Hagen then, “that ye beg Siegfried to share with you this heavy task. This is my rede, sith he doth know so well how matters stand with Brunhild.”

The king spake: “Wilt thou help me, noble Siegfried, to woo this lovely maid? And thou doest what I pray thee and this comely dame become my love, for thy sake will I risk both life and honor.”

To this Siegfried, the son of Siegmund, answered: “I will do it, and thou give me thy sister Kriemhild, the noble queen. For my pains I ask no other meed.”

“I’ll pledge that, Siegfried, in thy hand,” spake then Gunther, “and if fair Brunhild come hither to this land, I’ll give thee my sister unto wife. Then canst thou live ever merrily with the fair.”

This the noble warriors swore oaths to do, and so the greater grew their hardships, till they brought the lady to the Rhine. On this account these brave men must later be in passing danger. Siegfried had to take with him hence the cloak which he, the bold hero, had won ’mid dangers from a dwarf, Alberich he hight. These bold and mighty knights now made them ready for the journey. When Siegfried wore the Cloak of Darkness he had strength enow: the force of full twelve men beside his own. With cunning arts he won the royal maid. This cloak was fashioned so, that what-