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III.]

The host and all his warriors received the guest so well

That nothing to good breeding was lacking, sooth to tell.

The goodly man, on his side, bowed low before them there,

And thanked them for their greeting, so friendly and so fair.

“I marvel at these riddles,” spake Gunther, suddenly,

“Whence have you, noble Siegfried, come unto this country?

And for what purpose come you to Worms upon the Rhine?”

The guest unto the king said: “To answer shall be mine.

“To me were told the tidings, erst in my fatherland,

That here with you were dwelling (which I would know firsthand,)

The boldest of all warriors— oft said they so to me,—

That ever monarch governed: lo, I am come to see!

“Thy fame hath also reached me; I hear the knights declare

That never king was bolder nor braver, anywhere.

Such is the common folk-talk o’er all the land, in sooth,

And I shall have no quiet until I know the truth.

“I also am a warrior, and shall too wear a crown;

And I shall ne’er content me until I win renown,

Until the folk say of me, that I have proved my right

To reign o’er land and people: my honour do I plight

“And head thereto. And wert thou as bold as some men say,

I will now wrestle from thee whate’er is thine to-day;

I care not who gainsay it, or who may like, or hate:

Thy broad lands and thy castles shall mine be, soon or late!”