Then looking about she asked, "Who is the hero that has come to waken me?"
"I am Siegfried," he replied modestly.
"Siegfried, son of Sieglinde?" she cried. "Then I knew your mother in those past years before I fell asleep!"
"Oh, tell me of her and of my father!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining. "But, I am not thoughtful," he added in another tone. "You are in need of refreshment after your long slumber."
"I am a daughter of the gods," she answered, "and feel no faintness or weariness as mortals do."
Siegfried, who had come near to her, drew back as though struck by a blow.
"A daughter of the gods!" he exclaimed. "I—I hoped to claim you for my bride!"
In his ingenuous youth, his inner thoughts rose naturally to his lips.
Brunhilde smiled sadly and shook her head.
"See yonder horse, which also has been asleep?" she asked. "It is Grani, my winged steed, upon which I used to ride through the clouds with my sisters. Would you bid me stay upon earth?"