[482]
The king, both good and stately, then began to greet
With well-bred, seemly bearing, the maid he thought was meet
To wear the crown hereafter. He gazed on her with yearning;
Her in his arms he folded, and fondly kissed the maid, her face upturning.
[483]
Then one by one he welcomed all the maidens fair;
But one there was among them so lofty in her air
She might of birth be kingly: in nought her kin were lacking.
She was one of the maidens who with the griffin long her home was making.