Then Brunhild said aloud to her folk, when she saw the hero at the far end of the ring unhurt. “Come hither at once, my kinsmen and my lieges. Ye are subject henceforth to King Gunther.”
The bold men laid the weapons from their hands at the feet of great Gunther of Burgundy. For they deemed he had won the game by his own strength.
He greeted them fair, for he was a courteous man, and he took the beautiful maiden by the hand. She gave him power in her kingdom, whereat bold Hagen rejoiced.
She bade the noble knight to the hall, where a multitude was assembled, that showed much observance through fear of his prowess. So, by Siegfried’s might, they were delivered from all peril.
But Siegfried was wise, and stowed away his Tarnkappe with care; then he went back where the women sat, and said feigningly to Gunther, “Wherefore delayest thou to begin the sports that the queen proposed, let us now behold the issue thereof”—as if the cunning man knew naught of the matter.
The queen answered, “How cometh it to pass, Sir Siegfried, that thou sawest not the game whereat Gunther hath won?”
Said Hagen of Burgundy, “While we were downcast by reason of thee, O Queen, and afterward, when the king of Rhineland had beaten thee at the sports, Siegfried was at the ship, and knoweth naught of what hath passed.”
“Right glad am I,” said Siegfried, “that thy wooing hath prospered, and that none is thy master. Now must thou follow us, noble Lady, to the Rhine.”
But Brunhild answered, “Not yet; I must first summon my friends and my liegemen. Not so lightly can I quit my land. Certes, I will send for my kinsfolk afore I go.”
She dispatched envoys over all, and bade her friends and her lieges haste to Isenstein. She gave to each princely apparel.