Then stirred was the spirit of Gunther to win such an one for his bride:
In the hope thereof uplifted was his heart in kingly pride.
There was a Queen of Beauty enthroned beyond the sea;
Through all the world’s wide compass was none so fair as she.
In loveliness was she peerless, and of measureless bodily might;
For she matched her with champions that wooed her in speeding the lance’s flight,
And in hurling the stone, and in leaping far as it flew through the air.
Whosoever to wife would win her, that terrible test must dare,
And in contests three overcome her, that champion-maid high-born.
Let him fail in but one of the trials, and his head from his shoulders was shorn.