And withal to my mother, to tell them who to the land draw near.
So then, Lord Siegfried, I pray thee that thou wouldst bear this word,
And so will I aye be beholden to thee,” said the Rhineland’s lord.
Yet loth was Siegfried the valiant, and fain would have said him nay,
Until the King besought him, and thus did Gunther pray:
He said unto him: “For my love’s sake thitherward shouldst thou ride,
And withal for the sake of Kriemhild, the maiden lovely-eyed,
To the end that the royal maiden with me may requite thy pain.”
When heard was her name of Siegfried, the knight was exceeding fain.
“Lay on me what charge thou pleasest,” he answered, “all shall be done: