To the eyes of the watching maidens those knights their prowess showed:
Right well with the host of his warriors Siegfried the valiant rode;
In tourney before the pavilion aye to and fro he wheeled:
With the hero a thousand Niblungs went sweeping across the field.
Then strode forth Hagen of Troneg at Gunther the King’s behest,
And courteously the hero bade the knights from their jousting rest,
That they should not o’erpall with the dust-cloud the maidens fair and sweet;
And the knightly guests blithe-hearted rendered obedience meet.
Then out spake Gernot the noble: “Awhile let the horses abide
Till the day on-draweth to coolness, and so shall our escort ride