Till the tidings came of a fair-one on a wind of rumour blown.
Fair past all heart’s desiring was the Star of Burgundy—
She was doomed to be joy and anguish unto him in the days to be!
With the fame of her glorious beauty there flew forth far and wide
The tale of the queenly spirit, of the heart of tameless pride;
And the souls of princely champions were set on fire of the word,
That from lands afar to the guest-hall of Gunther the King they spurred.
But for all the love of the wooers, and their burning words thereof,
No whit were Kriemhild’s heart-strings once swept by the finger of love,
That she deigned to take of them any for the love of her life and her king.