‘Never so far from his kingdom was such a goodly band
Sent forth by a king, as Etzel hath sent to Burgundia-land!’
Know thou, O King most mighty,—let the thing not give thee pause—
The wife of the chiefest hero on earth, of Siegfried, she was,
Of Siegmund’s son: that champion aforetime here didst thou see.
Right worship-worthy might all men account him verily.”
Answered and spake King Etzel: “If she was his worthy mate,
That noble prince’s glory is so exceeding great
That wholly it were for mine honour to call her my queen, I trow.
So great is the fame of her beauty that mine heart goeth out to her now.”