“Welcome, my lords! O Gunther and Giselher, welcome be ye!
Gernot and Hagen, welcome! Lord Volker, welcome to thee
And to Dankwart the battle-eager!—but hath no man told you the tale
How still for the Niblung Hero doth Kriemhild weep and wail?”
“Let her weep so long as she listeth!” scornfully Hagen replied.
“Many a year hath fleeted since her lord was smitten and died.
Ay, let her joy and her solace be the love of the Lord of the Hun!
Siegfried returneth never; he was buried long agone.”
“Enough of the slaying of Siegfried! His memory is not dead.
So long as Kriemhild liveth may the vengeance-snare be spread.”