That men must needs unto Hagen the palm of honour yield.
Yet a child in years was the warrior what time he won such praise,
And now are they men grey-headed which were boys in those far days;
But now hath he gained war-cunning, and grimmer than he is none,
And he beareth the great sword Balmung by a deed of darkness won.”
So ended their vaunting, for no man dared battle with such stern foes.
In the heart of the Daughter of Princes the anguish-tide high rose,
As backward recoiled her champions: ay, death seemed all too near
At the hands of the viol-minstrel—good cause had they for fear!
How oft do men’s hearts fail them, that they shrink from an emprise aghast