For a fence of his breast the hero his shield before him flung:
Swift to the meeting with Hagen to the door of the hall he sprang;
Then burst forth ’twixt those champions a mighty battle-clang.
The hands of the twain, ere they grappled, sped the javelins’ flight:
They pierced through the strong-knit bucklers, they rang on the hauberks bright,
That high above their helmets the splintered spear-staves flew;
And swiftly the two grim warriors their swords from the scabbards drew.
Measureless might had Hagen the dauntless above all men;
Yet starkly did Iring smite him, that the castle rang again:
Through the halls and the towers of the palace did their blows’ wild echoes thrill.