Thereto return'd King Gunther, "I will do no less;
If Siegfried so has boasted, he shall the same confess,
Or frankly disavow it." Then turn'd he to his band,
And bade them summon forthwith the Chief of Netherland.
XLIII
No sooner had Sir Siegfried seen them so ill appaid
(He knew not what had happen'd), suddenly he said,
"Why are these women weeping? the cause, I pray you, show,
And why I'm hither summon'd, I should be glad to know."
XLIV
Thereto replied King Gunther, "With anguish I'm oppress'd.
My wife has told me something that's poison in my breast.
She says, thou hast been boasting her virgin love to have won;
So thy wife Kriemhild told her. Hast thou, Sir Knight, so done?"
XLV
"Not I," made answer Siegfried, "and if she so did say,
Ere I rest, she surely shall for her folly pay,
And before all thy liegemen my solemn oath I'll take,
That not to her nor others such words I ever spake."
XLVI
Then said the King of Rhineland, "Make this at once appear;
The oath, which thou hast proffer'd, take before us here,
And of all idle charges at once I'll set thee free."
In circle the Burgundians all standing you might see.
XLVII