"If heed ye will not Hagen, / still Rumold doth advise
—For ye have faithful service / from me in willing wise—
That here at home ye tarry / for the love of me,
And leave the royal Etzel / afar with Kriemhild to be.
"Where in the world might ever / ye more happy be
Than here where from danger / of every foeman free,
Where ye may go as likes you / in goodliest attire,
Drink wine the best, and stately / women meet your heart's desire.
"And daily is your victual / the best that ever knew
A king of any country. / And were the thing not true,
At home ye yet should tarry / for sake of your fair wife
Ere that in childish fashion / ye thus at venture set your life.
"Thus rede I that ye go not. / Mighty are your lands,
And at home more easy may ye / be freed from hostile hands
Than if ye pine in Hunland. / How there it is, who knows?
O Master, go not thither, / —such is the rede that Rumold owes."
"We'll ne'er give o'er the journey," / Gernot then did say,
"When thus our sister bids us / in such friendly way
And Etzel, mighty monarch. / Wherefore should we refrain?
Who goes not gladly thither, / here at home may he remain."