Said Atli: "Think of thy life, and the days that shall be yet,
And thyself, maybe, as aforetime, in the throne of thy father set."
"O Eastland liar," said Gunnar, "no more will I live and rue."
Said Atli: "The word I have spoken, thy word may yet make true."
"I weary of speech," said the Niblung, "with those that are lesser than I."
"Yet words of mine shalt thou hearken," said Atli, "or ever thou die."
"So crieth the fool," said Gunnar, "on the God that his folly hath slain."
Said Atli: "Forth shall my word, nor yet shall be gathered again."
"Yet meeter were thy silence; for thy folk make ready to sing."
"O Gunnar, I long for the Gold with the heart and the will of a king."
"This were good to tell," said Gunnar, "to the Gods that fashioned the earth!"