The queen answered, "How cometh it to pass, Sir Siegfried, that thou
sawest not the game whereat Gunther hath won?"

Said Hagen of Burgundy, "While we were downcast by reason of thee, O
Queen, and afterward, when the king of Rhineland had beaten thee at the
sports, Siegfried was at the ship, and knoweth naught of what hath
passed."

"Right glad am I," said Siegfried, "that thy wooing hath prospered, and
that none is thy master. Now must thou follow us, noble Lady, to the
Rhine."

But Brunhild answered, "Not yet; I must first summon my friends and my
liegemen. Not so lightly can I quit my land. Certes, I will send for my
kinsfolk afore I go."

She dispatched envoys over all, and bade her friends and her lieges haste
to Isenstein. She gave to each princely apparel.

All day long, late and early, troops of knights rode into Brunhild's
castle, till Hagen said, "Alack! What have we done? Some hurt will
befall us from Brunhild's men. We know not her real intent. What if she
spurn us when her forces are gathered together? Then were we all dead
men, and this maiden were born to our woe!"

But stark Siegfried said, "I will see to that, and hinder what thou
fearest. I will bring to your help a body of chosen knights that thou
knowest not yet. Ask me no further, for I will hence, and God guard you
meanwhile. I will return shortly, and bring with me a thousand knights,