the gold which Guest has shown us is
the finer, and anyone who looks at it must think so too."

Everybody agreed with the King. Then he decided the wager in Guest's
favour, and the other guests came to the conclusion that they had made
fools of themselves over the business.

Then Guest said: "Take your money and keep it yourselves, for I don't
need it; but don't make any more wagers with strangers, for you never
know when you may hit upon someone who has both seen and heard more
than you have.--I thank you, Sire, for your decision!"

Then the King said: "Now I want you to tell me where you got that gold
from, which you carry about with you."

Guest replied: "I am loth to tell you, because no-one will believe
what I have to say about it."

"Let us hear it all the same," said the King, "for you promised before
that you would tell us your story."

"If I tell you the history of this piece of gold," replied Guest, "I
expect you will want to hear the rest of my story along with it."

"I expect that that is just what will happen," said the King.

IV. "Then I will tell you how once I went south into the land of the
Franks. I wanted to see for myself what sort of a prince Sigurth the
son of Sigmund was, and to discover if the reports which had reached
me of his great beauty and courage were true. Nothing happened
worth mentioning until I came to the land of the Franks and met
King Hjalprek. He had a great court around him. Sigurth, the son of
Sigmund, the son of Voelsung, and of Hjoerdis, the daughter of Eylimi,
was there at that time. Sigmund had fallen in battle against the sons
of Hunding, and Hjoerdis had married Alf the son of King Hjalprek.
There Sigurth grew up together with all the other sons of King
Sigmund. Among these were Sinfjoetli and Helgi, who surpassed all men
in strength and stature. Helgi slew King Hunding, thereby earning the
name Hundingsbani. The third son was called Hamund. Sigurth, however,
outstripped all his brothers, and it is a well-known fact that he was
the noblest of all warrior princes, and the very model of a king in
heathen times.

At that time, Regin, the son of Hreithmar, had also come to King
Hjalprek. He was a dwarf in stature, but there was no-one more cunning
than he. He was a wise man, but malign and skilled in magic. Regin
taught Sigurth many things and was devoted to him. He told him about
his birth and his wondrous adventures.

And when I had been there a little while, I e