palaces also made him marvel, so white
they glittered in the sun.

But most of all he marvelled at this haughty queen, who refused to
marry any knight unless he could vanquish her in every contest to
which she summoned him.

Brunhild from the castle window saw the fair face and the strong limbs
of the hero, and demanded that he should be brought into her presence,
and as a sign of her favour she showed the young Prince her magic
horse Gana.

Yet Siegfried had no wish to conquer the warrior-queen and gain her
hand and her broad dominions for his own. Siegfried thought only of a
wonder-maiden, unknown, unseen as yet, though in his heart he hid an
image of her as he dreamed that she would be.

It is true that Siegfried had no love for the haughty Brunhild. It is
also true that he wished to prove to her that he alone was a match for
all her boldest warriors, and had even power to bewitch her magic
steed, Gana, if so he willed, and steal it from her side.

And so one day a spirit of mischief urged the Prince on to a gay
prank, as also a wayward spirit urged him no longer to brook Queen
Brunhild's haughty mien.

Before he left Isenland, therefore, Siegfried in a merry mood threw to
the ground the seven great gates that guarded the Queen's strong
castle. Then he called to Gana, the magic steed, to follow him into
the world, and this the charger did with right good-will.

Whether Siegfried sent Gana back to Isenland or not I do not know, but
I know that in the days to come Queen Brunhild never forgave the hero
for his daring feat.

When the Prince had left Isenland he rode on and on until he came to a
great mountain. Here near a cave he found two little dwarfish
Nibelungs, surrounded by twelve foolish giants. The two little
Nibelungs were princes, the giants were their counsellors.

Now the King of the Nibelungs had but just died in the dark little
underground town of Nibelheim, and the two tiny princes were the sons
of the dead king.

But they had not come to the mountain-side to mourn for their royal
father. Not so indeed had they come, but to divide the great hoard of
treasure which the King had bequeathed to them at his death.

Already they had begun to quarrel over the treasure, and the twelve
foolish giants looked on, but did not know what to say or do, so they
did nothing, and never spoke at all.

The dwarfs had themselves carried the hoard out of the cave where
usually it was hidden, and they had spread