a hundred
lovely maidens, all mounted on snow-white palfreys; and Siegfried, proud
and happy, on Greyfell, rode beside her.

When the party reached the river-bank, a pleasant sight met their eyes;
for the fleet had now drawn near, and the whole river, as far as the
eye could reach, glittered with the light reflected from the shield-hung
rails and the golden prows of the swift-coming ships. King Gunther's own
vessel led all the rest; and the king himself stood on the deck, with
the glorious Brunhild by his side. Nearer and nearer the fresh breeze
of the summer morning wafted the vessel to the shore, where stood
the waiting multitude. Softly the golden dragon glided in to the
landing-place, and quickly was it moored to the banks; then Gunther,
clad in his kingly garments, stepped ashore, and with him his lovely
queen. And a mighty shout of welcome, and an answering shout of
gladness, seemed to rend the sky as the waiting hosts beheld the sight.
And the queen-mother Ute, and the peerless Kriemhild, and her kingly
brothers, went forward to greet the pair. And Kriemhild took Brunhild by
the hand, and kissed her, and said,--

"Welcome, thrice welcome, dear sister! to thy home and thy kindred and
thy people, who hail thee as queen. And may thy days be full of joyance,
and thy years be full of peace!"

Then all the folk cried out their goodly greetings; and the sound of
their glad voices rang out sweet and clear in the morning air, and rose
up from the riverside, and was echoed among the hill-slopes, and carried
over the meadows and vineyards, to the farthest bounds of Burgundy-land.
And the matchless Brunhild, smiling, returned the happy greeting; and
her voice was soft and sweet, as she said,--

"O kin of the fair Rhineland, and folk of my new-found home! may your
days be summer sunshine, and your lives lack grief and pain; and may
this hour of glad rejoicing be the type of all hours to come!"

Then the lovely queen was seated in a golden wain which stood in waiting
for her; and Gunther mounted his own war-steed; and the whole company
made ready to ride to the castle. Never before had so pleasant a sight
been seen in Rhineland, as that glorious array of king-folk and lords
and ladies wending from river to fortress along the rose-strewn roadway.
Foremost went the king, and by his side was Siegfried on the radiant
Greyfell. Then came the queen's golden wain, drawn by two snow-white
oxen, which were led with silken cords b