be that the Queen thought that if the knight were indeed
Siegfried she would revenge herself on him now for the mischievous
pranks he had played the last time he was in her kingdom. In any case
she said, "If the hero is here he shall enter into contest with me,
and he shall pay for his boldness with his life, for I shall be the
victor."

Then with five hundred warriors, each with his sword in hand, Brunhild
came down to the knights from Burgundy.

"Be welcome, Siegfried," she cried, "yet wherefore hast thou come
again to Isenland?"

"I thank thee for thy greeting, lady," said the Prince, "but thou
hast welcomed me before my lord. He, King Gunther, ruler over the fair
realms of Burgundy, hath come hither to wed with thee."

Brunhild was displeased that the mighty hero should not himself seek
to win her as a bride, yet since for all his prowess he seemed but a
vassal of the King, she answered, "If thy master can vanquish me in
the contests to which I bid him, then I will be his wife, but if I
conquer thy master, his life, and the lives of his followers will be
forfeited."

"What dost thou demand of my master?" asked Hagen.

"He must hurl the spear with me, throw the stone from the ring, and
leap to where it has fallen," said the Queen.

Now while Brunhild was speaking, Siegfried whispered to the King to
fear nothing, but to accept the Queen's challenge. "I will be near
though no one will see me, to aid thee in the struggle," he whispered.

Gunther had such trust in the Prince that he at once cried boldly,
"Queen Brunhild, I do not fear even to risk my life that I may win
thee for my bride."

Then the bold maiden called for her armor, but when Gunther saw her
shield, "three spans thick with gold and iron, which four chamberlains
could hardly bear," his courage began to fail.

While the Queen donned her silken fighting doublet, which could turn
aside the sharpest spear, Siegfried slipped away unnoticed to the
ship, and swiftly flung around him his Cloak of Darkness. Then unseen
by all, he hastened back to King Gunther's side.

A great javelin was then given to the Queen, and she began to fight
with her suitor, and so hard were her thrusts that but for Siegfried
the King would have lost his life.

"Give me thy shield," whispered the invisible hero in the King's ear,
"and tell no one that I am here." Then as the maiden hurled her spear
with all her force against the shield which she thought was held by
the Ki