valiant Siegfried the hearts of young and old
When for his sake among them she shower'd the ruddy gold.

_3d Adventure._ Hearing of the beauty of Kriemhild, Siegfried decides
to go and woo her, taking with him only a troop of eleven men. His
arrival at Worms causes a sensation, and Hagen of Tronje--a cousin of
King Gunther--informs his master that this visitor once distinguished
himself by slaying a dragon and that he is owner of the vast
Nibelungen hoard. This treasure once belonged to two brothers, who
implored Siegfried to divide it between them, a task he undertook in
exchange for the sword--Balmung--which lay on top of the heap of gold.
But no sooner had he made the division than the brothers mortally
wounded each other and died on their heaps of gold, leaving their
treasure to Siegfried, who thus became the richest man in the world.

On hearing the new-comer announce he has come to challenge Gunther to
a duel, the Burgundians are dismayed, but they soon succeed in
disarming their guest, and finally persuade him to remain with them a
year, entertaining him with games and tournaments in which Siegfried
distinguished himself greatly, to the satisfaction of Kriemhild who
witnesses his prowess through a latticed window.

_4th Adventure._ Toward the end of Siegfried's visit, it is reported
that the kings of Saxony and Denmark are advancing with four thousand
men. The dismay of the Burgundians is such that Siegfried proposes to
go forth and overpower the enemy with a force of merely one thousand
men. Only too glad to accept this offer, Gunther allows Siegfried to
depart, and is overjoyed when the young hero comes back with two
prisoner monarchs in his train. The messenger who announces
Siegfried's triumph is, moreover, richly rewarded by Kriemhild, who
flushes with pleasure on hearing the praise bestowed upon her hero.

_5th Adventure._ After describing the tournament held at Worms in
honor of this victory, the poet tells us how Siegfried and Kriemhild
met there face to face, and how they fell in love with each other at
first sight.

Now went she forth, the loveliest, as forth the morning goes
From misty clouds out-beaming; then all his weary woes
Left him, in heart who bore her, and so, long time, had done.
He saw there stately standing the fair, the peerless one.

The result was of course an immediate proposal, which Gunther was glad
to accept in his sister's name.

_6th Adventure._ He bargained, how