“These are his deeds,” said Hagen; “bolder knight there never was. Yet more I might tell of him. With his hand he slew a dragon, and bathed him in its blood, that his skin is as horn, and no weapon can cut him, as hath been proven on him ofttimes.” “Let us welcome the young lord, that we come not in his hate. So fair is he of his body that one may not look unfriendly thereon; with his strength he hath done great deeds.” Then spake the great king, “Belike thou sayest sooth. Knightly he standeth there as for the onset—he and his warriors with him. We will go down to him and greet him.” “Thou mayest do that with honour,” answered Hagen; “for he is of high birth, even a great king’s son. By Christ, there is somewhat in his bearing that showeth he hath ridden hither on no slight matter.” The king of the land said, “He is right welcome, for I perceive that he is brave and noble, the which shall profit him in Burgundy.” Gunther went out to Siegfried. The king and his men gave the strangers courteous welcome, and the valiant man bowed before them because they greeted him so fair. “I would know,” said the king, “whence noble Siegfried cometh, and what he seeketh at Worms by the Rhine.” The guest answered him, “I will tell thee that readily. Word hath reached me in the land of my father, that, hereby thee, dwell the prowest ever sworn to king. I have heard much of these, and would know them; for this I am come hither. Thy knightliness also I hear praised, and am told that nowhere is a better king. So say the folk throughout the land; and, till I have proven it, I will not depart hence. I also am a king that shall wear a crown, and I would have men say of me that the country and the people are rightly mine. Thereto I pledge both honour and life. If thou art valiant, as they say, I care not whom it liketh or irketh, I will take from thee all thou hast, land and castles, and they shall be mine.” The king and his men marvelled when they heard this strange saying, that he would take their land; when the warriors understood it they were wroth. “Wherein have I wronged thee,” said Gunther the knight, “that I should yield to the might of any man what my father ruled so long with honour? We will show thee to thy hurt that we also are brave knights.” “I will abide by my purpose,” said the doughty man. “If thou canst not hold they land in peace, I will rule it. Also what I have in fee, if thou overcome, shall be thine. With thy country be it even as with mine. To the one of us twain that overcometh shall the whole belong, people and land.” But Hagen and Gernot answered him back straightway. “We desire not,” said Gernot, “to win new kingdoms at the cost of dead heroes. Our land is rich, and we are the rightful lords. The folk desire none better.”