He said, "I never
have seen the famed hero of Netherlands, yet I am sure that yonder
knight is none but Sir Siegfried."
"And who," asked the wondering people, "may Siegfried be?"
"Siegfried," answered Sir Hagen, "is a truly wonderful knight.
Once when riding all alone, he came to a mountain where lay the
treasure of the king of the Nibelungs. The king's two sons had
brought it out from the cave in which it had been hidden, to divide
it between them. But they did not agree about the division. So
when Seigfied drew near both princes said, 'Divide for us, Sir
Siegfried, our father's hoard.' There were so many jewels that
one hundred wagons could not carry them, and of ruddy gold there
was even more. Seigfied made the fairest division he could, and as
a reward the princes gave him their father's sword called Balmung.
But although Siegfried had done his best to satisfy them with his
division, they soon fell to quarreling and fighting, and when he
tried to separate them they made an attack on him. To save his own
life he slew them both. Alberich, a mountain dwarf, who had long
been guardian of the Nibelung hoard, rushed to avenge his masters;
but Siegfried vanquished him and took from him his cap of darkness
which made its wearer invisible and gave him the strength of twelve
men.
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