sword to his master.

Mimer looked it over with the greatest care and made ready to test it.

He threw the fleeces of twelve sheep into the stream. The current
carried them on its bosom to Siegfried's sword. Instantly, each
piece was divided as it met the blade. Mimer shouted aloud in his
Joy.

"Balmung" (for that was the name Siegfried gave the sword) "is the
finest weapon man ever made," he cried.

Siegfried was now prepared to meet the proud knight of Burgundy.

The very first thrust of the sword, Balmung, did the work. The head
and shoulders of the giant were severed from the rest of the body.
They rolled down the hillside and fell into the Rhine, where they can
be seen even now, when the water is clear. At least, so runs the
story. The trunk remained on the hilltop and was turned to stone.

Soon after this Mimer found that Siegfried longed to see the world
and make himself famous. So he bound the sword Balmung to the young
prince's side, and told him to seek a certain person, who would give
him a fine war-horse.

Siegfried went to this man, from whom he obtained a matchless steed.
In fact it had descended from the great god Odin's magic horse.
Siegfried, you can see, must have lived in a time when men believed
in gods and other wonderful beings.