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. The hero then ordered Alberich to place the treasure again
in the mountain cave and guard it for him."

Hagen then told another story of Siegfried:

"Once he slew a fierce dragon and bathed himself in its blood, and
this turned the hero's skin to horn, so that no sword or spear can
wound him."

When Hagen had told these tales he advised King Gunther and the
people of Burgundy to receive Siegfried with all honor.

So, as the fashion was in those times, games were held in
the courtyard of the palace in honor of Siegfried, and Kriemhilda
watched the sport from her window.

For a full year Siegfried stayed at the court of King Gunther,
but never in all that time told why he had come and never once saw
Kriemhilda.

At the end of the year sudden tidings came that the Saxons and
Danes, as was their habit, were pillaging the lands of Burgundy.
At the head of a thousand Burgundian knights Siegfried conquered
both Saxons and Danes. The king of the Danes was taken prisoner
and the Saxon king surrendered.