the Nibelungen (Google Books ⧉, Amazon ⧉, Bookshop ⧉)

The Travels of Marco Polo

They recall still more closely Brunhild, in the Nibelungen: “a royal maiden who reigned beyond the sea: From sunrise to the sundown no paragon had she. All boundless as her beauty was her strength was peerless too, And evil plight hung o’er the knight who dared her love to woo. For he must try three bouts with her; the whirling spear to fling; To pitch the massive stone; and then to follow with a spring; And should he beat in every feat his wooing well has sped, But he who fails must lose his love, and likewise lose his head.”