creatures in the sea paused to behold the sight. The mermen rested from
their weary search for hidden treasures, and the mermaids forgot to comb
their long tresses, as the radiant vessel and its hero-freight glided
past. And even old King AEgir left his brewing-kettle in his great hall,
and bade his daughters, the white-veiled Waves, cease playing until the
vessel should safely reach its haven.

When, at length, the day had passed, and the evening twilight had come,
Siegfried saw that the ship was nearing land; but it was a strange
land.[EN#17] Like a fleecy cloud it appeared to rest above the waves,
midway between the earth and the sky; a dark mist hung upon it, and it
seemed a land of dreams and shadows. The ship drew nearer and nearer
to the mysterious shore, and as it touched the beach the sailors rested
from their rowing. Then Siegfried and the horse Greyfell leaped ashore;
but, when they looked back, the fair vessel that had carried them was
nowhere to be seen. Whether it had suddenly been clutched by the
greedy fingers of the Sea-queen Ran, and dragged down into her deep
sea-caverns, or whether, like the wondrous ship Skidbladner, it had been
folded up, and made invisible to the eyes of men, Siegfried never knew.
The thick mists and the darkness of night closed over and around both
hero and horse; and they dared not stir, but stood long hours in the
silent gloom, waiting for the coming of the dawn.

At length the morning came, but the light was not strong enough to
scatter the fogs and thick vapors that rested upon the land. Then
Siegfried mounted Greyfell; and the sunbeams began to flash from the
horse's mane and from the hero's glittering mail-coat; and the hazy
clouds fled upward and away, until they were caught and held fast by
great mist-giants, who stood like sentinels on the mountain-tops. As
the shining pair came up from the sea, and passed through the woods and
valleys of the Nibelungen Land, there streamed over all that region such
a flood of sunlight as had never before been seen.

In every leafy tree, and behind every blade of grass, elves and fairies
were hidden; and under every rock and in every crevice lurked cunning
dwarfs. But Siegfried rode straight forward until he came to the steep
side of a shadowy mountain. There, at the mouth of a cavern, a strange
sight met his eyes. Two young men, dressed in princes' clothing, sat
upon the ground: their features were all haggard and gaunt, and pinched