Till nine full days were accomplished, they constrained…

Till nine full days were accomplished, they constrained them there to abide, Till the eager knights uplifted a voice of complaining, and cried: "Will ye aye withhold us from riding back to our land at all?" Then to a council did Siegfried his friends and his kinsmen call. He prayed them to give their counsel, should he go to the Rhine or forbear: "Gunther, my fair Queen's brother, entreateth me to fare To the land where he and his brethren a mighty feast will array; And fain would I go, but his kingdom is exceeding far away. And they make request that Kriemhild shall thitherward fare with me. Give counsel, friends and kinsmen, shall this her journey be? Were it but to lead through kingdoms thrice ten a warrior-band, Glad help and willing service should they have of Siegfried's hand." Unto him did the knights make answer: "If thy will and thy pleasure it is To journey to this high feast-tide, our rede unto thee is this: With good knights twice five hundred hence shalt thou ride to the Rhine, So through all thy stay in Burgundia shall royal honour be thine."