No sooner had he drunk, than he raised his eyes to thank Gutrune and beholding her, loved her.
"I drink to thee, dear Brünnhilde," he had been about to say, but looking, he loved another.
"What is thy sister's name?" he asked of Gunther in a low voice, scarcely daring to speak for fear his love would depart.
"I must have her for my wife. Hast thou not a wife, Gunther--why hast thou none?" he said, not waiting for one question to be answered before asking another.
"Alas, I have no wife because I have set my heart on one I may not have. I long for Brünnhilde, the Valkyrie maid who lies surrounded by fire--and I may not cross the flame."
"What! Is that thy only reason for being lonely? Then thou shalt have thy Brünnhilde. If Gutrune may be mine, I will win thy Brünnhilde for thee. Wearing the Tarnhelm I shall change my shape to thine, and as thy brother go through fire for thee and bring forth the maid."
"Ah," the Gibichung cried, joyfully; "our oath of brotherhood upon that! Gutrune shall be thine, thou ours, Brünnhilde mine."
Thus it was agreed. Hagen filled a drinking horn, while the two men cut their arms and let their blood mingle in the cup. Having drunk, they swore fidelity in the drink, and Hagen cut the horn in two with a single blow, while Siegfried and Gunther joined hands.
Putting on his armour again, Siegfried declared they should at once go forth and win Brünnhilde for Gunther.
So eager was the enchanted Siegfried to win for another his own bride that he would take no rest till it was done; so Hagen was left to guard the hall till their return. Soon Gunther and the knight were pushing off from the river bank, and floating down the middle of the stream.
Hagen, the half Gibichung, half Nibelung, thought of nothing but winning the Rheingold for the Nibelungs. He had sent Gunther after another's bride, by means of an evil enchantment, and when she was brought to the hall, she would certainly be wearing the ring. Thus the prize of the Nibelungen would once more be within the grasp of an evil race, and that which might be a power for good if rightly used, would become a power for evil and be badly abused.
While Siegfried and Gunther were on their way to fetch Brünnhilde, she sat lonely upon her rock, looking at the ring given her by Siegfried. As long as she looked upon it, she felt Siegfried to be near; nevertheless she was lonely. Very soon she heard the thunder.