know not by what power, you have performed this deed, nor do I know what has prevented the sorcerer from resisting you. Zornebock must be among the dead, or you would not have profaned his talisman.”
The charming Hildegarde judged correctly; the sorcerer had marched with the Servians into Bohemia, where, at that time, the Princess Libussa, a descendant of the fairy race, governed; and had found in her his mistress, as formerly the powerful Cyrus[14] in the Scythian queen, Tomyris. Zornebock was, in comparison with the Bohemian princess, only a novice in sorcery; she had conquered him by her art, and he was slain whilst retreating from the field of battle, by the hand of a powerful knight to whom she had given magic arms, not to be resisted by the sorcerer. As lovely Hildegarde ceased her narrative, Reginald in return recounted his adventures. On mentioning his three brothers-in-law, the enchanted princes in the forest, she was greatly astonished, for now she perceived Zornebock’s tale to have been no fabrication. The knight was just concluding his narration, when joyous and triumphant shouts were heard proceeding from the mountain. Soon afterwards three cavalcades were seen advancing from
