"It is Odin's will that we go," he said. "He sent his raven[12] to tell us. It is flying straight toward Iceland."
The men shouted with joy at that.
Now they hung some of the meat of the horses on a tree near the temple.
"For the ravens of Odin," they said.
Ingolf carried the bowl of blood into the temple. He went through the feast hall in front to a little room at the back. Here stood wooden statues of the gods in a semicircle. Before them was a stone altar. Ingolf took a little brush of twigs that lay on it and dipped it into the blood and sprinkled the statues.
"You shall taste of our sacrifice," he said. "Look kindly on us from your happy seats in Asgard."
Then they went into the feast hall. There thralls were boiling the horseflesh in pots over the fire. The tables were standing ready before the benches. Ingolf walked to the high seat. All the others took their places at the benches. When the horns came round, Ingolf made this vow:
"I vow that I will build my house wherever these pillars lead me."
He put his hand upon a tall post that stood beside the high seat. There was one at each side. They were the front posts of the chair. But they stood up high, almost to the roof. They were wonderfully carved and painted with men and dragons. On the top of each one was a little statue of Thor with his hammer.
At the end of the feast Ingolf had his thralls dig these pillars up. He had a little bronze chest filled with the earth that was under the altar.