Here, too, did he receive Guthrum, or Athelstan, as we shall now have to call him, for that was the name he received from the king at his baptism.
At Alfred’s invitation, Athelstan brought his family and abode with him for twelve days. And behold! the maiden Hilda walked straight and fair. Seeing this, the king approached her.
“Did the wheat flour, boiled in milk, applied hot, work thy cure?” he asked.
“It did, my lord,” returned the maiden. “How knowest thou of it? It was told me by a skald who sang for us with his daughter.”
From the folds of his gonna Alfred drew the charm which she had given him.
“Behold, maiden, thy charm. Now do I crave the fulfilment of thy promise.”
“Was it thou?” cried she, in surprise. “My father said that the skald was not what he seemed, but naught could he learn from the seid women concerning him. But alack! No longer have I power to give vill or jarl’s proportion of land.”
“None do I crave, Hilda, so that thou art healed,” answered Alfred.
“Didst thou not say that thou wert what thou seemest?” queried Athelstan.
“Nay; I but said that if I were not that which I seemed, it was not the fault of the minstrel,” answered Alfred. “Dost thou not remember?”