One day, while a great feast was taking place, Hildigunn and her sisters came into the hall. She was tall and slender; her hair was flaxen, falling gracefully over her shoulders, far below her waist; her eyes were of a deep, soft blue, which contrasted charmingly with her delicate, rosy complexion. She walked toward Ivar and said to him: “Hail to thee, my kinsman, we also are of Odin’s kin. Hail you all Ynglingar and Skoldungar and high-born men who are with us here to-day.”
Then, sipping some ale from the horn she held in her hand, she handed it to Ivar. He took the horn and her hand at the same time, and said to her that she must sit by him.
“It is not the custom of Vikings to drink in pair with women,” replied Hildigunn.
Ivar answered that it was, and that he would rather change the Viking laws if it was the case, so that he could drink with her. Then she sat down by his side, and spoke of many things with him during the evening. The poets of Grammar recited the songs which told of the great deeds accomplished by him with Hjorvard, or by their ancestors.
Days passed pleasantly for Ivar and his foster-brothers at Grammar’s by, for many maidens had come around from the surrounding estates to welcome the Vikings, and their presence made life so much pleasanter for all.
Every evening these maidens and warriors met in the great banqueting hall. These fair Viking daughters, in whose veins the blood of the Norsemen flowed, listened to the scalds who had come with Ivar and recited the great deeds of valor the Vikings had accomplished in the expeditions from which they had just returned, and heard with wonder of the hair-breadth escapes of Ivar, and of many of his companions.
No Viking could tell himself of his brave feats, for it was thought unbecoming to do so; but they could tell of the countries they had seen, and of the people they had met in far-off lands, and when they did, the maidens listened to them with wonder and admiration, and their eyes were fixed upon those who told of their strange adventures, and their cheeks flushed with animation.
Finally, the admiration turned into love, without their knowing it; but there could be no mistake, for during the day, while in the skemma, they could not help thinking all the time of the one they admired the most. They wished for the evening entertainment to come, so that they might come into the hall.
The Vikings themselves, especially Ivar and his foster-brothers, wished likewise for the day to pass quickly.
One evening, as the brothers were by themselves, and thought of the beautiful girls they had met, and were talking of love in a general way, Ivar said: