After this talk, each foster-brother went his own way, and Ivar, without taking notice of it, walked unconsciously towards the bower of Randalin, and saw her coming towards him on her way to the house of her father. A thrill of joy ran through him as he perceived her. She turned pale and red alternately at seeing him; she was ready to sink to the ground. An indescribable feeling told her that Ivar was about to propose to her. The bond-woman that followed her fell back, and Ivar and she walked on together.
After a little pause, Ivar said to her: “Thou knowest, Randalin, that the goddess Var listens to the oaths of men, and to the private engagements which men and women make between themselves in regard to love, and punishes those who break them. I want her to hear me to-day, and to listen to what thou hast to say to me.” Then, looking at her intently, he continued: “Rememberest thou, fairest of maidens, the day when we met for the first time?”
“Yes,” replied the daughter of Yngvi. “I remember it as if it were to-day.”
“Canst thou recollect,” continued Ivar, “how we looked at each other as soon as we met, and how our eyes seemed to melt into each other’s? At that time an indescribable feeling seized me; thou didst seem to entrance me. I felt as I never felt before in my life. I loved thee, and I thought that thou also didst love me; and when thou didst continue thy way, my eyes were riveted upon thy fair form, and I remember that before thou didst disappear thou didst turn thy head once more towards me, as if some magic impulse compelled thee to do so, and told thee that I was still spell-bound at thy sight. We gave to each other a farewell look, as if to say, ‘Yes, we will meet again.’”
“I remember all that well,” said Randalin, for her honest heart could not deny it.
“Since then,” said Ivar, “I have thought of thee by day, and often dreamt of thee by night; and now I feel that before I return to Dampstadir I must tell thee of my love, and ask thee if thou wilt give me thy heart and marry me. If thou sayest no, life then will have no more charm for me; the clatter of weapons on the field of battle will no more sound pleasantly in my ears; ambition for renowned deeds will never stir me more; I feel that without thee I could not live.”
Randalin’s feelings, as she heard the burning words from Ivar’s lips, were such that she could not speak. Taking his hands, and looking with her beautiful blue eyes into his face, she said: “Ivar, thy wife I will be, and no other man shall ever possess me.”
In the evening the foster-brothers met, as was their custom, to talk matters over before they went to the banqueting hall to drink with the high-born men and champions of the land. All agreed that they should ask the parents of the young girls for their consent to the different marriages, for the laws regarding marriage were very strict, and there was nothing in the world in which Vikings were more particular, or more revengeful, if the honor of one of their kinswomen was attacked.