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222 shall wag merrily of thy seeking the king? No gossip will they dare when thou art Olaf’s wife and Queen of Norway. So, for thy own good repute and by thy vow, sworn on the hammer of our mighty Thor, thou art pledged to King Olaf. In one month thou must be ready. So set the maidens at the spinning-wheel, and remember thy mother’s purse can reach far down when her daughter is making ready to be a king’s bride. Ho! there, Sveld! Bring the Lady Gudrun a flagon of ale! Let the supper be served! I tell thee, villain, and bid thee report to every hind and thrall on my estate, that the Lady Gudrun was this day betrothed to King Olaf. Let all pledge a full horn to Queen Gudrun of Norway.”

Sveld, the thrall, stood gaping in astonishment. “Why standest thou?” asked Ingrid, with more mirth than anger, looking at the man. “Haste thou to the kitchen and serve quickly the boar’s-head. I scent it now, and my nostrils invite the meat to my stomach.”

Sveld disappeared, and soon returned with other men, and with the thrall maids, and placed upon the table the boar’s-head, with the dried fish and spiced wine and ale. Gudrun silently accepted the additional respect which the servitors paid her, in accordance with Sveld’s great news of her important position, and sat thoughtfully regarding her mother until the meal was over. She then retired to her chamber, and throughout the long Norwegian twilight she heard