ut she had
wit enough to discover it, though no one else did, and she resolved to
punish him for his pride by keeping him in suspense.

Horlingdal, where Ulf and Haldor and their families dwelt was, like
nearly all the vales on the west of Norway, hemmed in by steep mountains
of great height, which were covered with dark pines and birch trees. To
the level pastures high up on mountain tops the inhabitants were wont to
send their cattle to feed in summer--the small crops of hay in the
valleys being carefully gathered and housed for winter use.

Every morning, before the birds began to twitter, Hilda set out, with
her pail and her wooden box, to climb the mountain to the upland dairy
or "saeter", and fetch the milk and butter required by the family during
the day. Although the maid was of noble birth--Ulf claiming descent
from one of those who are said to have come over with Odin and his
twelve godars or priests from Asia--this was not deemed an inappropriate
occupation. Among the Norsemen labour was the lot of high and low. He
was esteemed the best man who could fight most valiantly in battle and
labour most actively in the field or with the tools of the smith and
carpenter. Ulf of Romsdal, although styled king in virtue of his
descent, was not too proud, in the busy summertime, to throw off his
coat and toss the hay in his own fields in the midst of his thralls
[slaves taken in war] and house-carles. Neither he, nor Haldor, nor any
of the small kings, although they were the chief men of the districts in
which they resided, thought it beneath their dignity to forge their own
spearheads and anchors, or to mend their own doors. As it was with the
men, so was it with the women. Hilda the Sunbeam was not despised
because she climbed the mountainside to fetch milk and butter for the
family.

One morning, in returning from the fell, Hilda heard the loud clatter of
the anvil at Haldorstede. Having learned that morning that Danish
vikings had been seen prowling among the islands near the fiord, she
turned aside to enquire the news.

Haldorstede lay about a mile up the valley, and Hilda passed it every
morning on her way to and from the saeter. Ulfstede lay near the shore
of the fiord. Turning into the smithy, she found Erling busily engaged
in hammering a huge mass of stubborn red-hot metal. So intent was the
young man on his occupation that he failed to observe the entrance of
his fair visitor, who set down her