Now when they had made half the circuit of the Doom-ring, the Sun-
beam stopped him, and then led him through the Ring of Stones, and
brought him up to the altar which was amidst of it; and the altar was
a great black stone hewn smooth and clean, and with the image of the
Wolf carven on the front thereof; and on its face lay the gold ring
which the priest or captain of the Folk bore on his arm between the
God and the people at all folk-motes.
So she said: 'This is the altar of the God of Earth, and often hath
it been reddened by mighty men; and thereon lieth the Ring of the
Sons of the Wolf; and now it were well that we swore troth on that
ring before my brother cometh; for now will he soon be here.'
Then Gold-mane took the Ring and thrust his right hand through it,
and took her right hand in his; so that the Ring lay on both their
hands, and therewith he spake aloud:
'I am Face-of-god of the House of the Face, and I do thee to wit, O
God of the Earth, that I pledge my troth to this woman, the Sun-beam
of the Kindred of the Wolf, to beget my offspring on her, and to live
with her, and to die with her: so help me, thou God of the Earth,
and the Warrior and the God of the Face!'
Then spake the Sun-beam: 'I, the Sun-beam of the Children of the
Wolf, pledge my troth to Face-of-god to lie in his bed and to bear
his children and none other's, and to be his speech-friend till I
die: so help me the Wolf and the Warrior and the God of the Earth!'
Then they laid the Ring on the altar again, and they kissed each
other long and sweetly, and then turned away from the altar and
departed from the Doom-ring, going hand in hand together down the
meadow, and as they went, the noise of the kine and the children grew
nearer and nearer, and presently came the whole company of them round
a ness of the rock-wall; there were some thirty little lads and
lasses driving on the milch-kine, with half a score of older maids
and grown women, one of whom was Bow-may, who was lightly and
scantily clad, as one who heeds not the weather, or deems all months
midsummer.
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