A noble lord of Ansteorra came once to the war of Lilies, and during one of the battles he stood aside, being very tired, and a maiden came bearing him water. Now this maiden was very beautiful, and it seemed to the lord that he had never seen her like, and he stood dumb, staring in amazement. She gave him water, and before he could gather his wits to speak to her she was gone, and he did not find her again, though he searched for her the rest of the war.

     The next year he came again, and found her straight away. He would have taken her to his camp and introduced her to all his household, but he learned that in the year that had passed she had married. The noble lord spent full an hour talking with the lady, never breathing a word of what his heart was screaming out of respect for the sanctity of her marriage.

     One gift she gave him before they parted again: a single lock of her hair in a little leather bag. And he told the tale to Mikal the Ram, a bard, and Mikal made this song: