Rightly concluding that Frithiof would lend the kings no aid, Hilding returned to Helge and Halfdan, who, forced to fight without their bravest leader, preferred to make a treaty with Sigurd Ring, promising to give him not only their sister Ingeborg, but also a yearly tribute.
[Sidenote: At Balder's shrine.] While they were thus engaged at Sogn Sound, Frithiof hastened to Balder's temple, where, as Hilding had declared, he found Ingeborg a prey to grief.

Now although it was considered a sacrilege for man and woman to exchange a word in the sacred building, Frithiof could not see his beloved in tears without attempting to console her; and, forgetting all else, he spoke to her and comforted her.

He repeated how dearly he loved her, quieted all her apprehensions of the gods' anger by assuring her that Balder, the good, must view their innocent passion with approving eyes, said that love as pure as theirs could defile no sanctuary, and plighted his troth to her before the shrine.
[Illustration: THE LOVERS AT BALDER'S SHRINE .-- Kepler.] "'What whisper you of Balder's ire?
The pious god--he is not wrath.
He loves himself, and doth inspire Our love--the purest he calls forth.
The god with true and steadfast heart, The sun upon his glittering form, Is not his love for Nanna part Of his own nature, pure and warm?
"'There is his image; he is near.
How mild he looks on me--how kind! A sacrifice to him I'll bear, The offer of a loving mind.
Kneel down with me; no better gift, No fairer sure for Balder is, Than two young hearts, whose love doth lift Above the world almost like his.'" TEGNER, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).
Reassured by this reasoning, Ingeborg no longer refused to see and converse with Frithiof; and during the kings' absence the young lovers met every day, and plighted their troth with Volund's ring, which Ingeborg solemnly promised to send back to her lover should she break her promise to live for him alone.

Frithiof lingered there until the kings' return, when, for love of Ingeborg the fair, he again appeared before them, and pledged himself to free them from their thraldom to Sigurd Ring if they would only reconsider their decision and promise him their sister's hand.
"'War is abroad, And strikes his echoing shield within our borders; Thy crown and land, King Helge, are in danger; Give me thy sister's hand, and I will use Henceforth my warlike force in thy defense.
Let then the wrath between us be forgotten, Unwillingly I strive 'gainst Ingborg's brother.
Secure, O king, by one fraternal act Thy golden crown and save thy sister's heart.
Here is my hand.

By Thor, I ne'er again Present it here for reconciliation.'" TEGNER, _Frithiof Saga_ (Spalding's tr.).
[Sidenote: Frithiof in disgrace.] But although this offer was hailed with rapture by the assembled warriors, it was again scornfully rejected by Helge, who declared that he would have granted it had not Frithiof proved himself unworthy of all confidence by defiling the temple of the gods.
Frithiof tried to defend himself; but as he had to plead guilty to the accusation of having conversed with Ingeborg at Balder's shrine, he was convicted of having broken the law, and, in punishment therefor, condemned to sail off to the Orkney Islands to claim tribute from the king, Angantyr.
Before he sailed, however, he once more sought Ingeborg, and vainly tried to induce her to elope with him by promising her a home in the sunny south, where her happiness should be his law, and where she should rule over his subjects as his honored wife.