Ulf wandered about all night in the forest, and when the morning came he found himself exhausted with fatigue, anxiety, and hunger, certain to perish unless he could find some succor, and yet dreading the danger of being recognized as a Danish fugitive if he were to be discovered by any of the Saxon inhabitants of the land.

At length he heard the shouts of a peasant who was coming along a solitary pathway through the wood, driving a herd to their pasture.

Ulf would gladly have avoided him if he could have gone on without succor or help.

His plan was to find his way to the Severn, where some Danish ships were lying, in hopes of a refuge on board of them.

But he was exhausted with hunger and fatigue, and utterly bewildered and lost; so he was compelled to go forward, and take the risk of accosting the Saxon stranger.
He accordingly went up to him, and asked him his name.