After, they discussed the matter between the two of them. Ivar swore King Anna an oath that he would not strike against him and not conspire to cause him harm, and in return he should have as much of England as an ox- hide could cover, the largest he might find.
Then Ivar took a hide from an old bull and he had it softened, and then he had it stretched three times. Then he cut it all asunder into strips, as narrowly as possible, and then he let them be split in half, between the hair and the flesh. And when this was done, the thong was so long that it was marveled at, as it had not been thought that it might become so large. And then he had it laid around a field, and there was as much space as was within a large town, and there he had the foundation marked for a large town-wall. Then he
