She has previously rejected many suitors, but Jarlmann wins her for Hermann by means of a magic ring.
When the wedding finally takes place, Ríkilát is mysteriously abducted and imprisoned by the old king Rudent of Serkland who plans to marry her.
Jarlmann feigns love for Þorbjörg, a giantess who guards Ríkilát, and a double wedding ceremony (Rudent-Ríkilát, Jarlmann-Þorbjörg) ensues.
[4]: 19–22 Jarlmanns saga ok Hermanns is viewed as a specific and intentional response to Konráðs saga, to which its shorter version contains an explicit reference: it deals, of course, with the hero's relationship with a faithful, though unjustly suspected, companion'.
The hall-of-statues episode in Tristrams saga seems to have been the inspiration for the scene in which Jarlmann draws a picture of Hermann for Ríkilát to obtain her consent to the marriage'.