I think it was some kind of medicine. I mean he's old and he's struggling to breathe. More importantly Ivar looked pretty interested in that, interested in a very dangerous way and Rollo making him angry with all those demands it wasn't a very good idea.
About Rollo being Bjorn's father it wasn't so shocking for me since Rollo and Lagertha had a discussion about this thing in the third season. What really shocked me is that Ivar is trusting Freydis and probably he's going to fall in love with her. I feel like she's acting like that just for power.