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Popular Tales from the Norse

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'And thither you'll come, late or never; but I'll lend you my horse,
and then I think you'd best ride to the East Wind and ask him; maybe,
he knows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to
him, you need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and
he'll trot home of himself.'

And so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel. 'Maybe you'll find
a use for it', said the old hag.

Then on she rode many many days, a weary time, before she got to the
East Wind's house, but at last she did reach it, and then she asked
the East Wind if he could tell her the way to the Prince who dwelt
east o' the sun and west o' the moon. Yes, the East Wind had often
heard tell of it, the Prince and the castle, but he couldn't tell the
way, for he had never blown so far.

'But, if you will, I'll go with you to my brother the West Wind,
maybe he knows, for he's much stronger. So, if you will just get on
my back, I'll carry you thither.'

Yes, she got on his back, and I should just think they went briskly
along.

So when they got there, they went into the West Wind's house, and the
East Wind said the lassie he had brought was the one who ought to
have had the Prince who lived in the castle EAST O' THE SUN AND WEST
O' THE MOON; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he had come
with her, and would be glad to know if the West Wind knew how to get
to the castle.

'Nay', said the West Wind, 'so far I've never blown; but if you will,
I'll go with you to our brother the South Wind, for he's much
stronger than either of us, and he has flapped his wings far and
wide. Maybe he'll tell you. You can get on my back, and I'll carry
you to him.'

Yes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South Wind,
and weren't so very long on the way, I should think.

When they got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the
way to the castle that lay EAST O' THE SUN AND WEST O' THE MOON, for
it was she who ought to have had the prince who lived there.

'You don't say so! That's she, is it?' said the South Wind.

'Well, I have blustered about in most places in my time, but so far
have I never blown; but if you will, I'll take you to my brother the
North Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of the whole lot of us,
and if he don't know where it is, you'll never find any one in the
world to tell you. You can get on my back, and I'll carry you
thither.'

Yes! she got on his back, and away he went from his house at a fine
rate. And this time, too, she wasn't long on her way.

So when they got to the North Wind's house, he was so wild and cross,
cold puffs came from him a long way off.

'BLAST YOU BOTH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?' he roared out to them ever so far
off, so that it struck them with an icy shiver.

'Well', said the South Wind, 'you needn't be so foul-mouthed, for
here I am, your brother, the South Wind, and here is the lassie who
ought to have had the Prince who dwells in the castle that lies EAST
O' THE SUN AND WEST O' THE MOON, and now she wants to ask you if you
ever were there, and can tell her the way, for she would be so glad
to find him again.'

'YES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS', said the North Wind; 'once in
my life I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but I was so tired I couldn't
blow a puff for ever so many days after. But if you really wish to go
thither, and aren't afraid to come along with me, I'll take you on my
back and see if I can blow you thither.'

Yes! with all her heart; she must and would get thither if it were
possible in any way; and as for fear, however madly he went, she
wouldn't be at all afraid.

'Very well, then', said the North Wind, 'but you must sleep here to-
night, for we must have the whole day before us, if we're to get
thither at all.'

Early next morning the North Wind woke her, and puffed himself up,
and blew himself out, and made himself so stout and big, 'twas
gruesome to look at him; and so off they went high up through the
air, as if they would never stop till they got to the world's end.

Down here below there was such a storm; it threw down long tracts of
wood and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea, ships
foundered by hundreds.

So they tore on and on--no one can believe how far they went--and all
the while they still went over the sea, and the North Wind got more
and more weary, and so out of breath he could scarce bring out a
puff, and his wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low
that the crests of the waves dashed over his heels.

'Are you afraid?' said the North Wind.

'No!' she wasn't.

But they weren't very far from land; and the North Wind had still so
much strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on the
shore under the windows of the castle which lay EAST O' THE SUN AND
WEST O' THE MOON; but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to
stay there and rest many days before he could get home again.

Next morning the lassie sat down under the castle window, and began
to play with the gold apple; and the first person she saw was the
Long-nose who was to have the Prince.

'What do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?' said the Long-
nose, and threw up the window.

'It's not for sale, for gold or money', said the lassie.

'If it's not for sale for gold or money, what is it that you will
sell it for? You may name your own price', said the Princess.

'Well! if I may get to the Prince, who lives here, and be with him
to-night, you shall have it', said the lassie whom the North Wind had
brought.

Yes! she might; that could be done. So the Princess got the gold
apple; but when the lassie came up to the Prince's bed-room at night
he was fast asleep; she called him and shook him, and between whiles
she wept sore; but all she could do she couldn't wake him up. Next
morning as soon as day broke, came the Princess with the long nose,
and drove her out again.

So in the daytime she sat down under the castle windows and began to
card with her carding-comb, and the same thing happened. The Princess
asked what she wanted for it; and she said it wasn't for sale for
gold or money, but if she might get leave to go up to the Prince and
be with him that night, the Princess should have it. But when she
went up she found him fast asleep again, and all she called, and all
she shook, and wept, and prayed, she couldn't get life into him; and
as soon as the first gray peep of day came, then came the Princess
with the long nose, and chased her out again.

So, in the day time, the lassie sat down outside under the castle
window, and began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that,
too, the Princess with the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up
the window and asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she
had said twice before, it wasn't for sale for gold or money; but if
she might go up to the Prince who was there, and be with him alone
that night, she might have it.

Yes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were
some Christian folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat
in their room, which was next the Prince, they had heard how a woman
had been in there, and wept and prayed, and called to him two nights
running, and they told that to the Prince.

That evening, when the Princess came with her sleepy drink, the
Prince made as if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he
could guess it was a sleepy drink. So, when the lassie came in, she
found the Prince wide awake; and then she told him the whole story
how she had come thither.

'Ah', said the Prince, 'you've just come in the very nick of time,
for to-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won't have the
Long-nose, and you are the only woman in the world who can set me
free. I'll say I want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to
wash the shirt which has the three spots of tallow on it; she'll say
yes, for she doesn't know 'tis you who put them there; but that's a
work only for Christian folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and
so I'll say that I won't have any other for my bride than the woman
who can wash them out, and ask you to do it.'

So there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next
day, when the wedding was to be, the Prince said:

'First of all, I'd like to see what my bride is fit for.'

'Yes!' said the step-mother, with all her heart.

'Well', said the Prince, 'I've got a fine shirt which I'd like for my
wedding shirt, but some how or other it has got three spots of tallow
on it, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to take
any other bride than the woman who's able to do that. If she can't,
she's not worth having.'

Well, that was no great thing they said, so they agreed, and she with
the long-nose began to wash away as hard as she could, but the more
she rubbed and scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew.

'Ah!' said the old hag, her mother, 'you can't wash; let me try.'

But she hadn't long taken the shirt in hand, before it got far worse
than ever, and with all her rubbing, and wringing, and scrubbing, the
spots grew bigger and blacker, and the darker and uglier was the
shirt.

Then all the other Trolls began to wash, but the longer it lasted,
the blacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last it was as black
all over as if it had been up the chimney.

'Ah!' said the Prince, 'you're none of you worth a straw you can't
wash. Why there, outside, sits a beggar lassie, I'll be bound she
knows how to wash better than the whole lot of you. COME IN LASSIE!'
he shouted.

Well, in she came.

'Can you wash this shirt clean, lassie, you?' said he.

'I don't know', she said, 'but I think I can.'

And almost before she had taken it and dipped it in the water, it was
as white as driven snow, and whiter still.

'Yes; you are the lassie for me', said the Prince.

At that the old hag flew into such a rage, she burst on the spot, and
the Princess with the long nose after her, and the whole pack of
Trolls after her--at least I've never heard a word about them since.

As for the Prince and Princess, they set free all the poor Christian
folk who had been carried off and shut up there; and they took with
them all the silver and gold, and flitted away as far as they could
from the Castle that lay EAST O' THE SUN AND WEST O' THE MOON.




BOOTS WHO ATE A MATCH WITH THE TROLL

Once on a time there was a farmer who had three sons; his means were
small, and he was old and weak, and his sons would take to nothing. A
fine large wood belonged to the farm, and one day the father told his
sons to go and hew wood, and try to pay off some of his debts.

Well, after a long talk he got them to set off, and the eldest was to
go first. But when he had got well into the wood, and began to hew at
a mossy old fir, what should he see coming up to him but a great
sturdy Troll.

'If you hew in this wood of mine', said the Troll, 'I'll kill you!'

When the lad heard that, he threw the axe down, and ran off home as
fast as he could lay legs to the ground; so he came in quite out of
breath, and told them what had happened, but his father called him
'hare-heart'--no Troll would ever have scared him from hewing when he
was young, he said.

Next day the second son's turn came, and he fared just the same. He
had scarce hewn three strokes at the fir, before the Troll came to
him too, and said:

'If you hew in this wood of mine, I'll kill you.'

The lad dared not so much as look at him, but threw down the axe,
took to his heels, and came scampering home just like his brother. So
when he got home, his father was angry again, and said no Troll had
ever scared him when he was young.

The third day Boots wanted to set off.

'You, indeed!' said the two elder brothers; 'you'll do it bravely, no
doubt! you, who have scarce ever set your foot out of the door.'

Boots said nothing to this, but only begged them to give him a good
store of food. His mother had no cheese, so she set the pot on the
fire to make him a little, and he put it into a scrip and set off. So
when he had hewn a bit, the Troll came to him too, and said:

'If you hew in this wood of mine, I'll kill you.'

But the lad was not slow; he pulled his cheese out of the scrip in a
trice, and squeezed it till the whey spurted out.

'Hold your tongue!' he cried to the Troll, 'or I'll squeeze you as I
squeeze the water out of this white stone.'

'Nay, dear friend!' said the Troll, 'only spare me, and I'll help you
to hew.'

Well, on those terms the lad was willing to spare him, and the Troll
hewed so bravely, that they felled and cut up many, many fathoms in
the day.

But when even drew near, the Troll said:

'Now you'd better come home with me, for my house is nearer than
yours.'

So the lad was willing enough; and when they reached the Troll's
house, the Troll was to make up the fire, while the lad went to fetch
water for their porridge, and there stood two iron pails so big and
heavy, that he couldn't so much as lift them from the ground.

'Pooh!' said the lad, 'it isn't worth while to touch these finer-
basins: I'll just go and fetch the spring itself.'

'Nay, nay, dear friend!' said the Troll; 'I can't afford to lose my
spring; just you make up the fire, and I'll go and fetch the water.'

So when he came back with the water, they set to and boiled up a
great pot of porridge.

'It's all the same to me', said the lad; 'but if you're of my mind,
we'll eat a match!'

'With all my heart', said the Troll, for he thought he could surely
hold his own in eating. So they sat down; but the lad took his scrip
unawares to the Troll, and hung it before him, and so he spooned more
into the scrip than he ate himself; and when the scrip was full, he
took up his knife and made a slit in the scrip. The Troll looked on
all the while, but said never a word. So when they had eaten a good
bit longer, the Troll laid down his spoon, saying, 'Nay! but I can't
eat a morsel more.'

'But you shall eat', said the youth; 'I'm only half done; why don't
you do as I did, and cut a hole in your paunch? You'll be able to eat
then as much as you please.'

'But doesn't it hurt one cruelly?' asked the Troll.

'Oh', said the youth, 'nothing to speak of.'

So the Troll did as the lad said, and then you must know very well
that he lost his life; but the lad took all the silver and gold that
he found in the hill-side, and went home with it, and you may fancy
it went a great way to pay off the debt.




HACON GRIZZLEBEARD

Once on a time there was a princess who was so proud and pert that no
suitor was good enough for her. She made game of them all, and sent
them about their business, one after the other; but though she was so
proud, still new suitors kept on coming to the palace, for she was
a beauty, the wicked hussey!

So one day there came a prince to woo her, and his name was Hacon
Grizzlebeard; but the first night he was there, the Princess bade the
king's fool cut off the ears of one of the prince's horses, and slit
the jaws of the other up to the ears. When the prince went out to
drive next day, the Princess stood in the porch and looked at him.

'Well!' she cried, 'I never saw the like of this in all my life; the
keen north wind that blows here has taken the ears off one of your
horses, and the other has stood by and gaped at what was going on
till his jaws have split right up to his ears.'

And with that she burst out into a roar of laughter, ran in, slammed
to the door, and let him drive off.

So he drove home; but as he went, he thought to himself that he would
pay her off one day. After a bit, he put on a great beard of moss,
threw a great fur cloak over his clothes, and dressed himself up just
like any beggar. He went to a goldsmith and bought a golden spinning
wheel, and sat down with it under the Princess' window, and began to
file away at his spinning wheel, and to turn it this way and that,
for it wasn't quite in order, and, besides, it wanted a stand.

So when the Princess rose up in the morning, she came to the window
and threw it up, and called out to the beggar if he would sell his
golden spinning-wheel?

'No; it isn't for sale', said Hacon Grizzlebeard; 'but if I may have
leave to sleep outside your bedroom door to-night, I'll give it you.'

Well, the Princess thought it a good bargain; there could be no
danger in letting him sleep outside her door.

So she got the wheel, and at night Hacon Grizzlebeard lay down
outside her bedroom. But as the night wore on he began to freeze.

'Hutetutetutetu! it is _so_ cold; do let me in', he cried.

'You've lost your wits outright, I think', said the Princess.

'Oh, hutetutetutetu! it is so bitter cold, pray do let me in', said
Hacon Grizzlebeard again.

'Hush! hush! hold your tongue!' said the Princess; 'if my father were
to know that there was a man in the house, I should be in a fine
scrape.'

'Oh, hutetutetutetu! I'm almost frozen to death; only let me come
inside and lie on the floor', said Hacon Grizzlebeard.

Yes! there was no help for it. She had to let him in, and when he
was, he lay on the ground and slept like a top.

Some time after, Hacon came again with the stand to the spinning-
wheel, and sat down under the Princess' window, and began to file at
it, for it was not quite fit for use. When she heard him filing, she
threw up the window and began to talk to him, and to ask what he had
there.

'Oh! only the stand to that spinning-wheel which your royal highness
bought; for I thought, as you had the wheel, you might like to have
the stand too.'

'What do you want for it?' asked the Princess; but it was not for
sale any more than the wheel, but she might have them if she would
give him leave to sleep on the floor of her bedroom next night.

Well! she gave him leave, only he was to be sure to lie still, and
not to shiver and call out 'hutetu', or any such stuff. Hacon
Grizzlebeard promised fair enough, but as the night wore on he began
to shiver and shake, and to ask whether he might not come nearer, and
lie on the floor alongside the Princess' bed.

There was no help for it; she had to give him leave, lest the king
should hear the noise he made. So Hacon Grizzlebeard lay alongside
the Princess' bed, and slept like a top.

It was a long while before Hacon Grizzlebeard came again; but when he
came he had with him a golden wool-winder, and he sat down and began
to file away at it under the Princess' window. Then came the old
story over again. When the Princess heard what was going on, she came
to the window, and asked him how he did, and whether he would sell
the golden wool-winder?

'It is not to be had for money; but if you'll give me leave to sleep
to-night in your bedroom, with my head on your bedstead, you shall
have it for nothing', said Hacon Grizzlebeard.

Well! she would give him leave, if he only gave his word to be quiet,
and make no noise. So he said he would do his best to be still; but
as the night wore on, he began to shiver and shake so, that his teeth
chattered again.

'Hutetutetutetu! it is so bitter cold! Oh, do let me get into bed and
warm myself a little', said Hacon Grizzlebeard.

'Get into bed!' said the Princess; 'why, you must have lost your
wits.'

'Hutetutetutetu!' said Hacon; 'do let me get into bed.
Hutetutetutetu.'

'Hush! hush! be still for God's sake', said the Princess; 'if father
knows there is a man in here, I shall be in a sad plight. I'm sure
he'll kill me on the spot.'

'Hutetutetutetu! let me get into bed', said Hacon Grizzlebeard, who
kept on shivering so that the whole room shook.

Well! there was no help for it; she had to let him get into bed,
where he slept both sound and soft; but a little while after the
Princess had a child, at which the king grew so wild with rage, that
he was near making an end of both mother and babe. Just after this
happened, came Hacon Grizzlebeard tramping that way once more, as if
by chance, and took his seat down in the kitchen, like any other
beggar.

So when the Princess came out and saw him, she cried, 'Ah, God have
mercy on me, for the ill-luck you have brought on me; father is ready
to burst with rage; do let me follow you to your home.'

'Oh! I'll be bound you're too well bred to follow me', said Hacon,
'for I have nothing but a log but to live in; and how I shall ever
get food for you I can't tell, for it's just as much as I can do to
get food for myself.'

'Oh yes! it's all the same to me how you get it, or whether you get
it at all', she said; 'only let me be with you, for if I stay here
any longer, my father will be sure to take my life.'

So she got leave to be with the beggar, as she called him, and they
walked a long, long way, though she was but a poor hand at tramping.
When she passed out of her father's land into another, she asked
whose it was?

'Oh! this is Hacon Grizzlebeard's, if you must know', said he.

'Indeed!' said the Princess; 'I might have married him if I chose,
and then I should not have had to walk about like a beggar's wife.'

So, whenever they came to grand castles, and woods, and parks, and
she asked whose they were? the beggar's answer was still the same:
'Oh: they are Hacon Grizzlebeard's.' And the Princess was in a sad
way that she had not chosen the man who had such broad lands. Last of
all, they came to a palace, where he said he was known, and where he
thought he could get her work, so that they might have something to
live on; so he built up a cabin by the woodside for them to dwell in;
and every day he went to the king's palace, as he said, to hew wood
and draw water for the cook, and when he came back he brought a few
scraps of meat; but they did not go very far. One day, when he came
home from the palace, he said: 'To-morrow I will stay at home and
look after the baby, but you must get ready to go to the palace, do
you hear! for the Prince said you were to come and try your hand at
baking.'

'I bake!' said the Princess; 'I can't bake, for I never did such a
thing in my life.'

'Well, you must go', said Hacon, 'since the Prince has said it. If
you can't bake, you can learn; you have only got to look how the rest
bake; and mind, when you leave, you must steal me some bread.'

'I can't steal', said the Princess.

'You can learn that too', said Hacon; 'you know we live on short
commons. But take care that the Prince doesn't see you, for he has
eyes at the back of his head.'

So when she was well on her way, Hacon ran by a short cut and reached
the palace long before her, and threw off his rags and beard, and put
on his princely robes.

The Princess took her turn in the bakehouse, and did as Hacon bade
her, for she stole bread till her pockets were crammed full. So when
she was about to go home at even, the Prince said:

'We don't know much of this old wife of Hacon Grizzlebeard's, I think
we'd best see if she has taken anything away with her.'

So he thrust his hand into all her pockets, and felt her all over,
and when he found the bread, he was in a great rage, and led them all
a sad life. She began to weep and bewail, and said:

'The beggar made me do it, and I couldn't help it.' 'Well', said the
Prince at last, 'it ought to have gone hard with you; but all the
same, for the sake of the beggar you shall be forgiven this once.'

When she was well on her way, he threw off his robes, put on his skin
cloak, and his false beard, and reached the cabin before her. When
she came home, he was busy nursing the baby.

'Well, you have made me do what it went against my heart to do. This
is the first time I ever stole, and this shall be the last'; and with
that she told him how it had gone with her, and what the Prince had
said.

A few days after Hacon Grizzlebeard came home at even and said:

'To-morrow I must stay at home and mind the babe, for they are going
to kill a pig at the palace, and you must help to make the sausages.'

'I make sausages!' said the Princess; 'I can't do any such thing. I
have eaten sausages often enough; but as to making them, I never made
one in my life.'

Well, there was no help for it; the Prince had said it, and go she
must. As for not knowing how, she was only to do what the others did,
and at the same time Hacon bade her steal some sausages for him.

'Nay, but I can't steal them', she said; 'you know how it went last
time.'

'Well, you can learn to steal; who knows but you may have better luck
next time', said Hacon Grizzlebeard.

When she was well on her way, Hacon ran by a short cut, reached the
palace long before her, threw off his skin cloak and false beard, and
stood in the kitchen with his royal robes before she came in. So the
Princess stood by when the pig was killed, and made sausages with the
rest, and did as Hacon bade her, and stuffed her pockets full of
sausages. But when she was about to go home at even, the Prince said:

'This beggar's wife was long-fingered last time; we may as well just
see if she hasn't carried anything off.'

So he began to thrust his hands into her pockets, and when he found
the sausages he was in a great rage again, and made a great to do,
threatening to send for the constable and put her into the cage.

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