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Popular Tales from the Norse

S >> Sir George Webbe Dasent >> Popular Tales from the Norse




Well! Boots went in, but, truth to say, he was very much afraid. When
he came in the Giant was away, but in one of the rooms sat the
Princess, just as the wolf had said, and so lovely a princess Boots
had never yet set eyes on.

'Oh! heaven help you! whence have you come?' said the Princess, as
she saw him; 'it will surely be your death. No one can make an end of
the Giant who lives here, for he has no heart in his body.'

'Well! well!' said Boots; 'but now that I am here, I may as well try
what I can do with him; and I will see if I can't free my brothers,
who are standing turned to stone out of doors; and you, too, I will
try to save, that I will.'

'Well, if you must, you must', said the Princess; 'and so let us see
if we can't hit on a plan. Just creep under the bed yonder, and mind
and listen to what he and I talk about. But, pray, do lie as still as
a mouse.'

So he crept under the bed, and he had scarce got well underneath it,
before the Giant came.

'Ha!' roared the Giant, 'what a smell of Christian blood there is in
the house!'

'Yes, I know there is', said the Princess, 'for there came a magpie
flying with a man's bone, and let it fall down the chimney. I made
all the haste I could to get it out, but all one can do, the smell
doesn't go off so soon.'

So the Giant said no more about it, and when night came, they went to
bed. After they had lain awhile, the Princess said:

'There is one thing I'd be so glad to ask you about, if I only
dared.'

'What thing is that?' asked the Giant.

'Only where it is you keep your heart, since you don't carry it about
you', said the Princess.

'Ah! that's a thing you've no business to ask about; but if you must
know, it lies under the door-sill', said the Giant.

'Ho! ho!' said Boots to himself under the bed, 'then we'll soon see
if we can't find it.'

Next morning the Giant got up cruelly early, and strode off to the
wood; but he was hardly out of the house before Boots and the
Princess set to work to look under the door-sill for his heart; but
the more they dug, and the more they hunted, the more they couldn't
find it.

'He has baulked us this time', said the Princess, 'but we'll try him
once more.'

So she picked all the prettiest flowers she could find, and strewed
them over the door-sill, which they had laid in its right place
again; and when the time came for the Giant to come home again, Boots
crept under the bed. Just as he was well under, back came the Giant.

Snuff--snuff, went the Giant's nose. 'My eyes and limbs, what a smell
of Christian blood there is in here', said he.

'I know there is', said the Princess, 'for there came a magpie flying
with a man's bone in his bill, and let it fall down the chimney. I
made as much haste as I could to get it out, but I daresay it's that
you smell.'

So the Giant held his peace, and said no more about it. A little
while after, he asked who it was that had strewed flowers about the
door-sill.

'Oh, I, of course', said the Princess.

'And, pray, what's the meaning of all this?' said the Giant.

'Ah!' said the Princess, 'I'm so fond of you that I couldn't help
strewing them, when I knew that your heart lay under there.'

'You don't say so', said the Giant; 'but after all it doesn't lie
there at all.'

So when they went to bed again in the evening, the Princess asked the
Giant again where his heart was, for she said she would so like to
know.

'Well', said the Giant, 'if you must know, it lies away yonder in the
cupboard against the wall.'

'So, so!' thought Boots and the Princess; 'then we'll soon try to
find it.'

Next morning the Giant was away early, and strode off to the wood,
and so soon as he was gone Boots and the Princess were in the
cupboard hunting for his heart, but the more they sought for it, the
less they found it.

'Well', said the Princess, 'we'll just try him once more.'

So she decked out the cupboard with flowers and garlands, and when
the time came for the Giant to come home, Boots crept under the bed
again.

Then back came the Giant.

Snuff-snuff! 'My eyes and limbs, what a smell of Christian blood
there is in here!'

'I know there is', said the Princess; 'for a little while since there
came a magpie flying with a man's bone in his bill, and let it fall
down the chimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out of the
house again; but after all my pains, I daresay it's that you smell.'

When the Giant heard that, he said no more about it; but a little
while after, he saw how the cupboard was all decked about with
flowers and garlands; so he asked who it was that had done that? Who
could it be but the Princess.

'And, pray, what's the meaning of all this tom-foolery?' asked the
Giant.

'Oh, I'm so fond of you, I couldn't help doing it when I knew that
your heart lay there', said the Princess.

'How can you be so silly as to believe any such thing?' said the
Giant.

'Oh yes; how can I help believing it, when you say it', said the
Princess.

'You're a goose', said the Giant; 'where my heart is, you will never
come.'

'Well', said the Princess;' but for all that, 'twould be such a
pleasure to know where it really lies.'

Then the poor Giant could hold out no longer, but was forced to say:

'Far, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a
church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck; in that
duck there is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart,--you
darling!'

In the morning early, while it was still grey dawn, the Giant strode
off to the wood.

'Yes! now I must set off too', said Boots; 'if I only knew how to
find the way.' He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and
when he got out of the Giant's door, there stood the Wolf waiting for
him. So Boots told him all that had happened inside the house, and
said now he wished to ride to the well in the church, if he only knew
the way. So the Wolf bade him jump on his back, he'd soon find the
way; and away they went, till the wind whistled after them, over
hedge and field, over hill and dale. After they had travelled many,
many days, they came at last to the lake. Then the Prince did not
know how to get over it, but the Wolf bade him only not be afraid,
but stick on, and so he jumped into the lake with the Prince on his
back, and swam over to the island. So they came to the church; but
the church keys hung high, high up on the top of the tower, and at
first the Prince did not know how to get them down.

'You must call on the raven', said the Wolf.

So the Prince called on the raven, and in a trice the raven came, and
flew up and fetched the keys, and so the Prince got into the church.
But when he came to the well, there lay the duck, and swam about
backwards and forwards, just as the Giant had said. So the Prince
stood and coaxed it and coaxed it, till it came to him, and he
grasped it in his hand; but just as he lifted it up from the water
the duck dropped the egg into the well, and then Boots was beside
himself to know how to get it out again.

'Well, now you must call on the salmon to be sure', said the Wolf;
and the king's son called on the salmon, and the salmon came and
fetched up the egg from the bottom of the well.

Then the Wolf told him to squeeze the egg, and as soon as ever he
squeezed it the Giant screamed out.

'Squeeze it again', said the Wolf; and when the Prince did so, the
Giant screamed still more piteously, and begged and prayed so
prettily to be spared, saying he would do all that the Prince wished
if he would only not squeeze his heart in two.

'Tell him, if he will restore to life again your six brothers and
their brides, whom he has turned to stone, you will spare his life',
said the Wolf. Yes, the Giant was ready to do that, and he turned the
six brothers into king's sons again, and their brides into king's
daughters.

'Now, squeeze the egg in two', said the Wolf. So Boots squeezed the
egg to pieces, and the Giant burst at once.

Now, when he had made an end of the Giant, Boots rode back again on
the wolf to the Giant's house, and there stood all his six brothers
alive and merry, with their brides. Then Boots went into the hill-
side after his bride, and so they all set off home again to their
father's house. And you may fancy how glad the old king was when he
saw all his seven sons come back, each with his bride--'But the
loveliest bride of all is the bride of Boots, after all', said the
king, 'and he shall sit uppermost at the table, with her by his
side.'

So he sent out, and called a great wedding-feast, and the mirth was
both loud and long, and if they have not done feasting, why, they are
still at it.




THE FOX AS HERDSMAN

Once on a time there was a woman who went out to hire a herdsman, and
she met a bear.

'Whither away, Goody?' said Bruin.

'Oh, I'm going out to hire a herdsman', answered the woman.

'Why not have me for a herdsman?' said Bruin.

'Well, why not?' said the woman. 'If you only knew how to call the
flock; just let me hear?'

'OW, OW!' growled the bear.

'No, no! I won't have you', said the woman, as soon as she heard him
say that, and off she went on her way.

So, when she had gone a bit further, she met a wolf.

'Whither away, Goody?' asked the Wolf.

'Oh!' said she, 'I'm going out to hire a herdsman.'

'Why not have me for a herdsman?' said the Wolf.

'Well, why not? if you can only call the flock; let me hear?' said
she.

'UH, UH!' said the Wolf.

'No, no!' said the woman; 'you'll never do for me.'

Well, after she had gone a while longer, she met a fox.

'Whither away, Goody?' asked the Fox.

'Oh, I'm just going out to hire a herdsman', said the woman.

'Why not have me for your herdsman?' asked the Fox.

'Well, why not?' said she; 'if you only knew how to call the flock;
let me hear?'

'DIL-DAL-HOLOM', sung out the Fox, in such a fine clear voice.

'Yes; I'll have you for my herdsman', said the woman; and so she set
the Fox to herd her flock.

The first day the Fox was herdsman he ate up all the woman's goats;
the next day he made an end of all her sheep; and the third day he
ate up all her kine. So, when he came home at even, the woman asked
what he had done with all her flocks?

'Oh!' said the Fox, 'their skulls are in the stream, and their bodies
in the holt.'

Now, the Goody stood and churned when the fox said this, but she
thought she might as well step out and see after her flock; and while
she was away the Fox crept into the churn and ate up the cream. So
when the Goody came back and saw that, she fell into such a rage,
that she snatched up the little morsel of the cream that was left,
and threw it at the fox as he ran off, so that he got a dab of it on
the end of his tail, and that's the reason why the fox has a white
tip to his brush.




THE MASTERMAID

Once on a time there was a king who had several sons--I don't know
how many there were--but the youngest had no rest at home, for
nothing else would please him but to go out into the world and try
his luck, and after a long time the king was forced to give him leave
to go. Now, after he had travelled some days, he came one night to a
Giant's house, and there he got a place in the Giant's service. In
the morning the Giant went off to herd his goats, and as he left the
yard, he told the Prince to clean out the stable; 'and after you have
done that, you needn't do anything else to-day; for you must know it
is an easy master you have come to. But what is set you to do you
must do well, and you mustn't think of going into any of the rooms
which are beyond that in which you slept, for if you do, I'll take
your life.'

'Sure enough, it is an easy master I have got', said the Prince to
himself, as he walked up and down the room, and carolled and sang,
for he thought there was plenty of time to clean out the stable.

'But still it would be good fun just to peep into his other rooms,
for there must be something in them which he is afraid lest I should
see, since he won't give me leave to go in.'

So he went into the first room, and there was a pot boiling on a hook
by the wall, but the Prince saw no fire underneath it. I wonder what
is inside it, he thought; and then he dipped a lock of his hair into
it, and the hair seemed as if it were all turned to copper.

'What a dainty broth,' he said; 'if one tasted it, he'd look grand
inside his gullet'; and with that he went into the next room. There,
too, was a pot hanging by a hook, which bubbled and boiled; but there
was no fire under that either.

'I may as well try this too', said the Prince, as he put another lock
into the pot, and it came out all silvered.

'They haven't such rich broth in my father's house', said the Prince;
'but it all depends on how it tastes', and with that he went on into
the third room. There, too, hung a pot, and boiled just as he had
seen in the two other rooms, and the Prince had a mind to try this
too, so he dipped a lock of hair into it, and it came out gilded, so
that the light gleamed from it.

'"Worse and worse", said the old wife; but I say better and better',
said the Prince; 'but if he boils gold here, I wonder what he boils
in yonder.'

He thought he might as well see; so he went through the door into the
fourth room. Well, there was no pot in there, but there was a
Princess, seated on a bench, so lovely, that the Prince had never
seen anything like her in his born days.

'Oh! in Heaven's name', she said, 'what do you want here?'

'I got a place here yesterday', said the Prince.

'A place, indeed! Heaven help you out of it.'

'Well, after all, I think I've got an easy master; he hasn't set me
much to do to-day, for after I have cleaned out the stable, my day's
work is over.'

'Yes, but how will you do it', she said; 'for if you set to work to
clean it like other folk, ten pitchforks full will come in for every
one you toss out. But I will teach you how to set to work; you must
turn the fork upside down, and toss with the handle, and then all the
dung will fly out of itself.'

'Yes, he would be sure to do that', said the Prince; and so he sat
there the whole day, for he and the Princess were soon great friends,
and had made up their minds to have one another, and so the first day
of his service with the Giant was not long, you may fancy. But when
the evening drew on, she said 'twould be as well if he got the stable
cleaned out before the Giant came home; and when he went to the
stable, he thought he would just see if what she had said were true,
and so he began to work like the grooms in his father's stable; but
he soon had enough of that, for he hadn't worked a minute before the
stable was so full of dung that he hadn't room to stand. Then he did
as the Princess bade him, and turned up the fork and worked with the
handle, and lo! in a trice the stable was as clean as if it had been
scoured. And when he had done his work, he went back into the room
where the Giant had given him leave to be, and began to walk up and
down, and to carol and sing. So after a bit, home came the Giant with
his goats.

'Have you cleaned the stable?' asked the Giant.

'Yes, now it's all right and tight, master', answered the Prince.

'I'll soon see if it is', growled the Giant, and strode off to the
stable, where he found it just as the Prince had said.

'You've been talking to my Mastermaid, I can see', said the Giant;
'for you've not sucked this knowledge out of your own breast.'

'Mastermaid!' said the Prince, who looked as stupid as an owl, 'what
sort of thing is that, master? I'd be very glad to see it.'

'Well, well!' said the Giant; 'you'll see her soon enough'.

Next day the Giant set off with his goats again, and before he went
he told the Prince to fetch home his horse, which was out at grass on
the hill-side, and when he had done that he might rest all the day.

'For you must know, it is an easy master you have come to', said the
Giant; 'but if you go into any of the rooms I spoke of yesterday,
I'll wring your head off.'

So off he went with his flock of goats.

'An easy master you are indeed', said the Prince; 'but for all that,
I'll just go in and have a chat with your Mastermaid; may be she'll
be as soon mine as yours.' So he went in to her, and she asked him
what he had to do that day.

'Oh! nothing to be afraid of', said he; 'I've only to go up to the
hill-side to fetch his horse.'

'Very well, and how will you set about it?'

'Well, for that matter, there's no great art in riding a horse home.
I fancy I've ridden fresher horses before now', said the Prince.

'Ah, but this isn't so easy a task as you think; but I'll teach you
how to do it. When you get near it, fire and flame will come out of
its nostrils, as out of a tar barrel; but look out, and take the bit
which hangs behind the door yonder, and throw it right into his jaws,
and he will grow so tame that you may do what you like with him.'

Yes! the Prince would mind and do that; and so he sat in there the
whole day, talking and chattering with the Mastermaid about one thing
and another, but they always came back to how happy they would be if
they could only have one another, and get well away from the Giant;
and, to tell the truth, the Prince would have clean forgotten both
the horse and the hill-side, if the Mastermaid hadn't put him in mind
of them when evening drew on, telling him he had better set out to
fetch the horse before the Giant came home. So he set off, and took
the bit which hung in the corner, ran up the hill, and it wasn't long
before he met the horse, with fire and flame streaming out of its
nostrils. But he watched his time, and, as the horse came open-jawed
up to him, he threw the bit into its mouth, and it stood as quiet as
a lamb. After that, it was no great matter to ride it home and put it
up, you may fancy; and then the Prince went into his room again, and
began to carol and sing.

So the Giant came home again at even with his goats; and the first
words he said were:

'Have you brought my horse down from the hill?'

'Yes, master, that I have', said the Prince; 'and a better horse I
never bestrode; but for all that I rode him straight home, and put
him up safe and sound.'

'I'll soon see to that', said the Giant, and ran out to the stable,
and there stood the horse just as the Prince had said.

'You've talked to my Mastermaid, I'll be bound, for you haven't
sucked this out of your own breast', said the Giant again.

'Yesterday master talked of this Mastermaid, and to-day it's the same
story', said the Prince, who pretended to be silly and stupid. 'Bless
you, master! why don't you show me the thing at once? I should so
like to see it only once in my life.'

'Oh, if that's all', said the Giant, 'you'll see her soon enough.'

The third day, at dawn, the Giant went off to the wood again with his
goats; but before he went he said to the Prince:

'To-day you must go to Hell and fetch my fire-tax. When you have done
that you can rest yourself all day, for you must know it is an easy
master you have come to'; and with that off he went.

'Easy master, indeed!' said the Prince. 'You may be easy, but you set
me hard tasks all the same. But I may as well see if I can find your
Mastermaid, as you call her. I daresay she'll tell me what to do';
and so in he went to her again.

So when the Mastermaid asked what the Giant had set him to do that
day, he told her how he was to go to Hell and fetch the fire-tax.

'And how will you set about it?' asked the Mastermaid.

'Oh, that you must tell me', said the Prince. 'I have never been to
Hell in my life; and even if I knew the way, I don't know how much I
am to ask for.'

'Well, I'll soon tell you', said the Mastermaid; 'you must go to the
steep rock away yonder, under the hill-side, and take the club that
lies there, and knock on the face of the rock. Then there will come
out one all glistening with fire; to him you must tell your errand;
and when he asks you how much you will have, mind you say, "As much
as I can carry."'

Yes; he would be sure to say that; so he sat in there with the
Mastermaid all that day too; and though evening drew on, he would
have sat there till now, had not the Mastermaid put him in mind that
it was high time to be off to Hell to fetch the Giant's fire-tax
before he came home. So he went on his way, and did just as the
Mastermaid had told him; and when he reached the rock, he took up the
club and gave a great thump. Then the rock opened, and out came one
whose face glistened, and out of whose eyes and nostrils flew sparks
of fire.

'What is your will?' said he.

'Oh! I'm only come from the Giant to fetch his fire-tax', said the
Prince.

'How much will you have then?' said the other.

'I never wish for more than I am able to carry', said the Prince.

'Lucky for you that you did not ask for a whole horse-load', said he
who came out of the rock; 'but come now into the rock with me, and
you shall have it.'

So the Prince went in with him, and you may fancy what heaps and
heaps of gold and silver he saw lying in there, just like stones in a
gravel pit; and he got a load just as big as he was able to carry,
and set off home with it. Now, when the Giant came home with his
goats at even, the Prince went into his room, and began to carol and
sing as he had done the evenings before.

'Have you been to Hell after my fire-tax?' roared the Giant.

'Oh yes; that I have, master', answered the Prince.

'Where have you put it?' said the Giant.

'There stands the sack on the bench yonder', said the Prince.

'I'll soon see to that', said the Giant, who strode off to the bench,
and there he saw the sack so full that the gold and silver dropped
out on the floor as soon as ever he untied the string.

'You've been talking to my Mastermaid, that I can see', said the
Giant; 'but if you have, I'll wring your head off.'

'Mastermaid!' said the Prince; 'yesterday master talked of this
Mastermaid, and to-day he talks of her again, and the day before
yesterday it was the same story. I only wish I could see what sort of
thing she is! that I do.'

'Well, well, wait till to-morrow', said the Giant, 'and then I'll
take you in to her myself.'

'Thank you kindly, master', said the Prince; 'but it's only a joke of
master's, I'll be bound.'

So next day the Giant took him in to the Mastermaid, and said to her:

'Now, you must cut his throat, and boil him in the great big pot you
wot of; and when the broth is ready, just give me a call.'

After that, he laid him down on the bench to sleep, and began to
snore so, that it sounded like thunder on the hills.

So the Mastermaid took a knife and cut the Prince in his little
finger, and let three drops of blood fall on a three-legged stool;
and after that she took all the old rags, and soles of shoes, and all
the rubbish she could lay hands on, and put them into the pot; and
then she filled a chest full of ground gold, and took a lump of salt,
and a flask of water that hung behind the door, and she took,
besides, a golden apple, and two golden chickens, and off she set
with the Prince from the Giant's house as fast as they could; and
when they had gone a little way, they came to the sea, and after that
they sailed over the sea; but where they got the ship from, I have
never heard tell.

So when the Giant had slumbered a good bit, he began to stretch
himself as he lay on the bench and called out, 'Will it be soon
done?'

'Only just begun', answered the first drop of blood on the stool.

So the Giant lay down to sleep again, and slumbered a long, long
time. At last he began to toss about a little, and cried out:

'Do you hear what I say; will it be soon done?' but he did not look
up this time, any more than the first, for he was still half asleep.

'Half done', said the second drop of blood.

Then the Giant thought again it was the Mastermaid, so he turned over
on his other side, and fell asleep again; and when he had gone on
sleeping for many hours, he began to stir and stretch his old bones,
and to call out,--

'Isn't it done yet?'

'Done to a turn', said the third drop of blood.

Then the Giant rose up and began to rub his eyes, but he couldn't see
who it was that was talking to him, so he searched and called for the
Mastermaid, but no one answered.

'Ah, well! I dare say she's just run out of doors for a bit', he
thought, and took up a spoon and went up to the pot to taste the
broth; but he found nothing but shoe-soles, and rags, and such stuff;
and it was all boiled up together, so that he couldn't tell which was
thick and which was thin. As soon as he saw this, he could tell how
things had gone, and he got so angry he scarce knew which leg to
stand upon. Away he went after the Prince and the Mastermaid, till
the wind whistled behind him; but before long, he came to the water
and couldn't cross it.

'Never mind', he said; 'I know a cure for this. I've only got to call
on my stream-sucker.'

So he called on his stream-sucker, and he came and stooped down, and
took one, two, three gulps; and then the water fell so much in the
sea, that the Giant could see the Mastermaid and the Prince sailing
in their ship.

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