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Popular Tales from the Norse

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




'Now, you must cast out the lump of salt', said the Mastermaid.

So the Prince threw it overboard, and it grew up into a mountain so
high, right across the sea, that the Giant couldn't pass it, and the
stream-sucker couldn't help him by swilling any more water.

'Never mind!' cried the Giant; 'there's a cure for this too.' So he
called on his hill-borer to come and bore through the mountain, that
the stream-sucker might creep through and take another swill; but
just as they had made a hole through the hill, and the stream-sucker
was about to drink, the Mastermaid told the Prince to throw overboard
a drop or two out of the flask, and then the sea was just as full as
ever, and before the stream-sucker could take another gulp, they
reached the land and were saved from the Giant.

So they made up their minds to go home to the Prince's father, but
the Prince would not hear of the Mastermaid's walking, for he thought
it seemly neither for her nor for him.

'Just wait here ten minutes', he said, 'while I go home after the
seven horses which stand in my father's stall. It's no great way off,
and I shan't be long about it; but I will not hear of my sweetheart
walking to my father's palace.'

'Ah!' said the Mastermaid, 'pray don't leave me, for if you once get
home to the palace, you'll forget me outright; I know you will.'

'Oh!' said he, 'how can I forget you; you with whom I have gone
through so much, and whom I love so dearly?'

There was no help for it, he must and would go home to fetch the
coach and seven horses, and she was to wait for him by the seaside.
So at last the Mastermaid was forced to let him have his way; she
only said:

'Now, when you get home, don't stop so much as to say good day to any
one, but go straight to the stable and put to the horses, and drive
back as quick as you can; for they will all come about you; but do as
though you did not see them; and above all things, mind you do not
taste a morsel of food, for if you do, we shall both come to grief.'

All this the Prince promised; but he thought all the time there was
little fear of his forgetting her.

Now, just as he came home to the palace, one of his brothers was
thinking of holding his bridal feast, and the bride, and all her kith
and kin, were just come to the palace. So they all thronged round
him, and asked about this thing and that, and wanted him to go in
with them; but he made as though he did not see them, and went
straight to the stall and got out the horses, and began to put them
to. And when they saw they could not get him to go in, they came out
to him with meat and drink, and the best of everything they had got
ready for the feast; but the Prince would not taste so much as a
crumb, and put to as fast as he could. At last the bride's sister
rolled an apple across the yard to him, saying:

'Well, if you won't eat anything else, you may as well take a bite of
this, for you must be both hungry and thirsty after so long a
journey.'

So he took up the apple and bit a piece out of it; but he had scarce
done so, before he forgot the Mastermaid, and how he was to drive
back for her.

'Well, I think I must be mad', he said; 'what am I to do with this
coach and horses?' So he put the horses up again, and went along with
the others into the palace, and it was soon settled that he should
have the bride's sister, who had rolled the apple over to him.

There sat the Mastermaid by the seashore, and waited and waited for
the Prince, but no Prince came; so at last she went up from the
shore, and after she had gone a bit she came to a little hut which
lay by itself in a copse close by the king's palace. She went in and
asked if she might lodge there. It was an old dame that owned the
hut, and a cross-grained scolding hag she was as ever you saw. At
first she would not hear of the Mastermaid's lodging in her house,
but at last, for fair words and high rent, the Mastermaid got leave
to be there. Now the but was as dark and dirty as a pigsty, so the
Mastermaid said she would smarten it up a little, that their house
might look inside like other people's. The old hag did not like this
either, and showed her teeth, and was cross; but the Mastermaid did
not mind her. She took her chest of gold, and threw a handful or so
into the fire, and lo! the gold melted, and bubbled and boiled over
out of the grate, and spread itself over the whole hut, till it was
gilded both outside and in. But as soon as the gold began to bubble
and boil, the old hag got so afraid that she tried to run out as if
the Evil One were at her heels; and as she ran out at the door, she
forgot to stoop, and gave her head such a knock against the lintel,
that she broke her neck, and that was the end of her.

Next morning the Constable passed that way, and you may fancy he
could scarce believe his eyes when he saw the golden hut shining and
glistening away in the copse; but he was still more astonished when
he went in and saw the lovely maiden who sat there. To make a long
story short, he fell over head and ears in love with her, and begged
and prayed her to become his wife.

'Well, but have you much money?' asked the Mastermaid.

Yes, for that matter, he said, he was not so badly off, and off he
went home to fetch the money, and when he came back at even he
brought a half-bushel sack, and set it down on the bench. So the
Mastermaid said she would have him, since he was so rich; but they
were scarce in bed before she said she must get up again:

'For I have forgotten to make up the fire.'

'Pray, don't stir out of bed', said the Constable; 'I'll see to it.'

So he jumped out of bed, and stood on the hearth in a trice.

'As soon as you have got hold of the shovel, just tell me', said the
Mastermaid.

'Well, I am holding it now', said the Constable.

Then the Mastermaid said:

'God grant that you may hold the shovel, and the shovel you, and may
you heap hot burning coals over yourself till morning breaks.'

So there stood the Constable all night long, shovelling hot burning
coals over himself; and though he begged, and prayed, and wept, the
coals were not a bit colder for that; but as soon as day broke, and
he had power to cast away the shovel, he did not stay long, as you
may fancy, but set off as if the Evil One or the bailiff were at his
heels; and all who met him stared their eyes out at him, for he cut
capers as though he were mad, and he could not have looked in worse
plight if he had been flayed and tanned, and every one wondered what
had befallen him, but he told no one where he had been, for shame's
sake.

Next day the Attorney passed by the place where the Mastermaid lived,
and he too saw how it shone and glistened in the copse; so he turned
aside to find out who owned the hut; and when he came in and saw the
lovely maiden, he fell more in love with her than the Constable, and
began to woo her in hot haste.

Well, the Mastermaid asked him, as she had asked the Constable, if he
had a good lot of money? and the Attorney said he wasn't so badly
off; and as a proof he went home to fetch his money. So at even he
came back with a great fat sack of money--I think it was a whole
bushel sack--and set it down on the bench; and the long and the short
of the matter was, that he was to have her, and they went to bed. But
all at once the Mastermaid had forgotten to shut the door of the
porch, and she must get up and make it fast for the night.

'What, you do that!' said the Attorney, 'while I lie here; that can
never be; lie still, while I go and do it.'

So up he jumped, like a pea on a drum-head, and ran out into the
porch.

'Tell me', said the Mastermaid, 'when you have hold of the door-
latch.'

'I've got hold of it now', said the Attorney.

'God grant, then', said the Mastermaid, 'that you may hold the door,
and the door you, and that you may go from wall to wall till day
dawns.'

So you may fancy what a dance the Attorney had all night long; such a
waltz he never had before, and I don't think he would much care if he
never had such a waltz again. Now he pulled the door forward, and
then the door pulled him back, and so he went on, now dashed into one
corner of the porch, and now into the other, till he was almost
battered to death. At first he began to curse and swear, and then to
beg and pray, but the door cared for nothing but holding its own till
break of day. As soon as it let go its hold, off set the Attorney,
leaving behind him his money to pay for his night's lodging, and
forgetting his courtship altogether, for to tell the truth, he was
afraid lest the house-door should come dancing after him. All who met
him stared and gaped at him, for he too cut capers like a madman, and
he could not have looked in worse plight if he had spent the whole
night in butting against a flock of rams.

The third day the Sheriff passed that way, and he too saw the golden
hut, and turned aside to find out who lived there; and he had scarce
set eyes on the Mastermaid, before he began to woo her. So she
answered him as she had answered the other two. If he had lots of
money she would have him, if not, he might go about his business.
Well, the Sheriff said he wasn't so badly off, and he would go home
and fetch the money, and when he came again at even, he had a bigger
sack even than the Attorney--it must have been at least a bushel and
a half, and put it down on the bench. So it was soon settled that he
was to have the Mastermaid, but they had scarce gone to bed before
the Mastermaid said she had forgotten to bring home the calf from the
meadow, so she must get up and drive him into the stall. Then the
Sheriff swore by all the powers that should never be, and, stout and
fat as he was, up he jumped as nimbly as a kitten.

'Well, only tell me when you've got hold of the calf's tail', said
the Mastermaid.

'Now I have hold of it', said the Sheriff.

'God grant', said the Mastermaid, 'that you may hold the calf's tail,
and the calf's tail you, and that you may make a tour of the world
together till day dawns'.

Well you may just fancy how the Sheriff had to stretch his legs; away
they went, the calf and he, over high and low, across hill and dale,
and the more the Sheriff cursed and swore, the faster the calf ran
and jumped. At dawn of day the poor Sheriff was well nigh broken-
winded, and so glad was he to let go the calf's tail, that he forgot
his sack of money and everything else. As he was a great man, he went
a little slower than the Attorney and the Constable, but the slower
he went the more time people had to gape and stare at him; and I must
say they made good use of their time, for he was terribly tattered
and torn, after his dance with the calf.

Next day was fixed for the wedding at the palace, and the eldest
brother was to drive to church with his bride, and the younger, who
had lived with the Giant, with the bride's sister. But when they had
got into the coach, and were just going to drive off, one of the
trace-pins snapped off; and though they made at least three in its
place, they all broke, from whatever sort of wood they were made. So
time went on and on, and they couldn't get to church, and every one
grew very downcast. But all at once the Constable said, for he too
was bidden to the wedding, that yonder away in the copse lived a
maiden.

'And if you can only get her to lend you the handle of her shovel
with which she makes up her fire, I know very well it will hold.'

Well! they sent a messenger on the spot, with such a pretty message
to the maiden, to know if they couldn't get the loan of her shovel
which the Constable had spoken of; and the maiden said 'yes', they
might have it; so they got a trace-pin which wasn't likely to snap.

But all at once, just as they were driving off, the bottom of the
coach tumbled to bits. So they set to work to make a new bottom as
they best might; but it mattered not how many nails they put into it,
nor of what wood they made it, for as soon as ever they got the
bottom well into the coach and were driving off, snap it went in two
again, and they were even worse off than when they lost the trace-
pin. Just then the Attorney said--for if the Constable was there, you
may fancy the Attorney was there too: 'Away yonder, in the copse,
lives a maiden, and if you could only get her to lend you one-half of
her porch-door, I know it can hold together.'

Well! they sent another message to the copse, and asked so prettily
if they couldn't have the loan of the gilded porch-door which the
Attorney had talked of; and they got it on the spot. So they were
just setting out; but now the horses were not strong enough to draw
the coach, though there were six of them; then they put on eight, and
ten, and twelve, but the more they put on, and the more the coachman
whipped, the more the coach wouldn't stir an inch. By this time it
was far on in the day, and every one about the palace was in doleful
dumps; for to church they must go, and yet it looked as if they
should never get there. So at last the Sheriff said, that yonder in
the gilded hut, in the copse, lived a maiden, and if they could only
get the loan of her calf:

'I know it can drag the coach, though it were as heavy as a
mountain.'

Well they all thought it would look silly to be drawn to church by a
calf, but there was no help for it, so they had to send a third time,
and ask so prettily in the King's name, if he couldn't get the loan
of the calf the Sheriff had spoken of, and the Mastermaid let them
have it on the spot, for she was not going to say 'no' this time
either. So they put the calf on before the horses, and waited to see
if it would do any good, and away went the coach over high and low,
and stock and stone, so that they could scarce draw their breath;
sometimes they were on the ground, and sometimes up in the air, and
when they reached the church, the calf began to run round and round
it like a spinning jenny, so that they had hard work to get out of
the coach, and into the church. When they went back, it was the same
story, only they went faster, and they reached the palace almost
before they knew they had set out.

Now when they sat down to dinner, the Prince who had served with the
Giant said he thought they ought to ask the maiden who had lent them
her shovel-handle and porch-door, and calf, to come up to the palace.

'For', said he, 'if we hadn't got these three things, we should have
been sticking here still.'

Yes; the King thought that only fair and right, so he sent five of
his best men down to the gilded but to greet the maiden from the
King, and to ask her if she wouldn't be so good as to came up and
dine at the palace.

'Greet the King from me', said the Mastermaid, 'and tell him, if he's
too good to come to me, so am I too good to go to him.'

So the King had to go himself, and then the Mastermaid went up with
him without more ado; and as the King thought she was more than she
seemed to be, he sat her down in the highest seat by the side of the
youngest bridegroom.

Now, when they had sat a little while at table, the Mastermaid took
out her golden apple, and the golden cock and hen, which she had
carried off from the Giant, and put them down on the table before
her, and the cock and hen began at once to peck at one another, and
to fight for the golden apple.

'Oh! only look', said the Prince; 'see how those two strive for the
apple.'

'Yes!' said the Mastermaid; 'so we two strove to get away that time
when we were together in the hillside.'

Then the spell was broken, and the Prince knew her again, and you may
fancy how glad he was. But as for the witch who had rolled the apple
over to him, he had her torn to pieces between twenty-four horses, so
that there was not a bit of her left, and after that they held on
with the wedding in real earnest; and though they were still stiff
and footsore, the Constable, the Attorney, and the Sheriff, kept it
up with the best of them.




THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL

Once on a time there was a man up in Finnmark who had caught a great
white bear, which he was going to take to the king of Denmark. Now,
it so fell out, that he came to the Dovrefell just about Christmas
Eve, and there he turned into a cottage where a man lived, whose name
was Halvor, and asked the man if he could get house-room there, for
his bear and himself.

'Heaven never help me, if what I say isn't true!' said the man; 'but
we can't give any one house-room just now, for every Christmas Eve
such a pack of Trolls come down upon us, that we are forced to flit,
and haven't so much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of
lending one to any one else.'

'Oh?' said the man, 'if that's all, you can very well lend me your
house; my bear can lie under the stove yonder, and I can sleep in the
side-room.'

Well, he begged so hard, that at last he got leave to stay there; so
the people of the house flitted out, and before they went, everything
was got ready for the Trolls; the tables were laid, and there was
rice porridge, and fish boiled in lye, and sausages, and all else
that was good, just as for any other grand feast.

So, when everything was ready, down came the Trolls. Some were great,
and some were small; some had long tails, and some had no tails at
all; some, too, had long, long noses; and they ate and drank, and
tasted everything. Just then one of the little Trolls caught sight of
the white bear, who lay under the stove; so he took a piece of
sausage and stuck it on a fork, and went and poked it up against the
bear's nose, screaming out:

'Pussy, will you have some sausage?'

Then the white bear rose up and growled, and hunted the whole pack of
them out of doors, both great and small.

Next year Halvor was out in the wood, on the afternoon of Christmas
Eve, cutting wood before the holidays, for he thought the Trolls
would come again; and just as he was hard at work, he heard a voice
in the wood calling out:

'Halvor! Halvor!'

'Well', said Halvor, 'here I am.'

'Have you got your big cat with you still?'

'Yes, that I have', said Halvor; 'she's lying at home under the
stove, and what's more, she has now got seven kittens, far bigger and
fiercer than she is herself.'

'Oh, then, we'll never come to see you again', bawled out the Troll
away in the wood, and he kept his word; for since that time the
Trolls have never eaten their Christmas brose with Halvor on the
Dovrefell.




PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

Once on a time there was a man who had a meadow, which lay high up on
the hill-side, and in the meadow was a barn, which he had built to
keep his hay in. Now, I must tell you, there hadn't been much in the
barn for the last year or two, for every St John's night, when the
grass stood greenest and deepest, the meadow was eaten down to the
very ground the next morning, just as if a whole drove of sheep had
been there feeding on it over night. This happened once, and it
happened twice; so at last the man grew weary of losing his crop of
hay, and said to his sons--for he had three of them, and the youngest
was nicknamed Boots, of course--that now one of them must just go and
sleep in the barn in the outlying field when St John's night came,
for it was too good a joke that his grass should be eaten, root and
blade, this year, as it had been the last two years. So whichever of
them went must keep a sharp look-out; that was what their father
said.

Well, the eldest son was ready to go and watch the meadow; trust him
for looking after the grass! It shouldn't be his fault if man or
beast, or the fiend himself, got a blade of grass. So, when evening
came, he set off to the barn, and lay down to sleep; but a little on
in the night came such a clatter, and such an earthquake, that walls
and roof shook, and groaned, and creaked; then up jumped the lad, and
took to his heels as fast as ever he could; nor dared he once look
round till he reached home; and as for the hay, why it was eaten up
this year just as it had been twice before.

The next St John's night, the man said again, it would never do to
lose all the grass in the outlying field year after year in this way,
so one of his sons must just trudge off to watch it, and watch it
well too. Well, the next oldest son was ready to try his luck, so he
set off, and lay down to sleep in the barn as his brother had done
before him; but as the night wore on, there came on a rumbling and
quaking of the earth, worse even than on the last St John's night,
and when the lad heard it, he got frightened, and took to his heels
as though he were running a race.

Next year the turn came to Boots; but when he made ready to go, the
other two began to laugh and to make game of him, saying,

'You're just the man to watch the hay, that you are; you, who have
done nothing all your life but sit in the ashes and toast yourself by
the fire.'

But Boots did not care a pin for their chattering, and stumped away
as evening drew on, up the hill-side to the outlying field. There he
went inside the barn and lay down; but in about an hour's time the
barn began to groan and creak, so that it was dreadful to hear.

'Well', said Boots to himself, 'if it isn't worse than this, I can
stand it well enough.'

A little while after came another creak and an earthquake, so that
the litter in the barn flew about the lad's ears.

'Oh!' said Boots to himself, 'if it isn't worse than this, I daresay
I can stand it out.'

But just then came a third rumbling, and a third earthquake, so that
the lad thought walls and roof were coming down on his head; but it
passed off, and all was still as death about him.

'It'll come again, I'll be bound', thought Boots; but no, it didn't
come again; still it was, and still it stayed; but after he had lain
a little while, he heard a noise as if a horse were standing just
outside the barn-door, and cropping the grass. He stole to the door,
and peeped through a chink, and there stood a horse feeding away. So
big, and fat, and grand a horse, Boots had never set eyes on; by his
side on the grass lay a saddle and bridle, and a full set of armour
for a knight, all of brass, so bright that the light gleamed from it.

'Ho, ho!' thought the lad; 'it's you, is it, that eats up our hay?
I'll soon put a spoke in your wheel, just see if I don't.'

So he lost no time, but took the steel out of his tinder-box, and
threw it over the horse; then it had no power to stir from the spot,
and became so tame that the lad could do what he liked with it. So he
got on its back, and rode off with it to a place which no one knew
of, and there he put up the horse. When he got home, his brothers
laughed and asked how he had fared?

'You didn't lie long in the barn, even if you had the heart to go so
far as the field.'

'Well', said Boots, 'all I can say is, I lay in the barn till the sun
rose, and neither saw nor heard anything; I can't think what there
was in the barn to make you both so afraid.'

'A pretty story', said his brothers; 'but we'll soon see how you have
watched the meadow'; so they set off; but when they reached it, there
stood the grass as deep and thick as it had been over night.

Well, the next St John's eve it was the same story over again;
neither of the elder brothers dared to go out to the outlying field
to watch the crop; but Boots, he had the heart to go, and everything
happened just as it had happened the year before. First a clatter and
an earthquake, then a greater clatter and another earthquake, and so
on a third time; only this year the earthquakes were far worse than
the year before. Then all at once everything was as still as death,
and the lad heard how something was cropping the grass outside the
barn-door, so he stole to the door, and peeped through a chink; and
what do you think he saw? why, another horse standing right up
against the wall, and chewing and champing with might and main. It
was far finer and fatter than that which came the year before, and it
had a saddle on its back, and a bridle on its neck, and a full suit
of mail for a knight lay by its side, all of silver, and as grand as
you would wish to see.

'Ho ho!' said Boots to himself; 'it's you that gobbles up our hay, is
it? I'll soon put a spoke in your wheel'; and with that he took the
steel out of his tinder-box, and threw it over the horse's crest,
which stood as still as a lamb. Well, the lad rode this horse, too,
to the hiding-place where he kept the other one, and after that he
went home.

'I suppose you'll tell us', said one of his brothers, 'there's a fine
crop this year too, up in the hayfield.'

'Well, so there is', said Boots; and off ran the others to see, and
there stood the grass thick and deep, as it was the year before; but
they didn't give Boots softer words for all that.

Now, when the third St John's eve came, the two elder still hadn't
the heart to lie out in the barn and watch the grass, for they had
got so scared at heart the night they lay there before, that they
couldn't get over the fright; but Boots, he dared to go; and, to make
a long story short, the very same thing happened this time as had
happened twice before. Three earthquakes came, one after the other,
each worse than the one which went before, and when the last came,
the lad danced about with the shock from one barn wall to the other;
and after that, all at once, it was still as death. Now when he had
lain a little while, he heard something tugging away at the grass
outside the barn, so he stole again to the door-chink, and peeped
out, and there stood a horse close outside--far, far bigger and
fatter than the two he had taken before.

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