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Popular Tales from the Norse

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




'Ho, ho!' said the lad to himself, 'it's you, is it, that comes here
eating up our hay? I'll soon stop that--I'll soon put a spoke in your
wheel.' So he caught up his steel and threw it over the horse's neck,
and in a trice it stood as if it were nailed to the ground, and Boots
could do as he pleased with it. Then he rode off with it to the
hiding-place where he kept the other two, and then went home. When he
got home, his two brothers made game of him as they had done before,
saying, they could see he had watched the grass well, for he looked
for all the world as if he were walking in his sleep, and many other
spiteful things they said, but Boots gave no heed to them, only asking
them to go and see for themselves; and when they went, there stood
the grass as fine and deep this time as it had been twice before.

Now, you must know that the king of the country where Boots lived had
a daughter, whom he would only give to the man who could ride up over
the hill of glass, for there was a high, high hill, all of glass, as
smooth and slippery as ice, close by the king's palace. Upon the tip
top of the hill the king's daughter was to sit, with three golden
apples in her lap, and the man who could ride up and carry off the
three golden apples, was to have half the kingdom, and the Princess
to wife. This the king had stuck up on all the church-doors in his
realm, and had given it out in many other kingdoms besides. Now, this
Princess was so lovely, that all who set eyes on her, fell over head
and ears in love with her whether they would or no. So I needn't tell
you how all the princes and knights who heard of her were eager to
win her to wife, and half the kingdom beside; and how they came
riding from all parts of the world on high prancing horses, and clad
in the grandest clothes, for there wasn't one of them who hadn't made
up his mind that he, and he alone, was to win the Princess.

So when the day of trial came, which the king had fixed, there was
such a crowd of princes and knights under the glass hill, that it
made one's head whirl to look at them; and every one in the country
who could even crawl along was off to the hill, for they all were eager
to see the man who was to win the Princess. So the two elder brothers
set off with the rest; but as for Boots, they said outright he shouldn't
go with them, for if they were seen with such a dirty, changeling, all
begrimed with smut from cleaning their shoes and sifting cinders in
the dust-hole, they said folk would make game of them.

'Very well', said Boots, 'it's all one to me. I can go alone, and
stand or fall by myself.'

Now when the two brothers came to the hill of glass, the knights and
princes were all hard at it, riding their horses till they were all
in a foam; but it was no good, by my troth; for as soon as ever the
horses set foot on the hill, down they slipped, and there wasn't one
who could get a yard or two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as
smooth as a sheet of glass, and as steep as a house-wall. But all
were eager to have the Princess and half the kingdom. So they rode
and slipped, and slipped and rode, and still it was the same story
over again. At last all their horses were so weary that they could
scarce lift a leg, and in such a sweat that the lather dripped from
them, and so the knights had to give up trying any more. So the king
was just thinking that he would proclaim a new trial for the next
day, to see if they would have better luck, when all at once a knight
came riding up on so brave a steed, that no one had ever seen the
like of it in his born days, and the knight had mail of brass, and
the horse a brass bit in his mouth, so bright that the sunbeams shone
from it. Then all the others called out to him he might just as well
spare himself the trouble of riding at the hill, for it would lead to
no good; but he gave no heed to them, and put his horse at the hill,
and went up it like nothing for a good way, about a third of the
height; and when he had got so far, he turned his horse round and
rode down again. So lovely a knight the Princess thought she had
never yet seen; and while he was riding, she sat and thought to
herself: 'Would to heaven he might only come up and down the
other side.'

And when she saw him turning back, she threw down one of the golden
apples after him, and it rolled down into his shoe. But when he got
to the bottom of the hill he rode off so fast that no one could tell
what had become of him. That evening all the knights and princes were
to go before the king, that he who had ridden so far up the hill
might show the apple which the princess had thrown, but there was no
one who had anything to show. One after the other they all came, but
not a man of them could show the apple.

At even the brothers of Boots came home too, and had such a long
story to tell about the riding up the hill.

'First of all', they said, 'there was not one of the whole lot who
could get so much as a stride up; but at last came one who had a suit
of brass mail, and a brass bridle and saddle, all so bright that the
sun shone from them a mile off. He was a chap to ride, just! He rode
a third of the way up the hill of glass, and he could easily have
ridden the whole way up, if he chose; but he turned round and rode
down, thinking, maybe, that was enough for once.'

'Oh! I should so like to have seen him, that I should', said Boots,
who sat by the fireside, and stuck his feet into the cinders, as was
his wont.

'Oh!' said his brothers, 'you would, would you? You; look fit to keep
company with such high lords, nasty beast that you are, sitting there
amongst the ashes.'

Next day the brothers were all for setting off again, and Boots
begged them this time, too, to let him go with them and see the
riding; but no, they wouldn't have him at any price, he was too ugly
and nasty, they said.

'Well, well!' said Boots;' if I go at all, I must go by myself. I'm
not afraid.'

So when the brothers got to the hill of glass, all the princes and
knights began to ride again, and you may fancy they had taken care to
shoe their horses sharp; but it was no good--they rode and slipped,
and slipped and rode, just as they had done the day before, and there
was not one who could get so far as a yard up the hill. And when they
had worn out their horses, so that they could not stir a leg, they
were all forced to give it up as a bad job. So the king thought he
might as well proclaim that the riding should take place the day
after for the last time, just to give them one chance more; but all
at once it came across his mind that he might as well wait a little
longer, to see if the knight in brass mail would come this day too.
Well! they saw nothing of him; but all at once came one riding on a
steed, far, far, braver and finer than that on which the knight in
brass had ridden, and he had silver mail, and a silver saddle and
bridle, all so bright that the sun-beams gleamed and glanced from
them far away. Then the others shouted out to him again, saying, he
might as well hold hard, and not try to ride up the hill, for all his
trouble would be thrown away; but the knight paid no heed to them,
and rode straight at the hill, and right up it, till he had gone two-
thirds of the way, and then he wheeled his horse round and rode down
again. To tell the truth, the Princess liked him still better than
the knight in brass, and she sat and wished he might only be able to
come right up to the top, and down the other side; but when she saw
him turning back, she threw the second apple after him, and it rolled
down and fell into his shoe. But, as soon as ever he had come down
from the hill of glass, he rode off so fast that no one could see
what became of him.

At even, when all were to go in before the king and the Princess,
that he who had the golden apple might show it, in they went, one
after the other, but there was no one who had any apple to show, and
the two brothers, as they had done on the former day, went home and
told how things had gone, and how all had ridden at the hill, and
none got up.

'But, last of all', they said, 'came one in a silver suit, and his
horse had a silver saddle and a silver bridle. He was just a chap to
ride; and he got two-thirds up the hill, and then turned back. He was
a fine fellow, and no mistake; and the Princess threw the second gold
apple to him.'

'Oh!' said Boots, 'I should so like to have seen him too, that I
should.'

'A pretty story', they said. 'Perhaps you think his coat of mail was
as bright as the ashes you are always poking about, and sifting, you
nasty dirty beast.'

The third day everything happened as it had happened the two days
before. Boots begged to go and see the sight, but the two wouldn't
hear of his going with them. When they got to the hill there was no
one who could get so much as a yard up it; and now all waited for the
knight in silver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of him. At last
came one riding on a steed, so brave that no one had ever seen his
match; and the knight had a suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle
and bridle, so wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them a
mile off. The other knights and princes could not find time to call
out to him not to try his luck, for they were amazed to see how grand
he was. So he rode right at the hill, and tore up it like nothing, so
that the Princess hadn't even time to wish that he might get up the
whole way. As soon as ever he reached the top, he took the third
golden apple from the Princess' lap, and then turned his horse and
rode down again. As soon as he got down, he rode off at full speed,
and was out of sight in no time.

Now, when the brothers got home at even, you may fancy what long
stories they told, how the riding had gone off that day; and amongst
other things, they had a deal to say about the knight in golden mail.

'He just was a chap to ride!' they said; 'so grand a knight isn't to
be found in the wide world.'

'Oh!' said Boots, 'I should so like to have seen him, that I should.'

'Ah! 'said his brothers, 'his mail shone a deal brighter than the
glowing coals which you are always poking and digging at; nasty dirty
beast that you are.'

Next day all the knights and princes were to pass before the king and
the Princess--it was too late to do so the night before, I suppose--
hat he who had the gold apple might bring it forth; but one came
after another, first the princes, and then the knights, and still no
one could show the gold apple.

'Well', said the king, 'some one must have it, for it was something
that we all saw with our own eyes, how a man came and rode up and
bore it off.'

So he commanded that every one who was in the kingdom should come up
to the palace and see if they could show the apple. Well, they all
came one after another, but no one had the golden apple, and after a
long time the two brothers of Boots came. They were the last of all,
so the king asked them if there was no one else in the kingdom who
hadn't come.

'Oh, yes', said they; 'we have a brother, but he never carried off
the golden apple. He hasn't stirred out of the dusthole on any of the
three days.'

'Never mind that', said the king; 'he may as well come up to the
palace like the rest.'

So Boots had to go up to the palace.

'How, now', said the king; 'have you got the golden apple? Speak
out!'

'Yes, I have', said Boots; 'here is the first, and here is the
second, and here is the third too'; and with that he pulled all three
golden apples out of his pocket, and at the same time threw off his
sooty rags, and stood before them in his gleaming golden mail.

'Yes!' said the king; 'you shall have my daughter, and half my
kingdom, for you well deserve both her and it.'

So they got ready for the wedding, and Boots got the Princess to
wife, and there was great merry-making at the bridal-feast, you may
fancy, for they could all be merry though they couldn't ride up the
hill of glass; and all I can say is, if they haven't left off their
merry-making yet, why, they're still at it.




THE COCK AND HEN

(In this tale the notes of the Cock and Hen must be imitated.)

_Hen_--You promise me shoes year after year, year after year,
and yet I get no shoes!

_Cock_--You shall have them, never fear! Henny penny!

_Hen_--I lay egg after egg, egg after egg, and yet I go about
barefoot!

_Cock_--Well, take your eggs, and be off to the tryst, and buy
yourself shoes, and don't go any longer barefoot!




HOW ONE WENT OUT TO WOO

Once on a time there was a lad who went out to woo him a wife.
Amongst other places, he came to a farm-house, where the household
were little better than beggars; but when the wooer came in, they
wanted to make out that they were well to do, as you may guess. Now
the husband had got a new arm to his coat.

'Pray, take a seat', he said to the wooer; 'but there's a shocking
dust in the house.'

So he went about rubbing and wiping all the benches and tables with
his new arm, but he kept the other all the while behind his back.

The wife she had got one new shoe, and she went stamping and sliding
with it up against the stools and chairs, saying, 'How untidy it is
here! Everything is out of its place!'

Then they called out to their daughter to come down and put things to
rights; but the daughter, she had got a new cap; so she put her head
in at the door, and kept nodding and nodding, first to this side, and
then to that.

'Well! for my part', she said, 'I can't be everywhere at once.'

Aye! aye! that was a well-to-do household the wooer had come to.




THE MASTER-SMITH

Once on a time, in the days when our Lord and St Peter used to wander
on earth, they came to a smith's house. He had made a bargain with
the Devil, that the fiend should have him after seven years, but
during that time he was to be the master of all masters in his trade,
and to this bargain both he and the Devil had signed their names. So
he had stuck up in great letters over the door of his forge: _'Here
dwells the Master over all Masters.'_

Now when our Lord passed by and saw that, he went in.

'Who are you?' he said to the Smith.

'Read what's written over the door', said the Smith; 'but maybe you
can't read writing. If so, you must wait till some one comes to help
you.'

Before our Lord had time to answer him, a man came with his horse,
which he begged the Smith to shoe.

'Might I have leave to shoe it?' asked our Lord.

'You may try, if you like', said the Smith; 'you can't do it so badly
that I shall not be able to make it right again.'

So our Lord went out and took one leg off the horse, and laid it in
the furnace, and made the shoe red-hot; after that, he turned up the
ends of the shoe, and filed down the heads of the nails, and clenched
the points; and then he put back the leg safe and sound on the horse
again. And when he was done with that leg, he took the other fore-leg
and did the same with it; and when he was done with that, he took the
hind-legs--first, the off, and then the near leg, and laid them in
the furnace, making the shoes red-hot, turning up the ends; filing
the heads of the nails, and clenching the points; and after all was
done, putting the legs on the horse again. All the while, the Smith
stood by and looked on.

'You're not so bad a smith after all', said he.

'Oh, you think so, do you?' said our Lord.

A little while after came the Smith's mother to the forge, and called
him to come home and eat his dinner; she was an old, old woman with
an ugly crook on her back, and wrinkles in her face, and it was as
much as she could do to crawl along.

'Mark now, what you see', said our Lord.

Then he took the woman and laid her in the furnace, and smithied a
lovely young maiden out of her.

'Well', said the Smith, 'I say now, as I said before, you are not
such a bad smith after all. There it stands over my door. _Here
dwells the Master over all Masters_; but for all that, I say right
out, one learns as long as one lives'; and with that he walked off to
his house and ate his dinner.

So after dinner, just after he had got back to his forge, a man came
riding up to have his horse shod.

'It shall be done in the twinkling of an eye', said the Smith, 'for I
have just learnt a new way to shoe; and a very good way it is when
the days are short.'

So he began to cut and hack till he had got all the horse's legs off,
for he said, I don't know why one should go pottering backwards and
forwards--first, with one leg, and then with another.

Then he laid the legs in the furnace, just as he had seen our Lord
lay them, and threw on a great heap of coal, and made his mates work
the bellows bravely; but it went as one might suppose it would go.
The legs were burnt to ashes, and the Smith had to pay for the horse.

Well, he didn't care much about that, but just then an old beggar-
woman came along the road, and he thought to himself, 'better luck
next time'; so he took the old dame and laid her in the furnace, and
though she begged and prayed hard for her life, it was no good.

'You're so old, you don't know what is good for you', said the Smith;
'now you shall be a lovely young maiden in half no time, and for all
that, I'll not charge you a penny for the job.'

But it went no better with the poor old woman than with the horse's
legs.

'That was ill done, and I say it', said our Lord.

'Oh! for that matter', said the Smith, 'there's not many who'll ask
after her, I'll be bound; but it's a shame of the Devil, if this is
the way he holds to what is written up over the door.'

'If you might have three wishes from me', said our Lord, 'what would
you wish for?'

'Only try me', said the Smith, 'and you'll soon know.'

So our Lord gave him three wishes.

'Well', said the Smith, 'first and foremost, I wish that any one whom
I ask to climb up into the pear-tree that stands outside by the wall
of my forge, may stay sitting there till I ask him to come down
again. The second wish I wish is, that any one whom I ask to sit down
in my easy chair which stands inside the workshop yonder, may stay
sitting there till I ask him to get up. Last of all, I wish that any
one whom I ask to creep into the steel purse which I have in my
pocket, may stay in it till I give him leave to creep out again.'

'You have wished as a wicked man', said St Peter; 'first and
foremost, you should have wished for God's grace and goodwill.'

'I durstn't look so high as that', said the Smith; and after that our
Lord and St Peter bade him 'good-bye', and went on their way.

Well, the years went on and on, and when the time was up, the Devil
came to fetch the Smith, as it was written in their bargain.

'Are you ready?' he said, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the
forge.

'Oh', said the Smith, 'I must just hammer the head of this tenpenny
nail first; meantime, you can just climb up into the pear-tree, and
pluck yourself a pear to gnaw at; you must be, both hungry and
thirsty after your journey.'

So the Devil thanked him for his kind offer, and climbed up into the
pear-tree.

'Very good', said the Smith; 'but now, on thinking the matter over, I
find I shall never be able to have done hammering the head of this
nail till four years are out at least, this iron is so plaguey hard;
down you can't come in all that time, but may sit up there and rest
your bones.'

When the Devil heard this, he begged and prayed till his voice was as
thin as a silver penny that he might have leave to come down; but
there was no help for it. There he was, and there he must stay. At
last he had to give his word of honour not to come again till the
four years were out, which the Smith had spoken of, and then the
Smith said, 'Very well, now you may come down.'

So when the time was up, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith.

'You're ready now, of course', said he; 'you've had time enough to
hammer the head of that nail, I should think.'

'Yes, the head is right enough now', said the Smith; 'but still you
have come a little tiny bit too soon, for I haven't quite done
sharpening the point; such plaguey hard iron I never hammered in all
my born days. So while I work at the point, you may just as well sit
down in my easy chair and rest yourself; I'll be bound you're weary
after coming so far.'

'Thank you kindly', said the Devil, and down he plumped into the easy
chair; but just as he had made himself comfortable, the Smith said,
on second thoughts, he found he couldn't get the point sharp till
four years were out. First of all, the Devil begged so prettily to be
let out of the chair, and afterwards, waxing wroth, he began to
threaten and scold; but the Smith kept on, all the while excusing
himself, and saying it was all the iron's fault, it was so plaguy
hard, and telling the Devil he was not so badly off to have to sit
quietly in an easy chair, and that he would let him out to the minute
when the four years were over. Well, at last there was no help for
it, and the Devil had to give his word of honour not to fetch the
Smith till the four years were out; and then the Smith said:

'Well now, you may get up and be off about your business', and away
went the Devil as fast as he could lay legs to the ground.

When the four years were over, the Devil came again to fetch the
Smith, and he called out, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the
forge:

'Now, I know you must be ready.'

'Ready, aye, ready', answered the Smith; 'we can go now as soon as
you please; but hark ye, there is one thing I have stood here and
thought, and thought, I would ask you to tell me. Is it true what
people say, that the Devil can make himself as small as he pleases?'

'God knows, it is the very truth', said the Devil.

'Oh!' said the Smith; 'it _is_ true, is it? then I wish you
would just be so good as to creep into this steel purse of mine, and
see whether it is sound at the bottom, for to tell you the truth, I'm
afraid my travelling money will drop out.'

'With all my heart', said the Devil, who made himself small in a
trice, and crept into the purse; but he was scarce in when the Smith
snapped to the clasp.

'Yes', called out the Devil inside the purse; 'it's right and tight
everywhere.'

'Very good', said the Smith; 'I'm glad to hear you say so, but "more
haste the worse speed", says the old saw, and "forewarned is
forearmed", says another; so I'll just weld these links a little
together, just for safety's sake'; and with that he laid the purse in
the furnace, and made it red-hot.

'AU! AU!' screamed the Devil, 'are you mad? don't you know I'm inside
the purse?'

'Yes, I do!' said the Smith; 'but I can't help you, for another old
saw says, "one must strike while the iron is hot"'; and as he said
this, he took up his sledge-hammer, laid the purse on the anvil, and
let fly at it as hard as he could.

'AU! AU! AU!' bellowed the Devil, inside the purse. 'Dear friend, do
let me out, and I'll never come near you again.'

'Very well!' said the Smith; 'now, I think, the links are pretty well
welded, and you may come out'; so he unclasped the purse, and away
went the Devil in such a hurry that he didn't once look behind him.

Now, some time after, it came across the Smith's mind that he had
done a silly thing in making the Devil his enemy, for, he said to
himself:

'If, as is like enough, they won't have me in the kingdom of Heaven,
I shall be in danger of being houseless, since I've fallen out with
him who rules over Hell.'

So he made up his mind it would be best to try to get either into
Hell or Heaven, and to try at once, rather than to put it off any
longer, so that he might know how things really stood. Then he threw
his sledge-hammer over his shoulder and set off; and when he had gone
a good bit of the way, he came to a place where two roads met, and
where the path to the kingdom of Heaven parts from the path that
leads to Hell, and here he overtook a tailor, who was pelting along
with his goose in his hand.

'Good day', said the Smith; 'whither are you off to?'

'To the kingdom of Heaven', said the Tailor, 'if I can only get into
it'--'but whither are you going yourself?'

'Oh, our ways don't run together', said the Smith; 'for I have made
up my mind to try first in Hell, as the Devil and I know something of
one another, from old times.'

So they bade one another 'Good-bye', and each went his way; but the
Smith was a stout, strong man, and got over the ground far faster
than the tailor, and so it wasn't long before he stood at the gates
of Hell. Then he called the watch, and bade him go and tell the Devil
there was some one outside who wished to speak a word with him.

'Go out', said the Devil to the watch, 'and ask him who he is?' So
that when the watch came and told him that, the Smith answered:

'Go and greet the Devil in my name, and say it is the Smith who owns
the purse he wots of; and beg him prettily to let me in at once, for
I worked at my forge till noon, and I have had a long walk since.'

But when the Devil heard who it was, he charged the watch to go back
and lock up all the nine locks on the gates of Hell.

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