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Popular Tales from the Norse

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




So after a while the man started off again, and this time he was to
be away a month. But before he went, he said to the lad, if he went
into the fourth room he might give up all hope of saving his life.

Well, the lad stood out for two or three weeks, but then he couldn't
holdout any longer; he must and would go into that room, and so in he
stole. There stood a great black horse tied up in a stall by himself,
with a manger of red-hot coals at his head, and a truss of hay at his
tail. Then the lad thought this all wrong, so he changed them about,
and put the hay at his head. Then said the Horse:

'Since you are so good at heart as to let me have some food, I'll set
you free, that I will. For if the Troll comes back and finds you
here, he'll kill you outright. But now you must go up to the room
which lies just over this, and take a coat of mail out of those that
hang there; and mind, whatever you do, don't take any of the bright
ones, but the most rusty of all you see, that's the one to take; and
sword and saddle you must choose for yourself just in the same way.'

So the lad did all that; but it was a heavy load for him to carry
them all down at once.

When he came back, the Horse told him to pull off his clothes and get
into the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and bathe
himself there. 'If I do', thought the lad, 'I shall look an awful
fright'; but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had
taken his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white
as milk and blood, and much stronger than he had been before.

'Do you feel any change?' asked the Horse.

'Yes', said the lad.

'Try to lift me, then', said the Horse.

Oh yes! he could do that, and as for the sword, he brandished it like
a feather.

'Now saddle me', said the Horse, 'and put on the coat of mail, and
then take the bramble-bush rod, and the stone, and the pitcher of
water, and the pot of ointment, and then we'll be off as fast as we
can.'

So when the lad had got on the horse, off they went at such a rate,
he couldn't at all tell how they went. But when he had ridden awhile,
the Horse said,

'I think I hear a noise; look round! can you see anything?'

'Yes; there are ever so many coming after us, at least a score', said
the lad.

'Aye, aye, that's the Troll coming', said the Horse; 'now he's after
us with his pack.'

So they rode on a while, until those who followed were close behind
them.

'Now throw your bramble-bush rod behind you, over your shoulder',
said the Horse; 'but mind you throw it a good way off my back.'

So the lad did that, and all at once a close, thick bramble-wood grew
up behind them. So the lad rode on a long, long time, while the Troll
and his crew had to go home to fetch something to hew their way
through the wood. But at last, the Horse said again.

'Look behind you! can you see anything now?'

'Yes, ever so many', said the lad, 'as many as would fill a large
church.'

'Aye, aye, that's the Troll and his crew', said the Horse; 'now he's
got more to back him; but now throw down the stone, and mind you
throw it far behind me.'

And as soon as the lad did what the Horse said, up rose a great black
hill of rock behind him. So the Troll had to be off home to fetch
something to mine his way through the rock; and while the Troll did
that, the lad rode a good bit further on. But still the Horse begged
him to look behind him, and then he saw a troop like a whole army
behind him, and they glistened in the sunbeams.

'Aye, aye', said the Horse, 'that's the Troll, and now he's got his
whole band with him, so throw the pitcher of water behind you, but
mind you don't spill any of it upon me.'

So the lad did that; but in spite of all the pains he took, he still
spilt one drop on the horse's flank. So it became a great deep lake;
and because of that one drop, the horse found himself far out in it,
but still he swam safe to land. But when the Trolls came to the lake,
they lay down to drink it dry; and so they swilled and swilled till
they burst.

'Now we're rid of them', said the Horse.

So when they had gone a long, long while, they came to a green patch
in a wood.

'Now, strip off all your arms', said the Horse, 'and only put on your
ragged clothes, and take the saddle off me, and let me loose, and
hang all my clothing and your arms up inside that great hollow lime-
tree yonder. Then make yourself a wig of fir-moss, and go up to the
king's palace, which lies close here, and ask for a place. Whenever
you need me, only come here and shake the bridle, and I'll come to
you.'

Yes! the lad did all his Horse told him, and as soon as ever he put
on the wig of moss he became so ugly, and pale, and miserable to look
at, no one would have known him again. Then he went up to the king's
palace and begged first for leave to be in the kitchen, and bring in
wood and water for the cook, but then the kitchen-maid asked him:

'Why do you wear that ugly wig? Off with it. I won't have such a
fright in here.'

'No, I can't do that', said the lad; 'for I'm not quite right in my
head.'

'Do you think then I'll have you in here about the food', cried the
cook. 'Away with you to the coachman; you're best fit to go and clean
the stable.'

But when the coachman begged him to take his wig off, he got the same
answer, and he wouldn't have him either. 'You'd best go down to the
gardener', said he; 'you're best fit to go about and dig in the
garden.'

So he got leave to be with the gardener, but none of the other
servants would sleep with him, and so he had to sleep by himself
under the steps of the summerhouse. It stood upon beams, and had a
high staircase. Under that he got some turf for his bed, and there he
lay as well as he could.

So, when he had been some time at the palace, it happened one
morning, just as the sun rose, that the lad had taken off his wig,
and stood and washed himself, and then he was so handsome, it was a
joy to look at him.

So the Princess saw from her window the lovely gardener's boy, and
thought she had never seen any one so handsome. Then she asked the
gardener why he lay out there under the steps.

'Oh', said the gardener, 'none of his fellow-servants will sleep with
him; that's why.'

'Let him come up to-night, and lie at the door inside my bedroom, and
then they'll not refuse to sleep with him any more', said the
Princess.

So the gardener told that to the lad.

'Do you think I'll do any such thing?' said the lad. 'Why they'd say
next there was something between me and the Princess.'

'Yes', said the gardener, 'you've good reason to fear any such thing,
you who are so handsome.'

'Well, well', said the lad, 'since it's her will, I suppose I must
go.'

So, when he was to go up the steps in the evening, he tramped and
stamped so on the way, that they had to beg him to tread softly lest
the King should come to know it. So he came into the Princess'
bedroom, lay down, and began to snore at once. Then the Princess said
to her maid:

'Go gently, and just pull his wig off'; and she went up to him.

But just as she was going to whisk it off, he caught hold of it with
both hands, and said she should never have it. After that he lay down
again, and began to snore. Then the Princess gave her maid a wink,
and this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad so
lovely, and white and red, just as the Princess had seen him in the
morning sun.

After that the lad slept every night in the Princess' bedroom.

But it wasn't long before the King came to hear how the gardener's
lad slept every night in the Princess' bedroom; and he got so wroth
he almost took the lad's life. He didn't do that, however, but threw
him into the prison tower; and as for his daughter, he shut her up in
her own room, whence she never got leave to stir day or night. All
that she begged, and all that she prayed, for the lad and herself,
was no good. The King was only more wroth than ever.

Some time after came a war and uproar in the land, and the king had
to take up arms against another king who wished to take the kingdom
from him. So when the lad heard that, he begged the gaoler to go to
the king and ask for a coat of mail and a sword, and for leave to go
to the war. All the rest laughed when the gaoler told his errand, and
begged the king to let him have an old worn-out suit, that they might
have the fun of seeing such a wretch in battle. So he got that, and
an old broken-down hack besides, which went upon three legs and
dragged the fourth after it.

Then they went out to meet the foe; but they hadn't got far from the
palace before the lad got stuck fast in a bog with his hack. There he
sat and dug his spurs in, and cried, 'Gee up, gee up!' to his hack.
And all the rest had their fun out of this, and laughed, and made
game of the lad as they rode past him. But they were scarcely gone,
before he ran to the lime-tree, threw on his coat of mail, and shook
the bridle, and there came the horse in a trice, and said 'Do now
your best, and I'll do mine.'

But when the lad came up the battle had begun, and the king was in a
sad pinch; but no sooner had the lad rushed into the thick of it than
the foe was beaten back, and put to flight. The king and his men
wondered and wondered who it could be who had come to help them, but
none of them got so near him as to be able to talk to him, and as
soon as the fight was over he was gone. When they went back, there
sat the lad still in the bog, and dug his spurs into his three-legged
hack, and they all laughed again.

'No! only just look', they said; 'there the fool sits still.'

The next day when they went out to battle, they saw the lad sitting
there still, so they laughed again, and made game of him; but as soon
as ever they had ridden by, the lad ran again to the lime-tree, and
all happened as on the first day. Every one wondered what strange
champion it could be that had helped them, but no one got so near him
as to say a word to him; and no one guessed it could be the lad;
that's easy to understand.

So when they went home at night, and saw the lad still sitting there
on his hack, they burst out laughing at him again, and one of them
shot an arrow at him and hit him in the leg. So he began to shriek
and to bewail; 'twas enough to break one's heart; and so the king
threw his pocket-handkerchief to him to bind his wound.

When they went out to battle the third day, the lad still sat there.

'Gee up! gee up!' he said to his hack.

'Nay, nay', said the king's men; 'if he won't stick there till he's
starved to death.'

And then they rode on, and laughed at him till they were fit to fall
from their horses. When they were gone, he ran again to the lime, and
came up to the battle just in the very nick of time. This day he slew
the enemy's king, and then the war was over at once.

When the battle was over, the king caught sight of his handkerchief,
which the strange warrior had bound round his leg, and so it wasn't
hard to find him out. So they took him with great joy between them to
the palace, and the Princess, who saw him from her window, got so
glad, no one can believe it.

'Here comes my own true love', she said.

Then he took the pot of ointment and rubbed himself on the leg, and
after that he rubbed all the wounded, and so they all got well again
in a moment.

So he got the Princess to wife; but when he went down into the stable
where his horse was on the day the wedding was to be, there it stood
so dull and heavy, and hung its ears down, and wouldn't eat its corn.
So when the young king--for he was now a king, and had got half the
kingdom--spoke to him, and asked what ailed him, the Horse said:

'Now I have helped you on, and now I won't live any longer. So just
take the sword, and cut my head off.'

'No, I'll do nothing of the kind', said the young king; 'but you
shall have all you want, and rest all your life.'

'Well', said the Horse, 'If you don't do as I tell you, see if I
don't take your life somehow.'

So the king had to do what he asked; but when he swung the sword and
was to cut his head off, he was so sorry he turned away his face, for
he would not see the stroke fall. But as soon as ever he had cut off
the head, there stood the loveliest Prince on the spot where the
horse had stood.

'Why, where in all the world did you come from?' asked the king.

'It was I who was a horse', said the Prince; 'for I was king of that
land whose king you slew yesterday. He it was who threw this Troll's
shape over me, and sold me to the Troll. But now he is slain I get my
own again, and you and I will be neighbour kings, but war we will
never make on one another.'

And they didn't either; for they were friends as long as they lived,
and each paid the other very many visits.



BUSHY BRIDE

Once on a time there was a widower, who had a son and a daughter by
his first marriage. Both were good children, and loved each other
dearly. Some time after the man married a widow, who had a daughter
by her first husband, and she was both ugly and bad, like her mother.
So from the day the new wife came into the house there was no peace
for her stepchildren in any corner; and at last the lad thought he'd
best go out into the world, and try to earn his own bread. And when
he had wandered a while he came to a king's palace, and got a place
under the coachman, and quick and willing he was, and the horses he
looked after were so sleek and clean that their coats shone again.

But the sister who stayed at home was treated worse than badly; both
her stepmother and stepsister were always at her, and wherever she
went, and whatever she did, they scolded and snarled so, the poor
lassie hadn't an hour's peace. All the hard work she was forced to
do, and early and late she got nothing but bad words, and little food
besides.

So one day they had sent her to the burn to fetch water: and what do
you think? up popped an ugly, ugly head out of the pool, and said:

'Wash me, you lassie.'

'Yes, with all my heart I'll wash you', said the lassie. So she began
to wash and scrub the ugly head; but truth to say, she thought it
nasty work.

Well, as soon as she had done washing it, up popped another head out
of the pool, and this was uglier still.

'Brush me, you lassie', said the head.

'Yes, with all my heart I'll brush you.'

And with that she took in hand the matted locks, and you may fancy
she hadn't very pleasant work with them. But when she had got over
that, if a third head didn't pop up out of the pool, and this was far
more ugly and loathsome than both the others put together.

'Kiss me, you lassie!'

'Yes, I'll kiss you', said the lassie, and she did it too, though she
thought it the worst work she had ever had to do in her life.

Then the heads began to chatter together, and each asked what they
should do for the lassie who was so kind and gentle.

'That she be the prettiest lassie in the world, and as fair as the
bright day', said the first head.

'That gold shall drop from her hair, every time she brushes it', said
the second head.

'That gold shall fall from her mouth every time she speaks', said the
third head.

So when the lassie came home looking so lovely, and beaming as the
bright day itself, her stepmother and her stepsister got more and
more cross, and they got worse still when she began to talk, and they
saw how golden guineas fell from her mouth. As for the stepmother,
she got so mad with rage, she chased the lassie into the pigsty. That
was the right place for all her gold stuff, but as for coming into
the house, she wouldn't hear of it.

Well, it wasn't long before the stepmother wished her own daughter to
go to the burn to fetch water. So when she came to the water's edge
with her buckets, up popped the first head.

'Wash me, you lassie', it said.

'The Deil wash you', said the stepdaughter.

So the second head popped up.

'Brush me, you lassie', it said.

'The Deil brush you', said the stepdaughter.

So down it went to the bottom, and the third head popped up.

'Kiss me, you lassie', said the head.

'The Deil kiss you, you pig's-snout', said the girl.

Then the heads chattered together again, and asked what they should
do to the girl who was so spiteful and cross-grained; and they all
agreed she should have a nose four ells long, and a snout three ells
long, and a pine bush right in the midst of her forehead, and every
time she spoke, ashes were to fall out of her mouth.

So when she got home with her buckets, she bawled out to her mother:

'Open the door.'

'Open it yourself, my darling child', said the mother.

'I can't reach it because of my nose', said the daughter.

So, when the mother came out and saw her, you may fancy what a way
she was in, and how she screamed and groaned; but, for all that,
there were the nose and the snout and the pine bush, and they got no
smaller for all her grief.

Now the brother, who had got the place in the King's stable, had
taken a little sketch of his sister, which he carried away with him,
and every morning and every evening he knelt down before the picture
and prayed to Our Lord for his sister, whom he loved so dearly. The
other grooms had heard him praying, so they peeped through the key-hole
of his room, and there they saw him on his knees before the picture.
So they went about saying how the lad every morning and every evening
knelt down and prayed to an idol which he had, and at last they went
to the king himself and begged him only to peep through the key-hole,
and then His Majesty would see the lad, and what things he did. At
first the King wouldn't believe it, but at last they talked him over,
and he crept on tiptoe to the door and peeped in. Yes, there was the
lad on his knees before the picture, which hung on the wall, praying
with clasped hands.

'Open the door!' called out the King; but the lad didn't hear him.

So the King called out in a louder voice, but the lad was so deep in
his prayers he couldn't hear him this time either. 'OPEN THE DOOR, I
SAY!' roared out the King; 'It's I, the King, who want to come in.'

Well, up jumped the lad and ran to the door, and unlocked it, but in
his hurry he forgot to hide the picture. But when the King came in
and saw the picture, he stood there as if he were fettered, and
couldn't stir from the spot, so lovely he thought the picture.

'So lovely a woman there isn't in all the wide world', said the King.

But the lad told him she was his sister whom he had drawn, and if she
wasn't prettier than that, at least she wasn't uglier.

'Well, if she's so lovely', said the King, 'I'll have her for my
queen'; and then he ordered the lad to set off home that minute, and
not be long on the road either. So the lad promised to make as much
haste as he could, and started off from the King's palace.

When the brother came home to fetch his sister, the step-mother and
stepsister said they must go too. So they all set out, and the good
lassie had a casket in which she kept her gold, and a little dog,
whose name was 'Little Flo'; those two things were all her mother
left her. And when they had gone a while, they came to a lake which
they had to cross; so the brother sat down at the helm, and the
stepmother and the two girls sat in the bow foreward, and so they
sailed a long, long way.

At last they caught sight of land.

'There', said the brother, 'where you see the white strand yonder,
there's where we're to land'; and as he said this he pointed across
the water.

'What is it my brother says?' asked the good lassie.

'He says you must throw your casket overboard', said the stepmother.

'Well, when my brother says it, I must do it', said the lassie, and
overboard went the casket.

When they had sailed a bit farther, the brother pointed again across
the lake.

'There you see the castle we're going to.'

'What is it my brother says?' asked the lassie.

'He says now you must throw your little dog overboard', said the
stepmother.

Then the lassie wept and was sore grieved, for Little Flo was the
dearest thing she had in the world, but at last she threw him
overboard.

'When my brother says it, I must do it, but heaven knows how it hurts
me to throw you over, Little Flo', she said.

So they sailed on a good bit still.

'There you see the King coming down to meet us', said the brother,
and pointed towards the strand.

'What is it my brother says', asked the lassie.

'Now he says you must make haste and throw yourself overboard', said
the stepmother.

Well, the lassie wept and moaned; but when her brother told her to do
that, she thought she ought to do it, and so she leapt down into the
lake.

But when they came to the palace, and the King saw the loathly bride,
with a nose four ells long, and a snout three ells long, and a pine-
bush in the midst of her forehead, he was quite scared out of his
wits; but the wedding was all ready, both in brewing and baking, and
there sat all the wedding guests, waiting for the bride; and so the
King couldn't help himself, but was forced to take her for better for
worse. But angry he was, that any one can forgive him, and so he had
the brother thrown into a pit full of snakes.

Well, the first Thursday evening after the wedding, about midnight,
in came a lovely lady into the palace-kitchen, and begged the
kitchen-maid, who slept there, so prettily, to lend her a brush. That
she got, and then she brushed her hair, and as she brushed, down
dropped gold, A little dog was at her heel, and to him she said:

'Run out, Little Flo, and see if it will soon be day.'

This she said three times, and the third time she sent the dog it was
just about the time the dawn begins to peep. Then she had to go, but
as she went she sung:

Out on you, ugly Bushy Bride,
Lying so warm by the King's left side;
While I on sand and gravel sleep,
And over my brother adders creep,
And all without a tear.

'Now I come twice more, and then never again.'

So next morning the kitchen-maid told what she had seen and heard,
and the King said he'd watch himself next Thursday night in the
kitchen, and see if it were true, and as soon as it got dark, out he
went into the kitchen to the kitchen-maid. But all he could do, and
however much he rubbed his eyes and tried to keep himself awake, it
was no good; for the Bushy Bride chaunted and sang till his eyes
closed, and so when the lovely lady came, there he slept and snored.
This time, too, as before, she borrowed a brush, and brushed her hair
till the gold dropped, and sent her dog out three times, and as soon
as it was gray dawn, away she went singing the same words, and
adding:

'Now I come once more, and then never again.'

The third Thursday evening the King said he would watch again; and he
set two men to hold him, one under each arm, who were to shake and
jog him every time he wanted to fall asleep; and two men he set to
watch his Bushy Bride. But when the night wore on, the Bushy Bride
began to chaunt and sing, so that his eyes began to wink, and his
head hung down on his shoulders. Then in came the lovely lady, and
got the brush and brushed her hair, till the gold dropped from it;
after that she sent Little Flo out again to see if it would soon be
day, and this she did three times. The third time it began, to get
gray in the east; then she sang,

Out on you, ugly Bushy Bride,
Lying so warm by the King's left side;
While I on sand and gravel sleep,
And over my brother adders creep,
And all without a tear.

'Now I come back never more', she said, and went towards the door.
But the two men who held the King under the arms, clenched his hands
together, and put a knife into his grasp; and so, somehow or other,
they got him to cut her in her little finger, and drew blood. Then
the true bride was freed, and the King woke up, and she told him now
the whole story, and how her stepmother and sister had deceived her.
So the King sent at once and took her brother out of the pit of
snakes, and the adders hadn't done him the least harm, but the
stepmother and her daughter were thrown into it in his stead.

And now no one can tell how glad the King was to be rid of that ugly
Bushy Bride, and to get a Queen who was as lovely and bright as the
day itself. So the true wedding was held, and every one talked of it
over seven kingdoms; and then the King and Queen drove to church
in their coach, and Little Flo went inside with them too, and when the
blessing was given they drove back again, and after that I saw nothing
more of them.




BOOTS AND HIS BROTHERS

Once on a time there was a man who had three sons, Peter, Paul, and
John. John was Boots, of course, because he was the youngest. I can't
say the man had anything more than these three sons, for he hadn't
one penny to rub against another; and so he told his sons over and
over again they must go out into the world and try to earn their
bread, for there at home there was nothing to be looked for but
starving to death.

Now, a bit off the man's cottage was the king's palace, and you must
know, just against the king's windows a great oak had sprung up,
which was so stout and big that it took away all the light from the
king's palace. The King had said he would give many, many dollars to
the man who could fell the oak, but no one was man enough for that,
for as soon as ever one chip of the oak's trunk flew off, two grew in
its stead. A well, too, the King had dug, which was to hold water for
the whole year; for all his neighbours had wells, but he hadn't any,
and that he thought a shame. So the King said he would give any one
who could dig him such a well as would hold water for a whole year
round, both money and goods; but no one could do it, for the King's
palace lay high, high up on a hill, and they hadn't dug a few inches
before they came upon the living rock.

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