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Popular Tales from the Norse

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




'You'll get no axe from me', answered the Smith, 'until I get
charcoal of you.'

So the Cock ran to the Charcoal-burner and said

'Dear good friend Charcoal-burner, give me charcoal, the charcoal
I'll give to the Smith, the Smith'll give me an axe, the axe I'll
give to the Woodcutter, the Woodcutter'll give me wood, the wood I'll
give to the Baker's wife, the Baker's wife'll give me a bannock, the
bannock I'll give to the Thresher, the Thresher'll give me corn, the
corn I'll give to the Sow, the Sow'll give me bristles, the bristles
I'll give to the Shoemaker, the Shoemaker'll give me shoes, the shoes
I'll give to the Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary'll give me a red
ribbon, the red ribbon I'll give to the Linden, the Linden'll give me
leaves, the leaves I'll give to the Spring, the Spring'll give me
water, the water I'll give to Dame Partlet my mate, who lies at
death's door in the hazel-wood.

So the Charcoal-burner took pity on the Cock, and gave him a bit of
charcoal, and then the Smith got his coal, and the Woodcutter his
axe, and the Baker's wife her wood, and the Thresher his bannock, and
the Sow her corn, and the Shoemaker his bristles, and the Virgin Mary
her shoes, and the Linden its red ribbon with a golden edge, and the
Spring its leaves, and the Cock his drop of water, and he gave it to
Dame Partlet, his mate, who lay there at death's door in the hazel-
wood, and so she got all right again.




THE BIG BIRD DAN

Once on a time there was a king who had twelve daughters, and he was
so fond of them they must always be at his side; but every day at
noon, while the king slept, the Princesses went out to take a walk.
So once, while the king was taking his noontide nap, and the
Princesses had gone to take their walk, all at once they were
missing, and worse, they never came home again. Then there was great
grief and sorrow all over the land, but the most sorry of all was the
king. He sent messengers out throughout his own and other realms, and
gave out their names in all the churches, and had the bells tolled
for them in all the steeples; but gone the Princesses were, and gone
they stayed, and none could tell what was become of them. So it was
as clear as day that they must have been carried off by some
witchcraft.

Well, it wasn't long before these tidings spread far and wide, over
land and town, aye, over many lands; and so the news came to a king
ever so many lands off, who had twelve sons. So when these Princes
heard of the twelve king's daughters, they asked leave of their
father to go out and seek them. They had hard work to get his leave,
for he was afraid lest he should never see them again, but they all
fell down on their knees before the king, and begged so long, at last
he was forced to let them go after all.

He fitted out a ship for them, and gave them Ritter Red, who was
quite at home at sea, for a captain. So they sailed about a long,
long time, landed on every shore they came to, and hunted and asked
after the Princesses, but they could neither hear nor see anything of
them. And now, a few days only were wanting to make up seven years
since they set sail, when one day a strong storm rose, and such foul
weather, they thought they should never come to land again, and all
had to work so hard, they couldn't get a wink of sleep so long as the
storm lasted. But when the third day was nearly over, the wind fell,
and all at once it got as still as still could be. Now, they were all
so weary with work and the rough weather, they fell fast asleep in
the twinkling of an eye; all but the youngest Prince, he could get no
rest, and couldn't go off to sleep at all.

So as he was pacing up and down the deck, the ship came to a little
island, and on the island ran a little dog, and bayed and barked at
the ship as if it wanted to come on board. So the Prince went to that
side of the deck, and tried to coax the dog, and whistled and
whistled to him, but the more he whistled and coaxed, the more the
dog barked and snarled. Well, he thought it a shame the dog should
run about there and starve, for he made up his mind that it must have
come thither from a ship that had been cast away in the storm; but
still he thought he should never be able to help it after all, for he
couldn't put out the boat by himself, and as for the others, they all
slept so sound, he wouldn't wake them for the sake of a dog. But then
the weather was so calm and still; and at last he said to himself:
'Come what may, you must go on shore and save that dog', and so he
began to try to launch the boat, and he found it far easier work than
he thought. So he rowed ashore, and went up to the dog; but every
time he tried to catch it, it jumped on one side, and so it went on
till he found himself inside a great grand castle, before he knew
where he was. Then the dog, all at once, was changed into a lovely
Princess; and there, on the bench, sat a man so big and ugly, the
Prince almost lost his wits for fear.

'YOU'VE NO NEED TO BE AFRAID', said the man--but the Prince, to tell
you the truth, got far more afraid when he heard his gruff voice--
'for I know well enough what you want. There are twelve Princes of
you, and you are looking for the twelve Princesses that are lost. I
know, too, very well whereabouts they are; they're with my lord and
master, and there they sit, each of them on her chair, and comb his
hair; for he has twelve heads. And now you have sailed seven years,
but you'll have to sail seven years more before you find them. As for
you, you might stay here and welcome, and have my daughter; but you
must first slay him, for he's a hard master to all of us, and we're
all weary of him, and when he's dead I shall be King in his stead;
but first try if you can brandish this sword'.

Then the King's son took hold of a rusty old sword which hung on the
wall, but he could scarce stir it.

'Now you must take a pull at this flask', said the Troll; and when he
had done that he could stir it, and when he had taken another he
could lift it, and when he had taken a third he could brandish the
sword as easily as if it had been his own.

'Now, when you get on board', said the Troll Prince, 'you must hide
the sword well in your berth, that Ritter Red mayn't set eyes on it;
he's not man enough to wield it, but he'll get spiteful against you,
and try to take your life. And when seven years are almost out all
but three days', he went on to say, 'everything will happen just as
now; foul weather will come on you, with a great storm, and when it
is over you'll all be sleepy. Then you must take the sword and row
ashore, and so you'll come to a castle where all sorts of guards will
stand--wolves, and bears, and lions; but you needn't be afraid of
them, for they'll all come and crouch at your feet. But when you come
inside the castle, you'll soon see the Troll; he sits in a splendid
chamber in grand attire and array; twelve heads he has of his own,
and the Princesses sit round them, each on her chair, and comb his
heads, and that's a work you may guess they don't much like. Then you
must make haste, and hew off one head after the other as quick as you
can; for if he wakes and sets his eyes on you, he'll swallow you
alive'.

So the King's son went on board with the sword, and he bore in mind
what he had come to know. The others still lay fast asleep and
snored, and he hid the sword in his berth, so that neither Ritter Red
nor any of the rest got sight of it. And now it began to blow again,
so he woke up the others and said he thought they oughtn't to sleep
any longer now when there was such a good wind. And there was none of
them that marked he had been away. Well, after the seven years were
all gone but three days, all happened as the Troll had said. A great
storm and foul weather came on that lasted three days, and when it
had blown itself out, all the rest grew sleepy and went to rest; but
the youngest King's son rowed ashore, and the guards fell at his
feet, and so he came to the castle. So when he got inside the
chamber, there sat the King fast asleep as the Troll Prince had said,
and the twelve Princesses sat each on her chair and combed one of his
heads. The king's son beckoned to the Princesses to get out of the
way; they pointed to the Troll, and beckoned to him again to go his
way as quick as ever he could, but he kept on making signs to them to
get out of the way, and then they understood that he wanted to set
them free, and stole away softly one after the other, and as fast as
they went, he hewed off the Troll King's heads, till at last the
blood gushed out like a great brook. When the Troll was slain he
rowed on board and hid his sword. He thought now he had done enough,
and as he couldn't get rid of the body by himself, he thought it only
fair they should help him a little. So he woke them all up, and said
it was a shame they should be snoring there, when he had found the
Princesses, and set them free from the Troll. The others only laughed
at him, and said he had been just as sound asleep as they, and only
dreamt that he was man enough to do what he said; for if any one was
to set the Princesses free, it was far more likely it would be one of
them. But the youngest King's son told them all about it, and when
they followed him to the land and saw first of all the brook of
blood, and then the castle, and the Troll, and the twelve heads, and
the Princesses, they saw plain enough that he had spoken the truth,
and now the whole helped him to throw the body and the heads into the
sea. So all were glad and happy, but none more so than the
Princesses, who got rid of having to sit there and comb the Troll's
hair all day. Of all the silver and gold and precious things that
were there, they took as much as the ship could hold, and so they
went on board altogether Princes and Princesses alike.

But when they had gone a bit out on the sea, the Princesses said they
had forgotten in their joy their gold crowns; they lay behind in a
press, and they would be so glad to have them. So when none of the
others was willing to fetch them, the youngest King's son said:

'I have already dared so much, I can very well go back for the gold
crowns too, if you will only strike sail and wait till I come again.'

Yes, that they would do. But when he had gone back so far that they
couldn't see him any longer, Ritter Red, who would have been glad
enough to have been their chief, and to have the youngest Princess,
said, 'it was no use their lying there still waiting for him, for
they might know very well he would never come back; they all knew,
too, how the king had given him all power and authority to sail or
not as he chose; and now they must all say 'twas he that had saved
the Princesses, and if any one said anything else, he should lose his
life'.

The Princes didn't dare to do anything else than what Ritter Red
willed, and so they sailed away.

Meanwhile the youngest King's son rowed to land, went up to the
castle, found the press with gold crowns in it, and at last lugged it
down to the boat, and shoved off; but when he came where he ought to
have seen the ship, lo! it was gone. Well, as he couldn't catch a
glimpse of it anywhere, he could very soon tell how matters stood. To
row after them was no good, and so he was forced to turn about and
row back to land. He was rather afraid to stay alone in the castle
all night, but there was no other house to be got, so he plucked up a
heart, locked up all the doors and gates fast, and lay down in a room
where there was a bed ready made. But fearful and woeful he was, and
still more afraid he got when he had lain a while and something began
to creak and groan and quake in wall and roof, as if the whole castle
were being torn asunder. Then all at once down something plunged
close by the side of his bed, as if it were a whole cartload of hay.
Then all was still again; but after a while he heard a voice, which
bade him not to be afraid, and said:

Here am I the Big Bird Dan
Come to help you all I can.

'But the first thing you must do when you wake in the morning, will
be to go to the barn and fetch four barrels of rye for me. I must
fill my crop with them for breakfast, else I can't do anything'.

When he woke up, sure enough there he saw an awfully big bird, which
had a feather at the nape of his neck, as thick and long as a half-
grown spruce fir. So the King's son went down to the barn to fetch
four barrels of rye for the Big Bird Dan, and when he had crammed
them into his crop he told the King's son to hang the press with the
gold crowns on one side of his neck, and as much gold and silver as
would weigh it down on the other side, and after that to get on his
back and hold fast by the feather in the nape of his neck. So away
they went till the wind whistled after them, and so it wasn't long
before they outstripped the ship. The King's son wanted to go on
board for his sword, for he was afraid lest any one should get sight
of it, for the Troll had told him that mustn't be; but Bird Dan said
that mustn't be either.

'Ritter Red will never see it, never fear; but if you go on board,
he'll try to take your life, for he has set his heart on having the
youngest Princess; but make your mind quite easy about her, for she
lays a naked sword by her side in bed every night.'

So after a long, long time, they came to the island where the Troll
Prince was; and there the King's son was welcomed so heartily there
was no end to it. The Troll Prince didn't know how to be good enough
to him for having slain his Lord and Master, and so made him King of
the Trolls, and if the King's son had been willing he might easily
have got the Troll King's daughter, and half the kingdom. But he had
so set his heart on the youngest of the twelve Princesses, he could
take no rest, but was all for going after their ship time after time.
So the Troll King begged him to be quiet a little longer, and said
they had still nearly seven years to sail before they got home. As
for the Princess the Troll said the same thing as the Big Bird Dan.

'You needn't fret yourself about her, for she lays a naked sword by
her side every night in bed. And now if you don't believe what I
say', said the Troll, 'you can go on board when they sail by here,
and see for yourself, and fetch the sword too, for I may just as well
have it again.'

So when they sailed by another great storm arose, and when the king's
son went on board they all slept, and each Princess lay beside her
Prince; but the youngest lay alone with a naked sword beside her in
the bed, and on the floor by the bedside lay Ritter Red. Then the
king's son took the sword and rowed ashore again, and none of them
had seen that he had been on board. But still the King's son couldn't
rest, and he often and often wanted to be off, and so at last when it
got near the end of the seven years, and only three weeks were left,
the Troll King said:

'Now you may get ready to go since you won't stay with us; and you
shall have the loan of my iron boat, which sails of itself, if you
only say:

Boat, boat, go on!

'In that boat there is an iron club, and that club you must lift a
little when you see the ship straight a-head of you, and then they'll
get such a rattling fair breeze, they'll forget to look at you; but
when you get alongside them, you must lift the club a little again,
and then they'll get such a foul wind and storm, they'll have
something else to do than to stare at you; and when you have run past
them, you must lift the club a third time, but you must always be
sure and lay it down carefully again, else there'll be such a storm
both you and they will be wrecked and lost. Now, when you have got to
land, you've no need to bother yourself at all about the boat; just
turn it about, and shove it off, and say:

Boat, boat, go back home!

When he set out they gave him so much gold and silver, and so many
other costly things, and clothes and linen which the Troll Princess
had sewn and woven for him all that long time, that he was far richer
than any of his brothers.

Well, he had no sooner seated himself in the boat, and said,

Boat, boat, go on!

than away went the boat, and when he saw the ship right ahead he
lifted up the club, and then they got such a fair breeze, they forgot
to look at him. When he was alongside the ship, he lifted the club
again, and then such a storm arose and such foul weather, that the
white foam flew about the ship, and the billows rolled over the deck,
and they had something else to do than to stare at him; and when he
had run past them he lifted the club the third time, and then the
storm and the wind rose so, they had still less time to look after
him, and to make him out. So he came to land long, long before the
ship; and when he had got all his goods out of the boat, he shoved it
off again, and turned it about and said:

Boat, boat, go back home!

And off went the boat.

Then he dressed himself up as a sailor--whether the Troll king had
told him that, or it was his own device, I'm sure I can't say--and
went up to a wretched hut where an old wife lived, whom he got to
believe that he was a poor sailor who had been on board a great ship
that was wrecked, and that he was the only soul that had got ashore.
After that he begged for house-room for himself and the goods he had
saved.

'Heaven mend me!' said the old wife, 'how can I lend any one house-
room? look at me and mine, why, I've no bed to sleep on myself, still
less one for any one else to lie on.'

Well, well, it was all the same, said the sailor; if he only got a
roof over his head, it didn't matter where he lay. So she couldn't
turn him out of the house, when he was so thankful for what there
was. That afternoon he fetched up his things, and the old wife, who
was very eager to hear a bit of news to run about and tell, began at
once to ask who he was, whence he came, whither he was bound, what it
was he had with him, what his business was, and if he hadn't heard
anything of the twelve Princesses who had been away the Lord knew how
many years. All this she asked and much more, which it would be waste
of time to tell. But he said he was so poorly and had such a bad
headache after the awful weather he had been out in, that he couldn't
answer any of her questions; she must just leave him alone and let
him rest a few days till he came to himself after the hard work he'd
had in the gale, and then she'd know all she wanted.

The very next day the old wife began to stir him up and ask again,
but the sailor's head was still so bad he hadn't got his wits
together, but somehow he let drop a word or two to show that he did
know something about the Princesses. Off ran the old wife with what
she had heard to all the gossips and chatterboxes round about, and
soon the one came running after the other to ask about the
Princesses, 'if he had seen them', 'if they would soon be there', 'if
they were on the way', and much more of the same sort. He still went
on groaning over his headache after the storm, so that he couldn't
tell them all about it, but so much he told them, unless they had
been lost in the great storm they'd make the land in about a
fortnight or before perhaps; but he couldn't say for sure whether
they were alive or no, for though he had seen them, it might very
well be that they had been cast away in the storm since. So what did
one of these old gossips do but run up to the Palace with this story,
and say that there was a sailor down in such and such an old wife's
hut, who had seen the Princesses, and that they were coming home in a
fortnight or in a week's time. When the King heard that he sent a
messenger down to the sailor to come up to him and tell the news
himself.

'I don't see how it's to be', said the sailor, 'for I haven't any
clothes fit to stand in before the King.'

But the King said he must come; for the King must and would talk with
him, whether he were richly or poorly clad, for there was no one else
who could bring him any tidings of the Princesses. So he went up at
last to the Palace and went in before the King, who asked him if it
were true that he had seen anything of the Princesses.

'Aye, aye', said the sailor, 'I've seen them sure enough, but I don't
know whether they're still alive, for when I last caught sight of
them, the weather was so foul we in our ship were cast away; but if
they're still alive they'll come safe home in a fortnight or perhaps
before.'

When the King heard that he was almost beside himself for joy; and
when the time came that the sailor had said they would come, the King
drove down to the strand to meet them in a great state; and there was
joy and gladness over the whole land, when the ship came sailing in
with the Princes and Princesses and Ritter Red. But no one was
gladder than the old King, who had got his daughters back again. The
eleven eldest Princesses too, were glad and merry, but the youngest
who was to have Ritter Red, who said that he had set them all free
and slain the Troll, she wept and was always sorrowful. The King took
this ill, and asked why she wasn't cheerful and merry like the
others; she hadn't anything to be sorry for now when she had got out
of the Troll's clutches, and was to have such a husband as Ritter
Red. But she daredn't say anything, for Ritter Red had said he would
take the life of any one who told the truth how things had gone.

But now one day, when they were hard at work sewing and stitching the
bridal array, in came a man in a great sailor's cloak with a pedlar's
pack on his back, and asked if the Princesses wouldn't buy something
fine of him for the wedding; he had so many wares and costly things,
both gold and silver. Yes, they might do so perhaps, so they looked
at his wares and they looked at him, for they thought they had seen
both him and many of his costly things before.

'He who has so many fine things', said the youngest Princess, 'must
surely have something still more precious, and which suits us better
even than these.'

'Maybe I have', said the Pedlar.

But now all the others cried 'Hush', and bade her bear in mind what
Ritter Red had said he would do.

Well, some time after the Princesses sat and looked out of the
window, and then the King's son came again with the great sea-cloak
thrown about him, and the press with the gold crowns at his back; and
when he got into the palace hall he unlocked the press before the
Princesses, and when each of them knew her own gold crown again, the
youngest said:

'I think it only right that he who set us free should get the meed
that is his due; and he is not Ritter Red, but this man who has
brought us our gold crowns. He it is that set us free.'

Then the King's son cast off the sailor's cloak, and stood there far
finer and grander than all the rest; and so the old King made them
put Ritter Red to death. And now there was real right down joy in the
palace; each took his own bride, and there just was a wedding! Why,
it was heard of and talked about over twelve kings' realms.




SORIA MORIA CASTLE

Once on a time there was a poor couple who had a son whose name was
Halvor. Ever since he was a little boy he would turn his hand to
nothing, but just sat there and groped about in the ashes. His father
and mother often put him out to learn this trade or that, but Halvor
could stay nowhere; for, when he had been there a day or two, he ran
away from his master, and never stopped till he was sitting again in
the ingle, poking about in the cinders.

Well, one day a skipper came, and asked Halvor if he hadn't a mind to
be with him, and go to sea, and see strange lands. Yes, Halvor would
like that very much; so he wasn't long in getting himself ready.

How long they sailed I'm sure I can't tell; but the end of it was,
they fell into a great storm, and when it was blown over, and it got
still again, they couldn't tell where they were; for they had been
driven away to a strange coast, which none of them knew anything
about.

Well, as there was just no wind at all, they stayed lying wind-bound
there, and Halvor asked the skipper's leave to go on shore and look
about him; he would sooner go, he said, than lie there and sleep.

'Do you think now you're fit to show yourself before folk', said the
skipper, 'why, you've no clothes but those rags you stand in?'

But Halvor stuck to his own, and so at last he got leave, but he was
to be sure and come back as soon as ever it began to blow. So off he
went and found a lovely land; wherever he came there were fine large
flat corn-fields and rich meads, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of a
living soul. Well, it began to blow, but Halvor thought he hadn't
seen enough yet, and he wanted to walk a little farther just to see
if he couldn't meet any folk. So after a while he came to a broad
high road, so smooth and even, you might easily roll an egg along it.
Halvor followed this, and when evening drew on he saw a great castle
ever so far off, from which the sunbeams shone. So as he had now
walked the whole day and hadn't taken a bit to eat with him, he was
as hungry as a hunter, but still the nearer he came to the castle,
the more afraid he got. In the castle kitchen a great fire was
blazing, and Halvor went into it, but such a kitchen he had never
seen in all his born days. It was so grand and fine; there were
vessels of silver and vessels of gold, but still never a living soul.
So when Halvor had stood there a while and no one came out, he went
and opened a door, and there inside sat a Princess who span upon a
spinning-wheel.

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