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Popular Tales from the Norse

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




'Nay, nay, now!' she called out, 'dare Christian folk come hither?
But now you'd best be off about your business, if you don't want the
Troll to gobble you up; for here lives a Troll with three heads.'

'All one to me', said the lad, 'I'd be just as glad to hear he had
four heads beside; I'd like to see what kind of fellow he is. As for
going, I won't go at all. I've done no harm; but meat you must get
me, for I'm almost starved to death.'

When Halvor had eaten his fill, the Princess told him to try if he
could brandish the sword that hung against the wall; no, he couldn't
brandish it, he couldn't even lift it up.

'Oh!' said the Princess, 'now you must go and take a pull of that
flask that hangs by its side; that's what the Troll does every time
he goes out to use the sword.'

So Halvor took a pull, and in the twinkling of an eye he could
brandish the sword like nothing; and now he thought it high time the
Troll came; and lo! just then up came the Troll puffing and blowing.
Halvor jumped behind the door.

'HUTETU', said the Troll, as he put his head in at the door, 'what a
smell of Christian man's blood!'

'Aye', said Halvor, 'you'll soon know that to your cost', and with
that he hewed off all his heads.

Now the Princess was so glad that she was free, she both danced and
sang, but then all at once she called her sisters to mind, and so she
said:

'Would my sisters were free too'

'Where are they?' asked Halvor.

Well, she told him all about it; one was taken away by a Troll to his
Castle which lay fifty miles off, and the other by another Troll to
his Castle which was fifty miles further still.

'But now', she said, 'you must first help me to get this ugly carcass
out of the house.'

Yes, Halvor was so strong he swept everything away, and made it all
clean and tidy in no time. So they had a good and happy time of it,
and next morning he set off at peep of grey dawn; he could take no
rest by the way, but ran and walked the whole day. When he first saw
the Castle he got a little afraid; it was far grander than the first,
but here too there wasn't a living soul to be seen. So Halvor went
into the kitchen, and didn't stop there either, but went strait
further on into the house.

'Nay, nay', called out the Princess, 'dare Christian folk come
hither? I don't know I'm sure how long it is since I came here, but
in all that time I haven't seen a Christian man. 'Twere best you saw
how to get away as fast as you came; for here lives a Troll, who has
six heads.'

'I shan't go', said Halvor, 'if he has six heads besides.'

'He'll take you up and swallow you down alive', said the Princess.

But it was no good, Halvor wouldn't go; he wasn't at all afraid of
the Troll, but meat and drink he must have, for he was half starved
after his long journey. Well, he got as much of that as he wished,
but then the Princess wanted him to be off again.

'No', said Halvor, 'I won't go, I've done no harm, and I've nothing
to be afraid about.'

'He won't stay to ask that', said the Princess, 'for he'll take you
without law or leave; but as you won't go, just try if you can
brandish that sword yonder, which the Troll wields in war.'

He couldn't brandish it, and then the Princess said he must take a
pull at the flask which hung by its side, and when he had done that
he could brandish it.

Just then back came the Troll, and he was both stout and big, so that
he had to go sideways to get through the door. When the Troll got his
first head in he called out 'HUTETU, what a smell of Christian man's
blood!'

But that very moment Halvor hewed off his first head, and so on, all
the rest as they popped in. The Princess was overjoyed, but just then
she came to think of her sisters, and wished out loud they were free.
Halvor thought that might easily be done, and wanted to be off at
once; but first he had to help the Princess to get the Troll's
carcass out of the way, and so he could only set out next morning.

It was a long way to the Castle, and he had to walk fast and run hard
to reach it in time; but about night-fall he saw the Castle, which
was far finer and grander than either of the others. This time he
wasn't the least afraid, but walked straight through the kitchen, and
into the Castle. There sat a Princess who was so pretty, there was no
end to her loveliness. She too like the others told him there hadn't
been Christian folk there ever since she came thither, and bade him
go away again, else the Troll would swallow him alive, and do you
know, she said, he has nine heads.

'Aye, aye', said Halvor, 'if he had nine other heads, and nine other
heads still, I won't go away', and so he stood fast before the stove.
The Princess kept on begging him so prettily to go away, lest the
Troll should gobble him up, but Halvor said:

'Let him come as soon as he likes.'

So she gave him the Troll's sword, and bade him take a pull at the
flask, that he might be able to brandish and wield it.

Just then back came the Troll puffing and blowing and tearing along.
He was far stouter and bigger than the other two, and he too had to
go on one side to get through the door. So when he got his first head
in, he said as the others had said:

'HUTETU what a smell of Christian man's blood!

That very moment Halvor hewed off the first head and then all the
rest; but the last was the toughest of them all, and it was the
hardest bit of work Halvor had to do, to get it hewn off, although he
knew very well he had strength enough to do it.

So all the Princesses came together to that Castle, which was called
_Soria Moria Castle_, and they were glad and happy as they had
never been in all their lives before, and they all were fond of
Halvor and Halvor of them, and he might choose the one he liked best
for his bride; but the youngest was fondest of him of all the three.

But there after a while, Halvor went about, and was so strange and
dull and silent. Then the Princesses asked him what he lacked, and if
he didn't like to live with them any longer? Yes, he did, for they
had enough and to spare, and he was well off in every way, but still
somehow or other he did so long to go home, for his father and mother
were alive, and them he had such a great wish to see.

Well, they thought that might be done easily enough.

'You shall go thither and come back hither, safe and unscathed, if
you will only follow our advice', said the Princesses.

Yes, he'd be sure to mind all they said. So they dressed him up till
he was as grand as a king's son, and then they set a ring on his
finger, and that was such a ring, he could wish himself thither and
hither with it; but they told him to be sure not to take it off, and
not to name their names, for there would be an end of all his
bravery, and then he'd never see them more.

'If I only stood at home I'd be glad', said Halvor; and it was done
as he had wished. Then stood Halvor at his father's cottage door
before he knew a word about it. Now it was about dusk at even, and
so, when they saw such a grand stately lord walk in, the old couple
got so afraid they began to bow and scrape. Then Halvor asked if he
couldn't stay there, and have a lodging there that night. No; that he
couldn't.

'We can't do it at all', they said, 'for we haven't this thing or
that thing which such a lord is used to have; 'twere best your
lordship went up to the farm, no long way off, for you can see the
chimneys, and there they have lots of everything.'

Halvor wouldn't hear of it--he wanted to stop; but the old couple
stuck to their own, that he had better go to the farmer's; there he
would get both meat and drink; as for them, they hadn't even a chair
to offer him to sit down on.

'No', said Halvor, 'I won't go up there till to-morrow early, but let
the just stay here to-night; worst come to the worst, I can sit in
the chimney-corner.'

Well, they couldn't say anything against that; so Halvor sat down by
the ingle, and began to poke about in the ashes, just as he used to
do when he lay at home in old days, and stretched his lazy bones.

Well, they chattered and talked about many things; and they told
Halvor about this thing and that; and so he asked them if they had
never had any children.

'Yes, yes, they had once a lad whose name was Halvor, but they didn't
know whither he had wandered; they couldn't even tell whether he were
dead or alive.'

'Couldn't it be me, now?' said Halvor.

'Let me see; I could tell him well enough', said the old wife, and
rose up. 'Our Halvor was so lazy and dull, he never did a thing; and
besides, he was so ragged, that one tatter took hold of the next
tatter on him. No; there never was the making of such a fine fellow
in him as you are, master.'

A little while after the old wife went to the hearth to poke up the
fire, and when the blaze fell on Halvor's face, just as when he was
at home of old poking about in the ashes, she knew him at once.

'Ah! but is it you after all, Halvor?' she cried; and then there was
such joy for the old couple, there was no end to it; and he was
forced to tell how he had fared, and the old dame was so fond and
proud of him, nothing would do but he must go up at once to the
farmer's, and show himself to the lassies, who had always looked down
on him. And off she went first, and Halvor followed after. So, when
she got up there, she told them all how her Halvor had come home
again, and now they should only just see how grand he was, for, said
she, 'he looks like nothing but a king's son'.

'All very fine', said the lassies, and tossed up their heads. 'We'll
be bound he's just the same beggarly ragged boy he always was.'

Just then in walked Halvor, and then the lassies were all so taken
aback, they forgot their sarks in the ingle, where they were sitting
darning their clothes, and ran out in their smocks. Well, when they
were got back again, they were so shamefaced they scarce dared look
at Halvor, towards whom they had always been proud and haughty.

'Aye, aye', said Halvor, 'you always thought yourselves so pretty and
neat, no one could come near you; but now you should just see the
eldest Princess I have set free; against her you look just like
milkmaids, and the midmost is prettier still; but the youngest, who
is my sweetheart, she's fairer than both sun and moon. Would to
Heaven she were only here', said Halvor, 'then you'd see what you
would see.'

He had scarce uttered these words before there they stood, but then
he felt so sorry, for now what they had said came into his mind. Up
at the farm there was a great feast got ready for the Princesses, and
much was made of them, but they wouldn't stop there.

'No; we want to go down to your father and mother', they said to
Halvor; 'and so we'll go out now and look about us.'

So he went down with them, and they came to a great lake just outside
the farm. Close by the water was such a lovely green bank; here the
Princesses said they would sit and rest a while; they thought it so
sweet to sit down and look over the water.

So they sat down there, and when they had sat a while, the youngest
Princess said:

'I may as well comb your hair a little, Halvor.'

Yes, Halvor laid his head on her lap, and so she combed his bonny
locks, and it wasn't long before Halvor fell fast asleep. Then she
took the ring from his finger, and put another in its stead; and so
she said:

'Now hold me all together! and now would we were all in SORIA MORIA
CASTLE.'

So when Halvor woke up, he could very well tell that he had lost the
Princesses, and began to weep and wail; and he was so downcast, they
couldn't comfort him at all. In spite of all his father and mother
said, he wouldn't stop there, but took farewell of them, and said he
was safe not to see them again; for if he couldn't find the
Princesses again, he thought it not worth while to live.

Well, he had still three hundred dollars left, so he put them into
his pocket, and set out on his way. So, when he had walked a while,
he met a man with a tidy horse, and he wanted to buy it, and began to
chaffer with the man.

'Aye', said the man, 'to tell the truth, I never thought of selling
him; but if we could strike a bargain, perhaps----'

'What do you want for him', asked Halvor.

'I didn't give much for him, nor is he worth much; he's a brave horse
to ride, but he can't draw at all; still he's strong enough to carry
your knapsack and you too, turn and turn about', said the man.

At last they agreed on the price, and Halvor laid the knapsack on
him, and so he walked a bit, and rode a bit, turn and turn about. At
night he came to a green plain where stood a great tree, at the roots
of which he sat down. There he let the horse loose, but he didn't lie
down to sleep, but opened his knapsack and took a meal. At peep of
day off he set again, for he could take no rest. So he rode and
walked and walked and rode the whole day through the wide wood, where
there were so many green spots and glades that shone so bright and
lovely between the trees. He didn't know at all where he was or
whither he was going, but he gave himself no more time to rest than
when his horse cropped a bit of grass, and he took a snack out of his
knapsack when they came to one of those green glades. So he went on
walking and riding by turns, and as for the wood there seemed to be
no end to it.

But at dusk the next day he saw a light gleaming away through the
trees.

'Would there were folk hereaway', thought Halvor, 'that I might warm
myself a bit and get a morsel to keep body and soul together.'

When he got up to it, he saw the light came from a wretched little
hut, and through the window he saw an old old couple inside. They
were as grey-headed as a pair of doves, and the old wife had such a
nose! why, it was so long she used it for a poker to stir the fire as
she sat in the ingle.

'Good evening', said Halvor.

'Good evening', said the old wife.

'But what errand can you have in coming hither?' she went on, 'for no
Christian folk have been here these hundred years and more.'

Well, Halvor told her all about himself, and how he wanted to get to
SORIA MORIA CASTLE, and asked if she knew the way thither.

'No', said the old wife, 'that I don't, but see now, here comes the
Moon, I'll ask her, she'll know all about it, for doesn't she shine
on everything?'

So when the Moon stood clear and bright over the tree-tops, the old
wife went out.

'THOU MOON, THOU MOON', she screamed, 'canst thou tell me the way to
SORIA MORIA CASTLE?'

'No', said the Moon, 'that I can't, for the last time I shone there a
cloud stood before me.'

'Wait a bit still', said the old wife to Halvor, 'by and bye comes
the West Wind; he's sure to know it, for he puffs and blows round
every corner.'

'Nay, nay', said the old wife when she went out again, 'you don't
mean to say you've got a horse too; just turn the poor beastie loose
in our "toun", and don't let him stand there and starve to death at
the door.'

Then she ran on:

'But won't you swop him away to me?--we've got an old pair of boots
here, with which you can take twenty miles at each stride; those you
shall have for your horse, and so you'll get all the sooner to SORIA
MORIA CASTLE.'

That Halvor was willing to do at once; and the old wife was so glad
at having the horse, she was ready to dance and skip for joy.

'For now', she said, 'I shall be able to ride to church. I too, think
of that.'

As for Halvor, he had no rest, and wanted to be off at once, but the
old wife said there was no hurry.

'Lie down on the bench with you and sleep a bit, for we've no bed to
offer you, and I'll watch and wake you when the West Wind comes.'

So after a while up came the West Wind, roaring and howling along
till the walls creaked and groaned again.

Out ran the old wife.

'THOU WEST WIND, THOU WEST WIND! Canst thou tell me the way to SORIA
MORIA CASTLE? Here's one who wants to get thither.'

'Yes, I know it very well', said the West Wind, and now I'm just off
thither to dry clothes for the wedding that's to be; if he's swift of
foot he can go along with me.'

Out ran Halvor.

'You'll have to stretch your legs if you mean to keep up', said the
West Wind.

So off he set over field and hedge, and hill and fell, and Halvor had
hard work to keep up.

'Well', said the West Wind, 'now I've no time to stay with you any
longer, for I've got to go away yonder and tear down a strip of
spruce wood first before I go to the bleaching-ground to dry the
clothes; but if you go alongside the hill you'll come to a lot of
lassies standing washing clothes, and then you've not far to go to
SORIA MORIA CASTLE.'

In a little while Halvor came upon the lassies who stood washing, and
they asked if he had seen anything of the West Wind who was to come
and dry the clothes for the wedding. 'Aye, aye, that I have', said
Halvor, 'he's only gone to tear down a strip of spruce wood. It'll
not be long before he's here', and then he asked them the way to
SORIA MORIA CASTLE.

So they put him into the right way, and when he got to the Castle it
was full of folk and horses; so full it made one giddy to look at
them. But Halvor was so ragged and torn from having followed the West
Wind through bush and brier and bog, that he kept on one side, and
wouldn't show himself till the last day when the bridal feast was to
be.

So when all, as was then right and fitting, were to drink the bride
and bridegroom's health and wish them luck, and when the cupbearer
was to drink to them all again, both knights and squires, last of all
he came in turn to Halvor. He drank their health, but let the ring
which the Princess had put upon his finger as he lay by the lake fall
into the glass, and bade the cupbearer go and greet the bride and
hand her the glass.

Then up rose the Princess from the board at once.

'Who is most worthy to have one of us', she said, 'he that has set us
free, or he that here sits by me as bridegroom?'

Well they all said there could be but one voice and will as to that,
and when Halvor heard that he wasn't long in throwing off his
beggar's rags, and arraying himself as bridegroom.

'Aye, aye, here is the right one after all', said the youngest
Princess as soon as she saw him, and so she tossed the other one out
of the window, and held her wedding with Halvor.




BRUIN AND REYNARD

The Bear and the Fox had once bought a firkin of butter together;
they were to have it at Yule and hid it till then under a thick
spruce bush.

After that they went a little way off and lay down on a sunny bank to
sleep. So when they had lain a while the Fox got up, shook himself,
and bawled out 'yes'.

Then he ran off straight to the firkin and ate a good third part of
it. But when he came back, and the Bear asked him where he had been,
since he was so fat about the paunch, he said:

'Don't you believe then that I was bidden to barsel, to a christening
feast.'

'So, so', said the Bear, 'and pray what was the bairn's name.'

'Just-begun', said the Fox.

So they lay down to sleep again. In a little while up jumped the Fox
again, bawled out 'yes', and ran off to the firkin.

This time too he ate a good lump. When he came back, and the Bear
asked him again where he had been, he said:

'Oh, wasn't I bidden to barsel again, don't you think.'

'And pray what was the bairn's name this time', asked the Bear.

'Half-eaten', said the Fox.

The Bear thought that a very queer name, but he hadn't wondered long
over it before he began to yawn and gape and fell asleep. Well, he
hadn't lain long before the Fox jumped up as he had done twice
before, bawled out 'yes' and ran off to the firkin, which this time
he cleared right out. When he got back he had been bidden to barsel
again, and when the Bear wanted to know the bairn's name, he
answered:

'Licked-to-the-bottom.'

After that they lay down again, and slept a long time; but then they
were to go to the firkin to look at the butter, and when they found
it eaten up, the Bear threw the blame on the Fox, and the Fox on the
Bear; and each said the one had been at the firkin while the other
slept.

'Well, well', said Reynard, 'we'll soon find this out, which of us
has eaten the butter. We'll just lay down in the sunshine, and he
whose cheeks and chaps are greasiest when we wake, he is the thief.'

Yes, that trial Bruin was ready to stand; and as he knew in his heart
he had never so much as tasted the butter, he lay down without a care
to sleep in the sun.

Then Reynard stole off to the firkin for a morsel of butter, which
stuck there in a crack, and then he crept back to the Bear, and
greased his chaps and cheeks with it; and then he, too, lay down to
sleep as if nothing had happened.

So when they both woke, the sun had melted the butter, and the Bear's
whiskers were all greasy; and so it was Bruin after all, and no one
else, who had eaten the butter.




TOM TOTHERHOUSE

Once on a time there was a Goody who had a deaf husband. A good, easy
man he was, but that was just why she thought more of the lad next
door, whom they called 'Tom Totherhouse'. Now the lad that served the
deaf man saw very well that the two had something between them, and
one day he said to the Goody:

'Dare you wager ten dollars, mother, that I don't make you lay bare
your own shame?'

'Yes I dare', said she; and so they wagered ten dollars. So one day,
while the lad and the deaf man stood thrashing in the barn, the lad
saw that Tom Totherhouse came to see the Goody. He said nothing, but
a good while before dinnertime he turned toward the barn-door, and
bawled out 'Halloa!'

'What! are we to go home already?' said the man, who hadn't given any
heed to what the lad did.

'Yes, we must, since mother calls', said the lad.

So when they got into the passage, the lad began to hem and cough,
that the Goody might get Tom Totherhouse out of the way. But when
they came into the room, there stood a whole bowl of custards on the
table.

'Nay, nay, mother', cried out the man; 'shall we have custards to-
day?'

'Yes, that you shall, dear', said the Goody; but she was as sour as
verjuice, and as cross as two sticks.

So when they had eaten and drank all the good cheer up, off they went
again to their work, and the Goody said to Tom:

'Deil take that lad's sharp nose, this was all his fault; but now you
must be off as fast as you can, and I'll come down to you in the mead
with a snack between meals.'

This the lad stood outside in the passage and listened to.

'Do you know, father', he said, 'I think we'd best go down into the
hollow and put our fence to rights, which is blown down, before the
neighbours' swine get in and root up our meadow.'

'Aye, aye, let's go and do it', said the man; for he did all he was
told, good, easy man.

So when the afternoon was half spent, down came the Goody sneaking
along into the mead, with something under her apron.

'Nay, nay, mother', said the man, 'it can't be you any longer; are we
to have a snack between meals too?'

'Yes, yes, that you shall', she said; but she was sourer and wilder
than ever.

So they made merry, and crammed themselves with bannocks and butter,
and had a drop of brandy into the bargain.

'I'll go off to Tom Totherhouse with a snack--shan't I, mother?' said
the lad. 'He's had nothing between meals, I'll be bound.'

'Ah! do; there's a good fellow', said the Goody, who all at once got
as mild as milk.

As he went along the lad broke a bannock to bits, and dropped the
crumbs here and there as he walked. But when he got to Tom
Totherhouse he said:

'Now, just you take care, for our old cock has found out that you
come too often to see our Goody. He won't stand it any longer, and
has sworn to drive his axe into you as soon as ever he can set eyes
on you.'

As for Tom, he was so frightened he scarce knew which way to turn,
and the lad went back again to his master.

'There's something wrong', he said, 'with Tom's plough, and he begs
you to be so good as to take your axe, and go and see if you can't
set it right.'

Yes, the man set off with his axe, but Tom Totherhouse had scarce
caught sight of him before he took to his heels as fast as he could.
The man turned and twisted the plough round and round, and looked at
it on every side, and when he couldn't see anything wrong with it he
went off home again; but on the way he picked up the bits of broken
bannock which the lad had let fall. His old dame stood in the meadow
and looked at him as he did this for a while, and wondered and
wondered what it could be her husband was gathering up.

'Oh, I know', said the lad, 'master's picking up stones, I'll be
bound; for he has marked how often this Tom Totherhouse runs over
here; and the old fellow won't stand it any longer; and now he has
sworn to stone mother to death.'

Off went the Goody as fast as her legs could carry her.

'What in the world is it that mother is running after now?' asked the
man, when he reached the spot where she had stood.

'Oh', said the lad, 'maybe the house at home is on fire!'

So there ran the husband behind and the Goody before; and as she ran
she screeched out:

'Ah! ah! don't stone me to death; don't stone me to death! and I'll
give you my word never to let Tom Totherhouse come near me again.'

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