Nordic Tales

by Chronicle Books

  After he had waited a little time, Hildur appeared in the hall, and all the assembled guests were begged to take their seats, while Hildur sat on her throne beside the king; after which all the people of the court ranged themselves on each side of the royal couple, and the feast commenced.

  When it was concluded, the various guests amused themselves, some by dancing, some by singing, others by drinking and revel; but the king and queen talked together, and seemed to the herdsman to be very sad.

  While they were thus conversing, three children, younger than those the man had seen before, ran in, and clung round the neck of their mother. Hildur received them with all a mother’s love, and, as the youngest was restless, put it on the ground and gave it one of her rings to play with.

  After the little one had played a while with the ring he lost it, and it rolled along the floor towards the herdsman, who, being invisible, picked it up without being perceived, and put it carefully into his pocket. Of course a search for it by the guests was in vain.

  When the night was far advanced, Hildur made preparations for departure, at which all the people assembled showed great sorrow, and begged her to remain longer.

  The herdsman had observed, that in one corner of the hall had sat an old and ugly woman, who had neither received the queen with joy nor pressed her to stay longer.

  As soon as the king perceived that Hildur addressed herself to her journey, and that neither his entreaties nor those of the assembly could induce her to stay, he went up to the old woman, and said to her:

  “Mother, rid us now of thy curse; cause no longer my queen to live apart and afar from me. Surely her short and rare visits are more pain to me than joy.”

  The old woman answered him with a wrathful face.

  “Never will I depart from what I have said. My words shall hold true in all their force, and on no condition will I abolish my curse.”

  On this the king turned from her, and going up to his wife, entreated her in the fondest and most loving terms not to depart from him.

  The queen answered, “The infernal power of thy mother’s curse forces me to go, and perchance this may be the last time that I shall see thee. For lying, as I do, under this horrible ban, it is not possible that my constant murders can remain much longer secret, and then I must suffer the full penalty of crimes which I have committed against my will.”

  While she was thus speaking the herdsman sped from the palace and across the fields to the precipice, up which he mounted as rapidly as he had come down, thanks to the magic stone.

  When he arrived at the rock he put the stone into his pocket, and the bridle over his head again, and awaited the coming of the elf-queen. He had not long to wait, for very soon afterwards Hildur came up through the abyss, and mounted on his back, and off they flew again to the farmhouse, where Hildur, taking the bridle from his head, placed him again in his bed, and retired to her own. The herdsman, who by this time was well tired out, now considered it safe to go to sleep, which he did, so soundly as not to wake till quite late on Christmas-morning.

  Early that same day the farmer rose, agitated and filled with the fear that, instead of passing Christmas in joy, he should assuredly, as he so often had before, find his herdsman dead, and pass it in sorrow and mourning. So he and all the rest of the family went to the bedside of the herdsman.

  When the farmer had looked at him and found him breathing, he praised God aloud for his mercy in preserving the man from death.

  Not long afterwards the man himself awoke and got up.

  Wondering at his strange preservation the farmer asked him how he had passed the night, and whether he had seen or heard anything.

  The man replied, “No; but I have had a very curious dream.”

  “What was it?” asked the farmer.

  Upon which the man related everything that had passed in the night, circumstance for circumstance, and word for word, as well as he could remember. When he had finished his story everyone was silent for wonder, except Hildur, who went up to him and said:

  “I declare you to be a liar in all that you have said, unless you can prove it by sure evidence.”

  Not in the least abashed, the herdsman took from his pocket the ring which he had picked up on the floor of the hall in Elf-land, and showing it to her said:

  “Though my dream needs no proof, yet here is one you will not doubtless deem other than a sure one; for is not this your gold ring, Queen Hildur?”

  Hildur answered, “It is, no doubt, my ring. Happy man! may you prosper in all you undertake, for you have released me from the awful yoke which my mother-in-law laid, in her wrath, upon me, and from the curse of a yearly murder.”

  And then Hildur told them the story of her life as follows:—

  “I was born of an obscure family among the elves. Our king fell in love with me and married me, in spite of the strong disapproval of his mother. She swore eternal hatred to me in her anger against her son, and said to him, ‘Short shall be your joy with this fair wife of yours, for you shall see her but once a year, and that only at the expense of a murder. This is my curse upon her, and it shall be carried out to the letter. She shall go and serve in the upper world, this queen, and every Christmas-eve shall ride a man, one of her fellow-servants, with this magic bridle, to the confines of Elf-land, where she shall pass a few hours with you, and then ride him back again till his very heart breaks with toil, and his very life leaves him. Let her thus enjoy her queenship.’

  “And this horrible fate was to cling to me until I should either have these murders brought home to me, and be condemned to death, or should meet with a gallant man, like this herdsman, who should have nerve and courage to follow me down into Elf-land, and be able to prove afterwards that he had been there with me, and seen the customs of my people. And now I must confess that all the former herdsmen were slain by me, but no penalty shall touch me for their murders, as I committed them against my will. And as for you, O courageous man, who have dared, the first of human beings, to explore the realms of Elf-land, and have freed me from the yoke of this awful curse, I will reward you in times to come, but not now.

  “A deep longing for my home and my loved ones impels me hence. Farewell!”

  With these words Hildur vanished from the sight of the astonished people, and was never seen again.

  But our friend the herdsman, leaving the service of the farmer, built a farm for himself, and prospered, and became one of the chief men in the country, and always ascribed, with grateful thanks, his prosperity to Hildur, Queen of the Elves.

  THE WIDOW’S SON

  Norway

  There was once a poor, very poor widow, who had an only son. She pulled through with the boy till he was confirmed; but then she told him that she could not feed him any longer; he would have to go out and earn his own bread.

  The lad wandered out into the world, and when he had walked a day or so he met a stranger.—“Where are you going to?” asked the man.—“I’m going out into the world to try and get some work,” said the lad.—“Will you come into my service?” asked the man.—“Well, why not! just as well with you as with anybody else,” answered the lad.—“You will find it a very good place,” said the man; “you are only going to keep me company and do nothing else besides.”

  So the lad went with him home, and he got plenty of food and drink, and had little or nothing to do; but on the other hand he never saw a living soul come near the man.

  So one day the man said to him: “I’m going away for eight days, and during that time you will be here all alone, but you must not go into any of these four rooms here. If you do I will take your life when I come back.”—No, said the lad, he should not go into any of the rooms.

  But when the man had been away three or four days the lad could not help going into one of the rooms. He looked round, but saw nothing but a shelf over the door, on which lay a brier twig. Well, this is surely something to forbid my seeing, thought the boy.

  When the eight days were gone t
he man returned.—“You haven’t been into any of the rooms, I suppose?” said he.—“No, not at all,” said the lad.—“Well, we shall soon see,” said the man, and with that he went into the room where the lad had been. “But I find you have been there after all,” said the man, “and now you shall lose your life.”

  The lad cried and begged for himself till he got off with his life; but he got a good thrashing. When that was over they were as good friends as ever.

  Some time afterwards the man went away again; he was going to stay away for a fortnight this time, but first he told the lad that he must not put a foot in any of the rooms where he had not already been; he might, however, go into that room where he had been.

  Well, it happened just as the last time, only that the lad waited eight days before he went into the second room. In this room he saw nothing but a shelf over the door, and a piece of rock and a water-jug on it. Well, that’s something to be so afraid of, thought the lad again.

  When the man came back he asked the lad if he had been into any of the rooms.—No, not likely, the lad hadn’t been there!—“We shall soon see,” said the man, but when he saw that the lad had been into one of the rooms after all, he said: “I shall spare you no longer now; you will lose your life this time!”

  But the lad cried and begged for himself again, and he got off with a good thrashing again, but this time he got as much as he could possibly stand. When he had got over the effects of the thrashing he led the same comfortable life as before, and he and the man were the best of friends again.

  Some time after the man had to go on a journey again, and this time he should be away for three weeks, and so he said to the lad that if he went into the third room during his absence, he would not have the slightest chance of escaping with his life.

  When fourteen days had gone the lad could not help himself; but stole into the third room; he saw nothing in there except a trap-door in the floor. When he lifted it up and looked down into the room below he saw a big copper kettle which stood there and boiled and bubbled; but he saw no fire under it.

  It would be great fun to feel if it is hot, thought the boy, and put his finger into the kettle, but when he pulled it out again it was gilded all over. The boy scraped and washed it, but the gilding would not come off, so he tied a rag round it, and when the man came home and asked what was the matter with his finger the lad said that he had cut himself very badly. But the man tore off the rag, and then he saw easily enough what really ailed the finger.

  He was at first going to kill the lad; but as he began crying and praying for himself again, he gave him such a sound thrashing instead that he had to keep his bed for three days, and then the man took a jar down from the wall, and rubbed the lad with some of its contents and he was as well as ever again.

  Before long the man went away again, and was not coming back for a month. But he told the lad that if he went into the fourth room he must not have any hope of escaping with his life that time.

  For two or three weeks the lad managed to resist the temptation, but then he couldn’t help himself any longer,—he must and would go into that room, and so he did. There stood a big black horse in a box by himself, and with a manger of glowing cinders at his head, and a truss of hay at his tail. The lad thought this was altogether wrong; he changed them about and put the truss of hay at the horse’s head.

  So the horse said: “Since you have such a good heart that you let me have something to eat, I will save you from the troll, for that’s what the man is that you are with. But now you must go up into the room just above here and take a suit of armour out of those hanging there, and mind you do not take any of the bright ones, but the most rusty you see. Take that one! And sword and saddle you must look out for yourself in the same way.”

  The lad did as he was told, but it was very heavy work to carry it all at once. When he came back the horse told him to take all his clothes off and jump into the kettle which stood and boiled in the room below, and to have a good dip there.

  “I shall be an awful sight then,” thought the lad, but he did as the horse had told him. When he had finished his bath he became handsome and smart, and as red and white as blood and milk, and much stronger than before.

  “Do you feel any different?” asked the horse.—“Yes,” said the lad.—“Try if you can lift me,” said the horse.—Oh, yes, he could do that; and the sword, why, he swung it about his head as if it were nothing at all. “Now, put the saddle on me,” said the horse, “and put the suit of armour on you, and then don’t forget the brier-twig, the piece of rock, the water-jug, and the jar of ointment, and then we’ll be off.”

  The lad had no sooner got on the horse than off they went at such a rate that he couldn’t tell how fast they got on. When he had been riding for some time the horse said to him: “I think I hear a rumbling of something! Just look round; can you see anything?”—“Yes, there are a great, great many coming after us; at least a score,” said the lad.—“Well, that’s the troll,” said the horse; “he is coming after us with his imps.”

  They rode on for a while, until they who were coming after them were close upon them. “Now throw your brier-twig over your shoulder,” said the horse, “but throw it a good distance behind me!” The lad did so, and suddenly a big, close brier-wood grew up behind them. So the lad rode a long, long way, while the troll had to go home and fetch something to hew his way through the wood.

  But in a while the horse said again: “Look behind! Can you see anything now?”—“Yes, a great many,” said the lad; “as many as would fill a church.”—“Ah ha! that’s the troll,—he has taken more with him this time. Throw the piece of rock you have, but throw it far behind me!”

  As soon as the lad had done what the horse had said, a great steep mountain rose behind him, and so the troll had to go home and fetch something to mine his way through the mountain, and while the troll was doing this the lad rode again some distance on his way. But before long the horse asked him to look behind him again, and then the lad saw a crowd like a big army in bright armour, which glistened in the sun. “Ah ha!” said the horse, “that’s the troll,—now he has got all his imps with him. Take the water-jug and throw all the water out behind you, but mind you do not spill any of it on me!”

  The lad did as he was told, but for all the care he took, he happened to spill a drop on the horse’s flank. Well, the water he threw behind him became a great lake, but on account of the drop he spilled on the horse he found himself far out in the water, but the horse swam safely to land with him. When the trolls came to the lake they laid down to drink it dry, but they drank till they burst. “Now we have got rid of them,” said the horse.

  So when they had travelled a long, long time, they came to a green plain in a wood. “Now you must take off your whole suit of armour and only put your own ragged clothes on,” said the horse, “and then take the saddle off me and let me go; but hang all the things inside this big hollow lime-tree here. You must then make yourself a wig of pine-moss and go up to the king’s palace, which is close by; there you must ask for service. Whenever you want me, only come and shake the bridle, and I’ll come to you.”

  Yes, the lad did as the horse had told him, and when he put the wig of moss on his head he became so ugly, and pale, and miserable looking that no one would know him again. He then went to the palace and asked first, if he could get some work in the kitchen and carry water and wood for the cook; but the cook asked: “Why do you wear that ugly wig? Take it off you! I won’t have such a fright in here.”—“I can’t do that,” answered the lad, “I am not all right in my head.”—“Do you think I will have you here near the food, if that’s the case?” said the cook; “go down to the coachman; you are better suited for cleaning out the stable.”

  But when the coachman asked him to take off his wig and got the same answer he would not have him either. “You had better go to the gardener,” he said; “you are more fit for digging in the garden.” Yes, the gardener would take him, and gave hi
m leave to stay with him, but none of the other servants would sleep with him, so he had to sleep by himself under the steps of the summer-house. It stood on posts, and a high staircase led up to it; under this he put some moss for a bed, and there he lay as well as he could.

  When he had been some time at the palace, it happened one morning, just as the sun was rising, that the lad had taken off his wig of moss and was washing himself; he then looked so handsome that it was a pleasure to look at him.

  The princess saw the lad from her window, and she thought that she never had seen any one so handsome. She asked the gardener why the lad slept out there under the steps. “Oh, none of his fellow-servants will sleep with him,” said the gardener. “Let him come up and lie outside the door of my chamber,” said the princess, “and then I suppose they will not think themselves too good to sleep in the same room as he.”

  The gardener told the lad of it. “Do you think I’ll do that?” said the lad; “they would say that I was running after the princess.”—“Yes, you are very likely to be suspected of that,” said the gardener, “you are so good-looking!”—“Well, if she orders it so, I suppose I must go,” said the lad.

  When he was going up stairs in the evening he tramped and stamped so terribly that they had to tell him to walk more softly, that the king should not get to know it. So he lay down by the door and began to snore.

  The princess then said to her maid: “Just go quietly to him and pull off his wig.” The maid was just going to snatch it off his head, when he took hold of it with both his hands and said that she should not have it; and with that he lay down again and began snoring. The princess gave the maid a sign again, and that time she snatched the wig off him, and there lay the lad so lovely and red and white, just as the princess had seen him in the morning sun. After that the lad slept every night outside the princess’s chamber.