This story is current in Iceland. It was told to a German traveller in
that out-of-the-way part of the world by a poor joiner,--evidently a
true-born Icelander, well versed in the folk-lore of his country, but a
somewhat prosy narrator. The story is here given in a condensed form.
True, there is not much said in it about music; but its chief incidents
are brought about by the agency of magic songs. The singing of the swans
lulls the king's son into a death-like slumber, and it is by means of
music that the sweet foster-sister of Linus, when she finds him reposing
on the couch,--but all this the reader will see in the story itself, and
to tell it first in a preamble, and then a second time, would be even
worse than the prolixity of the honest Icelandic joiner. So let us
proceed to the story.
There was once a king and a queen who had a son whose name was Linus.
Every one in the whole kingdom admired the young prince for his fine
person and his many accomplishments.
Now it happened that when Linus, the king's son, had attained the age of
twenty years, he suddenly disappeared, and no one could say what had
become of him.
Not far from the king's palace lived with her parents in a little hut a
young girl who was the prince's foster-sister; and he had always been
extremely fond of her. No wonder that he liked her so much, for she was
as beautiful as she was amiable.
"Mother," said the girl, "pray, now let me go, that I may seek for him
until I find him again!"
When the mother heard her speaking thus, she became convinced that all
dissuasion would be useless, and she permitted her daughter to go.
However, she gave her a magic ball of thread, and taught her how to
throw it before her as a guide to the hidden abode of the king's son;
for the old lady was not altogether inexperienced in the mysteries of
sorcery. The girl took the ball of thread and let it run before her; and
it rolled and rolled many miles over mountains and through valleys,
until it suddenly stopped near a precipitous cliff.
"Here he must be!" ejaculated the girl, and anxiously looked about
whether there was not somewhere an entrance into the cliff. But all she
could find, after a careful search was a narrow crevice, somewhat hidden
by a projecting rock, scarcely wide enough for her to squeeze herself
through. When she had succeeded in entering the cliff, she found
herself in a large cavern, the walls of which were smoothly planed, and
suspended on them were all kinds of odd implements. Surveying the cavern
with a curiosity not unmixed with fear, she discovered on one side a
short passage leading into another cavern not quite so large as the
first, but handsomer in appearance. Having entered the second cavern,
she observed a splendid bed standing in the middle of the room.
Trembling with hope and fear, she drew nearer to the bed, and lo! there
she found him lying asleep, the beloved Linus, the king's son!
Her first thought was to awaken him as quickly as possible, that he
might fly with her out of the mountain. But all her exertions to arouse
him had no effect, although she tried various means which ought, it
might be supposed, certainly to have awakened him. While considering
what she should do, she was suddenly terrified by a rumbling sound like
that of distant thunder, which gradually became louder and louder, until
it appeared to be quite near the entrance to the cavern. She had just
time to hide herself behind some furniture in the corner, when the cliff
opened widely, and in came a giantess, seated on a chariot of ivory,
inlaid with gold, and having a golden whip in her hand.
As soon as the giantess, who was also a great sorceress, had entered the
cavern, the opening in the cliff closed again. Presently she went to the
bed on which the king's son was reposing, and summoning two swans from
the end of the cavern, she recited the spell:--
"Sing, sing ye my swans,
To awake Linus, the king's son!"
Immediately the swans began to sing a song, charming beyond all
description; and as they sang the youth awoke. Then the horrid giantess
sat down by the side of the king's son, and told him how very fond she
was of him; and that she should never be happy until he was her husband.
But, Linus, the king's son, smiled without answering her; and, turning
his head aside, he thought of his foster-sister in the little hut not
far from his father's palace. How little did he suspect that the dear
girl was near to him, hidden in the cavern!
However, the giantess perceiving that she was talking in vain, at last
determined to await a more propitious time. So she again called her
swans, and recited the spell:--
"Sing, sing ye my swans,
To charm the king's son to sleep!"
Immediately the swans sang a song inexpressibly soothing, and the king's
son fell asleep again. Thinking the youth safely secured, the giantess
took up her golden whip, and seating herself in the chariot of ivory,
inlaid with gold, she recited the spell:--
"Run, run my precious chariot,
And carry me to the Lifsteinn!"
As soon as she had said these words the cliff opened, and the chariot
flew off like a flash of lightning. Now, when the watchful girl heard
the thundering sound gradually diminishing into a feeble murmur, she
knew that she might venture out of her hiding-place. The first thing she
did was to command the swans:--
"Sing, sing ye my swans,
To awake Linus, the king's son!"
Immediately the swans began to sing most charmingly, and the beloved
Linus awoke. Oh! how unspeakably happy he was when he beheld his dear
foster-sister standing before him! For a time the cavern was to them a
paradise;--but soon the anxious question arose how to escape from the
clutches of the giantess.
Then the quick-witted girl suggested a plan which Linus hopefully
adopted; and having summoned the swans to lull the youth to sleep again,
she withdrew into her hiding-place; for the increasing rumbling of the
chariot warned her of the approaching danger.
The giantess had not long returned to the cavern when she determined on
making another attempt to gain the affection of the king's son. So she
commanded the swans to sing him awake. The prince arose, appeared much
more compliant than before, and expressed his willingness to marry her
on the following day, if it were not otherwise destined.
Then the enamoured giantess, in answer to his inquiries, revealed to him
various secrets as to her magic powers; and when he asked her to tell
him candidly whither she went so often in her chariot, she replied:--
"Ah, my dear boy, there is no cause for jealousy! The fact is, I have a
brother who is a great giant, and we both, my brother and I, have but
one life, and that is bound up in a Lifsteinn ('Stone of Life'). Now,
you must know, the Lifsteinn is very brittle, and if it should be broken
our death would be certain. Daily I visit my brother, who lives far off
in a valley near a deep spring under three high trees. We then fetch up
our Lifsteinn, which lies in the deep spring, and carefully examine it;
for, nothing affords us greater satisfaction than to find our Lifsteinn
uninjured."
This valuable information was listened to with breathless attention by
the young girl in her hiding-place; and when the giantess, having
previously ordered the swans to sing the king's son to sleep, had taken
her departure in the chariot, the girl lost no time in hastening from
the cavern; and, rolling the ball of thread before her, she followed it
over mountains and through valleys until she had reached the deep spring
under the three high trees. The great giant, whose mere breathing made
all the leaves of the trees tremble, was just placing the Lifsteinn in
the lap of the giantess,--when the courageous girl sprang out from
behind the trees, and snatching it up threw it on the ground and
shattered it to fragments. In a moment both the giant and the giantess
fell down dead.
Now the girl ascended the ivory-golden chariot, took up the golden whip,
and smacking it, recited the spell--
"Run, run my precious chariot,
And take me to Linus the king's son!"
When the chariot had entered the cavern, she at once commanded the swans
to awaken the king's son; and this they did in strains of music so
melodiously beautiful that no mortal had ever heard the like. Linus and
his dear foster-sister, having provided themselves with as many jewels
and as much gold and silver from the cavern as they could carry, took
their seats in the chariot and commanded it to take them straight to the
king's palace. Oh! how they all rejoiced throughout the whole kingdom!
There was no end of festivities!
But the most glorious festival was that when they celebrated the
marriage of Linus, the king's son, with his sweet foster-sister. On that
day the old king, in his happiness, resigned the crown in favour of his
dear son. Of course, king Linus and his beloved queen were quite happy
then and ever after.[71]