When Ogier the Dane was but a babe in his mother's arms, there was
heard one day, in his father's castle, the sweetest music that mortals
ever listened to. Nobody knew whence the bewitching sounds came; for
they seemed to be now here, now there: yet every one was charmed with
the delightful melody, and declared that only angels could make music
so heavenly. Then suddenly there came into the chamber where Ogier lay
six fairies, whose beauty was so wonderful and awful, that none but a
babe might gaze upon them without fear. And each of the lovely
creatures bore in her hands a garland of the rarest flowers, and rich
gifts of gold and gems. And the first fairy took the child in her
arms, and kissed him, and said,--
"Better than kingly crown, or lands, or rich heritage, fair babe, I
give thee a brave, strong heart. Be fearless as the eagle, and bold as
the lion; be the bravest knight among men."
Then the second fairy took the child, and dandled him fondly on her
knees, and looked long and lovingly into his clear gray eyes.
"What is genius without opportunity?" said she. "What is a brave heart
without the ability to do brave deeds? I give to thee many an
opportunity for manly action."
The third fairy laid the dimpled hands of the babe in her own white
palm, and stroked softly his golden hair.
"Strong-hearted boy, for whom so many noble deeds are waiting, I, too,
will give thee a boon. My gift is skill and strength such as shall
never fail thee in fight, nor allow thee to be beaten by a foe.
Success to thee, fair Ogier!"
The fourth fairy touched tenderly the mouth and the eyes and the noble
brow of the babe.
"Be fair of speech," said she, "be noble in action, be courteous, be
kind: these are the gifts I bring thee. For what will a strong heart,
or a bold undertaking, or success in every enterprise, avail, unless
one has the respect and the love of one's fellow-men?"
Then the fifth fairy came forward, and clasped Ogier in her arms, and
held him a long time quietly, without speaking a word. At last she
said,--
"The gifts which my sisters have given thee will scarcely bring thee
happiness; for, while they add to thy honor, they may make thee
dangerous to others. They may lead thee into the practice of
selfishness and base acts of tyranny. That man is little to be envied
who loves not his fellow-men. The boon, therefore, that I bring thee
is the power and the will to esteem others as frail mortals equally
deserving with thyself."
And then the sixth fairy, the youngest and the most beautiful of all,
who was none other than Morgan le Fay, the Queen of Avalon, caught up
the child, and danced about the room in rapturous joy. And, in tones
more musical than mortals often hear, she sang a sweet lullaby, a song
of fairyland and of the island vale of Avalon, where the souls of
heroes dwell.
And, when she had finished singing, Morgan le Fay crowned the babe with
a wreath of laurel and gold, and lighted a fairy torch that she held in
her hand. "This torch," said she, "is the measure of thy earthly days;
and it shall not cease to burn until thou hast visited me in Avalon,
and sat at table with King Arthur and the heroes who dwell there in
that eternal summer-land."
Then the fairies gave the babe gently back into his mother's arms, and
they strewed the floor of the chamber with many a rich gem and lovely
flower; the odor of roses and the sweetest perfumes filled the air, and
the music of angels' voices was heard above; and the fairies vanished
in a burst of sunbeams, and were seen no more. And when the queen's
maidens came soon afterward into the chamber, they found the child
smiling in his mother's arms. But she was cold and lifeless: her
spirit had flown away to fairyland.