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 cornfields 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.
"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 straight
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 nightfall 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 bigger and stouter 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 and not 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 me 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 it is 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 _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
they 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_."
Well, _Halvor_ laid his head on her lap, and 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 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 about sixty pounds 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_, "bye 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_.