My life with Trolls

Art by Theodor Kittelsen

Some of you may think that trolls do not really exist. Actually when I think about it, none of you believe in them. That’s ok, I can relate. I never gave trolls much thought until moving to a place that was full of them. For 4 years I lived in troll country. No not Norway, I mean real troll country, the birth home of the troll, Sigdal Norway. Sigdal was the home of Theodor Kittelsen and father of all trolls. No one really knew about trolls before Kittelsen started illustrating them and telling his troll stories. 

Art by Theodor Kittelsen

The landscape in Sigdal was just like this and I was living right under that huge troll at the base of the water you see at his feet.

It didn't take me long to get a job at the local museum and folk music center where I was surrounded by Norwegian culture at its best.

Me sitting on the steps of the old sheriffs headquarters.

So here I am, this crazy American girl guiding tourists around Norwegian treasures and culture. All of which I learned after a 6 week course. Walking around beautiful old buildings, picking flowers for displays and talking to people about beautiful works of art, this was an amazing job and it was located just around the corner from my house. A house that I might add was made of timber and in the yard were very old apple trees. It was not uncommon to find a moose in the yard early in the morning munching on fallen apples. How many people can sit on their front steps, have a conversation with a moose and listen to a waterfall while drinking their morning coffee?

My relationship with trolls started out slowly. I didn't see them at first. You know the feeling when you are sure there is someone there even though you cannot see them? That is how it all started. I would walk around the museum grounds and down by the river to pick flowers or look for mushrooms. Sometimes I could hear the sound of students at the center while they practiced the Norwegian fiddle and I would hum along, daydreaming and lost in my own thoughts. When you stand in the middle of nature and let it overcome you, the trolls will come out to play. You will find yourself stumble on a path and look up to see a twig with a grin. Trolls like fairies will confuse you and get great pleasure watching you stumble around.

As a child sitting on the bank of a river and dipping a stick into the water, I would watch the ripples make pictures and dream of places where magical creatures could exist. When you remember your childhood and these dreams that is when trolls make you stumble. That is when fairies dance on your shoulder and that is when you need to remember those childish dreams. Look into a pool of water or up at the clouds. Look at the rocks and the trees and you will see them everywhere reminding us of what we have forgotten. Trolls make the child in us want to come out and play. Trolls most definitely Rock!

Now I could have given you facts about trolls. The kind that you read about in books. I have read that trolls are big and stupid, that they have snot running out of their nose and that they would eat you for breakfast if they could. We have all seen those kind of trolls. We have worked with them, maybe even lived with them, but I choose to tell you about the trolls I have met on a different path. Not all trolls are bad. Look around you, look in the water, in the forest or up in the sky. I promise, if you look hard enough you will see them come out to play.

Help me celebrate my One Year BlogAversary and come to my TROLLFEST. 

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Now the good part! If I make 500 followers before next month I am going to give away a prize! I will draw one of your names and send you a Norwegian Troll. Look, isn't she cute? She is sitting here just waiting to take a trip! Since she will most likely travel far, I am sending some Norwegian Chocolate with her as well.Winner will be announced in April, lol...not on April Fools day. I am not that mean!

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Trolls Rock

Hope to see you soon among the trolls! Monday is Minnie day and she is stopping by to tell you how she is going to deal with the A-Z challenge this year. Have a great week-end everyone, any special plans you want to share?

Golden Castle in the Air-2

"Dare Christian folk come here?" she shouted. "But you'd certainly better go again, or else the Troll may kill you. A Troll with three heads lives here!" The boy said he wasn't going to move even if the Troll had seven. When the princess heard that, she wanted him to try to swing the big, rusty sword, which hung behind the door. But he couldn't swing it; he couldn't even lift it. "Well", said the princess, "if you can't manage it, you'll have to take a swig from that flask hanging beside it, for that's what the Troll does when he's going out to use it!"

The boy took a couple of swigs, and now he could swing the sword as though it were a pancake turner. All at once the Troll came rushing up. "Huh! I smell the smell of Christian flesh!" he shrieked. "So you do!" said the boy, "but you needn't snort so loud, you won't be bothered by that smell any longer", he said, and then he chopped off all his heads. The princess was as happy as though she had been given something fine. But after a while she began to pine; she longed for her sister, who had been carried off by a Troll with six heads, and now lived in a castle of gold which was three hundred miles beyond the world's end. The boy wasn't put out one bit. He could fetch both princess and castle, and so he took the sword and the flask, mounted the donkey, and asked the dragons to follow him, and to carry the meat and the spikes.

When they had journeyed a while, and traveled a long, long way over land and sea, the donkey said one day," Do you see anything?" "I see nothing but land, and water and sky," said the boy. So they traveled far, and farther than far. "Do you see anything now?" said the donkey. Yes, when he looked carefully ahead, he saw something far, far away; it shone like a tiny star, said the boy. "I dare say it'll get bigger," said the donkey. When they had journeyed a long way again, it asked," Do you see anything now?" "Now I see it shining like a moon," said the boy. When they had gone far, and farther than far, over land and sea, over hill and moor again, the donkey asked, "Do you see anything now?" "Now I think it's shining almost like the sun," said the boy. “Well, that's the golden castle we're going to," said the donkey, "but outside lies a serpent which bars the way and keeps watch." "I think I'll be afraid of it," said the boy. "Oh, not at all," said the donkey. "We'll have to have layers of twigs over it, and in between, rows of horseshoe nails, and set it on fire. Then we'll probably be rid of it."

At last they came to the castle, but the serpent lay stretched out in front of it and barred the way. Then the boy gave the dragons a good meal of ox and pig carcasses so they would help him, and then they spread over the serpent a layer of twigs and wood, and a layer of spikes and horseshoe nails, until they had used up the three hundred crates which they had. And when that was done, they set fire to it and burned the serpent alive. When they had finished one of the dragons flew underneath, and lifted the castle up, while the two others flew high up in the sky and loosened the chains from the hooks they were hanging on, and set it down on the ground. The boy went inside, and found everything was even more splendid than the silver castle, but he saw no one until he came into the innermost room. There on a golden bed lay the princess. She was sleeping as soundly as if she were dead; for she was as red and white as milk and blood. Just as the boy stood there looking at her, the Troll came rushing in. Hardly had he put his first head through the door before he started shrieking, "Huff`! I smell the smell of Christian flesh!" "Perhaps," said the boy. "But you needn't snort so load about it you won't be bothered by that smell for long!" he said, and then he chopped off all his heads as though they were set on cabbage sticks. Then the dragons put the golden castle on their backs, and flew home with it. They set it down beside the silver castle so that it shone both far and wide. When the princess from the silver castle came to the window in the morning and caught sight of t, she was so happy that she ran over to the golden castle that very minute. But when she saw her sister lying asleep as though she were dead, she told the boy that they couldn't bring her to life before they had fetched the Waters of Life and Death, which were kept in two wells on either side of the golden castle which hung in the air, nine hundred miles beyond the world's end. And there lived the third sister. Well, there was nothing else to do, he would have to fetch that too, and it wasn't long before he was on his way.

He traveled far, and farther than far, through many kingdoms through field and forest, and at last he came to the world's end. “Do you see anything?" said the donkey one-day. "I see nothing but heaven and earth," said the boy "Do you see anything now?” asked the donkey after some days. "Yes, now I think I can make out something high up and far away, just like a tiny star." "It's certainly not so tiny,” said the donkey. When they had gone a while again, it asked, "Do you see anything now?" "Yes now I think it's shining like a moon." "Oh, indeed?" said the donkey. So they traveled a few days more. "Do you see anything now?" said the donkey. "Yes, now it's shining like the sun," replied the boy. "That's where we're going," said the donkey. "That's the golden castle which hangs in the air. A princess lived there who has been carried off by a Troll with nine heads. But all the wild animals in the world lie on guard, and bar the way to it," said the donkey

"I almost think I'll be afraid now," said the boy. "Oh, not at all!" said the donkey. He said that there was no danger as long as he didn't stay there, but left as soon as he had filled his pitchers with the water. The castle could only be entered for one hour during the day, and that was at high noon. If he couldn't finish in that time, and get away, the wild animals would tear him into a thousand pieces.

At twelve o'clock they arrived. All the wild and wicked beasts were lying like a fence outside the gate and on both sides of the road. But they slept like logs, and there wasn't one, which so much as lifted a paw. The boy went between them, and took good care not to tread on any toes or tails, he filled his pitchers with the Waters of Life and Death, and while he did so, he looked at the castle which was made of purest gold. It was the finest he had even seen, and he thought it must be even finer inside. "Pooh! I have plenty of time," thought , "I can always look around for half an hour," and so he opened the door and went in. Inside it was finer than fine. He went from one magnificent room to another, and it was closely hung with gold and pearls, and all the costliest things there were. But no people were to be found. At last he came into a chamber, where a princess lay asleep on a golden bed as though she were dead. But she was as fine as the finest queen, and as red and white as blood and snow, and so beautiful that he had never seen anything as beautiful, save her picture for it was she who was painted there. The boy forgot both the water he was to fetch, and he thought he could never gaze his fill at her, but she slept like one dead, and he couldn't wake her.

Towards evening the Troll came rushing in, and crashed and banged all the gates and doors so that the whole castle rang. "Here I smell the smell of Christian flesh!" he said, and stuck his first head through the door.

"I dare say you do," said the boy, "but you needn't snort you won't be bothered by that smell for long," he said, and with that he chopped off all its heads. When he was finished, he was so tired that he couldn't keep his eyes open. So he lay down in the bed beside the princess. She slept both night and day as though she would never wake. But around midnight she woke for a moment, and then she told Askeladden that even though he had freed her, she must remain there for three years. If she didn't return to him then, he would have to come and fetch her. He didn't wake up until the clock had started on another day, and he heard the donkey braying and carrying on so that he thought is best to set out for home. Before leaving he clipped a piece out of the princess' gown to take with him. What with one thing or another, he had hung about there so long that the animals were stirring and beginning to wake up. By the time he had mounted the donkey, they were closing in around him so he sprinkled some drops of the Water of Death on them, and they all fell down on the spot and moved not a limb again.

On the way home the donkey said to the boy. "Mark my words, when you come into honor and glory, you'll forget me and what I've done for you, so I'll be down on my knees with hunger.” That would never happen, thought the boy.

When he came back to the princess with the Water of Life, she sprinkled a few drops on her sister so that she woke up, and then there was joy and rapture, as never before. Then they went home to the king, and he too was happy and glad to have them with him again. The king pined for the three years to be up, when his youngest daughter was to come home. He made the boy, who had fetched the two princesses, a mighty man, so that he was the first in the land next to the king. There were many that were jealous because he had become such an important fellow, and there was one who was called the Red Knight, who wanted to have the eldest princess. He got her to sprinkle a little of the Water of Death on the boy so that he fell asleep.

When the three years were up, and the fourth year was well begun, a foreign warship came sailing, and on it was the third sister, and she had with her a three-year-old child. She sent word to the king's manor that she wouldn't set foot on shore before they sent down the man who had come to the golden castle and freed her. So they sent down one of the highest persons at the king's court, and when he stepped on board the ship, he swept off his hat to the princess, and bowed. "Could that be your father, my son?" said the princess to the child, who was playing with a golden apple. "No, my father doesn't crawl like a cheese maggot!" said the boy. Then they sent another of the same sort, and that was the Red Knight. But he fared no better than the first and the princess sent word by him that if they didn't send the right one, it would go badly with them all. When they heard that, they had to wake up the boy with the Water of Life, and when they did he went down to the ship to see the princess. Askeladden didn’t bow. He only nodded and pulled out the piece he had clipped from her gown in the golden castle. "That's my father!" shouted the child, and gave him the golden apple he was playing with. Then there was great rejoicing over the whole kingdom, and the old king was the happiest of them all for his favorite child had returned. But when it came to light what the Red Knight and the eldest princess had done to the boy, the king wanted them each rolled into a spiked barrel. But Askeladden and the youngest princess pleaded for them, and so they were spared. One day, as they were getting ready to celebrate the wedding, Askeladden stood looking out of the window. It was getting on towards spring and they were letting out the horses and the cattle, and the last animal to leave the stable was the donkey. But it was so starved that it crawled through the stable door on its knees. Then he felt so ashamed at having forgotten it that he went down and didn't know what he could do to help. But the donkey said the best thing he could do was to chop off its head. This he was most unwilling to do, but the donkey begged so hard that at last he had to. At the same moment as the head fell, the Troll spell that had been cast over it was broken, and there stood the handsomest prince that anyone could wish to see. He got the second princess, and they celebrated a wedding that was the talk of seven kingdoms, and is still the talk today it would seem.

There you have it; you never know when or where a prince just might show up. Hope you have enjoyed my series on Norwegian Fairytales and Folklore.

The Golden Castle that Hung in the Air

There was once a man who had three sons. When he died, the two eldest decided to go into the world to try their luck; but they wouldn't take the younger with them at any price. They said to him, “You're no good for anything but sitting around and poking in the ashes or blowing on the coals!” "Well, I'll just have to go by myself," said Askeladden (the Ash Lad.) "Then I won't be at odds with my company, either!"

The two set out, and after traveling for some days, they came to a great forest. There they sat down to rest and eat some of the food they had brought with them, for they were both tired and hungry. As they sat there, an old Hag came up through a tuft of grass and begged for a little food. She was so old and feeble that her mouth twitched and her head quivered, and she had to support herself on a staff. She hadn't had a crumb of bread in her mouth in a hundred years, she said; but the boys only laughed and went on eating, and said that as long as she'd kept body and soul together for so long, it was likely she'd be able to hold out without eating up their crumbs. Besides, they had little to share and nothing to spare. When they had eaten their fill and rested they set out again, and at last they came to the king's manor there they were given jobs as serving men.

A short while after they had left home, Askeladden gathered together the crumbs his brothers had cast aside, and put them in his little knapsack. He also took the old musket which had no bolt, for he thought it would come in handy on the way, then he set out. When he had walked for some days, he too came to the thick forest which his brothers had traveled, and when he was tired and hungry, he sat down under a tree to rest and have a little to eat. As he took up his knapsack he caught sight of a picture hanging on a tree, and on it was painted a young maiden, or princess, who was so lovely that he could not take his eyes off her. He forgot both food and knapsack, he took down the picture, and sat staring intently at it. All of a sudden the old Hag came up through the tuft of grass, her mouth twitching and her head quivering, and supporting herself on a staff, she begged him for a little food, for she hadn't had a crumb of bread in her mouth in a hundred years, she said.

"Then it's time you had a little, "Old Mother," said the boy, and he gave her some bread crumbs. The old hag said that no one had called her "Mother" in a hundred years, and she was certainly going to do him a favor in return. She gave him a ball of gray wool, which he only had to roll along in front of him and he would come to any place he wanted to. But he mustn't bother with the picture, she said, it would only get him into trouble. Askeladden thought this was all very well, but he couldn't leave the painting behind, so he took it under his arm, and rolled the ball of yarn ahead of him. It wasn't long before he came to the king's manor where his brothers were serving. There he too begged for a serving job. They replied that they had no work for him, as they had recently taken on two serving boys, but he begged so hard that at last he was allowed to help the stable master, and to groom the horses. This Akeladden was most willing to do, for he was fond of horses, and as he was both quick and clever he soon learned to tend and take care of them, and it wasn't long before everyone in the king's manor grew fond of him.

Every moment he could spare he would look at the picture of the beautiful maiden that he had hung in a corner of the hayloft. His brothers were idle and lazy so they were often soundly beaten, and when they saw that Askeladden was getting along better than they were, they grew jealous of him. They told the stable master that Askeladden was an idol worshipper and that he prayed to a picture and not to Our Lord. Even though the stable master thought well of the boy, it wasn't long before he told the king. The king however only snapped at him. These days he was always downcast and sorrowful, for his daughters had been carried off by a Troll. They drilled it into the king's ears for so long, that at last he wanted to find out what the boy was up to. When he came to the hayloft and set eyes on the picture, he saw it was a painting of his youngest daughter. When Askeladdens brothers heard that, they were ready with a story at once and said to the stable master, "If only our brother were willing, he's said he could get the king back his daughter!" You may be sure that it wasn't long before the stable master went to the king and told him that, and when the king heard this, he shouted for Askeladden and said, "Your brothers say you can get my daughter back, and now you shall do so!” Askeladden replied that he never knew it was the king's daughter before the king had said so himself, and if he could free her and bring her back, he would certainly do his best.

The boy took out a ball of gray wool and threw it down on the road. It rolled ahead, and he went after it until he came to the old hag who had given it to him. He asked her what he should do. She said he was to take his old musket, and three hundred crates full of spikes and horseshoe nails, and three hundred barrels of barley, and three hundred barrels of goats, and three hundred butchered pigs, and three hundred ox carcasses, and roll the ball along the road until he met a raven and a Troll child. Then he would get there all right, for those two were of her kin. Well, the boy did as she said; he looked in at the king's manor, and took his old musket, and asked the king for spikes, and beef, and pork, and horses and men and carts to transport them. The king thought it was asking a lot, but as long as he could get his daughter back, he would give him whatever he needed, even if it were half the kingdom.

When the boy was ready and all his supplies loaded up, he rolled the ball along the road again. He hadn't gone many days before he came to a high mountain. There in a fir tree sat a raven. Askeladden walked until he stood directly beneath it, and pretended to take aim with his musket. "Nay, don't shoot! Don't shoot me and I'll help you!" shrieked the raven. “Since you're so anxious about your life, I may as well spare you," said Askeladden. So he threw the musket aside, and the raven flew down and said," Up on this mountain is a Troll child who has gotten lost and can't find his way down again. I'll help you up so you can take the youngster home, and get yourself a reward, which should come in very handy. When you get there, the Troll will offer you all the finest things he has, but you must pay no attention to that. You must take nothing but the little gray donkey which is standing behind the stable door".

Then the raven took the boy on his back and flew up onto the mountain with him, and put him down in the right place. After a while, he heard the Troll child whimpering and carrying on because he couldn't find his way down again. The boy talked kindly to him, and they soon they were on the best of terms, and Askeladden promised to help the Troll child down from the mountain. He was going to take him home to the Troll Manor, so that he wouldn't get lost on the way. Then they went to the raven, and he took them both on his back and carried them straight to the Mountain Troll. When the Troll laid eyes on his child again, he was so glad that he quite forgot himself, and told the boy to come in with him and take whatever he wanted. The troll showed him and all sorts of rare and costly things, but the boy said he would rather have a horse. “Yes, you should have a horse,” said the Troll, and so out to the stable they went. It was full of the finest horses. They shone like the sun and the moon, but the boy felt they were all too big for him. So he peeped behind the stable door, and caught sight of the little donkey standing there. "That's the one I want!" he said. "That's more my size. If I fall off, I'm not far from the ground." The Troll was not happy to lose the donkey, but as long as he'd given his promise he had to stand by it. So the boy got the donkey with saddle and bridle and all, and then he hurried on his way.

They journeyed through forest and field, over mountain and broad moors. When they had traveled farther than far, the donkey asked if the boy could see anything. “No, I see nothing but a high mountain which looks purple in the distance." "Well, we're going through that mountain," said the donkey. "Am I to believe that?" said the boy. When they came to the mountain, a unicorn came charging towards them as though it wanted to eat them alive. "Now I think I'm almost afraid," said the boy. "Oh, not at all," said the donkey. "Unload a couple of score of ox carcasses, and ask it to bore a hole and break a road through the mountain."

The boy did so. When the unicorn had eaten its fill, they promised it a couple of score of butchered pigs if it would go ahead and bore a hole through the mountain so that they could get through. When the unicorn heard that, it bored a hole and broke through the mountain, so fast that it was all they could do to keep up with it. And when it had finished, they threw it a couple of score of pig carcasses. When they had come safely through this, they journeyed a long way through many a land, and then they journeyed through forest and field, over mountain and wild moors again. "Do you see anything now?" asked the donkey. "Now I see nothing but sky and Wild Mountains," said the boy. So they journeyed far, and farther than far and when they came higher up, the mountains became more level and flatter, so they could see farther around them on every side. "Do you see anything now?" asked the donkey. "Yes, I see something a long, long way off," said the boy. "It's sparkling and twinkling like a tiny star." "It's certainly not so little, though," said the donkey. When they had journeyed far, and farther than far, it asked, "Do you see anything now?" "Yes, now I see something a long way off. It's shining like a moon," said the boy. "That's no moon," said the donkey. "That's the silver castle we're going to," it said. "Now, when we get there, we shall find three dragons lying on guard by the gate. They haven't been awake for a hundred years, so the moss has grown over their eyes." "I think I'll almost be afraid of them," said the boy. "Oh, not at all!" said the donkey. "You must wake up the youngest and toss down its gullet a couple of score of ox carcasses and butchered pigs. Then I dare say it'll talk to the other two, and you'll be allowed to enter the castle."

They journeyed far, and farther than far, before they arrived at the castle. It was both large and splendid, and everything they saw was made of silver. Outside the gate lay the dragons blocking the way so that no one could get in. It had been quiet and peaceful, and they hadn't been disturbed with much during their watch. They were so overgrown with moss that no one could see what they were made of, and alongside them a small forest had started growing between the mounds of moss. The boy woke the smallest of them, and it started rubbing its eyes and picking off the moss. When at last the dragon saw a boy standing there, it came towards him with its jaws open wide, but the boy was ready, and tossed ox carcasses and threw pigs down its gullet, until it had eaten its fill and had become a little more reasonable to talk to. The boy asked it to wake up the others, and tell them to move aside so that he could enter the castle. The dragon said it dared not and would not do so, to begin with; they hadn't been awake or tasted food for a hundred years. It was afraid they would thrash about in a daze, and eat both living and dead. Askeladden said he would leave behind a hundred ox carcasses and a hundred pigs, and go away for a bit. Then they could eat their fill, and collect their wits by the time they came back again. Well, the dragon agreed to this, and so they did just that. But before the dragons were properly awake and had got the moss off their eyes, they flew around and thrashed about, and snapped at everything. It was all the youngest dragon could do to keep out of harm's way until they had got wind of the meat. Then they gobbled oxen and pig carcasses whole, and ate their fill. After that they were pretty tame and good-natured, and they let the boy walk past them into the castle. Inside everything was so splendid that he could hardly believe the beauty he saw everywhere, but it was empty of people, he went from room to room, and opened all the doors, but he saw no one. At last he peeped in through the door of a chamber he had not seen before, and inside sat a princess spinning, and she was so pleased and happy when she caught sight of him.

  part 2..........Click here

Beware Falling Trolls

After a while the novelty of Trolls, Huldre, Fossegrim, Nøkken and Nisser wear off. They become as common place as strangers that you meet on the street. If you live in Norway long enough your body develops antitoxins against these creatures.

Warning: Constant exposure can be dangerous and may result in an overactive imagination

Have a relaxing Sunday everyone. Take your imagination for a walk, but look out for falling trolls.

Little Frick and his Fiddle part 2

First he went to the storekeeper and asked for clothes, and at one farm he asked for a horse and at another he asked for a sleigh, and at one place he asked for a fur coat, and not a "No" did he hear, for no matter how stingy they were, they had to give him what he asked for.

At last he traveled through the countryside like a real gentleman, with horse and sleigh. When he had traveled for a while he met the sheriff for whom he had served. “Good day, master," said Little Frick, stopping and lifting his cap. "Good day,” said the sheriff. Have I been your master?" he asked. "Yes, don't you remember that I served you for three years, for three pennies?” "Good gracious! Then you’ve made good in no time!" said the sheriff. "But how has it happened that you have become such a fine gentleman?" "Oh, that's a long story," said Little Frick. "And are you so bent on pleasure that you travel with a fiddle, too?" said the sheriff. "Yes, I've always liked to make people dance," said the boy. "But the finest thing I have is this musket here,” he said. "For it brings down everything I aim at, no matter how far away it is. Do you see that magpie sitting in that spruce tree over there?" asked Little Freddie. "What will you bet that I can't hit it from where we are now standing?"

The sheriff was willing to make the bet so he put up all the money he had with him, and he would fetch the bird when it fell, for he didn’t believe that it was possible to shoot so far with any musket. As soon as the shot was fired, the magpie fell into a big bramble patch, and the sheriff strode all the way there to fetch it, and picked it up. At the same moment Little Frick started playing his fiddle, and the Sheriff began to dance so that the thorns tore at him, and the boy played and the sheriff danced and cried and pleaded until the rags flew off him, and he had hardly a thread left on his back.

"Well, now I think you are just as ragged as I was when I left your service,” said the boy, "so now I will let you go". But first the sheriff had to pay him what he had bet the boy. When Little Frick came to town, he went to an inn. He played on his fiddle, and everyone who came there started dancing, and he lived both merrily and well. He had no sorrows for no one could say no to what he asked for.

One day, when the merrymaking was at its liveliest, the sheriff came to arrest the boy, and said that he had both assaulted and robbed him, and nearly taken his life. Now he should be hanged, there was no way out it of. Little Frick though had a way out of everything, and that was the fiddle. He started to play, and the sheriff had to dance until at last they all fell down gasping. They sent for soldiers and guards, but they fared no better. As soon as Little Frick took to playing his fiddle, they had to dance. Finally they sneaked in on him while he was asleep at night. When they finally had him he was sentenced to be hanged right away, and it was off to the gallows at once.

A large crowd had come to witness this rare spectacle. It didn't go quickly, for Little Frick was a feeble walker, and he made himself even feebler. The fiddle and the musket he carried along as well, for nobody could get them away from him. When he came to the gallows and was going to climb, he rested on every rung of the ladder. On the topmost rung he sat down, and asked if they could refuse him one last wish; that he might be allowed to do one thing. He would so like to play just one little tune on his fiddle before they hanged him.

"It would be both a sin and a shame to refuse him that," they said. They couldn't say "No" to what he asked for. The sheriff begged, in heaven's name, not to let him pluck on a single string or else it would be the end of them all. As for himself, they must tie him to the birch tree which stood there, should the boy start playing. It didn't take Little Frick long to get the fiddle to sound, and everyone there started to dance, both those on two legs and those on four; both deacon and parson, and clerk and bailiff, and sheriff and hangman, and dogs and pigs. They danced and laughed and shrieked all at the same time, some danced until they lay stretched out as though dead; some danced until they fainted. They all fared pretty badly, but it went worst with the sheriff, for he stood tied to the birch, and danced just the same until he rubbed big patches of skin off his back. No one thought of doing anything to Little Frick, and he could go wherever he wished with his fiddle and musket. Little Frick lived happily the rest of his days, for there was no one who could say "No" to the first thing he asked for.



Part One Click Here

Little Frick and his Fiddle

Once upon a time there was a peasant who had only one son, and this boy was weak and had poor health, so he wasn't able to go to work. His name was Frick, and because he was so small everyone called him "Little Frick". At home there was little to eat and little to burn, so his father went about the countryside trying to hire his son out as a cowherd or errand boy. He could find no one who would take on Little Frick until he came to the sheriff. The sheriff had just got rid of his errand boy, and little though he was, he was still better than nothing, thought the sheriff. The boy would at least get something to eat and a place to live. Nothing was said about wages or clothing.

When the boy had been there for three years he wanted to leave, and then the sheriff gave him his wages. He was to have a penny for each year he served. "It could not be less," said the sheriff, so the boy got three pennies altogether. To Little Frick this seemed like a lot of money, for he had never owned so much before, but still he asked the sheriff if he shouldn't have more. "You have received more than you should have," said the sheriff. "Shouldn't I have anything for clothes, then?" asked Little Frick. "The ones I had when I came here are all worn out, and I haven't got any new ones. The ones I have now are so tattered, that the rags hang on me,” he said. "You have received what we agreed, and three pennies besides, so I am finished with you," said the sheriff. However, the boy was allowed to go out to the kitchen and get a little food in his knapsack, and then he set out on the road to town to buy himself some clothes.

He was both happy and merry, for never had he seen a penny before, and from time to time he felt in his pocket to see if he had all three of them. When he had walked far, he came into a narrow valley with high mountains on all sides, and he began to wonder what could be on the other side of these mountains, and how he was going to get over them. He had to go up, so he set out on the way and since he wasn't able to go very fast, he had to rest now and then. Whenever he stopped he counted his money to see how much he had. When he came up to the very top, there was nothing but a large mossy plateau.

There he sat down and was going to see if he had his money again, but before he knew it, a poor man was standing before him, and he was so big and tall that Little Frick started to scream from fear. "Don't be afraid of me," said the poor man. "I'm not going to hurt you. All I ask for is a penny in God's name" “Mercy!” said the boy. “I only have three pennies, and I was going to town to buy some clothes with them," he said. "I'm worse off than you are," said the poor man. "I haven't any pennies, and I'm even more ragged than you are." "Well, then I guess you'll have to have it," said the lad.

When he had gone a bit farther, he became tired and sat down to rest again. When he looked up, another poor man was standing there, but he was even bigger and uglier than the first, and when the boy really saw how big and ugly and tall he was, he started to scream. "Don't be afraid of me," said the poor man. "I'm not going to hurt you. All I ask for is a penny in God's name" "Mercy!" said the boy “I only have two pennies, and I was going to town to buy some clothes with them," "I'm worse off than you are," said the poor man. "I have no pennies at all, and a larger body and fewer clothes." "Well, then I guess you'll have to have it," said the boy.

So he walked a while again until he became tired, and then he sat down to rest, and once he was seated another man was standing before him, but he was so big and ugly and tall that the boy looked upwards and upwards, until he was looking straight up to the sky, and when he really saw how big and ugly and ragged he was, he began to scream

"Don't be afraid of me," said the man. "I'm not going to hurt you, for I'm only a poor man who is begging for a penny in God's name" "Mercy! The truth is," said Little Frick, "that I have only one penny left, and I'm going to town to buy some clothes with it. If only I had met you before." "Well, I have no penny at all, and a bigger body and fewer clothes, so it's worse for me than for you," said the poor man. Then you would have to have the penny,” said Little Frick. There was nothing to be done, each of the poor beggars had one of his pennies and he had none.

“Now, since you have been so good-hearted and given away everything you owned," said the poor man, "I will give you a wish for each penny." As it turned out, all beggars were the same man; he had just changed his appearance each time so that the boy could not recognize him again. “I have always loved to hear the fiddle play, and I love to see people so merry and glad that they dance," said the boy. "So, if I may wish for anything I like, I’ll wish for such a fiddle that everything alive must dance to it," he said. That you shall get it, but it is a poor wish,” said the man. "You'll have to wish something better for the other pennies."

"I've always wanted to hunt and shoot," said the boy, " so, if I may wish for what I'd like, then I'll wish me such a musket that I hit whatever I aim at, be it even so far away." Then you shall get that, but it is poor wish,” said the man. "You'd better wish something better for the last penny"" "I've always longed to be with people who were good and kindhearted", said Little Frick. "So if I may wish for whatever I'd like, I would want it to be so that no one could refuse me the first thing I asked for." "That wasn't such a poor wish," said the man kindly, and then he strode away among the hills and was gone. The boy, being tired, lay down to sleep, and the next day he came down from the mountain with his fiddle and his musket.

Part Two Click Here

White Bear King Valemon -2

The king's daughter then set off through the forest which never came to an end, all that day and night. The next morning she came to another cottage. Here there were also two womenfolk, and old crone and a little girl. "Good day," said the king's daughter. "Have you seen anything of White-Bear-King Valemon?" she asked. "Were you the one to have had him, maybe?" asked the old woman, and learning that it was she answered. “Why yes, he rushed by here yesterday, but he went so fast that you won't catch up with him," she said. The little girl was playing about on the floor with a flask, which was such that it poured out whatever they wanted, and wherever the flask was, drink was never lacking. "But this poor woman, who has to journey so far and on such rough roads, she'll be thirsty and suffer many other hardships," said the little girl, and then she asked if she could give her the flask. It was agreed that she could have the flask.

So the king's daughter got the flask, said her thanks, and set out again, walking through the same forest, all that day and night. On the third morning she came to a cottage, and there was an old woman and a little girl. "Good day," said the king's daughter. "Have you seen anything of White-Bear-King Valemon?" she asked. "Were you to have had him, maybe?" asked the old woman. Learning that it was she replied. “Why, yes, he rushed by here yesterday, but he went so fast that you won't catch up with him," she said. The little girl was playing on the floor with a cloth that was such that whenever they said to it, "Cloth, spread, and deck thyself with every good dish!" it did so. And wherever the cloth was, good food was never Lacking. "But this poor old woman, who had to journey so far and on such rough roads, said the little girl," she may well both starve and suffer many other hardships, so she'll have more need of this cloth than I," she said, and then she asked if she could give her the cloth, and so it was agreed upon.

So the king's daughter took her cloth and said her thanks, and set off. Far, farther than far, through the forest all that day and night she went. In the morning she came to a mountain spur which was as steep as a wall, and so high and so wide that so end could she see. There was a cottage there too, and, when she came in, the first thing she said was, "Good day, have you seen whether White-Bear-King Valemon has traveled this way?" "Were you to have had him, maybe?" asked the old woman. Once hearing the answer she replied. "Yes, he rushed by here yesterday, but he went so fast that you won't catch up with him," she said. The cottage was full of little children, and they all clung to their mother's apron strings and cried for food. The old woman put a kettle full of pebbles on the fire. The king's daughter asked what good came of thatt. They were so poor said the old woman that they could afford neither food nor clothes, and it was so hard to hear the children crying for a bit to eat. So when she put the kettle on the fire and said, “Now the apples will soon be done," it seemed to deaden their hunger, and they were patient for a while. It wasn't long before the king's daughter got out the cloth and the flask, as you can imagine, and when the children were fed and happy, she clipped out clothing for them with the golden scissors.

"Well, said the old woman of the house, "since you've been so heartily kind to me and my children, it would be a shame not to do what we can do to try to help you up the mountain. My husband is really a master smith. Now you just rest until he comes back, and I'll get him to forge claws for your hands and feet, and then you can try to crawl up." When the smith came, he started on the claws right away, and the next morning they were ready. She had no time to wait, but said her thanks, fastened the claws on her hands and crept and crawled up the mountainside the whole day and night. Just when she was so tired that she didn't think she could lift her hand again, but felt she would sink to the ground, she got to the top. There was a plain, with fields and meadows so big and wide that she had never imagined anything so broad and so smooth, and close by there was a castle filled with workers of every kind who toiled like in an anthill. "What is going on here?" asked the king's daughter.

Well, this was where she lived, the Troll-hag, who had bewitched White-Bear-King Valemon and in three days she was to wed him. The king's daughter asked if she could talk with her. No, not likely! That was out-and-out impossible. So she sat down outside the window, and started clipping with the golden scissors, and velvet and silken clothing flew about like a snow flurry. When the Troll-hag caught sight of that, she wanted to buy the scissors. "For no matter how the tailors toil, it's no use," she said. "There are too many to be clothed."

The scissors weren't for sale, said the king's daughter. But the Troll-hag could have them, if she would let her sleep with her sweetheart tonight. She could certainly do that, said the Troll-hag, but she would lull him to sleep herself, and wake her up herself. When he had gone to bed, she gave him a sleeping potion, so he was in no condition to wake up, no matter how the king's daughter shouted and cried.

The next day the king's daughter went outside the windows again, sat down and started pouring from the flask; it flowed like a brook, both beer and wine, and it never ran dry. When the Troll-hag laid eyes on that, she wanted to buy it; for "no matter how much they toil at the brewing and distilling, it's no use. There are too many to drink," she said. It wasn't for sale for money, said the king's daughter, but if she would let her sleep with her sweetheart tonight, she would give it to her. Yes, that she could certainly do, said the Troll-hag, but she would lull him to sleep herself, and wake him up herself. When he had gone to bed, she gave him a sleeping potion again, so the King's daughter had no better luck that night either. He couldn't be awakened, no matter how much she cried and shouted. That night however, one of the artisans was working in the room next door. He heard her cry in there, and he guessed what had really happened, and the next day he told the prince that she must have come, the king's daughter who was to have freed him.

When it was dinner time, the king's daughter went outside the castle, pulled out the cloth, and said," Cloth, spread thyself and deck thyself with every good dish!" Then there was enough food for a hundred men, but the king's daughter sat down alone. When the Troll-hag caught sight of the cloth, she wanted to buy it, for "no matter how much they cook and bake its no use. There are too many mouths to feed." The king's daughter said it wasn't for sale for money, but if she would let her sleep with her sweetheart tonight, she could have it. She could certainly do that, said the Troll-hag, but she would lull him to sleep herself, and wake him up herself. When he had gone to bed, she came with a sleeping potion, but this time he was on his guard, and fooled her. The Troll-hag didn't trust him any more than just so far, she she took a darning needle and stuck it right through his arm, to see if he were sleeping soundly enough. But no matter how much it hurt, he didn't move, and then the king's daughter was allowed to come in to him.

Now this was all very well, but they must get rid of the Troll-hag before he would be free. So he got the carpenters to make a trap door on the bridge which the bridal procession was to cross, for it was the custom there that the bride should ride first in the procession. When the Troll-hag started across the bridge with all her Troll-hag bridesmaids, the planks under them dropped open and they fell through. Then King Valemon and the king's daughter and all the wedding guests rushed back to the castle, and took as much of the Troll-hag's gold and money as they could carry, and then rushed off to his country to hold the real wedding. But on the way, King Valemon stopped in and fetched the three little girls, and now she found out why he had taken the children from her - it was so that they could help her find him. In the castle they all lived happily and long.

To read part one click here

White Bear King – Valemon

There once was a king. He had two daughters, who were mean and ugly, but the third was as fair and sweet as the bright day. The king and everyone in the kingdom were fond of her. One night this princess dreamed about a golden wreath, which was so lovely that she couldn't live unless she had this for her very own. As she couldn't get it, she began to pine and could not speak for sorrow. And when the king found out it was the wreath she was grieving for, he fashioned a likeness and sent it out to goldsmiths in every land asking them to make one like it.

They worked both day and night, but some of the wreaths she threw away, and others she wouldn't even look at. Then one day, when she was in the forest, she caught sight of a white bear, which had the wreath she had dreamed of between its paws and was playing with it. The princess asked the white bear if she could buy it. The bear then answered, “No! You may not have this wreath for money, but only in return for yourself.” The princess then replied, “Well life isn’t worth living without it, so I care not where I go or who I go with if only I could have the wreath.” So they agreed that he was to fetch her in three days’ time.

When she came home with the wreath, everyone was glad because she was happy again, and the king felt sure that it would be a simple matter to keep a white beat at bay. On the third day, the whole army was posted round the castle with him. Then when the white bear came, there was no one who could hold him, for no weapon had any effect on him. He knocked them down right and left until they were lying in heaps. This, thought the king, was proving downright disastrous; so he sent out his eldest daughter and the white bear took her on his back and rushed off with her.

When they had traveled far, and farther than far, the white bear asked, "Have you ever sat softer, have you ever seen clearer?" "Yes, on my mother's lap I sat softer, in my father's court I saw clearer," she said. "Well, you're not the right one then," said the white bear, and chased her home again. The next Thursday he came again, and did just as he had done before. The army was out with orders to deal with the white bear. But neither iron nor steel bit on him, so he mowed them down like grass until the king had to ask him to stop. And then he sent out his next eldest daughter, and the white bear took her up on his back and rushed off with her.

When they had traveled far, and farther than far, the white bear asked, "Have you ever sat softer, have you ever seen clearer?" "Yes, on my mother's lap I sat softer, in my father's court I saw clearer," she said. "Well, you're not the right one then," said the white bear, and chased her home again. On the third Thursday he came again. This time he fought even harder than before, until the king thought he couldn't let him knock down the whole army, and so he gave him his third daughter. Then he took her on his back and traveled away far, and farther than far, and when they had reached the forest, he asked her, as he had asked the others, if she had ever sat softer and seen clearer. "No never,” she said. "Well, you're the right one," he replied.

So they came to a castle which was so fine that the castle her father lived in was like a small meager cottage in comparison. There she was to stay and live well, and she was to have nothing else to do but see to it that the fire never went out. The bear was away during the day, but at night he was with her, and then he was a man. For three years all went as well as could be. But each year she had a child, which he took and rushed away with as soon as it had come into the world. She became more and more downcast, and asked if she couldn't be allowed to go home and see her parents. Yes, there was no objection to that; but first she must promise that she would listen to what her father said, but not to what her mother wanted her to do. So she went home, and when they were alone with her, and she had told them how she was getting on, her mother wanted to give her a candle to take with her so she could see what the bear was like when he turned into a man at night. But her father said no, she shouldn't do that. "It will only do more harm than good".

But no matter how it was or was not, she took the candle stub with her when she left. The first thing she did, when he had fallen asleep, was to light it and shine it on him. He was so handsome that she thought she could never gaze her fill at him, as she shone the light, a drop of hot tallow dripped onto his forehead, and so he awoke. "What have you done? He said. "Now you have brought misfortune on us both. There was no more than a month left; if you had only held out I would have been freed, for a Troll-hag bewitched me, so that I'm a white bear during the day. But now it's over with us. Now I have to go there and stay with her."

She cried and carried on, but he had to go and go he would. So she asked if she could go with him. That was out of the question, he said, but when he rushed off in his bearskin, she seized hold of the fur and flung herself up onto his back and held on fast. Then they were off over mountain and hill, through groove and thicket, until her clothes were torn off, and she was so dead tired that she let go her hold, and knew no more. When she awoke, she was in a great forest, and so she set out on her way again, but she didn't know where her path led. At last she came to a cottage where there were two womenfolk, an old crone and a pretty little girl.

The king's daughter asked if they had seen anything of White-Bear-King Valemon. "Yes, he rushed by here early today, but he was going so fast that you won't catch up with him again," they said. The little girl scampered about, and clipped and played with a pair of golden scissors, which were such that pieces of silk and strips of velvet flew about her if she but clipped in the air. Wherever the scissors were, clothes were never lacking.

"But this poor woman, who has to journey so far and on such rough roads, she'll have to toil hard," said the little girl. "She has more need of these scissors than I so to cut clothes for herself," she said, and then she asked if she could give her the scissors. It was agreed that she should have the scissors. 


Part 2 Go here

Part 2-Soria Moria Castle

part 2 of Castle

After a while the old woman went over to the hearth to stir up the fire, and as the glow from the embers shone on Halvor's face she recognized him. "Well, God bless us! Are you really Halvor?" she cried, and the old parents were quite wild with joy. He had to tell them everything that had happened to him, and his mother was so proud of him that she wanted to take him up to the big farm house and show him off.

She led the way, and Halvor went after her. When she got there, she told them that Halvor had returned home, and now they would see for themselves how fine he was. “He looks like a prince,” she said. "Oh, a likely story!" said the girls, tossing their heads. "He can't be anything but the ragamuffin he always was." At that moment Halvor came in and the girls were so flustered when they saw him that they left their kirtles by the hearth where they had been sitting, and ran out in just their petticoats. When they came back again, they were all so ashamed that they hardly dared look at Halvor, with whom they had always been so grand and haughty before. “Well, all of you always thought you were so fine and beautiful that there was no one like you. You should see the eldest princess I have freed," said Halvor. “Beside her you all look like shepherd girls. The next eldest princess is still more beautiful; but the youngest, who is my sweetheart, is more beautiful than the sun and the moon. If only they were here so you could see them for yourself!"

Hardly had he said this, before they stood there. But now Halvor felt so badly, as he remembered what he had promised the princesses. At the farm they had a feast, and a great fuss was made over the princesses, but they would not stay there. "We want to go down to your parents, and look around for a while," they said to Halvor. So he went along and on their way they came to a large lake, and close by was a lovely green slope where the princesses wanted to sit and rest a bit. When they had been sitting there for a while, the youngest princess said, "Let me comb your hair for a while, Halvor." Well, Halvor laid his head in her lap, and she started combing. It wasn't long before Halvor was asleep.

Then she took her ring off of his finger and replaced it with another one, and then she said to her sisters," Take my hand, and let us wish together that we were in Castle." When Halvor woke up, he realized at once that he had lost the princesses. He began to wait and lament, and was so disheartened that he could not be consoled. For all his parents pleaded with him, he would not stay at home. He bade them farewell, saying that he might never see them again, for if he didn't find the princesses again, life would not be worth living. He had a hundred coins left, so he put them in his pocket and set out on his way. When he had walked some distance, he met a man with a good horse he wanted to buy it, so he started bargaining with the man. "To tell the truth, I hadn't thought of selling it," said the man, "but if we can agree on a price-". Halvor asked what he wanted for it. "I didn't pay much for it, not is it worth much either. It's a good horse to ride on, but it's not much of a draught horse. It will always carry you and your bag if you walk a while and ride a while." At last they agreed on the price, and Halvor put his knapsack on the horse and went on his way, sometimes riding and sometimes walking.

At dusk he came to a green meadow, and there stood a great tree under which he sat down. He let the horse loose to graze, and took his knapsack off the horse. At daybreak he continued on his way eager to find the princesses. So he walked and rode through a forest the whole day, not know where he was or where he was going. He took no more time to rest than was needed for the horse or for him to get a little to eat. He walked and he rode, and thought the forest would never come to an end.

Towards the second evening, Halvor saw a light shining through the trees. "If only someone were up. I could warm myself and get something to eat,”he thought. When he came to the light, he saw it was a miserable little hut, and through the window he saw an old man and an old woman inside. Their hair looked like gray moss, and the woman's nose was so long that she sat by the hearth and used it to rake the coals with.

"Good evening," said Halvor. "Good evening," answered the old woman. "But what is your errand here? Christian folk haven't been here for over a hundred years. Halvor said that he was on his way to Castle, and asked if she could show him the right way. "No," said the old woman, "but soon the Moon will come up and I will ask him. He should know, for he shines on everything." When the Moon rose bright and clear over the treetops, the old woman went outside. "Oh Moon! Oh Moon!" she shrieked. "Can you tell me the way to Castle?" "No, I cannot," said the Moon, "For the time I shone there, a cloud was in the way." "But just wait a while longer," said the old woman to Halvor. "Soon the West Wind will come by here, and he might know, for he puffs and blows in every direction." "Well, well, have you a horse, too?" asked the old woman when she came in again. "Don't let him stand there by the door and starve. Let the poor creature loose in the field to fill his belly instead! But wouldn't you like to swap it?" she said. "We have a pair of old boots here, in which you can cover a distance of fifteen miles with every step. You can have the boots in exchange for your horse. Then you will be at Castle so much the sooner." Halvor was quite willing to swap the horse for the boots, and the old woman was so glad to get the horse that she was ready to dance with joy. Halvor was still very restless, and wanted to leave the place at once, but the old woman said there was no hurry. "Lie down on the bench and sleep a little, for we have no bed for you," she said. "I shall keep an eye out for the West Wind when he comes." All of a sudden the West Wind came roaring so that the walls shook and groaned and the old woman ran outside. "West Wind! West Wind! Can you tell me the way to Castle? There is someone here who is going there." "Yes, I know the way very well,” said the West Wind.  I'm just going to dry some clothes for the wedding, which is going to take place there. If he is quick on his feet, he may come along with me." Halvor rushed out. "You will have to hurry, if you want to keep up with me," said the West Wind, and he sat off over hill and dale, and mountain and valley; and it was all Halvor could do to keep up. "Well, I have no time to be with you any longer," said the West Wind, "For first I have to blow down a strip of fir trees, before I come to dry the clothes. But if you will keep to the path running along the edge of the hill, you will come to some girls who are washing clothes, and then you are not far from Sorie Moria Castle."

After a while Halvor came to the girls who were washing and they asked if he had seen anything of the West Wind. He was to come to dry clothes for the wedding. "Yes, said Halvor, "he is only over knocking down a strip of fir trees. He will be here soon." Then he asked them the way to Castle. They showed him the road, and when he reached the castle, the courtyard was full of people. Halvor's clothes were now so torn and tattered from following the West Wind though bushes and shrubs that he kept out of sight until dinner time on the day of the wedding.

On the day of the wedding it was the custom that the guests were to drink to the bride, and the master of ceremonies drank with them all. His turn came to drink with Halvor and Halvor drank the toast, and then dropped into the glass the ring the princess had placed on his finger when he lay by the water. Then he asked the master of ceremonies to take the glass to the bride and greet her from him. The princess got up from the table at once.

"Who deserve best to get one of us," she said. “Should it be the one who has freed us, or the groom beside me?" Everyone had the same answer, and when Halvor heard it, it didn’t take long before he stepped out of his rags and got all spruced up as a bridegroom. "Yes, there is the right man!" cried the princess when she caught sight of him. Then she threw out the other groom, and was wedded to Halvor. To this day they live happily in Castle.



And the moral of the story? If you missed part one go here.

Soria Moria Castle

Once upon a time there was a couple who had a son, and his name was Halvor. Much like Askeladden, from the time he was a small boy he would never do much of anything, and he spent hours just raking in the ashes. His parents sent him away to many different trades, but Halvor never stuck to anything. After only a few days he would run away from the trade, return home and sit down at the hearth poking in the ashes as before.

Now it happened one day that a skipper came and asked Halvor if he would like to come with him and go to sea, and see foreign lands. Halvor decided that he would like that, and it didn’t take him long to get ready to leave. No one knows how long they sailed, but after a while a terrible storm struck the ship. When the storm had abated and the sea was calm again, they didn't know where they were, they had been driven up along a coast unknown to them all.

Halvor asked the Skipper if he might go ashore and look around, for he would rather walk than lie and sleep. "Do you think you can show yourself to people?" asked the Skipper. "Why, you have no other clothes than the rags on your back." Halvor insisted and at last he was allowed to go; but he was to come back as soon as the wind returned and they could set sail again. Halvor went ashore, and it was a lovely land; everywhere he went there were Great Plains, with fields and meadows, but not a living soul did he see. Then the wind started blowing, but Halvor thought he had not seen enough yet. He wanted to walk a little longer to see if he could find some people.

After a while he came to a wide road which was so level that one could have rolled an egg on it. On this road Halvor trudged along, and towards evening he saw a great castle in the distance, its windows ablaze with light. He had been walking the whole day and he was now quite hungry, but the closer he came to the castle the more frightened he became. Inside the castle a fire was burning on the hearth, and Halvor went into the kitchen which was finer than any kitchen he had ever seen before. The dishes were of both gold and silver, but he did not see a living soul anywhere. After he had stood a while, and no one came, he went over and opened the door, and there sat a princess spinning. "Oh dear me!" she cried. "What Christian soul dares come in here?" You have better go again lest the Troll eat you up; for a Troll with three heads lives here!" "I don't mind if he has four more, I'd like to see that fellow," said the boy. I won't leave because I have done no wrong. Just please give me something to eat, because I am frightfully hungry."


When Halvor had eaten his fill, the princess told him to try to swing the big sword that hung on the wall. He tried but he couldn't swing it nor could he even lift it once. "Well," said the princess "then you must take a swallow from that bottle hanging beside it, for that is what the Trolls does when he is going out to use the sword." Halvor took a swallow, and right away he could swing the sword, as though it were nothing. Now, he thought, it didn't matter when the Troll appeared. All at once the Troll came bursting in and Halvor was behind the door. "Ugh! Ugh! I smell Christian blood!” Said the Troll, and stuck his head inside the door. "Yes, and you'll soon know why," said Halvor and chopped off all the heads. The princess was so happy, now that  she had been saved, that she danced and sang, but then she came to think of her sisters, and so she said; "Oh, if only my sisters were saved too!" "Where are they?" asked Halvor. Well, she told him; one of them had been taken away by a Troll to a castle six leagues away, and the other was held by a Troll in a castle nine leagues beyond that one. "But first you must help me get rid of this body," she said. Well, Halvor was so strong; he had the place straightened up and cleaned in no time. Afterwards he ate, and slept, and the next morning he started off at dawn.

He knew no peace, and he ran and walked the whole day. When he caught sight of a castle, he became a little frightened again, for it was much finer than the first. There was not a person to be seen here either; so Halvor went right into the kitchen and not stopping there he went straight inside. "Does any Christian dare come here?" cried the princess. "I don't know how long I have been here, but in all that time I have never seen a Christian soul. You must leave at once, for a Troll with six heads lives here!"

"I wouldn't go,” said Halvor, "even if he had six more!" "He will take and gobble you alive," said the princess. Halvor still would not leave, for he was not afraid of the Troll. He said he would like some food and drink, for he was hungry after the journey. He got as much as he wanted, but once again the princess begged him to leave. "No" said Halvor. "I'm not going for I have done no wrong, and haven't anything to be afraid of." "He won't ask about that," said the princess, "for he will seize you without law or right. But since you won't go, try to swing the sword which the Troll uses to fight with." He could not swing the sword, but then the princess told him to take a drink from the bottle, which hung, beside it, and when he had done that he could swing it.

All at once the Troll came, and he was so huge and burly that he had to go sideways to get in through the door. When he had got his first head in he shouted, "Ugh! Ugh! I smell the smell Christian blood!" Right away Halvor chopped off the first head, and then all the others. The princess was so happy that she didn't know which leg to stand on, but then she remembered her sister, and said that she wished she could be saved too. Halvor thought it could he managed somehow, and he wanted to be on his way at once. First he helped  the princess remove the body of the Troll, and the next morning he set out on his way.

It was far to the castle, and he walked and ran to get there in time, but late in the evening he saw it in the distance and it was even finer that the other two. This time he was not a bit frightened, but went through the kitchen and straight in. There sat a princess who was lovelier than any he had even seen before. Like her sisters, she told him that there had not been a Christian soul in the place as long as she had been there, and she warned him to leave at once if he wanted to save his life. The Troll would eat him alive and he had nine heads, she said. "Even if he had nine more, in addition to those nine, and still nine more, I'm not going," said Halvor. The princess bade him so pitiably to go, but Halvor insisted on staying and said, “Let him come whenever he wants to!" Then she gave him the Trolls sword, and told him to take a drink from the bottle so he could swing it. Just then the Troll came rushing in and he was even bigger and bulkier than the other two, and he had to crawl sideways to come through the door. "Ugh! Ugh! Here I smell the blood of a Christian man!" roared the Troll. At the same moment, Halvor cut off the first head, and then all the others; but the last one was the toughest of them all, and it was the hardest job Halvor ever had but he finally cut it off as well.

Now all the princesses came together at the castle, and they were happier than they had ever been in all their lives. They were fond of Halvor, and he was fond of them, and he could have the one he liked best. Yet of all three, the youngest was fondest of him.

As the day went on, Halvor began to be moody and restless, so the princesses asked what he was brooding over, and if he did not like to be with them. He had replied that he liked being there with him. They had enough to live on, and he was well off in every way, but he was longing for his home and he wanted to see his parents again. The princesses told him it could easily be arranged. "You may go and you can come back here again. No harm shall come to you either way if only you do as we now tell you." Halvor promised to do as they told him, so they dressed him like the finest prince, and put a magic ring on his finger, that with it he could wish himself both there and back again.
.
They warned him not to lose it and not to mention their names, for then it would be the end all their happiness, and he would never see them again. "If only I were home and home were here," said Halvor, and just as he wished it came true. He was standing outside his parents' cottage before he knew it. It was at twilight and when his parents saw this elegant stranger entering they were quite bewildered, and they started to bow and curtsy. Halvor asked if he could spend the night there. "Oh, that would be impossible," they said. "We have nothing to offer a fine fellow like you. But go to the big farmhouse, it's not far; you can see the chimney stack from here. There they have everything." Halvor did not want to do that; he would rather stay with them, but they insisted he go up to the farm. There he could get both food and drink, while they had not even a chair to offer him. "No," said Halvor. "I won't go up there before early tomorrow morning. Let me stay here tonight. Then I can sit by the hearth." The old people could not refuse him, so Halvor sat by the hearth and started raking in the ashes, just as he had done when he lived at home. They talked about many things, and finally Halvor asked if they had ever had any children. Yes, they had a son, and his name was Halvor, but they didn't know what had become to him, or whether he was alive or dead. "Couldn't it be me then?" asked Halvor. "Oh to be sure!" said the old woman getting up. "Halvor was so lazy, he would never do anything, and his clothes were always in rags and tatters so he could never have become a fine fellow like you, Sir."

Go to part 2 here

Butterball

There was once an old woman who sat baking. She had a little boy who was big, round and fat. He was so fond of good things to eat that she called him "". The old woman also had a dog called "Goldtooth," who all of a sudden, one day started to bark.

"Run out, my little Butterball," said the old woman, "and see who Goldtooth's barking at." So the boy ran out to see, and came back in saying, "Oh, heaven help me! Here comes a big, tall Troll-hag, with her head under her arm and a sack on her back!" "Run under the breadboard and hide!" said his mother. Then in came the big Troll. "Good day!" she said. "God bless you!" said Butterball's mother. "Isn't Butterball at home today?" asked the Troll. "No, he's in the woods with his father bagging grouse," replied the mother. "Devil takes it all,” said the Troll-hag. "I've got such a fine little silver knife I wanted to give him!" "Pip, pip, here I am,” said Butterball from underneath the breadboard, and out he came. "I'm so old and my back's so stiff," said the Troll. "You'll have to pop down into the sack and fetch it yourself." When Butterball was well down inside, the Troll-hag swung the sack on her back and rushed out through the door. When they had gone a ways, the Troll grew tired and asked," How far must I go to find a place to take a nap?" "Half a mile," said Butterball. So the troll put the sack down by the side of the road, and went off through the woods by herself to take a nap.


In the meantime, Butterball saw his chance. He took his knife, ripped a hole in the sack, and popped out. Then he put a large pine root in his place, and ran home to his mother. When the Troll got home and laid eyes on what she had in the sack, she was beside herself with rage. The next day the old woman sat baking again. All at once the dog started to bark. "Run out, my little Butterball," she said, "and see who Goldtooth's barking at". "Oh no, oh no. That nasty beast has come back, with her head under her arm and a big sack on her back," said Butterball. "Run under the breadboard and hide!" said his mother. "Good day!" she said. "God bless you!" said Butterball's mother. "Isn't Butterball at home today?" asked the Troll. "No, he's in the woods with his father bagging grouse," replied the mother. "Devil takes it all!” said the Troll-hag. "I've got such a fine little silver fork I wanted to give him!" "Pip, pip, here I am,” said Butterball, and out he came. "My back's so stiff," said the Troll. "You'll have to pop down into the sack and fetch it yourself."


When Butterball was well inside the sack, the Troll flung it on her back and set off. When they had gone a ways, the Troll grew tired and asked," How far must I go to find a place to take a nap?" "Half a mile," said Butterball. So the troll put the sack down by the side of the road, and went off through the woods by herself to take a nap. While the Troll was away, Butterball made a hole in the sack, and when he was out he put a big stone inside. When the Troll-hag got home, she made a fire in the hearth, hung a huge pot over it, and was going to stew Butterball. When she took the sack, thinking it was Butterball she was going to shake out, down fell the stone making a hole in the bottom of the pot so the water ran out, and put out the fire. Now the Troll was terribly angry and said, "No matter how heavy he makes himself this time, I'll trick him just the same, I will!"


The third time was just like the others; Goldtooth started to bark, and so the mother said to Butterball, "Run out, my little Butterball and see who Goldtooth's barking at". So Butterball ran out, and came back in again and said, “Oh mercy me, it's that Troll again with her head under her arm, and a sack on her back!" "Run under the breadboard and hide!" said the mother "God bless you!" said Butterball's mother. "Isn't Butterball at home today?" asked the Troll. "Indeed he isn't!" said the mother. "He's out in the woods with his father bagging grouse." "Devil takes it all!” said the Troll-hag. "I've got such a pretty little silver spoon I wanted to give him!" "Pip, pip, here I am!” said Butterball, and out he came from underneath the breadboard. "My back's so stiff," said the Troll-hag. "You'll have to pop down into the sack and fetch it yourself."


When Butterball was well down inside, the Troll threw the sack on her back and set off on her way. This time she didn't go off by herself and lie down to sleep, but strode straight home with Butterball in the sack. When they got there, it was a Sunday. The Troll said to her daughter, "Now you must take Butterball, and cut him up. Make a stew out of him by the time I come back. I'm going to church now to invite my friends to a feast."


When the Troll had gone, the daughter was going to take Butterball and butcher him, but she didn't quite know how she was supposed to do it. "Wait and I'll show you how to go about it,” said Butterball. "Lay your head on the stool and you'll see," She did just so, poor thing, and Butterball took the ax and chopped off her head, just like a chicken's. Then he put the head in the bed and the carcass in the pot, and made broth of the Troll's daughter. When that was done he scrambled up over the door, dragging the pine root and the stone with him, and one he placed over the door and the other on the Troll's chimney pipe.


When the Trolls came home from church and saw the head in the bed, they thought the daughter was asleep, and then they want over to taste the broth. "Tastes good this Butterball broth!" said the Troll-hag. "Tastes good, this daughter broth!" said Butterball from on top the chimney. At first they paid no attention to him, and then the Mountain Troll took the spoon and was going to taste. "Tastes good, this Butterball broth!" he said. "Tastes good, this daughter broth!" said Butterball, perched up on the chimney pipe. Then they took to wondering who was talking, and wanted to go out and have a look. When they got to the door, Butterball threw the pine root and the stone at their heads and killed them all. Then he took all the gold and silver there was in the house, and headed home to his mother richer than rich.


Is there a moral to this story?

The Princess Liar

There once was a king who had a daughter that was such a liar that no one in his kingdom could compare to her. So he made it known that the one who could lie so well that he made her say, "You're a liar!" would get both her and half the kingdom. There were many who tried, but all of them fared badly.

Then there were three brothers who were bent upon trying their luck. The two eldest set out first, but they fared no better that the others. Finally set out, and he met the princess in the stable. "Good day, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said. "Good day," she said, "It's nice to meet you, too! I bet you don't have as big a barn as we do," she said. "For when a shepherd stands at each end and blows on a ram's horn, one can't hear the other!"

"Oh, yes indeed!" said . "Ours is much bigger. When a cow gets pregnant in one end, she won't give birth before she comes out at the other end.

"You don't say so!” said the princess. "Well, you haven't such a big Bull as we do. There you can see it! When a man sits on each horn, one can't reach the other with a twelve-foot pole!"

"Pooh!" said the boy. "We have a Bull so big that, when someone is sitting on each horn blowing a *lure, one can't hear the other."

"Oh, indeed?" said the princess. "But you don't get as much milk as we do,” she said. "For we milk into enormous troughs, and carry them inside where we pour them into big cauldrons, and curdle the biggest cheese!"

"Oh, we milk into huge tubs that we have to drive inside, pouring it into brewery vats to make cheese as large as houses. Then we have an old mare to stomp on the cheese, but once I saw it foaling into the cheese, and when we had eaten the cheese for seven years, we found a full grown horse inside it. I was going to put a saddle on it, but it's back broke immediately. Lucky thing I knew what to do, I took a branch from a spruce and put it into the horse as a new back, and it never had another any problems after that. Problem is that the spruce grew and became so large that I came all the way to Heaven on it, and when I came there, the Virgin Mary was spinning rope from grain. Suddenly, the spruce broke, and I couldn't get down again, but the Virgin Mary lowered me on one of her ropes. I then came to a fox's den and my mother and your father were sitting there mending shoes when suddenly, my mother hit your dad so hard that all his skin disease fell straight off him."

"You're a liar!" said the princess. "My father never had any skin disease in his life!" Being even a bigger liar then the princess, he  won the princess and half the kingdom.


*Traditional instrument, making deep sounds meant to carry 
"across the valley".

Eating Match With TheTroll

Back to our stories:

There was once a farmer who had three sons. The farmer was in bad shape. He was poor and old as well as feeble, and his sons wouldn't give him a hand with anything around the farm. To this farm belonged a large and very good forest, and there the father wanted the boys to chop wood and see about paying off some of the debt.

At last he convinced them to help, and the eldest went out to the forest to chop wood first.  When he had made his way into the forest, and had started chopping, a shaggy big fir tree of a came up to him. "If you're chopping in my forest, I'm going to kill you!" said the Troll. When the boy heard that, he flung aside his ax and headed for home again as fast as he could.

He got home clean out of breath, and told them what had happened to him. His disappointed father said he was nothing but chicken-hearted. The Trolls had never scared him from chopping wood when he was young, he said. On the next day the second son set out to the forest and he fared just like the first. When he had struck the fir tree a few blows with his ax, the Troll came up to him and said," If you're chopping in my forest, I'm going to kill you!" The boy hardly dared look at him. He flung aside his ax and took to his heels just like his brother and just as fast. When he came home again, his father became angry and said that the Trolls had never scared him when he was young. 

On the third day wanted to set out. "You?" said the two eldest. "You'll certainly manage it.  You have never even been beyond the front door!"  Askeladden didn’t have much to say, he just asked for as big a lunch as possible to take with him. His mother had no curds, so she hung the cauldron over the fire to curdle a little cheese for him. This he put in his knapsack and set out on his way. When he had been chopping for a little while, the Troll came to him and said: "If you're chopping in my forest, I'm going to kill you!" Askeladden who had a plan, ran over to his knapsack to get the cheese, and squeezed it until the whey squirted out of it. "If you don't hold your tongue," he shrieked to the Troll, "I'll squeeze you the way I'm squeezing the water out of this white stone!" "Oh no dear fellow, spare me!" said the Troll. "I'll help you to chop!" Well on that condition the boy promised he would spare him. 

The Troll was clever at chopping, so they managed to fell and cut many piles of wood during the day. As evening was drawing into night the Troll said," Now you can come home with me. My house is closer than yours." Askeladden went along, and when they came to the Troll's home, the troll started to make a fire in the hearth and he told Askeladden to fetch water for the porridge pot. The two iron buckets were so big and heavy that he couldn't so much as budge them. So Askeladden said, "It's not worth taking along these thimbles. I'm going to fetch the whole well!" "No, my dear fellow," said the Troll. "I can't lose my well. You make the fire and I'll go after the water." When he came back with the water, they cooked up a huge pot of porridge. "If it's the same to you," said Askeladden, "let's have an eating match!" "Oh, yes!” Replied the Troll, for this was one thing he felt he could always hold his own on. They both sat down at the table, but Askeladden snuck over and took the knapsack while the troll was not looking and he tied it in front of him. Each time he took a bite of the food he scooped more into the knapsack than he ate himself. When the knapsack was full, he took up his knife and ripped a gash in it. 

The Troll looked at him, but didn't say anything. When they had eaten a good while longer, the Troll put down his spoon.  “Now I can't manage anymore," he said "You must eat!" said Askeladden. "I'm barely half full yet. Do as I did and cut a hole in your stomach, then you can eat as much as you wish!" "But doen't that hurt dreadfully?" asked the Troll. "Oh, nothing to speak of," replied the boy. So the Troll did as the boy said, and then as you can probably guess that was the end of the troll. Askeladden took all the silver and gold to be found in the trolls mountain, and little by little he carried it all home. The youngest son proved to be the bravest of all the farmers sons, and rich enough to pay off all of his dept.