The Troll in the Stone-craft

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had a son named Sigurdr.There were once a king and queen who had a son, by name Sigurdr. Even as a young boy, he was capableHe was early a forward youth, strong and active in every sportmanly sport, and good-lookingfair of look. When his father felt the weight of old age creeping up on himfelt the heaviness of old age creeping on him, he told his son it was high time for him to find a suitable wife. The king was not sure how much longer he would live, and he thought it would be very fortunate and honourable for his son to marry someone of his own rank.had a talk with his son, saying that it was now high time for him to find himself a fit match, for it was by no means sure that he himself, his father, would live long after this, but that it would be the highest pitch of good luck and honour for his son, if he got a wife of his own rank. The king also said that abroad,The king said too, that abroad, in some far-off land, which he named, there was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as she was good. “And if you,” he continuedcontinued he, “married her, I think the match would be the best of any.”

After thisHereupon, father and son parted, and Sigurdr the prince went to the kingdom his father had pointed out. He appeared before the king, and wooed his daughter. The matter was soon settled, through the king’s willingness, but only on condition that Sigurdr should stay with himshould dwell with him as long as he possibly could, for the king himself was very frail and could barely govern his kingdomfor the king himself was very infirm, and ill able to govern his kingdom. Sigurdr agreed, but on condition that he could return to his own kingdom when he heard of his father’s death. His father, he said, was on the very brink of the grave.entered into this agreement, but reserved being allowed to go home into his own kingdom when he got the news of his father’s death, who was, he said, on the very brink of the grave. After this, Sigurdr celebrated his wedding todrank the marriage to his love, the king’s daughter, and helped govern the kingdom alongsidetook in hand the government together with the king, his father-in-law. Sigurdr and his wife loved each other dearly, and their love grew even deeper when, a year later, she gave birth to a fine and handsome son.and yet deeper rooted became their love when she bore him, after a year had passed, a son, a fine and handsome boy. Time passed, and the child was in his second yearNow time passed until the child was in his second year, when Sigurdr had the news of his father’s death. He made himself ready to start, and went away, with his wife and son, on board a vessel.

After they had sailed for a few daysWhen they had sailed some days, the wind fell into a perfect calm; they were within one day’s voyage of home. The vessel lay becalmed, and rolled in the smooth water. At one point, the coupleOnce, the married couple were alone on the deck with their son, most of the crew having fallen asleep, as there was nothing to do on boardas nothing was to be done on board. They sat together talking, and had their son between them. After some time, Sigurdr was so sleepy that he could no longer stay awakeso overwhelmed with sleep, that he could keep awake no longer. He therefore went down below and fell asleep. The queen was then left alone on the deck with her son, and amused herself by playing with himamused herself in playing with him. When some time had passed since the prince went down below, the queen saw a dark shadow in the sea, on the horizon, which seemed swiftly to approach the vessel. As it drew nearer, she could see that it was a boat, then that someone was rowing it, then that a human shape seemed to move inside. At last the boat came up to the vessel, and the queen saw that it was made of stone. Out of it came a terrifying, fierce-looking female troll, who climbed aboard the ship.As it drew nearer, she could see that it was a boat, then that it was rowed by oars, then that some human shape seemed to move in it, and at last the boat came up to the vessel, and the queen saw that it was of stone; and out of it there came on board the ship an awful and fierce-looking she-troll. The queen was so frightened that she could not say a wordutter a word, nor could she move from the spot in order to wake the king or the crewarouse the king or the crew. The troll then stepped up to the queen, and took the boy out of her hands, and stripped off all her expensive clothescostly clothes, leaving her in only her linen clothesleaving her only her linen ones on. After this, the troll began to put on the queen’s clothes and to take on a rather beautiful formto turn a little into comely shape. Last of all, she took the queen, put her into the stone boatstone-craft and said:

“This is my speech, and this my spell,
That, never resting, you mustthou shalt go,
OnFaring, to my brother, who doesdoth dwell
Down in the worlds below.”

The queen sat as if frozen, unable to move, but the stone boatstone-craft glided swiftly away from the vessel, and was, within a short while, out of sight. When it was no longer to be seen, the boy began to cry, and the troll certainly did not trouble herself much to soothe him, finding that her few attempts were quite uselessfinding the slight trials she made to do so quite vain. She then walked, with the boy on her arm, down below the deck, into the cabin where the king was sleeping, and woke him by scolding him sharply. She accused him of caring nothing about her, leaving her alone with their son on deck while he slept and snored with his crew.roused him by sharply rebuking him for caring nothing about her, as he left her alone with their son on the deck, while he slept and snored together with his crew. She declared he had been shamefully careless to leave her with no one awake on boardit was shamefully heedless of him, and too bad, indeed, to let no one be awake on board with her, as nobody could tell what might happen. She added that she had another problem: she could not soothe the boy, so she wanted to finish the voyage with him as quickly as possible. Surely that would not be hard, if only the king and his crew would get moving, for a foaming, favourable wind had just sprung up.She further said that she had another misfortune yet to fight with; she could not soothe the boy, and therefore wanted to get with him to the end of the voyage as quickly as possible, which certainly was no very hard thing, if only he and his crew would bestir themselves, as a foaming, fair wind had just now sprung up.

King Sigurdr was quite startled that his queen had suddenly become so quarrelsome and harsh—she who had never spoken one cross word to him.was not at little startled at his queen’s having, all of a sudden, become such a shrew, and so harsh-spoken,—she who had never before uttered to him one peevish word. However, he took her rebukes gently, saying it was no wonder she was cross.gently, saying it was no wonder she was cross, Then he went up and called the crew, telling them to hoist the sails, as the wind was favourable and they could sail straight into harbour.and then went up, and calling the crew, bade them hoist sails, as there was a fair wind, and they could sail straight into harbour. So they sailed on, and nothing more is told of their journey till they came to the land over which Sigurdr had to reign. He went to the court, and all the people were in mourning for the death of his father; but they rejoiced at having his son safely back home, and at once named him king, and he took charge of the governmentgave him at once the name of king, and he took the head of the government. The boy, his son, had never stopped crying with the queen since he had been alone with her on deck. This was an astonishing change, as before he had always been the quietest and gentlest of children.never left off crying while with the queen, from the time of his being alone with her on the deck; the which was a wonderful change, as he had been always before, the quietest and gentlest of children. The king, therefore, chose one of the young women at court to be his nursegot one of the maidens at the court to be his nurse; and, as soon as the boy was with her, he became as quiet and gentle as beforerecovered again his former quietness and gentleness.

Now we must tell how, after the voyage, the king thought his queen changed in many ways, and in none to her advantage. In particular, she was harsher, more irritable and altogether more disagreeable than she used to be.She was, especially, more harsh, peevish, and altogether more disagreeable than had formerly been her wont. She was, however, polite, and quite ladylikeof lady-like manners enough when she chose to be so.

There were at the court two lads, one eighteen and the other nineteen years of age. They were very fond of playing chessThey were greatly given to playing chess, and were always sitting over their chess-board. Their room was next to the queen’s, and, at certain hours of the day, they used to hear something strange going on in the queen’s room. One day they paid closer attention than beforethey paid more heed to this than they had before done, and put their ears to a crack in the wall between the queen’s room and their own, and heard distinctly the queen saying: “When I yawn a little yawn, I am a neat and tiny maiden; when I yawn a half-yawn, then I am like a half-trollthen am I as a half-troll; when I yawn a whole yawn, then I am like a whole trollthen am I as a whole-troll.” When the queen had said this she was at once seized by a horrible fit of retching that made her yawn terriblyby some horrid fit of retching, that made her yawn awfully. ThenThereupon she turned, in a moment, into a savage-looking troll, and up through the floor of her room there came a three-headed giant, with a trough full of meat. This strange guest greeted her as his sister, and put the trough before her. She set to work to empty the trough, never stopping till she had finished eating all that was in it. The lads saw everything that happenedThe lads saw the whole of these proceedings, but noticed no exchange of words between brother and sister. And nothing amazed them more than to see how the queen gobbled down the meat, and how much she could eat. No wonder, they thought, she ate so little when she sat at table with the king.how much she was able to take of it; no wonder, therefore, they thought, that she ate so little when she sat at table with the king. When she had finished eating all that was in the trough, the giant disappeared down the same way he had come up, and the troll took her queen’s shape again.

Now the story turns to the king’s son, whom we left in the care of his nursein charge of his nurse. One evening, when the nurse had lit the lighthad kindled the light, and was sitting with the prince on her lap, some boards in the floor suddenly burst up. Through them rose a beautiful lady, dressed only in white underclothes, with an iron belt round her waist. From it, an iron chain of countless links stretched down into the earth as far as could be seen.was sitting with the prince on her lap, some boards in the floor suddenly burst up, and through them rose a beautiful lady, dressed only in white under-robes, with an iron belt round her waist, from which an iron chain of countless links led down into the earth as far as could be seen. The lady went silently towards the child, took it from the nurse, and embraced it fondly, and then gave it to the nurse again. After this, she disappeared the same way that she had come, and the floor closed over her head. Although the lady did not say a wordutter a word, the nurse became terribly frightened, but stillgrew mightily frightened, but yet kept the whole thing to herself. The next night, the lady in white came up at the same moment as before, took the child, caressed it fondly, and then gave it back to the nurse again. But as she was leaving, she said with a sad face and tearful eyeswith a sad mien and tearful look: “Two have passedTwo are past; and only one is left.” Then she disappeared down the same way, and the floor fell into its place again. Having heard the lady say these words, the nurse was far more frightened than before. She feared that these visits might put the child in danger. Yet the strange lady seemed very good to her, and treated the child as if she were his mother.She fancied that from these visits some danger might fall upon the child; albeit the strange lady seemed very good, she thought, and behaved to the child as if she had carried it under her heart. But the strangest thing to her was, that the lady had said: “And only one is left.” She thought that by these words she had meant, that having come there two days in a rowhaving come thither two days running, she would come once more on the third. So the nurse decided to go to the king and tell him everything that had happened. She would beg him to be in her room the next day, at the lady’s usual visiting time.The nurse, therefore, determined to go to the king, and tell him all that had happened, and beg him, by all means, to be present in her room, the next day, at the wonted hour of this lady’s visits. The king promised to be on the spot. Next day, the king arrived some time beforecame some while before the appointed hour, and seated himself with a drawn sword in his hand. Soon after, the planks in the floor burst up, and there rose the same lady in white, with the iron belt and linked chain. The king recognized at once his wife, and the first thing he did, was to cut throughcut asunder the chain that stretched from the iron belt into the earth. But at this, there arose such a din and thunderous noise down in the earth that the whole palace trembled like a leaf. People thought that every house in the town would fall down.such a din, and thunderous noises down in the earth, that the whole palace trembled as a leaf, and folk thought that every house in the town would fall and be overthrown. At last, after a time, this quaking and underground uproar passed away, and people recovered from their panic. The king and his wife embraced each other fondly, and she told him the whole story, how the troll came to the vessel, in a stone boatstone-craft, when all the crew were asleep, how she stripped her, and how she laid upon her her awful spell. She told him how the stone boatstone-barge had sped from the ship of its own accord, and how, having got far out of sight of the ship, it had seemed to her as if it passed through some gloomy and murky region, till it stopped by a three-headed giant, who wanted her to accept his love, but she refusedwould have made love to her if she had let himExplanation: The original expression can suggest a sexual act in present-day English. The modern version softens this wording while keeping the giant’s pressure and the queen’s refusal.. She said that the giant had then thrust her into a lonely cell, and threatened to keep her there until she gave him her love and affectionthreatened her never to let her out, until she had given him her love and affection. Now and then, in the course of each day, he had visited herhad looked after her. When some time had passed, she had begun, she said, to plan how to escape from the trollhad, she said, begun to lay a plot for getting out of this troll’s hands. Therefore she had promised him her love, if he would first let her see her son on earthfirst grant her leave to see her son on earth, three days running. He had agreed, but had put the iron belt round her with the chain attached to it. He had fastened the other end round his own waist.This he had granted, but put the iron belt round her with the chain attached to it, the other end of which he had girt about his own middle. She thought the noise had been caused by the giant falling all the way down the underground passage when the king cut the chain and it suddenly gave way. His home was just beneath the town, and he had most likely broken his neck. The earthquake might have been his death-struggle.The din, she thought, had been caused, when the king cut the chain in sunder, by the giant’s falling down all the underground passage at the sudden giving way of the chain, for his abode was just underneath the town, and so he had most likely broken his neck; the earthquake might have been his death-struggle. “That was whyBut therefore,” said the queen, “I asked to see my son three days in a row: I thought it might bring me help, as has now happened.did I make the condition of seeing my son three days running, that I thought it would lead to something coming to my help, as has now come to pass.”

Now the king understood well the harshness and peevishness of the woman with whom he had had to live for some time. He at once had a sack drawn over her head and ordered her to be stoned to death. After she died, her body was, and herself stoned to death, and after that, she was tied to wild horses and dragged away, who tore her body to piecesExplanation: The original describes the body being torn apart after death. The modern version leaves out this graphic detail while keeping the execution and the wild horses.. The lads who had formerly seen the queen’s trollish ways, now told what they had seen, which they had not dared to do before for fear of the troll-queen’s crueltytold what they had beheld, not having dared do so hitherto, from dread of the troll-queen’s cruelty. And now the queen resumed her rank, and was beloved by everybody. And through the influence of the king and queen, the nurse married a great nobleman. The king and queen both gave her a large and handsome dowry.And the nurse was, through the influence of the king and queen, married to a great nobleman, and presented by both with a large and handsome dowry.