Hermod and Hadvor

Hermod and Hadvor took but little notice of the Queen and her

daughter, but, on the other hand, Hadvor and the Queen’s maid, whose

name was Olof, were very friendly, and Olof came often to visit Hadvor

in her castle. Before long the King went out to war, and no sooner was

he away than the Queen came to talk with Hermod, and said that she

wanted him to marry her daughter. Hermod told her straight and plain

that he would not do so, at which the Queen grew terribly angry, and

said that in that case neither should he have Hadvor, for she would

now lay this spell on him, that he should go to a desert island and

there be a lion by day and a man by night. He should also think always

of Hadvor, which would cause him all the more sorrow, and from this

spell he should never be freed until Hadvor burned the lion’s skin,

and that would not happen very soon.

As soon as the Queen had finished her speech Hermod replied that he

also laid a spell on her, and that was, that as soon as he was freed

from her enchantments she should become a rat and her daughter a

mouse, and fight with each other in the hall until he killed them with

his sword.

After this Hermod disappeared, and no one knew what had become of him;

the Queen caused search to be made for him, but he could nowhere be

found. One time, when Olof was in the castle beside Hadvor, she asked

the Princess if she knew where Hermod had gone to. At this Hadvor

became very sad, and said that she did not.

‘I shall tell you then,’ said Olof, ‘for I know all about it.

[Illustration: The King Finds the Queen of Hetland]

Hermod has disappeared through the wicked devices of the Queen, for

she is a witch, and so is her daughter, though they have put on these

beautiful forms. Because Hermod would not fall in with the Queen’s

plans, and marry her daughter, she has laid a spell on him, to go on

an island and be a lion by day and a man by night, and never be freed

from this until you burn the lion’s skin. Besides,’ said Olof, ‘she

has looked out a match for you; she has a brother in the Under-world,

a three-headed Giant, whom she means to turn into a beautiful prince

and get him married to you. This is no new thing for the Queen; she

took me away from my parents’ house and compelled me to serve her; but

she has never done me any harm, for the green cloak I wear protects me

against all mischief.’

Hadvor now became still sadder than before at the thought of the

marriage destined for her, and entreated Olof to think of some plan to

save her.

‘I think,’ said Olof, ‘that your wooer will come up through the floor

of the castle to you, and so you must be prepared when you hear the

noise of his coming and the floor begins to open, and have at hand

blazing pitch, and pour plenty of it into the opening. That will prove

too much for him.’

About this time the King came home from his expedition, and thought it

a great blow that no one knew what had become of Hermod; but the Queen

consoled him as best she could, and after a time the King thought less

about his disappearance.

Hadvor remained in her castle, and had made preparations to receive

her wooer when he came. One night, not long after, a loud noise and

rumbling was heard under the castle. Hadvor at once guessed what it

was, and told her maids to be ready to help her. The noise and

thundering grew louder and louder, until the floor began to open,

whereupon Hadvor made them take the cauldron of pitch and pour plenty

of it into the opening. With that the noises grew fainter and fainter,

till at last they ceased altogether.

Next morning the Queen rose early, and went out to the Palace gate,

and there she found her brother the Giant lying dead. She went up to

him and said, ‘I pronounce this spell, that you become a beautiful

prince, and that Hadvor shall be unable to say anything against the

charges that I shall bring against her.’

The body of the dead Giant now became that of a beautiful prince, and

the Queen went in again.

‘I don’t think,’ said she to the King, ‘that your daughter is as good

as she is said to be. My brother came and asked her hand, and she has

had him put to death. I have just found his dead body lying at the

Palace gate.’

The King went along with the Queen to see the body, and thought it all

very strange; so beautiful a youth, he said, would have been a worthy

match for Hadvor, and he would readily have agreed to their marriage.

The Queen asked leave to decide what Hadvor’s punishment should be,

which the King was very willing to allow, so as to escape from

punishing his own daughter. The Queen’s decision was that the King

should make a big grave-mound for her brother, and put Hadvor into it

beside him.

Olof knew all the plans of the Queen, and went to tell the Princess

what had been done, whereupon Hadvor earnestly entreated her to tell

her what to do.

‘First and foremost,’ said Olof, ‘you must get a wide cloak to wear

over your other clothes, when you are put into the mound. The Giant’s

ghost will walk after you are both left together in there, and he will

have two dogs along with him. He will ask you to cut pieces out of his

legs to give to the dogs, but that you must not promise to do unless

he tells you where Hermod has gone to, and tells you how to find him.

He will then let you stand on his shoulders, so as to get out of the

mound; but he means to cheat you all the same, and will catch you by

the cloak to pull you back again; but you must take care to have the

cloak loose on your shoulders, so that he will only get hold of that.’

The mound was all ready now, and the Giant laid in it, and into it

Hadvor also had to go without being allowed to make any defence. After

they were both left there everything happened just as Olof had said.

The prince became a Giant again, and asked Hadvor to cut the pieces

out of his legs for the dogs; but she refused until he told her that

Hermod was in a desert island, which she could not reach unless she

took the skin off the soles of his feet and made shoes out of that;

with these shoes she could travel both on land and sea. This Hadvor

now did, and the Giant then let her get up on his shoulders to get out

of the mound. As she sprang out he caught hold of her cloak; but she

had taken care to let it lie loose on her shoulders, and so escaped.

She now made her way down to the sea, to where she knew there was the

shortest distance over to the island in which Hermod was. This strait

she easily crossed, for the shoes kept her up. On reaching the island

she found a sandy beach all along by the sea, and high cliffs above.

Nor could she see any way to get up these, and so, being both sad at

heart and tired with the long journey, she lay down and fell asleep.

As she slept she dreamed that a tall woman came to her and said, ‘I

know that you are Princess Hadvor, and are searching for Hermod. He is

on this island; but it will be hard for you to get to him if you have

no one to help you, for you cannot climb the cliffs by your own

strength. I have therefore let down a rope, by which you will be able

to climb up; and as the island is so large that you might not find

Hermod’s dwelling-place so easily, I lay down this clew beside you.

You need only hold the end of the thread, and the clew will run on

before and show you the way. I also lay this belt beside you, to put

on when you awaken; it will keep you from growing faint with hunger.’

The woman now disappeared, and Hadvor woke, and saw that all her dream

had been true. The rope hung down from the cliff, and the clew and

belt lay beside her. The belt she put on, the rope enabled her to

climb up the cliff, and the clew led her on till she came to the mouth

of a cave, which was not very big. She went into the cave, and saw

there a low couch, under which she crept and lay down.

When evening came she heard the noise of footsteps outside, and became

aware that the lion had come to the mouth of the cave, and shook

itself there, after which she heard a man coming towards the couch.

She was sure this was Hermod, because she heard him speaking to

himself about his own condition, and calling to mind Hadvor and other

things in the old days. Hadvor made no sign, but waited till he had

fallen asleep, and then crept out and burned the lion’s skin, which he

had left outside. Then she went back into the cave and wakened Hermod,

and they had a most joyful meeting.

In the morning they talked over their plans, and were most at a loss

to know how to get out of the island. Hadvor told Hermod her dream,

and said she suspected there was some one in the island who would be

able to help them. Hermod said he knew of a Witch there, who was very

ready to help anyone, and that the only plan was to go to her. So they

went to the Witch’s cave, and found her there with her fifteen young

sons, and asked her to help them to get to the mainland.

‘There are other things easier than that,’ said she, ‘for the Giant

that was buried will be waiting for you, and will attack you on the

way, as he has turned himself into a big whale. I shall lend you a

boat, however, and if you meet the whale and think your lives are in

danger, then you can name me by name.’

[Illustration: Hadvor Burns the Lion’s Skin.]

They thanked her greatly for her help and advice, and set out from the

island, but on the way they saw a huge fish coming towards them, with

great splashing and dashing of waves. They were sure of what it was,

and thought they had as good reason as ever they would have to call on

the