Source: Iceland

"The Witch in the Stone Boat.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 274-278.

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 14:05:10 +0000

"The Witch in the Stone Boat.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 274-278. Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 08/04/2024 - 08:05

Tale Summary

There was once a handsome prince named Sigurd whose aging father desired to see his son married before he died. He told him that there was a beautiful princess who lived in a certain country who would be a fitting wife, and so Sigurd set off. When he arrived, the King readily agreed to the marriage, but on the condition that the prince stay as long as he could because the King himself was too old to rule. Sigurd agreed only when he was also granted permission to visit his home country when his father died. He and the princess were married and had a child, and when the boy was two years old news came of the death of Sigurd’s father, and so the family boarded a ship to visit and pay their respects. During the journey they came to a dead calm and the wind would not blow, and they were stuck at sea. One day, the prince had gone below deck to sleep while his wife played with their son. A stone boat came alongside the ship, and an ugly Witch snatched the Queen and stole her beautiful clothes and put them on, becoming like her. She placed the Queen in the boat, cursing her to go to her brother in the Underworld, and when she was out of sight the baby began to cry. The witch took him below deck and scolded Sigurd, who was surprised because his wife had never before done that. The ship reached the kingdom he was now to rule over and he was crowned King, but his son would not stop crying until he got a good nurse for him, and everyone noticed that his wife had changed dramatically. One day, two young fellows of the court listened to her talking to herself alone in her room, and heard that when she yawned a little, she was a young maiden, when she yawned half-way then she was half troll, and when she yawned fully she was a troll altogether. The two saw through a crack that she did transform in this way after a full yawn, and saw also that her brother, a three-headed Giant, came up from the floor and shared a trough of meat with his sister. One evening, the nurse who took care of Sigurd’s child saw a beautiful woman dressed in white and wearing a chain appear from the floor, who held the baby gently before returning to the ground. This happened the next evening, and the woman said “two are gone, and one only is left” before disappearing. The nurse told the King the whole story, and he hid in the child’s room with a sword in his hand, and when the woman appeared he recognized her as his wife and cut the chain, causing loud crashing noises. She told him the story of what had happened to her, and that she had gone to the Underworld where a three-headed Giant wished to marry her, but she refused to consent until she had visited her son for three nights. He had put a chain around her that he had fastened to his own waist, and the crashing sounds were him plummeting to his death. The King had the Witch stoned and then torn to pieces by untamed horses, and he and his Queen lived happily together and the nurse was married to a nobleman

Fairy Tale Title

The Witch in the Stone Boat

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Common Tale Type

The Outcast Queens and the Ogre Queen

Tale Classification

ATU 462

Page Range of Tale

pp. 274-278

Full Citation of Tale

"The Witch in the Stone Boat.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 274-278.

Original Source of the Tale

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2024

Book Title

The Yellow Fairy Book

Book Author/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Publisher

Longmans, Green, and Co.

Date Published

1906

Decade Published

1900-1909

Publisher City

London
New York
Bombay

Publisher Country

United Kingdom
United States
India

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Though this book is written in prose with more difficult language than other books of fairy tales in the collection, the Preface says this book is written for children.

Traditional

White

"Hermod and Hadvor.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 301-307.

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 13:35:43 +0000

"Hermod and Hadvor.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 301-307. Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 08/04/2024 - 07:35

Andrew Lang

Tale Summary

There was once a beautiful princess named Hadvor who had a foster brother named Hermon. They were inseparable and pledged their love to one another when they were children. The Queen one day became sick, and before she died she had her husband promise to marry only the Queen of Hetland the Good if he again decided to take a wife. Some time passed and he set sail and came to a clearing in the woods after he found land, where he found three women. One was sad and played the harp, dressed beautifully and seated in a golden chair, the second was younger and finely dressed, seated in a less grand chair, and the third wore a green cloak and was maid to the other two. He told the one in the golden chair why he had come to the country, and she responded that she was Hetland the Good, and that she was seated with her daughter and maid, and that all three of them had escaped their land after it was plundered by pirates. He took them home and married her. Before long, the King went of to war, and the Queen asked Hermod to marry her daughter, but he refused, and she cursed him to live on a desert island where he would be lion by day and man by night, and that he would always think of his love for Hadvor which would cause him sorrow. He would never be freed until Hadvor burned the lion’s skin. He replied by cursing her, so that as soon as he was released she would become a rat and her daughter a mouse, and the two would fight each other in the hall until he killed them. Hadvar became friends with Olof the maid, who told her what had happened to Hermon and that the queen and her daughter were really ugly witches. Also, the queen had a brother in the Underworld who was a three-headed Giant who she would turn into a handsome prince to marry Hadvar to, and that to prevent this she should wait until he created a hole in the castle to pour hot pitch into. Olof additionally revealed that she had been stolen from her parents by the queen, but that her green cloak protected her from harm. Some time after the King returned home, Hadvor heard a loud rumbling under the castle and poured hot pitch into where the floor opened up. The next morning the Queen found her Giant brother dead, and cast a spell on his body to appear as a handsome prince before going to her husband and accusing the princess of killing her young brother. She was allowed to pick a punishment, which was to be that Hadvor should be buried in a grave-mound beside her would-be husband. Olof knew of the plan and told the princess how to protect herself: she should wear a cloak while in the mound the giant’s ghost would appear with two dogs and he would ask her to cut off pieces of his leg to feed them, but she must refuse until he told her how to get to Hermon. She must also make sure to keep her cloak loosely fastened because he would then let her stand on his shoulders to get out of the mound as a trick and try to drag her back down with it. She did all this and learned where Hermon was, and that she could get there by making shoes out of the skin of the giant’s feet, which she did, and made it to the island where he was kept but was stopped by tall cliffs once she arrived. She fell asleep and dreamed that a tall woman told her that she had let down a rope for the princess to climb, and had also left a clew (a ball of thread) which would show her the way, and a belt which would keep her from feeling faint from hunger. She used these things to make her way to a cave, and lay down inside under a couch. That evening she heard a lion enter, and then heard the sound of a man, who she recognized as Hermod. She waited until he was asleep and burned the lion skin, and then they were reunited. They wondered how they would escape the island and Hadvor told him about her dream, and he replied that there was a witch who could help them, and so they visited her and her fifteen sons. She said that the Giant had turned into a whale, but she would lend them a boat and if they were in danger they could summon her. While they sailed they saw him approaching and so called upon the witch, and a huge whale followed by fifteen smaller ones had a battle with the first whale and beat it. When they arrived back at the castle the King was overjoyed but the Queen and her daughter had disappeared, and there was a mouse and a rat fighting in the hall that no one could get rid of. Hermod killed them with his sword and they became the bodies of the two ugly witches. He explained the whole story to his father, and then was married to Hadvor and inherited the kingdom, while Olof married a handsome nobleman.

Fairy Tale Title

Hermod and Hadvor

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Common Tale Type

Enchanted Prince Disenchanted

Tale Classification

ATU 444

Page Range of Tale

pp. 301-307

Full Citation of Tale

"Hermod and Hadvor.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 301-307.

Original Source of the Tale

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2024

Book Title

The Yellow Fairy Book

Book Author/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Publisher

Longmans, Green, and Co.

Date Published

1906

Decade Published

1900-1909

Publisher City

London
New York
Bombay

Publisher Country

United Kingdom
United States
India

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Though this book is written in prose with more difficult language than other books of fairy tales in the collection, the Preface says this book is written for children.

Traditional

White

"Prince Ring.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 237-248.

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 19:37:00 +0000

"Prince Ring.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 237-248. Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 07/31/2024 - 13:37

Andrew Lang

Tale Summary

There was once a King and a Queen who had a daughter named Ingiborg, and a son named Ring. One day he was hunting a deer with his men and became lost, so they all went in different directions. The Prince wandered for a while until he was graciously received by a woman sitting next to a big barrel, in which he saw a beautiful gold ring. She told him he could take it if he was able, but the further he reached into the water the deeper it became, until the woman pushed him inside, sealed it, and threw it out to sea. After some time he knocked against some rocks, and so he kicked out the bottom of the barrel and swam to shore and then climbed up high cliffs to see that he was on a very pleasant island. He was there several days when a Giant picked him up and carried him to his house, and he and his wife treated the prince like their child. The Giant had shown the prince all his rooms except for the parlor, which made him very curious, and one day he tried to peek inside. In the room was a huge dog, which said “choose me, Prince Ring” and he went away afraid. After some time the Giant knew he had not much time left to live, and so offered to take the prince back to the mainland as well as give him anything he wanted. He chose the dog, and the Giant brought the two of them to the mainland and promised the Prince that he would have ownership of the island and all that was on it after he died within two weeks. Ring walked with the dog, who said his name was Snati-Snati and advised that he ask a nearby King to keep the two of them for the winter. They were granted this, and the King’s men laughed at the dog. After several days the King took a liking to Ring, but he had a counselor named Red who became very jealous of him and asked for a wood-cutting contest the next morning. Snati-Snati heard this and advised the Prince to ask for two axes, and so when the two men went their separate ways into the woods the next morning, the dog used one of the axes to work alongside the Prince, and so he won the competition. Red was all the more jealous, and told the King that he should test Ring’s valliance even more by having him kill two dangerous wild oxen, flay them, and bring back the skin and horns in the same day. The King reluctantly agreed and again the dog helped the Prince with the task. Red was determined to destroy Ring because the King had taken such a liking to him, and so he reminded the King of a gold cloak, gold chess-board, and gold piece that he had lost about a year before, and suggested that Ring should find them and bring them back by Christmas and be given the hand of the princess in marriage. Soon before Christmas, the King gave Ring this task, and Snati-Snati told him to gather up all the salt he could carry. The Prince did this and slung it in a sack over the dog’s back and was led by him to a steep cliff. The dog pulled him up to the top, and after a while, on Christmas Eve, they came to a cave in which four trolls were sleeping beside a fire which they were cooking porridge on. Snati-Snati told Ring to pour the salt into the food, and the trolls woke up soon after he did this. The old hag troll woke up and complained about the salt, although the others did not mind, but soon she was so thirsty that she made her daughter run out to get water from a nearby river. The younger troll agreed only when her mother told her she could bring the bright gold chess piece, but when she got to the water Ring and Snati-Snati drowned her. Next, the hag sent her son, who demanded the gold cloak, but he was drowned too when he reached the river. Next, she sent her husband, who took the gold chess-board, and was also drowned. Before the two reached the cave, however, the husband troll’s ghost came at them and they managed to master him again. The dog told the Prince that they had to defeat the old hag in the cave, and that she was the worst witch that had ever lived, and to kill her one of them must pour the hot porridge on her and the other must hit her with red-hot iron. They succeeded, and took the King’s three treasures, along with many other riches, back to the castle in time. Ring was then betrothed to the princess and celebrated for his prowess. The dog asked if he could sleep in the prince’s bed, while the Prince slept where Snati-Snati usually rested on the floor. After a short time the dog came back and told Ring that he could return to his bed, but to be careful not to meddle with anything there. Meanwhile, Red came to the King to show him that his hand had been cut off and blamed the Prince, and the King said that whichever one of them was responsible should be hanged. Snati-Snati warned Ring, and the King was invited to his chamber, and shown a missing hand which still grasped a sword, and Ring said that Red had tried to kill him but he defended himself. Red was hanged and the Prince married the princess. The night of the wedding, the dog asked to sleep by their feet, and in the middle of the night the Prince saw the dog skin on the ground and a handsome man on the bed. He said that his name was also Ring and that he was a King’s son whose father had married an evil witch who placed him under a spell that could only be broken if a Prince of the same name allowed him to sleep at his feet on his wedding night. He added that his witch stepmother had learned of the bridegroom she set to destroy him, and it was she who was the deer who got him lost, the woman who tried to drown him in the barrel, and the old hag which he had just killed. After celebrations, he and the King’s men took all the treasure from the island home with them, and the dog Prince was married to Ingiborg and given Ring’s father’s kingdom. The first Prince Ring lived with his wife and father-in-law, who gave him half the kingdom while he lived and the whole of it after his death.

Fairy Tale Title

Prince Ring

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Common Tale Type

Enchanted Prince Disenchanted

Tale Classification

ATU 444

Page Range of Tale

pp. 237-248

Full Citation of Tale

"Prince Ring.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 237-248.

Original Source of the Tale

Tale Notes

AV��ʪ and Curation

Kaeli Waggener, 2024

Book Title

The Yellow Fairy Book

Book Author/Editor(s)

Andrew Lang

Illustrator(s)

Henry Justice Ford

Publisher

Longmans, Green, and Co.

Date Published

1906

Decade Published

1900-1909

Publisher City

London
New York
Bombay

Publisher Country

United Kingdom
United States
India

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available at the Internet Archive

Book Notes

Though this book is written in prose with more difficult language than other books of fairy tales in the collection, the Preface says this book is written for children.

Traditional

White