PLACEHOLDER by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe

Author:Peter Christen Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe [Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen & Moe, Jørgen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC010000 Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology, LCO008050 Literary Collections / European / Scandinavian
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Published: 2019-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

About the Giant Troll Who Never Carried His Heart with Him

THERE ONCE WAS A KING who had seven sons. He was so fond of them that he could never let all of them leave together. One son always had to stay behind.

When they were grown, six of the brothers were going to set off to find wives, but the father wanted to keep the youngest son at home. The others were supposed to bring a princess back to the royal palace for him. The king gave his six sons the most splendid clothes that anyone had ever seen, clothes that cost many, many hundreds of daler. And then they set off.

After they had visited many royal palaces and seen many princesses, at long last they came to a king who had six daughters. They had never seen such lovely princesses, and each of them proposed to one of them. After they had won them as their sweethearts, they headed for home. They were so in love with their sweethearts that they’d completely forgotten they were supposed to bring a princess back for Ash Lad, who had stayed behind.

After they had traveled a good distance along the road, they passed very close to a steep mountain wall. That’s where the giant troll had his farm. The troll came out and caught sight of the travelers. He turned all of them to stone, both the princes and the princesses.

The king waited and waited for his six sons, but no matter how long he waited, none of them returned. He grew terribly distressed and said he would never be happy again. “If I didn’t have you,” he said to Ash Lad, “I would not want to live. That’s how filled with sorrow I am, for I have lost all your brothers.”

“I was thinking of asking your permission to go out and find them. That’s what I was thinking,” said Ash Lad.

“No, I won’t allow it,” said his father. “You would just disappear too.”

But Ash Lad wanted to go, he had to go. He begged and pleaded for so long that the king had to let him leave. But the king had nothing but an old nag to give him, for the other six sons and their entourage had been given all the other horses he owned. Ash Lad didn’t care. He mounted the mangy old horse.

“Goodbye, Father,” he said to the king. “I’m sure I’ll be back. Maybe I’ll bring my six brothers back with me too.” With that, he left.

After he’d been riding for a while, Ash Lad came upon a raven lying in the road and flapping its wings. The bird was so hungry that it couldn’t even move aside.

“Oh, my dear man! Give me a little food, and I’ll help you when you’re in dire need,” said the raven.

“I don’t have much food, and you don’t look like you’ll be able to offer me much help,” said the king’s son. “But I can certainly give you something to eat. I can see that you’re hungry.

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