Norwegian Fairy Tale

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Retold by The Legendary Connection

TLC#00221

Once upon a time, there was a young prince who wanted to explore the world and seek his fortune. After much convincing, the king gave him permission to leave the palace, and off the prince went, excited to see what adventures awaited him.

One day, he arrived at the home of a giant, who offered him a job as a servant. The giant told the prince he had only one chore to do each day, but it must be done perfectly. Then, with a stern look, he warned the prince, "You may not go into any of the rooms near where you slept, or I’ll take your life." The prince agreed and thought, “This sounds like an easy job!”

On his first day, the giant left to tend his goats and told the prince to clean out the stable. “That’s simple enough,” thought the prince. But he couldn’t resist exploring the forbidden rooms. In the first room, he found a cauldron bubbling without any fire beneath it. Curious, he dipped a lock of his hair in, and it turned into shining copper. “What magic!” he thought.

In the second room, he found another boiling cauldron. This time, his hair turned silver! "This is better than anything in the kingdom!" he exclaimed. In the third room, the cauldron transformed his hair into bright gold. Amazed, he decided to enter one last room.

In this fourth room, he found a beautiful young woman sitting on a bench. She was the Master-Maid, a magical helper. “Who are you, and why are you here?” she asked, startled.

The prince explained, “I’m the giant’s new servant.”

The Master-Maid warned him, “The giant is tricky. He’ll give you impossible tasks, but if you listen to me, I can help you.” She then explained how to clean the stable: “Use the handle of the pitchfork instead of the prongs, and everything will clear out by itself.”

The prince followed her advice and easily cleaned the stable before the giant returned. When the giant saw the stable was spotless, he eyed the prince suspiciously. “You must have spoken to my Master-Maid,” he grumbled. But the prince pretended to be clueless.

On the second day, the giant instructed the prince to fetch his wild horse from the mountain. Again, the Master-Maid helped him. “Take the special bridle by the door and throw it over the horse’s head. It will calm down right away.” The prince followed her instructions, and by evening, the horse was in the stable. The giant was even more suspicious but let the prince stay.

On the third day, the giant ordered the prince to fetch taxes from a cave under a mountain. The Master-Maid told him, “When you get to the cave, knock with the club outside the door, and say, ‘I want as much as I can carry.’” The prince did so and collected a huge load of gold and silver, which he brought back.

Realizing the prince had truly spoken to the Master-Maid, the giant decided to get rid of him. He told the Master-Maid to prepare the prince as a meal. Then he lay down on a bench, fell fast asleep, and snored so loudly it sounded like thunder in the mountains.

The Master-Maid, however, had other plans. She took a small knife, pricked the prince’s finger, and let three drops of blood fall onto a wooden stool. Then, she tossed old rags, scraps, and broken shoe soles into the cauldron to look as if she were making a soup. Quietly, she filled a chest with gold dust, a lump of salt, a flask of water from the door, a golden apple, and two golden chickens. With these, she and the prince hurried away as fast as they could. Soon they reached the sea, and, finding a small boat, they set sail.

After the giant had slept a long time, he stretched and yawned. “Is it almost ready?” he called.

“It’s just beginning to boil,” replied the first drop of blood on the stool.

The giant settled back and snored once more. After a while, he asked again, “Is it ready now?”

“Halfway done!” answered the second drop of blood.

The giant went back to sleep, but much later, he woke up and grumbled, “Is it done yet?”

“It’s ready now,” answered the third drop of blood.

Finally, the giant sat up and looked around for the Master-Maid, but she wasn’t there. “Oh, she must have stepped out,” he thought. He took a big spoon, went over to the cauldron, and took a taste. But instead of broth, he found a mess of rags, scraps, and shoe soles!

The giant realized he had been tricked and stormed out of the house, running so fast after the prince and the Master-Maid that the wind howled around him. Soon he reached the sea and saw the pair sailing far out on the water. “I know how to fix this!” he said, and called out to his river-sucker.

The river-sucker arrived and drank three enormous gulps of the sea until the water was so low the giant could nearly reach the boat. Seeing this, the Master-Maid said, “Quick, throw out the salt!” The prince tossed the salt into the sea, and it magically grew into a giant mountain, blocking the giant and stopping the river-sucker from drinking.

But the giant wasn’t ready to give up. “I’ll fix this too!” he growled and called his hill-borer to make a tunnel through the mountain so his river-sucker could drink again. As soon as a tunnel was made, and the river-sucker began to drink, the Master-Maid told the prince, “Pour a few drops from the flask into the sea!”

The prince poured, and instantly the sea filled back up with water. Just as the river-sucker prepared for a drink, the prince and the Master-Maid reached the shore and sailed far away, leaving the giant behind.

Finally, they arrived in the prince’s kingdom. The prince wanted to return to the palace to fetch a grand coach for the Master-Maid. “Be careful,” she warned him, “not to eat or drink anything, or you may forget me.”

The prince agreed, but when he reached the palace, his family welcomed him with a big celebration. His brother was getting married, and as part of the festivities, someone handed the prince an apple. Forgetting his promise, he took a bite and immediately forgot about the Master-Maid.

Heartbroken, the Master-Maid waited for him at the shore. When he didn’t return, she found a small hut near the palace to live in. Using her magic, she made the hut glow with gold, which soon attracted the attention of the royal court. Both the sheriff and the attorney visited and asked to marry her, but she tricked them with magic and sent them away.

At last, on the day of the prince’s wedding to another bride, the Master-Maid sent word to the palace. The king invited her to the feast. When she arrived, she placed a golden hen, a rooster, and an apple on the table. The rooster and hen began to quarrel over the apple, and this reminded the prince of how he and the Master-Maid had worked together to escape the giant.

His memory returned, and he recognized her with joy. They were soon married, and the Master-Maid and the prince lived happily ever after, having outwitted the giant and everyone else who had tried to keep them apart.

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