swedish fairy tales

"Who comes there ?" demandedthe Giant, rushing out of the hill, witha largeflint stonein hisfist, when If you come uphere I will squeeze you into frag-ments as I do this stone," shrieked

o

6^

SWEDISH FAIRY TALES

between Tradition and Saga. Tradition has, or at least seemsto

scope, equally as regards incident, and the time and place of its

many are, however, drawn from ancient myths, which, in time,becomeclad in historical garb,and are located insomeparticularplace.

AsInowputinto thehandsof the publicsuchacollection,Iought

to state that Ihave thoughtit better to select themosttypicalofour

traditionsthanto gather everything that I mightin thisline,much

ofwhichhasalreadybeenwritten,and which wouldrequire amany

accompaniedeach talewitha historical and ethnographical noteinwhichIhaveso stated if the tradition isfoundin different places.The illustrations are the product of several among ourbest

artists. Withoutdoubt, thebookhas therebybeen addedto greatly,

tureand history;theimportantpart the traditions of a people play

in their history, character anddomestic life,andthat the traditions

of the world play in its history and that ofmankind,andthat I

would, if possible, add to the growing interest in that far-away,

unmixedwithpleasure,andnot a little of thatpleasurecomingfromtheencouragementof mySwedishacquaintances

Noembellishmentandnotmore thana faithful reproduction of the author's ideashave beenattempted,andI shallbe happy,indeed,

justice in this regard.

also to follow the storieswith their rotes instead of groupingthem

back book

THEGIANT FINNANDLUND'S CATIIEDUAL, 17THE LORDOFROSENDAL 20THEMASTER OF UGERUP ^ 23

BLEKINGE

THE KNIGHTOFELLENHOLM 39

THEGIANTPUKE, 52

THETROLLSOF SKURUGATA, 42

GOTLAND

OLAND

THEBRIDGEOVERKALMARSOUND, 78

THEPIGMY OF FOLKARED'SCLIFF 86THE YOUNG LADYOFHELLERUP 80

BOHUSLAN

KINGRANE AND QUEENHUDTA, 107

THEGIANTMAIDENINBORASEROD MOUNTAIN, . .91 THE GOLDENCRADLE, 102

VESTERGOTLAND

THECOUNTESS OF HOJENTORP, Ill

THEKNIGHTS OF ALLABERG, 109THETREASUREIN SABY CREEK 119THETROLLSIN RESSLARED, 115

OSTERGOTLAND

LADY BARBROOF BROKIND, 129

THE URKOOFNORTH WIJ 131

THEFIDDLERAND THE SEA NYMPH 162THE ULFGRYTSTONES, 150

THETREASURESEEKERS, 198

THE CHILD PHANTOM, . lO'i

THECOALBURNER AND THETROLL, . 169

THEGIANT MAIDENINBORASEROD MOUNTAIN, . .91

THEKNIGHTS OF ALLABERG, 109THE LADYOFPINTORP, 179THELAPPIN MAGPIEFORM, 200THE LORDOFROSENDAL, 20THE MOUNTAIN KITCHEN, . 138THEPIGMY OFFOLKARED CLIFF, 86

THESTONEIN GRONANDAL, 216

THETEN FAIRY SERVANTS, 71

THETROLLGARDEN ATSTALLSBACKE, 187THETROLLS OFSKURUGATA, 41THETROLLSHOES, . 134

THE ULFGRYTSTONES, 150

THE YOUNG LADYOF HELLERUP, 80

that the romantic characters arefound which formthe

*See alsoSkane GamraaltOchNytt.

basis ofWeber's immortal fictions. Similartraditions

which we willnow relate.

Nymphs While the compact laststhe possessor, ting at hishut door, needs only to wish, andthegame

sit-of his choice springs into view,and within range ofhisnever-failing gun Such a compact, however, invari-ably endsin the destruction ofthe hunter.

Manyyears ago therewas a watchman up inthe

Goinge regions, a wild fellow, who, one evening, while

drinking with his neighbors, more tipsy and more

talkative as the hour grewlate, boasted loudly of hismarksmanship, and offered to wager that, with his

"

There goes, as I speak," said he, "a roe on land's Mountains."

Hal-Hiscompanionslaughed athim, not believing that

themand the spot indicated

"

I willwager you thatI need go no fartherthan

thedoorto shoothim foryou," persevered the

watch-man in defiant tones

company betook themselves to the yard in front ofthe hut.

the clouds over the sky, and the half moon cast fitful

reflectionsthrough the breaks overthe neighborhood

In afewminutes a something was seenmovingrapidly

along the edge of a thicket on the farther side ofa

to his shoulderand fired. A derisive laugh was echo

to the report. No mortal, thought they, in such

un-certain light and at such adistance, couldshoot a deer

The watchman, certain ofhisgame,hastenedacross

event meant, atleast, two cans of ale.

It wouldnot be easy topicture the surprise ofthedoubters, when, upon arrivingat the thicket, they dis-covered, lyingupontheground, bathed in foam and histongue hanging from his mouth, a magnificent stag,

life blood fast coloring his bed of autumn leaves abrighter hue

What unseen power has brought this poor animal

were the thoughts of the watchman's companions asthey retiredin silence to thehut

The watchman received histwo cansof ale,but no

one seemed inclinedto join him in disposing of them.They now understood with what sort of a man they

watchman was in league with the Evil One himself,

At a distance from Baal Mountain,

where, formerly, lived a giant named Stompe Pilt.

It happened one day, that a Goatherd camethat

way, driving his goats before him,up thehill.

"Who comes there ?" demandedthe Giant, rushing

out of the hill, witha largeflint stonein hisfist, when

If you come uphere I will squeeze you into

frag-ments as I do this stone," shrieked the Giant, and

crushed the stone between his fingers into finesand

"Then I will squeeze water out of you as I do out

of thisstone," replied the Herder, taking a new-made

ran betweenhis fingers to the ground

"Are you not afraid?

"

asked the Giant

"Not ofyou," replied the Herder

"Thenlet us fight," continuedStompe Pilt.

"All

right," responded the Goatherd, "but let

give us cause to fight."

"

Very well, andI will begin,"said the Giant.

"Go ahead, and I will follow you," said the

"You shall become a crooked nose hobgoblin,"cried the Giant.

"You shall become a flying devil," retorted the

Herder, and fromhisbow shot a sharparrow into the

body of the Giant

uWhat is that?"

to pull thearrow from his flesh.

In order that it may fly straight and rapidly,"

answered the Herder

There, you have another," said the Herder, and

shotanotherarrow intothe Giant'sbody

"Aj! aj!" shrieked Stompe Pilt; "are you not

angry enough to fight?"

"

No, I have notyet taunted you enough," repliedthe Herder, setting an arrow to his bowstring.

"

Driveyourgoats where you will. I can't endure

yourtaunting, much lessyourblows," shrieked Stompe

Thus the Herder was saved by means of his

and

(Slant |pnn and ^utuVB OJattodrat

In the days long gone by there lived in

Helgona-backen the Hills of Helgona near Lund, a family

consternation, that a holy man had come into the

coun-try, fromSaxony,tobuildachurchtotheWhiteChrist

While Laurentius, suchwas the holy man's name, was selectinghissite and laying out the plans forthetemple, there stoodat hisside,oneday,noneotherthan

him:

"

TrulytheWhiteChristisaGod worthyofsuch

a temple, and I will build it for you,if, when it is

fin-ished, you willtellme what my name is;but, markwell

my condition, oh,wiseman,ifyou can nottellme, you

expanse."

Now, it isso orderedin the giantworld thatit isofvital importance the name of the giant should bekeptfrom mankind. Should it be revealed the giant

* Similar leg-ends are connected with a number of our churches, as

the cathedral of Trondhjem, where the Troll is called "Skalle." Also with Eskellsatter's church in the department of Nils in Vermland, where the giant architect is called Kinn,whofellfrom the tower whenthe priest Es

kil called, "Kinn, set the point right ! "

wherethe Troll is called"WindandWeather," and concern-ngwhomthe legend relates "that

just as the giant was puttingupthe cross, St Olof said

* 'WindandWeatheryou haveset the spire awry." Ofthe church at lundborg in Sjailand,whosedesigner, Ebern Snare, it is said, entered into a contract muchthe sameas that made with the Giant Finn by the holy

Kal-mustdie,and man isfreedfromallobligations thatmay

havebeen imposed upon him by compact with thegiant

butanxious tohavethechurchbuilt,heoffered, instead,his eyes, trusting to fortune to discover to him the

giant'snamebefore the completionof the church. The

giant, satisfied with the bargain, entered at once upon

his work,and with wonderfulrapidity thechurchgrew

upward Soon there remained nothing moreto pleteit thanto setone stone on the tower

com-The day preceding that on which it was expected

this laststone wouldbe put in place Laurentius stood

on Ilelgonabacken in deep melancholy It seemed

inevitable that he must lose his eyes, and thathe was

now taking his last lookat the light of heaven and allthathad madethe world and life so attractive to him.Next day allwould be darkness and sorrow During

from within the hill, and the voice of the giant mother

endeavoringto quiet itwith a song, inwhich heclearly

distinguished the words: "Silent, silent, little son of

mine, morning willbring yourfather Finn, with either

moon and sunor thepriestLaurentius' eyes."

Beside himself with joy, Laurentius hastened tothe church "Come down, Finn!

"

hecried, "the stonethatnow remains we ourselves can set come down,

Finn, we nolonger need your help!"

Foaming with rage, the Giant rushed from the

tower to the ground, and laying hold of one of the

grasped a pillar and would help her husband in the

workof destruction, but just as the building was teringto the point offalling, they werebothturned tostones, and there they lie to-day, each embracing-a pillar.

tot-lived in Skane a nobleman, Andres Bille, Lord of

Rosendal, who was very severe toward his dependents,

and it was not unusual that a disobedient servant was

put in chains, andeveninto the castle dungeons

that attracted herattentionwas a peasant tetheredlike

a horse She inquiring as to the cause of such ment, Bille informed her that the servant had come

treat-late to work, and was now suffering only wellmeritedpunishment The young woman begged Bille to set

the man at liberty,but this herefused to do, andtold

affairs.

"When the intended wife," said theyounglady, as

she returned to her carriage, "is refused a boon so

small, what will be thefate of the wife?" and

there-upon she commanded her coachman to driveherhome

People predicted that such a heartlessman could

prediction, Bille,after his death and burial,came every

night, in spirit, to Rosendal Halting his white team

his way to his former bed-chamber where he would

spend the night until cock-crow Ifthe bed hadbeenprepared all was quiet in the chamber, otherwise such

a dreadful noise followed that there was nosuch thing

room in the morning,thebedclotheswerefound tossed

about and soiled asif a dog hadoccupied the bed.

numberofyears, the new owner of the estate applied

begged him to put a stop to these troublesome visits.

To this end the

fellow priest, set out for Kropp's Church, where Bille

was buried On the stroke of 12 o'clock, midnight,

the grave opened and the ghost of the dead lordstepped forth. Father Steffan's companion at oncetook to his heels, but Father Steffan remained and

began to readfrom a book he had Avith him During

the reading the ghost became larger and larger, but

the priest would not be frightened. Finally the

priest.

"

Is that you, Steffan, thegoose thief?"

"It is, indeed, I," replied thepriest, "andit is truethat in my boyhood I stole a goose, but with the

money received for the goose I bought a Bible, and

withthat Bible I will send you to hell,you evilspirit."

Whereupon he struck the specter such a blow on

the forehead with the Bible that it sank again into

purgatory

Unfortunately, becauseof the truth of Bille's sation and thatit came from Bille, the priest's prayers

accu-andreadinglost much of potency, and he was unable

to Ilosendal

a stream which, a short distance below Lake Ilelga,

flowsintotheriverHelga,liesanoldmansion,IJgeruporUgarp, knownin early days asthe seat of the Ugerup

was owned bySenatorAxelUgerup. OntheNasestate,

that timeone of therichest men in Skane

When Arild was yet ayoung man he was made

* Arild Ugerup, the character in chief of this leg-end,was born in the year 1528 in the castle of Solversborg,where his father, Axel Ugerup, was master. Whenthe son had passed through the parochial school of Herre-

sent asenvoyto the Russian court, and in 1587 was raised to Lord of borg,where he died in 1587, and was buried in Ugerup (now Kopinge) church.

Helsing-Anotherlegend, in which the seeds of the pine tree were sown,comes

fromOstergotland. Alady of thenobility, living in Solberga, had a son, who, in the battle of Stangebro took sides withKingSigismund, andwhenthe battle was lost had to fly the country. Theagedmother mourned

deeply over her son's absence, and besieged Duke Karl with prayers to allow her misguided son to return home, tomakeher a visit, at least.

Atlast hewasgranted permission to return and visit hismotheruntil

the order read,"Thenext harvest." Whereupon the mother sowed pine seeds on the fields of Solberg, which accounts for the uncommonly fine forests of pine evennowexisting on the estate.

embassador to Sweden by the Danish Government,

in which capacity he took part in the coronation of

difficulty obtained her consent and that of her ents toa union

and Denmark With anxiety and distress the loversheard the call to arms The flowerof Danish knight-hood hastened to placethemselves under the ensign of

their country, where even for Arild Ugerup a place

Copenhagen, where he was given a position in the

navy

Inthe beginning the Danes met with some success,

who was carried, a prisoner, toStockholm,where three

hisknightly spurs

The friends of Arild entertained little hope that

they would ever see him again, and his rivals for the

hand ofThale persistently renewedtheir suits. Tage

onelover afteranother, decided, finally, that this

daughterthat she must choose a husband from among

her hand Thale took this announcement very much

to heart, but herprayersand tears were without avail.

Spring succeeded winterand noArildcame Meanwhile,

the unrelenting fatherhad made a choice andfixed

up-on a day when theunion should take place.

During this time Arild, languishing in his prison,busied his brain in the effort to find some means of es-

impracti-cable, until it occurredtohim to makeuse of hisrank

and acquaintance with the King So, notlong

permis-sion to go home on parole, for the purpose of

solem-nizing his wedding, also to be permitted to remain long

enough in Ugerup to sow and gather his crops The

Kingreadilygranted his petition, sinceArild promised,

on his knightly honor, to return tohisconfinement assoon as hisharvestwas ripe.

Heat once hastened to Skane where he was notlonginlearningwhat had transpiredduringhisabsence,

and that Thale, ather father's bidding, was abouttobe

wedded to another Continuing his journey to Nas,

where hisarrival caused both rejoicing and

to wife, as had been promised him Knight Tage,

hoAvever, Avould notlisten to such a thingas a change from his plans, and declared firmly that his daugh-

By strategy, he carried his bride aAvay in secret to

Denmark, Avhere they were shortlyafterward married

made the best of the matter and

accepted the situation, whereupon Arild and his wifereturned to Ugerup.

the King, and howhe might,atthe same time,keep it

profit to sow seeds that wouldnot maturesoon, so the

planted with the seeds of the pine tree.

Whentheautumnhad passed,and theKingthought

the harvest must, by this time, have been gathered, lie

convinced the messenger that his seeds had notyetsprouted, muchless ripened

When King Erikwas made acquainted with the

state of affairs, he could do no less than approve the

free-dom without breaking hisword, and allowed the ter to rest.

mat-Theproduct of Arild'spine seedsis now shownin

a magnificent forest at Ugerup

Ugerup and his wife Among others, it is relatedof

the former that he was endowed with marvelous

into theestate was a pair of iron hooks, which, when

coming home from Ilelsingborg, Arild was wont tocatch hold of, and lift himselfand horse togethersome

distance off the ground, after which little exercise he

would ride on

His wife, Thale, was, likeher husband, very strong,

toward her dependents A story is told of her, that

one mid-summer evening, when the servants of the

estate were gathered on the green fora dance, she

and drink as shecould carry at one load, and her quest being,of course, granted, she piled up two great

re-heaps of beef, pork and bread, which, with twobarrels

of ale, one under each arm, she carried outonto thegreen,with ease.

During the early halfof the Seventeenth Century

many of the bestestates in Skane belongedtothe

fam-ily of Barkenow, or more correctly, tothe principal

Barkenow, daughter of the renowned general and

governor- general, Count Eutger Yon Ascheberg, and

A widow attwenty-nine, she took upon herselfthe

management of her many estates, in the conduct ofwhich she ever manifested an indomitable, indefati-

gable energy,anda never-ceasing careforhernumerous

dependents

Ona journey over herestates, Madame Margaretta

came, one evening, to Fjelkinge's inn, and persisted in

sleepinginaroom which wascalled the"ghost'sroom."

A travelerhad, a few years before, slept in this room,and as it wassupposed had been murdered,at leastthe

man and hiseffectshad disappeared, leaving notraceof

what had become of them After this his ghost peared in the room nightly, and those who were ac-quainted with the circumstance, traveled tothe nextpost,in the dark, rather than choosesuch quarters forthe night. Margaretta was, however, notamong thisnumber She possessed greater courage, and without

ap-fearchosethe chamber for hersleeping room

After her evening prayers she retired to bed and

she was awakened by the liftingup of two boardsin

ap-peared, with aclovenhead hanging uponitsshoulders

"Noblelady,"whisperedthe apparition," Ibeg you

prepare, for a murdered man, a resting place in

punishment."

Pure in heart, therefore not alarmed, LadyMargaretta beckonedthe to come

which itdid,informing herthatit hadentreated others,

who afterthe murder had slept in the room, but that

none had the courage to comply Then Lady

Mar-garettatook fromher linger a gold ring, laid it in the

gaping wound, and bound the apparition's head upwith her pocket handerchief. With a glance of un-

the murderer and disappeared noiselessly beneath thefloor.

hap-pened during the night, and commanded-that the

planks of the floor be taken up Here, under theground, wasdiscovered a half decomposedcorpse,with

the countess- ring in the hole in its skull, and herhandkerchief bound aroundits head

confessed that hehad murdered the travelerandrobbed

parish church-yard.

The ring, which is peculiarly formed and set with

keeping of the Barkenow family, and is believed to

diesit issaid thata red, bloodlike spot appears upon

garu mul

On the estates of Ljungby there lies a large stone

called

Maglestone, under which the Trolls, in olden

times, were wont to assemble and, with dancing and

games, celebrate their Christmas

One Christmasnight Lady CisselaUlfstand, sitting

in her mansion, listening to the merry-making of the

Trolls under the stone, and curious to have a ter knowledge of these mysterious mountain people,

bet-assembled hermenservants andpromised the best horse

in herstables tohim who would rideto Maglestone, atVesper hour, and bring her a full account of the

doings there

Arriv-ing at thestone,hcdiscoveredit lifted fromtheground,

* Both of these Troll treasures are now preserved at Ljungby arid

are willinglyshownto curious travelers. Thehorn is in theformof a half

circleandadorned with silver mountim's. The pipeis of ivory, madeso that itmaybeblown fromeither end,and the soundfromit is a single piercing note.

WhenLady Oellegard Gyllerstierna,whoinherited Ljungby, married

soon befellLycke wasregardedbymanyas the consequence of Troll curses,

horncameinto the possession of Lord AxelJuul, whosewidowpresentedit

to the Chancellor,OveJuul His son sent it to the Danish minister, Luxdorf

Since 1691 the horn and pipe have remained continuously at Ljungby.

Tn all quarters of the country similar legends are current,moreor less

As late as the present year (18S8) the translator met a gentleman, recentlyfromSweden, andfromthe province in whichLjungbyis located,who states that the horn is still in the possession of the owners of the

Ljungbyestate,andthat this story concerning it is still currentaudquite

generally believed.

supported on pillars ofgold, and under it theTrolls in

the midst of their revelry

drinking horn and pipe These, upon reaching his

Moun-tainKing, thenblowthree timesonthepipe, atthesame

time whispering some words of caution in his ears,

whereupon he threw the contents ofthe hornover his

shoulderand set off at the utmost speed, over fields

and meadows, toward home The Trolls followed him

closely with great clamor, but he flew before them

and proceeded to place the horn and pipe in thehands

of his mistress

promising Lady Cissela great happiness and riches if

she would return to them their horn and pipe, and

declaring that,otherwise, greatmisfortuneandtionwould overtake her and her family, and that it

destruc-should goespeciallyhard withtheyoung man who had

dared to deprive them of the precious articles. True

to the predictions, the young man died on the third

daythereafterand the horse which he rode fell dead a

Duringthewarof 1645Field Marshal Gustaf Horn, whose headquarters were at Fjelkinge, having heardthis story, and wishing to see the horn and pipe,

possess-Axel who then owned

forwarded them,accompanied with earnest prayers that

they be returned to him as soon as possible. Horn'scuriosity was soon satisfied, and he felt no desire toretain them longer inhis possession, for whilehe did

his quarters, which ceased, when, underthe escort of acompany ofcavalry, he sent them back to Ljungby

Ljungby, borrowed the strange articlesfor thepurpose

of showing them to his brothers-in-law who were thenvisiting him During the night the priest'smother-in-

was awakened by the light of a candle in her room

a basket was dropped wherein sat fivesmall children,

who inchorus set up a cry:

returnto usour horn!"

it had to them, they answered:

"For ourpeople's sake."

Whenshe would no longer listen to their pleading

nights later.

On Thursday night, and the third followingtheir

her chamber occupied by a great numberof littlemen,

herundera of silver cloth on silver

poles borne by four servants His skin was a darkbrown and his hair, ofwhich only a tuft was lefton

his forehead and one by each ear, black and woolly.

adorned with gold chains and massive goldbuttons,

which he proffered the lady inexchange forthe

the devil, if they were hisoffspring, whereupon theTrolls quietlyand sorrowfully departed.

itsmother The boy related that the Trolls were not

pretty, buthad large nosesand mouths; that the man

underMaglestone wascalled Klausa and his wife Otta

That they sucked the moisture from the food of

one king; that they were often at variance witheach other, also, that they spoke the language of the

country Lord Chancellor Covet, whopublished, "A

Narrativeof Ljungby Horn and Pipe," dated February

twenty-seven years old, also his mother, but admits

that both were disposed to superstition and that their

were as feeble astheir bodies