Geirlug The King's Daughter
Encyclopedia
Geirlug The King's Daughter is an Icelandic fairy tale
collected in Neuisländischen Volksmärchen. Andrew Lang
included it in The Olive Fairy Book.
carried off their son.
The dragon flew on, to a neighboring kingdom, where it tried to seize a baby princess, but there the king struck it such a blow that it dropped the prince. The king saw on the blankets that this was Grethari, son of Grethari the king, but since their kingdoms were on bad terms, he did not send word but raised the boy himself. Grethari and Geirlug were happy, but the queen died, and a few years later, the king remarried.
The new queen was a witch. She went to visit the prince and princess and when she left, their bed were empty. Then she sent guards to kill any animals within two miles (3 km) of the palace. They found only two black foals, and since they were so harmless, let them go, saying they had seen nothing. The queen found out that they had seen two foals
The king returned, and the queen sent him to kill any animals within two miles (3 km) of the palace. He heard two blue birds sing so sweetly that he forgot her command. When he returned and confessed, she poisoned him.
The queen, after a year of mourning, set out to find the children. The princess turned herself into a whale and the prince into its fin. The queen became a shark, and they fought. The queen was killed.
Geirlug proposed returning to his father's kingdom. She transported them magically, and told him to bind a band with golden letters about his forehead and to not drink before he had spoken to his father. But on the way, it seemed to grow much longer, and it grew hot, and he became so thirsty that he drank from a stream and forgot Geirlug. His family welcomed him home.
Geirlug realized what had happened and went to work for a forester, to sweep and tend cows. She became famous for her beauty. When Grethari hunted in the woods, she hid from him, but one day Grethari caught her and offered to make her one of his mother's ladies-in-waiting. She told him to tie the calf for her, but the rope caught him and he could not get free until morning, at which he left her as a witch.
His father sent him to a neighboring country, to bring back a princess
as a bride. On their return, a carriage was sent, but no horse; Grethari got an ox to pull it from a young woman who demanded three seats at the wedding, for her and her friends. It was Geirlaug, and she brought the forester's daughters and a closed basket. During the feast, she opened it, and a cock and hen flew out. The cock pecked at the hen, pulling out her tail feathers, and the hen asked, "Will you treat me as badly as Grethari treated Geirlug?" He remembered Geirlug and married her instead of the other princess.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collected in Neuisländischen Volksmärchen. Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
included it in The Olive Fairy Book.
Synopsis
A king and a queen were in a garden with their baby son when a dragonDragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
carried off their son.
The dragon flew on, to a neighboring kingdom, where it tried to seize a baby princess, but there the king struck it such a blow that it dropped the prince. The king saw on the blankets that this was Grethari, son of Grethari the king, but since their kingdoms were on bad terms, he did not send word but raised the boy himself. Grethari and Geirlug were happy, but the queen died, and a few years later, the king remarried.
The new queen was a witch. She went to visit the prince and princess and when she left, their bed were empty. Then she sent guards to kill any animals within two miles (3 km) of the palace. They found only two black foals, and since they were so harmless, let them go, saying they had seen nothing. The queen found out that they had seen two foals
The king returned, and the queen sent him to kill any animals within two miles (3 km) of the palace. He heard two blue birds sing so sweetly that he forgot her command. When he returned and confessed, she poisoned him.
The queen, after a year of mourning, set out to find the children. The princess turned herself into a whale and the prince into its fin. The queen became a shark, and they fought. The queen was killed.
Geirlug proposed returning to his father's kingdom. She transported them magically, and told him to bind a band with golden letters about his forehead and to not drink before he had spoken to his father. But on the way, it seemed to grow much longer, and it grew hot, and he became so thirsty that he drank from a stream and forgot Geirlug. His family welcomed him home.
Geirlug realized what had happened and went to work for a forester, to sweep and tend cows. She became famous for her beauty. When Grethari hunted in the woods, she hid from him, but one day Grethari caught her and offered to make her one of his mother's ladies-in-waiting. She told him to tie the calf for her, but the rope caught him and he could not get free until morning, at which he left her as a witch.
His father sent him to a neighboring country, to bring back a princess
False hero
The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is, therefore, always of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presents some claim to the position. By...
as a bride. On their return, a carriage was sent, but no horse; Grethari got an ox to pull it from a young woman who demanded three seats at the wedding, for her and her friends. It was Geirlaug, and she brought the forester's daughters and a closed basket. During the feast, she opened it, and a cock and hen flew out. The cock pecked at the hen, pulling out her tail feathers, and the hen asked, "Will you treat me as badly as Grethari treated Geirlug?" He remembered Geirlug and married her instead of the other princess.