The Blue Belt
The Blue Belt is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr. It is Aarne-Thompson type 590.[1]
Plot summary
A beggar woman and her son were returning home when he saw a blue belt. She forbade him to pick it up, but after a time, he sneaked away from her and got it; it made him feel as strong as a giant. When she had to rest, he climbed a crag and saw light; he came down to his mother to suggest they seek shelter there. When she could go no further, he carried her, but she saw that the house was that of trolls. He insisted, and she fainted. A 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) old man was within; the boy called him "grandfather" and he said he had been sitting there three hundred years without anyone calling grandfather. They talked, and the old man prepared supper for them by killing an oxen with one hand.
At night, the boy got the cradle, and the old man gave his mother the bed. The old man told the mother that if they got rid of her son, they could live happily together; he promised to crush the boy under rocks at the quarry. The boy went with him, the next day, but the boy was unhurt and rolled a stone on the troll that crushed his leg. The troll told the boy's mother that he had a garden with twelve lions in that would tear him to pieces. The mother pretended to be sick and sent him for lion's milk, but there, the boy dashed the biggest to pieces, cowing the others, and got the milk. The troll swore he didn't believe it, but the boy tossed him to the eleven lions, which had come with him, and then rescued him.
The troll then told the old woman that he had two brothers twelve times his strength; that was why he was here, having been turned out of their home. They had apples that would make someone sleep for three days and three nights, and the boy would be unable to keep from eating them. The old woman sent her son to get her apples from their garden. He went, with the lions, ate some apples, and slept. On the third day, the brothers came, but the lions tore them to pieces. He found a princess that they had carried off. She gave him one of the troll's swords. After they lived together for a time, she decided to let her parents know what had happened to her, and sailed off.
He went to see his mother and the troll; she asked for his secret, he revealed the belt, and she tore it off. She and the troll put out his eyes and put him adrift in a small boat. The lions dragged the boat ashore on an island. One day, a lion chased a blind hare, but it fell into a spring, and after that could avoid things in its path. The lions dunked the boy in the spring, and he regained his sight. He had the lions bring him back and then stole the belt again. He punished his mother and the troll and set out to find the princess.
The sailors stopped and found an enormous egg. They could not break it, but the boy could. A chick came out. He told the sailors to sail very quickly and leave the boat. A great bird came and sank all the ships. The boy cut its head off.
The boy disguised himself as a bear, and as a dancing bear was brought to court. The king brought him to the princess, and he revealed himself to her. Then he came as himself and told the king he wanted to find the princess. The king warned him that whoever did not find her within a day would be killed. The boy insisted and then led him to the princess. The princess told the king that the boy had rescued her, and so they married.
References
- D. L. Ashliman, The Blue Belt: Norway, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe