The Lassie and Her Godmother

Long ago, a poor couple lived far, far away in a great forest. The wife gave birth to a pretty baby girl, but they were so poor that they had no money to pay the priest to christen her. So one day the father set out to find someone willing to be the baby’s godparent and pay the fee. He walked from house to house all day long, and everyone was happy to be godparent, but no one felt it was their job to pay.

On his way home, he met a lovely lady, beautifully dressed, who looked thoroughly good and kind. She offered to have the baby christened, but afterward, she said, she must keep the child as her own. The husband said he must first ask his wife, but when he got home and told her, she said straight out, “No!”

The next day the man went out and tried everyone a second time, but no one would be godparent if they had to pay, and though he begged and pleaded, he found no help. Toward evening, on his way home, the same lovely lady met him, looking just as sweet and good, and made him the same offer. He told his wife how things had gone, and this time she said that if he couldn’t find anyone tomorrow, they would have to let the lady have her way, since she seemed so kind.

On the third day, the man could find no one at all. So when he met the kind lady that evening, he promised she should have the baby if only she would have it christened. The next morning she came to their home with two men to be godfathers, took the baby to church and had her christened. Then she took the little girl to her own house, and there the child lived with her for several years, and her foster mother was always kind and loving to her.

When the girl was old enough to know right from wrong, her foster mother got ready to go on a journey. “You may go anywhere in the house,” she said, “except these rooms that I show you.” Then off she went.

But the girl couldn’t resist opening one of the doors just a tiny bit, and POP! out flew a star.

When her foster mother came home, she was very upset to find that the star had flown out. She was angry with the girl and threatened to send her away, but the child cried and pleaded so hard that she was allowed to stay.

After a while, the foster mother had to go on another journey, and before she left, she forbade the girl to go into the two rooms she had not yet entered. The girl promised to be careful. But once she was alone, she began to wonder what could be in the second room, until at last she couldn’t help opening the door a crack to peek in, and POP! out flew the moon.

When her foster mother came home and found the moon gone, she was very sad and told the girl she must leave; she could not stay any longer. But the girl wept so bitterly and begged so earnestly to be forgiven that this time, too, she was allowed to stay.

Some time later, the foster mother had to go away once more, and she warned the girl, who was now half grown, as seriously as she could that she must not go into the third room, or even peek inside. But when her foster mother had been gone a while and the girl grew tired of wandering around alone, she suddenly thought, “Oh, what fun it would be to take just a little peek into that third room!” Then she told herself she mustn’t, for her foster mother’s sake. But when the thought came back, she could hold out no longer. Come what may, she must look into that room. So she opened the door just a crack, and POP! out flew the sun.

When her foster mother came home and saw that the sun had flown away, she was heartbroken. “There’s no help for it now,” she said. “You must go. I cannot let you stay any longer.” The girl cried her eyes out and begged and pleaded, but it was no use.

“No, I must punish you,” said her foster mother. “But you may choose. Either you will be the loveliest woman in the world and unable to speak, or you will keep your voice and be the ugliest woman of all. But you must leave me.”

“I would rather be lovely,” said the girl. At once she became wonderfully beautiful, but she could not speak a word.

When she left her foster mother, she walked and wandered through a great, great forest, but the farther she went, the farther away its end seemed to be. When evening came, she climbed a tall tree that grew over a spring and settled down there to sleep for the night.

Near the spring stood a castle, and early every morning a maid came out from it to draw water from the spring for the Prince’s tea. The maid looked down into the spring, saw the lovely face reflected in the water and thought it was her own. She threw down her pitcher and ran back, tossing her head. “If I’m that pretty,” she said, “I’m far too good to fetch water.”

So another maid was sent for the water, but the same thing happened to her. She came back saying she was much too pretty and too fine to fetch water for the Prince. Then the Prince went himself, for he wanted to see what all this meant. When he reached the spring, he too saw the face in the water, but he looked up at once and saw the lovely girl sitting in the tree. He coaxed her down and took her home, and at last he decided to make her his queen because she was so lovely. But his mother, who was still living, was against it. “She can’t speak,” she said, “and for all we know she may be a wicked witch.”

But the Prince would not rest until he had married her. After they had been together for a while, the young queen was expecting a child, and when the baby was born, the Prince set a strong guard around her. But at the birth, every one of the guards fell into a deep sleep. The foster mother came, carried off the baby and left things looking as if the young queen herself had harmed her own child. “Now you shall grieve as I did when you let out the star,” she said.

When the guards woke up, they believed the young queen had done away with her baby. The old queen wanted her put to death, but the Prince loved her so much that he pleaded for her life, and only with great difficulty did he save her.

The next time the young queen had a baby, the guard was twice as strong, but the very same thing happened. This time her foster mother said, “Now you shall grieve as I did when you let out the moon.” The young queen begged and pleaded and wept, for when her foster mother was there, she could speak. But it did no good.

Now the old queen said she must die, but the Prince found a way to save her a second time. When the third baby was born, the guard was three times as strong as the first, yet exactly the same thing happened. While the guards slept, the foster mother came, took the baby and made it look as though the queen were guilty, telling her that now she would grieve as the foster mother had when the girl let out the sun.

This time the Prince could not save her. She was condemned to die. But just as they were leading her out, they suddenly saw her foster mother coming with all three children, two holding her hands and the third in her arms. She went up to the young queen and said, “Here are your children. You shall have them back now. I am the Virgin Mary. As much as you have grieved, so much did I grieve when you let out the sun, the moon and the star. Now you have been punished for what you did, and from now on you shall have your voice.”

How happy the Queen and the Prince were, anyone can imagine, but no one can describe. They were happy all their lives, and even the Prince’s mother grew very fond of the young queen.

About this story

“The Lassie and Her Godmother” comes from George Webbe Dasent’s Popular Tales from the Norse (1859), his translation of Norwegian tales collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is a Norwegian version of a tale also known from the Brothers Grimm as “Mary’s Child,” in which a girl breaks a holy promise and must suffer in silence before she is forgiven.

The young queen’s babies are taken, evidence is arranged against her and she is condemned to death. The ending restores them, but readers can still question the severity and fairness of the foster mother’s methods. This version does not end with a confession of dishonesty.

Read the original: Popular Tales from the Norse (Project Gutenberg)

For older readers: includes removal of speech, stolen babies, a false accusation of harming them and a death sentence.

Who controls the chance to explain?

The foster mother removes the girl’s ordinary speech, then arranges evidence that makes her seem to have harmed her babies. She can speak only when that same powerful figure appears. The punishment therefore creates the silence later used against her; the court never gets a fair account.

The ending restores children and voice, but it does not require a confession of lying. Reading the tale as an uncomplicated lesson in honesty misses that structure. Its portrayal of the Virgin Mary belongs to this particular religious folktale, not a general instruction about just punishment.

Compare the consequences

Match the star, moon and sun with the three missing children. Explain the parallel the foster mother claims, then ask whether a parallel makes the punishment proportionate. What could the prince investigate instead of accepting the staged evidence?

Think about it

• Why do you think the girl kept opening the forbidden doors?
• What choice did her foster mother give her, and what would you have chosen?
• Why was the young queen given her children back in the end?

More stories like this

• East of the Sun and West of the Moon — another Norwegian heroine who must make up for a mistake
• The Three Princesses of Whiteland — another Norwegian tale of a broken promise
• Prince Lindworm — another queen whose patience is tested