The Three Princesses of Whiteland

Long ago there was a fisherman who lived near a palace and caught fish for the king’s table. One day he went out fishing and caught nothing at all. Whatever he did, however he tried with bait and line, not so much as a sprat would bite. But late in the day, a head bobbed up out of the water and said, “If I may have what your wife carries under her belt, you shall catch fish enough.”

The man boldly answered, “Yes,” for he did not know that his wife was expecting a baby. After that, as you might guess, he caught plenty of fish of every kind.

But when he got home that night and told how he had come by so many fish, his wife burst into tears and wailed and was beside herself over his promise. “I am carrying a baby,” she said.

The news soon spread up to the castle, and when the king heard of the woman’s grief and its cause, he sent word that he would take care of the child and see if he could save it.

The months passed, and when her time came, the fisherman’s wife had a boy. The king took him at once and raised him as his own son until he was grown. Then one day the young man begged to go fishing with his father; he wanted to so badly, he said. At first the king would not hear of it, but at last the lad got his way.

He and his father were out all day, and everything went well until they came ashore that evening. Then the lad realized he had left his handkerchief in the boat and went back for it. But as soon as he stepped aboard, the boat shot off with him so fast that the water roared under the bow, and no matter how hard he rowed against it, it was no use. On and on he went all night, until at last he reached a white beach far, far away.

He went ashore, and after walking a little way, he met a very old man with a long white beard. “What is this country called?” asked the lad.

“Whiteland,” said the old man, and he asked where the lad came from and what he meant to do. The lad told him everything.

“Well, well,” said the old man. “When you have walked a bit farther along the shore, you will come to three princesses buried in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads showing. The first, the eldest, will call out and beg you very sweetly to come and help her, and the second will do the same. Don’t go to either of them. Hurry past as if you neither saw nor heard a thing. But go to the third and do what she asks. If you do that, you’ll have good luck.”

When the lad came to the first princess, she called to him and begged him sweetly to come to her, but he walked past as if he did not see her. He passed the second the same way. But he went straight up to the third.

“If you will do what I tell you,” she said, “you may have whichever of us you like.”

He was quite willing. So she told him that three trolls had buried them there, though they used to live in the castle up among the trees. “Now,” she said, “you must go into that castle and let the trolls beat you, one night for each of us. If you can bear it, you will set us free.”

The lad said he was ready to try.

“When you go in,” the princess went on, “you will see two lions standing at the gate, but if you walk right down the middle between them, they won’t hurt you. Then go straight into a little dark room and make your bed there. The troll will come to beat you, but if you take the flask that hangs on the wall and rub yourself with the ointment inside, you will be healed wherever his lash has fallen. Then seize the sword that hangs beside the flask and strike the troll down.”

He did just as the princess said. He walked between the lions as if he hadn’t seen them, went straight into the little room and lay down to sleep. The first night a troll came with three heads and three rods and gave him a sound beating, but he stood it until the troll had finished. Then he took the flask, rubbed on the ointment, seized the sword and slew the troll.

When he went out the next morning, the princesses had risen out of the earth up to their waists.

The next night it was the same, only this time the troll had six heads and six rods, and he beat the lad much worse than the first. But the next morning, the princesses stood out of the earth up to their knees.

The third night came a troll with nine heads and nine rods, and he beat the lad so long and so hard that he fainted. Then the troll picked him up and flung him against the wall. But the jolt knocked down the flask, which fell on the lad, broke and spilled the ointment all over him, and he was strong and well at once. He wasted no time. He seized the sword and slew the troll, and the next morning, when he came out of the castle, the princesses stood before him, free of the earth entirely. So he took the youngest as his queen and lived happily with her for some time.

At last he began to long to go home for a while and see his parents. His queen did not like the idea, but his heart was so set on it and he longed so much that there was no holding him back. So she said, “You must promise me one thing: to do only what your father asks you to do, and not what your mother wants.” And he promised.

Then she gave him a ring that would grant whoever wore it two wishes. He wished himself home, and when he arrived, his parents could not get over what a grand man their son had become.

After he had been home a few days, his mother wanted him to go up to the palace and show the king what a fine fellow he had turned out to be. But his father said, “No! Don’t let him. If he goes, we won’t have any more joy of him this time.”

It did no good. His mother begged and pleaded so long that at last he went. When he reached the palace, he was far grander in clothes and finery than the old king, who did not much like that. At last the king said, “All very fine, but here you can see my queen and what she looks like, while I can’t see yours. Do you know, I hardly think she can be as good-looking as mine.”

“I wish to heaven she were standing here,” said the young king, “then you’d see what she looks like.” And at that very moment, there she stood before them.

But she was very sad. “Why didn’t you remember what I told you?” she said. “And why didn’t you listen to your father? Now I must go home, and you have used up both your wishes.” Then she knotted a ring into his hair with her name on it, wished herself home and was gone.

The young king was heartbroken. Day in and day out, he thought and thought about how he could get back to his queen. “I’ll try to find out where Whiteland lies,” he decided, and he set out into the world to ask.

After traveling a long way, he came to a high hill, and there he met a man who was lord of all the beasts of the forest, for they all came to him when he blew his horn. The king asked if he knew where Whiteland was.

“No, I don’t,” said the man, “but I’ll ask my beasts.” He blew his horn and called them and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland lay, but not one beast knew. So the man gave the king a pair of snowshoes. “Put these on,” he said, “and they will take you to my brother, who lives hundreds of miles away. He is lord of all the birds of the air. Ask him. When you reach his house, just turn the shoes around so the toes point this way, and they will come home by themselves.”

When the king reached the house, he turned the shoes as he had been told, and off they went home by themselves. Then he asked about Whiteland, and the man called all the birds with a blast on his horn and asked if any of them knew where it was, but none did. Long, long after the rest, an old eagle came flying in. He had been away for ten whole years, but he knew no more than the others.

“Well, well,” said the man. “I’ll lend you a pair of snowshoes that will carry you to my brother, hundreds of miles from here. He is lord of all the fish in the sea. You had better ask him. But don’t forget to turn the toes of the shoes this way.”

The king thanked him warmly, put on the shoes, and when he reached the lord of the fish, he turned the toes around, and off they went home like the first pair. Then he asked about Whiteland. The man called the fish with a blast on his horn, but no fish could say where it lay, until at last an old pike arrived, who had been very hard to call because he was so far away.

“Know it? I should think I do!” said the pike. “I’ve been cook there for ten years, and tomorrow I’m going back. The Queen of Whiteland, whose king is away, is about to marry another husband.”

“Since that’s so,” said the man, “I’ll give you a piece of advice. On a moor near here, three brothers have stood for a hundred years quarreling over a hat, a cloak and a pair of boots. Whoever has all three can make himself invisible and wish himself anywhere he likes. Tell them you want to try the things, and that afterward you will judge whose they should be.”

The king thanked the man and did as he said. “What’s all this?” he asked the brothers. “Why do you stand here fighting forever and a day? Let me try these things, and I’ll decide whose they should be.” They were very willing, but as soon as he had the hat, the cloak and the boots, he said, “Next time we meet, I’ll tell you my decision,” and with that he wished himself away.

As he sped along through the air, he caught up with the North Wind. “Where are you off to?” roared the North Wind.

“To Whiteland,” said the king, and he told him everything that had happened.

“Ah,” said the North Wind, “you travel faster than I do, for you can go straight, while I have to puff and blow around every turn and corner. But when you get there, stand on the steps beside the door. I’ll come storming in as if I meant to blow the whole castle down, and when the prince who is to marry your queen comes out to see what’s the matter, grab him by the collar and throw him out the door. I’ll take care of him and carry him off.”

The king did just as the North Wind said. He took his place on the steps, and when the North Wind came storming and roaring and seized the castle wall until it shook, the prince came out to see what was happening. The moment he appeared, the king caught him by the collar and threw him out the door, and the North Wind snatched him up and swept him far away.

Then the king went into the castle. At first his queen did not know him, he was so pale and thin from wandering so far and grieving so long. But when he showed her the ring, she was as glad as glad could be, and the rightful wedding was held, and the fame of it spread far and wide.

About this story

“The Three Princesses of Whiteland” is a Norwegian folk tale from the collection of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, which George Webbe Dasent translated in Popular Tales from the Norse (1859). It brings together many favorite fairy-tale ideas: a careless promise to a creature from the sea, a test of courage in a troll castle, a broken promise and a long search with help from the lords of the beasts, birds and fish.

The quarrel over a magic hat, cloak and boots gives the returning king his final means of travel. He takes the objects after promising to settle their ownership, a trick the ending leaves unexamined.

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

Suggested for ages 9–12 with an adult: includes princesses trapped in the earth, severe beatings, trolls killed and a rival swept away by the wind.

Which promises does the hero respect?

The young king carefully returns both borrowed pairs of snowshoes. Later he borrows the disputed clothes on a promise to judge their ownership, then escapes with them. The happy ending does not resolve that debt. This makes the tale more complicated than a rule that every broken promise is punished.

The queen’s warning is specific to this magical journey, not a reason to trust fathers and distrust mothers in general. His boast at the palace spends the remaining wish. At the reunion the rival is swept away, although this telling gives little evidence about what that man knows or intends.

Make an obligation ledger

List the fisherman’s bargain, the queen’s warning, the two loans of shoes and the promise to the quarrelling brothers. For each, record who agrees, who bears the cost and whether the obligation is fulfilled. Which consequences fall on someone who did not make the original bargain?

Questions to ask

• Why did the old man tell the lad to go only to the third princess?
• What promise did the young king break, and what happened because of it?
• How did the lords of the beasts, birds and fish help him?

Related stories

• East of the Sun and West of the Moon — another long Norwegian search helped by the winds
• Soria Moria Castle — another Norwegian hero who rescues princesses from trolls
• The Lassie and Her Godmother — another Norwegian tale of a broken promise