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Once upon
a time...
There lived a poor knight who had a great many children, and
found it very hard to get enough for them to eat. One day he sent
his eldest son, Rosald, a brave and honest youth, to the
neighbouring town to do some business, and here Rosald met a young
man named Geirald, with whom he made friends.
Now Geirald was the son of a rich man, who was proud of the boy, and
had all his life allowed him to do whatever he fancied, and, luckily
for the father, he was prudent and sensible, and did not waste
money, as many other rich young men might have done. For some time
he had set his heart on travelling into foreign countries, and after
he had been talking for a little while to Rosald, he asked if his
new friend would be his companion on his journey.
'There is nothing I should like better,' answered Rosald, shaking
his head sorrowfully; 'but my father is very poor, and he could
never give me the money.'
'Oh, if that is your only difficulty, it is all right,' cried
Geirald. 'My father has more money than he knows what to do with,
and he will give me as much as I want for both of us; only, there is
one thing you must promise me, Rosald, that, supposing we have any
adventures, you will let the honour and glory of them fall to me.'
'Yes, of course, that is only fair,' answered Rosald, who never
cared about putting himself forward. 'But I cannot go without
telling my parents. I am sure they will think me lucky to get such a
chance.'
As soon as the business was finished, Rosald hastened home. His
parents were delighted to hear of his good fortune, and his father
gave him his own sword, which was growing rusty for want of use,
while his mother saw that his leather jerkin was in order.
'Be sure you keep the promise you made to Geirald,' said she, as she
bade him good-bye, 'and, come what may, see that you never betray
him.'
Full of joy Rosald rode off, and the next day he and Geirald started
off to seek adventures. To their disappointment their own land was
so well governed that nothing out of the common was very likely to
happen, but directly they crossed the border into another kingdom
all seemed lawlessness and confusion.
They had not gone very far, when, riding across a mountain, they
caught a glimpse of several armed men hiding amongst some trees in
their path, and remembered suddenly some talk they had heard of a
band of twelve robbers who lay in wait for rich travellers. The
robbers were more like savage beasts than men, and lived somewhere
at the top of the mountain in caves and holes in the ground. They
were all called 'Hankur,' and were distinguished one from another by
the name of a colour--blue, grey, red, and so on, except their
chief, who was known as Hankur the Tall. All this and more rushed
into the minds of the two young men as they saw the flash of their
swords in the moonlight.
'It is impossible to fight them--they are twelve to two,' whispered
Geirald, stopping his horse in the path. 'We had much better ride
back and take the lower road. It would be stupid to throw away our
lives like this.'
'Oh, we can't turn back,' answered Rosald, 'we should be ashamed to
look anyone in the face again! And, besides, it is a grand
opportunity to show what we are made of. Let us tie up our horses
here, and climb up the rocks so that we can roll stones down on
them.'
'Well, we might try that, and then we shall always have our horses,'
said Geirald. So they went up the rocks silently and carefully.
The robbers were lying all ready, expecting every moment to see
their victims coming round the corner a few yards away, when a
shower of huge stones fell on their heads, killing half the band.
The others sprang up the rock, but as they reached the top the sword
of Rosald swung round, and one man after another rolled down into
the valley. At last the chief managed to spring up, and, grasping
Rosald by the waist, flung away his sword, and the two fought
desperately, their bodies swaying always nearer the edge. It seemed
as if Rosald, being the smaller of the two, MUST fall over, when,
with his left hand, he drew the robber's sword out of its sheath and
plunged it into his heart. Then he took from the dead man a
beautiful ring set with a large stone, and put it on his own finger.
The fame of this wonderful deed soon spread through the country, and
people would often stop Geirald's horse, and ask leave to see the
robber's ring, which was said to have been stolen from the father of
the reigning king. And Geirald showed them the ring with pride, and
listened to their words of praise, and no one would ever have
guessed anyone else had destroyed the robbers.
In a few days they left the kingdom and rode on to another, where
they thought they would stop through the remainder of the winter,
for Geirald liked to be comfortable, and did not care about
travelling through ice and snow. But the king would only grant them
leave to stop on condition that, before the winter was ended, they
should give him some fresh proof of the courage of which he had
heard so much. Rosald's heart was glad at the king's message, and as
for Geirald, he felt that as long as Rosald was there all would go
well. So they both bowed low and replied that it was the king's
place to command and theirs to obey.
'Well, then,' said his Majesty, 'this is what I want you to do: In
the north-east part of my kingdom there dwells a giant, who has an
iron staff twenty yards long, and he is so quick in using it, that
even fifty knights have no chance against him. The bravest and
strongest young men of my court have fallen under the blows of that
staff; but, as you overcame the twelve robbers so easily, I feel
that I have reason to hope that you may be able to conquer the
giant. In three days from this you will set out.'
'We will be ready, your Majesty,' answered Rosald; but Geirald
remained silent.
'How can we possibly fight against a giant that has killed fifty
knights?' cried Geirald, when they were outside the castle. 'The
king only wants to get rid of us! He won't think about us for the
next three days--that is one comfort--so we shall have plenty of
time to cross the borders of the kingdom and be out of reach.'
'We mayn't be able to kill the giant, but we certainly can't run
away till we have tried,' answered Rosald. 'Besides, think how
glorious it will be if we DO manage to kill him! I know what sort of
weapon I shall use. Come with me now, and I will see about it.' And,
taking his friend by the arm, he led him into a shop where he bought
a huge lump of solid iron, so big that they could hardly lift it
between them. However, they just managed to carry it to a
blacksmith's where Rosald directed that it should be beaten into a
thick club, with a sharp spike at one end. When this was done to his
liking he took it home under his arm.
Very early on the third morning the two young men started on their
journey, and on the fourth day they reached the giant's cave before
he was out of bed. Hearing the sound of footsteps, the giant got up
and went to the entrance to see who was coming, and Rosald,
expecting something of the sort, struck him such a blow on the
forehead that he fell to the ground. Then, before he could rise to
his feet again, Rosald drew out his sword and cut off his head.
'It was not so difficult after all, you see,' he said, turning to
Geirald. And placing the giant's head in a leathern wallet which was
slung over his back, they began their journey to the castle.
As they drew near the gates, Rosald took the head from the wallet
and handed it to Geirald, whom he followed into the king's presence.
'The giant will trouble you no more,' said Geirald, holding out the
head. And the king fell on his neck and kissed him, and cried
joyfully that he was the 'bravest knight in all the world, and that
a feast should be made for him and Rosald, and that the great deed
should be proclaimed throughout the kingdom.' And Geirald's heart
swelled with pride, and he almost forgot that it was Rosald and not
he, who had slain the giant.
By-and-by a whisper went round that a beautiful lady who lived in
the castle would be present at the feast, with twenty-four lovely
maidens, her attendants. The lady was the queen of her own country,
but as her father and mother had died when she was a little girl,
she had been left in the care of this king who was her uncle.
She was now old enough to govern her own kingdom, but her subjects
did not like being ruled by a woman, and said that she must find a
husband to help her in managing her affairs. Prince after prince had
offered himself, but the young queen would have nothing to say to
any of them, and at last told her ministers that if she was to have
a husband at all she must choose him for herself, as she would
certainly not marry any of those whom they had selected for her. The
ministers replied that in that case she had better manage her
kingdom alone, and the queen, who knew nothing about business, got
things into such a confusion that at last she threw them up
altogether, and went off to her uncle.
Now when she heard how the two young men had slain the giant, her
heart was filled with admiration of their courage, and she declared
that if a feast was held she would certainly be present at it.
And so she was; and when the feast was over she asked the king, her
guardian, if he would allow the two heroes who had killed the
robbers and slain the giant to fight a tourney the next day with one
of her pages. The king gladly gave his consent, and ordered the
lists to be made ready, never doubting that two great champions
would be eager for such a chance of adding to their fame. Little did
he guess that Geirald had done all he could to persuade Rosald to
steal secretly out of the castle during the night, 'for,' said he,
'I don't believe they are pages at all, but well-proved knights, and
how can we, so young and untried, stand up against them?'
'The honour will be all the higher if we gain the day,' answered
Rosald; but Geirald would listen to nothing, and only declared that
he did not care about honour, and would rather be alive than have
every honour in the world heaped upon him. Go he would, and as
Rosald had sworn to give him his company, he must come with him.
Rosald was much grieved when he heard these words, but he knew that
it was useless attempting to persuade Geirald, and turned his
thoughts to forming some plan to prevent this disgraceful flight.
Suddenly his face brightened. 'Let us change clothes,' he said, 'and
I will do the fighting, while you shall get the glory. Nobody will
ever know.' And to this Geirald readily consented.
Whether Geirald was right or not in thinking that the so-called page
was really a well-proved knight, it is certain that Rosald's task
was a very hard one. Three times they came together with a crash
which made their horses reel; once Rosald knocked the helmet off his
foe, and received in return such a blow that he staggered in his
saddle. Shouts went up from the lookers-on, as first one and then
the other seemed gaining the victory; but at length Rosald planted
his spear in the armour which covered his adversary's breast and
bore him steadily backward. 'Unhorsed! unhorsed!' cried the people;
and Rosald then himself dismounted and helped his adversary to rise.
In the confusion that followed it was easy for Rosald to slip away
and return Geirald his proper clothes. And in these, torn and dusty
with the fight, Geirald answered the king's summons to come before
him.
'You have done what I expected you to do,' said he, 'and now, choose
your reward.'
'Grant me, sire, the hand of the queen, your niece,' replied the
young man, bowing low, 'and I will defend her kingdom against all
her enemies.'
'She could choose no better husband,' said the king, 'and if she
consents I do.' And he turned towards the queen, who had not been
present during the fight, but had just slipped into a seat by his
right hand. Now the queen's eyes were very sharp, and it seemed to
her that the man who stood before her, tall and handsome though he
might be, was different in many slight ways, and in one in
particular, from the man who had fought the tourney. How there could
be any trickery she could not understand, and why the real victor
should be willing to give up his prize to another was still
stranger; but something in her heart warned her to be careful. She
answered: 'You may be satisfied, uncle, but I am not. One more proof
I must have; let the two young men now fight against each other. The
man I marry must be the man who killed the robbers and the giant,
and overcame my page.' Geirald's face grew pale as he heard these
words. He knew there was no escape from him now, though he did not
doubt for one moment that Rosald would keep his compact loyally to
the last. But how would it be possible that even Rosald should
deceive the watchful eyes of the king and his court, and still more
those of the young queen whom he felt uneasily had suspected him
from the first?
The tourney was fought, and in spite of Geirald's fears Rosald
managed to hang back to make attacks which were never meant to
succeed, and to allow strokes which he could easily have parried to
attain their end. At length, after a great show of resistance, he
fell heavily to the ground. And as he fell he knew that it was not
alone the glory that was his rightfully which he gave up, but the
hand of the queen that was more precious still.
But Geirald did not even wait to see if he was wounded; he went
straight to the wall where the royal banner waved and claimed the
reward which was now his.
The crowd of watchers turned towards the queen, expecting to see her
stoop and give some token to the victor. Instead, to the surprise of
everyone, she merely smiled gracefully, and said that before she
bestowed her hand one more test must be imposed, but this should be
the last. The final tourney should be fought; Geirald and Rosald
should meet singly two knights of the king's court, and he who could
unhorse his foe should be master of herself and of her kingdom. The
combat was fixed to take place at ten o'clock the following day.
All night long Geirald walked about his room, not daring to face the
fight that lay in front of him, and trying with all his might to
discover some means of escaping it. All night long he moved
restlessly from door to window; and when the trumpets sounded, and
the combatants rode into the field, he alone was missing. The king
sent messengers to see what had become of him, and he was found,
trembling with fear, hiding under his bed. After that there was no
need of any further proof. The combat was declared unnecessary, and
the queen pronounced herself quite satisfied, and ready to accept
Rosald as her husband.
'You forgot one thing,' she said, when they were alone. 'I
recognized my father's ring which Hankur the Tall had stolen, on the
finger of your right hand, and I knew that it was you and not
Geirald who had slain the robber band. I was the page who fought
you, and again I saw the ring on your finger, though it was absent
from his when he stood before me to claim the prize. That was why I
ordered the combat between you, though your faith to your word
prevented my plan being successful, and I had to try another. The
man who keeps his promise at all costs to himself is the man I can
trust, both for myself and for my people.'
So they were married, and returned to their own kingdom, which they
ruled well and happily. And many years after a poor beggar knocked
at the palace gates and asked for money, for the sake of days gone
by--and this was Geirald.
How Geirald The Coward
Was Punished
from the Brown Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
