orange fairy book

Chapter 37 Sigurd's Story
Long, long ago there was a King in the North, who had won many battles, but now he was old, though he had just married a new wife.A prince once wanted to marry this girl, and now he led troops to call.

The old king went out with his troops, and fought very bravely, but then the old king's dagger broke, and he was wounded, and his soldiers scattered in all directions.In the evening, when the battle was over, the old king's young wife came out and searched for him among the corpses, and at last found him, and asked him if he could be healed, and he said, "No." His luck was over, and the dagger was broken. , he must die.

The old king told his wife that she would have a son who would be a great warrior and would avenge him.The old king told her to put away the broken sword and forge a new sword for her son. The name of this sword was Gram.

The old king is dead.His wife called the maid over and said, "Let's change our clothes. You use my name and I use yours. Don't let the enemy find us."

They hid in the woods, and some strangers saw them, and took them in a ship, and brought them to Denmark, and brought them before the king.

The king thought that the maid looked like the queen, but the queen looked like a maid. He asked the queen, "How do you know it's almost morning when you are in the dark night?"

She replied, "I know, I have to get up at night to make a fire, and I'm awake at times like this."

"Strange queen, she has to rise to light a fire," thought the King.

Then he asked the queen, who was dressed like a handmaiden: "How do you know it's almost morning when you're in the dark of night?"

She replied, "My father gave me a gold ring, which became cold on my finger when the day was about to dawn."

"The maids wear gold jewellery, and they are really rich," said the king. "You are not a maid, you are the king's wife."

So he received her in royal fashion.

The days passed and she gave birth to a son named Sigurd.A handsome and strong son.

Sigurd has a governess.Once, the teacher told him to ask the king for a horse.

"Choose one yourself," said the king.

Sigurd went into the woods, met an old man with a white beard, and said, "Come, help me find a horse."

The old man said: "Drive all the horses into the river, and choose the horse that swims across the river."

Sigurd drove all the horses into the river and chose one.The horse's name was Granny, and it was the best horse in the world, with the blood of Odin, and it was as fast as the wind.

A day or two later, the teacher said to Sigurd again: "There is a treasure hidden not far from here. If you go, it will be yours."

Sigurd replied, "I have heard of this treasure, and I know that the giant Fafnir guards it, and the giant is evil, and no one dares to come near him."

"He is no bigger than the other dragons," said the teacher. "If you were as brave as your father, you would not be afraid of him."

"I'm not a coward," said Sigurd. "Why do you want me to fight this dragon?"

His teacher said that these treasures once belonged to his father, and his father had three sons, one named Fafnir, a giant in the shape of a dragon, the second named Ota, who sometimes turned into an otter, and the third It was himself, named Regin, a blacksmith who made iron swords.

The dwarf Andwana lived in a pond below a waterfall, where he hid a lot of gold.Otta went fishing there one day, caught a salmon, ate it, and slept on the stone like an otter.

Someone came, threw a stone and killed Ota, skinned him, and took him to Ota's father's house.Now, his father knew that his son was dead. In order to punish the man who killed his son, he told him to fill his son's skin with gold and cover it with pure gold, otherwise he would be rude to him.

The man seized the dwarf and took all these jewels.All the rings that the dwarf was wearing were taken away.

The poor dwarf was very proud, and cursed that these jewels would bring bad luck to their owner.

Ota's hide was stuffed with gold, and he was covered with gold, and one of his hairs was covered by the poor dwarf's last ring.

But jewelry did not bring good luck to anyone.At first it was Fafnir, the dragon giant who killed his father and left, indulging in the gold, not giving any of it to his younger brother, and no one dared to approach him again.

When Sigurd heard the story, he said to Regin, "Forge me a good sword, and I will slay the dragon."

Regin made a short sword, and Sigurd tried it on a piece of iron, and it broke.

Made another sword and broke it again.

Sigurd went to his mother, asked for his father's broken sword, and gave it to Regin.Regin forged a new sword out of it, so sharp that it looked like a flame was burning on the edge.

Sigurd tried the sword with an iron block, but it didn't break, and the iron block was cut in half.He threw a handful of wool into the river, and the wool ran down to the sword and was cut in two.

Sigurd said, this sword is fine.Before he went to fight the dragon, he took his troops to find the man who killed his father, avenged him, took all the wealth, and went home.

After staying at home for a few days, he rode away with Regin.At the edge of the heath where the giant used to lie, he saw a series of marks made by the giant when he went to the cliff to drink. The marks were as big as the river rushing through the valley that flowed down.

Sigurd continued to walk deeper, digging many traps along the way.He lay down in a trap, his short sword in hand, and waited.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and the dragon crawled to drink water, and sprayed a burst of poison from his nose. If he stood in front of him, he would be dead.

Sigurd waited until half of the dragon had climbed over the trap, then drew his short sword and hit the dragon in the heart.

The dragon flicked its tail, smashing stones and breaking tree trunks.

Then, he said, "Whoever kills me, this treasure will destroy him, and all who have it."

Sigurd said: "I have no treasure and I cannot die. Even if it were death, the warrior would not let death stop his wish. Go to death, Fafnir." Fafnir died.

Sigurd collected Fafnir's venom, skinned his dragon, and returned.

He met Regin, and Regin told him to roast Fafnir's heart, and Regin wanted to taste it.

So Sigurd put Fafnir's heart on a tree stump and roasted it. His fingers accidentally touched the heart and burned him.

He put his finger in his mouth and tasted Fafnir's heart.At this moment, he suddenly understood the language of all birds.

He heard the woodpecker say, "Sigurd is roasting Fafnir's heart, and he will have all his wisdom after eating it."

Said the second bird, "Ly there Regin is going to betray Sigurd, who trusts him so much."

The third bird said, "Let him cut off Regin's head, and take the gold alone."

"Then he rode to Hidfield, where Brynhild sleeps," said the fourth bird.

Sigurd heard it all, how Regin planned to betray him.He cut Regin's head off with his sword.

Then the birds sang together: "There is a beautiful girl, a beautiful girl in the dream, Sigurd, don't be afraid, Sigurd, go and win the girl's heart, and riches will always be with you. High High Sidfield, the red flames are flying, the girl lives there, she will love you, when you tame her, she sleeps soundly there, go wake her, get up now Let's run, don't be afraid of hardships and obstacles, you will never be separated from each other."

Sigurd remembered.In a place far away, there is a beautiful girl named Brynhildr, who has been cursed and has been sleeping in a castle surrounded by flames. If a warrior walks through the flames and wakes her up, she will die. You can wake up, or you have to stay asleep.

He was determined to go there.He first walked along the mark left by Fafnir.Fafnir lived in a burrow with an iron gate.The cave was full of gold bracelets, crowns, and rings.Sigurd also found a golden helmet, which made him invisible.He wrapped up the jewels, put them on his horse, and went south to Hidfield.

It was already night, and on the top of the mountain, Sigurd saw a red sea of ​​flames floating in the air. There was a castle in the sea of ​​flames, and a flag was hung on the tallest tower of the castle.

He charged his horse into the fire, and the horse leaped across it as easily as he leaped over the heather.When Sigurd reached the gate of the castle, he saw a sleeping man in armor.He took off his helmet and saw the most beautiful girl in the world.

She woke up and said, "Oh! It's Sigurd. You broke the spell and came to wake me?"

Long, long ago, she offended the god Odin, and he punished her by pricking her hand with a thorn, and she began to sleep for a long time.

She swore never to marry men who knew they were afraid to go through the flames to save her.She was a female warrior herself, hoping to rush to battle like a man.Now, she and Sigurd were in love and vowed mutual sincerity, and he gave her a ring, the last ring of the dwarf Andvarna.

Sigurd rode away, and he came to a king's palace.He had a beautiful daughter named Gudrun, whose mother was a witch.Gudrun fell in love with Sigurd, but he always mentioned Brinhilde, how beautiful she was, how lovely she was.

Later, Gudrun's mother put poppies and amnesiac medicine in the magic cup, deceiving Sigurd that it was good for his health, and told him to drink it.He drank it, forgot poor Brynhild at once, and fell in love with Gudrun.They are happily married.

The witch, Gudrun's mother, told her son Gunnar to marry Brinhilde, and told him to go with Sigurd and woo her.

They rode to her father's palace.

Sigurd has completely forgotten about Brynhilde after drinking, but she still loves him.

Her father told Gunnar that she would only marry someone who could walk through the flames at her door.They went, and Gunnar drove his horse to the sea of ​​fire, but the horse didn't even dare to look.Gunnar tried to ride Sigurd's horse Granny, but Gunnar was on its back and Granny didn't move.

Gunnar then remembered the magic his mother taught him, with which he transformed Sigurd into his likeness.Then Sigurd got on the horse and immediately the horse jumped over the flames, and Sigurd went in and saw Brynhildr, although of course he didn't remember her.

Now, Brinhild had no choice but to agree to marry Gunner.Sigurd, who became Gunnar, gave her a ring, and she gave him a ring, the same one he had given her before.Then he rode out, and they returned to the palace, where Sigurd gave the ring to his wife, Gudrun.

Brynhildr went to her father and said that a man named Gunnar had passed through the fire and she had to marry him.She said: "I still feel that no one can do it except Sigurd. He is my real love. But he has forgotten me. I have to keep my promise."

So Gunnar and Brynhilder married, though it wasn't Gunnar who crossed the flames at all.

When the wedding was over, the witch's potion faded from Sigurd's mind, and he remembered everything.He remembered that he had broken Brynhildr's spell, that he had loved her, had forgotten her, had married another woman, and helped another man to marry Brynhildr.

But he didn't say it, which made everyone unhappy.Nor was he free from the curse that made the possessor of the treasure unlucky, and the golden ring that brought misfortune.

The spell came quickly.One day, Brynhildr and Gunnar went to take a bath, and Brynhilder walked away, saying that she wanted to show Gunner that she was braver than him, even though her husband had crossed a sea of ​​​​fire that no one dared to face .

Gunnar was very angry, saying that it was Sigurd who crossed the flames and got the unlucky ring, not Gunnar.

Then Brynhild saw the ring in Gudrun's hand.She knew it all, and immediately turned pale, and went home.Didn't speak all night.

The next day, she told Gunnar that he was a coward and a liar, and she dared not go through the fire, so she asked Sigurd to help him and pretended to be herself.She said that he should never expect to see her smiling face where he was with her. She didn't drink, play chess, embroider, or speak nice words.Then she tore all the embroidery to shreds and cried so loudly that everyone heard her cry, her heart and her pride were shattered at the same time.

She lost her true love, Sigurd, the dragon-slaying warrior, to a con man.

Sigurd came to comfort her, but she cried and said she wished the dagger was in his heart.He replied: "You won't have to wait long, I'm dead, and you won't live long. Dear Brinhilde, live, be happy, love Gunnar, love your husband, I give all All the riches you get from the dragon will be given to you."

"It was too late," Brynhield said.

Sigurd's grief overflowed his chest, cracking his armor.

Sigurd was out, and Brinhild mixed wolf meat with snake venom and gave it to her husband's brother, who tasted it and went mad.He then went to Sigurd's room, where Sigurd was sleeping, and he nailed Sigurd to the bed with one blow of his sword.

Sigurd woke up, grabbed the short sword, Gram stabbed his hand, and tried to run, but was cut in two by the short sword thrown by Sigurd.

Sigurd was also dead, the dragon slayer, ten men would not have been able to kill him in a fair fight.

Then Gudrun wakes up and cries when he sees Sigurd dead, and Brynhild hears it and laughs.The good and loyal horse Granny also fell down sadly and died.Then, Brynhildr cried, and cried until her heart broke.

Afterwards Sigurd was clothed with his golden armor, and a great deal of wood was piled upon his deck.At night they put the dead Brynhildr and Sigurd and Granny in the boat, lit a fire, and launched the boat.

The wind blew the flames out to sea, where they burned in the dark.Sigurd and Brynhild died together.The prophecy of the dwarf god Andwana was fulfilled.

(End of this chapter)