Stefan and Geirald
ONCE UPON A TIME there was a son of a poor knight whose name was Stefan. The young man was sent by his father to town to do some business. Here Stefan met another young man, the son of a merchant. His name was Geirald and the two of them became friends.
For some time, Geirald had set his heart on traveling into foreign countries. After he had been talking for awhile to Stefan, he asked if his new friend would travel with him on his journey.
"There is nothing I would like better!" said Stefan. Then he shook his head sorrowfully. "But my father is poor and he could never spare me the money to travel."
"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. He will give me as much as I want for both of us. Only there is one thing you must promise me, Geirald. Supposing we have any adventures, you need to let the honor and glory of them fall to me."
“Only there is one thing you must promise me, Geirald.”
"Yes, of course, that is only fair," answered Stefan. "But I cannot leave without telling my parents. I’m sure they will think me lucky to get such a chance."
Indeed, Stefan's parents were delighted to hear of his good fortune. His father gave him his own sword, which was growing rusty for want of use. 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 excitement, Stefan rode off. 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 ordinary was likely to happen. But soon they crossed the border into another kingdom where all seemed lawlessness and confusion.
Soon they crossed the border into another kingdom where all seemed lawlessness and confusion.
They had not gone far when, riding across a mountain, they caught a glimpse of several armed men hiding amongst some trees in their path. Suddenly they remembered some talk they had heard before of a band of twelve robbers who lay in wait for rich travelers.
The robbers were more like savage beasts than men. They lived on the mountainside in caves and in holes in the ground. The robbers' band was called 'Hankur' and their chief 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 swords in the moonlight.
"It's impossible to fight them! There could be up to a dozen robbers waiting for us," whispered Geirald, stopping his horse in the path. "'We had better ride back to save our lives!"
"Oh, we can't turn back," answered Stefan, "these robbers have terrorized this land for years. Let's tie our horses here and climb up the rocks so we can roll stones down on them."
“Oh, we can’t turn back,” answered Stefan.
"Well, we might try that, and then we could always return to our horses," said Geirald. Silently and carefully, they climbed up the rocks.
The robbers were indeed waiting, expecting every moment to see their victims coming round the corner a few yards away. Suddenly, a shower of huge stones fell on their heads.
Dazed, the Hankur band was not difficult for Stefan and Geirald to defeat. Stefan wrestled in hand-to-hand combat with chief Hankur the Tall himself, finally defeating him, too. Then Stefan took from Hankur the Tall 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.
The fame of this wonderful deed soon spread through the country.
In a few days, they left that kingdom and rode on to another, where they thought they would stay through the remainder of the winter, for Geirald did not care for traveling about through ice and snow. But the King would only grant them permission to stay on one condition: Before the winter ended, they should give him some fresh proof of the courage of which he had heard so much.
Stefan's heart was glad at the King's message. As for Geirald, he felt that as long as Stefan 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 northeast part of my kingdom there dwells a giant who has an iron staff twenty yards long. He is so quick in using his staff that even fifty knights have no chance against him.
"Well, then," said His Majesty, "This is what I want you to do.”
“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 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 Stefan, though Geirald remained silent.
"How can we possibly fight against a giant that has already 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 have plenty of time to cross the borders of the kingdom and escape."
"We might not be able to kill the giant, but the giant will not be defeated until at least someone tries," answered Stefan.
"I know what sort of weapon I shall use. Come with me." Taking his friend by the arm, Stefan led Geirald into a shop where he bought a huge lump of solid iron, so big that they could hardly lift it between them.
"I know what sort of weapon I shall use. Come with me."
They just managed to carry it to a blacksmith's shop where Stefan 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. 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. Stefan, 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, Stefan drew out his sword and cut off his head.
"It was not so difficult after all, you see," he said, turning to Geirald. Placing the giant's head in a leather bag which was slung over his back, they began their journey back to the castle.
"It was not so difficult after all, you see," he said, turning to Geirald.
As they drew near the gates, Stefan took the head from the bag and handed it to Geirald, whom he followed into the King's presence.
"The giant will trouble you no more," said Geirald to the King, holding out the head. The King fell on his neck and kissed him, and cried joyfully that he was the bravest knight in all the world.
A feast should be made for him and Stefan, and that the great deed should be proclaimed throughout the kingdom! Geirald's heart swelled with pride, and he almost forgot that it was Stefan, and not he, who had slain the giant.
By-and-by a whisper went around that a magnificent lady who lived in the castle, the niece of the King, would be present at the feast with 24 maidens as her attendants. The father and mother of this exemplary young lady, the King and Queen of a nearby kingdom, had died when she was a little girl. Ever since she had been raised in the care of her uncle, the man who was now King, until she was old enough to rule her kingdom.
The King’s niece would soon be old enough to ascend to her throne.
The King’s niece would soon be old enough to ascend to her throne.
She was looking for a husband who was not only strong and brave but also someone she could trust. She must trust her husband to help manage the affairs and also to be a true loving partner to her.
When you’re a young Queen, it’s not as easy as you might think to meet the right partner for life. Her ministers arranged for prince after prince from faraway kingdoms to present themselves to her, but she knew right away that none of those matches would work. By a long shot.
At last she 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.
Now when she heard how the two young men had slain the giant, her heart was filled with admiration for their courage. She declared that if a feast were held to commemorate them, she would certainly be present. She thought, what a fine opportunity to notice signs that the hero was as trustworthy as he was strong and brave.
Her heart was filled with admiration for their courage.
When the feast was over, she asked her uncle, the King of the land, if he would allow Geirald, the hero known to have defeated the robbers and slain the giant, to fight a tournament the next day with one of her pages. The King gladly gave his permission.
The King ordered the tournament lists to be made ready, never doubting that the great champion 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 Stefan to steal secretly out of the castle with him during the night.
"For," said Geirald, "I don't believe they will set a page against me at all, but a well-proven knight, and how can I, so young and untried, stand up against him?"
"The honor will be all the higher if you gain the day," answered Stefan.
"The honor will be all the higher if you gain the day," answered Stefan.
But Geirald would listen to nothing, and only declared that he did not care about honor or this land or anyone in it, and would just as soon return home with the honors already won and be done with the whole affair. Escape he would, and as Stefan had sworn to give him his company, he must come along.
Stefan was much grieved when he heard these words, but he knew that it was useless to persuade Geirald. Suddenly his face brightened. "Let us change clothes," he said. "I will do the fighting, while you shall get the glory. Nobody will ever know." To this Geirald readily agreed.
Whether Geirald was right or not in thinking that the so-called page would really be a well-proven knight, it is certain that Stefan's task was much harder than he had expected.
Three times, Stefan and the page came together with a crash which made their horses reel. Once, Stefan 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.
First one and then the other seemed gaining the victory.
At last Stefan planted his spear in the armor which covered his opponent's breast and bore him steadily backward. "Unhorsed! unhorsed!" cried the people. Stefan then dismounted and helped the page to rise.
In the confusion that followed it was easy for Stefan to sIip away and return to Geirald his proper clothes. And in these, torn and dusty with the fight, Geirald was the one who answered the King's summons to come before him.
"You have done what I expected you to do," said he. "Now, choose your reward."
"Grant me, Sire, the hand of the Queen, your niece," stated the young man, bowing low.
"Grant me, Sire, the hand of the Queen, your niece," stated the young man.
"She could choose no better husband," said the King. "If she consents, then I do, too." The King turned towards the young 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 may be, was different in many slight ways, and in one in particular, from the man who had fought the tournament.
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 stranger still. But something in her instinct warned her to be careful.
She answered, "My hand is not granted as easily as all that. Uncle, you may be satisfied, but I am not. One more proof I must have. Let the two young men now fight against each other. The man I will consider for marriage must be the very one who killed the robbers and the giant, and the man who overcame my page."
"Let the two men now fight against each other.”
Geirald's face grew pale as he heard these words. He knew there was no escape for him now.
The tournament was fought. In spite of Geirald's fears, Stefan 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 last, after a great show of resistance, Stefan fell heavily to the ground. And as he fell, he knew that it was not alone the glory that he gave up, but any chance to win the heart of the Queen.
Geirald did not even wait to see if his comrade 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.
The crowd of watchers turned towards the Queen, expecting to see her stoop and give some token to the victor.
The young Queen said that before she granted a chance for her hand, one more test must be imposed, but this would be the last. The final tournament would be fought - Geirald and Stefan must each meet two knights of the King's court. Whoever could unhorse his opponent would become the suitor she would allow to court her for marriage. The combat was fixed to take place at ten o'clock the following day.
All night long, Geirald moved restlessly from door to window, and trying with all his might to discover some means of escaping the fight that lay before him. When the trumpets sounded in the morning and the combatants rode into the field, he was missing.
The King sent messengers to see what had become of him, and Geirard was found 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 Stefan as her favorite suitor and likely husband.
"You forgot one thing," she said, when they were alone. "I recognized my father's ring that Hankur the Tall had stolen on the finger of your right hand. I knew that it was you and not Geirald who had slain the robber band. It was I who was the page who fought you. When I did, I again saw the ring on your finger.
"You forgot one thing," she said, when they were alone.
"I could not fathom why the ring was absent from the hand of Geirard when he stood before me as the victor. That was why I ordered the combat between you, though your faith to your word prevented my plan from being successful, and I had to try another test. A man who keeps his promise at all costs to himself is a man I can trust, both for myself and for my people."
After a thoroughly enjoyable courtship, the two of them were married. The young Queen ascended to the throne of her native kingdom and for many years her husband ruled by her side happily and well.
Many years after, a poor beggar knocked at the palace gates and asked for money for the sake of days gone by and it was Geirald. He was ushered in and welcomed and made comfortable for the rest of his days. For while he may not have shown the courage or honesty of Stefan, it was he who had invited his young friend to accompany him on adventures in the first place, and that was a generous gesture after all.
