The Halcyon Fairy Book

and drink of the strong waters, each according to his strength. He mounted them each on a mighty horse with sword and arrow and dog.
And dogs, too! That’s awesome! It’s nice to see a king for once who is neither an idiot nor a villain.
So the three heroes rode off in the dark and the women of the kingdom wept to see them go and the men cheered and wished that they, too, were going.
Roadtrip! And the king supplied the booze AND the dogs!
They rode on and on for many days that seemed like nights till they had crossed the confines of their own country and entered the boundaries of an unknown kingdom beyond. Here the darkness was less dense. There was no actual daylight but a faint greyness as of approaching dawn.
They rode on until they saw looming up before them the towers of a mighty castle. They dismounted near the castle at the door of a little hut where they found an old woman.
“Good day to you, granny!” Log called out.
Log is very polite. You would expect no less, of course. When was the last time you saw a tree with road rage?
“Good day, indeed!” the old woman said. “It’s little enough we see of the day since the Evil One cursed the sun and handed it over to Suyettar’s wicked offspring, the nine-headed serpent!”
“The Evil One!” Log exclaimed. “Tell me, granny, why did the Evil One curse the sun?”
Suyettar, near as I can tell, is a really nasty witch that shows up as a recurring villain in Finnish folktales. The Evil One, presumably, is the Devil, but Log is not required to fight him.
“Because he’s evil, my son, that’s why!”
No beating around the bush with motivations for us! We’ve got serpents to kill!
“He said the sun’s rays blistered him, so he cursed the sun and gave him over to the nine-headed serpent. And he cursed the moon, too, because at night when the moon shone he could not steal. Yes, my son, he cursed the moon and handed her over to Suyettar’s second offspring, the six-headed serpent. Then he cursed the dawn because he said he couldn’t sleep in the morning because of the dawn.”
I used to have this problem. Then we got Venetian blinds in the bedroom. I wonder if the Devil has considered this?
“So he cursed the dawn and gave her over to Suyettar’s third offspring, the three-headed serpent.”
“Tell me, granny,” Log said, “where do the three serpents keep prisoner the sun and the moon and the dawn?”
“Listen, my son, and I will tell you: When they go far out in the sea they carry with them the sun and the moon and the dawn. The three-headed serpent stays out there one day and then returns at night. The six-headed serpent stays two days and then returns, and the mighty nine headed monster does not return until the third night. As each returns a faint glow spreads over the land. That is why we are not in utter darkness.”
This old lady is a serious quest giver. I assume there’s a big yellow exclamation point over her head or something.
Log thanked the old woman and then he and his companions pushed on towards the castle. As they neared it, they saw a strange sight that they could not understand. One half of the great castle was laughing and rocking as if in merriment and the other half was weeping as if in grief.
Probably this means the people in it, but I love the image of the castle itself sobbing into the moat and the other half shaking its towers in glee.
“What can this mean?” Log cried out. “We had better ask the old woman before we go on.” So they went back to the hut and the old woman told them all she knew.
Many fairy tales would be easier if this old woman was hanging out in them.
“It is on account of the dreadful fate that is hanging over the king’s three daughters,” she said. “Those three evil monsters are demanding them one by one. Tonight when the three-headed serpent comes back from the sea he expects to devour the eldest. If the king refuses to give her up, then Suyettar’s evil son will devour half the kingdom, half of the castle itself, and half the shining stones. O, that some hero would kill the monster and save the princess and at the same time release the dawn that it might again steal over the world!”
Hint, hint.
Log and his fellows conferred together and the one they called Three Bottles, because his strength was equal to three bottles of the strong waters, declared that it was his task to fight and conquer the three-headed serpent.
I can take three bottles of Jack Daniels! I can take your damn serpent, too!
Meanwhile, in the castle preparations for the sacrifice of the oldest princess were going forward. As the king sewed the poor girl into a great leather sack, his tears fell so fast that he could scarcely see what he was doing.
“My dear child,” he said, “it should comfort you greatly to think that the monster is going to eat you instead of half the kingdom! Not many princesses are considered as important as half the kingdom!”
Heck of a bedside manner on this guy, huh?
The princess knew that what her father said must be true, and she did her best to look cheerful as they slipped the sack over her head. Once inside, however, she allowed herself to cry for she knew that no one could see her.
The sack with the princess inside was carried down to the beach and put on a high rock near the place where Suyettar’s sons were wont to come up out of the water.
There’s a sign. It says “Multi-headed Serpents Only. All Others Will Be Prosecuted. No Lifeguard On Duty. Do Not Feed The Twenty-Four-Headed Otters.”
“Don’t be frightened, my daughter!” the king called out as he and all the court started back to the