Ash Lad and the Good Helpers ⚓

This is a classic Norwegian folktale from the tradition collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe. It tells how Ash Lad, through cleverness and good helpers, overcomes the king's challenges — one of many tales that have captivated children and adults alike through the ages.

The King's Announcement and the Brothers' First Attempt

Once upon a time there was a king, and this king had heard tell of a ship that could travel just as fast over land as over water; so he wanted one too, and to whoever could build it he promised his daughter the princess and half the kingdom, and he had it announced from the churchyard steps all across the land. Many tried their luck, mind you, for half a kingdom seemed well worth having, they thought, and the princess would be a fine thing to have besides — but most of them fared badly.

Now there were three brothers living out in a forest settlement; the eldest was called Per, the second Paul, and the youngest Espen Ash Lad, because he always sat digging and raking about in the ashes. But on the Sunday when the announcement about the king's ship was made, it happened that even he was at church that day. When he came home and told the others about it, Per, being the eldest, asked their mother for provisions, for now he wanted to set off and try his luck at building the ship and winning the princess and half the kingdom.

Once he had the food-sack on his back, he set off. On the way he met an old man, so bent and pitiful-looking.

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"Where are you off to?" said the man.

"I'm going into the forest to make troughs for my father — he doesn't like eating with the rest of us," said Per.

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"Troughs it shall be, then!" said the man.

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"What have you got in your sack?" asked the man.

"Muck," said Per.

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"Muck it shall be," said the man.

So Per went off into the oak wood and chopped and hewed as much as he could manage; but everything he chopped, and everything he hewed, turned into nothing but troughs and more troughs. When midday came, he wanted something to eat and took out his food-sack. But there was no food in it — only muck. Since he now had nothing to live on, and the carpentry wasn't going any better either, he grew tired of the work, took his axe and sack on his back, and went home to his mother again.

The Brothers Fail and Ash Lad Sets Off

Then Paul wanted to try his luck at building the ship and winning the princess and half the kingdom. He asked their mother for provisions, and once he had them, he put the sack on his back and set off across the fields. On the way he met an old man, so bent and pitiful-looking.

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"Where are you off to?" said the man.

"Oh, I'm going into the forest to make a pig-trough for our little piglet," said Paul.

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"A pig-trough it shall be, then!" said the man.

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"What have you got in your sack?" asked the man.

"Muck," said Paul.

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"Muck it shall be!" said the man.

So Paul went off into the forest and chopped and hewed for all he was worth; but however he chopped, and however he hacked away, it turned into nothing but trough-blanks and pig-troughs. He didn't give up right away, but kept at it well into the afternoon before he thought of getting himself some food; then he suddenly felt so hungry that he had to fetch out his food-sack. But when he opened it, there wasn't a crumb inside. Paul got so angry that he turned the sack inside out and beat it against a stump, took his axe, and marched straight out of the forest and home.

When Paul had come home, Ash Lad wanted to set off too, and asked his mother for provisions. "Maybe I could manage to build the ship and win the princess and half the kingdom," he said.

"Oh yes, that's likely," said his mother; "you who never do anything but dawdle and rake about in the ashes! No, you'll get no provisions from me!" said the old woman.

Ash Lad didn't give up for all that; he kept asking until he was finally allowed to go. Provisions he didn't get, of course — but he sneaked along a couple of oat flatbreads and a flat, stale drop of ale, and set off.

Ash Lad Builds the Ship and Meets His Crew

When he had walked for a while, he met the same old fellow, just as bent and wretched and pitiful-looking as before.

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"Where are you off to?" said the man.

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"Oh, I was going into the forest, if it can be managed, to build a ship that sails just as well on water as on land," said Ash Lad. "For the king has announced that whoever can build such a ship shall have the princess and half the kingdom," he said.

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"What have you got in your sack?" asked the man.

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"Oh, it's not much to speak of — it's supposed to be my provisions," answered Ash Lad.

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"If you give me a bit of your food, I'll help you," said the man.

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"Gladly," said Ash Lad, "but it's nothing more than two oat flatbreads and a flat drop of ale."

It didn't matter what it was; as long as he got it, he'd help him well enough. When they came up to the old oak tree in the forest, the man said: "Now you shall cut out a chip of wood, and set it back in just as it sat before, and once you've done that, you may lie down and sleep." So Ash Lad did as he was told and lay down to sleep. In his sleep he seemed to hear chopping and hammering and sawing and joining going on, but he couldn't wake up until the man roused him. Then there stood the ship, fully finished, right beside the oak. "Now climb aboard, and take with you everyone you meet along the way," said the old fellow. And Espen Ash Lad thanked him for the ship, sailed off, and said he would do just that.

When he had sailed a while, he came upon a tall, lanky beggar lying beside a rock, eating grey stone.

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"What sort of fellow are you, lying here eating grey stone?" said Ash Lad.

Well, he said he was so famished for meat that he could never eat his fill, and that was why he had to eat grey stone instead. And then he asked if he might be allowed to come along on the ship.

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"Yes, if you want to come, climb aboard," said Ash Lad.

Yes, that he did, and he brought along a few big grey stones for provisions.

When they had sailed a bit further, they came across someone lying on a sunny slope, sucking on a bunghole.

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"What sort of fellow are you," said Espen Ash Lad, "and what good is it, lying there sucking on that bunghole?"

"Oh, when a man hasn't got the barrel, he must make do with the bunghole," said the man. "I'm so thirsty for ale that I can never drink my fill of ale and wine," he said, and then he asked if he might come along on the ship.

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"If you want to come, climb aboard," said Ash Lad.

Yes, that he did; he climbed aboard and brought the bunghole along for his thirst's sake.

When they had sailed a bit further, they came across someone lying with one ear pressed to the ground, listening.

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"What sort of fellow are you, and what good is it, lying there listening to the ground?" said Espen Ash Lad.

"I'm listening to the grass, for I have such fine hearing that I can hear it growing," he said, and then he asked if he might come along on the ship.

There was no saying no to that.

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"If you want to come, climb aboard," said Ash Lad.

Yes, that he did, and he climbed aboard as well.

When they had sailed a bit further, they came to someone standing and taking aim, again and again.

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"What sort of fellow are you, and what's the point of standing there aiming like that?" said Ash Lad.

"I've got such sharp eyes," he said, "that I can shoot clean to the end of the world," and then he asked if he might come along on the ship.

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"If you want to come, climb aboard," said Ash Lad.

Yes, that he did, and climbed aboard.

When they had sailed on a bit further, they came to someone running and hopping on one leg, with seven hundredweight-loads tied to the other.

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"What sort of fellow are you," said Ash Lad, "and what good is it, hopping about on one leg with seven hundredweight-loads on the other?"

"I'm so light on my feet that I fly," he said. "If I ran on both legs, I'd reach the end of the world in under five minutes," and then he asked if he might come along on the ship.

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"If you want to come, climb aboard," said Ash Lad.

Yes, that he did, and climbed aboard the ship with Ash Lad and his companions.

When they had sailed on a bit further, they met someone standing with his hands clamped over his mouth.

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"What sort of fellow are you," said Ash Lad, "and what good is it, standing there holding your mouth shut like that?"

"Oh, I've got seven summers and fifteen winters bottled up inside me," he said, "so I'd best keep my mouth shut; for if I let them all out at once, they'd finish off the whole world in a moment," he said, and then he asked if he might come along too.

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"If you want to come, climb aboard," said Ash Lad.

Yes, he wanted to come, and so he climbed aboard the ship with the others.

The King's Trials: the Meat Shed, the Cellar, and the Tea Water

When they had sailed for a good while, they came to the king's estate. Ash Lad went straight in to the king and said the ship now stood finished out on the grounds, and that he now wanted the princess, whom the king had promised.

The king wasn't at all pleased about this, for Ash Lad didn't look like much — he was both black and sooty — and the king had no wish to give his daughter to such a ragamuffin. So he said the fellow would have to wait a bit; he couldn't have the princess until he'd emptied a meat shed the king owned, holding three hundred barrels of meat. "Never mind, though — if you can do it by tomorrow, you shall have her," said the king.

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"I'll give it a try," said Ash Lad. "But surely I may bring one of my companions along?"

Yes, he could do that, even if he wanted to bring all six, said the king; for he thought it was utterly impossible anyway, even with six hundred helpers.

Ash Lad brought along only the one who ate grey stone and was always so famished for meat, and when they came and unlocked the shed, he ate up every last bit of it, so that nothing remained but six small cured hams — just one for each of the other companions. Then Ash Lad went in to the king and said the shed was now empty, and that he supposed he'd have the princess now.

The king went out to check the shed, and empty it was, sure enough. But Ash Lad was both black and sooty, and the king thought it far too bad that such a ragamuffin should have his daughter. So he said he had a cellar full of ale and old wine, three hundred barrels of each, which he wanted drunk up first. "Never mind, though — if you're able to drink it all up by this time tomorrow, you shall have her," said the king.

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"I'll give it a try," said Ash Lad. "But surely I may bring one of my companions?"

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"Yes, gladly," said the king.

He thought he had so much ale and wine that all seven of them would come off badly trying.

Ash Lad brought along the one who sucked on the bunghole and was always so thirsty for ale, and the king locked them down in the cellar. There he drank barrel after barrel for as long as there was anything left, but he saved a drop from the very last one, enough for a couple of pots apiece for each of the companions.

In the morning they unlocked the cellar, and Ash Lad went straight in to the king and said he was done with the ale and the wine, and that he'd surely have the king's daughter now, as promised.

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"Well, first I must go down and see for myself," said the king, for he didn't believe it.

When he came down into the cellar, there was nothing but empty barrels. But Ash Lad was both black and sooty, and the king thought it unseemly to have such a son-in-law. So he said, never mind — if the fellow could fetch water from the end of the world within ten minutes for the princess's tea, he should have both her and half the kingdom, for that, he thought, was truly impossible.

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"I'll give it a try," said Ash Lad.

So he got hold of the one who hopped on one leg with seven hundredweight-loads on the other, and told him to unstrap the loads and use his legs as fast as he could, for he needed water from the end of the world for the princess's tea within ten minutes. He took off the loads, grabbed a pail, and set off, and in an instant he was gone. But it took ever so long, and he didn't come back; at last there were only three minutes left before the time was up, and the king was as pleased as if he'd been handed a gold coin.

But then Ash Lad called on the one who could hear the grass growing, and told him to listen out for where the runner had got to.

"He's fallen asleep by the well," he said. "I can hear him snoring, and the trolls are picking through his hair," he said.

So Ash Lad called on the one who could shoot clean to the end of the world, and told him to put a bullet in the troll. And so he did — he shot it right through the eye; the troll let out such a roar that the fellow fetching the tea water woke up at once, and when he reached the king's estate, there was still a whole minute left of the ten.

Ash Lad went in to the king and said there was the water, and that he supposed he'd have the princess now — surely there was nothing more to be said about it. But the king still thought him just as black and sooty as before, and didn't care to have him for a son-in-law. So the king said he had three hundred fathoms of firewood that needed drying out in the bathhouse.

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"Never mind — if you're man enough to sit in there and burn through all of it, you shall have her, no doubt about it," he said.

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"I'll give it a try," said Ash Lad. "But surely I may bring one of my companions?"

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"Yes, even if it were all six," said the king, for he thought it would get hot enough for all of them.

Ash Lad brought along the one with the fifteen winters and seven summers bottled up in him, and they went into the bathhouse that evening. But the king had piled the fire high; it blazed so fiercely you could have cast iron stoves in it. They couldn't get back out, either, for no sooner were they inside than the king barred the door and hung a couple more padlocks on it besides. So Ash Lad said: "Let out about six or seven winters, and that'll bring it down to a pleasant summer warmth." That made it bearable enough for a while, but as the night wore on, it grew rather chilly. So Ash Lad said his companion had better let out a couple of summers to warm things up again, and then they slept soundly well into the day. But when they heard the king shuffling about outside, Ash Lad said: "Now let out a couple more winters, but see to it that the last one goes straight in his face." And so he did, and when the king unlocked the bathhouse door, expecting to find them burnt to cinders, there they sat, shivering and shaking so their teeth rattled. And the one with the fifteen winters in him let the last one fly straight into the king's face, raising a great frost-blister on the spot.

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"Do I get the princess now?" said Ash Lad.

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"Yes, take her and keep her, and take the kingdom besides," said the king. He no longer dared say no.

So they held a wedding, and there was daring and carrying-on and firing of festive salutes. And while they were about it, scrambling around for more gunpowder, they caught hold of me too, gave me porridge in a bottle and milk in a basket, and shot me clean over here, so that I might tell you how it all happened.

✨THE END✨

The moral: even the humblest can succeed with cleverness and good helpers. Ash Lad's courage and friendship show that wit, cooperation, and perseverance can overcome even the greatest challenges.