The Tale of the Giant's Daughter

Once upon a time, in the days when there were still giants in the wild places of Britain, there lived a young wizard called Jack Hagrid. Being small and poor and without family of any account, he had only his wits and courage to live by, and so he determined one day to prove his fortune by defeating the Giant of the Hill.

This giant had long been a thorn in the side of the wizards, the last of his kindred to live boldly and openly in the isle of Britain. All the attempts to kill him or drive him away had failed. For a giant he was cunning and cautious: perhaps he had some human blood in him, for in those days the mixing of the two races was not as uncommon as it is now. Still he was a giant, violent and vicious, loving nothing more than a fight, and steeped in evil and covetousness for the magic and quickness of the small people. He lived in a crude hall dug out from a the side of a hill, where he held converse yet with witches and wizards of a certain bent, and gathered around him a collection of the magical objects which are the great treasures of the giant kind. Here had come many young men and heroes, seeking to destroy the giant, to prove themselves against him, to plunder him of his hoard. The giant welcomed them with his great booming laugh, and when they had exhausted themselves without result, he milled their bones and baked them into his bread.

Now young Jack's friends all begged him not to seek out the giant, for none who had challenged him survived, but still he resolved to go. Finally he promised them that before he left he would ask the advice of the wizard Dumbledore, who was the wisest man then living.

Dumbledore alse told him that the prudent choice would be to have nothing to do with the giant at all. "But if you are yet determined to do this thing, I offer you only two pieces of advice: First, do not seek to kill the giant, for those who seek death find death; ask only that he give you a forfeit, should you win, as token of his defeat. Second, the key to defeating the Giant of the Hill is trust: trust your heart, trust your instincts, and trust those who offer you their friendship. Use your strengths."

Jack thought on this advice, and trusting already, he said, "What forfeit would you have me ask?"

The wise man's eyes twinkled. "That is your own choice-- but were it me offering the challenge, I would ask for a sword which the giant holds; a sword of great age and power which he knows as the Silver Ruby Sword, but whose true value he does not guess."

So, armed with this advice, and a pack of carefully chosen supplies, Jack set out for the home of the giant under the hill. And when he came at last to the huge oaken door, he battered on it and shouted, "I have come to challenge the Giant of the Hill! Let him answer me, or all will know him as a coward!"

The door was opened by a young girl, for it was the giant's custom to capture maidens of the surrounding country and force them to work for him, and Jack was ushered before him.

"There was no need to be so rude," he said. "I fear no challenges from small humans." And then he laughed.

Jack stood as straight as he could-- which was only about five feet-- and said bravely, "You accept my challenge then?"

"Of course I do! But it is late, little wizard-- surely we can be civilized and wait until morning? Sit and join me at my table."

Jack, looking about the crude, smoky hall, heaped with the objects of magic that the giant hoarded but could not understand, ponies and chickens and dogs rooting through the rotten rushes on the floor, thought to himself that what civilization the giant knew was only a crude aping of human culture. But the roasting ox smelled delicious, and the maid who was serving it was pretty, and when she caught his eye his heart leapt, and so he answered, "Gladly will I do so," and set to with a good will.

Now it happened that this giant had a daughter, whose name was Fridwulfa, and she was the maid who had caught Jack's eyes. Fridwulfa had no great love for her father, who kept her captive in his hall as his personal body-servant, as a trophy to demonstrate his power. She thought Jack comely and saw in him a chance to free herself of her father.

That night, as she prepared the giant for his bed, thinking on the young wizard, she slipped in her washing, and spilled soap in his eyes. "Ayargh!" he yelled. "Do you seek to blind me?"

"Oh!" she said, thinking quickly, "It is only that I am worried, dear father, that this young wizard may kill you. He looks strong and crafty."

The giant laughed. "He can't hurt me, my little rib roast, for I have paid a great sorcerer to place a charm on me so that I can never be killed."

Fridwulfa forced a smile and finished his toilette.

The next day the giant brought Jack before him, his maids arrayed behind, and asked, "Do you still wish to challenge me, little wizard?"

Jack stood up as straight as he could-- maybe as much as five feet one inch-- and said bravely "Yes. Are you ready?"

"Of course! Name your weapon!"

Jack reached into his bag and pulled out his trusty set of chessmen. "Chess," said he. "Three games in three days. Each day, the winner names a forfeit which the loser must pay."

"Chess?" roared the giant.

"Surely," said Jack, "You are not afraid to play at chess with a mere human? Even if he was school champion in his day?"

"I am not afraid," said the giant, and they played, and that day Jack won the game.

"Name your forfeit, then," said the giant, in bad grace.

"The Silver Ruby Sword," answered Jack.

"I do not have that Sword," said the giant. "Name another forfeit."

Trust your heart, thought Jack, and he said, "Then I will have the hand of the maid who served the meat last night."

"Which girl?" asked the giant. "This one?" he asked, pointing to one.

"No, not she," said Jack.

"Then this?"

"Not she," and so until he came to the last, who was Fridwulfa.

"That is the one I would have as my forfeit," said Jack.

"Fine," said the giant. "But she is my daughter. Let me keep her with me only until your challenge is ended."

"Very well," said Jack in confidence, and went to his bed with a light heart.

That night, as Fridwulfa prepared the giant for his bed, she slipped in her washing, and got soap in his ear. "Oyorgh!" he yelled. "Do you seek to deafen me?"

"Oh!" she said. "It is only that I am worried, dear father, that this young wizard may defeat you. He has beaten you once already."

The giant laughed. "He can't win, my little tenderloin, so long as he chooses forfeits of no value. Too bad he was not wise enough to ask instead for the small gray pony which is not truly a pony."

Fridwulfa forced a smile and finished his toilette. When he was asleep, she walked through the dark hall and lay beside Jack. When he knew her, he was in great joy, but she said to him, "I fear for you. My father is cruel and honorless, and he will not lose easily. Tommorrow, if you win, and he still will not give you the sword, ask for only the one of his ponies which is not truly a pony. And when he tests you, choose the small gray pony."

"Why?" asked Jack, rousing a little.

"Trust me," she said, and returned to her own hard bed.

The next day the giant brought Jack before him, and asked, "Do you still wish to challenge me, little wizard?"

Jack stood up as straight as he could-- I could swear it was five feet two inch-- and said bravely, "Yes. Are you ready?"

"Of course! Bring out your chessmen!"

Jack reached into his bag and pulled out his set of chessmen. "This is the second game and the second day," said he. "And the winner names a second forfeit which the loser must pay."

"Let us play, not talk," said the giant, and they played, and that day Jack won the game.

"Name your forfeit, then," said the giant, in bad grace.

"The Silver Ruby Sword," answered Jack.

"I still do not have that Sword," said the giant. "Name another forfeit."

Trust those who would be your friends, thought Jack, and he said, "Then I will have the pony among your ponies which is not truly a pony."

"Which pony?" asked the giant. "This one?" he asked, pointing to one.

"No, not that," said Jack.

"Then this?"

"Not that," and so until he came to the last, which was the small gray pony.

"That is the one I would have as my forfeit," said Jack.

"Fine," said the giant. "But this is the prize among my animals, and dear to me. Let me keep him with me only until the last forfeit has been paid."

"Very well," said Jack in confidence, and went to his bed with a light heart.

That night, as Fridwulfa prepared the giant for his bed, she slipped in her washing, and got soap in his mouth. "Eyergh!" he yelled. "Do you seek to choke me?"

"Oh!" she said. "It is only that I am worried, dear father, that this young wizard may defeat you. He has beaten you twice already, and has chosen the forfeit you hoped he would not."

The giant laughed. "He can't win, my little veal cutlet, so long as he recalls his honor, and gives me my fair chance. For I have a plan which will destroy him for good and all."

Fridwulfa forced a smile and finished his toilette. When he was asleep, she walked through the dark hall and lay beside Jack. When he knew her, he was in great joy, but she said to him, "I yet fear for you. My father is cruel and honorless, and he will not lose easily. Tomorrow, if he asks that you give him his fair chance, refuse him, for he has a cunning plan to defeat you."

"What plan?" asked Jack, rousing a little.

"Trust me," she said, and returned to her own bed.

The next day the giant brought Jack before him, and asked, "Do you still wish to challenge me, little wizard?"

Jack stood up as straight as he could-- at least five and a quarter feet-- and said bravely "Yes. Are you ready?"

"Of course!" he said. "Today I shall win, should you be honorable, and give me my fair chance."

Jack reached into his bag and pulled out his set of chessmen. "Well enough," said he. "Today is the last day, and the last game, and the last forfeit."

"Surely," said the giant, "As I have lost twice already, you will allow me, in fairness, on this last day to use my own chess set?"

Jack thought of Fridwulfa's warning, but he thought also, Trust your instincts,, and he said, "Of course! Let us play." and put his own set away.

The giant's set was carved of green and white stone, and the pieces were so large and heavy that Jack could hardly lift them to play. Of course with his own set he would not have had to; but all the giant's chessmen were helping the giant: they warned him of Jack's strategies, and would not go where Jack ordered them, arguing and calling him foul names, and when he tried to move them himself they pricked at him with their swords and spears, until Jack was so frustrated he entirely lost his concentration. That day the Giant won the game.

"Name your forfeit, then," said Jack, sucking on his bleeding fingers.

"The Silver Ruby Sword," answered the giant, smiling maliciously.

"I do not have that Sword either," said Jack. "Name another forfeit."

"But you will," said the giant. "For we never said that you must have the thing to forfeit. You will get me that sword by tomorrow dawn, or you will forfeit your life, instead, to flavor my bread."

"Very well," said Jack, thinking desperately, and went to his bed with a heavy heart.

That night, as Fridwulfa prepared the giant for his bed, she slipped in her washing, and got soap in his nose. "Uyurgh!" he yelled. "Do you seek to drown me?"

"Oh!" she said. "It is only that I am worried, dear father, that this young wizard may still survive. Are you certain he cannot find the Sword?"

The giant laughed. "He can't win, my little shank steak, for I gave that sword to the great sorcerer Marvolo in payment for the spell which guards my life. A fair trade, as that sword is the only blade in all the worlds which can kill him, and he guards it as his own life. He keeps in the highest tower of his own hall, and it can only be taken one way: through the high window when the moon shines off the rubies on its hilts. The little wizard will be dead by noon."

Fridwulfa forced a smile and finished his toilette. When he was asleep, she walked through the dark hall and lay beside Jack, but he was already awake. "What shall I do?" he mourned. "I did not trust when you asked me to trust, and for that we are undone."

"Do not despair!" she said. "We may yet win, if you will trust me now, for I know where the sword is, and how to reach it. But you must take with you the small gray pony and myself."

So he led the small gray pony, and together the three crept from the silent hall. "Touch the pony with your wand," said Fridwulfa, and lo, the small grey pony was revealed as a winged gray hippogriff.

"Since he came to my father's hall he has been trapped in that guise," said Fridwulfa. "Tonight you have freed him, and he will bear us far, and gladly." Then the hippogriff bowed to them, and they mounted it, and Fridwulfa directed them to the house of the black sorcerer Marvolo. They flew up, up, up to the high window of the tallest tower, where they could see, hanging unguarded on the wall inside, the Silver Ruby Sword. But she bade him wait until they could see the light of the moon shining on the rubies in its hilts, and then Jack took the sword, and they flew back toward the giant's hall.

When they were not yet halfway there Jack heard behind him the beating of mighty wings, and turned to see a black-robed man seeming to fly through the air toward them unsupported. "What is that?" asked Jack.

"That is the black sorcerer Marvolo," said Fridwulfa, "and the sword you carry is the only sword in all the world which can injure him. He is riding on a thestral, which will follow us as unrelentingly as death. When he comes by lift up the sword and strike off his head."

Jack did so, and as the sorcerer's head fell to the ground far below, a black, demon-winged horse appeared in the air before them. It gave a terrible cry, as they fled, and turned back to the sorcerer's castle.

In the door to the hall under the hill the hippogrif was made to appear a pony again, and they slid off. Fridwulfa said to him, "My father will be very angry that you have gained the sword. He will know that you had never gained it without our help, so if he asks you how you got it, say only that if it were not for the ruby on the hilt, it would be there still. And do not let him have the sword."

"I will trust you," Jack said. Then she kissed him, and returned to her own hard bed.

The next morning the giant brought Jack before him, with his daughter and the small gray pony behind him, gave a booming laugh, and said, "Are you ready to die, little wizard?"

"Die?" asked Jack, drawing himself up to his full height, five and a half feet. "But I have brought you the Silver Ruby Sword! I have brought you your forfeit!"

At that the giant stood in a rage. "How did you get that sword?" he bellowed.

"If it were not for the ruby on the hilt, it would be there still," said Jack.

"You could not gave gotten it without my daughter to show you the way and my pony to take you there!" said the giant. "You have broken your word to leave them with me!"

Jack said only, "If it were not for the ruby on the hilt, it would be there still."

"You are a treacherous little monster, wizard," said the giant. "You have not kept to our terms. Return to me my sword, and perhaps I will not grind your bones into my bread."

"It was you who broke the terms," said Jack, "when you did not give me the forfeit I asked. But I was unwise, and let your discourtesy pass. I will not let it pass now. I have won the challenge."

"Maybe," said the giant, "I will take the sword, and kill you anyway."

"Maybe," said Jack, holding it ready. "This sword slew the black sorcerer Marvolo, last of a great line. Are you so certain it will not slay you as well, little giant?"

The giant growled, but he could not be sure the charm on his life was proof against the weapon which destroyed its maker, and so he grabbed his daughter in one massive arm and mounted the small gray pony, which was not truly a pony at all. "This is not over, wizard," he said, and they leapt into the clouds and flew out of sight.

"No, it is not," said Jack, and he thrust the sword through his belt and followed on foot thd path of the giant's flight over the wilderness of devastation that surrounded the hall under the hill. He walked all day without rest, and he saw no living creature until dusk, when he came upon a palomino centaur gazing at the sky.

"Venus is bright tonight," the centaur said, pointing to the evening star. "The goddess of fickle love shines upon us."

"You cannot read in the stars where the giant has taken his daughter, can you?" asked Jack wearily.

"No, I cannot," said the centaur, smiling. "But I did see a heavy-laden hippogriff flying weary through the stars of Draco. Do you seek your wife, Jacobus Hagrid?"

"He flies still to the southwest, then," said Jack. "Yes, for the giant has broken his bond, and stolen her away, and I must rescue her, though it take my life."

"You are honorable, for a man," said the centaur, "And you know the stars. Shall you stay and dine with me?" He spread his arms expansively over the grassy field.

Jack thought, I risk my life to save a hippogriff, who is my steed, and a giantess, who is my wife. Why should I balk to graze with a centaur? And as, at any rate, there was no food left in his pack, he sat down and chewed mint and dandelion leaves while the centaur grazed and spoke of the future, until at last he wished him good night and lay down to rest below the stars.

In the morning the centaur bid him farewell. "Indeed for a human you are wise and polite," said the centaur. "I have never known one of your kind willing to graze before. And I have no great love for the Giant of the Hill. Should you need my help, call me by name, and I will come. I am Firenze."

Jack thanked him, and went on his way, travelling all that day without rest until dusk, when he came to the shore of a great river, and sat down to wash his feet. When he did so, from a hole at his side burst a white Jarvey. "Clod-footed fat hairy ape!" it scolded. "It sits on my home, rude gross thing! Hairball head! Halfblood!"

"Pardon me, I'm sure," said Jack. "Foul-mouthed little ferret. It's not at if a little shaking would hurt your grimy hole, anyway. Do you call that a home?"

"Loathly muddy-mettled jack-a-nape!" said the Jarvey, standing on his hind legs to look at him. "Insults us! The other pigeon-livered mushrump didn't dare, the coward!"

"Someone else has been here, idiotic beast?" asked Jack. "Who? Where did they go?"

"The reeky quatch-buttock giant and his slattern baggage of a daughter," said the Jarvey. "If some lily-livered bugbear scares him out of his gnome-eaten hovel he runs to his cruddy hideyhole on that dunghill of an island down the river, the yellow-bellied rabbit-sucker."

"Oh," said Jack. "I'd thought to stay the night there; but it's too far to walk on an empty stomach." He sighed and lay back.

The Jarvey ran away a few steps, then back. "If I offered you food, gor-bellied bed-presser, would you go away?"

"I wouldn't eat your nasty food!" said Jack, sitting up. "Even offering it to me would be an insult!"

The Jarvey couldn't resist that, and was back in a few minutes with a dead rat under each paw. "You're too weak-stomached, rat-bastard," it screeched.

Jack thought, I go to seek my steed, a hippogriff, and my wife, a giantess. Then shall I refuse to share meat with a Jarvey? And as he was hungry anyway, he bit into one rat while the Jarvey ate the other, and they traded insults together until he fell asleep to the sound of the river.

In the morning the Jarvey woke him by biting him on the nose. "Get your witless dizzy-eyed oxface out of my space!" it screeched.

"Hold your pegasi," said Jack, "I'm going."

"You're foul-brained and foolish enough to trust a Jarvey." the pale ferret-creature said as he left. "If you're stupid and desperate enough, call my name, Ill-Faith, and you'll see if I'll come, you sanctimonious motley-minded foot-licker."

Jack smiled at patted it on the head. "I will," he said, and walked down the river. He walked all day without rest until dusk, when he came across from an island on which stood a hut. A crude bridge stretched from the riverbank to the island, and on the bridge was a purple river troll.

Jack sat down and sighed. The troll looked at him. "What you do here?" he asked.

"Rest," said Jack shortly, pulling off his boots.

"Oh," said the troll.

"What you do?" Jack asked eventually.

"Guard bridge," said the troll.

"Good work," he answered.

"Yeah," said the troll. After a while it asked, "You want food?"

"Yeah, hungry," said Jack.

"Me too," said the troll. "You stay here. Me get food." It lumbered across the bridge and returned with an armful of bloody, undentifiable meat. "You eat, me eat," said the troll. "Giant give me food to guard."

Jack thought, I go to seek my steed, a hippogriff, and my wife, a giantess. Then shall I decline to dine with a troll? He picked up a slab of meat and tore a hunk off with his teeth. The troll grunted in satisfaction and joined him. They ate in silence until Jack slept.

In the morning Jack asked the troll if he could cross. "Yeah," it said, "You good guy, treat me nice. Giant make trouble, you call Flysch." It grinned, and punched Jack on the shoulder. "That me." Jack managed to stay standing and punch it back. "Yeah," he said, "You good troll too." Then he crossed the bridge to the giant's island.

When he reached the hut the giant's daughter ran out to him. "He is coming back! Quickly, you must hide!" and before he had time to speak, she shoved him in the corner behind the small gray pony.

When the giant stamped in, he growled and said, "I smell little wizard."

Fridwulfa grabbed his arm. "Oh, dear father, I fear that horrible man has come back. He will try to kill you. I am so afraid."

The giant laughed. "He cannot hurt me, my little giblet nibble, even with that sword. For the sorcerer Marvolo long ago removed my life from my body, and the only way to hurt me is to find the secret place where he has hidden my life."

"But perhaps he will find it!" wailed Fridwulfa. "He found the sword! Are you sure it is hidden well enough?"

The giant stared at her. "It is hidden under the firepit," he said. "He will not find it there."

So the next day, when the giant left to hunt, Jack and Fridwulfa worked through the day to make a high hedge of thorns and glumbumbles all around the firepit. When the giant returned that night to cook his supper, he shouted, "Why have you blocked off the firepit?"

"I have done so because your life is there, dear father," she said, "I wanted to make certain that the wizard could not get to it."

The giant laughed. "He will not find it, my little shoulder butt. It isn't under the firepit, I lied. It is locked in an unbreakable trunk deep under this end of the bridge."

So the next day, when the giant left to hunt, Jack and Fridwulfa worked through the day to fence around the bridge with a high hedge of tentacula and doxies. When the giant returned that night, he yelled as he ran into the barrier, and crashed through it bloody and stung. He shouted, "Why have you blocked off the bridge?"

"I have done so because your life is there, dear father," she said. "I wanted to make certain that the wizard could not get to it."

The giant laughed. "He will not find it, my little rump round. It isn't under the bridge. I lied again. It is much safer than that."

"It must be somewhere very cunning, then, Father," said she.

"Oh yes," said the giant. "It is hidden under the heavy stone in the back garden, which cannot be lifted by even the strength of a giant. And under the stone is a moke, which can never be caught by any hands. And inside the moke is a snidget, which can never be captured at all. And inside the snidget is an egg, which can never be laid, and inside that egg is my life, which can never be lost."

"Surely there it will be safe, indeed," said Fridwulfa.

But the next day, when the giant had left to hunt, Jack and Fridwulfa stood by the heavy stone, and Jack called, "Firenze! Ill-faith! Flysch! Jacobus Hagrid has need of your help!"

And they came at his call, and the troll lifted the heavy stone with strength greater than a giant. From beneath it ran a moke, and the Jarvey caught it in his teeth as it shrank in fright. And from it burst a snidget which flew high out of reach, and the centaur shot it with an arrow. And from the snidget fell an egg, and Fridwulfa caught it in her hand. And she turned to see her father coming up the bridge, and held the egg up to his eye, and smiled, and crushed her father's life between her fingers, and he fell dead to the ground.

Then they took leave of the troll and the jarvey and the centaur, with much rejoicing, and flew on the hippogriff back to the castle where the wizard Dumbledore lived. And Dumbledore blessed their union, and Jack gave him the Silver Ruby Sword, which he put in a place of safety, and they told Dumbledore what had occured.

"And I have heard in stories of such spells to protect one's life," said Jack, "But I did not know they were still cast."

"It is a very easy spell, the spell that separates one's life from one's body and hides it in a secret place. But you have seen the great weakness-- if the secret is given away, then the life has no defense." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "It is too bad there is no such spell to keep a secret safe."

"Actually," said Jack. "I have thought on that. If a life can be charmed away and hidden in a secret place, so that as long as the secret is inviolate the life is safe, why could there not be a charm that would hide a secret in a living thing, so that as long as the life is intact the secret is safe?"

"That is a brilliant idea," said Dumbledore. "As a matter of fact, by pure coincidence, some friends of mine are working on developing something based on that principle; would you be interested in joining them?"

So Jack earned his fortune as a researcher, and Fridwulfa bore him a laughing, strapping son, and the hippogriff hunted in the forest behind their cottage, and they all lived happily ever after to the end of their days.

--Until Fridwulfa got bored and ran off with another giant, and Jack died of a fever, and their son was framed for murder and disgraced, and the hippogriff was condemned to death and went into hiding, but that's a story for another teller. I like to leave off with a happy ending, don't you?