“The Black Bull of Norroway.” Fairy Gold : A Book of Old English Fairy Tales Chosen by Ernest Rhys, Ernest Rhys, London: J.M. Dent & Co.; New York : E.P. Dutton & co., 1907, pp. 4-7.

Tale Summary

Once upon a time there was a king with three daughters, the youngest of whom was the most beautiful and gentle girl ever seen but the older two rather ugly and proud. One night, the three were talking about who they might marry. The two oldest would not settle below a King or Duke, and the littlest princess laughed at their pride, saying she would be happy even with the Black Bull of Norroway. The next morning the Bull, a horrible creature, came for his bride. The girl’s parents gave the Bull every woman servant, maid, and even their two eldest daughters, in order to spare the princess, but eventually she had to be given up. She traveled a long way on his back until they came to a noble castle, where the lord and his company encouraged them to stay. The princess saw a pin stuck in the Bull’s side and pulled it out, breaking an enchantment and revealing him to be a handsome prince. Suddenly, he disappeared. The princess was so broken-hearted that she searched the world for him. Once, she became lost in the woods, and a little old woman took her into her hut. In the morning, she gave the princess three nuts, and told her not to break them until her heart was “like to break and owre again like to break”. She went off, and had not traveled far when she saw many people riding merrily by, all speaking of the Duke of Norroway’s wedding. The Duke was announced, and she saw her prince ride with a beautiful lady, and feeling her heart break, broke one of the nuts, and out came a little woman carding wool. She went to the castle and offered this gift to the lady in exchange for delaying her marriage by a day and giving her a night alone with the Duke, which she eagerly accepted. The princess spent the night singing to the Duke, but he did not wake. The next day, she broke another nut and out came a little woman spinning wool, which she exchanged again to the lady for the same as before. Again, she sang, and again, he did not wake. The princess broke the last nut, out of which came a little woman reeling, and the lady was given possession of her under the same conditions as before. That morning, the prince’s man asked him about the singing he had heard the last two nights, and told him not to take his sleeping draught that night in order to hear it. That night, the princess sat by his bed and sang, and this time he heard her, and recognizing her voice was snapped out of an enchantment. He explained that he had been under the power of a witch-wife. The two were happily married, and the witch-wife fled, never to be heard from again.