wished to compel her to come to bed with him, she pretended, that she must look after the fire. When she was outside she stuck the awl in the wall and charged it to say "yes." Now she herself ran out into the dark night.
The further development of the fairy tale, however, takes a different course than those previously related.
Towards morning she had penetrated deep into the forest to a neat little house. The owner was named Herraudur and asked her to stay with him. After a while Helga became pregnant. In the sequel Herraudur was ensnared and bewitched by a sorceress who sought Helga's life. She was saved with the help of magic, Herraudur recognized that he was bewitched, the persecutor was destroyed and Herraudur celebrated his marriage with Helga.
Here is the place to go into that somewhat complexly constructed fairy tale of "The Beautiful Sesselja" (Rittershaus, LI, p. 217).
A king mourned long over the death of his queen and declared that he would only marry a young maiden who was as beautiful as she who was dead and was like her. One day he saw his young daughter Sesselja dressed up in the best clothing of her mother and as she was more beautiful than her mother he wished to marry her. Sesselja fled now out of the kingdom of her father. In a strange kingdom she sought shelter with poor people and let herself be known as their daughter so that her father could not discover her. Once while tending the sheep, believing herself unobserved, she dressed up in the good clothes of her mother. She was discovered by the servants of a princess and was brought to her to serve her. This princess was also named Sesselja with the added title of "The Proud," as in her conceit she spurned all suitors.
Once as they were walking together they heard, deep in a cleft, a bird lamenting. Sesselja, the servant, had longer hair than her mistress so that the bird could reach it when it was let down and was pulled out. The princess was so delighted with the bird that she took him with her in her bed room. On the following morning, however, it had disappeared. Yet during the night which the bird passed in her room, the princess dreamt a wonderful dream. After several days there came to her a wonderful feeling and as the gold, that her father had once given her and that only retained
