“Those are the Trolls’ swords,” said the Princess, “and they are very heavy to handle. Now try whether you can lift one of them down from the wall, though I doubt whether you are strong enough.”
“That is an easy task you are setting me,” said the lad. He took a chair and set it on a table, and another chair on top of that; and then he climbed up on them, for the swords were so high on the wall that only in that way could he reach the place where they were hanging. Then he reached out and set one finger under the point of one of the swords, and tossed it up in the air and caught it, and he leaped down and flourished the sword about him, so that it whistled.
“Yes, I can see that you are indeed a hero,” said the Princess; “so now tell me: shall I go home to my father, the King of Arabia, or shall I stay here and be your wife?”
It did not take the lad long to make his choice in that matter.
“You shall stay here and be my wife,” said he, “for indeed I love you so dearly that if I cannot marry you, then I shall never marry any one.”
So the Princess stayed on in the castle, and she and the lad were very happy together.
But after some time had passed, the Princess said she ought to go back and see her father, for he did not know what had become of her, and no doubt he had grieved bitterly, thinking she was dead.
This reminded the lad that he had promised to take back the apples to his mother, and it was agreed between them that she should go back to Arabia, and that he should take the apples to his mother, and that then he should come after her to her father’s kingdom and claim her.
So the next day they set out, and the Princess went to the nearest seaport, and hired a vessel with some of the jewels she wore, and sailed back to Arabia. But the lad set out for the Troll’s house with the bosom of his shirt full of apples, and the lions following close at his heels.
When he came near the Troll’s house, his mother was looking out of the window, and no sooner did she see him than she began to shake and shiver.