On the third evening she retired early, and was scarcely in bed when she heard, faint and far away, the voice of the little old woman calling her. Then she knew her mother needed her, and immediately she jumped out of bed, dressed, and cautiously opened her door. No one was in the next room, and she ran as quickly as she could to where her father’s palace had stood. There, before the ruins, she saw her mother tied to a wooden stake that had been driven into the ground, and the servants were piling up fagots of wood around her. She had been condemned to death for having set the palace on fire during the king’s absence, and for stealing his treasure. In vain she had pleaded her innocence.
The princess pushed her way through the crowd and threw herself on her knees before her father. “Oh, stop, stop!” she cried eagerly. “Dear father, my mother is not to blame. It was I who burned your palace. I was forced to do so in order to save your life, which was threatened by the wicked magician, Surtur. Neither did my mother steal your treasure. That and much else was taken out of the palace to a place of safety.”
On hearing this, the king ordered the queen to be released, and she embraced her daughter with many words of affection.
As soon as possible the princess hurried back to the hut of the giant in the forest. When she approached it she heard the sounds of a terrific combat. She looked in and saw the giant engaged in a struggle for mastery with the magician. From her pocket she hastily took the silver ball the little old woman had given to her and hurled it at the wicked Surtur. Her aim was true, and the moment the ball hit him he changed to a hawk, and with a rapid flutter of wings darted out of the door and disappeared.
The giant picked up the ball, and to the surprise of the princess he was transformed into the handsome young prince she had seen in her dreams. They went back together to the king and queen, and before long there was a great marriage-feast, and the princess became the wife of the prince she had delivered from his enchantment. After the death of the king the prince became the ruler of the kingdom, and he and his queen lived happily all the days of their life.
The End