The Three Princesses of Whiteland

Background

The tale begins with a fisherman who, after catching nothing, makes a bargain with a head that appears from the water: fish for what his wife carries under her girdle. He returns home to learn his wife is pregnant, and the child is what he offered. The king raises the boy, but when grown, the youth insists on going fishing with his father. As soon as he steps into the boat, it is dragged to a far land called Whiteland.

There, an old man directs him to three princesses buried up to their necks in sand, advising him to speak only to the youngest. She explains that three trolls have imprisoned them; if he lets each troll beat him for a night, the princesses will be freed. A flask of ointment and a sword in the castle will aid him. The first troll has three heads and three rods; after the beating, the princesses stand up to their waists.

The second has six heads and six rods; the princesses rise to their knees. The third has nine heads and nine rods; he beats the youth so severely that he cannot reach the ointment, but the flask breaks against the wall, spilling ointment on him, and he kills the troll, freeing the princesses entirely.