The Pigsty Prince and the Many Travels ⋆ King Arthur and His Knights (B. Winder)

This is a chapter of King Arthur and His Knights by Blanche Winder.

One of King Arthur’s cousins was a little prince who had been found in a pigsty. The swineherd who found him, however, knew that he was a prince, and took him up to the king’s palace, where, after a little time, the king acknowledged him as heir to the kingdom. The prince’s own mother was dead, but his stepmother, who was very fond of him, was determined that he should marry well. When he was grown up, therefore, she told him that only one princess in the world was worthy of him, and that was the princess Olwen.

The pigsty prince (everybody knew him by this name) immediately determined to marry the princess Olwen and set off to King Arthur’s court to ask him for her hand as a kingly favor; for, in those days, anybody who wanted anything hurried off to ask King Arthur to give it to him. When the prince reached King Arthur’s palace, the doorkeeper thought he had never seen so fine a man, and admitted him immediately. The pigsty prince begged the king to give him the hand of the princess Olwen, and the king said he would gladly have consented, had he ever heard of her. As he had not, he sent out messengers who spent twelve months in looking for her, but were no wiser on the last day of the year than they had been on the first.

But King Arthur was too great a king to permit even a pigsty prince to go home disappointed and empty-handed. He summoned the bravest and strongest of his knights and warriors and bade them set off with the prince in search of the princess Olwen. So this wonderful band of strong and brave men rode away into the country, and, after some weeks of traveling, saw a great castle in the distance. Just as they arrived within call of it, they came upon an immense flock of sheep in charge of a shepherd; so they rode up to him and asked him to whom the castle belonged. He answered that it belonged to the father of the princess Olwen.

Then these warriors from Arthur’s court said that they had come to take the princess Olwen to the king. Whereupon the shepherd told them that other strong and brave men had gone into the castle on the same quest, but that none had come out alive. He told them, too, that he was the brother of the lord of the castle, who had stolen all his possessions from him, and made him shepherd of the castle sheep. Then the pigsty prince gave him a ring, which the shepherd took home and showed to his wife, who was very much pleased and excited, for the ring was a family treasure, and she knew, by what her husband told her, that her own sister’s son was near at hand. As she was talking to the shepherd about the ring, all King Arthur’s messengers rode up to the house, with the pigsty prince in the middle of them. The shepherd’s wife greeted them and showed great joy at meeting with her nephew.

Then the shepherd’s wife told her visitors that sometimes the princess Olwen came to the cottage to wash her beautiful auburn hair, and that, if a message was sent to her, she might come that very night. So a message was sent, and, sure enough, the princess came.

The moment that the pigsty prince saw her, he recognized her and fell even more deeply in love with her real self than he had been with the image of her in his fancy. She, too, fell in love with him, but told him she was afraid he could never win her. His only chance, she said, was to ask her father for her hand and to promise to perform every task which the cruel lord should command. Then she mounted her beautiful white pony and went back to the castle.

The lord of the castle was a terrible-looking man, almost hidden in his own wild long hair. Three times he tried to drive Arthur’s messengers away with poisoned arrows, but, each time, they caught the arrows and flung them back at the lord. So at last —as he was very badly hurt by the arrows— he bade them declare their desire.

Then Arthur’s warriors put the pigsty prince in a chair opposite the great chair in which sat the cruel lord. And the two began to argue, one against the other.

“You must root up the whole of that hill yonder,” said the father of princess Olwen; “you must plow it and sow it in one day, and in one day the wheat must grow and ripen. Of that wheat, only, shall bread be baked for my daughter’s wedding.”

“It will be quite easy for me to do this,” answered the pigsty prince, remembering what Olwen had told him about promising to do all that he was asked.

This may be easy, but there are other things which you cannot do. Only two men in the world can till the land and rid it of its stones. Neither of these will come for you, and you will not be able to make them. Another man has in his possession the only oxen that can possibly draw a plow over such wild country. He will not give them up to you, and you will not be able to get them. When first I met Olwen’s mother, nine bushels of flax were sown, and, from the seed not a blade came up. I require you to recover the flax and to sow it again in the wildland tilled by the men who will not come, and plowed by the oxen you cannot get. When the flax has grown, it must make the linen for the headdress my daughter is to wear at her wedding.”

“It will be perfectly easy for me to do all these things,” cried the pigsty prince valiantly.

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“You may be able to sow the flax and to reap it,” said the lord of the castle, “but there are other things you certainly cannot do. I want honey that is nine times sweeter than comb honey to put into the marriage drink, and I must have the famous cup of which so many stories are told, to hold this sweet draught of wine. Also, you must bring me the fairy horn, and the fairy harp, and the fairy cauldron of which all the world has heard tell. Then I must certainly wash my head and shave my beard for the ceremony, and I can only shave with the great boar’s razor. Nor can I spread out my hair in order to wash it unless I have blood from the jet-black witch.”

“All these things I can easily get for you,” boasted the pigsty prince.

“Yes, but, even if I wash my head, my hair is so thick and matted I can only comb it with the fairy comb and cut off its ends with the fairy scissors that hang between the two ears of the great enchanted boar who also carries the razor.”

“It will be perfectly easy for me to hunt the great enchanted boar and bring you the comb and scissors as well as the razor,” shouted the pigsty prince at the top of his voice.

“In order to do so, you will want the fairy hound and the fairy leash to hold him, and the fairy collar and chain, and the great huntsman whose name is Mabon, who was stolen from his mother when he was three days old and has been lost ever since. Whatever else you can do, you cannot find Mabon.”

“It will be the easiest thing in the world for me to find Mabon. What else is there for me to do?” demanded the persistent lover of the princess Olwen.

It appeared that there were various other things for him to do, one of which was to persuade King Arthur to join in the hunt after the enchanted boar with the razor. The lord of the castle was quite sure that King Arthur would refuse to do any such thing — but the pigsty prince knew better. Last of all his tasks was to bring Olwen’s father the sword of a terrible giant. This giant could only be slain by his own sword and would certainly kill anyone who tried to steal it from him. But the pigsty prince was not daunted.

“My lord and kinsman, King Arthur, will obtain all these marvels for me!” he cried fearlessly. “I will have not only your daughter, oh, great lord with the unkempt hair, but I will have also your life!”

So saying, he departed from the castle, and all King Arthur’s warriors departed with him.

They journeyed for a whole day and, in the evening, arrived at another castle, where a giant met them at the gate, who was as black as ebony. When they asked him whose castle it was, he said that it belonged to the giant with the mighty sword, and nobody who went into it ever came out alive. In spite of that, Arthur’s warriors went on and knocked at the door. The porter who sat inside called out to them that nobody could be admitted unless he could do something nobody else could do so well. Whereupon Sir Kay, who was among the warriors, answered that he was the finest polisher of swords in the world.

The porter carried this news to the giant, who replied that his sword very badly wanted polishing, and ordered that Sir Kay should be admitted. So Sir Kay was let into the castle, and the sword was given into his hand, and, after polishing it and making it very sharp, he slipped behind the giant and cut off his head!

Then all the warriors rushed into the giant’s castle and took the gold and silver that were hidden in it. With this treasure and with the great sword, they traveled back to Arthur’s court and told him the whole story. And, when Arthur heard of the other marvels that had yet to be performed, he asked which of them had better be undertaken first. In answer, the warriors told him that it would be best to find Mabon, the lost huntsman, who was stolen from his mother when three days old.

Now, of course, Mabon had been stolen by the fairy people, and only the fairy people would be able to tell of his hiding place. Very close to the fairy people lived the birds in the trees. So, first of all, the warriors went in search of the talking blackbird.

They found the blackbird flying about a glen, and, when they asked her where Mabon could be found, she said she would show them the way to a certain fairy stag who might be able to help them, as he was many years older than she was. So off they all set to find the fairy stag. When they found him, they told him that they were the messengers of King Arthur and that they were seeking Mabon.

The stag answered that there was an owl who was much older than he was and who might possibly be able to answer their question. As they were Arthur’s messengers, he added, he would lead them to the owl. Once more they formed a procession, with the stag and the blackbird in front, and moved on over the hills till they found the fairy owl.

But the owl could not tell them where Mabon had been hidden. All he could do was to lead them to another bird, still older than himself — the great eagle of the crags. And the eagle it was who told them of the great and wonderful fairy salmon.

The eagle had once tried to kill the salmon, but they had become friends afterward, and so, when the mighty bird led Arthur’s messengers to the mighty fish, the salmon answered that he knew where Mabon was, and he took two of the messengers upon his wide silver shoulders and swam up the river with them to the stone walls of an old city. And there they heard somebody crying and lamenting in a dungeon — and it was Mabon, who had been stolen from his mother when he was only three days old.

Then the warriors went back to Arthur’s court, and the king gathered together an army, and came to the old stone city and attacked the dungeon, and set Mabon free and took him home. And then they all began to ask each other which marvel it would be best that they should next seek.

The fairy hound and the fairy leash and the fairy collar had still to be discovered. As Sir Kay was talking all this over with Sir Bedivere, they suddenly saw a great smoke from a great fire, and they thought it was the fire of a robber. They hurried off in the direction of the fire, and there, sure enough, was the greatest robber that Arthur had ever hunted, roasting some boar’s flesh on a spit. And Sir Kay, pointing to the robber’s beard, whispered to Sir Bedivere that only the living hairs from that beard could make the fairy leash that would hold the fairy hound with which Mabon must hunt the enchanted boar who carried the comb and the scissors and the razor. So the two warriors hid themselves until the robber had eaten so much supper that he fell fast asleep. Then they stole up to him and actually managed, not only to dig a great pit under his feet while he slept, but to tip him into it without waking him up. When he was fast in the pit they plucked out the hair of his beard, and then killed him, as he was a very wicked robber.

Carrying the leash which they had made of the robber’s beard, they returned to Arthur’s court.

“Now,” said King Arthur, “what is to be the next marvel?”

And they were all agreed that it was to be the capture of the fairy hound. They had to search through many countries, but at last they found the fairy hound in the Enchanted Forest itself and took it home to Arthur’s castle. And now they were all ready to hunt the boar. But it was such a great and terrible animal that Arthur said they would not start upon the hunt until they were quite sure it really had the comb and scissors hanging between its ears. So he made one of his knights take the form of a bird and fly to the mountain where the enchanted boar was hidden. He flew right down onto the top of the boar’s den, and, sure enough, there were the comb, and the scissors, and the razor.

For a time, Arthur decided to leave the boar alone and obtain the magic cauldron. Now the cauldron was in the house of a great king, who kept all his money in it and entirely refused to part with it at Arthur’s request. So Arthur made war on him and conquered him, and carried away the cauldron.

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And now the day had arrived for the great hunting, but all the enchanted boars of the country heard of it, and turned out themselves to fight the warriors of Arthur’s court. Chief among these great boars was a huge beast with bristles like silver wire, that made a shining pathway as he rushed through the trees. Arthur’s warriors and Mabon and the fairy hound had terrible battles with the boars; but at last the great beast with the comb and the scissors and the razor was driven into the river, not far from the very city where Mabon had been found by the two knights who rode on the shoulders of the fairy salmon.

Then, while the huge creature lashed the water, Mabon himself sprang upon it and snatched the razor from its tusk and hid it under his vest. But nobody could reach the comb and the scissors until a very brave warrior followed Mabon into the water and managed to get hold of the scissors. However, before either man could secure the comb, the boar scrambled out of the water and galloped off. Then King Arthur himself set off after it, with a whole host of knights, and at last they overtook it, and, after a terrific fight, got possession of the comb, the enchanted boar was driven into the ocean and never seen again.

Then King Arthur and his warriors took a short rest, after which the king asked if there were still any more marvels to be performed. And his knights answered that the blood of the black witch had yet to be obtained. So the king set off in search of the black witch and found her hiding in a cave, and she nearly killed two of the warriors the moment they entered her hiding place. So King Arthur instantly took his sword and leaped into the cave and cut the ugly black witch in two. And one of his attendants took the fairy blood and put it into a fairy basin.

Now, as Arthur’s messengers had got the witch’s blood and the magical razor and the fairy comb and scissors, they thought that the other tasks might wait awhile, and they all went back to the horrible lord’s castle with their spoils. They sprinkled his hair and beard with the witch’s blood, and then, in spite of his struggles, cut both of them off and shaved him as clean as an ivory ball. Then, as the loss of his hair and beard made him quite helpless, they found it easy to chop off his head with the giant’s sword, after which they took possession of the castle and all the gold and silver and jewels that were hidden in it.

As the father of the princess was dead, there was really no need now to trouble about the other marvels that he had declared were to be performed for her wedding day. The pigsty prince therefore married her without them, and he and his bride and Arthur’s knights and warriors made festival for at least a week in the castle.