for him.'

About this time the King came home from his expedition, and thought it
a great blow that no one knew what had become of Hermod; but the Queen
consoled him as best she could, and after a time the King thought less
about his disappearance.

Hadvor remained in her castle, and had made preparations to receive her
wooer when he came. One night, not long after, a loud noise and rumbling
was heard under the castle. Hadvor at once guessed what it was, and told
her maids to be ready to help her. The noise and thundering grew louder
and louder, until the floor began to open, whereupon Hadvor made them
take the caldron of pitch and pour plenty of it into the opening. With
that the noises grew fainter and fainter, till at last they ceased
altogether.

Next morning the Queen rose early, and went out to the Palace gate, and
there she found her brother the Giant lying dead. She went up to him and
said, 'I pronounce this spell, that you become a beautiful prince, and
that Hadvor shall be unable to say anything against the charges that I
shall bring against her.'

The body of the dead Giant now became that of a beautiful prince, and
the Queen went in again.

'I don't think,' said she to the King, 'that your daughter is as good as
she is said to be. My brother came and asked her hand, and she has had
him put to death. I have just found his dead body lying at the Palace
gate.'

The King went along with the Queen to see the body, and thought it all
very strange; so beautiful a youth, he said, would have been a worthy
match for Hadvor, and he would readily have agreed to their marriage.
The Queen asked leave to decide what Hadvor's punishment should be,
which the King was very willing to allow, so as to escape from punishing
his own daughter. The Queen's decision was that the King should make a
big grave-mound for her brother, and put Hadvor into it beside him.

Olof knew all the plans of the Queen, and went to tell the Princess what
had been done, whereupon Hadvor earnestly entreated her to tell her what
to do.

'First and foremost,' said Olof, 'you must get a wide cloak to wear over
your other clothes, when you are put into the mound. The Giant's ghost
will walk after you are both left together in there, and he will have
two dogs along with him. He will ask you to cut pieces out of his legs
to give to the dogs, but that you must not promise to do unless he tells
you where Hermod has gone to, and tells you how to fin