d him. He will
then let you stand on his shoulders, so as to get out of the mound; but
he means to cheat you all the same, and will catch you by the cloak to
pull you back again; but you must take care to have the cloak loose on
your shoulders, so that he will only get hold of that.'

The mound was all ready now, and the Giant laid in it, and into it
Hadvor also had to go without being allowed to make any defence. After
they were both left there everything happened just as Olof had said. The
prince became a Giant again, and asked Hadvor to cut the pieces out of
his legs for the dogs; but she refused until he told her that Hermod was
in a desert island, which she could not reach unless she took the skin
off the soles of his feet and made shoes out of that; with these shoes
she could travel both on land and sea. This Hadvor now did, and the
Giant then let her get up on his shoulders to get out of the mound. As
she sprang out he caught hold of her cloak; but she had taken care to
let it lie loose on her shoulders, and so escaped.

She now made her way down to the sea, to where she knew there was the
shortest distance over to the island in which Hermod was. This strait
she easily crossed, for the shoes kept her up. On reaching the island
she found a sandy beach all along by the sea, and high cliffs above. Nor
could she see any way to get up these, and so, being both sad at heart
and tired with the long journey, she lay down and fell asleep. As she
slept she dreamed that a tall woman came to her and said, 'I know that
you are Princess Hadvor, and are searching for Hermod. He is on this
island; but it will be hard for you to get to him if you have no one to
help you, for you cannot climb the cliffs by your own strength. I have
therefore let down a rope, by which you will be able to climb up; and as
the island is so large that you might not find Hermod's dwelling-place
so easily, I lay down this clew beside you. You need only hold the end
of the thread, and the clew will run on before and show you the way. I
also lay this belt beside you, to put on when you awaken; it will keep
you from growing faint with hunger.'

The woman now disappeared, and Hadvor woke, and saw that all her dream
had been true. The rope hung down from the cliff, and the clew and belt
lay beside her. The belt she put on, the rope enabled her to climb up
the cliff, and the clew led her on till she came to the mouth of a cave,
which was not very big. She w