ll. But you must make haste and
come as soon as you hear me calling the hens."

First of all he had to try if he was able to swing the troll's sword,
which lay on the table; it was much larger and heavier than the first
one; he was hardly able to move it. He then took three draughts from
the horn and he could then lift it, and when he had taken three more
he could handle it as if it were a rolling pin.

Shortly afterwards he heard a heavy, rumbling noise that was quite
terrible, and directly afterwards a troll with six heads came in.

"Ugh, ugh!" he said as soon as he got his noses inside the door. "I
smell Christian blood and bone in my house."

"Yes, just think! A raven came flying past here with a thigh-bone,
which he dropped down the chimney," said the _Princess_. "I threw it
out, but the raven brought it back again. At last I got rid of it and
made haste to clean the room, but I suppose the smell is not quite
gone," she said.

"No, I can smell it well," said the troll; but he was tired and put
his heads in the _Princess's_ lap, and she went on scratching them
till they all fell a-snoring. Then she called the hens, and the
soldier came and cut off all the six heads as if they were set on
cabbage stalks.

She was no less glad than her elder sister, as you may imagine, and
danced and sang; but in the midst of their joy they remembered their
youngest sister. They went with the soldier across a large courtyard,
and, after walking through many, many rooms, he came to the hall of
gold where the third sister was.

She sat at a golden spinning-wheel spinning gold yarn, and the room
from ceiling to floor glistened and glittered till it hurt one's
eyes.

"Heaven preserve both you and me, what do you want here?" said the
_Princess_. "Go, go, else the troll will kill us both."

"Just as well two as one," answered the soldier. The _Princess_ cried
and wept; but it was all of no use, he must and would remain. Since
there was no help for it he would have to try if he could use the
troll's sword on the table in the front hall. But he was only just
able to move it; it was still larger and heavier than the other two
swords.

He then had to take the horn down from the wall and take three
draughts from it, but was only just able to stir the sword. When he
had taken three more draughts he could lift it, and when he had taken
another three he swung it as easily as if it had been a feather.

The _Princess_ then settled with