The Giant's Daughter

Once a young man named Cedric was in the market place with his friends when he saw a woman who he thought was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and, buying a tulip from a flower seller, he thought that he would give it to the woman.

But his friends warned him,

“Stay away from her. That’s Titania, the Giant’s daughter. The daughter of Old Orlag who lives on top of the mountain and he is very protective of her. If any man even dares to talk to her and Orlag hears about it, the old Giant will snap him in two”.

Unfortunately for Cedric, he had fallen in love with the giants daughter and so, ignoring his friends advice, he went over to her and presented her with the tulip.

But Titania said she couldn’t accept the flower.

“Please”, she said, “Don’t talk to me, for your own sake because I am afraid of what my father might do to you if he finds out about it”.

“Is there no way that I can win him over?”, asked Cedric, “Nothing I can say or do which will make him like me?”.

“My father will respect any man who climbs his mountain to the top”, said Titania, “But no man would ever dare climb the mountain for it is too steep and too perilous”.

“I would”, said Cedric, “I would tread upon the clouds; grip hold of the stars and climb to the summit of heaven for your love”.

The Giants daughter smiled and took the tulip from him.

“Then I will wait for you upon the top of the mountain”, she said.

And, the next morning, after the sun had risen, Cedric went to the foot of the Giant’s mountain and prepared to climb it, even though all of his friends and family had pleaded with him not to, saying that it was a fools quest that would only get him killed.

And, as he climbed along the winding path that led up the mountainside, every flower and every tree; every animal and bird that he passed, warned him,

“Go back if you know what’s good for you. There is nothing on this mountain for any man except danger and death”.

But Cedric wouldn’t listen and replied to them all,

“I cannot go back because my true love waits for me at the top of this mountain and, for her love, there is no danger or death that I would not gladly face”.

And, though it took him many hours of arduous climbing, the young man managed to climb a third of the way up the mountain.

Cedric had not gone much further, however, when he saw, in front of him, what looked like an enormous grey boulder except that it had a pair of large eyes; a nose and a snarling mouth.

“What are you?”, he asked.

“I am a Broglith. A living boulder and, if you venture any further up this mountain then I will roll over you and crush your bones into powder”.

Cedric started to panic; he couldn’t think of how he would get past the Broglith, which was so wide that it blocked his path completely.

But then, just as he was about to give in to despair, Cedric heard a strange whispering in his right ear.

“Stand near the edge of the mountain”, said the whisper, “Then challenge the Broglith”.

Cedric didn’t know what the whispering in his ear was or whether to trust it but he had no better idea and so he did as it suggested and went over to the edge of the mountain and stood there before shouting to the Broglith,

“Do your worst you overgrown pebble. I am not afraid of you”.

When he said that, however, the Broglith let out a roar as loud as an avalanche and then, tumbling forwards, it rolled towards him as fast as a wild boar charging.

“Grrr!”, it growled like the crunch of gravel as it hurtled towards him, “You’ll be sorry for what you said”.

But then, just as it was about to collide with him, the whispering voice said, “Now! Quickly, jump out of its way!”.

With only a few seconds; barely enough time to think, Cedric leapt clear of the oncoming Broglith and then, much to his relief, he saw the creature go crashing, with a loud cry of surprise and anguish, over the edge of the mountain.

“Thank you”, said Cedric to the voice.

But the voice did not reply and so Cedric shrugged his shoulders and continued his journey up the mountain and, not stopping to rest, even for a moment, he managed to climb another third of the way up the mountain.

But then, not long afterwards, in front of him, Cedric saw, to his astonishment, a woman with long hair of blazing and crackling red fire.

“What are you?”, asked Cedric.

“I am a fire gorgon”, said the creature, hissing and sticking out a tongue that was also made of flame, “And I will set you ablaze with my long hair”.

And, saying this, the Fire Gorgon made her long hair leap out at Cedric and it would have burned his face very badly if he had not swerved out of its path just in time.

But then, Cedric heard that little voice whispering to him again; this time in his left ear.

“Take a branch from one of the trees nearby”, it said, “And use it to defend yourself”.

“A wooden branch?”, asked Cedric, bewildered, “But won’t that burn?”.

The voice gave no reply but, because the voice had helped him before, Cedric trusted it and, doing as it advised him, he broke a branch off of a nearby tree and used it to defend himself against the fire gorgon.

To Cedric’s amazement, he realized that the fire gorgons hair did not burn the wood.

“Wood that will not burn?”, thought Cedric, as he drove off the fire gorgon with the branch, “This mountain is full of stranger things than I have ever seen or even dreamed of”.

But then, when he had beaten the fire gorgon, hissing angrily, back into her cave, Cedric, just as before, thanked the voice that had helped him and, just as before, the voice gave no reply and , just as before, he shrugged his shoulders and continued his journey up the mountain.

And, for several more hours, he climbed, becoming so tired that his body ached with exhaustion but never stopping, spurred onwards by dreams of his beloved Giant’s daughter.

Then, finally, Cedric saw the top of the mountain come in sight.

However, just as he did, suddenly, Cedric heard a loud and terrifying screech like the sound of an enormous bird and then he felt a sharp burning pain in his right arm as claws like iron hooks ripped into the flesh of his arm leaving behind a deep wound.

But then, looking round about him and up at the sky, Cedric couldn’t see any bird or anything at all except trees and clouds and sun.

“What are you?”, asked Cedric, shaking now; more terrified that he had ever been.

“I am a windhawk and I am invisible. I shall fly down upon you and tear you to shreds with my sharp talons and my long beak”, it said.

Now, Cedric was at a loss what to do.

But then, just as he had twice before, he heard the mysterious but helpful voice whispering to him.

“Close your eyes. Do not look at it”, said the voice.

“Don’t look at it?”, asked Cedric, again bewildered, “But I can’t see it”.

Yet Cedric trusted the voice because it had helped him before and so he did as it advised and closed both of his eyes.

And when he did, to his amazement, though he could see nothing else, he could see the wind hawk; a giant bird with wings that seemed wide as a mile, wheeling above him and he could even see its broad shadow below him.

Then, feeling around nearby, Cedric took hold of one of the rocks that were lying scattered about on the ground and, picking it up, hurled it at the bird just as it was swooping down to attack him again.

The rock struck the fearsome flying creature right in the side of its plumed forehead  and, concussed by the blow, the bird fell, spiralling downwards, out of the sky before thudding onto the ground near to him.

Opening his eyes again, Cedric now could not see the bird but, reaching out with his fingers, he could feel its warm body and the softness of it feathered wings.

“Astounding!”, he thought to himself.

But then, behind him, Cedric heard another noise, like gentle footsteps and sandals scraping against dust and, turning round, his heart became overjoyed as he saw the Giant’s daughter.

“I told you that I’d wait for you”, she said, smiling, happy to see him.

Cedric rushed over to her and threw his arms around her, kissing her upon the cheek.

“And I told you that I would climb this mountain for you and you see, I have”, he said, laughing.

But then, nearby, Cedric heard footsteps of someone else and, looking round in the direction of the sound, saw an old man with a long grey beard and a wooden walking staff in his hand approaching.

“Who are you?”, asked Cedric.

“That is my father”, said Titania, “The Giant of this mountain”.

“Giant?”, asked Cedric, stunned yet again with bewilderment, “But he’s the same height as I am”.

“That is because”, said the old man with a warm, friendly grin, “You are now a giant, as are all who climb this mountain. They grow greater from every trial that they face and overcome”.

But then, frowning guiltily, Cedric confessed to Titania’s father that he had not overcome the trials of the mountain alone.

“I had help”, he said, “Some voice that kept whispering to me”.

“Oh don’t worry about that, that was just me”, said the Old man.

“You?”, asked Cedric, “But why would you help me?”.

Titania’s father put a hand upon Cedric’s shoulder.

“Any man”, he said,  “Who is willing to climb the mountain and face the perils that you faced must truly love my daughter and that makes him worthy enough in my eyes”.

Now, the sun set in the distance and, beneath the broad moon and twinkling stars, Cedric and Titania were wed  and, years later, when the old man passed away, Cedric became the new lord of the mountain and together, in a house carved from mountain stone, the young man and the Giant’s daughter lived happily ever after.