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The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body
Norwegian Fairy Tale (by Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen and Moe)1. Summary
Once upon a time, there was a king who had seven sons. We are told that the king loves his sons so much that he cannot see his life without them. One day, the Princes tell their father that they want to set off to woo. The king allows the six older sons to set off to woo, but he decides to keep Boots, the youngest son, next to him. As soon as they receive their horses, the six brothers start the journey. They have to find sweethearts for themselves, but also for their brother Boots.
They go to a king who has six beautiful daughters. They fall in love with them and want to take them home. However, they forget they are supposed to find a bride for their youngest brother too. To their misfortune, on their way back home, they encounter a Giant who turns them all into stones.
When Boots sees that his brothers are not coming back, he prays and begs his father to let him go and find them. As his brothers took the best horses, he receives an old broken-down jade as a travelling companion.
On his way, he meets a Raven which needs his help because it is starving. He gives the Raven some of the food he has brought with him.
Afterwards, he encounters a Salmon. It has got upon a dry place and Boots helps it get back into the water.
He also meets a famished Wolf called Greyfeet. The wolf tells Boots that if he gives him the horse to eat, he lets him ride on its back. Boots is not sure what to do at first but decides that the wolf should have his horse.
Boots puts the saddle on the wolf and, together, they travel to the Giant’s house. The wolf tells him about his brothers and their brides turned into stones. When Boots enters the house, he meets there a beautiful Princess who confesses that “no one can make an end of the Giant because he has no heart in his body”.
The Princess offers him her help and asks him to stay quiet under the bed and listen to the conversation she and the giant are about to have.
The Giant feels “smell of Christian blood” in the house though he never realises that somebody is hiding under the bed. The Princess asks the Giant whether he can tell her where he keeps his heart. The Giant says that it lies under the door-still. When the Giant is away, Boots and the Princess try to find it but they can’t. The Princess tries to ask him one more time. The Giant tells her that his heart lies in the cupboard against the wall. The next day, they try to find the heart there but they can’t find it. The Princess decides to ask him one last time. The third time the Giant’s answer is: "Far, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart,—you darling!"
On hearing these, Boots jumps on the wolf’s back and travels to the island to find the Giant’s heart. When he wants to enter the church, he realizes that the keys are placed too high for him to reach them. The wolf tells him to ask for the Raven’s help. The Raven comes, takes the keys and gives them to Boots. When the Prince tries to catch the duck, it drops the egg into the well and it is impossible for him to take it out. The wolf reminds him that, in this case, the Salmon would be helpful. The Salmon comes and takes out the egg. The Prince squeezes the egg and the Giant starts screaming and begging him to spare his life. The Giant says he would do everything the Prince wanted on condition he stopped squeezing his heart. The wolf tells him to ask the Giant to restore to life again his six brothers and their wives, and the Giant does so. The wolf urges Boots to squeeze the egg in two and the Giant bursts at once.
The seven Princes go back to their father with their seven wives because Boots, the youngest, goes after the Princess he has met in the Giant’s house. The king is delighted to see all his sons safe at home and prepares for them a great wedding-feast that might not have ended to these days.
2. ATU System: The story is a tale of the stupid ogre (giant, devil).
3. Propp’s functions in the fairy tale:
I have identified the following functions:
• A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);
• An interdiction is addressed to the hero (‘don’t go there’, ‘go to this place’);
• The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);
• Hero leaves home;
• Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
• Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary’s powers against them);
• Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
• Hero and villain join in direct combat;
• Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
• Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
• Hero returns;
• Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
4. Similarities to other stories:
To me this story looks very much like the story of Harap-Alb. In both stories we have a king who is unwilling to let his youngest son start his initiatory journey. Both Harap-Alb and Boots are given shabby horses when they are ready to set off. Moreover, both heroes meet creatures which ask for a favour or help of any kind from them. They both benefit from their help afterwards. The tale can also be compared to the story of Jack and The Beanstalk. The Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk feels the smell of a human being but he never realises that there is a boy somewhere in his room. The Giant’s wife lies to him saying that she is cooking something that smells like man. In The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body, the moment the Giant enters the house, he feels smell of “Christian blood”. The Princess makes up a story to make him ignore the smell: “there came a magpie flying with a man's bone in his bill, and let it fall down the chimney. I made as much haste as I could to get it out, but I daresay it's that you smell." In both cases the Giant comes home and goes away three times. Mihai Alexandra
KidLit I 
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