Once upon a time there lived a peasant whose farm was located on the northern shore of Lake Mývatn. And the lake is so big that the shortest road around it is thirty-six kilometers. It was the beginning of haymaking, all the inhabitants of the farm were drying hay in the meadow. At this very time, an unfamiliar woman appeared on the farm, found the owner and asked to spend the night. He asked her name.
“Ulvhildur,” she said.
-Where are you from? – the owner asked, but she did not answer this question.
In the evening Ulvhildur began to rake hay with the other women and worked very quickly. The next morning she was about to rake hay again, but the owner did not allow it and made it clear that it was time for her to go home. Ulvhildur burst into tears, the owner took pity on her and allowed her to stay another day. The next morning he again reminded her that it was time to leave, but she burst into tears again, and he again took pity on her and left her for a whole week. This week passes, and the owner tells Ulvhildur that he cannot keep her with him any longer. She again burst into tears and cried until she was allowed to stay on the farm. Ulvhildur was glad to see her, and so were all the inhabitants of the farm: they liked her very much, because there was no more hard-working, clean and respectable woman.
In winter, before Christmas, the mistress gave Ulvhildur a piece of leather so that she could sew shoes for herself and two other workers. Ulvhildur sewed boots for the workers, but not for herself. At Christmas everyone went to church, only Ulvhildur stayed at home because she did not have new shoes.
A year has passed, and nothing is said about how they lived until next Christmas. Only before Christmas, the mistress again gave Ulvhildur a piece of leather so that she could sew shoes, and Ulvhildur again sewed them for the workers, but not for herself.
For Christmas everyone went to church, only Ulvhildur and the worker who looked after the sheep remained at home. At night, the worker felt as if Ulvhildur was going somewhere, he became curious, and next time he decided to definitely find out where she was going.
The holidays are over, winter has flashed by. On the farm, everyone became attached to Ulvhildur, they simply doted on her. And now the third Christmas has come. The hostess again gave Ulvhildur leather for shoes, and she again sewed shoes for the workers, but not for herself, although the hostess warned her that whether she wanted it or not, she would have to go to church - the pastor had already reproached them for not attending the service. However, Ulvhildur said nothing to this.
Before the holiday, everyone went to bed early, only that same worker did not sleep. And so he sees Ulvhildur quietly, so as not to wake anyone, get up and leave the house. He is behind her. She approached the lake, went down to the water, rinsed her mittens, and immediately a bridge spanned the lake. Ulvhildur climbed onto the bridge, and the worker followed her. Ulvhildur crossed the lake, rinsed her mittens again, and the bridge disappeared, and she moved on. Despite the thick fog, the worker did not lag behind her a single step; it seemed to him that they were now walking underground. For a long time nothing was visible, but little by little it became lighter.
Now they walked along a flowery plain. Never in his life had the worker seen such beauty. The sides of the road were full of flowers, the meadow was bright yellow with sun-drenched dandelions, and sheep grazed on it. In the middle of the meadow stood a beautiful palace. The worker immediately guessed that only the king and queen could live in such a palace. Next to the palace stood a majestic church. Ulvhildur entered the palace, and the worker hid so that no one would see him.
Soon Ulvhildur came out of the palace, wearing a royal robe on her shoulders and a gold ring on each finger. She carried a child in her arms, and next to her walked a man in a robe and with a crown on his head. The worker immediately realized that this was the king and queen. They headed to the church, accompanied by a crowd of cheerful, festively dressed people. The worker also approached the door of the church, no one noticed him, not even Ulvhildur. The service began, the harps began to play, and wonderful singing began. The child Ulvhildur whined, she took the ring off her finger and gave it to him to play with. The child dropped the ring on the floor, it rolled towards the worker, and he, don’t be a fool, grabbed it and hid it in his pocket. After the service everyone left the church, and Ulvhildur returned to the palace with the king. It seemed to the worker that now they were all not having so much fun.
And then Ulvhildur left the palace in her old dress and quickly went back. The worker ran after her. How they got to the lake is unknown, but there Ulvhildur rinsed her mittens in the water - a bridge spanned the lake, and they crossed to the other side. Ulvhildur rinsed her mittens again, and the bridge disappeared. Then the worker overtook her, ran home and went to bed, and soon Ulvhildur quietly returned and also went to bed.
In the morning, the hostess reminded Ulvhildur that it was time to go to church.
“She doesn’t need to go anywhere,” said the worker, “she was already in church this night.”
- Maybe you can tell everyone what you know? – asked Ulvhildur.
The worker agreed and told everything that he saw at night, and showed a gold ring to confirm his words.
Ulvhildur was delighted and immediately told everyone her story. She turned out to be the daughter of the king of the aulvas. One day she quarreled with an old woman, also from the villages, and she cast a spell on her and doomed her to live among people. Ulvhildur could only be saved from the spell by a person who would go down with her to the kingdom of the aulvas on one of the three Christmas nights. And only on these nights was she allowed to see her husband. But she, in turn, cursed the old woman: she would die if anyone freed Ulvhildur from the spell.
“From now on, you will be lucky in everything,” she told the worker. - Tomorrow go to the lake, you will find two wallets there, take the smaller one for yourself and give the larger one to the owner.
Then she said a heartfelt goodbye to everyone and set off, crossed the lake and disappeared, and no one ever saw her again, although people on the farm remembered her for a long time.
And the next day the worker went down to the lake and found two heavy wallets there. The smaller wallet contained gold coins, and the larger one contained silver coins. They say that since then the worker has been lucky all his life.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru