Interlude 28: Eirian Silverhands and Afalgwig
Folktale
Once upon a time there was a girl, Eirian, who was as wise and good as she was beautiful. Her father was a miller and very poor, however, and it was a constant struggle for the small family to survive.
Their nearest neighbor was a mage, Owyd, who lived in a tower. From his vantage point he would watch the girl and her family from a distance and everyday he would watch Eirian behind the house, sweeping and tending the yard early in the morning when her father left to chop wood in the forest. Over time a demon of desire saw the wish in his heart to make the girl his bride and began to whisper dimly to him, tempting him to act on his base longings.
One morning, the mage could stand it no longer and he rushed from his tower to intercept her father in the forest with a plan to make the girl his own. Owyd approached the miller as the man was about to take a swing at a large elm and whistled, "Such back breaking work, you should hire a young man to do it for you!"
"My family is poor," the miller explained, "and we barely have enough to feed ourselves. If I do not cut the wood, we will freeze in the chill of night and have no fire over which to cook our meager porridge."
"Ah, then we can help each other. You have something which I need," the mage explained, consciously leaving all mention of the girl from his speech.
Having watched the family for so long, the mage knew that behind the family's hut stood a gnarled apple tree that had not borne fruit for many years. Taking advantage of the father's naiveté, the mage explained, "I want what is standing behind your home at this moment," knowing full well that the daughter was sweeping at that time of the morning, but the father would assume he was speaking about the old apple tree.
"What will you give me for it?" the miller asked, mildly confused but eager to make a deal that might help his family.
"I will give you three casks of gold and I will collect what I have purchased in four days' time. Do we have a bargain?" the mage asked, putting out his hand for the miller to shake.
The miller grabbed the man's hand eagerly and shook it. At that moment, the mage laughed, "Now the bargain is struck and if you go back on your word a horrible curse will fall on your head."
At these words the miller shrank back slightly, for he saw something dark in the man's eyes, but inwardly he chided himself, "It is not but a trick of the light. What harm could he do with taking the old apple tree, for that is all that stands behind my house?"
Unaware of what he had done, the miller went home to his wife and daughter to inform them of their good fortune, but as he approached the house Eirian came around from the back and into his view. A painful realization began to occur to the miller and he asked warily, "Have you been behind the house for the past few hours?"
"Of course, father," Eirian replied, "I always sweep and tend the yard in the morning and have been behind the house since around sunrise."
"Oh woe is me," the miller cried and wept, "I have unwittingly sacrificed your freedom for three casks of gold. What a fool I am and now I will be cursed and our family will be cursed for I cannot give up my child to a man who will use her ill." He then explained to Eirian what had happened and she wept to see her father so distressed.
She ran behind the house, stricken, and threw herself down beneath the apple tree and wept bitterly, so bitterly that it awoke the tree from its slumber and it addressed her, "What ails you child?"
"My father, thinking that he was selling you, has sold me to an evil man and if he does not honor his bargain then my family will be cursed." Eirian sobbed so hard, as if her heart was fit to break.
The tree had always been aware of the young girl's presence as the years had passed and the tree had stood faithfully in the yard. It had watched Eirian grow up and was greatly moved with pity for her, "Do not despair. If he wants what stands behind your father's house, then he shall have what stands behind your father's house, but you must listen to my instructions carefully. For three days, early in the morning, come to me and water me with your tears. On the third day, after the sun has gone to bed, have your father cut me down, strip my branches until I am but a log. Have your father then take the branches and burn them in offering to Imhar, the clever god, as sacrifice freely given and burnt offering. Once the ash has cooled and begins to blow, your father should whittle down what is left of my trunk until it is your exact length. Then have him bring the log into your home and put it in your bed. On the morning the man comes to collect you, dress me in your work gown and place me behind the house. Hide yourself nearby at the edge of the thicket and have your parents speak not a word, but indicate that he should go behind the house when he arrives, for he will be sure to come when he thinks you are tending the yard."
Eirian heeded the old tree and did as she was instructed, watering the tree with her tears for three days. The night of the third day the miller cut down the old apple tree, but before he did so the old tree appealed to Imhar, the clever god. She offered her life in sacrifice to protect the young Eirian from the designs of the mage. The trunk bled sap warm and red like blood when the axe struck it and as it fell, it moaned like one dying. The branches were stripped and burned, but the smoke was sweet and smelled of the fragrance of apple blossoms in spring.
When the ash had cooled and began to blow away in the wind, the miller whittled down what was left of the trunk and sized it to Eirian's height and dragged the log into the house to place it in his daughter's bed. While the family slept a strange magic occurred and the log took the shape of a young woman as if hewn by a careful sculptor. The following morning the family was astounded, but dressed the wooden statue in the girl's clothes and placed her in the yard behind the house. The girl stole to the edge of the thicket and watched, waiting to see what would happen.
The mage, as promised, arrived at the miller's hut shortly after sunrise and went inside with three servants following him, carrying the casks full of gold. He smiled and bowed to the couple patronizingly, saying, "I have come to collect what I have bought. Is the girl behind the house?"
The miller nodded reluctantly and the mage sneered, "Remember our bargain, I have come to collect the girl who stands behind the house and once I clasp her she belongs to me to do with as I will. You can do nothing to stop me or break our bargain unless you wish to be cursed."
With that the mage strode into the yard and, because the light was still dim with the shadows of the hut and surrounding trees, he spied what he thought was the girl. Without a thought or second look, he approached, clasped the statue around the waist and kissed the cheek. Only when his lips made contact with the rough-hewn wood did he realize that he had been tricked.
The girl came out of her hiding spot and the miller laughed, "You have clasped her and kissed her and taken possession of her. The apple tree girl is yours. She has stood behind my house for many years, but I give her to you freely with all my heart."
The mage flew into a black rage and turned to the girl and her parents and swore, "If I cannot have you, then I will make it so no man will ever want you." With those words he sliced his palm and, using blood magic, called a curse down with his finger crooked at the girl.
"You will never sew and never spin
For you have unraveled my plans.
You may not be my wife,
But I will have your hands."
The thunder rolled, the lightning struck the ground and the girl fainted. Before her parents could touch her or aid her, they saw that where her hands had been there was nothing left but pale stumps.
The mage then turned his ire onto the tree, intoning,
"False bride, false face,
Wood in human guise,
I will have you not
For you are an empty prize.
You will find neither root nor rest,
Destined to be neither girl nor tree,
You will serve a penance
For your role in this injury.
You will walk the world
And be forced to beg for bread
Thus shall it be
Until I am cold and dead."
With that, the tree came alive and walked as if it was human, but its form remained wood instead of becoming yielding flesh. The apple tree girl spoke and sighed and saw the true power of the mage's curse for she would never find rest or belonging while equally both tree and girl. The trick she had enabled to be performed had turned back and fell heavily upon her shoulders.
The mage then stalked away, returning to his tower and leaving behind the casks of gold since the miller had kept the word of his bargain, even if it had not occurred as the mage had planned. If the mage had taken the gold back, the curse he predicted for the miller would have fallen on his own head.
Eirian awoke and saw her hands gone, she was greatly distressed but she had very little time to grieve for her loss. She determined that if she were to stay with her parents then the mage would never leave them in peace. Gathering together a couple small personal possessions, a few loaves of bread and a small bag of coins she left her parents that night under the cover of darkness so that the mage would be unaware of the direction she went in. She was accompanied by the apple tree girl, who she named Afalgwig, and they put a veil over her face so that none would stare at her barky skin.
For months they wandered, travelling through villages and, when what little money they had was gone, they begged for bread since that was all that they were fit for. Some were kind to the crippled girl and the strangely veiled woman, offering crusts of bread or dried fruit. Some threw rocks at them and drove them from their homes for fear they portended evil. Always the ways were weary and the roads were long with only rocks to pillow their heads in the evenings.
One day the pair came to a swift river with an orchard on the other side. The trees looked lush and filled with fruit and Eirian was exhausted and hungry and longed for rest beneath the shade of the trees and to eat of their fruit, but the river currents were too strong. She knew that she would never be able to cross without hands to paddle and she would surely drown.
She began to turn away in discouragement when Afalgwig took her by the arm, "You may not be able to swim, but I am wood and can float. Wrap your arms about my neck and kick in the water with all your might. I will guide us to the opposite shore. There we will find the rest and sustenance that you need."
Eirian did as Afalgwig bid, wrapping her thin arms around the tree girl's neck and kicked hard until they reached the opposite shore. For a time they rested on the bank and let the trees sway overhead as their clothes dried.
It was late summer at that time, so the trees had fruit but the ripest pears were higher in the trees on branches that neither girl could reach.
As Eirian gazed helplessly at the fruit with sad longing, Afalgwig reassured her, "Fear not, I will have the trees aid us." With that, Afalgwig began to sway, making sounds that resembled the creak and groan of the trees when they are moved by a breeze.
In answer the trees bent and stooped slightly, reaching down their choicest fruit so that Eirian and Afalgwig could eat directly from them like starlings until they had their fill. That night they slept beneath the shelter of the trees in peace and safety.
The orchard belonged to a king who liked to stroll beneath its boughs in the cool of the morning hours when the sun was newborn and the dew still bathed the grass. The following morning the king spied the strange pair sleeping beneath the branches. He quietly went away and called for the gardener, "Who are these ladies who are sheltering here? One resembles a lovely marble statue without hands and the other is swarthy and veiled."
"I do not know, your Majesty. They must have crossed the river at dusk when the workers had gone to dinner and rest."
"Keep watch over them, but do not reveal yourself to them. Send the other workers to prune and tend the trees in another section of the orchard. Report to me at the end of the day what occurs and I will greatly reward your diligence," the King instructed and returned to his duties.
The whole day the gardener watched over the pair. When they awoke late in the morning Afalgwig again spoke to the trees in their own language and the trees offered the choicest fruit on outstretched boughs. The gardener was near agog when he reported what he had seen to the King, "The dark woman is able to speak to the trees and, by some magic, and the trees obey her and stretch down their boughs so that the crippled lady can eat directly from the branches. I have seen it twice and wonder if the dark woman is a demon or an elf who can commune directly with the plants."
The King nodded, fascinated, and wished to know more of these two women but he worried that he would frighten them if he revealed himself completely. That evening he dressed in peasant clothes and crept to the orchard where the women had been staying. He observed for himself Afalgwig speaking to the trees and the trees obeying her and then the women ate their fill.
Just as the pair settled upon the soft turf for the night, the King came forward from behind a tree and addressed them, "Do not be afraid. I mean you no harm. I am a gardener of this orchard. I have watched you and wish to know by what power you have managed to cause the trees to obey you."
"Please look on us with kindness," Eirian pleaded, "We have travelled for so long with little opportunity for rest. This orchard provided for us in our sorest need. With my ailment I am unable to sew or spin for my bread and have been reduced to begging. My friend's peculiar appearance frightens others and at times people will drive us away from their homes in fear. We were cursed by blood magic and have wandered ever since."
With this the King sat on the ground and coaxed Eirian to tell her story. He had kind eyes and a gentle smile, so Eirian grew to trust him. She spoke until the shadows lengthened and the moon rose. Afalgwig stood apart, nervous but unwilling to leave her friend alone with a stranger and she would nod agreement occasionally.
When her tale had been completed, the King was moved with pity for the pair, "I will find you berths within the palace. It will allow you food to eat and a room in which to sleep. You may work in the orchard and care for the trees."
The two girls were startled and inquired, "Will not the King object to you hiring us in his stead?"
"I have the King's ear and he is kind," the disguised monarch reassured the girls, "he trusts my judgment and permits me to make such decisions. Come with me."
The King then led them to a small cottage at the edge of the orchard that had long been empty and offered them the usage of the rooms within. He bid them goodnight and good rest until the following day. When he left their presence he summoned his orchard staff, apprised them of the situation and made it clear that they were to be kind to the ladies and allow them to work as they were able.
In the mornings the pair would work in the orchard, tending to the trees along with the other staff and in the evenings they would eat their fill. It filled their hearts with joy to be of some use and to know that they would not be driven off for their appearances. Over time they became contented with their positions and the little cottage was filled with warmth and laughter.
The king continued to visit them in the guise of a gardener in the evenings at the cottage, enjoying their company and their lively grace. He would tell them stories and bring small, simple gifts to amuse them. He began to teach Eirian and Afalgwig how to read, providing them with books, paper and quills.
When the winter came and the gardening staff stayed indoors, going out sparingly into the wintry landscape, Eirian and Afalgwig stayed within their little orchard cottage, kept company by a cheery fire in the chimney grate and the various tomes that the king would bring to them. They entertained themselves with tales and poetry on many nights.
During that time, the king began consulting mages on the pair's behalf, seeking a way to break the curse that had been laid upon them, but none could seem to help. He sent knights to appeal to the mage, Owyd, but he had disappeared from his tower and his whereabouts was unknown. Eventually, the king commissioned delicate silver hands to be crafted by a skilled dwarf smith and enchanted by the palace mage to take the place of Eirian's true hands and have some of her independence restored to her.
The work was completed during the wee seeds of spring and on the night he came to bestow this gift on Eirian, the king came upon the cottage at the beginning of the gloaming hour. The windows were open and the fresh breezes of the soft spring weather came through the branches heavy laden with white blossoms. The scent of new life perfumed the air and the girls in the cottage were singing joyously at the prospect of the coming warmth of rosy days. The king felt his heart swell within his chest with an emotion that he had so long unrecognized and crept upon him unaware.
He discovered that he had fallen in love with Eirian.
That night he knelt before her, putting aside his disguise and begged her forgiveness for deceiving her. He requested her hand in marriage and Eirian, surprised by the depth of her own feeling for the gardener king, accepted with her whole heart. Before the blossoms had fallen from the trees at the end of the spring, Eirian and the king were married and she was crowned as queen of the realm.
Owyd, though he had disappeared from his tower, had found a way to discover Eirian and Afalgwig's hiding place. When he discovered Eirian's impending marriage to the king, his deep ire burned again into a blazing fury and he swore an even darker vengeance on the handless lass and the apple tree girl.
A year passed and wars beyond the border of the kingdom beckoned the king as his allies requested his aid. He had to meet his diplomatic obligations, but he did so reluctantly because Eirian was great with child. In his absence he left his most trusted advisor in charge to oversee the needs of the kingdom and to aid the queen.
Within a month of the king's departure, the queen gave birth to a healthy son. Missives were sent by the advisor and Eirian to the king. Owyd, however, became aware of the news. Through his power he waylaid the messenger on the road, caused the man to become sleepy and take shelter beneath a tree. Owyd took the missives and replaced them with a single missive, a forgery of the advisor's writing. In the false missive the king is informed that his wife gave birth to a monster because of a horrible curse brought on by the blatant use of blood magic. The messenger was then awoken and sent on his way to deliver the poisonous missive.
The king, on receiving the letter, was suspicious and thought that there might be some mistake. He sent a reply commanding the advisor to care for both Eirian and the infant, promising to try and find a way to break whatever spell had befallen them. He also sent a letter to his wife, encouraging her to be strong and to care for their child, promising to return as soon as arrangements could be made.
The messenger sent this time was also waylaid by Owyd. Again, Owyd replaced the missives with a single missive, commanding that the child should be destroyed as the spawn of a demon, accusing the queen of infidelity and commanding that she too be executed for treasonous behavior. The messenger, on waking, returned to the advisor and delivered the missive.
The advisor was grieved by what he read and immediately sent another missive, worried that perhaps there had been some mistake or miscommunication and begging the king to clarify his commands. Owyd again waylaid the missive to the king and replaced it with a forgery. Again, the false missive insisted that the baby was a monster and a curse on the kingdom.
When the king replied, another forgery took his missive's place; this one insisted that both the baby and the queen had to be executed. The advisor was upset but he was frightened what would happen to him if he refused to heed the king's command. He was also filled with grave pity for the good queen and her child.
In the night the advisor went to her chambers and showed her the missives, "I dare not defy my king, but I cannot follow this order in good conscience. Take your son and escape now into the forest. The king must not find you here when he returns. Here is a pouch of coins to help provide for your welfare on your journey. May the Maker protect you!"
Eirian was certain there had been some mistake, but fear for her child's life drove her to bundle him up and place him in a sling around her neck to keep him secure.
Afalgwig, who had become her lady-in-waiting, insisted on accompanying Eirian and the child.
"There is no need. You are not the one banished." Eirian tried to argue with her companion.
"I am doomed to neither belong as human nor tree in this world, but I believe that I belong with you for my entire being is tied to your welfare. With you, I have purpose. Either allow me to accompany you or I will follow you at a distance," the apple tree girl insisted.
Seeing that Afalgwig could not be dissuaded, Eirian relented. They left under the cover of darkness with some clothing and a few necessary items that they could easily carry without becoming over encumbered. Walking for days, until they were near spent with exhaustion, they finally left the borders of the kingdom behind them.
When the king returned, the advisor met him at the gates and informed him that he had executed the queen and her child as he had been bid. The king was grief stricken and enraged, but the advisor showed him the missives that he had received that appeared to be in the king's own hand. On seeing the king's pain, the advisor admitted that he had lied and sent the queen away with the child, accompanied by Afalgwig.
Losing no time, the king gathered supplies and went out in search of his wife and child.
As the months passed, Eirian and Afalgwig despaired ever finding a safe place for them to stay with the baby. They were driven out of most villages based on their beleaguered appearances and on Afalgwig's mysteriously veiled visage. Some people would periodically take pity on them and give them a crust of bread or a bowl of soup, but did not invite them to stay for long.
One day, after almost a year of wandering, they came to a beautiful mansion by a crystalline lake at the edge of a dense forest. Near ready to collapse, they knocked upon the door to beg for bread. A lovely woman came to the door, she was all in white and not just her clothes, her skin was porcelain pale and her blond hair was so fair that it was near white as well. She smiled warmly and greeted them, "Welcome travelers. A place has been prepared for you here. We have food and clean water. There are soft beds and couches on which to rest yourselves. You may stay for as long as you like and you will be safe."
The two women were greatly relieved and allowed themselves to be lead within the mansion. There they stayed for three years.
The king continued to search for his wife and child, until one day he too came across the mansion where Eirian, Afalgwig and the child sheltered. The pale hostess that had cared for them greeted the king at the door and invited him inside, having him stay in a receiving room where he fell asleep upon a couch. The hostess sent for Eirian and Afalgwig, informing them that the king was there.
Eirian entered the room with her son, whom she named Tristan. The king was reclining on a chair with a handkerchief over his face, enabling him to shield his eyes to sleep better. With a sudden snort and a snore, the handkerchief was blown off and Eirian beheld the handsome face of her husband and the breath caught in her throat with a gasp.
"Who is this man, Mama?" asked Tristan, confused.
"That is your father, dear one," Eirian answered, pushing the boy forward, "Now go put the handkerchief across his face so that he can continue to sleep in peace."
The king, who had only been lightly dozing, had awakened enough to hear this exchange, but kept his eyes closed so that he could hear more. Shortly after the little boy replaced the handkerchief, the king promptly blew it off again with another puff of air from his lips and the handkerchief fluttered again to the floor.
Again, Eirian bid the child to replace the handkerchief. This continued three more times until the king could not help but chuckle and opened his eyes to behold his wife and son. His eyes filled with tears and he got up from the couch to embrace them close.
Afalgwig and the hostess entered the room and greeted the newly united family. The king greeted the apple tree girl warmly and embraced her as well. It was a joyous reunion.
"Come, let us return to our home," the king insisted, but the hostess raised her hand and caused him to pause.
"If Eirian and Afalgwig were to leave this house, their lives would be in grave danger. The mage, Owyd, has not lived in peace these waning years. While my power here has enabled me to protect them from his machinations and interference, but beyond these doors I cannot nullify the curse that this mortal curse Owyd has placed upon him. If you wish to be free of this mage's evil, he must be destroyed. The curse will only remain as long as he is alive." The hostess explained this to the king.
The hostess bestowed a magical shield upon the king and gave him a map to reach Owyd's fortress. Kissing his wife and child farewell, the king departed the mansion in order to remove the threat upon his wife and their loyal friend. He travelled for a fortnight until he reached the outskirts of the land under the mage's influence.
He approached the fortress cautiously and made his way through the empty, shadowy halls. At the top of the tallest parapet he found the abomination, for that is what Owyd had become in the intervening years that the demon had slowly eaten away at him until none of his humanity remained.
"If I cannot have her, then no man will have her!" the abomination screeched, throwing himself at the king.
After an arduous battle, the king slew the abomination and it dissipated in a puff of smoke.
He returned to Eirian and Afalgwig at the mansion, only to discover that Afalgwig had been transformed into a true woman, revealing that the curse had been truly broken with the destruction of the demon. They all returned together to the king's home and lived happily until the Maker took them.
This story is an adaption of a story that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm included in Kinder- und Hausmärchencalled The Girl Without Hands. I had always liked the story, but there were certain things about it that bothered me. I gave it the Thedas treatment here.