A farmer lived on a farm high up between the mountains, but nowhere is it told who he was or what the farm was called. He was unmarried but had a housemistress named Hildur whose lineage was unknown. She was in charge of the household and was adept at everything.
The farmhands loved her as did the farmer himself, but there was no sign that their relationship crossed the border of propriety. She was a sober woman, introverted but of a friendly manner.
The farmer’s domestic situation was very good, except that he found it difficult to find a shepherd. But he was a wealthy sheep farmer and so he felt that his manor lacked a cornerstone without a shepherd. This lack was not due to his being strict with his herders or for any lack of what Hildur needed. The reason that the farmer and shepherds could not come to terms was that the shepherds never became old in the farmer’s service; on their first Christmas Day, they died in their beds.
In those times it was the custom throughout the land to hold religious services on Christmas Eve and was also considered festive to attend church both then as well as on the holiday itself. But on mountain farms far from churches it was no small matter for those whose chores prevented them from getting ready sooner to leave home until the morning hours to attend services. On these farms it was common that the herders for these farmers did not return home early.
Although it was the custom, there was little need to watch over the farm as was normally done on both Christmas Eve and Day while the others were at church; since Hildur came to the farm she had constantly offered to watch over the farm while at the same time attended to whatever needed to be arranged for the holiday celebration – cooking and everything else that belonged to the festivities. She also watched over the farm until late into the night until the worshippers had returned, gone to bed and were asleep before going to bed herself.
When it went on for some time that the farmer’s shepherds all died on Christmas Eve, people in the area began to talk; as a result, the farmer found it difficult to engage someone. The more they died, the harder finding someone became. Since that all died without visible wounds, no suspicions fell on either the farmer or his servants. Finally, the farmer said that he could not bring his conscience to employ shepherds who must expect certain death; now it was up to fate to decide what would become of his herds and his wealth.
No sooner had the farmer made this decision and was firmly resolved not to employ anyone for the purpose than a strong and able man came to him and offered his services. The farmer said, “I'm not in such need of your services I must employ you.” The stranger said, “Have you engaged a shepherd for the coming winter?”
The farmer answered, “No,” saying that because of the consequences he had resolved not to employ anyone, “…and you have probably heard how unlucky my shepherds have been.” "I have heard of it,” said the stranger, “but their fate doesn’t frighten me.” He was so forceful that the farmer gave in, taking the sheepherder into his service.
Time passed and the farmer and shepherd were very happy with each other, which everzone welcomed since the man was well mannered, bold and strong of character. Nothing happened until Christmas came, and things occurred as always. The farmer went with his people to church on Christmas Eve, and only the housemistress Hildur stayed behind while the shepherd remained with the livestock. The farmer left the two alone at home.
Evening approached before the shepherd came to the house, as usual. He ate his gruel and then went to bed. He realized that should something happen, perhaps it would be safer for him to stay awake rather than go to sleep. So although he had no fear, he laid awake.
When a better part of the night had passed, he heard the churchgoers returning. They had a bite to eat and then went to bed. Still, he noticed nothing but believed that they all were asleep. He felt that his strength was leaving him but thought quite normal since he was tired from the day’s efforts.
But he began to think that it would be bad for him if sleep overcame him, and so he called on all of his willpower to stay awake. And so it went for a long time until he heard someone approach his bed. Believing he saw the housemistress Hildur up to some mischief, he pretended to be fast asleep and then felt it as she put something in his mouth.
What he felt was a witch’s bridle, but he quietly let himself be harnessed. When she had finished putting the harness on his head, she arranged the reins most comfortably for herself then climbed upon his back. She then rode him in great haste until they came to what to him seemed a cleft or crack in the earth. Here she jumped down from his back onto a rock, letting the reins hang. Then, before his eyes, she disappeared into the opening.
The shepherd found it bad and unexplainable that Hildur disappeared in this way without his knowing what became of her; but he found that wearing the harness he was unable to go far, as it held much magical power. So he found an escape by rubbing his head on the stone until he had worn away the harness, letting it lie where it fell. He then threw himself into the cleft where she had sprung before him.
It seemed to him that he had not gone far down into the hole until he again saw Hildur. She had reached a pretty meadow and had soon crossed it. After all this, he knew that things with Hildur were not all they seemed and that she hid more tricks than what people saw of her above in the light of day.
He also knew that she would soon see him if he went after her through the meadow. So he took a stone from his pocket that made him invisible and holding it in his left hand, he followed behind her as quickly as he could. When he had gone further through the meadow, he saw a large, stately hall and that Hildur was following the path leading to it.
He then saw a large crowed of people coming from the hall to meet her, and in front of them came a man who was dressed more impressively than the others. It seemed to the shepherd that he was greeting his wife when Hildur arrived, bidding her welcome. The others following the leader greeted her as their queen. Beside the leader came two half-grown children who with unrestrained joy greeted her as their mother.
When the crowd had paid their homage to their queen, they accompanied her and her king into the hall where they prepared a stately reception for her. They clothed her in queenly garments and placed a golden bracelet ring on her arm.
Still unseen, the shepherd followed the crowd into the hall but stayed where there were few people so as to see what was happening. From here, he saw so much splendor and beauty the likes of which he had never seen. Tables were brought forth and set and he marveled at the grandeur.
After a while, he saw Hildur enter the hall clothed in stately garb as already told. Each person was directed to his or her place. Queen Hildur took the place of honor next to the king while the whole following took their places on each side.
The meal lasted quite a while, after which the tables were removed and the men and young maidens who chose to stepped forward to dance while others chose other forms of entertainment more to their liking. The king and queen, however, sat and talked with each other and the shepherd saw that their talk was mixed with both joy and sadness.
During the king and queen’s conversation, three children younger than those mentioned before came to them and spoke of their joy at seeing their mother again. Queen Hildur returned their greeting lovingly and took the youngest child onto her lap, stroking it although it seemed in poor spirits and very restless. The queen then let the child down, removed a ring from her finger and gave it to the child to play with.
The child played for a while with the gold ring but then lost the ring on the floor. The shepherd, standing nearby, moved quickly to seize the ring as it fell and and hid it on his invisible person before anyone noticed. Everyone immediately began looking for it and thought it strange that the ring was nowhere to be found.
When a better part of the evening had passed, Queen Hildur began preparing to leave. Everyone in the hall asked her to stay longer and became quite sad as they saw that she would be leaving. The shepherd noticed that at one place in the hall sat a very old woman who was quite ugly to look at. She was the only one who had neither welcomed Queen Hildur’s arrival nor encouraged her to stay.
When the king saw that neither his wishes nor those of the others could stop Queen Hildur’s wanderlust, he went to the woman and said, “Take your curses back, mother, and heed my wishes so that my queen no longer must be away and my joy at our being together must be so short as it now is.” The old woman replied with anger, “All of my curses will remain, and nothing will move me to take them back.”
The king said nothing, returning sorrowfully to his queen, placing his arm around her and kissing her while asking her once again in soft tones not to leave. The queen replied that his mother’s curses forbid her to do otherwise, saying that it was unlikely that they could see each other more often because of the fate imposed on her and that the many deaths she had caused would not remain hidden much longer. As a result, she must suffer the well-earned punishment for her acts even if she did them unwillingly.
As she was speaking, the shepherd left the hall when he saw how things were. He crossed the meadow to the cleft where they had entered and climbed back out. He then hid his magic stone, put on the harness and waited until Hildur returned. After a time, Queen Hildur returned alone and in sad spirits. She again climbed upon his back and rode back to the farmhouse.
When they arrived, she led him back to his bed, removed the harness, went to bed herself and fell asleep. Although the shepherd was clearly awake the whole time, he acted as though he was asleep so that Hildur noticed nothing. When she was finally in bed, he made no further effort to be cautious and fell into a deep sleep. As expected, he slept well into the next day.
The next morning, the farmer arose before everyone else on the farm; it concerned him and he wanted to see his shepherd, expecting instead of Christmas joy the grief of finding him dead in his bed as had always happened before.
While the farmer dressed, the others awoke and also dressed themselves while the farmer went to the shepherd’s bed and with his hand shook him. He noticed that he was still alive and was happy about it, praising God in high tones for this mercy. The shepherd awoke, fresh and cheerful, and dressed himself while the farmer asked him if anything new had happened during the night. The shepherd replied, “No, but I had a very strange dream.”
“What was it?” asked the farmer. The shepherd then told of things from the moment when Hildur had come to his bed and harnessed him, repeating every event and word exactly as he remembered it. When he finished his story, they all sat quietly except for Hildur, who said, “Everything you’ve told is a lie unless you have proof that it happened as you have told.”
But the shepherd wasn’t put off by this and instead reached into his pocket and took out the ring that he had caught in the hall of the elves. He then said, “While I do not feel it my duty to show signs to prove my dream, it is a matter of luck to have clear evidence that I was this night with the huldre. Or is this not your ring, Queen Hildur?”
“It is!” she cried. “And God bless you for freeing me from this slavery into which my mother-in-law placed me! Only unwillingly did I commit the evil deeds that she ordered me to do.” With that, Queen Hildur began to tell her story.
“I was a huldre maiden from a poor family. Still, he who is now the elf king fell in love with me and, although it was against his mother’s will, took me as his wife.
“My mother-in-law became so angry that she promised her son that he would only have the joy of my presence for a short time. She would grant us being together occasionally, but upon me she placed the curse of being a slave amongst people and adding to that, I had the unhappiness of having to murder a person at Christmas.
“This person, while I slept, I must harness and ride in the same way as I have done in this night to the shepherd, to visit my king. This evil would have continued and he would have been murdered if I had not found such a strong and courageous man who risked following me to the home of the elves and could prove he had been there and seen how the people there live.
“It is now clear that the farmer’s former shepherds found death due to me since I first came here, but I hope that you will not hold against me what I did against my will. Until now, no one has found that way below ground and through curiosity made their way to the land of the huldres until this courageous man. He has freed me from my slavery and the curse, and I will reward him even though not immediately. For now, however, I cannot remain here any longer. Please accept my thanks for the goodness you have shown me, but my yearning draws me back home.”
After speaking, Queen Hildur disappeared and was never again seen amongst people.
Of the shepherd, people say that he married and the following spring founded his own farm. This he could well do since the farmer was quite generous when he left his service, and he himself was not without means. He was highly thought of in the land, and everyone sought his advice and help. In fact, he was so well liked and happy that people could not believe how well things went for him and sometimes thought that his livestock had nine lives.
But he simply said that he had Queen Hildur to thank for his wealth.