The Golden-Haired Giant

A poor woman gave birth to a son, Bruno and the wise women in the town predicted that this child would marry the king's daughter. The king, hearing of it, persuaded his parents to give him the child to raise. He put Bruno in a box and threw the box into the water. It drifted down to a mill, where the miller and his wife thought that God had sent them this child, and raised him as their own.

One day the king visited the mill and, hearing how they had gained their son, sent Bruno out in the pouring rain with a letter to the queen, which said that the bearer of the letter should be killed at once. Bruno took shelter at an old woman's house. She was curious about the contents of the royal letter and took a peek at it only to discover that it is a death sentence. She substituted the letter with one that said Bruno should be married to the king's daughter. The queen received it and obeyed, much to the shock of the king.

The king dispatched him to get the giant's three golden hairs to earn the right to be his son-in-law. On the way, Bruno wagered a bag of gold with the ferryman that he would return by dusk the following evening. Bruno got to the giant's house, and his grandmother was there. She hid Bruno in her pocket.

When the giant got home and went to sleep, his grandmother pulled out his three golden hairs. Each time she pulled a hair out, the giant awoke angrily. She would placate him by telling him that he was having a bad dream. The grandmother gave the boy the hairs and he returned to the king's court and remained married to the princess forever.