someone walked into the entryway and made a knocking, and then came in a beautiful maiden. the dog began to bark and its hair stood up on end. the young man got up to approach her and before he knew where he was, he found himself in what appeared to be a large hall and richly furnished room. as he looked around he noticed an old man and an old woman. the young maiden went about serving them food and drink of the very best of sort. she invited the young man to sit down, but he knew something was wrong and he dared not to eat or drink.
she started talking to him and asked if he did not think it was lonely to stay up at his farm for so long in the middle of winter. but he sat there like a block of wood and did not utter a single word. the maiden was very sweet tempered, and she stole a glance at him every now and then. the young man thought to himself that he had never before in his life seen so beautiful a girl.
all at once, he did not understand how it happened, he was standing in the kitchen of his farmhouse. it was filled with smoke, emitting from the old stove where he had been cooking. for his part, he thought he had only been gone for a few minutes, but from the look of the burnt mess he surely must have been gone for over an hour. he went to bed without having supper but had long, quiet, restful sleep.
for the next three days he continued his daily tasks but the maiden he had seen the previous evening never left his thoughts, no matter where he went. he tried his best to get her out of his mind, but it was no use. it went on for three seasons and eventually changed his personality and manner beyond recognition. during the summer months, people would sometimes see him in town. however, he appeared not to speak nor hear at all. they feared that he had lost his wits. he did not spend much time in town any longer and he remained at his farm.
the winter came early in the next year, and the young man was out looking for his calves one late afternoon. at last, he had wandered all the way up into the foothills of the mountains. he and his dog were going through a tree grove and he took a moment to sit down on huge tree trunk and rest a while. suddenly, it began to snow very hard. he had never seen such a snowfall in many seasons. he figured that he ought to get back home at once. but before he got up a ball of yarn came rolling down and bouncing between the trees, it stopped right at his feet. he thought this was strange and did not dare pick it up. but nonetheless, he was curious to see where it might have come from. he wandered up a side hill and then there sitting on top was a maiden sewing. so strange he thought for one to be out doing such work in the harsh winter. he noticed that no snow had accumulated above her, and that it only had fallen below from where she was sitting. he kept some distance as he looked, she was so beautiful that she shone. "now now, you bring me that ball of yarn, " she said. he did this and then remained standing there gazing at her for a long time.
so it was that she was the girl who he had seen in the year before. she was so lovely that he could not take his eyes off of her. she was wearing a green bodice and a white skirt, and she had long fair hair which hung down to the middle of her back. she got up from her sewing and the snowfall began to diminish. she began talking to him and asked if he did not think it was lonely up at his farm. the young man did not say much to that for he was in awe. she laughed and talked, twisting and turning and showing off to him. he thought this was fine and he answered back to her, laughing and joking with her. at last he asked her if she might come to his farm and stay with him. then it would not be so lonely anymore. a strange expression came over her face and she turned away from him. before he knew it, she was gone. all of this was so strange. eventually, the young man made his way back down towards his farm where he found his dog and his missing calves there waiting for him. he did not know what to make of his earlier episode on the mountain, and he wondered about this for the remainder of the day and into the evening.
that night when he was turning in for bed, he felt a bit afraid and thought to latch his bedroom door. it did not help him much, i dare say, for later on in the night she came to fetch him, and he had to go with her whether he wanted to or not. she took him with her inside of the mountain . he looked around her home, "everything is so fine!", he thought, and he was never able to say just how fine it really was. he found himself in the large room where he had once seen the old couple. there they were at a table and beckoned him to sit with them. they invited him to drink and eat. this time he was much less afraid and so decided to eat with them. the old couple began to speak to him and said that he ought to ask their daughter, the beautiful young maiden, to be his wife. they said that her name is særún and that she is good and nice, and if he took særún for his wife that much prosperity and happiness would be with them and with all generations that came after them. the young man never heard of anything better, for særún was so fine and beautiful that she was a joy to behold. he stayed up in the mountains for a long time.
the people in town began to worry about what ever became of the young man. they would try to get to his land but somehow would always find themselves lost in the woods, and never coming upon his farmyard. i tell you, it was særún who kept rearranging the land around them! then later on in the spring the young man suddenly appeared in town and announced his engagement to særún. all of the townspeople were curious as to where she came from and about her kinship. some began to notice that she did not cast a shadow in the sun and sometimes would see her moving without walking. the older people in town began to suspect her as a witch. still everyone thought that særún was the prettiest and finest looking woman they had ever seen. she was quiet spoken and did not put on airs. she was careful not to do anything wrong and was kind to rich and poor alike.
særún and the young man were married in a church. people noticed that when she entered the church it seemed that her feet would not touch the floor. a little boy became so curious of this that he lifted up her gown to see, and there she stood with her feet suspended a few inches above the floor. upon leaving the church grounds her feet once again touched the earth. people saw this and became frightened, they thought that the couple should be banished from the community. the young man was not alarmed at this for he was so happy to have his bride, as was særún happy to have him as her husband.
banished as they were, the couple had good luck with everything they did, and there was so much prosperity and good fortune on their farm that it was very difficult for others to take. the young man never spoke harshly to særún, he was accommodating and kind to her in every way.
though as it was one day that the young man woke up and did not find his wife at home. so he went looking for her up on the mountain. he was walking through a field through the foothills and caught sight of some strange figures which looked to be made of cornstalks and grass. he became frightened at this and quickly disguised himself in their likeness. he dared not move much further into the field and took route into a wood.
not long afterwards he sat and took rest upon a huge tree trunk. suddenly a ball of yarn came tumbling down and landed at his feet. he knew this to be særún's yarn and then he ran up the hill to meet her. when she caught site of him dressed in his cornstalks guise she mistook him for something else and was frightened, and so disappeared into the mountain.
"are you here? it's only me, your husband." he said. she came out and scolded him for scaring her as he did. he explained that he was hiding from the creatures in the field below. alarmed at this she returned to her sewing and began to spin snow into the air. soon enough the whole valley was covered and blanketed in snow. the snow mass was so huge that it almost reached the tops of the trees. then she went into her mountain home and took out a pair of skis. they were made of brass and gleamed and shone in the moonlight. she picked up her husband in her arms and set down the mountain towards their farm. the skis slid over the snow unusually fast, and along she went carrying her husband the whole way down.
when they reached the farmstead, særún had become so jealous and protective of her husband and their happy home that she quickly made their place hidden from the rest of the world. years went on and people would try to find a way to their farmstead, looking and searching in every direction, but they were not able to find anything in those woods.
