The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen facts for kids

The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen is an exciting Irish fairy tale. It was first found in a collection called Hibernian Tales. Later, Andrew Lang included this story in his famous book, The Red Fairy Book. It's a tale about brave princes, a clever thief, and magical challenges.

Andrew Lang, who helped share this story.

The Queen's Secret Sons

Once, a queen was very ill. She made her husband, the king, promise something important. He had to hide their sons from any new queen he might marry. So, the king raised the boys on a secret island in a lake.

When the king married again, a clever henwife (a woman who looks after chickens) found out about the secret princes. She told the new queen, who was a stepmother, about them. The queen paid the henwife a lot of money. The henwife then told the queen to bring the princes to court.

A Magical Challenge

The henwife gave the queen some cards. She told the queen to play a game with her stepsons. The prize for winning would be a geasa. A geasa is like a magical promise or a task that someone is forced to do.

The queen played with her two older stepsons and won. But when she played with the youngest prince, he won the game!

The queen then set a geasa for the older two princes. They had to steal a special horse called the Wild Steed of Bells. This horse belonged to a powerful person known as the Knight of the Glen. The youngest prince said he would go with his brothers. He also set a geasa for the queen. She had to stand on a tall tower, facing the wind. She could only eat a sheaf of corn and drink water until they returned.

Meeting the Black Thief

The three princes started their journey. Along the way, they met a famous person called the Black Thief of Sloan. He was known for being very clever and tricky. The Black Thief warned them about the dangers of trying to steal the horse. Even so, he decided to join them on their adventure.

When they tried to take the horse, it rang its bells loudly. This warned the Knight of the Glen, and the princes and the Black Thief were caught!

The Knight's Dangerous Plan

The Knight of the Glen was very angry. He took them to a large furnace. He planned to punish them, starting with the oldest prince, then the second, then the youngest, and finally the Black Thief.

The Black Thief spoke up. He said he had been in even greater danger before and had escaped. The Knight was curious. He said if the Black Thief told him that story, he would let the oldest prince go free.

The Witches' Gold

The Black Thief began his tale. He once saw three witches getting ready to sleep. They kept their gold under their heads so he couldn't steal it. But the Black Thief was smart. He quietly put turf (dried grass) under their heads instead and took their gold.

The witches woke up and chased him! They changed into different animals: a greyhound, a hare, and a hawk. The Black Thief quickly climbed a tall tree. The witches then changed again. One became a blacksmith's anvil, another a piece of iron. The third witch made a hatchet from the iron and started cutting down the tree. Just then, a rooster crowed, and the witches vanished!

The Knight of the Glen was impressed. He pardoned the oldest son.

The Risky Grave Adventure

The Knight then prepared to punish the second prince. The Black Thief said he might still escape. The Knight said if he had another amazing escape story, he would pardon the second prince.

The Black Thief told his next story. He had heard that a rich bishop was buried with valuable jewels and robes. He went to the grave to see for himself. He heard footsteps and felt scared. Then he met a shadowy figure. He shot at it and found it was a priest who had already taken things from the tomb. Guards came, so the Black Thief held up the body. The guards shot at the body, thinking it was him. Then they ran into the tomb to check for others. The Black Thief used this chance to escape.

The Knight pardoned the second son. He said he would pardon the youngest if the Black Thief told one more such tale.

Saving the Baby

The Black Thief told his last story. He once came to a castle where a woman was crying. She held a baby and told him a giant lived there. The giant had ordered her to kill the child and cook it in a pie.

The Black Thief quickly killed a pig for her. He had her cut off one of the pig's fingers. Then she baked the pie. When the giant returned, the woman hid the Black Thief in a room where the giant kept old bodies. The giant doubted the pie, but the woman showed him the pig's finger.

The giant was still hungry. He went to cut some meat from the bodies. He accidentally cut the Black Thief! But the thief did not cry out. The giant then got drunk and fell asleep. The Black Thief blinded the giant but couldn't kill it.

The giant threw a magical ring after him. The ring landed on the thief's toe and called out whenever the giant did. The thief cut off his toe and threw it into a fishpond. The toe kept calling to the giant from the pond. The giant followed the sound and drowned in the pond.

A Surprising Discovery

An old woman then spoke to the Knight. She told him that he was the baby from the story! She was the woman, and the Black Thief was the man who had saved his life.

They explained to the Knight why they needed the horse. To thank the Black Thief for saving him, the Knight gave them the Wild Steed of Bells.

The queen, still on the tower, heard them coming back. In her surprise, she threw herself from the tower and died. The princes and the Black Thief returned safely with the horse.

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  Andrew Lang, who helped share this story.