Nine draken kept me prisoner in my castle, but Janni has come, and his dogs have slain the dragons. I am free, along with all the other prisoners! I would marry this handsome youth who comes from nowhere, but Janni has put me off. He says, “For the kindness that I have been able to do to you, you shall receive, in your castle, all the blind and lame who pass this way.”

A shiver runs through me. I hope that Janni will not be among them!

“I will do as you wish, of course,” I say, and I give him my ring.

Princess Freed from Dragons in Janni and the Draken, Grey Fairy Book. Painting by Leon Francois Comerre.