Because it is so old and so beautiful the story is told here again , but it has a sad ending -- indeed it is all sad , and all about fighting and killing , as might be expected from the Danes . -RRB- ONCE upon a time there was a King in the North who had won many wars , but now he was old . Yet he took a new wife , and then another Prince , who wanted to have married her , came up against him with a great army . The old King went out and fought bravely , but at last his sword broke , and he was wounded and his men fled . But in the night , when the battle was over , his young wife came out and searched for him among the slain , and at last she found him , and asked whether he might be healed . But he said ` No , ' his luck was gone , his sword was broken , and he must die . And he told her that she would have a son , and that son would be a great warrior , and would avenge him on the other King , his enemy . And he bade her keep the broken pieces of the sword , to make a new sword for his son , and that blade should be called Gram . Then he died . And his wife called her maid to her and said , ` Let us change clothes , and you shall be called by my name , and I by yours , lest the enemy finds us . ' So this was done , and they hid in a wood , but there some strangers met them and carried them off in a ship to Denmark . And when they were brought before the King , he thought the maid looked like a Queen , and the Queen like a maid . So he asked the Queen , ` How do you know in the dark of night whether the hours are wearing to the morning ? ' And she said : ' I know because , when I was younger , I used to have to rise and light the fires , and still I waken at the same time . ' ' A strange Queen to light the fires , ' thought the King . Then he asked the Queen , who was dressed like a maid , ` How do you know in the dark of night whether the hours are wearing near the dawn ? ' ` My father gave me a gold ring , ' said she , ` and always , ere the dawning , it grows cold on my finger . ' ' A rich house where the maids wore gold , ' said the King . ` Truly you are no maid , but a King 's daughter . ' So he treated her royally , and as time went on she had a son called Sigurd , a beautiful boy and very strong .
He had a tutor to be with him , and once the tutor bade him go XXXXX the King and ask for a horse .
So against among at by in on that to whether