A Dwarf Tale
There once was a dwarf named Girffin. Girffin was the weakest dwarf in the mines, although he was still very strong, and was made fun of because of this. He tried and tried to become stronger, but the others were always one step ahead of him.
One day he was out hunting with his bow and he met a fairy. She was sitting on a mushroom, weaving spells into things of nature. Girffin took off his cap and bowed to her.
“Good morning, miss,” he said. You should always be very polite to fairies, being a toad is not very fun.
“Good morning,” she replied, “You may call me Lithie.”
“Thank you, Lithie.” If a fairy gives you her name it means she approves of you. “I am called Girffin. Might I ask a favor of you?”
“Yes, but I cannot guarantee that I will grant it.”
“I wish to know if you have a spell that will make me stronger.”
“Oh, I am sorry, but I do not. But I know how you can get one.”
“How?” he asked eagerly.
“You must go to the Wizard of Thron. He can help you.”
“How will I find the way there, good Lithie?”
“I will make you a map. Go finish your hunting and come back here in an hour.”
Girffin bowed then turned and walked off, while Lithie picked up a stick which turned instantly into a piece of old paper.
Girffin came back an hour later with a few fowl and Lithie handed him the map.
“Follow its directions exactly and you won’t have a problem getting stronger,” she said, then flew away through the trees.
Girffin looked at the map and saw it was only words. ‘Cook your food,’ it said, ‘Do not go back to the mines.’
He did so and stored the food in the pack he wore. Looking at the map he saw it now said: Go to Hink river and take the ferry across, then go over Mount Curno.
“I wonder how long this will take,” he thought, “Just to the ferry it’s a two day journey.”
He set off and soon became very tired. As you might already know, dwarves cannot walk very fast and they don’t have much stamina. He took several breaks, usually only a short time apart.
That night he slept in the trunk of a hollow tree to get some protection from the rain that was falling. He had to eat his dinner cold, something he was not very fond of. The next day the rain still had not let up, and he had to walk the whole morning in the deluge.
By nightfall he was almost to the river and slept as best as he could on the damp ground and woke up in a mood that would’ve made his mother give him some extra hard work if he had been young. He made it to the ferry by the afternoon and was taken across by the two fauns who manned the boat.
They asked him many questions about where he was going and why, and when he told them he was going to go over Mount Curno on his way to the Wizard of Thron, they asked him why he didn’t take the way around the mountain.
“I didn’t know there was a way around. The map says to go over it.”
“Where did you get the map?” one of the fauns asked.
“Lithie the fairy gave it to me.”
“Well fairies don’t often make mistakes so she must know something. You’d best follow the map.”
Girffin was rather disappointed when he heard this, he had been hoping he had found a way out of climbing the mountain. Dwarves hate heights.
The fauns said farewell to him at the other side and he set off to the mountain which was only a short way from the river. He was at the base of it by nightfall and he ate dinner while contemplating how to climb the mountain.
The next morning he spent hunting and cooking so he would have enough food to at least make it to the top. Then he began looking for a place where he could start climbing. Eventually he found what looked to be a path and began to walk up it. It was easy at first, but then it started to become narrower and narrower and steeper and steeper. At the end of an hour there was no more path and he had to take his small pick out of his pack and use it to help him climb. He made slow progress and by nightfall he had barely climbed above the path. He slept on a small ledge hoping he wouldn’t roll over in the night.
The next day he came to a small tree with a thick vine growing on it. He took the vine and tied it to his pick, then he was able to use it as a sort of grappling hook to help him climb. It took him several days to get to the top then he rested for two days on the flat green stretch of land at the top of the mountain. There he hunted birds for the trip down the mountain. The third day he thought about staying one more day, but he knew he was just putting off going down the mountain. So he gathered his things and began the trek.
He made it down in three days and at the bottom he looked at his map which told him to go to Lento River and build a boat to get across. In bold letters at the bottom it said:
DO NOT TAKE THE FERRY.
Girffin was tempted to disobey the map for the first time, but then he remembered the ferry faun’s advice and decided to keep following the map exactly. He continued on to the river and made it there by nightfall.
In the morning he set about making a raft. It took several attempts but he eventually made one that would do the job. As it had taken him all day to complete his task, he waited until the next day to cross the river. After a good night’s rest and a hearty breakfast, he cut a nice strong pole then pushed out into the river and started across. It was very difficult as the current moved at a fast pace and prevented him from steering well. It didn’t help that he didn’t have any experience with boats as dwarves don’t usually go on the water. Several times he ran into the bank he had started from and he had to dislodge the raft from the mud. Finally after almost two hours he made it to the other side. He pulled the raft up onto the shore then rested and ate.
After he was fully rested, he took out the map and looked at it.
“Go to the little house downstream,” he read aloud, “The wizard is there. Finally!” he sighed.
He quickly gathered up the remnant of his food and after taking a drink from the river, set off for the wizard’s house.
It was a cozy little cottage overlooking a lake with a small garden in the front. Ivy was crawling up the sides of the house and a little hedge grew around it.
Girffin went over to the little gate in the white fence and rang the bell standing next to it. The gate opened and he walked up the path to the front door. The knocker looked like a flowery vine and practically begged to be used, but Girffin was too short to reach it. Instead he raised his fist to knock on the door.
“Wait!” said a voice to his left.
He looked over and saw an old man wearing a pointed blue cap sticking his head out of the window.
“What?” Girffin asked.
“Don’t touch the wood. You’ll be knocked back a hundred feet. Use the knocker.”
“Why can’t you just let me in if you know I’m here?”
“No, no, that would never do. It needs to be dramatic. I can’t just let you in. Now go on, use the knocker.”
“I can’t reach it.”
The wizard sighed and waved his hand and the knocker moved down to where Girffin could reach it.
“Now knock,” he said and pulled his head in.
Girffin knocked and the door opened slowly. Before him stood the wizard wearing a dark blue robe and pointed shoes that matched his hat. In one hand he held a wand and in the other a bottle containing a green liquid.
“Good day, sir dwarf,” he said in a solemn voice, “Why have you come here?”
“The good fairy, Lithie, sent me here, sir,” Girffin replied, “She said you could help me become strong.”
“Ah, I see, come in,” the wizard said, stepping aside, still speaking in a solemn tone.
When Girffin had entered, the wizard shut the door behind them and they were left in complete darkness. A light appeared at the end of the wizard’s wand and he went around lighting candles with it. Girffin was just able to see that they were in a hall mainly decorated by shelves filled with spellbooks before the wizard ushered him into the room he had spoken to Girffin from. It was well lit with windows but the wizard closed the curtains of them all with a wave of his wand. He lit a single candle on the table and beckoned to Girffin to sit down. The wizard sat down across from him and said,
“Now, what is your name?”
“Girffin, sir.”
“And why did Lithie send you here?”
“She said you could help me become strong.”
“You don’t look like you need it.”
“Well, it’s not that I’m weak, it’s that I’m weaker than everyone else. I’m the laughing stock of the dwarves.”
“Does it really matter if they laugh at you or not?”
“Well, no sir, but I would rather they didn’t. Can you do anything for me?”
“Very well, I will see what I can do. How did you come here?”
Girffin told him.
“Hmm… I have an idea. How much can the strongest dwarf lift?”
Girffin thought for a moment then said what he thought it was. Then the wizard waved his wand and a large boulder appeared.
“That weighs the same amount that the strongest can lift. Try and pick it up.”
Girffin looked at the boulder doubtfully, but went over to it and heaved. To his surprise, he lifted it easily.
The wizard chuckled. “That Lithie,” he said.
“What do you mean, sir?” Girffin asked, setting the rock down.
“She told you to come to me, but sent you on a path that would make you stronger. Now all you have to do is go back the same way you came and you’ll be much stronger than the others.”
“So if I hadn’t climbed the mountain and built my own boat to cross the river, I couldn’t have become stronger?”
“Correct. I could’ve given you a potion but it’s only temporary and very painful.”
“I should just go back home now?”
“Yes, but first stay here tonight and I’ll also give you some food for your journey.”
The next day, Girffin went on his way loaded down with food and a small ax gifted him by the wizard.
He went back the exact same way he had come just as the wizard had told him to. When he made it back to the mines and the others found he was stronger than all of them, they asked him how he had done it. So he gave them the map Lithie had given him and told them to follow its directions. Many of them went but they came back just as strong as they were before. When they complained to Girffin he asked them if they had followed the directions exactly and they all said, “No.”
He told them that was their problem and if they wanted to get as strong as him, they would have to do what the instructions said. They refused, however, and never managed to reach his level of strength. He never bragged, laughed at them, or tried to show off, although some of the more spiteful dwarves said he did.
Lithie congratulated him on his success and rewarded him with a special battle ax she had enchanted, for not letting his strength go to his head. This turned out to be very useful when the dwarves had to defend their mine from a vicious troll.
After this, Girffin got married, had many children and grandchildren, and lived happily ever after.