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The Giant Who Had No HeartAdapted and written by Laura Simms

Norway is wealthy in natural re -sources, mountains, lakes and for-ests . There are few poor people inNorway. Some of the largest hu-manitarian organizations in th eworld, dedicated to promotingjustice and children's rights are lo-cated in the capital city of Osl owhere there is a fairytale castl eguarded by charming guards incolourful costumes in a great park.Here, the King and Queen of Nor-way live. They sponsor festival sand marvelous events for childre nevery year.

Special note to storytellers beforebeginning this story. In this talethere is Giant. You and the chil-dren can decide what wishes yo uwould like to make for one anotherso that no giants lurking hidden i nany nightmares or secret thought scan enter the room. Let each childwho makes a wish be the caller .Let the group repeat the wish in aloud call-and-response format.Go around the circle hearing al lthe wishes. Then begin telling TheGiant Who Had No Heart .

ere was once a King whoThad seven sons . The King

did not like to be alone. Sowhen it was time for the princes togo out into the world and fin dbrides, the King said, "One so nmust remain with me ." The eldestson insisted that the youngest stayat home saying, "our youngestbrother is a fool . He sits all day bythe hearth with nothing on hi smind, and ashes on his shoulders .Let him stay ." The King agreed .He ordered the six young men t obring back seven brides, one forthe youngest, and gave them si xstrong horses and bags of gold fo rthe journey .

In time the princes found si xbrides and set off toward homeforgetting about their younges tbrother . As they traveled they go tlost in a thick forest . They foundthemselves in front of a stone cas -tle owned by a giant. As soon asthe Giant saw the six well-dressedprinces and their six brides on sixstrong horses, he turned them int ostone .

The king and the younges tprince waited, but the brother sdid not return . Finally, the princ easked, "Why not let me go out an dsearch for my brothers?" At firs tthe king refused, but finally heagreed. He said, "if there is an -other strong horse in the stableyou can ride out to find yourbrothers . "

However, there was only askinny, aging, decrepit horsebarely able to stand. Its back wascaved in and its legs shook .

"You can not travel on thathorse," said the King .

"I will take the horse," repliedthe ash boy as he placed awell-worn saddle on its back andclimbed upon the horse . He rodeaway. His horse rode slower thana three-legged horse. He had noidea what direction to travel, so hefollowed his heart and soon ar-rived at the outskirts of a thic kvast forest .

A wounded raven lay trem-bling on the earth . Its wings wer etorn and its eyes were dull ."Please," begged the raven, "giv eme something to eat ." The princ epitied the bird and crumbled hal fof the bread he carried to feed theraven. Instantly the bird's wing sgrew strong and shiny, its bodygrew sleek, its eyes bright and theraven flew away .

Entering the forest, the pricegrew thirsty . But when he bent todrink from a stream, he heard apitiful sound . A salmon lay on theearth beside the water shaking .Its mouth opened and closed as i tsought water. It said, "Pleasethrow me into the stream ." Theash boy lifted the salmon an dplaced him in the water andwatched his body gain strengthand swim away .

He rode on, until a wolf hal fstarved and barely able to standcame out from behind a tree . Itsstomach was so thin the princ esaw his ribs as if the beast wasmade of crystal . A wind blew andthe wolf shook like a leaf .

"Please, I have not eaten fortwo years . Give me some food . "

The prince said, "I can give youthe rest of my bread." "No," an-swered the wolf, "please give meyour horse to eat ." "If I give youmy horse, how will I travel?" sai dthe Prince .

"You can ride on my back, "said the wolf .

Taking pity on the wolf, an dknowing that the horse wasnearly dead, the Prince climbed tothe ground. The horse neighe dand lay down relieved to rest a tlast. The starving wolf made afeast of the flesh. Instantly thewolf grew plump, his fur shone,his eyes glowed and his tai lswayed back and forth with hap-piness. "Climb on my back," saidthe wolf . The prince rode on thewolf's back. "Where are we go-ing?" asked the creature . "I do notknow. I seek my six brothers whoare lost ." The wolf set off . Herode fast than a four-legged horse .Before long they arrived at a stonecastle before which stood 18stones .

"These are you brothers an dtheir horses and their brides,"said the wolf. "What shall I do?"asked the Prince . " Inside the cas-

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tle is a princess. Do all she says, "answered the wolf . The wolfraced away back to the forest, call -ing out, "When ever you need m ejust call for me . "

The Prince entered the castle .Inside sat a desolate princess . Shesaid, "Only a fool would enter thiscastle." The prince said, "I hav ebeen called a fool . "

She warned, "I am a prisoner ofa giant who can't be killed be -cause he has no heart ." "How cananything that lives have no heart ?It must be somewhere," inquire dthe prince . "His heart must behidden," said the princess . "Canyou ask?" replied the prince . "Thestones outside are my brothersand their brides ."

"Hide under the bed," com-manded the princess . And it wasjust in time because the giant re -turned to the castle .

He roared, "I smell a human be -ing." The princess said, "Yournose is sensitive . Someone passedby three hours ago, but there is noone here now." The giantlaughed. And they sat down todinner .

Afterward the giant sat on thebed and said, "Tell me a story . "

The princess said, "Perhaps to-night you can tell me a story . Tel lme why you hide your heart? "

"If anyone was to find myheart, they could kill me ."

The princess said, "I woul dnever kill you." And she askedagain and again, until the giant ,said "All right, my heart is be-neath the stones of the thresholdof the door to the castle ." And hefell asleep .

In the morning the giant left thecastle to go to the forest . ThePrince came out from under th ebed. He and the princess took upthe stones and dug beneath th ethreshold, but found no heart .

They placed the stones as theyhad been and gathered flowers .The princess placed them on thethreshold so it looked untouched .Then she ordered the prince t ohide under the bed just as the gi-ant returned .

"I smell human again," heroared. "A crow dropped a smal lbone in the chimney," she ex-plained. "What are the flower sdoing on the floor?" said the gi-ant .

"I placed them there becauseyou said it was where you kep tyour heart," she responded. Thegiant shouted happily, "I lied. Myheart is not beneath the door . ""Tell me where your heart i skept," she asked as they sat on thebed after dinner. "It is in thekitchen cabinet," he answered .

The next morning when the gi-ant went to the forest, the princ eand the princess looked in thecabinet but there was no heart .She covered the door with flow-ers .

Again the giant thought hesmelled a human and again sh etold him it was only a bonedropped by a bird and he askedabout the flowers .

"Is it not the place where youheart is kept? I wanted to honorthe special place . "

"My heart is not in the cabinet . "He laughed and asked for a story .That night she asked again abou this heart . At last the giant said ,"Since you can never leave thishouse and will not find it, I wil ltell you. What harm can it be?"

He explained, "There is a lakefar away . In the middle of the lakeis an island and on the island is atall tower . In the tower is a deepwell. In the well is a duck and inthe duck is an egg. In the egg is myheart ." And the giant fell asleep .

After the giant departed, th eprincess said, "It will be impossi -

ble to find the lake." The princesaid, "I will try my best . "

Outside he called for the wolfwho raced to his side . He climbedon the wolf's back and told himwhere the giant's heart was held .

"I do not know the way, but Iwill find it," said the wolf . Thewolf raced like the wind andstopped by the edge of a lake ver yfar away .

The prince said, "I cannotswim . "

"Hold tight," said the wolf ashe dove into the water and swamto the island with the prince on hisback. The tower loomed as high asa mountain above them . Way onthe top was a tiny key .

"How can I reach the key?"sighed the Prince .

And the wolf said, "Call for theraven that you fed ."

The raven flew to the islan dfrom the forest, took the key in it sbeak and gave it to the prince ,who opened the door of thetower. Inside was an ancient well .Standing on the wolf's back thePrince peered into the water . Hesaw a female duck swimminground and round. He watcheduntil his eyes knew the rhythm o fthe bird and then caught her in hi shands, pressing her belly firmly .But the duck squeezed loose fly-ing above, dropping the egg . Theprince caught the egg in hi shands, but was so startled that h edropped it back into the well andwatched it sink .

"What shall I do?" He said a sthe duck disappeared in to thedistance .

"Call for the salmon that yo usaved," said the wolf . The salmonrose up from the bottom of thewell with the egg on its back. Theprince took the egg with the gi-ant's heart in his hands .

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"Now what shall I do?" in-quired the prince .

"Squeeze the egg," said thewolf . And the prince did .

The giant's scream pierced thesky, "Do not squeeze my heart!"

"Squeeze his heart again,"urged the wolf .

"Stop," shouted the giant . "Iwill do anything you want . Justdon't squeeze my heart . "

"Squeeze it again," said thewolf .

This time the giant begged formercy and the prince called out, " Iwill not squeeze your heart if youturn my brothers, their brides andthe horses back from stone ." Andthe giant turned them back to life .

"Squeeze the heart again,"commanded the wolf. And theprince squeezed the heart .

The giant called out, "You sai dyou would not squeeze myheart! "

The prince said, "Set the prin-cess free." And the giant set he rfree .

"What shall I do with theheart?" asked the Prince .

The wolf answered, "That is u pto you . "

So the Prince climbed on thewolf's back and returned to thecastle. Outside his brothers sat ontheir horses with their brides . Thegiant shook from head to toe infear . The prince placed the heartin the giant's chest .

The giant began to weep as h ewatched the princess climb on th ewolf beside the prince. He said, " Iam sorry. I wanted you to staywith me forever . "

The princess said, "You shal lserve our kingdom and all thepeople and the creatures of theforest that you harmed, as youwere meant to do."

So it was that the giant with aheart became the guardian of theforest and protector of the castle .The youngest prince married theprincess and became the new kingand the queen. The six princesand their brides married as welland served the Royal house andall the world. The trees were fille dwith ravens and the streams wer ethick with salmon. The wolveswere well fed, and everyone live dhappily ever after .

Storyteller's Notes ,Even a dog's tooth emits light - Ti-betan Proverb

• This story awakens the experi-ence of caring for others withineach listener, even though othersmay be different and even whenthere is no potential for gain .Through spontaneously helpin gthe raven, the salmon, and thewolf, the prince gained unex-pected allies during his quest .The listener, who in bringing thetale to life in their mind, become sboth the helper and the helped intheir imagination, and gains th eself ally of learning to trust com-passion .

• Through identification with th echaracter of the Giant, childre nbegin to realize their intrinsi cgoodness. The Giant was not un-caring by nature, he merelyneeded to regain his heart .

• During this story and activity,build on children's coping skill sto help them manage whateveranxiety is elicited . Working onfears indirectly- through the gi-ants and monsters that inhabi ttales - is an important ste ptoward mastery.

The Giant Who Had No Heart is aclassic fairy tale of a hero whoovercomes great obstaclesthrough natural kindness and in -tuition and saves his Kingdom

and the natural world . He bringsthe heart back into power and th eQueen back into the place ofshared rulership . The centra lcharacters of the story are a Giantwho has no heart in his body ; anda boy who acts solely from theheart; a Queen who is not present;a princess who has been kid -napped and held prisoner by thegiant; and a duck that is in thewell in a tower and has the hear tof the giant in her body. There arefour main animals; a weak oldhorse, a raven, a salmon, and awolf. And there is a King whocannot bear to be alone, and si xselfish brothers who get turned t ostone with their six brides and sixhorses .

The misfortune befalling hisbrothers brings the youngest"dreamer" out of his hideaway bythe hearth. He agrees to ride ahorse that can barely travel, andfeeds three animals (one of the air ,one of water, and one of earth) .By giving up the horse he de-pends on and feeding it to thewolf, he receives the means totravel into the giant's forest an dthe instructions serve him. Be-friended by the princess, he learn sabout the dishonesty of the giant,the intelligence of the princes sand where the giant keeps hi sheart. The impenetrable sectio nof the forest is a prelude to a jour -ney further into a symbolic realm :across the water to an island to thetower and the well where theduck holds the heart of the Giant .The youngest brother cannot suc-ceed on his own . And, because o fhis past goodness, he is helped byall and is able to retrieve the heart .

Children of all ages love thisstory because it is rich with mean-ing and they identify with every-one. I have learned from childrenthat they identify both with the gi-ant and with the prince . The giantis able to hide his heart, whichmany children have themselve slearned to do . Uniting inner part s

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of themselves, the female that i scaptured and the male that is un-developed, children undergo aceremonial process of reclaimingtheir own hearts and decidingwhat to do with it .

In this version, different thanthe classic Norwegian version, theboy puts the heart back in the gi-ant who is instantly transformed .What was absent is now recov-ered and with that his emotiona llife and sense of responsibility forother. The giant releases the prin-cess, and protects the kingdom aswell as the natural world . This is aremarkable lesson to be ingestedby our children. Regardless ofwhat or who we have been in th epast, we can become normal -even "soulful"- protecting our -selves and our personal kingdom .

The activities that follow helpchildren acknowledge their fear sand assist them to gain more con-trol over them. Naming our fear sin a metaphorical way - like giv-ing titles to monsters and giant saerates things unseen and unmen -tionable. Monsters may representnatural forces, or purveyors of ex-treme power coupled with littleconscience or heart . Done in aplayful way, the child is practic-ing control over their own mindswhere fears lurk long after theyare dangerous in reality . This ac-tivity helps children make friendswith their nightmares, and beginto sidestep that most tragic of dra-mas - the self induced creation o fpast things feared .

In this tale there is a Giant . Youand the children can decide whatwishes you would like to make forone another so that no lurking gi-ants can enter the room. Let eachchild who makes a wish be thecaller. Let the group repeat thewish in a loud call-and-respons eformat . Go around the circle hear-ing all the wishes . Then begin tell-ing The Giant Who Had No Heart .

Art Activity —Lighting Up the Heart o fthe ForestArt Materials

3 Two pieces of 8 1/2" x 11 whitepaper per child

3 Tape

3 Magic Markers, crayons, paint (ifappropriate to the age group)

3 Scissor s

3 Small flashligh t

3 Strong string

3 Hole punch (optional)

Directions

• Each child should lay out the twopages horizontally, and then tap ethem strongly together in th emiddle, making one page .

• Ask them to colour a panoramicpainting with forest fauna, ani-mals, flowers, leaves. Suggestthat they use a lot of color an dshape. Encourage them to fill thepage, making sure they use onlyone side of their paper .

• On the top of the page make littleholes every few inches .

• Tape the open sides of the page stogether strongly with the col-oured painting on the inside .

• Taking the string, make a hang-ing loop. You now have a lanternthat hangs from the top, with th ebottom open . Holding it up youcan not see anything but th eshadows of the images .

• To transform the lantern, shine aflashlight on the inside. Just asthe giant, when his heart is re-turned, protects and keeps theforest alive, the children will se etheir vivid, bold, and colorfu llandscape come to life and begi nto illuminate all around it .

Note: You can remind childrenthat they themselves are like lan-terns when they listen to a story.Their insides are alive with colo rand image as they listen, bringingthe tale to life .

Related Study Ideas :

This tale presents many topic sthat can be explored together : thelife of the forest, the shapes andlives of the animals, the role of ou rhearts in shaping our lives an dthose around us, the structure of akingdom, and the positive natur eof leadership . There is a univers ewithin this story that can be ex-plored with your children.

Writing Activities

The first writing activity for TheGiant Who Had No Heart is calledMaking a Monster . This exercise ,as with all the writing exercises ,begins with preparatory ques-tions; which is how writers work .This will provide children with arich resource of options to drawfrom when they begin their sto-ries .

• Each of you is going to create amonster. Describe the worstmonster you can imagine . In-clude all the details you can in-vent to make up a terrible giant ,or creature .

• Write down all the powers tha tyour monster might have, an dhow the monster uses those pow -ers. Example: the monster mighthave fingers that turn into knives,of the ability to blow storms fro mits breath, or a hundred heads ,and so on .

• Describe the landscape where themonster lives .

• How does the monster use his orher powers for destructive rea-sons?

• How could the monster use thesame powers in a positive way, ifthe monster was transforme dand had his heart back ?

Optional, time permitting :

Create the history of how themonster got to be as terrible asyou have described . What hap-pened to the monster? Give th emonster a history .

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• Identify a literal object that coul dhave a very special magica lpower for you . It might be a sea -shell, or a keepsake from a familymember or friend. It doesn't mat-ter what it is, what matters i swhat it means to you .

• Next choose an animal that is orcan be a helper, guide, and per-sonal friend to you.

• Write the story of how and whythe monster wants to steal yourmagic object . And how you, withthe help of you animal guide, setout on a journey to get back th eobject , and save the world b ytransforming the monster to us ehis power for good .

Note: Perhaps nothing is as impor-tant as discovering that what i sthe worst could become the best.Having a history of the monsterhelps develop a realization tha tthere are often reasons behin dsomeone's behaviours, includingour own. At any time, you can askthe children to read a few of thei rsegments aloud. Remind themthat the segments do not have tobe narrative, but can be lists .

Map Exercis e

1. Say out loud the name of thecountry you are learningabout .

2. Find out the country on themap and look to see if it iseast, west, north, or south ofwhere you are now. Is thecountry on the sea, or is itlandlocked? Where a coun-try is situated tells us a lotabout that country . What doyou think this informationtells us?

3. What do you know abouttraveling to and from thi scountry, judging from its lo -cation on the map? How i sthis similar to (or differentfrom) where you live?

4. What animal, whether,and/or detail of landscape

from this country is men-tioned in your story ?

5. After hearing the story, whatdo you think people careabout in this country? Is thi sdifferent from what you careabout in you country?

Sharing the World Activities

Before the era of heating and elec -tric lights, Norwegians had t ocome up with ways to deal withthe freezing temperatures andprolonged darkness of their win-ters. During the cold months, th eaverage temperature is near or be -low zero, and daylight might las tfor only a few hours . Remember-ing your own experience withblack-outs or harsh weather lik eblizzards, what do you imagineNorwegians did to cope with thei rclimate and very short days?

Preparatio n

Speak from the heart

Read the story out loud to yourselfat least twice, or to a friend . Talkabout the tale .

Remember the story, don't memo-rize the story - -

Make an outline of the events .

Visualize the landscape of thestory

Draw a map of the landscape .

Practice --

Tell the story to a friend, spouse orchild .

Use the past tense

When a story is told in the pasttense it is clear the story didn'thappen to the teller, that the telle ris merely recounting a story . Thelisteners will turn it into the pres-ent as they listen.

How do you think storie shelped Norwegians cope with thelong winters, when they had t ospend weeks on end inside to -gether?

Notes1. Please note that the richness of mean-

ing possible within each story is notlimited to those highlighted in thenotes offered .

2. The possible meanings of this inter-esting proverb are a good source ofconversation .

BibliographyBooss, Claire . (editor) . 1984 . Scandinavia n

Folk And Fairy Tales . New York : Gra-mercy Books .

Dorson, Richard M. 1975 . Folktales Tol dAround The World, Chicago and Lon -don: University of Chicago Press .

Leonard, Linda Schlerse . 1995 . Creation 'sHeartbeat : Following The Reindeer Spirit ,New York : Bantam Books .

Inform yourself

Find out about objects, symbols ,plants, and places in the story .

Don't take sides --

The difficult characters move whatis stuck or unbalanced so that th enarrative can't go forward. Fall inlove with the worst characters andappreciate how they affect the out-come .

Return to tex t

Read it again and let the feelings ofthe story touch you .

Before Telling the Story

3 Decorate and rearrange the roo mto make it more comfortable andwelcoming .

3 Take a deep breath before you be-gin.

3 See the room and the children youare about to speak to .

...

Basic Tips to Telling Tales

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3 Help yourself and the childrensettle down for listening .

3 If you are nervous, don't fightyour discomfort but appreciate it .Begin anyway, your vulnerabil-ity will help your audience ap-preciate their own .

3 Remember the end of the story soyou recall where you are going .Just forget the words and beginas if you were telling someonehow you walked to work thismorning.

Telling the Story

The best teller is you --

Not a character in the story .

The storyteller is a guide --

Not an actor or instructor . Mean-ing is felt more deeply than un-derstood.

Speak directly to you listeners --

Use you natural voice .

Pace yourself -

Words travel from your mouth t othe heart of the listener where im-

age and feeling arise . Don't beafraid of pauses .

Let the story penetrate you -

but do not act out the emotionsyou feel .

After Story is Ended

3 Let a moment pass before youspeak and experience the feelingtone in the room .

3 See your audience again .

V Make sure there is a true end like"and that is that ! " or "The story i sended . "

3 Questions that have no necessaryanswers are best : how did youfeel? What happened while yo ulistened? Anyone have any ques-tions about the story? Allow allanswers to come forth . Your rol eis now to listen and encountersurprise .

Be honest about what you mightnot understand

.;.

Laura Simms is a New Yorkbased, world renowned profes-sional storyteller . She is a spokes -

person for therevival of theoral traditionand has been ap-pointed as resi-dent artist for theLincoln CenterInstitute for Aes-thetics and Edu-cation for a term

of three years. Her recent work withMercy Corps in the wake of theNew York trade Center tragedybrought hope to thousands of trau -matized children. As Director ofthe Gaindeh Project an interna-tional storytelling for survivaliniutiative she has captured thehearts and souls of listeners an dtellers world wide . Several CD' sand many books make Laur aSimms a prestigious contributor toTeaching and Learning . For moreinformation about Laura contact :www.laurasimms.com

Storytelling in Schools Program and Other link sReaders may not be aware thatthere are many storytelling asso-ciations or guilds located in On-tario and across Canada. Checklocal listings for information inyour region .

An important resource forTeachers is the StorytellersSchool of Toronto . It is a non-profit charitable organizationfocusing on support for storytell-ers and listeners and encourag-ing an appreciation for literar yarts and an understanding of therelationship between writing,reading, storytelling and perfor-mance .

Critical is its commitment tocelebrating the richness of story -telling traditions of different cul-

tures and encouraging childrenand youth to develop their ownstorytelling skills as storytellers .

The school teachers courses onstorytelling and provides work-shops and storytellers to schoo lchildren through a specialevents, festivals and perfor-mances .

The school co publishes Appl eSeed, a quarterly publication, incollaboration with Storytellers ofCanada-Conteurs du Canadaand Pippen a newsletter thatinforms members and the publi cabout storytelling events andhappenings .

The web site contains infor-mation on how to access the Sto-

ryteller in the Schools Programsponsored by Ontario Art sCouncil and arrange perfor-mances and workshops forpre-school, elementary, highschool and multifaith-commu-nity groups and charity organi-zations . The site includes links t oresources and other storytellersites .

Visit The Storytellers School ofToronto a t

www.storytellingtoronto.org

Or contact Marylyn Peringer,

Resident

Teacher

a t416-656-244543 Queen's Park CrescentToronto, Ontario M5S 2C3

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