In a quiet glade beside a rushing stream stood a small mill, its wheel turning in the constant flow of water. The miller and his wife lived there, hard-working but proud. One Yule-tide eve, as the world lay under frost’s heavy hush, an old crone clad in many tatters arrived at their door. She was none other than Mother Muggish, a shapeshifting spirit of the morass where the Winter Sun once lay hidden.
“Good day to you,” she greeted the miller and his wife. “Grind this bag of corn for me.”
The miller agreed, but stipulated half the bag for her, half for his trouble.
“Not so, son,” she answered. “I have six sons, and a seventh, my grandson, the Sun, newly born today, and I have no enough to bake my Yule cake.”
The miller scoffed at the notion of her being the Sun’s grandmother, and the old woman, rebuffed, walked away. Meanwhile the miller’s daughter, beautiful Bride Bridekins, watched and felt pity.
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When the miller and his wife went to the wood to fetch the Yule-log, Bride Bridekins remained at the mill. The next day Mother Muggish returned. Without the miller’s permission Bride Bridekins waded ankle-deep in ice-cold stream water to open the sluice and grind the old woman’s corn, accepting no reward. “Thank you kindly, maiden,” said Mother Muggish. “Because you did not shrink from cold water nor shun unrequited labour, I will help you whithersoever your feet may carry you, and I’ll tell my grandson the Sun how you helped his grandmother.” From that moment, the mill prospered only when Bride Bridekins worked it; without her none of the mill’s paddles or bins would function.
Yet the harder Bride Bridekins laboured, the surlier her parents became; jealousy clouded their hearts. One bright Beltane morning, which dawned golden and fierce with the Sun climbing high, Bride Bridekins sat by the mill, weary and wistful, thinking: If only I could get away, I cannot please these cross-patches anyhow. At that instant Mother Muggish appeared. “I will help you, but you must obey me. This very morning the proud princess lost the keys to her chest and wardrobe. She has proclaimed that whoever finds them, if youth, her true love and bridegroom; if maiden, her first lady-in-waiting. Come with me and I will show you where the keys lie among the love-lies-bleeding that grows in the meadow by the Emperor’s castle.”
Mother Muggish turned into a quail, and Bride Bridekins followed. They reached a meadow by the Emperor’s castle where noble ladies and gallant knights searched the ground. Among them stood Oleg the Warden, plain of dress but distinguished by a white plume, his fiery steed standing un-held. He barely cared for the key-hunt; but from the castle window the proud Princess watched. When the quail led Bride Bridekins to the centre of the meadow where love-lies-bleeding stood tall, the little bird parted two leaves and under lay the keys. Bride Bridekins bent, picked them up, but as she raised her eyes to the castle and the Princess saw her, fear seized her. At that moment Oleg approached.
“Never have I seen so sweet a maiden,” thought Oleg.
But the Princess, high in her tower, looked with cold disdain. A fine plight I should be in if that common wench were to find the keys and become my lady-in-waiting! she thought, and her servants were sent to drive the maiden away.
Bride Bridekins, trembling yet determined, held the keys aloft and offered them to Oleg: “Take the keys, unknown knight, and let the Princess be your bride.”
Oleg, however, surprised her: “Thank you, sweet maiden, but I have made up my mind otherwise. You shall be my true love and bride-to-be, for you are fairer than the morning-star.” He mounted his steed and lifted Bride Bridekins beside him. When the Princess looked down he flung the keys so they caught the window-latch. “There are your keys, august Princess!” he cried. “Wear your crown and robes in all happiness, my bride is this maiden.”
All that night Oleg rode across the Barren Marches to his oaken stronghold: three moats circling a blackened house stood in the centre. “Behold the castle of Oleg the Warden,” he said with a laugh; Bride Bridekins laughed too, for she had won this glorious knight. They prepared their wedding: twenty gallants, twenty orphan maids, the Wild Wolf and his Mate from the hills, the Tawny Eagle, the Grey Goshawk; and Bride Bridekins asked the Turtle Dove and the Slender Swallow to be her bridesmaids. She boasted: “If the Sun were to recognise me, he too would come to the wedding, he was foretold to be my bridesman.”
But the proud Princess, stung, summoned the Emperor’s army. By dawn its ranks darkened the Barren Marches; a herald cried:
“Behold a gallant army has taken the field; the Warden is a rebel, yield or his true love’s breast shall be rent from her heart.”
The house shook under hammer blows as clubs battered the ancient gates. Many gallants and orphans were wounded; Oleg himself was grievously hurt, his right hand hung powerless. Bride Bridekins, undeterred, washed his wound in the courtyard and spoke: “Do not fear, brave Warden, I will send the Turtle Dove for Mother Muggish; she knows all and can help us.” The swift dove flew, bringing back Muggish, now in raven guise, who perched on the gable and mocked them for their folly.
As the enemy advanced, oaken bars fell, gates yielded, Bride Bridekins looked heavenward. There, the Sun blazed, pure gold in sky. The Sun and Bride Bridekins met each other’s gaze, and recognition dawned. For the Sun recalled her kindness: the Yule-evening when she ground corn for his grandmother; and the fairies’ prophecy that the Sun would be bridesman at her wedding. Rage filled the Sun’s heart: “Foster-mother, heart of stone! Should the Sun at Beltane forget who helped him at Yule? Down with thee into the earth!” At once Muggish sank below the ground and the Sun’s wrath fell upon the myriad soldiers. Helmets melted, armour turned to fire, weapons red-hot; the earth swallowed men in bog-holes opened by Muggish’s fleeing shadow. In hours, the host vanished, only those beneath the soot-black roof remained alive.
With dawn came healing: the gallants’ wounds mended, the orphans recovered. Oleg’s hurt hand strengthened for love’s sake. The Slender Swallow flew a greeting to the Sun; by night it returned with the Sun’s word: the wedding feast tomorrow, and the Sun would come to give away the bride. Thus the marriage took place, such songs were sung that they would not be heard again in a hundred years nor throughout nine empires.
Moral Lesson:
Kindness and dutiful heart open the way for destiny’s grand design. When Bride Bridekins helped without seeking reward, she earned the Sun’s favour. Even when gripped by fear she chose courage and love over obedience to spite. The tale teaches that true loyalty, humility and compassion lead to light triumphant over darkness, and that one’s integrity may call forth unexpected helpers, even the Sun itself.
Knowledge Check
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Who is Bride Bridekins in the story and how is she connected to the Sun? Bride Bridekins is the miller’s daughter. When she was born the fairies foretold that the Sun would be bridesman at her wedding.
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What was the special deed that Bride Bridekins did for Mother Muggish?
She waded into the icy stream, opened the mill sluice and ground the old woman’s corn without demanding payment. -
Who is Oleg the Warden and what part did he play?
Oleg the Warden is the plain-but-valiant knight, identified by his white plume. He becomes Bride Bridekins’ true love and takes her away from the meadow and the Princess. -
What challenge did the proud Princess set and how did it turn out?
She lost the keys to her chest and wardrobe and proclaimed whoever found them would be her bride or lady-in-waiting. Bride Bridekins found them but offered them to Oleg, who declared her as his bride instead of the Princess. -
How does the Sun intervene and what is his role in the climactic battle?
Recognising Bride Bridekins’ loyalty and remembering the prophecy, the Sun unleashes his power to strike the enemy army: armour melts, weapons fail, bog-holes swallow the foe, and the host vanishes. -
What cultural origin does this tale have and in which collection does it appear?
The tale is part of Croatian folklore and appears in the collection Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlić‑Mažuranić.
Cultural Origin: Croatian folktale, Croatia.
Source: Adapted from the tale “Bridesman Sun and Bride Bridekins” in Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić.
