Once upon a time, a queen sat by the shore, weeping because she had no children. A great giant rose from the waves and offered her a bargain: she would have a son, but when the boy turned twenty, the giant would take him. Desperate, the queen agreed. Soon a prince was born, and he was named Nix Nought Nothing. The king and queen loved him dearly, but as his twentieth birthday approached, they grew anxious. They hid him in a castle far away, hoping the giant would forget. But the giant’s power was great, and he sent a message: the prince must come to him or the kingdom would suffer.
When Nix Nought Nothing turned twenty, he set out to face the giant. On his journey, he met a kind old woman who gave him a magical ball of thread. ‘Follow this thread,’ she said, ‘and it will lead you to the giant’s house. There you will find the giant’s daughter, who will help you.’ Nix Nought Nothing thanked her and followed the thread. It wound through dark forests and across rocky hills until it reached a towering castle. Inside, the giant’s daughter saw him and immediately fell in love. She warned him that her father would set impossible tasks, but she would help him complete them.
The giant greeted Nix Nought Nothing with a cruel smile. ‘First,’ he said, ‘you must clean my stable, which has not been touched for seven years.’ The prince tried, but the muck was too deep. The giant’s daughter came and whispered a charm, and the stable became spotless in an instant. Next, the giant ordered him to thatch the stable with a single feather from each of a thousand birds. Again, the daughter helped, calling the birds with a song. The giant grew angrier with each success. Finally, he set the hardest task: Nix Nought Nothing must cut down an entire forest and stack the wood by dawn.
She warned him that her father would set impossible tasks, but she would help him complete them.
With the daughter’s magic, the prince finished the forest task before sunrise. The giant knew he could not defeat the prince by work alone, so he plotted to kill him in his sleep. The giant’s daughter overheard and warned Nix Nought Nothing. ‘We must flee tonight,’ she said. She pricked her finger and let three drops of blood fall on the bed. Then she and the prince escaped into the night. When the giant came to the bed, the drops of blood spoke, saying, ‘He is still here,’ but the giant soon realised the trick and chased after them. The daughter threw a magic stone behind her, which became a great mountain, but the giant climbed over it.
They ran until they reached the king’s castle, where Nix Nought Nothing was safe. The giant could not cross the castle moat, for it was blessed. He roared in fury and vanished. The prince and the giant’s daughter married, and the kingdom rejoiced. The story of Nix Nought Nothing teaches us about courage, cleverness, and the power of kindness. The giant represents the archetypal villain, while the daughter is the helper archetype. The setting—a world of forests, castles, and magical objects—creates a timeless landscape where good can triumph over evil. This tale, collected by Joseph Jacobs, reminds us that even the smallest thread can lead to freedom.