Once upon a time there was a queen who had a little daughter who was still small and had to be carried in her arms. At one time the child was naughty, and the mother could say what she wanted, it did not stop. Then she became impatient, and because the ravens were flying around the castle, she opened the window and said, "I wish you were a raven and flew away, so I would have peace. No sooner had she said the word than the child was transformed into a raven and flew from her arm out to the window. But she flew into a dark forest and stayed there for a long time, and her parents heard nothing of her. Afterwards, a man once went into the forest, heard the raven calling and went after the voice: and when he came nearer, the raven said 'I am a king's daughter by birth and have been cursed, but you can redeem me'. What shall I do? he asked. She said 'go further into the forest and you will find a house, in it sits an old woman, who will give you food and drink, but you must not take anything: if you eat or drink anything, you will fall into a sleep and you cannot redeem me'. In the garden behind the house is a large tan hut; you shall stand on it and await me. For three days I will come to you every noon in a chariot, first with four white stallions, then with four red ones and finally with four black ones, but if you are not awake but asleep, I will not be delivered.

The man promised to do everything she asked, but the raven said, "Oh, I know, you will not save me, you will take something from the woman. Then the man promised once again that he would not touch anything, neither food nor drink. But when he came into the house, the old woman came to him and said, 'Poor man, what are you weary, come and refresh yourselves, eat and drink.' 'No,' said the man, 'I will not eat nor drink.' But she did not give him a moment's peace and said: 'If you do not want to eat, then take a drink from the glass, once is not once. So he let himself be persuaded and drank. In the afternoon, about two o'clock, he went out into the garden to the tan hut and wanted to wait for the raven. As he stood there, he suddenly became so tired, and could not overcome it and lay down a little: but he did not want to fall asleep. But no sooner had he stretched himself out than his eyes fell shut of their own accord, and he fell asleep and slept so soundly that nothing in the world could have awakened him. At two o'clock the Raven came with four white stallions, but she was already in full mourning and said 'I know he is asleep'. And when she came into the garden, he was also lying there on the tan hump and asleep. She got out of the wagon and went to him and shook him and called him, but he did not wake up. The next day at noon the old woman came again and brought him food and drink, but he would not accept it. But she did not let him rest and talked to him until he took another drink from the glass.

About two o'clock he went into the garden to the tan hut and wanted to wait for the raven, then he suddenly felt so great tiredness that his limbs no longer held him: he could not help himself, had to lie down and fell into a deep sleep. When the Raven drove along with four brown stallions, she was already in full mourning and said 'I know he is asleep'. She went to him, but he lay there asleep and could not be awakened. The next day the old woman asked him what it was, that he did not eat or drink, and whether he wanted to die. He answered, "I do not want to eat and I am not allowed to drink. She put the bowl of food and the glass of wine in front of him, and when the smell of it came up to him, he could not resist and took a strong draught. When the time came, he went out into the garden to the tan hut and waited for the king's daughter: there he became even more tired than the days before, lay down and slept as soundly as if he were a stone. At two o'clock the Raven came and had four black stallions, and the carriage and everything was black. But she was already in full mourning and said 'I know he is asleep and cannot deliver me'. When she came to him, he was lying there fast asleep. She shook him and called him, but she could not wake him up. Then she put a loaf of bread beside him, then a piece of meat, thirdly a bottle of wine, and he could take as much of everything as he wanted, it was not less. Then she took a gold ring from her finger and put it on his finger, and her name was engraved on it. At last she laid down a letter, in which was written what she had given him and that it would never be all, and in it was also written 'I see well that you cannot redeem me here, but if you still want to redeem me, then come to the golden castle of Stromberg, it is in your power, I know that for sure'. And when she had given him all this, she sat down in her chariot and drove to the golden castle of Stromberg.

When the man woke up and saw that he had been asleep, he was sad from the bottom of his heart and said, 'Surely now she has passed and I have not redeemed her. Then the things that lay beside him fell into his eyes, and he read the letter in which it was written how it had happened. So he got up and went away, and wanted to go to the golden castle of Stromberg, but he did not know where it was. Now he had been wandering around in the world for a long time, when he came to a dark forest and walked in it for fourteen days and could not find his way out. Then it was evening again, and he was so tired that he lay down against a bush and fell asleep. The next day he went on, and in the evening, as he was about to lie down again on a bush, he heard howling and wailing, so that he could not fall asleep. And when the time came for people to put on lights, he saw one shimmering, got up and went after it: there he came before a house that seemed so small, for there stood a great giant in front of it. He thought to himself, 'If you go inside and the giant sees you, it will be easy for you to lose your life. At last he dared and came near. When the giant saw him, he said, 'It is good that you come, I have not eaten for a long time: I want to swallow you for supper right away. 'Better not do that,' said the man, 'I don't like to be swallowed; if you want to eat, I have enough to fill you up.' If that is true,' said the giant, 'you can stay calm; I only wanted to eat you because I have nothing else.

Then they went and sat down at the table, and the man fetched bread, wine and meat, which was not all. I like that," said the giant, and he ate to his heart's content. Then the man said to him, 'Can you tell me where the golden castle of Stromberg is? The giant said 'I will look on my map, on it all towns, villages and houses are to be found'. He fetched the map he had in the parlor and looked for the castle, but it was not on it. It's no use,' he said, 'I have even bigger maps upstairs in the cupboard; we'll look for them,' but it was also in vain. The man wanted to go on, but the giant asked him to wait a few days until his brother came home. When the brother came home, they asked about the golden castle of Stromberg, he answered 'when I have eaten and am full, then I will search on the map'. He then went up to his chamber with them and they searched on his map, but could not find it: so he fetched other old maps, and they did not desist until at last they found the golden castle of Stromberg, but it was many thousands of miles away. 'How will I get there now?' asked the man. The giant said, 'I have two hours, and I will carry you as far as near there, but then I must go home again and nurse the child we have. Then the giant carried the man to about a hundred hours from the castle and said 'the rest of the way you can go alone. Then he turned back, but the man went forward day and night until he finally came to the golden castle of Stromberg. It stood on a glass mountain, and the cursed maiden drove around the castle in her chariot and then went inside. He was happy when he saw her and wanted to climb up to her, but no matter how he started, he kept slipping down the glass. And when he saw that he could not reach her, he became quite sad and said to himself 'I want to stay down here and wait for her'. So he built himself a hut and sat in it for a whole year, watching the king's daughter go up every day, but he could not reach her.

Once he saw three robbers beating each other from his hut and called out to them, "God be with you!" They stopped when they called out, but when they saw no one, they began to beat each other again, and dangerously so. Then he called out again, "God be with you!" They stopped again, looked around, but because they saw no one, they continued to beat each other again. Then he shouted the third time, "God be with you!" and thought, "You must see what these three are up to," and went to ask why they were fighting. Then the one said he had found a stick, if he hit a door with it, it would burst open; the other said he had found a cloak, if he wore it, it would be invisible; but the third said he had caught a horse, with which one could ride anywhere, up the glass mountain. Now they did not know whether they should keep it together or whether they should separate. Then the man said, "I will trade you the three things: I do not have money, but other things that are worth more! But I must first make a test, so that I can see whether you have told the truth. Then they let him sit on the horse, put his cloak around him and gave him the stick in his hand, and when he had all this, they could no longer see him. Then he gave them a good beating and called out, 'Now, you bear skinners, here you have what is due you: are you satisfied?' Then he rode up the Glass Mountain, and when he came to the top of the castle, it was locked: so he struck the gate with his stick and immediately it burst open. He entered and went up the stairs to the top of the hall, where the virgin was sitting with a golden goblet of wine in front of her. But she could not see him because he had his cloak on. And when he came before her, he pulled the ring she had given him from his finger and threw it into the chalice so that it sounded. Then she cried out 'this is my ring, so there must also be the man who will redeem me'. They searched the whole castle and did not find him, but he had gone out, sat on his horse and thrown off his cloak. When they came to the gate, they saw him and shouted for joy. Then he dismounted and took the king's daughter in his arms, and she kissed him and said, 'Now you have delivered me, and tomorrow we will celebrate our marriage.