After his exploits in the Round Halls of Kapgar Kûm, Groiznath was brought to the camp of the Fellgiants in a clearing of the woods. As soon as he got there, three tall Gyúgri rose from where they had been sitting around a rough fireplace of stone. These were the daughters of Fundrubâl: Fandrumin, Fulgimur, and Furgumal. They were very large, and, in the eyes of Groiznath, very ugly.
The chief of the Stonegiants’ guard spoke:
‘This Hyûvanwa, if that is what he is, came to our battle lines from Hogunoth, claiming to have played a trick on the Stonegiant defenders. We shall leave him in your keeping, O Mistresses of the Dagangangri, while we try the strength of our enemies.’
Then the guard marched away, leaving Groiznath between the three great Gyúgri.
They stood around him, so that he could not see them all at once, but had to keep turning around as each of them spoke.
And Fandrumin, the eldest of the three Gyúgri, began to laugh with an ugly cackling sound, and said:
‘O sisters see. Here is a pretty child of the Hyûvandri for our delight! And who may you be, most handsome of the tribe that calls itself men?’
Groiznath trembled at what they might intend with him, but said proudly:
‘I am named Groiznath, son of mighty Melyúnas, greatest of the Entellári, and I have brought about the defeat of the Stonegiants. Your comrades will take them in the open, with no hope of retreat into Kapgar Kûm, and they will finish them off.’
And Fulgimur, the next sister, said:
‘We know your kinship, O half Hyûvanwa. Hear then this: the Entellári are nothing to us, not even the mighty Melyúnas. They are of no account in the Northlands!’
And Furgumal, the youngest, said:
‘But we are three Gyúka maidens, and we have found none among the Gangri of the North that is handsome enough to please us. But now that you are here, we are minded to get a husband for one of us.’
At this, the three Gyúgri laughed heartily and slapped one another on the back. Then, as Groiznath looked around to see which way he might flee, Fandrumin the eldest Gyúga seized him from behind in her great arms. He could not move. Escape was impossible.
Knowing he could not get away, Fandrumin pushed Groiznath back between the three of them. They all began to chant.
Three Gyúka maidens, we ask of thee,
Choose the fairest of the three!
She who is chosen shall give you bliss
The rare tribute of a Gyúga’s kiss.
Shuddering, and still half choked, Groiznath said
Groiznath seeks not Gyúga’s kisses!
Not one fairer he finds than other,
Nor calls any ugliest of all.
The three Gyúgri were puzzled for a moment. Then Furgumal said:
‘Then we shall share him! A taste to each!’
And with that Fandrumin seized him and placed her great mouth upon his mouth. Fulgimur then did the same, and finally Furgumal. Overpowered with disgust, Groiznath fell to the ground. The three Gyúgri cackled again and shouted:
‘Too soft! And too small!
Make him tough! And make him tall!
They began to stamp with their feet and chant another song, beckoning with their hands.
Come cauldron, come when we call,
Come from hall,
Come by wall,
Come creep, come crawl,
Come make him tough! And make him tall!
From within the Fellgiants’ camp there came an answering sound: a deep booming, coming nearer. A huge cauldron, moving by its own power, came into view. The song and beckoning of the Gyúgri were drawing it over the ground.
In the stone fireplace in the midst of the clearing Fulgimur, the middle sister, rapidly put logs together for a fire. She moved the cauldron effortlessly on to the stones. Fandrumin the eldest picked Groiznath up from the ground, while Furgumal the youngest drew from the knapsack that he wore slung from his neck the small tinderbox where he kept the last morsels of starfire. She emptied them on to the dry logs, and immediately a blaze sprang up around the great cauldron. It was already full of water, and after a while steam began to rise from it.
While Groiznath remained imprisoned, and almost smothered, in the great sinewy arms of the eldest Gyúga, the other two sisters began to cast things into the cauldron. There were herbs, and aromatic sticks, pieces of animal skin and bones, feathers, leaves, and twigs. Though Groiznath feared for his life, as yet Fandrumin made no move to cast him into the cauldron. But he was nearly choking in the Gyúga’s mighty grip.
The cauldron steamed and bubbled for hour after hour. At times the other two Gyúgri performed a ponderous dance around it, chanting in Deepspeech.
Tanthara hûnak kûamag hinhâbu
hûnak kûamag hinhâbu tanthara
kûamag hinhâbu tanthara hûnak
hinhâbu tanthara hûnak kûamag
Night fell, and still the seething of the cauldron and the circling of it and the chanting went on. Then abruptly, Furgumal took a ewer and from it threw water on the fire, which immediately died down.
Fandrumin passed Groiznath to her sister Fulgimur to hold. All three sat down on the rocks where they had been sitting before. No one spoke. It came to the midnight hour. Furgumal rose up, cackling, and went to the cauldron. She rolled up the sleeve of her garment, leant over, and dipped her elbow into the water.
‘It is now just right for a bath!’ she said. Then Fulgimur took Groiznath by the middle and held him off the ground. The other two Gyúgri, in an instant, stripped off all his clothes, and, as they laughed and clapped their hands and danced and shouted, Fulgimur lowered Groiznath into the cauldron of warm water. To his surprise, there was a kind of shelf on the inside where he could sit, covered by the warm water almost up to his eyes. He tried to rise, but the Gyúga pushed him down again. Again the three sisters began to chant.
Mundûku mandû gumburi gandukh
mandû gumburi gandukh mundûku
gumburi gandukh mundûku mandû
gandukh mundûku mandû gumburi
The steam was aromatic, heady, pungent. Groiznath began to be drowsy. He leaned his head back on the rim of the cauldron, and the runesleep overcame him.
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