Cold Iron by Rudyard Kipling. Short summary

5 seconds

A story in the «Tales of Old England» series. Elf Puck of the Hills, continues to tell Dana and Una stories about England’s past. This time the children learn about a human child who was raised by the elves of the Hills.

1 minute

Dan and Una come again for the summer to an estate located in the English county of Sussex. In a year, the boys have grown older and are no longer allowed to go barefoot. But brother and sister were happy to meet elf Puck again. This time the merry little man from the Hills told them a new story.

Somehow the People from the Hills decided to bring up a human child, who would then live among people and control their destinies. One day the Puck brought an orphan baby, the sons of a dead slave girl. The elves began to raise him and teach him magic and other wisdom. The Little Folk loved the baby very much, but it was predicted that his fate would be decided by the first object made of cold iron that the child would take in his hands.

The baby grew up and became a young man. More and more often his eyes turned toward the human settlements. One night the young man went down the path to the village and found his first iron object. It turned out to be a slave’s collar, forged by the god Thor on the day he was born. From that moment the boy’s fate was sealed.