Baš Čelik

Baš Čelik (Cyrillic: Баш Челик, pronounced [bâʃ tʃɛ̌lik]), meaning "head of steel", from Turkish baş for "head" and çelik for "steel", is a famous Serbian Fairy tale. It is similar to the Brothers Grimm's "The Crystal Orb" (Aarne-Thompson type 552A).

Synopsis

A king has three sons and three daughters. On his deathbed he makes his sons swear that they will marry off their sisters to the first person who asks. One night a booming voice demands that one sister be given to him. The two older brothers are reluctant, while the youngest (the Least of Three) heeds his father's dying request and hands her over. The same thing happen for the next two nights, until all the sisters are given away to mysterious strangers. The three brothers then decide to go and search for their sisters.

Throughout their travels, each brother fights many-headed serpents, the youngest tossing the serpent into a lake putting out their camp fire; so he has to go out alone to find fire and using his wits he defeats nine giants that were terrorizing the region. Finally, he rescues a princess from the giant's village and is allowed to marry the princess. He lives in her castle and is allowed to visit any of the rooms, except one which is bound with chains (the One Forbidden Thing). When his wife is away from the castle, he goes inside the room and comes across a man bound in chains. The man calls himself Baš Čelik, and he begs for three glasses of water. Every time Čelik drains a glass, the prince receives an extra life. When the third glass is handed to him, Čelik regains his massive strength, breaks the chains, opens his wings, and flies away with the youngest son's wife.