Instead of Tam Lin, Janet held in her arms a bearded lion, which struggled mightily to get away. This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in Ballads Weird and Wonderful which was published by John Lane's The Bodley Head in 1912 and illustrated by Vernon Hill.[6]. In the oldest extant version of this ballad (circa 1600-1650), an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task. In The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, 11-20. Why or why not? I am the son of noble parents. “I have courage enough to do all that you say,” declared Janet. 26 (1894): 228-32. doi:10.2307/532838. But when the knight saw how she trembled, he said, “Have no fear, Lady Janet, and you shall hear my story. Janet could hear her heart beat, but there she stood, undaunted. Following are some of the notable recordings of the ballad, including the artists, titles, albums, and years: "Can you decipher long-lost verse of historic dale song? By all means shun the moorland at this time of the year, for to-morrow is Hallowe’en—the night when the fairies ride abroad.”. The old nurse nodded her head earnestly and said, “’Tis well known, my lassie, that the people of Elfland revel in the hills and hollows of Scotland. Red Cross Knight, fictional character, protagonist of Book I of The Faerie Queene (1590), an epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Ye'll come to me, luve, and get your sark.' Publisher: University of Texas Press. "The Elfin Knight" (Child 2; Roud 12) is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernaturaloccurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks. Do you think this was brave? In the lead of her first merry company of knights and maids of honour rode the beautiful queen, whose jeweled girdle and crown flashed in the darkness. One of them, Nelly, falls in love with the Knight and wants them to marry. Following in the wake of Roy Maynard's Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves, Toby J. Sumpter's notes are insightful and humorous-making this great Christian epic poem accessible for modern readers. #62 - The Elfin Knight . The next moment she held a fire-breathing dragon, which almost slipped from her, but she tightened her grasp, and thought of Tam Lin’s words. 7 'And ye maun plow 't wi your blawing horn, The Fairy Queen and her train were riding forth. Timeline:Fifth story in the Grim Three series of stories. “I shall ride in the third group of followers. Blaw, blaw, blaw winds, blaw Blaw, blaw, blaw winds, blaw Let the first and second companies of the Fairy Queen pass, and look for me in the third. Blawing his horn loud and shrill. Based on the 300-year old ballad of the same, the story is of a beguiling lover who entices a sequence of girls to their deaths that is until he meets Lady Isobel, a maiden in waiting for the love and revenge. There, in a short time, a wedding feast was prepared, and Tam Lin, who was really a Scottish Earl, and Lady Janet, the bravest maid in Scotland, were married. No maiden dares venture near the enchanted place, for if she should fall under the spell of this Elfin Knight she would be obliged to give him a precious jewel for a ransom.”, “One glimpse of the Elfin Knight would be worth the rarest gem I have,” laughed Janet. Kouta, a high school boy who was a victim of an unfortunate plane crash is reincarnated in another world as Schenna Urablatt. Mark is a fantasy illustrator with a secret--he draws his elves from a real life model. Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 296. (Note that this verse appears to be taken directly from "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight", Child Ballad #4; in this ballad, the horn is magic and arouses desire in the hearer.[3]). Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the traditional song, 'The Elf Knight', I write these stories for fun not profit. He taught the song to Paul Simon the same year, and Simon & Garfunkel released their own version, which was hugely successful. And the wind has blawin my plaid awa When the fairies see you holding me they will change my form into many shapes. "I have heard of you! "Scottish Ballads Online" Child Ballad #2: 'The Elfin Knight With 13 variants from Francis J Child's collection and a further 8 from the appendix and a link to versions from the living tradition. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE... "The Wife of Bath's Tale" 25 terms. Why does the wife include the story about King Midas's donkey ears? She glanced around, and there, riding toward her, was the handsomest knight she had ever seen. Then he stopped, and looked pleadingly at Janet. Today, Scarborough is a quiet town with a rich history: in the 1600s, mineral waters were found in Scarborough and it became a popular holiday resort. The video discusses the immediate origin of the song as well as its centuries old history as "The Elfin Knight". If you dare win your true love, you must wait at Milescross until the Fairy Queen and her Elfin Knights pass. Do you think love at first sight is possible? I just uploaded a YouTube video about the fascinating history of ‘Scarborough Fair’, which includes over 30 obscure historical recordings sung by traditional singers. TA20314. The tune is the same as Scarborough Fair which was made famous by Simon and Garfunkel. If you have courage enough to do this, you will free your true love from the power of the fairies.”. 6 'My father he askd me an acre o land, But indoors the fire crackled merrily in my lady’s bower where an old nurse was telling a tale of Elfland to Janet, the fairest of Scotch maidens. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2000. doi:10.2307/j.ctt130jnj1.7. “But how shall I know you among so many knights, Tam Lin?” then asked Lady Janet. Martin Carthy learnt the song from MacColl's songbook, and included it on his eponymous debut album in 1965. When the knight came near, he sprang lightly from his horse and said, “Fair Janet, tell me why you pluck roses in Elfland?”, The maiden’s heart beat very fast, and the flowers dropped from her hands, but she answered proudly, “I came to see Tam Lin, the Elfin Knight.”, “He stands before you,” said the knight. In Celtic folklore, in common with many other European traditions, impossible tasks are often given to a suitor as part of a wedding trial - a well known example would be Culhwch and Olwen from Welsh Brittonic tradition where the 40 impossible tasks are set by the father-in-law (in this case the giant Ysbadadden Pen Cawr). The second group passed quickly, and now came three knights in a third group. “How I wish I could see him!”, “Hush-sh!” said her nurse tremblingly. And the wind has blawin my plaid awa Do you think Janet truly loved Tam Lin when she first met him? The wind hath blown my plaid awa. "For thou must shape a sark[4] to me, [7] Mark Anderson (1874-1953), a retired lead-miner from either Newbiggin-by-the-Sea[8] or Middleton-in-Teesdale[9], County Durham, England, sang "Scarborough Fair" to Ewan MacColl in 1947. Come close, and I’ll tell you a secret.”, Janet leaned forward, and the old woman whispered, “An Elfin Knight, named Tam Lin, haunts the moorland on the border of your father’s estate. “Nay, nay, my lady! ... (long story) but it didn't happen. Gloomy was the night, and eerie was the way to Milescross. When the story was finished, Janet’s merry laugh echoed through the halls. And the bonny laddie here that I luve best! The questions being properly answered, the knight marries the maiden. “Wait, calmly, until I am near you, then spring forward and seize me. Directed by Cashell Horgan. 2, The Elfin Knight), common in all areas of Britain and North America. All her fear vanished, and she asked, “In what other ways must the maiden show her courage?”. The first broadside version was printed before 1674, and the roots of the song may be considerably older. The countering of impossible tasks with other impossible tasks is a common motif in the folktale Aarne–Thompson type 875, the Clever Girl,[5] a fairy tale making use of this motif is The Wise Little Girl. The dragon changed to a burning bush, and the flames leaped up on all sides, but Janet stood still and felt no harm. Courtship” (see the discussion of Story Types B and C to 46 in this Supplement). What do you think this challenge might tell us about loving people? The Journal of American Folklore 7, no. "American Versions of the Ballad of the Elfin Knight." 5 'Now sin ye've askd some things o me, I have an image of an adult telling this story to a child as an excuse to start a tickle-fight. The earliest noted versions of "The Elfin Knight" tell of a young maiden who magically summons the Elfin Knight into her bedroom, but he tells her she is too young and sets her impossible tasks to perform before he will become her lover and she counters this by setting him equally impossible tasks. 3. Then up leaped the maiden. Niles, John Jacob, Ron Pen, and WILLIAM BARSS. Edmund Spenser (1559-99) has earned the title "the poet's poet" because of the high poetry of his epic and because so many great poets, including Milton, Dryden, Tennyson, and Keats, cut their poetic teeth on The Faerie Queene.The hero of Book II is Sir Guyon, the knight of Temperance. Tam Lin and Lady Janet hastened back to the grey stone castle. “She must banish all fear of him. “Ah, that I can not do unless some fair maiden is brave enough to help me. I shall be in her train.”. Mortals should have nothing to do with the people of Elfland. And the wind has blawin my plaid awa A similar variant is "Whittingham Fair", a song that was popular in the north and west of Northumberland,[11] not far from Mark Anderson's County Durham. Later versions invert the direction of desire, with the elf proposing tasks which the lady must perform in order to be accepted as his lover. "For though men call me an elfin knight, I was born a mortal child, just as you were. The Elf-Knight appears and they ride off together. At last I shall take my human form. In the original song a girl hears the far-off blast of the elfin knight's horn and wishes he were in her bedroom. “Then why do you not ride away to your home?” asked Janet. “Have you come to free him from Elfland?”, At these words Janet’s courage failed, for she feared he might cast a spell over her. magical powers and does not age (or at least ages very slowly As is the case with most traditional folk songs, there have been countless completely different versions recorded of the same ballad. "My Father Had an Acre of Land" melody and lyrics at folkinfo.org "The Elfin Knight" at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Meanwhile, a maid lies in bed, wishing she could marry the knight. His milk-white steed, which sped along lighter than the wind, was shod in silver shoes, and from the bridle hung tiny silver bells. Alas! The Red Cross Knight represents the virtue of holiness, as well as St. George and the Anglican church. “I shall know you without fail,” nodded Janet. But she remembered the knight’s warning. elfin is a fanfiction author that has written 19 stories for Knight Rider, and Brimstone. The old nurse nodded her head earnestly and said, “’Tis well known, my lassie, that the people of Elfland revel in the hills and hollows of Scotland. One day, when I was a lad of nine years, I went hunting with my father. There will be only three knights in this last company; one will ride on a black horse, one on a brown, and the third on a milk-white steed,” said the knight, pointing to his horse. When Mark finally faces up to his love for Rhinn he discovers a terrible secret that will separate them forever, but not before … “Tell me the third way, Tam Lin, for I believe I am the maid to free you.”, “Only my true love can prove her courage in the third way, fair Janet.”, And the maiden answered, “I am thy true love, Tam Lin.”, “Then heed what I say, brave lady. And while it is pleasant enough in fairyland, yet I long to live among mortals again.”. Download More elfin mischief this week with another Scottish fairy tale. My good horse stumbled, and threw me to the ground where I lay stunned by the fall. When the story was finished, Janet’s merry laugh echoed through the halls. Without ony stitching or needle wark. It would seem, however, that the part of the song relating to the elfin knight is out of place, and borrowed from other ballads, as this character does not appear in the versions of the story found in other European tongues. The autumn wind blew sharp and shrill around the turrets of a grey stone castle. Blaw, blaw, blaw, wind blaw. How the wind from the sea moaned across the moorland! At the midnight hour, the Fairy Queen and all her knights will ride abroad. A novel by Nancy Werlin, Impossible (Penguin/Dial, 2008), was inspired by the song. What does bravery mean to you? 2)." On into the darkness rode the fairy train. In versions A-D of this ballad, the heroine is very straightforward about asking the knight for either marriage or sex. Janet could only succeed in rescuing Tam Lin if she held him very tight as he transformed into a number of frightening creatures. "The Elfin Knight" (Child 2; Roud 12) is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernatural occurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks. Royale High with Halloween story "The Elfin Knight" Royale High with Halloween story "The Elfin Knight" Skip navigation ... Elfin Knight (with lyrics) - Duration: 4:03. dogstar75 225,622 views. Less likely is that he is a direct, modern-day transformation of the elfin knight himself. Blaw, blaw, blaw winds, blaw Some mortal has hold of Tam Lin, the bonniest knight in my company!”, Then the strangest things happened. Tam Lin is lost to Elfland.”. She promptly responds with her own list of impossible tasks, and thereby gains her supernatural husband. Here, let us sit together and I will tell you my story. This story is based on the ballad "The Elfin Knight," a version of which is more popularly known as "Scarborough Fair." It 's right I ask as mony o thee. The Story Of The Year - Bonus Episode. Then in her arms she held a branching tree, filled with blossoms. After some travel they stop for a rest, at which point the Elf informs th Lady Isabel that she will die there, where he has killed seven king's daughter's before. Janet leaned forward, and the old woman whispered, “An Elfin Knight, named Tam Lin, haunts the moorland on the border of your father’s estate. A knight calls on a house where three sisters live. That you have done,” declared the knight. And the wind has blawin my plaid awa He agrees provided that she can answer three riddles. Storyberries © Copyright Protected 2015 -2020, Bedtime Stories, Fairy Tales and Poems for Kids. It was a Glorfindel thing, and she found that she didn't mind it so very much. Summarize the story found in “The Elfin Knight” after acting out lyrics. But the next morning Janet bound her golden braids about her head, kilted up her green kirtle, and tripped lightly to the enchanted moorland. When she came near she saw lovely flowers blooming as gaily as if it were mid-summer time. She stooped to gather some of the roses when suddenly she heard the faintest silvery music. She responds with a list of tasks which he must first perform, thus evading rape. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Elfin Knight by Edmund Spenser, Toby J. Sumpter (2010) Paperback at Amazon.com. Janet could see that one hand of the rider was gloved, and one hung bare at his side. It's been 12 years since The Dark Knight opened in theaters, but according to Aaron Eckhart, who played Harvey Dent in the Christopher Nolan Batman film, The Dark Knight … Simon and Garfunkel made an arrangement of this ballad extremely popular in the 1960s. The first broadside version was printed before 1674, and the roots of the song may be con… [1] The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, the US, and Canada. With Skye Edwards, Rob Spragg. A simple but vivid story, this ballad evokes many powerful images—a hazy afternoon in late June when the roses are full blown—Lady Isabel sitting alone in a castle room, with a shaft of sunlight playing on the tapestry that she is weaving—somewhere out there, beyond this world and the “fields we know,” the elf-knight sits, arrogant, dark and brooding. He also sang The Elfin Knight on his 1964 Folkways album The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. A Thanksgiving tale about sharing with others. This page was last edited on 8 December 2020, at 19:27. Scarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad about the Yorkshire town of Scarborough. Both Bob and Ron Copper of Rottingdean and Thomas Moran of Mohill, Co. Leitram, sang The Elfin Knight in a medley on the anthology The Child Ballads 1 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 4; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970). Buffy and the Elf Knight. 2 'If I had yon horn in my kist, 1. Women want to have complete power over their husbands, "wear the pants", "happy wife makes happy life" ... What lessons does the old woman teach the young knight about? The Elfin Knight = Ballads and Dances from Renaissance England – Joel Frederiksen, bass and director/ Ensemble Phoenix Munich – Harmonia mundi HMC 901983, 78:47 *****: This album of folksongs from the British Isles (and many transported to the shores of … Tam Lin! 4 'And ye maun wash it in yonder well, You are an elfin knight," cried Janet; and in fear she cast the flower away. By these signs you will know me.”. Blaw, blaw, blaw winds, blaw There the Fairy Queen found me, and carried me off to yonder green hill. Duet performed by Skye Edwards (of Morcheeba, Xtracted) and Rob Spragg (of Alabama 3, The Sopranos). Not very Lordly, but considering that his maturity level seemed about on par with a six year old human on a good day, Erestor let it pass. Said elf made a snorting sort of noise that sounded vaguely like agreement. And the wind has blawin my plaid awa "My name is Tam Lin," the young man replied. [2] As is the case with most traditional folk songs, there have been countless completely different versions recorded of the same ballad. Quickly she seized the bridle of the milk-white steed, pulled the rider from his horse, and threw her green mantle around him. Category: … [10] Prior to this, Bob Dylan used Martin Carthy's version as the basis of his song "Girl from the North Country" from his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Summary. DOWNLOAD NOW » Author: Tristram Potter Coffin. And the wind has blawin my plaid awa “My right hand will be gloved, Janet,” he continued, “but my left hand will hang bare at my side. She … Then they sealed this promise with a kiss, and parted. The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, the US, and Canada. Do not fear, but hold me fast in your arms. 2. He blows his horn and enchants her—she breathes a wish for … The most frequently collected variant, The Outlandish Knight or May Colvin tells the tale of a young woman who elopes with a knight who has promised to marry her (and who in some instances uses magic to charm her) but who then tries to murder her to get money, cloths and horses. Written versions of the Elfin knight, '' cried Janet ; and in fear she the. And I will tell the elfin knight story my story you have done, ” nodded Janet see the discussion story! Of frightening creatures properly answered, the US, and carried me off yonder... 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