Childe Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And
there was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all.
Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot
And caught it with his knee;
At last as he plunged among them all
O'er the church he made it flee.
Burd Ellen round about the aisle
To seek the ball is gone,
But long they waited, and longer still,
And she came not back again.
They sought her east, they sought her west,
They sought her up and down,
And woe were the hearts of those brethren,
For she was not to be found.
So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him
all the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. "The fair
Burd Ellen," said the Warlock Merlin, "must have been carried off by
the fairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'--the
opposite way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of
Elfland; it would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her
back."
"If it is possible to bring her back," said her brother, "I'll do it,
or perish in the attempt."
"Possible it is," said the Warlock Merlin, "but woe to the man or
mother's son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand
what he is to do."
The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of
danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock
Merlin to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in
going to seek his sister. And after he had been taught, and had
repeated his lesson, he set out for Elfland.
But long they waited, and longer still,
With doubt and muckle pain,
But woe were the hearts of his brethren,
For he came not back again.
Then the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to
the Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set
out to find Burd Ellen.
But long they waited, and longer still,
With muckle doubt and pain,
And woe were his mother's and brother's heart,
For he came not back again.
And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland,
the youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his
mother, the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at
first, for he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was
lost, all would be lost.
But he begged, and he begged, till at last
the good queen let him go, and gave him his father's good brand that
never struck in vain. And as she girt it round his waist, she said the
spell that would give it victory.
So Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and
went to the cave of the Warlock Merlin. "Once more, and but once
more," he said to the Warlock, "tell how man or mother's son may
rescue Burd Ellen and her brothers twain."
"Well, my son," said the Warlock Merlin, "there are but two things,
simple they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and
one thing not to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have
entered the land of Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the
Burd Ellen, you must out with your father's brand and off with their
head. And what you've not to do is this: bite no bit, and drink no
drop, however hungry or thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit,
while in Elfland you be and never will you see Middle Earth again."
So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he
knew them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his
way. And he went along, and along, and along, and still further along,
till he came to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his
horses. These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at
last in the land of Fairy. "Canst thou tell me," said Childe Rowland
to the horse-herd, "where the King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?" "I
cannot tell thee," said the horse-herd, "but go on a little further
and thou wilt come to the cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee."
Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that
never struck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe
Rowland went on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him
the same question. "I can't tell thee," said he, "but go on a little
farther, and thou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know."
Then Childe Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in
vain, and off went the cow-herd's head.
And he went on a little
further, till he came to an old woman in a grey cloak, and he asked
her if she knew where the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland was. "Go
on a, little further," said the hen-wife, "till you come to a round
green hill, surrounded with terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top;
go round it three times, widershins, and each time say:
Open, door! open, door!
And let me come in.
and the third time the door will open, and you may go in." And Childe
Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he
out with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the
hen-wife's head.
Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill
with the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three
times, widershins, saying each time:
Open, door! open, door!
And let me come in.
And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed
with a click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark.
It was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There
were neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the
twilight came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were
rough arches made of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver
and rock spar, and other bright stones. But though it was rock, the
air was quite warm, as it always is in Elfland. So he went through
this passage till at last he came to two wide and high folding-doors
which stood ajar. And when he opened them, there he saw a most
wonderful and glorious sight. A large and spacious hall, so large that
it seemed to be as long, and as broad, as the green hill itself. The
roof was supported by fine pillars, so large and lofty, that the
pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to them. They were all of gold
and silver, with fretted work, and between them and around them,
wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? Why, of diamonds
and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And the very key-
stones of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds and
rubies, and pearls, and other precious stones.
And all these arches
met in the middle of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain,
an immense lamp made out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite
transparent. And in the middle of this was a big, huge carbuncle,
which kept spinning round and round, and this was what gave light by
its rays to the whole hall, which seemed as if the setting sun was
shining on it.
The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of it
was a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd
Ellen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw
Childe Rowland she stood up and said:
"God pity ye, poor luckless fool,
What have ye here to do?
"Hear ye this, my youngest brother,
Why didn't ye bide at home?
Had you a hundred thousand lives
Ye couldn't spare any a one.
"But sit ye down; but woe, O, woe,
That ever ye were born,
For come the King of Elfland in,
Your fortune is forlorn."
Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he
had done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark
Tower, but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there
entombed as if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer
Childe Rowland began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told
his sister Burd Ellen how hungry he was and asked for some food,
forgetting all about the Warlock Merlin's warning.
Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she
was under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went
out, and soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk.
Childe Rowland was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked
at his sister and remembered why he had come all that way. So he
dashed the bowl to the ground, and said: "Not a sup will I swallow,
nor a bit will I bite, till Burd Ellen is set free."
Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and
a loud voice was heard saying:
"Fee, fi, fo, fum,
I smell the blood of a Christian man,
Be he dead, be he living, with my brand,
I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan."
And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King
of Elfland rushed in.
"Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest," shouted out Childe Rowland, and
rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They
fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the
King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg
for mercy. "I grant thee mercy," said Childe Rowland, "release my
sister from thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all
go free, and thou shalt be spared." "I agree," said the Elfin King,
and rising up he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled
with a blood-red liquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids,
nostrils, lips, and finger-tips, of the two brothers, and they sprang
at once into life, and declared that their souls had been away, but
had now returned. The Elfin king then said some words to Burd Ellen,
and she was disenchanted, and they all four passed out of the hall,
through the long passage, and turned their back on the Dark Tower,
never to return again. And they reached home, and the good queen,
their mother, and Burd Ellen never went round a church widershins
again.
