Childe Rowland

CHILDE ROWLAND

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.