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"Kemp Owyne" (or "Kempion" [1] ) is Child Ballad number 34. [2]
"Kemp Owyne" (or "Kempion" [1] ) is Child Ballad number 34. [2]
The heroine is turned into a worm (dragon), usually by her stepmother, who curses her to remain so until the king's son comes to kiss her three times. When he arrives, she offers him a belt, a ring, and a sword to kiss her, promising the things would magically protect him; the third time, she turns back into a woman. In some variants, he asks who enchanted her, a werewolf or mermaid; she says it was her stepmother and curses her into a monstrous creature, permanently.
The hero of the story appears to be Ywain, from Arthurian legend. It is not clear how he came to be attached to this story, although many other Arthurian knights appear in other ballads with as little connection to their roles in the Arthurian legend, for instance Sir Lionel, who appears in a ballad of the same name.
Joseph Jacobs has suggested that "The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh" (which he collected for his English Fairy Tales with touches from the ballad of "Kempion") is a localised version of the ballad of "Kemp Owyne", [3] itself possibly a version of the Icelandic saga of Áslól and Hjálmtèr. [1]
In the variant collected by Francis James Child, the three magical items all had the same property; he believed that originally, each one had a unique property, but these were lost. [1]
"Dove Isabeau" (1989), written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Dennis Nolan, shifts the title character to the transformed heroine but retains the narrative of the ballad, with the addition of a pet cat inhabited by the spirit of Isabeau's dead mother, who assists the hero in his rescue. Brian Peters included a recording titled "Kemp Owyne" on his album Sharper Than the Thorn. Frankie Armstrong included a recording titled "Kemp Owen" on her album The Garden of Love. Fay Hield includes a recording titled "Kemp Owen" on her album Looking Glass. Bryony Griffith sings "Kemp Owen" on her 2014 debut solo album Nightshade.
This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in Ballads Weird and Wonderful (1912) and illustrated by Vernon Hill.
Child notes similarities with several Scandinavian ballads: "Jomfruen i ormeham" (DgF 59, TSB A 28 – maid transformed into snake); "Jomfruen i linden" (DgF 66, SMB 12, NMB 15, TSB A 30 – maid transformed into lime tree); "Trolden og bondens hustru" (DgF 52, TSB A 14 – knight transformed into troll); and "Lindormen" (DgF 65, SMB 11, NMB 14, TSB A 29 – prince transformed into serpent (a lindworm)). [1]
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shape-shifting is in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existent literature and epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad. The concept remains a common literary device in modern fantasy, children's literature and popular culture.
Svipdagsmál is an Old Norse poem, sometimes included in modern editions of the Poetic Edda, comprising two poems, The Spell of Gróa and The Lay of Fjölsviðr.
Grógaldr or The Spell of Gróa is the first of two poems, now commonly published under the title Svipdagsmál found in several 17th-century paper manuscripts with Fjölsvinnsmál. In at least three of these manuscripts, the poems are in reverse order and separated by a third eddic poem titled, Hyndluljóð. For a long time, the connection between the two poems was not realized, until in 1854 Svend Grundtvig pointed out a connection between the story told in Gróagaldr and the first part of the medieval Scandinavian ballad of Ungen Sveidal/Herr Svedendal/Hertig Silfverdal. Then in 1856, Sophus Bugge noticed that the last part of the ballad corresponded to Fjölsvinnsmál. Bugge wrote about this connection in Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania 1860, calling the two poems together Svipdagsmál. Subsequent scholars have accepted this title.
Fjölsvinnsmál is the second of two Old Norse poems commonly published under the title Svipdagsmál "The Lay of Svipdagr". These poems are found together in several 17th-century paper manuscripts with Fjölsvinnsmál. In at least three of these manuscripts, the poems appear in reverse order and are separated by a third eddic poem titled Hyndluljóð. For a long time, the connection between the two poems was not realized, until in 1854 Svend Grundtvig pointed out a connection between the story told in Gróagaldr and the first part of the medieval Scandinavian ballad of Ungen Sveidal/Herr Svedendal/Hertig Silfverdal. Then in 1856, Sophus Bugge noticed that the last part of the ballad corresponded to Fjölsvinnsmál. Bugge wrote about this connection in Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania 1860, calling the two poems together Svipdagsmál. Subsequent scholars have accepted this title.
"Allison Gross" is a traditional ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad #35. It tells the story of "the ugliest witch in the north country" who tries to persuade a man to become her lover and then punishes him by a transformation.
"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child in the late 19th century, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; 11 variants, some fragmentary, are indexed as 95A to 95K. The Roud Folk Song Index identifies it as number 144.
"The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea" is Child ballad number 36.
The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh, also known as The Laidly Worm of Bamborough, is a Northumbrian ballad about a princess who is changed into a dragon.
"Hind Etin" is a folk ballad existing in several variants.
"The Fair Flower of Northumberland" is a folk ballad.
"Clerk Colvill" is Child ballad No. 42, otherwise known as "The Mermaid".
"Gil Brenton" is Child ballad 5, Roud 22, existing in several variants.
"The Marriage of Sir Gawain" is an English Arthurian ballad, collected as Child Ballad 31. Found in the Percy Folio, it is a fragmented account of the story of Sir Gawain and the loathly lady, which has been preserved in fuller form in the medieval poem The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. The loathly lady episode itself dates at least back to Geoffrey Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales. Unlike most of the Child Ballads, but like the Arthurian "King Arthur and King Cornwall" and "The Boy and the Mantle", "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" is not a folk ballad but a song for professional minstrels.
"Edward" is a traditional murder ballad existing in several variants, categorised by Francis James Child as Child Ballad number 13 and listed as number 200 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The ballad, which is at least 250 years old, has been documented and recorded numerous times across the English speaking world into the twentieth century.
"Lizie Wan" is Child ballad 51 and a murder ballad. It is also known as "Fair Lizzie".
Lady Diamond is Child ballad 269, existing in several variants. The story is derived from that of Ghismonda and Guiscardo from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio.
Danmarks gamle Folkeviser is a collection of all known texts and recordings of the old Danish popular ballads. It drew both on early modern manuscripts, such as Karen Brahes Folio, and much more recent folk-song collecting activity.
The Types of the Scandinavian Medieval Ballad: A Descriptive Catalogue (TSB) is the designation for a cataloguing system for Scandinavian ballads.
"The Dowie Dens o Yarrow", also known as "The Braes of Yarrow" or simply "Yarrow", is a Scottish border ballad. It has many variants and it has been printed as a broadside, as well as published in song collections. It is considered to be a folk standard, and many different singers have performed and recorded it.
Harpens kraft (Danish) or Harpans kraft, meaning "The Power of the Harp", is the title of a supernatural ballad type, attested in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic variants.