The Ballad of the White Horse
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The Ballad of the White Horse is a poem by G K Chesterton about the exploits of the Saxon King Alfred the Great, published in 1911 AD. Written in ballad form, the work is usually considered an epic poem. The poem narrates how Alfred was able to defeat the invading Danes at the Battle of Ethandune with the aid of the Virgin Mary, and by extension the Christian God. In addition to being a narration of Alfred's military and political accomplishments it is also considered a Catholic allegory.
[edit] Summary
[edit] Prefatory Note
Chesterton begins his work with a note (in prose) that declares that the poem is not historical. He says that he has chosen to place the site of the battle in the Vale of the White Horse, despite the lack of concrete evidence for it being fought there (modern scholars now know that it was fought at Edington). He says that he has chosen to include legends about Alfred, even if they are historically unlikely.
[edit] Dedication
The poem opens with a verse dedication to Chesterton's wife. He begins by commenting on Alfred and his legacy. Chesterton asks his wife to remember their travels together to research the poem, and closes with verse that seems meant for her personally.
[edit] Book I : The Vision of the King
The story begins by describing the White Horse of the White Horse Vale and how it has seen untold ages pass by. Among these was the fall of the Roman Empire, and the barbarian invasions that followed it. The Danes have invaded and nearly conquered England, and now drive the Wessex King into hiding on the river island of Athelney. While there, the Virgin Mary appears to him, and gives him words of consolation. She does not promise him earthly victory, but reminds him of the promise of salvation.
[edit] Book II : The Gathering of the Chiefs
Greatly encouraged by Mary's words, Alfred sets out try to muster the remaining Catholic chieftains and their followers. Alfred first convinces the chieftain Eldred to join his cause. He is then able to obtain the support of the Roman Mark and Gaelic Colan. He tells them to bring their troops to the river-hut by Egbert's stone.
[edit] Book III : The Harp of Alfred
Before traveling to the hut himself, Alfred decides to disguise himself as a minstrel in order to meet the Danish chieftains. Shouldering a harp, he is captured by the Danes near their camp and taken to their leader Guthrum, who asks him to sing. Around Guthrum are three Danish earls, Harold, Elf, and Ogier. None of the Danes realize the identity of the apparent peasant. After singing tales from the history of Wessex, Guthrum and his earls all take a turn playing the harp. Each man expresses his own view of life and the world. Finally Alfred takes the harp himself, and sings his own Catholic view of life. Alfred departs the camp amid the laughter of the Danes.
[edit] Book IV : The Woman in the Forest
Alfred then travels to the river-hut, and finds that the chiefs have not arrived yet. While waiting, an old woman offers to give Alfred one of the cakes she is cooking if Alfred will watch the fire for a time. While doing so, he pities the old woman and admires her for her persistence in her life of hardship. Alfred is jolted out of his daydreaming when the woman returns and strikes him on the cheek with a burned cake, leaving a scar. Astonished at first, Alfred laughs at his own foolishness and gives a speech about the dangers of pride to his now-gathered army. The army then begins marching toward the split road where the battle is to be fought.
[edit] Book V : Ethandune : The First Stroke
The Saxon army causes some woodland animals to flee in panic, alerting Guthrum to the presence of the troops. Alfred and his army begin to fear the coming engagement. Alfred admits to several grave sins, including sacrilege and adultery. He asks the people to pray for his soul. The three chiefs each declare the way in which they wish to be buried. They then reach the battlefield and deploy. Alfred and his chiefs are in front of the army, and the Danish earls are in front of theirs. Guthrum rides on horseback towards the back of his army. Before the engagements begins, Harold shoots an arrow at Colan. Colan escapes it, and hurls his sword at Harold. The sword hits its mark, and Harold drops dead. Alfred then gives his own sword to Colan, praising him for his heroism. Alfred takes a battle-axe for himself. The two sides then crash together and the battle begins.
[edit] Book VI : Ethandune : The Slaying of the Chiefs
Eldred quickly proves skilled at battle, and cuts down countless Danes. Then his sword breaks, and his is stabbed with seven spears. Elf recovers his spear, which proves to be a magic weapon he obtained from the water-maids of the English Channel. The Christian troops under Mark are filled with fear and began to fall back. Mark rallies his men and charges at Elf, who is killed. The Christian troops are filled with confidence and begin the attack once more. Ogier encounters Mark, but he is easily repulsed by the Roman. Ogier lifts his shield over himself, but Mark jumps on top, pinning Ogier down. Ogier manages to get an arm free and stabs Mark, who dies as he falls off the shield. Ogier leaps up, hurls his shield away and gives a raging battle speech to the Danes. The Danes manage to push the Christian army back against the split in the road. The army is split in two down each fork of the road, with Alfred and Colan separated. Colan is then killed.
[edit] Book VII : Ethandune : The Last Charge
Chesterton takes us away from the battle, and brings us to the White Horse Down. There a small child piles up stones over and over as they fall down. Chesterton draws a comparison between the child and Alfred. Back at the battle, the king gives a rousing battle-speech to restore their confidence. Much to the shock of the Danes, the enfeebled Christian line once again reforms and charges. They are quickly cut down, but the Christians continue to fight.
Suddenly, the Virgin Mary appears to Alfred when his army is on the brink of complete defeat. This vision encourages him, and his line charges a last time. The charge is quickly broken up, and Alfred is separated and surrounded by Danes. Ogier is among the Danes around Alfred, and he hurls his spear at Alfred. The spear lodges in a tree, and Alfred brings down his axe upon Ogier, killing him. Alfred then leaps over Ogier's dead body and blows the battle sign with his horn.
This strikes fear into the Danes, who begin to fall back. Alfred leads the Christians in a mighty surge against the Danes. At this point the separated portion of his army returns, eager for victory. The Danes begin to retreat and flee. Amid his defeat, Guthrum undergoes a genuine conversion to Alfred's faith, and is baptized after the battle.
[edit] Book VIII : The Scouring of the Horse
After the battle, a period of peace comes to Wessex and its king. Alfred encourages learning and culture, and gives to the needy. He sends explorers out to other lands. He choses not to conquer other lands, because he feels that he is not worthy to govern anything else. The Saxon people scour the White Horse free of weeds and plants, keeping it white and visible. In the midst of this peace Alfred is told that the Danes, under a different leader, have invaded again. He simply prepares to fight once more, and prepares his army. He reveals that it is not so much the violent pagans that he fears, but rather the cultured, subversive pagans. As he says:
"I have a vision, and I know
The heathen shall return.
They shall not come with warships,
They shall not waste with brands,
But books be all their eating,
And ink be on their hands."
(VIII:246-251)
Alfred and his army march to London, and attack the Danes once again.
[edit] Analysis
[edit] Note
The following analysis portrays the standard Roman Catholic interpretation of the poem. Due to the relative obscurity of the poem, few if any significantly different interpretations have been published.
[edit] Allegorical Interpretations
Most scholars hold that the poem is an allegory for the struggle between good and evil on a general level. This is not especially distinct, as most fiction is written from this perspective. Throughout the poem Alfred and his morally upright soldiers fight against the immoral Danes, leading to their defeat and the conversion of Guthrum.
It can be interpreted as a struggle between God and Satan.
Some see it as a struggle between the Catholic Church and Satan, with Alfred representing the Pope.
Most scholars see it as the struggle for the soul of an individual, England, or humanity itself. Chesterton seems to have intended the White Horse to represent the soul. As he writes:
"Over our white souls also
Wild heresies and high
Wave prouder than the plumes of grass,
And sadder than their sigh."
(VIII:194-197)
When Alfred comes upon the White Horse during his travels to the Danish camp, he sees that "The great White Horse was grey," (III:33). From this perspective, the weeds represent sin, and the White Horse the soul. Since the Danes control most of England and spread their heathen paganism everywhere, the soul has become defiled and disgraced by the sin that creeps into it. It is up to Alfred to deafeat the Danes and their encouragement of sin, so that the horse can be restored to its former splendor. After Alfred's victory, the Horse is scoured of the weeds and is white once again. Once the Danes attack again after the time of peace, Chesterton says that:
"With velvet finger, velvet foot,
The fierce soft mosses then
Crept on the large white commonweal
All folk had striven to strip and peel,
And the grass, like a great green witch's wheel,
Unwound the toils of men."
(VIII:356-361)
Once more Alfred must go to war again for the sake of the Horse.
[edit] Views of Life
Alfred's visit to the Danish camp disguised as a minstrel allows Chesterton to portray the main characters' views of life and of its purpose. As Alfred, Guthrum, and the Danish earls all take a turn at the harp, they each sing their own interpretation of life.
After Alfred sings of "...some old British raid" (III:79) Harold takes the harp and begins to sing. Harold views life as consisting of pleasure, saying that "But we, but we shall enjoy the world, / The whole huge world a toy." (III:106-107). He hates the Christians because he views them as weaklings, saying:
"Doubtless your sires were sword-swingers
When they waded fresh from foam,
Before they were turned to women
by the god of the nails from Rome ;
"But since you bent to the shaven men,
Who neither lust nor smite,
Thunder of Thor, we hunt you,
A hare on the mountain height."
(III:126-133)
Elf is the next singer. He views life through the lens of superstition and paganism, and feels that "...love is not secure." (III:175) He sings of Balder , whom the pagan gods could not save. As he says:
"There is always a thing forgotten
When all the world goes well ;
A thing forgotten, as long ago
When the gods forgot the mistlétoe,
And soundless as an arrow of snow
The arrow of anguish fell."
(III:164-169)
Ogier then takes the harp. He is filled with rage and hatred, and attests that "...hate alone is true." (III:225. As he says:
"And a man grows ugly for women,
And a man grows dull with ale,
Well if he find in his soul at last
Fury, that does not fail.
"The wrath of the gods behind the gods
Who would rend all gods and men,
Well if the old man's heart hath still
Wheels sped of rage and roaring will,
Like cataracts to break down and kill,
Well for the old man then- "
(III:191-200)
Guthrum now takes the harp. He is filled with despair, for he fears his eventual death. Guthrum says that although he can forget about death in battle, eventually the knowledge will return. As he says:
"Death blazes bright above the cup,
And clear above the crown ;
But in that dream of battle
We seem to tread it down.
"Wherefore I am a great king,
And waste the world in vain,
Because man hath not other power,
Save that in dealing death for dower,
He may forget it for an hour
To remember it again."
(III:284-293)
Finally, Alfred takes the harp. He affirms that he would rather "...fall with Adam / Than rise with all your gods." (III:313-314). He goes on to answer Harold's charge and affirms the determination of Wessex to defeat its heathen invaders, saying:
"I will answer the mighty earl
That asked of Wessex men
Why they be meek and monkish folk,
And bow to the White Lord's broken yoke ;
What sign have we save blood and smoke?
Here is my answer then.
"That on you is fallen the shadow,
And not upon the Name ;
That though we scatter and though we fly,
And you hang over us like the sky,
You are more tired of victory,
Than we are tired of shame."
(III:323-334)
Alfred goes on to speak of the faith and hope of the Christians, saying:
"Our monks go robed in rain and snow,
But the heart of flame therein,
But you go clothed in feasts and flames,
When all is ice within ;"
(III:349-352)
Alfred says that in the end the Christians will be victorious, because they are creators, while the pagans are destroyers. As he concludes his song:
"For our God hath blessed creation,
Calling it good. I know
What spirit with whom you blindly band
Hath blessed destruction with his hand ;
Yet by God's death the stars shall stand
And the small apples grow."
(III:373-378)
[edit] References
The Ballad of the White Horse by Chesterton, Gilbert Keith, illustrated by Austin, Robert 2001, Ignatius Press, San Francisco Copyright 1993, Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan, Inc.
