Lord Lovel

Lord Lovel is Child ballad number 75, in existing in several variants.[1]

Synopsis

A lord tells the lady he loves that he is going in a journey that will take several years. After a time, he longs to see her. He returns whereupon he hears of her death, and dies of grief.

The journey that Lord Lovel undertakes is a pilgrimage, a quest to a holy shrine.

Variants

Forms of this ballad are very common in Scandinavia and Germany.[2]

The ballads, Lord Thomas and Fair Annet and Fair Margaret and Sweet William contain some similar themes, but in those ballads, the hero is actively fickle, seeking another bride.[3]

A closer equivalent to this ballad is Lady Alice, Child ballad 85.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Lord Lovel"
  2. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 204-6, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  3. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 204, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  4. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 279, Dover Publications, New York 1965

External links