The King's Wake, and Other Ballads

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Borrow, George, 1803-1881

Contributor:

Wise, Thomas James, 1859-1937

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The King's Wake, and Other Ballads" by George Borrow is a collection of ballads written during the early 20th century. This anthology reflects Borrow's fascination with folklore and poetry, drawing on themes of love, honor, and tragedy through various traditional narratives. The work exemplifies the blending of historical storytelling with lyrical expression, offering insights into human emotions and cultural values. The collection features various ballads, with "The King's Wake" standing out as a poignant narrative. In this tale, a young maiden named Signelil seeks permission from her mother to attend a royal wake, eager to join the festive atmosphere. Despite her mother's initial resistance, she is eventually allowed to go. At the wake, the King invites her to dance, leading to a tragic turn when she is mistakenly killed by the Queen, highlighting themes of innocence and the dire consequences of jealousy. The other ballads in the collection similarly explore struggles, deep emotions, and moral lessons, often steeped in mystical and folkloric elements that enrich the overarching narrative. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Contents:

The King's wake

Swayne Felding

Innocence defamed.

Credits:

Transcribed from the 1913 Thomas J. Wise pamphlet by David Price. Many thanks to Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, UK, for kindly supplying the images from which this transcription was made

Notes:

Reading ease score: 84.6 (6th grade). Easy to read.

Release date is 2008-12-04