Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight is the English common name representative of a very large class of European ballads. The most frequently collected variant, The Outlandish Knight or May Colvin tells the tale of a young woman who elopes with a knight who has promised to marry her (and who in some instances uses magic to charm her) but who then tries to murder her to get money, clothes and horses. By a quick-witted ruse she manages to kill him instead, and in many versions she is helped to keep this experience from her parents by a resourceful parrot. The main variant has been collected frequently


Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight is the English common name representative of a very large class of European ballads. The most frequently collected variant, The Outlandish Knight or May Colvin tells the tale of a young woman who elopes with a knight who has promised to marry her (and who in some instances uses magic to charm her) but who then tries to murder her to get money, clothes and horses. By a quick-witted ruse she manages to kill him instead, and in many versions she is helped to keep this experience from her parents by a resourceful parrot. The main variant has been collected frequently from traditional singers in England, Scotland, Ireland and North America that appeared in the book ' Some British ballads ' illustrated by Arthur Rackham, Publisher New York : Dodd, Mead 1919


Size: 3406px × 4111px
Location: Great
Photo credit: © Historic Illustrations / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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