The Troll's Courtship

[Balthasar 2497]

Spoiler

It's an actual folksong that I absolutely love. I got an English translation that I fixed a little bit to make it easier to read. here’s an actual music video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhL4XS_6wY

 

 

Ser Manley refuses the troll’s temptations

 

THE TROLL’S COURTSHIP

 

Is a folk song of ancient Waldenian origins, it tells of a young and handsome knight, who meets a mountain troll who attempts to enchant him so they can be betrothed but he rightfully renounces the troll, citing that if she were not a spawn of Iblees, he would marry her and free her of her curse. It reminds the listener of the curses that were made upon the Descendant races and the dangers of half-races, the double-cursed. There exist various versions of the song, some more on the nose than others, implying that the troll is a pagan descendant, even in these texts the knight refuses to marry her, again because of her misguided faith.

 

 

Early one morning before the sun did rise
And the birds sang their sweet song
The mountain troll proposed to the fair knight
She had a deceitful tongue

 

Ser Manley, Ser Manley, will you be betrothed to me?
For that, I gladly offer you gifts
Surely you can answer but yes or no
If you wish to or not?

 

To you, I will give the twelve great steeds
That graze in a shady grove
Never has a saddle been mounted on their backs
Nor bridles in their mouths

 

To you, I will give the twelve fine mills
That stand between Powys and Langford
The mill stones are made of the reddest brass
And the wheels are silver-laden

 

To you, I will give a gilded sword
That jingles from fifteen gold rings
And fight how you will
On the battlefield, you will conquer

 

To you, I will give a shirt so new
The lustrous best to wear
It is not sewn with needle or thread
But crocheted of the whitest silk

 

Such gifts I would surely accept
If you were a Canonist woman
But I know you are the worst mountain troll
From the spawn of Necken and Iblees

 

The mountain troll ran out the door
She wailed and she shrieked so loudly
"Had I gotten that handsome young man
From my torment, I would be free now"

 

Ser Manley, Ser Manley, will you be betrothed to me?
For that, I gladly offer you gifts
Surely you can answer but yes or no
If you wish to or not?

 

Translated into Common by,