Lady Isabel and The Elf Knight - Synopsis

Synopsis

The song appears in many variants but the main theme is that the knight of the title woos the lady with music (i.e. blows a magic horn, or in some variations sings a magic song), or abducts her, and carries her off to a deep wood or seaside, where he tells her that he has killed seven (or more) other women and plans to do the same to her. In many European versions it is made explicit that he proposes to "dishonour" her as well. She, however, distracts him by one of a number of means and then contrives to kill him in her stead.

The lady of the title is named variously as "Lady Isabel", "the King's daughter" "May Collin", "May Colven", "pretty Polly", or not named at all. Variants of the song usually imply that she is rich and beautiful. The knight is, in some versions, a normal, but villainous, mortal man, but in others he is an "elf knight". The term "outlandish knight", which appears in several variants might imply something supernatural about the character, or may be a reference to the border regions between England and Scotland.

Depending on the characteristics of the knight, he may woo the lady by the usual human practices or by supernatural powers. For instance, in some variations he blows a magic horn or sings a magic song, causing the lady to profess love to him:

If I had yon horn that I hear blawing,

And you elf-knight to sleep in my bosom.

She is made to leave her parents' house and go with the knight, either by persuasion, coercion, or magical enchantment. In some versions the knight persuades her to steal money from her parents before she leaves.

"Now steal me some of your father's gold, and some of your mother's fee,

And steal the best steed in your father's stable, where there lie thirty three."

They arrive at their destination, which in some versions is explicitly named (e.g. "Bunion Bay" or "Wearie's Well") and may be beside the sea or a river, or in a deep wood. He tells her about his previous victims and that she will be the next.

"Loup off the steed," says false Sir John, "Your bridal bed you see;

For I have drowned seven young ladies; the eight one you shall be."

In most versions, he then orders the lady to undress and remove her jewels. In some variants, she then asks him to turn away while she undresses, giving her the opportunity to surprise him and, for example, push him in the sea or "tumble him into the stream". In other variants, she tells him to "lay your head upon my knee", in some cases offering to de-louse the knight. He agrees, on the condition that should he fall asleep, she shall not harm him while he sleeps. However, she sings a magic song: "Wi a sma charm she lulld him fast asleep". While he sleeps, she ties him up, sometimes with his own belt, then wakes the knight and either stabs him with a dagger or beheads him:

If seven king's-daughters here ye hae slain,

Lye ye here, a husband to them a.

Some variants end at this point, but several include a curious final section in which the lady returns home and engages in conversation with a parrot in a cage. She usually makes a bargain with the bird that she will give it a golden cage if it refrains from telling her father of the escapade with the knight.

"Oh hold your tongue, my favourite bird, and tell no tales on me;

Your cage I will make of the beaten gold, and hang in the willow-tree."