Genre Challenge: "The Mountie and the Skogsrå" by Luzula

[luzula]

Title: The Mountie and the Skogsrå
Pairing: Fraser/Victoria
Rating: PG-13
Length: 21 verses
Genre: Traditional folk ballad
Notes: The Fraser/Victoria story seemed very suited to the folk ballad format, but I had a hard time finding an appropriate ballad at first. Among the Scandinavian folk ballads, there are many ballads on the theme of a supernatural female creature (for example a fairy, a troll or a sea creature) courting a human man (by means of spells, gifts, persuasion, or threats). It usually ends badly. This theme doesn't seem nearly as common in English ballads. Among the Child ballads, there's Allison Gross, which has a witch courting a man, but the emphasis is on the ugliness of the witch, and there's also Tam Lin, but that story has other themes as well. So I went with the Swedish medieval ballad Herr Olof och Havsfrun. Obviously it's hard to capture the style of a Scandinavian ballad in English--for example, there are set phrases that don't translate well. But the meter should be the same (with rhymes and some alliteration), and I also tried to capture the formal back-and-forth style of conversation. The "skogsrå" of the title is a female supernatural creature which looks like a beautiful woman, but is treacherous and has a hollow back (thus the line "Her back was hollow, her heart was black").

Also, you can download a recording of me singing the ballad here. I'm quite fond of the melody--it has an A part in a minor key and a B part in a major key. It's a dancing tune called a "schottis". If you're curious about the original lyrics, there's a version here where someone has helpfully subtitled it in English.

I'd like to thank exeterlinden and 2corbies for helpful betas!


A cold wind blew on a winter's night
The moon shone down on a woman's flight
A man came searching on her track
To find her and bring her back

She climbed through the hills and climbed through the snow
And ever more cold did the storm winds blow
He caught her at last and he kept her warm
As they lay in each other's arms

They lay for a night and a day and a night
Came out in the day when the sun shone bright
He said, "You must face what you have done,
You can no longer run."

"I would give you my heart, I would give you my hand,
And all of the riches that you could demand
If you will save me from lock and key
And leave me to wander free."

"I cannot claim your heart nor hand
And neither can I your riches demand
For I must follow my duty's call
No matter what else may befall."

For ten years' time she dwelled in the dark
And she cursed his name both wide and far
For he had left her lost and betrayed
But she would be free one day

When ten years' time had passed and gone
She left the dungeon, pale and wan
She sought for him in the north and the south
'Til she had found him out

Despite the hooks she had left in his soul
He thought his life was beyond her control
With a loyal friend and a wolf by his side
And the work in which he took pride

Then he saw her standing amid the crowd
A ghost from his past, so fair and proud
He thought a dream had come in the day
When he saw her face again

Her skin was fair and her lips were red
Her voice was full of things unsaid
Her hair was black like the darkest coal
He loved her, heart and soul

She said, "When both our lives allow
Will you not love me better now?
When I am free from the dark at last
Will you forget the past?"

"The past we never can undo
But I would make a life with you
I gladly would love you in every way
If you would only stay."

But her back was hollow, her heart was black
And false was her face as she smiled back
Deep in the dark she had spun her spell
And now she had cast it well

"Now where is your duty and where is your friend,
And how shall you your good name defend?
Where is your wolf and what is your fate
When love is mixed with hate?"

"My friend is gone, my wolf is hurt
And my good name you have dragged in the dirt
You have done by me as I have done by you
Will you damn me to darkness, too?"

"I will have you for my own
Or you can go to hell alone
When nothing is left of all you hold dear
What can keep you here?"

"Why do you take my love by force
When you know my heart is already yours?
But though you bind me to your will
My duty holds me still."

But when she cried "Come!" he could not stay
She held his whole life in her sway
He came running to reach for her hand
And at her side to stand

His friend had seen him in his fall
When he could not resist her call
And thought to stop her as she flew
But the bullet went askew

His flight was halted by iron cold
Her spell was broken, it could not hold
He faltered and fell and lost his breath
And lay as if in death

She left without him, on her own
And no one knows where she is flown
He lives still, with the iron mark
That kept him from the dark

Comments

[exeterlinden]

So, you already know how much I liked this :)

But, I just wanted to add that the recording is wonderful - it really completes the whole thing, the genre, the atmosphere - it's a beautiful melody and you sing it beautifully :)

[luzula]

Hey, I'm so glad you like the recording! The B part is a bit of a challenge to sing--there are so many jumps up and down in the melody.

Thank you again!