"Young Ronald" is an old song catalogued as
Child Ballad
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...
304.
Synopsis
Young Ronald falls in love with the daughter of the King of Linn. She tells him she's too young, his mother tells him that she's refused many, and Ronald takes to his bed. His father weeps for his son's illness, and Ronald rouses himself, to ride back to the princess. She tells him that her father is going against a
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
, and she wants him to be among the knights, well-dressed, and to take a magical ring that will stop bleeding among any of his men who are wounded, and keep him from losing blood. When he tells his father, his father gives him a hundred men.
When the three-headed giant appears, the king promises his daughter and a third of his lands to whoever faces it. Ronald kills it, marries the daughter, and becomes the king's heir.
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
The Child Ballads is the colloquial name given to a collection of 305 ballads collected in the 19th century by Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, ...
External links
''Young Ronald''
Child Ballads
Year of song unknown
Songwriter unknown
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