THE MEDIEAVAL BALLADS

 

BALLAD form the LATIN “ BALLARE” to dance

Definition An oral narrative poem which was often sung, it belongs to the ORAL TRADITIION

What it is about? One single situation, one story

Origins? ENGLAND and SCOTLAND between the 13^th and the 15^th century

Authors?  Anonymous

Structure? Usually short stanzas of two or four lines

Narrative technique? Mixture of narration and dialogue (no detailed descriptions); rapid flashes; no continuous sequence of events

Narrator? impersonal,never intruding or moralizing

Language? concrete,simple, musical and repetitive; use of stock phrases and refrains

Refrain? some words or lines which are repeated at intervals, usually at the end of a stanza

Incremental repetition? a line or stanza is repeated but with some addition advancing the story

Rhyme Scheme?  usually ABCB

Themes?  love (unhappy love), death,jealousy,revenge,war betrayal, the magic and the supernatural

Characters? not described in detail; no psychological complexity

Interest in ballads? Ballads were written down in later periods; in 1765 Thomas Percy assembled and published the famous collection Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. In the Romantic period poets wrote literary ballads

BALLADS of MAGIC

BORDER BALLADS

BALLADS of LOVE and domestic tragedy

BALLADS of OUTLAWS with the cycle of ROBIN HOOD

( a great folk hero who probably lived in the 12^th century)

Traditionally depicted as being dressed in greenis often portrayed as "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor"alongside his band of Merry Men