Ellen of Villenskov, and Other Ballads

In Short

This collection gathers ballads and lyrical poems translated or adapted by George Borrow, primarily drawing from Scandinavian and folk sources. The title piece, Ellen of Villenskov, serves as the centerpiece, telling a moralizing tale of a yeoman whose life is disrupted by malevolent spirits. Through these verses, Borrow explores themes of divine providence, the weight of human greed, and the inevitable passage of time. It is a work of romantic interest, reflecting the Victorian fascination with traditional balladry, myths, and the melancholic beauty of ruins and lost glory.

The Story

The narrative of Ellen of Villenskov begins on a remote island, where a yeoman settles to build a life in solitude. His industrious labor—felling trees and clearing the land—triggers the wrath of the local Trolds, supernatural beings dwelling within the hills. Led by a particularly spiteful and diminutive Trold, they swarm the yeoman’s home, intending to claim his wife, Ellen, as their own. Terrified by their number and malice, the yeoman initially tries to appease them with his possessions, but the Trold demands Ellen instead. Facing the destruction of his entire household, the yeoman submits, surrendering his wife to the creature.

The turning point occurs when the Trold, in his elfin form, attempts to kiss Ellen. Her unwavering faith and repeated invocations of the divine transform the creature; as she calls upon "Mary’s son" during his third advance, his hideous, magical exterior falls away, revealing a noble knight. Released from his curse—which he explains was the result of a tragic childhood and the cruelty of a stepmother—the knight seeks to make amends. He offers the yeoman wealth and honors, and even proposes marriage to Ellen. When she wisely declines, suggesting he instead wed a younger maid, he graciously accepts her counsel. The story concludes with the yeoman’s prosperity secured and his daughter rising to wear the crown of England, fulfilling a destiny that elevates the family far beyond their humble island beginnings.

The collection continues with other poems, such as Uranienborg, which contemplates the rise and fall of a great castle on the island of Hveen. Once a center of astronomical wonder where a knight studied the stars, the structure is now reduced to ruins, reclaimed by the landscape. The volume also includes lighter, folk-inspired dialogues like The Ready Answer, where a clever woman deftly deflects her brother’s prying questions about her secret lover and hidden children, and a series of pithy epigrams that offer warnings against greed and overindulgence.

How It Unfolds

The encroachment of the supernatural The yeoman’s peaceful labor on his island triggers an angry response from the hill-dwelling Trolds. A host of creatures descends upon his home, their presence signified by the frantic behavior of his livestock and the menacing intent of their leader.

The crisis of the household Facing overwhelming odds, the yeoman struggles to protect his wife, Ellen, offering his wealth in a desperate attempt to buy her safety. His failure leads to a grim bargain where he must surrender his wife to the Trold to prevent the total destruction of his family.

The transformation of the beast Ellen’s piety forces a shift in the supernatural dynamic, turning the monstrous Trold into a noble knight. Through this sudden metamorphosis, the threat of violence dissolves into a narrative of redemption, gratitude, and social elevation.

The legacy of the past The collection shifts focus toward the transience of human achievement, specifically regarding the vanished grandeur of Uranienborg. These poems contrast the intellectual ambitions of the past with the inevitable decay wrought by time and nature.

The final moralizing stance The volume concludes with brief, sharp epigrams that emphasize the necessity of boldness, the futility of questioning divine design, and the spiritual dangers of material gluttony. These closing verses ground the more fantastical ballads in a stern, practical reality.

The People

The yeoman of Villenskov is a man defined by his industry and his fierce, if occasionally flawed, protective instinct. He is a practical figure whose struggle against the Trolds forces him into an impossible moral corner, yet his eventual success stems from his wife’s resilience rather than his own strength. Ellen, his wife, is the emotional and moral center of the ballad. She is a woman of profound grace and steadfast faith, whose ability to maintain her composure while under the threat of the Trold directly causes the knight’s salvation.

The Trold-turned-knight begins as a manifestation of ancient, petty spite, representing the envy the spirit world holds for human domesticity. His transformation into a knight reveals him to be a tragic, displaced figure—a victim of childhood abandonment who sought to reclaim through force what he had been denied by fate. His eventual willingness to accept Ellen’s wisdom suggests he finds a measure of peace through her mercy. The brother in The Ready Answer serves as a foil to these grander figures, representing the prying, suspicious nature of society, while the sister provides a sharp, witty contrast, using her quick tongue to preserve her autonomy against his accusations.

In Its Own Voice

"Then up and spake the youngest Trold, / As emmet small to view: / 'O here is come a Christian man, / But verily he shall rue.'"

The smallest of the Trolds initiates the conflict by spotting the yeoman at work and vowing to make him suffer for clearing the woods.

"When the third time he her would kiss / She call'd on Mary's son; / Then he became a lovely knight, / His elfin shape was gone."

Ellen’s devotion acts as the catalyst for the ballad’s pivotal transformation, stripping the monster of his supernatural guise.

"Load not thyself with gold, O mortal man, for know / No strength thou'lt have for loads when summon'd hence away."

In one of the concluding epigrams, the poet warns against the pursuit of worldly wealth as the ultimate burden for the soul.

What It's Really About

This book explores the intersection of human fragility and the overwhelming forces of myth and mortality. At its heart, the collection asks how one maintains integrity when faced with an existential threat—whether that threat is a supernatural entity demanding one’s spouse or the simple, creeping decay of time that turns castles into ruins. The poems argue that material wealth is a fleeting comfort and that true power lies in faith, wit, and the ability to accept the limits of one’s own control. It is an exploration of the "narrow gate," suggesting that those who carry too much—be it greed, anger, or worldly goods—will find themselves unable to navigate the transitions of life and death.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the rhythmic, repetitive cadence of traditional folklore will find much to admire in these translations. The book offers a window into the Victorian appetite for the "laidly" and the marvelous, capturing a sensibility that sought to preserve the oral traditions of the North within the rigid structures of English verse. It feels like a historical artifact, preserving a voice that is at once distant and strangely intimate.

However, the modern reader should be prepared for the moralizing tone typical of this era, which can feel didactic, particularly in the closing epigrams. The language is intentionally archaic, reflecting the translator's attempt to evoke an older, folk-centered world; this provides a distinct atmosphere but may require a moment of adjustment to fully inhabit the rhythm. The period attitudes regarding gender—where a woman’s worth is often tied to her piety or her value as a prize—are starkly present, reflecting the source material’s roots. Those who enjoy the intersection of history, myth, and the melancholy of lost things will find this a compact, evocative reading experience. It leaves behind a lingering sense of the North—of cold winds, deep hills, and the thin, shifting line between the human world and the wild, invisible forces that surround it.