Ermeline

In Short

This narrative poem follows Sir Thunye, a gallant knight who encounters the daughter of a dwarf in an enchanted wood. After surviving her Runic spells, he is guided by the dwarf’s mother toward a greater calling: the rescue of the captive Princess Ermeline. The story blends folkloric motifs—magic harps, elfin hills, and trial by combat—with the traditional rhythms of a chivalric romance. It survives as a window into the nineteenth-century fascination with Northern European balladry, capturing a landscape where the supernatural and the courtly exist in precarious, rhythmic harmony.

The Story

The tale begins in the deep green woods of Alsey, where Sir Thunye, a knight of high renown, encounters a maiden playing a gold harp. She is the daughter of a dwarf, and her music is so potent that it halts the flight of birds and the motion of the hart. She ensnares the knight with a Runic stroke, binding him to her side. When Sir Thunye proposes marriage, she refuses, revealing that she is already betrothed to the King of the Dwarfs and must soon return to her father’s mountain home.

Despite the knight’s vow to die rather than lose her, the Dwarf’s Lady—the girl’s mother—intervenes. She is not a creature of the hill by birth but a Christian woman living in exile. Finding the knight trapped in a trance, she uses a "book of power" to break the enchantment. To repay her for this rescue, and moved by the knight's honor, she reveals a secret: her sister is the Queen of England, and her daughter, the fair Ermeline, has been kidnapped and imprisoned in Upsal. Ermeline is held in a guarded chamber, forbidden from the world, and promised in marriage to Allevod, the King’s nephew.

The Dwarf’s Lady arms Sir Thunye with magical gear—a shield of diamonds, a silken band that ensures his words hold weight, and a sword of quality—and sends him on his mission. Sir Thunye travels to Sweden, where he faces Allevod and nine stalwart knights. In a display of martial prowess, he kills Allevod in a thunderous collision of lances and repels the remaining champions. Word of the "Jutt" (a foreign warrior) spreads, and the Swedish King, despite his rage, finds his champions rendered powerless against Thunye’s strength.

Sir Thunye reaches Upsal, breaks the steel bars of the prison, and frees Ermeline. She recognizes him as the hero foretold in her youth. They return to Denmark to celebrate their wedding, but their story does not end there. News of the rescue reaches the English King, who sends for them. Upon their arrival, the King abdicates the throne in favor of the knight who saved his daughter. The poem concludes with Sir Thunye crowned as King of England, living in joy with his queen, while the Swedish lords pray he never returns to their lands.

How It Unfolds

The Runic snare Sir Thunye rides into the woods to hunt but is waylaid by a dwarf’s daughter playing a magical harp. Her music compels the natural world to stand still and traps the knight in a sudden, desperate longing.

The mother’s intervention The dwarf’s mother, a human exile, frees the knight from the magical thrall. She reveals the plight of her niece, Ermeline, who languishes in a locked tower in Sweden.

The call to arms Equipped with enchanted weapons and a divine mandate, Sir Thunye rides for the north. He brushes aside the dwarf’s warnings and heads toward the Swedish court to claim his destiny.

The trial of strength Sir Thunye defeats Allevod and his band of knights in a series of brutal, rhythmic jousts. The surviving courtiers are forced to admit that no mortal in Sweden can stand against him.

The liberation The knight shatters the iron bars of the Upsal prison and reunites with Ermeline. They pledge their faith to one another before embarking on the journey to Denmark and eventually England.

The crowning achievement The English King welcomes the couple with open arms and cedes his crown to Sir Thunye. The story closes with the hero settled in peace, his quest fully realized and his rule established.

The People

Sir Thunye acts as the quintessential chivalric hero. He is defined by his "haughty" grace and his absolute fidelity to his knightly oaths. While he begins his journey as an impulsive hunter, he matures into a capable king, motivated less by the pursuit of magic and more by the honor of his vow to the Queen of England.

The Dwarf’s daughter serves as the initial catalyst for the story. Though she possesses the power to bend nature to her will, she is trapped by her own origins, bound to an arranged marriage within the hill. She is a figure of tragic longing, unable to bridge the gap between her elfin world and the knight she desires.

The Dwarf’s Lady is the moral compass of the narrative. Born to Christian folk, she has been displaced into the wild, yet she retains a sense of justice that transcends her surroundings. She acts as a mentor to Sir Thunye, providing him with the tools and the information necessary to rectify a great wrong.

Ermeline is the patient, suffering princess. Her role is largely reactive, as she spends much of the poem in "strict durance" behind iron bars. Her beauty and royal status are the prizes of the quest, but her primary function is to confirm the prophecy of Sir Thunye’s arrival, providing the legitimizing force that allows him to ascend the English throne.

In Its Own Voice

The poet establishes the power of the harp to transcend the physical laws of the world.

Then struck she amain the Runic stroke, The harp began so sweet to ring, The wild bird on the twig that sat Forgot its merry song to sing.

The mother of the dwarf reveals the specific, harrowing conditions of the princess's imprisonment in Sweden.

She ne’er may out of the window look Except to watch her women stand; Nor play at tables with the King Unless the Queen is close at hand.

The knight pledges his devotion to his lady with a solemnity that anchors the story in the traditions of the high medieval romance.

With heart and hand by thee to stand, By the holy name of Christ I swear.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this is a story about the intersection of the "wild" and the "civilized." The forest, the dwarf’s hill, and the Runic magic represent a chaotic, untamed world that threatens to ensnare the individual. The knightly quest is the mechanism by which this chaos is ordered. The poem explores the idea that true authority—whether in the form of a sword or a crown—is only valid when it is tempered by honor and directed toward the protection of the vulnerable. It asks whether one can truly belong to two worlds, as seen in the mother of the dwarf, and suggests that the highest fulfillment is found in the stability of a kingdom governed by a hero who has proven his worth through trial.

Why Read It Today

Reading this work feels like stepping into a nineteenth-century study of old balladry. It carries the distinct flavor of a translated epic, where the language is deliberately archaic, rhythmic, and heavy with the weight of tradition. Those who enjoy the folkloric roots of fantasy—the kind of stories where magic is a tangible, often dangerous force and where heroes are defined by their singular, unshakeable virtues—will find much to admire.

However, it is important to approach the text with an understanding of its period limitations. The characterization of the princess as a passive prize and the simplistic, binary depiction of "Christian" versus "elfin" morality reflect the attitudes of the era in which the work was collected and translated. The narrative moves at a relentless, almost mechanical pace; the jousts and combats are described with a repetitive intensity that may feel alien to modern readers accustomed to deeper interiority. Despite these challenges, the poem holds a haunting, song-like quality. The inclusion of the supplemental "Cuckoo’s Song in Merion" provides a lyrical coda that underscores the book’s focus on the longing for home and the persistence of song. It is a brief, sturdy artifact of a bygone romanticism, perfect for those who appreciate the cadence of a well-told, if straightforward, legend.