Lord Randal’ in Kent
The Meaning and Context of a Ballad Variant
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8935133 |
|---|---|
| Authors | S Elizabeth Bird (0009-0009-0085-0818, University of Iowa, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 248-252 |
| Publication date | 1985-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Folklore (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0015587x.1985.9716354 |
| OpenAlex | W1980657486 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
LORD RANDAL' (Child 12) has been one of the most widely collected ballads, with many variants recorded from Britain, Europe, Canada and the United States.' Bronson lists it as third in his 'top seven' Child ballads.2 The ballad, a dialogue between a mother and her dying son, is dramatic and tragic; as Flatto points out, 'The deep, all-pervasive mood of melancholy underlying Lord Randal is unfolded gradually through the slow, measured musicality so characteristic of the ballad.'3 The young man (or young boy, as he sometimes seems to be), has usually been poisoned by either his stepmother or his lover, the poison being administered in cooked eels.4
Archaeology · Art · Ballad · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Literature · Meaning (existential · Poetry · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Philosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |