It dates from the late mediæval period when creative power was on the wane, and is an adaptation of the German “Schöne Agnete”—which, in its turn, has a Slav original. The German Ballad, however, takes the more primitive view of the Merman, who ends by destroying his mortal mistress. Later Danish minstrels—Sven Grundtvig among them—have altered the conclusion accordingly.
XVIII
THE KNAVISH MERMAN
1
Gay goes the dance in the kirkyard there,
—Welladay—
They dance, the knights, with blades so bare,
—Methinks ’tis hard to ride away.
2
They dance, the maidens, with hair unbound;
It was the King’s daughter sang the round.