The Serpent Knight, and Other Ballads

"The Serpent Knight, and Other Ballads" by George Borrow is a collection of poetic stories that grab your attention with myths, legends, and love stories. It explores fantastical characters and ideas of changing, loving, and the weird mixing with real life. The ballads bring older stories to life in poetry that reflect magic and wonder. "The Serpent Knight" follows a girl who faces riddles from a serpent trying to marry her, finding real love when he becomes a handsome knight. In "Sir Olaf," a knight meets a sad end when he's tricked by an elfin queen. "The Treacherous Merman" and "The Cruel Step-Dame" show characters fighting dark magic and mean people through tales of cheating and evil. Each poem shows how well Borrow can write beautiful songs while telling interesting stories about difficult loves, being true to someone, and where humans and magic meet.