The Fause Knight Upon the Road
- The Fause Knight Upon the Road
The Fause Knight Upon the Road is Child ballad 3, Roud 20. It features a riddling exchange between a schoolboy and a "false knight," the devil in disguise. [Francis James Child, "English and Scottish Popular Ballads, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch003.htm "The Fause Knight Upon the Road"] ]
ynopsis
The knight asks the boy where he is going, and what he is carrying (books). He asks after the sheep, which belong to the boy and his mother, and how many belong to the knight -- as many as have blue tails. The knight may wish him in a tree, the boy to have a ladder, the knight to have it break, and so on.
Throughout any exchange, the boy is described as standing fast. This appears to be the condition that will save him.
Commentary
The boy's ability to evade the devil may spring from the devil's inability to dumbfound him; gaining power over people by this means is a motif found in other folktales. [Francis James Child, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads", v 1, p 20, Dover Publications, New York 1965]
A Swedish variant features the little boy, but an old woman, a presumable witch, in the place of the knight. [Francis James Child, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads", v 1, p 20, Dover Publications, New York 1965]
Recordings
Steeleye Span recorded this song as "False Knight on the Road" on their 1971 album "Please to See the King"
ee also
*Riddles Wisely Expounded
*The Elfin Knight
References
External links
*"Scottish Ballads Online" [http://www.springthyme.co.uk/ballads/balladtexts/03_FalseKnight.html Child Ballad #3: 'The Fause Knight ] Three variants from Francis J Child's collection and link to versions from the living tradition.
* [http://www.contemplator.com/america/school.html "The Smart Schoolboy"]
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