This is a ballad of the untold tale of Prince Olvin of Archenland and his Lady Liln as mentioned in The Horse and His Boy. Many thanks to Elecktrum, to whom the properties of blue steel belong. If you haven't read her wonderful stories, go read them now. I followed the traditional rhyme scheme (abab, or abcb) and stanza pattern of a ballad, and tried to make the rhythm as consistent as I could. For those who aren't familiar with them, ballads were usually songs of deeds or newsworthy occurrences (such as shipwrecks) sung in medieval times. Oh, the accent on the e in the last sentence means that the word is pronounced with two syllables. My sincerest apologies to those whose reviews were deleted when I reposted. There was a problem with the typing that was driving me crazy and I could not figure out how to modify and existing chapter. Thank you to those who have recently informed me of the proper procedure. Constructive criticism is appreciated; please review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the wonderful Narnia series. Those belong to Walden Media and the C.S. Lewis estate.
The Ballad of Fair Olvin and Lady Liln
In
the olden days of Archenland
There lived a prince named Olvin the
Fair
He swung a blade with steady hand,
And circlet gold
adorned his hair.
His
sword was forged of Narnian steel,
By the finest smiths upon the
earth.
The blade was true and shimmered blue,
The pride of the
dwarfs hung 'round Olvin's girth.
Fair
as the flowers of airy May,
Lady Liln brought joy to all she
knew.
Seldom a harsh word did she say,
But smiled with eyes of
sparkling blue.
'Twas
she who captured Olvin's heart,
And he who captured hers as
well
They seldom e'er did they walk apart,
Through sylvan
glade or grassy swell.
One
morn as they walked 'long the beach of sand
And watched the
waves upon the shore,
Dids't Olvin ask Liln for her
hand;
Together to be forever more.
All
of Archenland shared their joy,
And bells rang out across the
Land.
The finest musicians the king dids't employ
For to
celebrate the wedding grand.
But
deep in the dark forests of the west,
There lurked the evil giant
Pire.
To thwart all happiness he did his best,
And from his two
heads, his eyes shone like fire.
He
heard of the joy of Archenland
And set out with rage from the
mire.
For joy was a thing he could not withstand,
Thus to
Archenland came the giant Pire.
As
the week of the wedding was drawing near,
Dids't Pire snatch
Liln as she walked abroad.
He took her far from Anvard dear,
Till
across the mountain tops he trod.
When
news of this evil reached Olvin's ear,
No might in the world
could stay his feet.
He readied his horse, his sword, and his
gear,
And galloped from Anvard, a giant to beat.
The
giant dids't wait 'pon the mountains tall
For the prince to
come to rescue his love.
For the prince's blood Pire had want
not small;
To crush Archenland's joy through one beloved.
From
sunrise to sunrise dids't Olvin journey,
Trav'ling North and
West, led by the stars.
He ne'er did stop till Pire dids't he
see,
His two heads dark 'gainst horizon far.
As
the prince drew near to Pire's lair,
He found a glade beside a
stream.
From his long journey he rested there,
For battle would
come with dawn's bright gleam.
As
the sun rose bright from the eastern sea,
Olvin climbed the
mountain track.
He drew his sword and upon one knee,
Bade Aslan
give him strength for his attack.
He
donned his helm and with mighty shout,
Rose up to challenge the
giant great.
Pire swung his arm to give Olvin a clout,
For
vengeance sure he could not wait.
The
mountain rumbled and shook as they fought,
And Olvin seemed to be
failing fast.
His helm was lost, but retreat he would not,
Though
through one more blow he could not last.
After
winging a prayer Olvin mustered his strength
To make one desperate
final attack.
As Pire drew near, at no great length,
Olvin
threw his sword, and then fell back.
The
blade of blue steel made its way true,
And plunged its length
through Pire's great heart.
And as the magic worked its way
through,
To turn the giant to stone it did start.
Once
Pire was gone, Olvin climbed the slope
To the crag where Lady Liln
dids't stand.
They then descended as fast as they could
cope,
And set upon their way to Archenland.
They
rested awhile beside the stream
That had refreshed Olvin the night
before.
Liln tended his wounds and in sunset gleam,
They
traveled on towards morning's shore.
When
Olvin and Liln arrived at Anvard,
Archenland's joy increased
tenfold.
Evil no longer off to ward,
And an epic new soon would
be told.
One
week thence was the couple wed,
And ring dids't the castle
bell.
As prince and princess, King and Queen,
Fair Olvin and
Liln ruled the land well.
So
ends a story of bravery and love,
And even to this day in sunset
fire,
One the Northern Mountains of,
Is seen the forkéd peak
of Pire.
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