The Story of Dame Lady Ragnell

King Arthur and Gawaine rode through the wild woodsc In search of an unearthly foe,
When Dame Ragnell appeared, yes, a hideous old hag,
And she told them the right way to go, oh, to go,
She told them the right way to go.

Now, she pointed them down the best path they could take,
The fight was triumphant and swift.
And as Arthur and Gawaine came back through the woods,
Arthur said, "We must grant her a gift, yes a gift,
"We must grant that old beldame a gift."

King Arthur and Gawaine rode up to the place
Where the old lady waited alone,
And Arthur said, "Lady, Please ask us a boon
"So our duty to you may be shown, may be shown,
"That our gratefulness to you be shown."

Well, the old lady smiled with a star in her eye,
And she said, "I have but one desire--
"I wish to be married, a lady at last,
"To a Knight of the Round Table, Sire, oh, my Sire,
"To a Knight of the Round Table, Sire."

King Arthur, he swallowed and opened his mouth,
But the words he would speak were denied,
For Noble Sir Gawaine got down on one knee, saying,
"Lady, would you be my bride, be my bride?
"Lady Ragnell, would you be my bride?"

She accepted his hand, and he lifted her up,
Bearing her on his very own steed,
Through the woods and the fields to great Camelot's court,
Where they'd marry at dusk, they agreed, they agreed,
Where they'd marry at dusk, they agreed.

All the courtiers were silent, their eyes wide with shock,
As they watched the strange, hushed marriage rite,
And the dances were solemn, the wedding feast long,
'Til they led them upstairs for the night, for the night,
'Til they led them upstairs for the night.

But not once did Sir Gawain, that courteous knight,
Take his eyes off his hideous bride.
He led her through dances and fed her the feast,
And he smiled when she came to his side, to his side,
Yes, he smiled when she came to his side.

As the fire warmed their marriage suite, steady and strong,
"I do not need your kisses," she said.
But Sir Gawain just smiled as he took down her hair.
He embraced her and took her to bed, oh, to bed,
He embraced her and took her to bed.

Not a moment had passed since he kissed her just once,
When a strange magic transformed his wife,
And Dame Ragnell arose and embraced Sir Gawain
As a youthful maid so full of life, full of life,
As a youthful maid so full of life.

"Oh, husband, my dear, I've been under a spell
"To be ugly and haggard and gray,
"But now the spell's broken, and now I can be
"Lovely either by night or by day, or by day,
"Ugly either by night or by day."

"Oh, husband, dear husband, now you must decide,
"For you are an ethical knight,
"Shall I appear lovely to Arthur's great court,
"Or only for you, here at night, here by night?
"Or only for you, here at night?"

Sir Gawain thought on this, then he shook his head,
Saying, "No, wife, I leave you the choice.
"For it's you'll bear the consequence of what befalls,
"So now ponder and give your thoughts voice, give them voice,
"Oh, my lady, please give your thoughts voice."

Lady Ragnell embraced him and laughed right out loud.
"You've broken the spell clean away!
"For you've given me what it is all women want,
"It's the freedom to have my own way, my own way,
"That's the freedom to have my own way.
"I'll be beautiful by night and day, night and day,
"I'll be lovely for you night and day."

Notes: I wanted to write a traditional-looking and -sounding ballad. In some ways I succeeded here, and in some ways I think I could have done much better. Anyway, I was semi-active on rec.music.filk, the filk newsgroup, at the time, and I posted the lyrics to this song. Within two hours, Terence Chua had filked the song. Now, this is an original tune, so he couldn't know what it sounded like. But his scansion was perfect, and I love the song. To see Terence's filk, check out The Story of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I ended up liking the filk better than I liked my original song, and I almost never perform the original.

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