Roswall and Lillian
Encyclopedia
Roswall and Lillian is a medieval Scottish chivalric romance. A late appearing tale, it nevertheless draws heavily on folkloric motifs for its account of an exiled prince, reduced to poverty, who rises from it to win a princess.
A tourney is held, to honor Lillian's marriage with the treacherous steward. Roswall goes hunting, but a white knight finds him and gives him a horse and armor to fight with, and he wins but flees before recognition; the next day, a gray knight; the third, a green knight.
The night before the wedding, the knights come and salute the king and queen and Lillian, but not the steward. When asked why, given that he's their king's son, they say they do not see their king's son, but then they find him. The king asks, and Roswall tells his story. The steward is hanged, and Roswall marries Lillian and rewards the old woman who had given him shelter.
The ballad The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
, too closely related not to be derived, was entered into the Stationers' Register in 1580.
Sir Walter Scott
recounted that within living memory of his time, an old person wandered Edinburgh, singing Roswall and Lillian.
s as Iron Hans, The Gold-bearded Man
, and The Hairy Man
, and this friendship is central to the plot.
The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
contains both the treacherous steward and the marriage to the steward interrupted for that of the man he supplanted. Both it and The Goose Girl
turn on the revelation that the true royal has been supplanted by a treacherous servant.
Fighting in the three different suits of armor at the tourney resemble those of Ipomedon and Sir Gowther
Synopsis
Roswall frees some of his father's prisoners, and so is exiled. The treacherous steward who accompanies him threatens to murder him if he does not hand over all his possession and swear to become his servant; then he abandons him to find finer servant. A woman takes Roswall in and sends him to school with her son; he does so well as to impress the master, who brought him to the king to take into service. The king's daughter Lillian fell in love with him.A tourney is held, to honor Lillian's marriage with the treacherous steward. Roswall goes hunting, but a white knight finds him and gives him a horse and armor to fight with, and he wins but flees before recognition; the next day, a gray knight; the third, a green knight.
The night before the wedding, the knights come and salute the king and queen and Lillian, but not the steward. When asked why, given that he's their king's son, they say they do not see their king's son, but then they find him. The king asks, and Roswall tells his story. The steward is hanged, and Roswall marries Lillian and rewards the old woman who had given him shelter.
History
It is "certainly as early as the sixteenth century and perhaps [belonging] to the fifteenth" but found only in printed editions, the earliest dating to 1663.The ballad The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward or The Lord of Lorn and the Flas Steward or The Lord of Lorn is Child ballad number 271.A ballad, Lord of Lorn and the False Steward, was entered in the Stationers' Register in 1580, with a note that it is to the tune of Greensleeves.-Synopsis:The son of the...
, too closely related not to be derived, was entered into the Stationers' Register in 1580.
Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
recounted that within living memory of his time, an old person wandered Edinburgh, singing Roswall and Lillian.
Motifs
Despite its late origin, the tale is rife with motifs deriving from folklore. The rescue of the prisoners, his exile, and their assistance to him is clearly recognizable in such fairy taleFairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s as Iron Hans, The Gold-bearded Man
The Gold-bearded Man
The Gold-bearded Man is an Hungarian fairy tale collected in Ungarische Mahrchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
, and The Hairy Man
The Hairy Man
The Hairy Man is a Russian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.-Synopsis:Two ricks of a king's rapeseed fields are found burned every night. Finally, a shepherd with dogs keeps watch, and catches the "hairy man" who is responsible. The king puts him in a cage...
, and this friendship is central to the plot.
The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward
The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward or The Lord of Lorn and the Flas Steward or The Lord of Lorn is Child ballad number 271.A ballad, Lord of Lorn and the False Steward, was entered in the Stationers' Register in 1580, with a note that it is to the tune of Greensleeves.-Synopsis:The son of the...
contains both the treacherous steward and the marriage to the steward interrupted for that of the man he supplanted. Both it and The Goose Girl
The Goose Girl
The Goose Girl is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, The Goose Girl has been recorded as Tale no. 89....
turn on the revelation that the true royal has been supplanted by a treacherous servant.
Fighting in the three different suits of armor at the tourney resemble those of Ipomedon and Sir Gowther
Sir Gowther
Sir Gowther is a relatively short Middle English tail-rhyme romance in twelve-line stanzas, found in two manuscripts, each dating to the mid- or late-fifteenth century...