King Diderik, by George Borrow

Transcribed from the 1913 Thomas J. Wise pamphlet, email [email protected]

KING DIDERIK
and the fight between the
lion and dragon

AND OTHER BALLADS

by
GEORGE BORROW

London:
printed for private circulation

1913

Copyright in the United States of America
by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. for Clement Shorter.

KING DIDERIK AND THE LION’S FIGHT WITH THE DRAGON

From Bern rode forth King Diderik,
   A stately warrior form;
Engaged in fray he found in the way
   A lion and laidly worm. [5]

They fought for a day, they fought for two,
   But ere the third was flown,
The worm outfought the beast, and brought
   To earth the lion down.

Then cried the lion in his need
   When he the warrior saw:
“O aid me quick, King Diderik,
   To ’scape the Dragon’s claw.

“O aid me quick, King Diderik,
   For the mighty God thou fearest;
A lion save for the lion brave,
   Which on thy shield thou bearest.

“Come to my rescue, thou noble King,
   Help, help me for thy name;
Upon thy targe I stand at large,
   Glittering like a flame.”

Long, long stood he, King Diderik,
   Deep musing thereupon;
At length he cried: “Whate’er betide
   I’ll help thee, noble one.”

It was Sir King Diderik,
   His good sword bare he made:
With courage fraught, the worm he fought,
   Till blood tinged all the blade.

The gallant lord would not delay
   So fast his blows he dealt;
He hacked and gored until his sword
   Was sundered at the hilt.

The Lindworm took him upon her back,
   The horse beneath her tongue;
To her mountain den she hurried then
   To her eleven young.

The horse she cast before her young,
   The man in a nook she throws:
“Assuage your greed upon the steed,
   But I will to repose.

“I pray ye feed upon the steed,
   At present no more I can;
When I upleap, refreshed, from sleep,
   We’ll feast upon the man.”

It was Sir King Diderik,
   In the hill he searched around;
Then, helped by the Lord, the famous sword
   Called Adelring he found.

Aye there he found so sharp a sword,
   And a knife with a golden heft:
“King Sigfred be God’s grace with thee,
   For here thy life was reft!

“I’ve been with thee in many a fight,
   In many an inroad too,
But that thy doom had been in this tomb
   I never, never knew.”

It was Sir King Diderik,
   Would prove the faulchion’s might;
He hewed upon the flinty stone
   ’Till all around was light.

It was the youngest Lindworm saw
   The sparks the hill illume:
“Who dares awake the