THE KNIGHT, THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON
There lived the princess, Leonore
In her castle, remote and lonely
She dreamed of finding her one and only.
Yet not just any man would do
His heart must be bold, full of valour, and true
He must prove his love to the lady he sought
Only then would she give her heart, Leonore thought.
One day, a handsome knight came to call
But canny Leonore would not yet fall
in love; this knight must be put to the test
So she thought of a suitably difficult quest.
“Brave knight,” she said, “around my fair throat
hangs half of a heart; its twin lies in the moat
of the Castle of Darkness
guarded by a dragon; bring it back tomorrow.
Because I want my heart unbroken
Please accept my request, and bring back this token.”
The handsome knight (christened Geriwain)
Set out that night, in fierce wind and hard rain
His eye was clear, his heart noble and pure
He would bring back the trinket, and win Leonore.
In the forest of sorrow, he encountered a beast
It cackled: “Young knight, on your flesh I shall feast
The bones scattered all over this lonely track
Came from knights such as you; they’re my favourite snack.”
Said Geriwain, “You’re fearsome, that much is true
Yet I have slain scarier beasts than you
For Leonore, I will be happily tested
And sir, I’m a knight who’s not easily bested.”
The beast roared with anger, attacked Geriwain
Who thought of his princess and ignored the pain
From inside his jacket he drew a long spear
And slayed the beast calmly, without fuss or fear.
Toward the castle, toward his aim
Passing by the Devil’s Lake
He came upon a deadly snake
Who put to him this fiendish riddle,
“What’s in violin, and also in fiddle?
It’s in middle of the moon
And it cometh twice at noon
The answer means a crazy guy
Or type of bird with piercing cry
Answer, fool, and think of this
That I can do much more than hiss.”
The knight, sensibly, did not panic
Although his pacing grew quite manic
And just when he felt to fearfully swoon
The answer came; he cried, “A loon!”
The snake, denied his tasty prey
Drew back, but in a sulky way.
Next flew down a winged boar
Who said, “The liar, Leonore,
Consorts this night with Galahad
Your quest is all in vain, my lad
Better that you turn back now
Than risk your life for such a cow.”
Said Geriwain, “I know you lie
Your slanderous lips offend my eye
Shapeshifter, be gone from here!”
- and slayed him with his trusty spear.
(From the corpse rose axeman, hag and ghost
The shapes the glamour used the most.)
Weary, the knight spied dawn’s first light
The Castle of Darkness
The trees first thinned, then disappeared
And there was what he had most feared
A mighty dragon, fast asleep
Breathing fire before castle and keep.
The beast sensed his presence and opened its eyes
Geriwain blinked, feeling great surprise
The poor thing wasn’t fearsome; why, it looked sad!
And a cunning plan made the knight’s heart glad.
Your lonely life is at an end
Come live with me and my lady fair
For three are much better than a pair.”
The dragon seemed to understand
He bowed his head and licked Geriwain’s hand
While the knight dived the moat, the dragon stood guard
Till Geriwain surfaced with half a gold heart.
Then man and beast flew home together
To be with Leonore forever
“Knight, you have made my heart whole,
So now I give you my heart and soul
I am yours for ever more!”
So said the beauty, Leonore.
They kissed in raptures of delight
And were married at day’s first light
And of their life that was just the start
And the knight, Geriwain, never did break her heart
And the dragon, whose name was Tony
Never again felt sad or lonely
And he was their loyal friend and guard
And his jokes cheered them up when times got hard.
Knight, princess and dragon together grew older
But the love in their hearts never dimmed or got colder
And though she got fatter, and he got dafter
You guessed: they lived happily ever after.
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