The Mermaid's Prophecy, and Other Songs Relating to Queen Dagmar
George Borrow, the Victorian adventurer and linguist who gave us masterpieces of travel literature, here turns his gifts toward the medieval past, unearthing a cycle of songs about Queen Dagmar of Denmark. The title poem alone justifies the collection: a mermaid, trapped and compelled by sorcery, speaks dark truths about the royal house, her prophecy winding through the verses like fog off the Baltic. Elsewhere, Borrow recounts the legendary wooing of King Valdemar, the journey to Bohemia, the celebrations and courtly exchanges that won Dagmar her crown. But these are not mere romantic chronicles. Dagmar emerges as a figure of profound sacrifice, a queen who balances love for her husband against the heavier burdens of rule. Borrow writes in a lyrical, archaic vein that feels excavated rather than composed, as though these songs had always existed and waited only for someone to transcribe them. The result is a small, strange, haunting book: folklore elevated to art, history rendered as prophecy.
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