Artist: Fred Jordan
Author: traditional
Label: Rounder
Year: 1962

A cappella singer from Shropshire. This Peter Kennedy recording came out on the Lomax series Classic Ballads Of Britain And Ireland. Subtitle: Lady Isabel And The Elf Knight (see also: Pretty Polly). Child ballad #4, Roud #21. Child collected a miriad of different versions of this Bluebeard legend, 23 variations in Somerset alone. The common denominator: a woman seduced by a serial killer decapitates the agressor with his own sword. French variation: Renaud; in Germany: Ulrich; in Norway: Rulleman or Svein; in Flanders: Heer Halewijn; in North Holland: Jan Albers.

A.L. Lloyd recorded an older version ('56) but Jordan's so much more authentic. Rum cut it as Heer Halewijn, Hans Theessink as Heer Halewijn Zong Een LiedEkijn, Fungus as Heer Albert, Peggy Seeger as Lady Isabel & The Elf Knight and Steeleye Span as The Elf Knight.