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The King of Scotland wants to find a good skipper to sail his ship to retrieve his daughter from Norway. One of the kings most experienced knights suggests Sir Patrick Spens, who he claims is the greatest skipper in all of Scotland. The King sends Sir Patrick Spens a letter asking him to sail his ship to Norway. Sir Patrick Spens tells The King that he thinks a dangerous storm is coming. The King disregards Sir Patrick’s warning and orders him to set sail anyway. Sir Patrick obeys and he had barely sailed nine miles before a terrible storm hit, sinking the ship and killing him and his crew.
Sir Patrick Spens is the protagonist because he is the central character in the ballad, and by choosing to sail he makes a decision that brings about the climax (the ship sinking).
The King is the antagonist in this ballad because he opposes the protagonist (Sir Patrick Spens).
The main conflict shown in this ballad is Man vs. Man.The conflict is portrayed when the king wants the Sir Patrick and the Sailors to go off to Norway right away. Sir Patrick however, being the experienced sailor that he is, predicts there may be a storm coming. He believes that they should wait before setting out, otherwise they may come to harm. The conflict is resolved when Sir Patrick Spens sets out to sea only to be caught in a terrible storm, that sinks his ship and kills him and his crew.
Foreshadowing: An Example of in this ballad is when Sir Patrick Spens says he thinks a storm is coming. This foreshadows that a storm will come and kill Sir Patrick Spens.
Suspense: an example of suspense in this ballad is when Sir Patrick Spens decides he will sail to Norway. This is a good example of suspense because it makes the reader wonder if a storm will come and destroy the ship.
Ballad Characteristics
- we will discuss the characters in this ballad
- we will discuss the conflict in this ballad
- we will explain the narrative techniques used in this ballad
- we will explain how this ballad exhibits common ballad characteristics
- we will explain the plot structure of this ballad
Gude - Good
Spake - Spoke
Eldern - Elder, wise, experienced
Strand - The shore of a sea, lake, or large river
Ee - Old slang for eye
Alack - An expression of sorrow or mourning
Yestreen - Last night
League - A former measure of distance, roughly 3 miles
oork-heel'd shoon - Older way of saying cork heeled shoes.
Aboon - Old slang for above
Nae mair - Older way of saying "no more"
Lang - Old word for long
Half-owre - Older way of saying "half-over"
Fathom - Former unit used to measure length, aproximately 6 ft.
Antagonist-
Main Conflict
The King - The King seems like a very hot- headed man and he is very full of him self. The King believes that his opinion is the only one that matters. For example, when Sir Patrick Spens, says that there may be a storm coming, the king doesn’t listen and tells Sir Patrick to go and get the princess anyway, which results in Sir Patrick and his crew drowning.
Sir Patrick Spens - Sir Patrick Spens is a very loyal and an experienced sailor. We know this because he was able to easily predict that there would be a storm by looking at the moon, and even though he knew there would be a bad storm he obeyed The King's orders and tried to sail to Norway anyway to retrieve The King’s Daughter. He is also the central character in this ballad.
The Eldern Knight - We know little about the eldern knight because the story does not describe or build him up at all. However, he does have significance in the story, as he recommends Sir Patrick Spens to sail The King’s ship to Norway.
The Kings Daughter - The Kings Daughter also has little character development but she has a major significance in the story because she is the reason that Sir Patrick Spens Sails Norway.
Narrative Techniques
Due to our ballad being extremely old the original author is unknown.
A direct example of this is in stanza eleven:
“The anchors broke and the top-masts split,
It was such a deadly storm;
And the waves came o’er the broken ship
Till all her sides were torn.”
This is a good example because the ship sinks and the main character, Sir Patrick Spens dies.
A direct example of this is in stanza ten:
“They had not sailed in a league, a league,
A league but barely three,
When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud,
And angry grew the sea.”
This is a good example because in stanza nine Sir Patrick Spens is saying a deadly storm is on the way and in stanza ten the ballad jumps straight to the storm actually happening at sea.
A direct example of this is in the last stanza:
“Half-owre, half owre to Aberdeen,
Tis fifty fathoms deep;
And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens,
With the Scots Lords at his feet.”
This is a good example of a closing stanza because it states the death of the main character and finishes the ballad in a brief, but informative conclusion.
The characters in this ballad are almost all from the upper class such as: The King, Sir Patrick Spens, The Scots Lords and The King’s Daughter.
The King of Scotland wants a good skipper to sail a ship to retrieve his daughter from Norway.
Sir Patrick Spens obeys The King and decides to sail to Norway. This is the crisis because it is the point in the story when the protagonist (Sir Patrick Spens) makes a decision that brings about the climax.
Sir Patrick Spens tells The King he shouldn't go out to sea yet because he thinks a dangerous storm is on its way but The King orders him to sail to Norway anyway.
The Eldern Knight suggests that Sir Patrick Spens sail the ship and The King sends a letter to Sir Patrick Spens asking if he will sail to Norway. This is the inciting force because it marks the beginning of the conflict
The storm hits and sinks the ship, killing Sir Patrick Spens and everyone else on board. This is the climax of the ballad because it is the point in the story when the main conflict is resolved
The ladies wait for Sir Patrick Spens and his crew.
The closing stanza states that Sir Patrick Spens and the Scots Lords are dead at the bottom of the ocean. This is the denouement because it ties up the events of the ballad and give the story a sense of being complete.